Our M&M Project

I know every mathematics class has done an M&M project but this was my first one. It was an opportunity to review graphing skills and competencies for the NECAP administration. But it was also a way to have fun with Halloween! The numbers are interesting and the project engages kids. We were careful to wash our hands thoroughly and to count and then bag the M&Ms on clean surfaces.

ToDo: find mean, median, mode of the data. Only the eighth grade did this but I think all students, even the fifth graders, could have done it.

Further questions for research: why such a deviation in the numbers of each color? Does the mean remain the same for large and small sample sizes? Where does this blue M&M color come from anyhow?

Any more questions we should ask? Let me know!

flickr, Scout, and Explore photos

I got this tip from a flickr forum somewhere. Unfortunately I don't know where. I put it on a stickienote and never put the credit on it. I haven't tried it yet.

flickr tips

Here's a tip that may help. I picked this up in someone else's link that showed his photo was in the top 10.

1) Delete any characters in the URL which are showing AFTER your photo ID#. That's the number after your member name or member number. You don't want any "in photostream" or group names after that number. In fact, make sure there isn't even a slash after it.

2) Copy and paste this line

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/scout.php?mode=history&id=

and replace every character BEFORE your photo ID# with that URL prefix. It should look like this:

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/scout.php?mode=history&id=123456789

with your photo# instead of 1234, etc.

This will reveal not only if this individual photo is in Explore, but it will give you it's history for the past 6 days at least. The more it moves up and down the ranks, the more information it will show.

And to sweeten the deal, this page will also tell you what the highest rank was for the photo and the date it reached that highest ranking.

Once you've done that, bookmark/favorite that Scout page for each photo so you can keep going back to check on that page without having to write that long URL out each time.

Sadness II

When I drove home this afternoon I passed the family of the man killed in the accident Tuesday morning. They were making a memorial to him in the field where the accident happened. It was so sad to see them. I wish they didn't have to suffer like that. According to the Newport Daily Express, it was a head-on collision with a Mack Truck.

The weather is like March. Yesterday when I left school I swear I heard a robin singing. I could not see it, so I cannot confirm it. The little snow we have had is disappearing (except here at the house, where the cats are mincing across the icy crust in disgust).

Blogger doesn't work well at all in Safari. I have to use Camino when I want to do a lot of editing. In Safari the wysiwyg is not (in other words: Compose in the edit mode disappears).

The Origin of My Screen Names

Mechilde . . . from Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel (1999). Mechilde was the niece of Galileo and was the daughter of his brother Michelangelo. She died in 1634 (p. 15). On April 8, 1628, Galileo’s daughter Maria Celeste wrote him a letter that mentioned Mechilde:

Most Beloved Lord Father We thank you a thousand times (Suor Luisa and I) for the citrons that pleased us so much, partly because they came from you, and partly also because we could have had no better means of getting them. We all enjoyed your Lenten dishes very much, and Suor Arcangela most of all. I am living in such a regimented manner, out of a desire to stay healthy, that you need not suspect any dietary infractions, Sire, and I promise I will obey your proscription against eating eggs. You can imagine how concerned I was, and how much it still means to me, that when you write back to Mechilde, you thank her on our behalf and return her good wishes doubled.

++++++++++++++++

meeyauw . . . Problem 79 from the Ahmes (Rhind) Papyrus:

`seven houses, 49 cats, 343 mice, 2,301 ears of spelt, 16807 hekats.' The answer is the sum of 7 + 7² + 7³ + 74 + 75 , or 19,607. This problem has been used by mathematicians to demonstrate that Egyptians could undertake any multiplication by repeated doubling and adding, and was as fundamental to the Egyptian Scribe as the multiplication table to a pupil today.

 For a fuller explanation, I refer you to the excellent Trigonometric Delights, by Eli Maor. My edition of the book opens with “The Egyptian word for ‘cat’ is myw; when the missing vowels are inserted, this becomes meey’auw.”

I read Trigonometric Delights to my father when he lived at Union House, in Glover. Someday I will blog that wonderful experience.....

The Cat's New Year Resolutions

thank you again, Sue!

Cc: The Good, Clean Funnies List
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2007 3:00 AM
Subject: [GCFL.net] The Cat's New Year Resolutions


My human will never let me eat their pet hamster, and I am at peace with that.

I will not slurp fish food from the surface of the aquarium

I will not eat large numbers of assorted bugs, then come home and throw them up so the humans can see that I'm getting plenty of roughage.

I will not lean way over to drink out of the tub, fall in, and then pelt right for the box of clumping cat litter. (It took FOREVER to get the stuff out of my fur.)

I will not use the bathtub to store live mice for late-night snacks.

We will not play "Herd of Thundering Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Plains of the Serengeti" over any humans' bed while they're trying to sleep.

I cannot leap through closed windows to catch birds outside. If I forget this and bonk my head on the window and fall behind the couch in my attempt, I will not get up and do the same thing again.

I will not assume the patio door is open when I race outside to chase leaves.

I will not stick my paw into any container to see if there is something in it. If I do, I will not hiss and scratch when my human has to shave me to get the rubber cement out of my fur.

If I bite the cactus, it will bite back.

When it rains, it will be raining on all sides of the house. It is not necessary to check every door.

I will not play "dead cat on the stairs" while people are trying to bring in groceries or laundry, or else one of these days, it will really come true.

When the humans play darts, I will not leap into the air and attempt to catch them.

I will not swat my human's head repeatedly when they are on the family room floor trying to do sit ups.

When my human is typing at the computer, their forearms are *not* a hammock.

Computer and TV screens do not exist to backlight my lovely tail.

I will not puff my entire body to twice its size for no reason after my human has watched a horror movie.

I will not stand on the bathroom counter, stare down the hall, and growl at NOTHING after my human has watched the X-Files.

I will not drag dirty socks onto the bed at night and then yell at the top of my lungs so that my humans can admire my "kill."

I will not perch on my human's chest in the middle of the night and stare until they wake up.

I will not walk on the key board when my human is writing important adagfsg gdjag ;ln.

If I must claw my human I will l not do it in such a way that the scars resemble a botched suicide attempt.

If I must give a present to my human guests, my toy mouse is much more socially acceptable than a big live bug, even if it isn't as tasty.

Received from LARRY SOURBEER.

Where Pets Come From . . .

Thank you, Sue!

Where do pets come from?

It is reported that the following edition of the Book of Genesis was discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. If authentic, it would shed light on the question, "Where do pets come from?"

And Adam said, "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me everyday. Now I do not see you anymore. I am lonesome here and it is difficult for me to remember how much you love me." And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will know I love you, even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourself."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased.

And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "But Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and all the good names are taken and I cannot think of a name for this new animal." And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG."

And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him. And Adam was comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock and he believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but no one has taught him humility." And the Lord said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not worthy of adoration.

And God created CAT.

And Cat would not obey Adam.

And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was not the supreme being.

And Adam learned humility.

And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Dog wagged his tail.

And Cat did not care one way or the other.

Sadness

There is sadness in school. The drive in was slow but uneventful until I reached Pike gravel pits on Rt. 105. The road was closed and I had to detour up into Newport and go to North Troy from there. There had been a fatal accident and I knew the victim in a distant way.

The upper level kids are skiing at Jay today; there will be extra time to adjust to being back. I took some photos at the corner of Veilleux Road and the River Road.

It is approximately 20 degrees warmer than the average mean for this date in Burlington (the mean temperature for this date is 12 degrees).

I will post the photos when I return home tonight.

All the photos I took today can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/meeyauw/sets/72157594455510332 (Opens a new window.)

WOW!

All three at the same time! This helps to cheer up an extremely lonely and bleak day. There was only one vehicle that went by the house. I went down for Saturday's mail and there was none. All I heard was the wind, the water coming down the flume, and the ice underfoot.

BUDDY
2 hours ago: 285
8 hours ago: 280
14 hours ago: 270 --> The highest of all at this time!
17 hours ago: 284
23 hours ago: 322
2 days ago: 454

SAMMY
no history yet

TURNIP
8 hours ago: 472
31 hours ago: 431
43 hours ago: 419
46 hours ago: 420
2 days ago: 380 --> highest for Turnip

Sammy in Explore

sam.jpg,
originally uploaded by meeyauw.

Sammy's photo made Explore today: #393 for December 15, 2006. Now that is quite a long time ago! The pattern seems to be that I respond to all comments and I have also been visiting all commenters photos and viewing a complete set. The photos are magnificent and I fav many (because they truly are wonderful). The people that I fav then visit me and fav me and comment on new photos. And that seems to be how I get on Explore.

In my opinion, this photo is good. It is a scanned photo and back then I had learned how to scan and crop quite well.

Sammy died of kidney failure when he was very young. Amy had tried to prolong his health with regular IV medication and hydration but it didn't take long for him to succomb. We will never know why he became so ill, but I am convinced it is because he was living on the street for quite awhile eating all sorts of things and being exposed to all sorts of poisons.

Sammy made Cat of the Day on January 3, 2000. His photo there was the way he looked when I found him.

Congratulations, Sammy! We'll never forget you!

I'm testing posting by e-mail

This is weather wisdom from my signatures for winter:

---------------------------------------------------

If the snow that falls during the winter is dry and is blown about by the wind, a dry summer will follow; very damp snow indicates rain in the spring.

Happy New Year!

Puzzling Week Meme

Welcome!

This is the Puzzling Week Meme: a weekly puzzle for us to ponder and share.

Blogroll: Grab the code here:


Rules:


Badges: Put on on the top of each of your posts so that readers can quickly find it. Link each badge back to here:

80x15, 4kb

94x15, 4kb

94x20, 4kb

150x40, 4kb
150x40, 4kb
150x40, 4kb

Puzzling Week Blogroll:



∏ ∏ ∏

An Early New Years?

An Early New Years?,
originally uploaded by meeyauw.

This photo of Buddy made Explore in flickr for a few hours. So at one time I had two photos in it! Buddy made it for December 29, 2006. This is the history of Explore for this photo:

28 hours ago: 489
31 hours ago: 491
34 hours ago: 454
Highest position: 454 on Saturday, December 30, 2006

I remember the flurry of activity that day as soon as I posted the photo. I think it may have caused so much interest because it was novel. Although I can't imagine that it is the only cat-in-a-toilet photo on flickr! Mouse with all her fur looks better hanging in the toilet. As soon as her fur returns, I'll catch her there, too!

Turnip

Turnip,
originally uploaded by meeyauw.

This is my first flickr photo that made it to Explore (the 500 most interesting photos of any given day). This was for December 27, 2006. Here is the Explore history, as of today at 5:12 PM, of this photo of sweet Turnip:

3 hours ago: 431
14 hours ago: 419
17 hours ago: 420
20 hours ago: 397
23 hours ago: 401
26 hours ago: 382
35 hours ago: 380
42 hours ago: 433
Highest position: 380 on Saturday, December 30, 2006

It's fascinating to follow the history of a photo in Explore!

My iMix: Providence TV songs from 3 seasons

Kitten vs Front Row

kitten vs. frontrow on Vimeo

Snowy Day Activities

Use that leftover Christmas cheese and leftover box of shells and make macaroni and cheese . . . from scratch!

Wash the dishes.

Think about taking a shower.

Work on a huge desire to get out of the house because you can't.

Rinse out bottles for redemption.

Don't walk down to the mailbox: your feet might get wet and cold!

Blog.

If you can't think of anything to blog, then just edit the blog and find stuff to put on it. Memes are nice and complicated.

Remember those loaves of bread you cheerily made for Christmas presents but which came out unlike any bread you had ever made before and so you don't know what to do with it? Take pictures of it for your blog about snowy day activities. And then devise a project for your flickr pages: how long will it take wild animals (outside wild animals) to eat the dry, stale bread?

Break up cat fights.

Let cats out.

Call cats in because they are so stupid to be out.

Try to find that Shostakovich (or was it Mahler?) symphony you used for a movie a million years ago but you don't find it but you hear a lot of great music.

Have fun with Nair!

Take stupid pics for this blog.

E-mail everybody you know.

Eat your great macaroni and cheese while hunched over the computer.

Take stupid pics for flickr.

Think about taking a shower again.

Brush your teeth a different way and wonder if it is a better way.

Walk into the storm in your slippers in order to take a picture for this blog and then have frozen feet half the day.

Feel sorry for yourself.

Have a little anxiety attack.

E-mail strangers with stupid questions.

Be grateful for the draft dodger thing that Amy got you for Christmas and keep stuffing it under the door after you let the cats out. And stuff it back again after you haul the cats in because they are so stupid to be out in this weather.

Be shocked and amazed at how much damage Amy's two little dogs can do to the steel door that you stuff the draft dodger under.

Walk outside in the snow in your slippers again in order to place the bad loaves of bread in the most advantageous place for wildlife.

Use fd's flickr toys to spiff up Symmetry Amy from two years ago.

E-mail the link to your snowy day activity blog in the middle of the night to everyone you know. Wonder if they are your friends anymore.Go to bed about 3 AM because you are so bored.

Fret in bed: are these handful of people that I e-mailed earlier: are they the only people I know??

12/30/06: Cliffs on the Mountain

12/30/06: Cliffs on the Mountain,
originally uploaded by meeyauw.

Hawks and bobcats live up there behind my kitchen. You can't see the fine powder that is falling today. But there is no traffic at all going by today. Another "unexpected" event. Sue and I were going to go to St Jay for lunch out today! I really wanted to do that. Now we need to make new plans. And another storm is due in on Monday.

So I am blogging, listening to music, caring for these pesky cats . . . and staying warm! It is cold!

Watch weather reports for Monday storm! Will there be school Tuesday?

Merry Go Round

Merry Go Round,
originally uploaded by oybay.

This is oybay's photo creation and it's one of the loveliest I have ever seen. Be sure to check out his work (just click on the photo).

Frankie

Frankie,
originally uploaded by meeyauw.

After I looked at Tiger Lair's posters and Photoshop work, I was inspired to make this (her work made me miss Frankie). I'm not sure about the quote (I mean, it's good enough but is it the perfect one?) but the thing about flickr toys is that I can make as many as I need.