Category Archives: Fun

Quasi-random Christmas Trees: at the Movies

Posted on December 26, 2012 by

In Quasi-random Christmas Trees, I applied quasi-random numbers to the decoration of Christmas trees.  Quasi-random patterns can be used to arrange ornaments without bunching them together or leaving large blank spaces (problems that typical random numbers can cause).  You don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Math | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Puzzle #8: James Bond

Posted on November 11, 2012 by

Few know that a scene was cut from the James Bond movie Goldfinger.  Bond has been captured by Goldfinger and is strapped tightly to a large turntable.  Bond’s feet are at the center of the platter and his head rests … Continue reading →

Posted in Bonds, Fun, Math, Puzzles | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A New(?) Way to Visualize Numbers

Posted on October 1, 2012 by

After I saw Matt Henderson’s visual demonstration of how the geometric series 1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 . . . adds to 1/3, I thought about how to generalize this for any geometric series. This led to a way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Graphic Presentation, Math, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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