Monday, October 31, 2011
Math is Kind of Important
Monday, October 10, 2011
Distribution
Linked here is a site (www.algebrahelp.com) that gives a pretty decent explanation of distribution, which we are learning this week in my Algebra class. For any students needing a second explanation, try reading through the 4 pages and trying the review at the end - bring any questions to me in class or post them below!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Vote For My Students' Photos
My Photography students entered a competition for Raise Your Hand Texas. The assignment was to have each student in their picture answering the question, “What two things inspire you to achieve success?”
They have a chance to win an iPad2, so please vote for their pictures here at Raise Your Hand Texas's facebook, just "like" their pic to vote. My students are in the ESC 20 section of their Photos, toward the bottom of the list.
They have a chance to win an iPad2, so please vote for their pictures here at Raise Your Hand Texas's facebook, just "like" their pic to vote. My students are in the ESC 20 section of their Photos, toward the bottom of the list.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Algebra Basketball
Check out the link above for a cool basketball game that uses algebra, we will be playing this on Monday!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Michael Harrison's "Revelation"
Composer Michael Harrison has reversed the progression of music history with his 2007 experimental work "Revelation."
Throughout musical history, musicians had been working to find a way to eliminate the dissonant sounds of bad intervals, called "wolf tones" or "wolf intervals." These intervals are the sloppy leftovers that are unavoidable when building instruments using Just Intonation scales or any other scales that utilize perfect ratios, which would include practically every instrument made before the 1700s when Equal Temperment hit the scene.
Every musician back then would have loved to find an instrument that would get rid of these ugly Wolf notes, and the Equal Temperment provided them with this answer and the freedom to easily play in any key... but it came at a price. The beautiful, sparkling sounds of the pure ratios needed to be compromised in the process, so now every guitar, piano, or other "fretted" instrument today plays intervals of notes that are only approximations and are slightly dissonant.
Notes played based on the pure ratios are more rich, resonant, natural, and beautiful sounding in every way, but many of us rarely get to hear them played. Though there still do exist experimental purists out there, such as Michael Harrison. In his "Revelation", he uses a piano tuned to a Just Intonation, and not only uses these usually avoided Wolf Notes, he embraces them and makes them the centerpiece of his song.
These otherwise dissonant intervals create a kind of drone with an audible "beat" at which the pitches fall in and out of alignment. Normally musicians will tune until they cant hear the "beat" anymore, but Harrison uses it to set the tempo for "Revelation", and it provides an almost eerie droning canvas for which to paint over with the sparkling pure tones provided by the Just-ly tuned piano. It works, somehow, and is hauntingly beautiful,
Throughout musical history, musicians had been working to find a way to eliminate the dissonant sounds of bad intervals, called "wolf tones" or "wolf intervals." These intervals are the sloppy leftovers that are unavoidable when building instruments using Just Intonation scales or any other scales that utilize perfect ratios, which would include practically every instrument made before the 1700s when Equal Temperment hit the scene.
Every musician back then would have loved to find an instrument that would get rid of these ugly Wolf notes, and the Equal Temperment provided them with this answer and the freedom to easily play in any key... but it came at a price. The beautiful, sparkling sounds of the pure ratios needed to be compromised in the process, so now every guitar, piano, or other "fretted" instrument today plays intervals of notes that are only approximations and are slightly dissonant.
Notes played based on the pure ratios are more rich, resonant, natural, and beautiful sounding in every way, but many of us rarely get to hear them played. Though there still do exist experimental purists out there, such as Michael Harrison. In his "Revelation", he uses a piano tuned to a Just Intonation, and not only uses these usually avoided Wolf Notes, he embraces them and makes them the centerpiece of his song.
These otherwise dissonant intervals create a kind of drone with an audible "beat" at which the pitches fall in and out of alignment. Normally musicians will tune until they cant hear the "beat" anymore, but Harrison uses it to set the tempo for "Revelation", and it provides an almost eerie droning canvas for which to paint over with the sparkling pure tones provided by the Just-ly tuned piano. It works, somehow, and is hauntingly beautiful,
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Predictive Policing Using Math Algorithms
Has anyone else seen and/or read Philip K. Dick's 'Minority Report'?
According to this ABC News report, police in Santa Cruz and other cities in California have started using a computer algorithm to predict where and when - down to the time of day - a crime is probable to happen. The program, developed by 2 mathematicians and an anthropologist, is based on similar programs used to predict earthquakes.
"...since the program's launch, the algorithm had correctly predicted 40 percent of crimes and had led to five arrests. In the last six weeks, Santa Cruz also saw a reduction in property crimes including car and home burglaries. Police said burglaries were down 27 percent in July compared to the same month last year."
I do believe that things which we normally perceive as random and impossible to predict, including human actions such as crime, actually do follow certain statistical patterns of which even the participants might not be conscious. Very interesting stuff, though there is a thin line between preventing crime, which is good, and the "Pre-crime Thought Police" in Minority Report.
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