Forget where I first encountered this...
Not having traveled much, I was wondering how accurate her accents were. The Youtube comments appear to be mixed.
Monday, May 26, 2008
7.11
I was waiting to get on a poker table at Bally's a couple of weeks back. I was donning my beautiful Rutgers sweatshirt. Here's a picture of it
R-U, rah rah, R-U, rah rah, HOO-rah, HOO-rah, Rutgers RAH!
So some guy also waiting for a table spots my sweatshirt and comes up to start up a conversation. Turns out, he taught math at Rutgers many years ago. We share our backgrounds, and he says, "Well, here's something to think about while you're playing..." He added a story that made the question more of a "riddle" than just a math question, but here is the core of it:
In a "seven-eleven" (7-11) store, a customer selected four items to buy. The check-out clerk says that he multiplied the costs of the items and obtained exactly 7.11, the very name of the store! The customer calmly tells the clerk that the costs of the items should be added, not multiplied. The clerk then informs the customer that the correct total is also $7.11. What are the exact costs of the 4 items?
I went to my 1-3 No-Limit table while he went to his 2-4 Limit table. While I was playing, during hands I wasn't in, the math geek in me got control of me and I started to try to work it out. Distracted from both the game and the problem, I put it aside intending to try more later. I got home and searched for the problem, intending to blog about it, and accidentally spotting the solution. Annoyed because I'll never know if I would've been able to figure it out, I post it here as a challenge.
You can find the solution if you google...
R-U, rah rah, R-U, rah rah, HOO-rah, HOO-rah, Rutgers RAH!
So some guy also waiting for a table spots my sweatshirt and comes up to start up a conversation. Turns out, he taught math at Rutgers many years ago. We share our backgrounds, and he says, "Well, here's something to think about while you're playing..." He added a story that made the question more of a "riddle" than just a math question, but here is the core of it:
In a "seven-eleven" (7-11) store, a customer selected four items to buy. The check-out clerk says that he multiplied the costs of the items and obtained exactly 7.11, the very name of the store! The customer calmly tells the clerk that the costs of the items should be added, not multiplied. The clerk then informs the customer that the correct total is also $7.11. What are the exact costs of the 4 items?
I went to my 1-3 No-Limit table while he went to his 2-4 Limit table. While I was playing, during hands I wasn't in, the math geek in me got control of me and I started to try to work it out. Distracted from both the game and the problem, I put it aside intending to try more later. I got home and searched for the problem, intending to blog about it, and accidentally spotting the solution. Annoyed because I'll never know if I would've been able to figure it out, I post it here as a challenge.
You can find the solution if you google...
2-3-2 vs. 2-2-1-1-1
The NBA playoffs are in full swing. They have been great. The two series going on now, Lakers/Spurs and Celtics/Pistons, are what people wanted. Right now, any of the four teams could realistically win it all. It's great.
Anyway, the point of this post: Why are the NBA playoffs in this 2-2-1-1-1 format, as opposed to a 2-3-2 format? If memory serves, they used to play finals in a 2-3-2 format, didn't they?
First of all, from a practical perspective, the 2-3-2 format saves teams money in travel expenses and builds some momentum in the visiting teams' city for the 3 middle games.
Competitively, if you're the home team, and you should get a big advantage for having the better record, wouldn't you rather have games 6 and 7 at home rather than just game 7? As the higher-ranked team, if you win your first two at home, even if you go 0-3 on the road you can still close it out at home.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious.
Anyway, the point of this post: Why are the NBA playoffs in this 2-2-1-1-1 format, as opposed to a 2-3-2 format? If memory serves, they used to play finals in a 2-3-2 format, didn't they?
First of all, from a practical perspective, the 2-3-2 format saves teams money in travel expenses and builds some momentum in the visiting teams' city for the 3 middle games.
Competitively, if you're the home team, and you should get a big advantage for having the better record, wouldn't you rather have games 6 and 7 at home rather than just game 7? As the higher-ranked team, if you win your first two at home, even if you go 0-3 on the road you can still close it out at home.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious.
Poetry Monday
Not sure where this is from, saw it referenced in a Stephen King book. It struck me though.
Each thing I do I rush through so I can do
something else. In such a way do the days pass -
a blend of stock car racing and the never
ending building of a gothic cathedral.
Through the windows of my speeding car, I see
all that I love falling away: books unread,
jokes untold, landscapes unvisited. And why?
What treasure do I expect in my future?
Rather it is the confusion of childhood
loping behind me, the chaos in the mind,
the failure chipping away at each success.
Glancing over my shoulder I see its shape
and so move forward, as someone in the woods
at night might hear the sound of approaching feet
and stop to listen, then, instead of silence
he hears some creature trying to be silent.
What else can he do but run? Rushing blindly
down the path, stumbling, struck in the face by sticks;
the other ever closer, yet not really
hurrying or out of breath, teasing its kill.
-Stephen Dobyns
Each thing I do I rush through so I can do
something else. In such a way do the days pass -
a blend of stock car racing and the never
ending building of a gothic cathedral.
Through the windows of my speeding car, I see
all that I love falling away: books unread,
jokes untold, landscapes unvisited. And why?
What treasure do I expect in my future?
Rather it is the confusion of childhood
loping behind me, the chaos in the mind,
the failure chipping away at each success.
Glancing over my shoulder I see its shape
and so move forward, as someone in the woods
at night might hear the sound of approaching feet
and stop to listen, then, instead of silence
he hears some creature trying to be silent.
What else can he do but run? Rushing blindly
down the path, stumbling, struck in the face by sticks;
the other ever closer, yet not really
hurrying or out of breath, teasing its kill.
-Stephen Dobyns
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Classic Posts: "We sell dreams."
Another anecdote from the archives...
My wife and I went to a big guitar chain store this afternoon. She sat down in a room to play around with some of the electric guitars, and I was wandering around the store. Later on, she told me this anecdote.
While she was sitting there playing, a sales guy, whom she described as having bloodshot eyes and being "Jim Breuer-esque in his delivery", came up to her describing the merits of whatever guitar she was playing. He helped other people, then came back to talk to her some more. He sat down with her, and said seriously and deliberately,...
"Look, in here, we don't sell guitars. We sell dreams."
Suppresing laughter, she nodded somberly. Inside, she knew this would be the fodder for future laughs.
These go to eleven.
My wife and I went to a big guitar chain store this afternoon. She sat down in a room to play around with some of the electric guitars, and I was wandering around the store. Later on, she told me this anecdote.
While she was sitting there playing, a sales guy, whom she described as having bloodshot eyes and being "Jim Breuer-esque in his delivery", came up to her describing the merits of whatever guitar she was playing. He helped other people, then came back to talk to her some more. He sat down with her, and said seriously and deliberately,...
"Look, in here, we don't sell guitars. We sell dreams."
Suppresing laughter, she nodded somberly. Inside, she knew this would be the fodder for future laughs.
These go to eleven.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
History Questions
As a high school teacher I get mailed all kinds of teachers magazines.
One I received in January 2008 contained an article about the types of questions that high school history classes should be discussing. I think many of them are interesting to discuss now as adults, and definitely would have spiced up history, which I remember as being the most boring of all my classes - because of how it was taught!
I scanned the two page list of questions. If you can't read them, click on the image and it will enlarge.
One I received in January 2008 contained an article about the types of questions that high school history classes should be discussing. I think many of them are interesting to discuss now as adults, and definitely would have spiced up history, which I remember as being the most boring of all my classes - because of how it was taught!
I scanned the two page list of questions. If you can't read them, click on the image and it will enlarge.
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