Archive for 2007Page 2
The Internet on Stage
This summer, I had the pleasure of seeing a remarkable dramatization of the Internet, including both its technical and social dimensions, focusing on the difficult problem of cyber-bullying. While I can’t give my professional endorsement to every last detail of the show, I will say that I found it be both very enjoyable and very […]
Sexual Promiscuity and Math (NY Times)
I had originally been planning to blog about the ownership of copyrights for the Unix operating system. But maybe no one else cares about that. Everyone’s minds are on more important topics, like sex. So imagine my pleasure in seeing that sex and math have had a rare convergence in the pages of The New […]
XKCD – a Math Comic/Blog for those not already in the know
While it’s anything but consistent (randomness abounds from comic to comic) you may want to check out XKCD – a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language by Randall Munroe, a CNU Physics Graduate who has been through the trenches of sorting algorithms, number theory, and more. He varies from very funny to bizarre to […]
GAC Alum on Web2.0’s role in shaping Politics
Jon-David Schlough (GAC ’00) is one of the many GAC alums who I know that, while not a CS major, has gone on to work in the internet communications industry here in the Twin Cities. His latest work for the Al Franken campaign’s online presence is at last connecting his knowledge of web technologies with […]
MCS Folks Take Part in Community Coven
Our photographer couldn’t help notice that all species of folk associated with the Mathematics and Computer Science Department contributed to the St. Peter community’s Harry Potter party: faculty, students, and alumni. Department Chair Carolyn Dobler was once again transfigured into her alter-ego, Professor Vector. She is shown tutoring some young witches in the ancient science […]
Advice for Budapest Semesters in Mathematics
Back at the start of the semester, I linked to Betsy in Budapest, a blog maintained by one of our students while studying in the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics (a very well-reputed program). I hope you took my advice and followed that blog. If not, I hope you’ll catch up on it now. But in […]
Edwin A. Abbot’s Flatland – the Film(s)?
For those mcs students who have ever struggled with the idea of n-dimensional spaces, Edwin Abbot Abbot wrote an interesting novel regarding the evolution of dimension. In Flatland, he explores the notion of 2-dimensional civilizations being brought into contact with 3-dimensional civilization. Since the book’s been around since 1884, you can read Flatland it in […]
Gusties Take Gold for Statistics Project
As previously noted on this blog, Gustavus math majors Dan Johnson and Tyler Kramer were invited to the awards banquet at the US Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS) along with their faculty advisor, Carolyn Dobler, in order to learn whether their project had won first, second, or third place in the Undergraduate Statistics Project Competition […]
Sign up for MCS Picnic
Those blog readers who are in St. Peter should pay a visit by this Thursday, May 10th, to the bulletin board in the third-floor lobby of Olin Hall. We’ve got a sheet there for you to sign up for the MCS Department picnic, which will be Tuesday, May 15th, rain or shine, at the Arboretum […]
Rosoff Wins Swenson/Bunn Teaching Award
The Gustavus Student Senate presented Professor of Mathematics Jeffrey Rosoff with the 2007 Swenson and Bunn Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence. This award, the only teaching award at Gustavus that is selected and presented exclusively by the student body, memorializes two Gustavus students killed in an automobile accident. Professor Rosoff was cited by the Student […]