Kingfish

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


Remember, I never said that people who did get this were old.
But at least you aren't Older than Radio.

New Facebook *Page* (not a Group)

I took me quite a while after getting on Facebook to learn how to make a Facebook fan page for (x, why?). I finally made one earlier this summer.

...Except that I made a "Group" and not a "Page". Like I knew the difference?

Well, now I know. I think. And from what I can tell, there is no way to change a "group" into a "page", so I had to create a new one. Again.

The (x, why?) page is here.

Early Bird

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


Sponsored by Save the Worms: those marigolds aren't going to measure themselves, 'kay.

Speed

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


On the equator, we'd be moving even faster, but that would be out of his jurisdiction.

Tai Chi

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


With a spoonerism of sugar, please.

I jotted this one down months ago, just before final exams, when I knew I wouldn't have time to work on it. (There's a teacher who comes in early and practices in an empty classrom...)
I wish I had remembered it when Will Shortz had his Spoonerism competition recently. I have to check my notes more often.

And these images are based on some that I saw online, only without Kenny going through the motions.

Motivational Poster: Friends and Barstools

I made a motivation poster out of yesterday's comic. Click on the image to go to the flick page.

2 XL

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


Friends: they're always there to support you.

Google Calculator: Celsius Degrees and Square Dollars

In the past few days, I've seen images from Google calculator pop up on MathFail.com, as well as on digg, reddit and elsewhere. The image shows the following equation:

(0 degrees Celsius) + (0 degrees Celsius) = 273.15 degrees Celsius

Cut and paste the left side of the equation into Google if you don't believe it. Done? Okay.

While this might seem outrageous at first, it isn't the answer that's incorrect. It's the question. Google's calculator tried to parse it the best that it could.

Try either one of these and see what you get:
(0 degrees Celsius) + (0 Celsius degrees)
(0 Celsius degrees) + (0 Celsius degrees)

See the difference. The calculator does, too. One Celsius degree is not the same as one degree Celsius. The former is a unit of temperature; the latter is an actual temperature reading.

The first equation represents two positions on a scale. Those positions could just as well be named New York City and St. Louis. You couldn't add those two values together. However, if they had values on that scale, you could subtract them to find a displacement; i.e., how far apart they are. And the original equation could be changed to subtraction and yield a correct answer.

This brings me to a tip that I give my students, usually when reviewing percents (sales tax) and Order of Operations. I tell them that you can add dollar amounts, subtract them, or even divide them (in which case, have them notice that they lost the dollar sign and have them explain that back to me). However, if you ever find yourself multiplying two dollar amounts. Stop! You're most likely doing something wrong.

Which brings me to this graphic that I created, using Google's calculator:


What are square dollars? That's silly! Our dollars are rectangles.

Identity Matrix

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


He works alone, because there's no I in TEAM.

Forgotten Something

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


And Happy Birthday to everyone out there having one today. You see, I haven't forgotten anything, either.

15 Great Geeky Web Comic Strips

Well, I may have made the Top 50 Blogs for Math Majors, but I didn't make the cut for 15 Great Geeky Web Comic Strips.

Something to shoot for.

The Time Machine

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


And you know that she isn't mad. She's just so disappointed.

Redshirts

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


Scotty always came back all right, missing nary a wee finger.

Celtic Castle Clan

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(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


You need all 500 members of your immediate social circle to join in if you wish to succeed in this online environment.

And Happy 8/9/10!

Top 10 Stumbles

I was looking at my Google Analytics numbers, which I expected to be depressing because I've taken a lot of time off lately, and there was a little bit of a silver lining. There was not only a pick-up in the number of stumbles sent by Stumbleupon, but the number of pages (other than the main site) had increased dramatically. So much so that I can list the Top Ten because there were more than ten on the list.


1. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20090223.html
2. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20100624.html
3. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20091028.html
4. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20100526.html
5. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20091104.html
6. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20100331.html
7. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20080709.html
8. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20091019.html
9. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20091007.html
10. http://xwhy.comicgenesis.com/d/20100708.html

I'm happy that "Electron Day, Part 2" dropped to the fifth most popular. I don't know why that one gets so many views. I'll be the first to admit that it isn't my best work.

New Facebook Page for (x, why?)

Had I known what to do last summer, I would have created a page instead of an account for this comic. I've gotten around to correcting that.

The facebook page is at
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=115517511833400&v=wall

and you should be able to hit the "Join" button and join immediately without waiting for me to approve anything.

Polar Coordinates

(Click on the cartoon to see the entire image.)
(C)Copyright 2010, C. Burke. All rights reserved.


I don't know about 10^6 of them, but we have 500 of them.
Even if I've done this gag once before.

500th Comic coming up tomorrow

I've been enjoying summer and spacing out the comics because I knew number 500 was coming. It'll be here tomorrow. Now I'm wondering if I have another 500 in me.