Diploma Terms and Conditions
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I recently graduated and took my diploma and didn't think much of it at face value and was happy to move on. I took a second look at my diploma and I happened to notice some small print at the bottom that I didn't see before. I pulled the paper out from the casing and flipped it over to read this:
Is there a return policy on this?
Labels: college, diploma, graduation, terms and conditions
posted by Anthony @ 10:46 AM,
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Fortune.com 'Technology' Section Should Change Its Name To Apple Fan Club
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
At first I thought it was merely a coincidence that Fortune's Technology section's Editor's picks were all Apple articles. I've read articles from this section for a few months and even closer noticed this trend over the last few weeks and rarely does an article unrelated to Apply appear there. I'm beginning to wonder if Philip Elmer-DeWitt is the Editor. Now this is nothing against articles about Apple nor against Philip Elmer-DeWitt. If that's his area of expertise or a particle fan of Apple related news, that's fine. I don't see how every article of his can be the Editor's Choice. Clearly this is a problem with Fortune where either they don't have good columnists writing about anything else or the editor being biased towards those articles. I go to this section for Technology news, not purely Apple news. Some people may say I'm against Apple. I enjoy good articles that have been written about Apple. A lot of those articles that are written by Philip Elmer-DeWitt are interesting and well done, but the point is, I'm interested in all technology. Fortune's variety is lacking terribly from the overall classification of 'Technology' news. Hopefully they're somehow reading this and understanding my point of view.
Labels: apple, bias, elmer-dewitt, fortune, news, technology
posted by Anthony @ 12:23 PM,
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New Olympic Event - 2000 Stair Climb
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Everyone has gone through the pains of walking up a flight of stairs and at one point thinking, this is an excruciating workout! I've had this idea for years that there has to be an Olympic event for climbing 2000 stairs. Only recently I have I done any research to find there's quite the underground stair racing going on at some of the largest buildings in the world. There's even a site that records the quickest climbs of each building http://www.stairclimbingsport.com and shares my enthusiasm for this being an Olympic sport. The Sears tower is 2,109 steps which is crazy to see people complete that in under 15 minutes. When looking at the actual distance traveled vertically, it's an average of 7 inches high for each stair times 2109 steps, then divide by 12 to get 1230.25 feet. With 5280 feet in a mile, that comes up to about traveling a quarter mile straight up. Considering synchronized swimming and trampoline are Olympic sports, I think this idea has a sure shot to be a legitimate event. If you need more endorsement of it, just ask Rocky.
Labels: event, olympic, sport, stair climb
posted by Anthony @ 1:58 PM,
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The More You Know
Friday, May 1, 2009
After 4 years of being an electrical engineering student, you would think I'd know these math tricks, but shockingly I only knew 2 of them.
1. The 11 Times Trick
We all know the trick when multiplying by ten - add 0 to the end of the number, but did you know there is an equally easy trick for multiplying a two digit number by 11? This is it:
Take the original number and imagine a space between the two digits (in this example we will use 52:
5_2
Now add the two numbers together and put them in the middle:
5_(5+2)_2
That is it - you have the answer: 572.
If the numbers in the middle add up to a 2 digit number, just insert the second number and add 1 to the first:
9_(9+9)_9
(9+1)_8_9
10_8_9
1089 - It works every time.
2. Quick Square
If you need to square a 2 digit number ending in 5, you can do so very easily with this trick. Mulitply the first digit by itself + 1, and put 25 on the end. That is all!
252 = (2x(2+1)) & 25
2 x 3 = 6
625
3. Multiply by 5
Most people memorize the 5 times tables very easily, but when you get in to larger numbers it gets more complex - or does it? This trick is super easy.
Take any number, then divide it by 2 (in other words, halve the number). If the result is whole, add a 0 at the end. If it is not, ignore the remainder and add a 5 at the end. It works everytime:
2682 x 5 = (2682 / 2) & 5 or 0
2682 / 2 = 1341 (whole number so add 0)
13410
Let’s try another:
5887 x 5
2943.5 (fractional number (ignore remainder, add 5)
29435
22189271
4. Multiply by 9
This one is simple - to multiple any number between 1 and 9 by 9 hold both hands in front of your face - drop the finger that corresponds to the number you are multiplying (for example 9×3 - drop your third finger) - count the fingers before the dropped finger (in the case of 9×3 it is 2) then count the numbers after (in this case 7) - the answer is 27.
5. Multiply by 4
This is a very simple trick which may appear obvious to some, but to others it is not. The trick is to simply multiply by two, then multiply by two again:
58 x 4 = (58 x 2) + (58 x 2) = (116) + (116) = 232
6. Calculate a Tip
If you need to leave a 15% tip, here is the easy way to do it. Work out 10% (divide the number by 10) - then add that number to half its value and you have your answer:
15% of $25 = (10% of 25) + ((10% of 25) / 2)
$2.50 + $1.25 = $3.75
7. Tough Multiplication
If you have a large number to multiply and one of the numbers is even, you can easily subdivide to get to the answer:
32 x 125, is the same as:
16 x 250 is the same as:
8 x 500 is the same as:
4 x 1000 = 4,000
1000-Abacus
8. Dividing by 5
Dividing a large number by five is actually very simple. All you do is multiply by 2 and move the decimal point:
195 / 5
Step1: 195 * 2 = 390
Step2: Move the decimal: 39.0 or just 39
2978 / 5
step 1: 2978 * 2 = 5956
Step2: 595.6
9. Subtracting from 1,000
To subtract a large number from 1,000 you can use this basic rule: subtract all but the last number from 9, then subtract the last number from 10:
1000
-648
step1: subtract 6 from 9 = 3
step2: subtract 4 from 9 = 5
step3: subtract 8 from 10 = 2
answer: 352
10. Assorted Multiplication Rules
Multiply by 5: Multiply by 10 and divide by 2.
Multiply by 6: Sometimes multiplying by 3 and then 2 is easy.
Multiply by 9: Multiply by 10 and subtract the original number.
Multiply by 12: Multiply by 10 and add twice the original number.
Multiply by 13: Multiply by 3 and add 10 times original number.
Multiply by 14: Multiply by 7 and then multiply by 2
Multiply by 15: Multiply by 10 and add 5 times the original number, as above.
Multiply by 16: You can double four times, if you want to. Or you can multiply by 8 and then by 2.
Multiply by 17: Multiply by 7 and add 10 times original number.
Multiply by 18: Multiply by 20 and subtract twice the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 19: Multiply by 20 and subtract the original number.
Multiply by 24: Multiply by 8 and then multiply by 3.
Multiply by 27: Multiply by 30 and subtract 3 times the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 45: Multiply by 50 and subtract 5 times the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 90: Multiply by 9 (as above) and put a zero on the right.
Multiply by 98: Multiply by 100 and subtract twice the original number.
Multiply by 99: Multiply by 100 and subtract the original number.
Bonus: Percentages
Yanni in comment 23 gave an excellent tip for working out percentages, so I have taken the liberty of duplicating it here:
Find 7 % of 300. Sound Difficult?
Percents: First of all you need to understand the word “Percent.” The first part is PER , as in 10 tricks per listverse page. PER = FOR EACH. The second part of the word is CENT, as in 100. Like Century = 100 years. 100 CENTS in 1 dollar… etc. Ok… so PERCENT = For Each 100.
So, it follows that 7 PERCENT of 100, is 7. (7 for each hundred, of only 1 hundred).
8 % of 100 = 8. 35.73% of 100 = 35.73
But how is that useful??
Back to the 7% of 300 question. 7% of the first hundred is 7. 7% of 2nd hundred is also 7, and yep, 7% of the 3rd hundred is also 7. So 7+7+7 = 21.
If 8 % of 100 is 8, it follows that 8% of 50 is half of 8 , or 4.
Break down every number that’s asked into questions of 100, if the number is less then 100, then move the decimal point accordingly.
EXAMPLES:
8%200 = ? 8 + 8 = 16.
8%250 = ? 8 + 8 + 4 = 20.
8%25 = 2.0 (Moving the decimal back).
15%300 = 15+15+15 =45.
15%350 = 15+15+15+7.5 = 52.5
Also it’s usefull to know that you can always flip percents, like 3% of 100 is the same as 100% of 3.
35% of 8 is the same as 8% of 35.
I found this on http://listverse.com/science/10-easy-arithmetic-tricks/
If you're anything like me, you'll get lost for hours on that site checking all of the other lists they have.
Labels: math tricks, the more you know
posted by Anthony @ 8:27 PM,
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