Category Archives: Fun

A Cool Math Blog

Posted on September 27, 2012 by

Matt Henderson of Cambridge (UK) has a terrific math blog that is full of very cool animations. Here is an example, showing that the infinite geometric series 1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + … adds to 1/3: His latest post … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Graphic Presentation, Math | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

David Brode

Posted on September 19, 2012 by

David Brode is a financial modeler in Boulder, Colorado.  An avid puzzle solver, he found this blog while searching for puzzles online.  He was intrigued by the puzzles and was curious to see a kindred spirit in Colorado.  David called … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #7: The Mysterious Islands

Posted on August 25, 2012 by

Many years ago, a large jetliner crashed into the ocean.  No one could ever find the plane or any of its passengers or crew.  The outside world did not know that there were many survivors.  They made their way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Puzzles | Tagged , , | 26 Comments

Puzzle #6: Treasury Debt

Posted on June 4, 2012 by

Last week was historic for U.S. Treasury debt.  The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped below 1.44% to its lowest level ever, and the total debt held by the public* rose to $11,006,251,094,374.26. Some might argue that $11 trillion in public … Continue reading →

Posted in Bonds, Economics, Fun, Math | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Thinking is the Enemy of Innovation

Posted on April 1, 2012 by

In honor of today, here is management guru L. Vaughan Spencer:

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Puzzle #5 (Answer): Leaping to Conclusions

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

Puzzle #5: A Royal Mystery posed the following question: Gregory was born on a Monday in New York City.  His father sent out Western Union telegrams to announce the birth.  The family later moved to London.  On his seventh birthday, … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #5: A Royal Mystery

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

Gregory was born on a Monday in New York City.  His father sent out Western Union telegrams to announce the birth.  The family later moved to London.  On his seventh birthday, which was also a Monday, the boy saw the … Continue reading →

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From 2D to 3D

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

AgentSheets is a dynamic system that is analogous to a traditional spreadsheet, but instead of formulas there are “agents.”  The agents can  represent people, animals, cars, trees or anything that moves or changes.  The user programs their behavior graphically, and then the agents interact with … Continue reading →

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Quasi-random Christmas Trees

Posted on January 9, 2012 by

When I studied mathematical finance at Oxford, one of the classes introduced me to a topic that still fascinates me: quasi-random numbers. Quasi-random numbers differ from the better-known pseudorandom numbers, and not just because of the hyphen. “Quasi” means “almost” while “pseudo” … Continue reading →

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Play the Monty Hall Game

Posted on August 10, 2011 by

Stay or Switch is an entertaining new site devoted to the “Monty Hall” problem. Here’s the game: There are 3 doors.  Each door conceals a prize: an expensive car or one of two goats.  The prizes have been placed randomly.  You want the … Continue reading →

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