logic

Expect the unexpected

By Frank B. on February 15, 2011

Today, on a financial form, I was asked to estimate my unexpected expenses for 2011. Acceptable categories included funerals, natural disasters, and legal proceedings.

Posted in finance, logic | 2 Responses

Good Thing We Know Nothing is Less than 99 Cents

By Bernie on October 6, 2010

A lower price bound is always interesting (taken on my commute) UPDATE: I got this email from a friend: So since the store exists we assume that the set of items in the store with prices is non-empty. The sign provides a lower bound. Thus in the real numbers we are guaranteed to have an infimum, but […]

Posted in conspicuous consumption, Least Upper Bound Axiom, let me put in my two cents, logic, math | 7 Responses

Another Letter to the Editor

By Bernie on September 21, 2010

http://sundial.csun.edu/2010/09/letter-to-the-editor-3/ I speak out when I feel the need to. However, I’ve never had a letter to the editor published which did not contain (and not by my hand) a typo, grammatical mistake, or just a cut of the core of my argument. Play ‘spot the glaring grammatical error game!’ (answer is in the comment […]

Posted in academia, anticipation of blood, Bernard Bolzano, education, epsilon, good causes, logic, math, newspapers, prime numbers | 8 Responses

Preferences

By Frank B. on January 6, 2009

I just finished reading another article about how “preference engines” are brilliantly anticipating my tastes and future purchases. I’ve been reading this sort of stuff for years, but I have yet to really experience it. Amazon only recently stopped recommending Chutes and Ladders because I bought Candyland for my son back in 2001. Currently they […]

Posted in conspicuous consumption, logic | Leave a response

Keno in Reno

By Frank B. on December 23, 2007

I don’t care for gambling that much, but when I do gamble I’m well aware of the odds of the games, and I certainly don’t have any “lucky feelings” come over me when I’m trying to roll a hard six. Last month, we were in Reno sitting at a cafe, and Isa wanted to pick […]

Posted in Isa, Keno, logic, math, Reno | Leave a response

Simplify This

By Frank B. on December 21, 2007

(a+x)(b-x)(c+x)(d-x) … (z-x) “Simplify” means that the solution can be written using fewer characters than the problem itself uses.

Posted in logic, math, puzzles | Leave a response

The Locker Puzzle

By Frank B. on December 16, 2007

This is my favorite puzzle. A hallway in a school has 100 lockers. A student runs down the hall and opens every locker. A second student runs down the hall and closes every other locker, starting at the second. A third student runs down the hall and “flips” every third locker, starting at the third […]