Integration Practice

Again, nothing but a few video links.  This is for practice, not the initial teaching of the topic.

Chaos; Head

Another anime as I search for something as good as Full Metal Alcheist.  Chaos; Head has plenty of promise: a blossiming love story, mystery, and a unique weapon (the DiSword). However, it's only 12 episodes long.  If you would like to watch this series, go to: Chaos; Head on YouTube.

Only 6 Black girls in the entire U.S. in 2008 got 5's on Physics C

A few years ago, I scolded an advisee of mine for pulling out of a leadership position (house president).  Her reason was that she thought she had no chance of winning.  Only one other person ran---and got the position by default.  My advisee happened to be Black young woman.  I told her that because of the history of our country and some facets of its current state, persons from certain demographic groups do not have the luxury to give up leadership positions.  A few days ago, I saw a similar situation develop, but this time in an Honors Physics class.  Upon researching some statistics, I found an article on "Who Gets 5's on AP Physics Exam" in the blog http://isteve.blogspot.com by Steve Sailer.  (Disclaimer: I take no position on any view expressed by Sailer or his blog.)

Learning About Rational Functions, Class 1

Watch videos on intro to RATIONAL FUNCTIONS

• This is by a great math teacher, Mr. Tarrou:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkUnSomHZdg (14:29)
  Please follow along with your notebook!!  This takes less than 15 minutes!!! Do it!
• The next video is by a different author.  It illustrates certain mechanical skills necessary when working with rational functions:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMk4tKoby54 (11:29)
  This one is about simplifying rational expressions.  Actually, there is a very small error in this video.

Fixing the "Class JLog not found" error in a Joomla 3.x site

I went to a Joomla powered website I had created (that was previously working just fine) and was redirected to an error screen that had the line:

Class 'JLog' not found in error.php on line 339 jimport

There was a long site-specific directory path before "error.php".  I searched several Joomla sites looing for a solution.  Most involved saving the MySQL database and re-installing.  However, I found one forum that suggested the Class JLog was part of a definitions file in the libraries/joomla/log directory of the installation.  The actual file was named "log.php".  The post also referenced ftp errors common during an installation process.

Which Groups Have Higher Proportions of Unbanked Households?

PBS's Need To Know re-braodcast on Sunday April 21(perhaps original air date was a few days earlier) presented a program on Financial Literacy.  It highlighted a program in Missiissippi directed at educating kids (as young as 1st grade) and their parents about developing savings habits and the importance of having a bank account.  I got curious about the statistics.  The FDIC published results of a survey in 2011.  The information that follows comes from that survery, which you can find here: 2012 Underbanked Survery (or go to
http://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/2012_unbankedreport.pdf  ).

Click for a larger graph.

Magnetic Fields and Forces, step 2

This is the "class 2" on Magnetic Fields and Forces

• Here Derek Owen goes over EXACTLY what we did in the first class on Magentic Fields and Forces!!  Watch and solidify your learning!
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ6m_w0TS_A (9:40)
• Watch the famous Dr Lewin,  but only the first 7:27 !!!!  Here he introduces F = qv x B
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8D3ikuyaGo (0:00 - 7:27)

Watching Anime "Live reactions"

A live reaction---at least the version of which I am writing---is a video of yourself "reacting" live and in real-time as you watch an anime.  Others can then play back your live reaction as they watch the anime, and it's is like having you in the room with them.  

Darling in the Frankxx

My golden rule when watching anime is to never watch a series that is unfinished.  By that I mean, only watch series that have ended.  This allows me to binge-watch or at least to always have the next episode available.  I suppose this satisfies a sense of control.  However, I think more important for me is that this way I do not have to wait a week for the next episode.  Like all of us who enjoy good movies or stories:  I want to find out what happens next.

The Efficient Frontier

This is an very informative set of videos.  No one video will answer all our questions, but this a good set of building blocks to help us understand the efficient frontier.

Learn about Magnetic Fields and Forces

Watch:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fs9wSF_GSQ (about 10 min)
  This is a wonderful video that introduces Magnetics.  Most of this stuff is normally taught in a Physical Science class.  When you  watch this video, don't forget to THINK!!!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLyGfLCvuzQ (About 6 min)
  this guy is a little crazy, but he does a nice job of emphasizing that the concept of "Field" is man-made to help us understand how forces can act over a distance.

Migrating Thunderbird from Win XP to Windows 7

I had a Win XP crash due to a bad disk.  Since I would have to re-install XP on the new disk, I figured I might as well install a newer OS... WIndows 7 (and dual boot Opensuse Linux, but that's not relevant here).  Then I wanted to keep all my mailboxes in Thuderbird as they were.  I found the solution here:  http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1774485

Differential Equations

Before successfully mastering Differential Equations in Calculus AB, you must have ALL the basic derivative/ anti-derivatives form MEMORIZED.

The world's most sleep-starved students

Creating a Bootable USB for OpenSuse

I am about to swap out my motherboard and processor (Intel D955Xcs and Pentium duo).  I want to reuse those in a new computer case.  OS is Win 7 and Opensuse 12.1 dual boot.  In order to be safe, I am creating a bootable USB with Opensuse.

First step is to go see this "silent" video:  http://youtu.be/sRzVxw2tI5o (2:20)

Chrono Crusade

My favorite Anime of all time is probably Full Metal Alchemist.  Anime enthusiasts know there are two versions: FMA and FMA-Brotherhood.  Both are great, but Brotherhood had a complete story, following the original story line of the original author.  More on FMA later.  Today, I wanted to mention Chrono Crusade, the latest Anime I found in my search to find an anime that I enjoy as much as I enjoyed FMA.  You can find episode 1 (of 24) with English subtitles here: Chrono Crusade on YouTube.  Wikipedia has a great summary of everything you might want to know here: Chrono Crusade on Wikipedia.  My review to come later.

Can't afford college example. What should I do?

I searched ("googled") the pharse, "What should I do if I can't afford college, even with loans?"  Here's a great thread that does not give an answer but certainly raises some points to consider, especially one's attitude.  I found it at CollegeConfidential.com at the following URL: 

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1497004-looks-like-i-cant-afford-college-what-do-i-do.html

No Milk Today

Every now and then, I do try to practice playing my guitar.  I am just good enough to be bad.  I have learned that when I do practice, using a song or music that I actually enjoy works best.  No matter how badly I play it, in my mind, it still sounds like the song I enjoy.  Thus, I have fun practicing.

Recently, I was in the mood for classic 1960's Brittish Invasion Rock-n-Roll.  I found  "No Milk Today" by Herman's Hermits on YouTube:

I used the tab music at tabs.ultimate-guitar.com.  About two weeks later, I ran into this version of No Milk Today by Joshua James & The Forest Rangers, which played in The Season 3 Opener of Sons of Anarchy:

Enjoy.

Single Parent Statistics

I had a very interesting conversation with one of my PreCalculus students.  He had been working on a paper for another course that was investigating the achievement gap in education in America.  He asked me if I had any opinions or thoughts about it.  Of course, I did.  During the ensuing conversaiton, we spoke about the effect of the increasing number of children raised in single-parent homes.  I got curious and later looked up some statistics.

Foreign Service - FSOT, PN, OA

According to the Department of State (DOS) website (https://careers.state.gov/office), the mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad.

To become a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) you must undergo three grueling tests or assessments.  Search the internet and you will be find the stories of many who have tried and a few who have tried and succeeded.

General information follows, but please refer to the official DOS website for the latest and official informaiton.  The info below is not guaranteed to be correct and up to date, so use it only as a starting point and for discussion purposes.