May. 10, 2012 at 12:30pm with 1 note
Reblogged from gifmeshelter

(Source: gifmeshelter)

Feb. 23, 2012 at 7:55pm
ikeahack
Ikea jar + solar garden lamp + glue + sun. #ikeahack (Taken with instagram)

Ikea jar + solar garden lamp + glue + sun. #ikeahack (Taken with instagram)

Jan. 13, 2012 at 3:08pm with 34 notes
Reblogged from tonythaxton
THAXTONY: SINCE NO ONE ASKED: MY TOP 10 FAVORITE DRUM SONGS

tonythaxton:

I’m going to start something new on my @Tumblr. I’m going to rant, make lists, whatever I want, about things that I like. At least until I don’t feel like it anymore, which in all likelihood, will be tomorrow. No one asked me to do any of this, I just have too much free time and I should do…

Fool in the Rain.  Absolute all time killer. 
Few I hadn’t heard of in here; off to buy some records!

Jan. 7, 2012 at 6:03pm

a few minutes of peace.

Jan. 5, 2012 at 10:18am with 25,524 notes
Reblogged from fistsfullofhate

(Source: c0pz)

Dec. 11, 2011 at 12:54pm
almostafullmoon
Let’s make some soup cause the weather is getting cold. #AlmostAFullMoon (Taken with instagram)

Let’s make some soup cause the weather is getting cold. #AlmostAFullMoon (Taken with instagram)

Nov. 1, 2011 at 1:35pm
kbb.comcarsfunny

A really well put together video. Clear, funny and well edited.  I had no idea this was a Kelly Blue Book contest, which makes it even better.  What a great idea to have fans/car owners create something like this as part of your brand. 

Oct. 28, 2011 at 2:41pm with 2,583 notes
Reblogged from blognar
blognar: Just another reason not to eat ice cream.   ..but it’s sooooo good. learningtomakefaces: At the UN, visitor’s entrance area.

blognar:

Just another reason not to eat ice cream.   ..but it’s sooooo good.

learningtomakefaces:

At the UN, visitor’s entrance area.

Jul. 20, 2011 at 9:41pm with 17 notes
Reblogged from blognar
blognar: IT GREW SINCE LAST TIME (somehow)! Well, it’s been a second since I’ve updated my beard blog. I’ve had a request that I not be so preoccupied with my own increasingly grizzled visage, and focus the subject of this blog at least partially to other areas that interest me.   So with that in mind, I’ve decided to write a little about math.   I’m reading a great book called Calculus Made Easy, by Sylvanus P. Thompson…esquire.   OK…so there’s no “esquire” on the end in reality, but doesn’t it just sound like it should be there? Anyway, Ol’ Sylvanus wrote this book in about 1910, and one of the most hilarious things about it is that it starts almost absurdly “easy” and jumps right to “pretty damn hard, FOR REAL” within 2 or 3 pages.  This can be disconcerting, but I’m plowin’ through.   Although the book quickly becomes inaccessible after the first few chapters, there’s some real gold in those chapters that are comprehensible.  For instance, there is an excellent and alternative way to think about and solve derivatives algebraically. The explanation is set in the historical context of the taxonomy of limits and infinite series.  Today most calculus classes use limits to define derivatives.   But before the advent of the “limit” concept mathematicians worked with infinitesimals of different orders.   For instance, if we have a function in x and y, then dx is an infinitesimally small but proportionate amount of x and dy is an infinitesimally small but proportionate amount of y.  Proportionate to what you might ask.  Well…to each other would be my reply.  This is why Liebniz notation expresses this proportion as dy/dx.   Now though we must discuss orders of magnitude, for to solve derivatives algebraically one must be willing to be content with disregarding infinitely small pieces of infinitely small pieces as negligible. For instance, dx is an infinitely small piece of x…so what is dx^2?  That would be an infinitely small piece of an infinitely small piece, would it not?  dx^2 would be an example of a second order infinitesimal, which we would effectively treat as zero.   So with that in mind we can work with dx and dy as if they are real values, instead of treating them as simply a concept and only applicable when compared to one another.   Let’s take a look at an example.  The derivative of the function y = x^2 is 2x.  This is well known to any first year calculus student.  And by looking at the limit as x approaches zero of the slope function of a graph at a point we can solve for the derivative.  But we could also setup the equation like so… y = x^2 Letting x vary by dx and y vary by dy… y + dy = (x + dx)^2 y + dy = (x + dx)(x + dx) y + dy = x^2 + 2xdx + dx^2 ….right? well we already said that y = x^2, so I’m going to make that replacement on the right sides such that we have… x^2 + dy = x^2 + 2xdx + dx^2 Now we can eliminate the x^2 on either side, to get… dy = 2xdx + dx^2 And dx^2 is a value that is an infinitesimal of the second order, which we are choosing to disregard.  So we just make it zero, cause it’s VERY close to zero anyway.  Which gives us… dy = 2xdx If we just divide both sides by dx, we get… dy/dx = 2x And there ya have it folks, derivatives solved algebraically circa 1910.  History is so fun. hahahahaha My boy is wicked smaht.

blognar:

IT GREW SINCE LAST TIME (somehow)!

Well, it’s been a second since I’ve updated my beard blog.

I’ve had a request that I not be so preoccupied with my own increasingly grizzled visage, and focus the subject of this blog at least partially to other areas that interest me.  

So with that in mind, I’ve decided to write a little about math.  

I’m reading a great book called Calculus Made Easy, by Sylvanus P. Thompson…esquire.   OK…so there’s no “esquire” on the end in reality, but doesn’t it just sound like it should be there?

Anyway, Ol’ Sylvanus wrote this book in about 1910, and one of the most hilarious things about it is that it starts almost absurdly “easy” and jumps right to “pretty damn hard, FOR REAL” within 2 or 3 pages.  This can be disconcerting, but I’m plowin’ through.  

Although the book quickly becomes inaccessible after the first few chapters, there’s some real gold in those chapters that are comprehensible.  For instance, there is an excellent and alternative way to think about and solve derivatives algebraically.

The explanation is set in the historical context of the taxonomy of limits and infinite series.  Today most calculus classes use limits to define derivatives.   But before the advent of the “limit” concept mathematicians worked with infinitesimals of different orders.  

For instance, if we have a function in x and y, then dx is an infinitesimally small but proportionate amount of x and dy is an infinitesimally small but proportionate amount of y.  Proportionate to what you might ask.  Well…to each other would be my reply.  This is why Liebniz notation expresses this proportion as dy/dx.  

Now though we must discuss orders of magnitude, for to solve derivatives algebraically one must be willing to be content with disregarding infinitely small pieces of infinitely small pieces as negligible.

For instance, dx is an infinitely small piece of x…so what is dx^2?  That would be an infinitely small piece of an infinitely small piece, would it not?  dx^2 would be an example of a second order infinitesimal, which we would effectively treat as zero.  

So with that in mind we can work with dx and dy as if they are real values, instead of treating them as simply a concept and only applicable when compared to one another.  

Let’s take a look at an example.  The derivative of the function y = x^2 is 2x.  This is well known to any first year calculus student.  And by looking at the limit as x approaches zero of the slope function of a graph at a point we can solve for the derivative.  But we could also setup the equation like so…

y = x^2

Letting x vary by dx and y vary by dy…

y + dy = (x + dx)^2

y + dy = (x + dx)(x + dx)

y + dy = x^2 + 2xdx + dx^2 ….right?

well we already said that y = x^2, so I’m going to make that replacement on the right sides such that we have…

x^2 + dy = x^2 + 2xdx + dx^2

Now we can eliminate the x^2 on either side, to get…

dy = 2xdx + dx^2

And dx^2 is a value that is an infinitesimal of the second order, which we are choosing to disregard.  So we just make it zero, cause it’s VERY close to zero anyway.  Which gives us…

dy = 2xdx

If we just divide both sides by dx, we get…

dy/dx = 2x

And there ya have it folks, derivatives solved algebraically circa 1910.  History is so fun. hahahahaha

My boy is wicked smaht.

9:40pm with 21,797 notes
Reblogged from suitep
suitep: Title: Chicago Air & Water Show 2005Capture Date/Time: August 21 2005 14:15Camera: Nikon D100Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-NikkorFocal Length: 135mmAperture/Shutter Speed: F/8 - 1/1000 secISO: 200Flash: None

suitep:

Title: Chicago Air & Water Show 2005

Capture Date/Time: August 21 2005 14:15
Camera: Nikon D100
Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
Focal Length: 135mm
Aperture/Shutter Speed: F/8 - 1/1000 sec
ISO: 200
Flash: None