Chicago museum free days 2009

Chicago hot blog maintains a list of free days for Chicago museums.

EuroEnglish

The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European

communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).

In the first year, “s” will be used instead of the soft “c”. Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard “c” will be replaced with “k”. Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced by “f”. This will make words like

“fotograf” 20 per sent shorter. In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent “e”s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” by “z” and “w” by ” v”.

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords containing “ou”, and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If you thought Math is a universal scientific language, think again.

TEACHING MATH AT WHARTON

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit? Please create six different financial scenarios with notes.

TEACHING MATH AT COLUMBIA MBA

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

TEACHING MATH AT KELLOGG

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. His profit is $20. But that’s irrelevant – what would be a cool slogan to put on his truck? Please indicate color scheme as well.

TEACHING MATH AT SLOAN (MIT)

A logger exchanges a set “L” of lumber for a set “M” of money. The cardinality of set “M” is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set “M.” The set “C,” the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set “M.” Represent the set “C” as a subset of set “M” and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set “P” of profits?

TEACHING MATH AT UNC

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

TEACHING MATH AT DUKE

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question. How did the forest, birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? There are no wrong answers.

TEACHING MATH AT HARVARD

By laying off 402 of its loggers, a company improves its stock price from $80 to $100. How much capital gain per share does the CEO make by exercising his stock options at $80? Assume capital gains are no longer taxed, because this encourages investment. No need for financial analysis.

TEACHING MATH AT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

A company outsources all of its loggers. They save on benefits and when demand for their product is down, the logging work force can easily be cut back. The average logger employed by the company earned $50,000, had three weeks’ vacation, received a nice retirement plan and medical insurance. The contracted logger charges $50 an hour. Was outsourcing a good move? Answer is always YES.

TEACHING MATH AT STANFORD

A logging company exports its wood-finishing jobs to its Indonesian subsidiary and lays off the corresponding half of its Canadian workers (the higher-paid half). It clear-cuts 95% of the forest, leaving the rest for the spotted owl, and lays off all its remaining Canadian workers. It tells the workers that the spotted owl is responsible for the absence of loggable trees and lobbies Parliament for exemption from the Endangered Species Act. Parliament instead exempts the company from all federal regulation. What is the return on investment of the lobbying costs? Extra Credit: DO in conjunction with someone from Public Policy Background.

What’s going on here?

I cannot believe my eyes. Here is a guy we trusted trillions of dollars.

Maybe he read these charts the way he is reading the “America”. Poor guy, from his perspective it all looked alright.

Funny exam answers

My professor posted examples of how people answered some really tough Math questions. Our family had a hearty laugh yesterday. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the use of knowing that I am not the body?

Recently I have been reading the book “I am That”. Here is a question that is very hard to digest for people just learning to walk the path of knowledge (e.g. me).

 

Q: What benefit is there in knowing that I am not the body?

M: Even to say that you are not the body is not quite true. In a way you are all the bodies, hearts and minds and much more. Go deep into the sense of ‘I am’ and you will find. How do you find a thing you have mislaid or forgotten? You keep it in your mind until you recall it. The sense of being, of ‘I am’ is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes, or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the ‘I am’ without moving, you enter a state which cannot be verbalized but can be experienced. All you need to do is try and try again. After all the sense ‘I am’ is always with you, only you have attached all kinds of things to it — body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions etc. All these self-identifications are misleading. Because of them you take yourself to be what you are not.

 

Well that is a very hard pill to digest as-is. Here is my sugarcoating to facilitate a bit of digestion. A Very crude metaphor
J

When I was a kid we used to have Jack fruits in the nearby forest. When you break the fruit from the tree, it oozes a white gooey substance. If you are not careful it can stick to your hand and give you rashes. It seems like the author is suggesting that “body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions etc.“ are like that white gooey substance. They are sticking to our souls. We already have rashes from it (that’s why the suffering). We think we are that gooey substance instead of the hand.

 

 

 

 

Feed hungry people with your clicks

 

Previously I mentioned how kids can learn their Math and English while donating rice to hungry people. With busy schedule, it’s hard for me to play the game. So here is a site where they feed hungry people. All I need to do is click the button and watch their advertisement. I really hope they do what they say.

Mindfulness in Plain English – About Lethargy

I am reading the book. Here is a passage that hit me. It is also really funny if you look at it that way. Very beautifully and skillfully put here:

 
 

“Lethargy: Lethargy comes in various grades and intensities, ranging from slight drowsiness to total torpor. We are talking about a mental state here, not a physical one. Sleepiness or physical fatigue is something quite different and, in the Buddhist system of classification, it would be categorized as a physical feeling. Mental lethargy is closely related to aversion in that it is one of the mind’s clever little ways of avoiding those issues it finds unpleasant. Lethargy is a sort of turn-off of the mental apparatus, a dulling of sensory and cognitive acuity. It is an enforced stupidity pretending to be sleep. This can be a tough one to deal with, because its presence is directly contrary to the employment of mindfulness. Lethargy is nearly the reverse of mindfulness. Nevertheless, mindfulness is the cure for this hindrance, too, and the handling is the same. Note the state of drowsiness when it arises, and note its extent or degree. Note when it arises, how long it lasts, and when it passes away. The only thing special here is the importance of catching the phenomenon early. You have got to get it right at its conception and apply liberal doses of pure awareness right away. If you let it get a start, its growth probably will outpace your mindfulness power. When lethargy wins, the result is the sinking mind and/or sleep.”

 
 

My interpretation:

1. mind’s clever little ways of avoiding those issues it finds unpleasant (e.g. home-work, vacuuming etc.)
2. It is an enforced stupidity pretending to be sleep (no kidding)
3. apply liberal doses of pure awareness right away (Cannot seem to locate my bottle of awareness right when needed)

Countless times I have been a victim. Really nasty creature this lethargy is.

Monthly prayers – for the lazy ones

I could not have thought of this in my dreams. Just pay $3.95 and be done with. No guilt!!

This post uses a little more than sarcasm for the service. Is Bruce the almighty now, with his email server running? Man, that’s a scary thought.

Donate free rice to hungry people and learn while doing so

Here is a site where anybody (espeically kids) can practice their math and english skills and also help donate free rice to less fortunate people. Nice to see that people still care.