James Howard's Tumblr

A Mathematician, a Different Kind of Mathematician, and a Statistician

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I found a big fren! (at George Washington's Mount Vernon) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6nqZjwFvNB/?igshid=1172g27g2b8rh

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INFORMS really has the conference ribbon thing down. #informs2019 #orms https://www.instagram.com/p/B34j-ASgdOs/?igshid=128mkasa3mmqa

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Observed in the wild. #007 (at Columbia, Maryland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3R_BmKpcpt/?igshid=1fhly1bhh1fei

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Cache of Old Syllabi

Cache of Old Syllabi

I recently happened upon a cache of old syllabi for my math courses going to back to the fall of 2014. As these syllabi are centrally developed (more or less) by the course chairs, they generally reflect the state of the course at UMGC/UMUC during each semester. Included here are 15 new syllabi including for courses that I have not posted before:

MATH 108 Trigonometry and Analytical Geometry

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This Post Means Nothing of Consequence

This Post Means Nothing of Consequence

Effective today, I received a promotion at the University of Maryland Global Campus, which until yesterday, is what we called “University of Maryland University College.” I’ve been teaching for 9 years at UMGC, and was promoted to Adjunct Assistant Professor in 2015. In case you want to know what this means, I think this comic summarizes it nicely.

http://phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1927

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I Got a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Science!

I Got a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Science!

Apparently, these things come as PDFs now!

Anyway, for the last couple of years I’ve taken a few classes here and there at the [Johns Hopkins School of Engineering]() and completed the master of science program in environmental engineering and science. Since I finished the doctoral program at UMBC writing ultimately about environmental policy, I found it helpful to have a stronger…

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[k3jph]

Understanding Radioactive Exposure

Like a lot of people, I’ve been watching the HBO miniseries, Chernobyl:

https://www.hbo.com/chernobyl

In fact, I subscribed to HBO for this, rather than Game of Thrones, which I still have not seen. Anyway, the miniseries is remarkable and while we know it took some liberties with reality in order to facilitate the story, those liberties have generally held to the spirit of the story. For…

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How Data Science Happens

How Data Science Happens

I have a chapter in our planned book, Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research. In this book, co-edited with Prof. Natalie Scala, our authors explore the fundamentals of operations research in a military context. From our call for chapters:

Operations research (OR) is a core discipline in military and defense management. Coming to the forefront initially during World War II, OR…

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[exotericenvironmentalism]

I recently blogged an infographic on the impacts of pollution (responsible for at least 9 million premature deaths per year around the world- 16% of the global total), which is based on a study published in the the Lancet Journal.

These images from National Geographic (via this Guardian piece) convey some of the issues of air, water and soil pollution in a different format- ie in photographs. While the infographic, and the study that informs it, provide textual and numerical representations on the issue, imagery (and other forms of the visual arts) can be powerful and effective ways of communicating such ideas and issues.

Notably this relates to the format and an underpinning theme of the excellent book ‘Big World Small Planet’ by Johan Rockström and Mattias Klum which I am currently reading, that explores issues of environmental sustainability and planetary boundaries through combining science and art- information and analysis as well as photography and graphics.   

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Don't make me bust out the hose.

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Today, Chase and I went to a chess tournament hosted at Baltimore Western High School. What we encountered was tragic, and I post without further comment, a photoessay of the two rooms we were in.

Well, almost. There was also no hot water.

[sce-deactivated20180316]

What Are Those Balls That Hang on Power Lines?

Have you ever seen those big yellow, orange, white or red balls hanging from power lines and wondered what they’re used for?

They’re called visibility marker balls or marker balls. You’ll often find them near mountain passes, in the deep valley areas, near major freeway crossings and around airports. They weight about 17 pounds each. 

The marker balls are placed on power lines to make the conductor crossings visible to aircraft. Helicopters and small aircraft often fly low in mountain passes or freeways and usually fly low while approaching an airport.

When you are flying, the conductors and skyline become almost invisible against the terrain—especially the skyline wires.

Many of the marker balls are required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), like the ones near airports.

Over the years, Southern California Edison has also identified areas that are particularly hard to see.

Next time you’re driving past a marker ball, remember that they’re used for the safety of the flying aircraft and to protect the electrical infrastructure.

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It's really awesome Southern California Edison has a Tumblr with answers to neat questions on it.

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Where do I sign up?

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A Mathematician, a Different Kind of Mathematician, and a Statistician

[k3jph]

I keep seeing that we should not accommodate transgendered people because they are only 0.3 percent of the population. But a child is more likely to be transgendered than a professional football player, and we are keeping the high school’s stadium.

[k3jph]

The suspense is terrible. I hope it’ll last.

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Well, I posted it before. It suddenly seems relevant again.

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I have no idea what to make of this captcha