Why Study Math? Here's Why.

I could have used this when I was in school. Unfortunately, I was in a family that "was never good at math" As a result(OK, I'm not going not blame it all on them), I never really excelled at math.
In college, I roomed with a Grad Student who switched from Physics to Mathematics.
At that level, math is closer to religion than anything else...A really goofy, freaky religion.
At any rate, a Norwegian Professor has compiled a list of 12 Reasons to Study Math.
I like the opening paragraph in which he notes that in the "developed" world, students see math as too difficult and boring, and as a result, study it less. What does this mean for the West?I am printing these 12 steps and hanging in the dining room where my daughters do their homework. They may come from a family that "was never good at math" either, but that doesn't mean they won't be!

Evolving

I Saw this on Gizmodo today and it reminded me of the Old, Sad Things site I sent to Paracelsus rambles a while back.
Why I should be sad, I don't know. Capitalism is about competition; winners and losers. In most cases, the losers get slapped by the Invisible Hand if they can't keep up, not that Faber-Castell
didn't try to keep up, but you know what I mean. It's just that in retrospect, you see how pitiful and/or misguided their attempts were.
It also got me thinking about typewriters. Yes, I am old enough to rememeber those...In college, I had a typewriter,a Brother. They
too tried to bridge the gap, with goofy little LCD screens and on-board dictionaries. Amazingly, they still make typewriters and, yes, they still have on-board dictionaries and the silly little LCD's. Their Australian site explains why someone would choose a typewriter, citing the need to produce professional documents, without "the cost and complexity of a PC". Meh, they may have a point. Just wondering when they too will go the way of the rotary phone.
Hey, imagine the "bridge" version of a rotary phone!

AWOL

Yes, well, I have been remiss in my posting recently. One noteworthy thing is that my Brother-in-law, who has an extensive construction background, was visiting and offered to help on the horrible home lighting project...The result? He was as unsuccessful as I! And he knows what he's doing!
What needs to be done now is to kick down some quid for a proper electrician to fix it...I'm washing my hands of the damn thing.