#divergence test

[17matboy]

Test for the Geometric Series, The convergence of the geometric series depends on the value of the common ratio r.

[testsubject002]

Okay so for school I'm reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and I thought this thing he talked about, the "brick and blanket test", was really cool, so I decided to try it. The idea is that you write down as many things you can think of using a brick or a blanket for, it's actually pretty fun.

Brick:

break a window, break anything, like a coconut, hit someone over the head, keep someone from walking by smashing their feet, steady a really wobbly table, if it has holes, you can put it in a terrarium for little animals to live in, as a paperweight, a doorstop, a hammer, to kill spiders with, throw it and search for land mines, as a pumice or whatever those shower rock things are called, file your nails down, you could probably use the edge to tear the scales off a fish, to measure small distances (maybe its exactly 8 inches long etc), you could probably use it to carve warnings into a wall for future residents, or just break open the wall with it and maybe you'll find treasure or rats, if you set it in the sun you might be able to cook on it here in Texas, as a threatening projectile, you can keep it in your purse and really confuse someone who wants to attack you, you could probably balance it on your head to improve your posture, to make hills in a diorama

Blanket:

keep warm, cover someone's face like if they're dead, blind someone, protection from the monsters under the bed, smother someone, strangle someone, trip someone, stop the bleeding when someone smashes your foot with a brick, drying yourself, clean up stuff, as a flag, to carry things in, to sit on grass or something, to breathe through in a dust storm, as a photography backdrop, as a pet's chew toy, keep dangerous gasses in our out of a room, as a child's comfort item, soak it in nutrients and eat out of it (like that guy in hitchhiker's guide with a towel full of antidepressants), a group of kids can hold it like a rope so they don't get lost, measure the size of a room (it is 2.5 lengths so that's how much wallpaper I need), use it as a ghost costume or a toga, wear it to Buckingham palace or comfort someone in shock (I'm not even sorry), as spare cloth for patching up clothes, swaddling a baby, as curtains, as a sail on a small raft boat, cushion the bottom of a pet carrier

[hintofcinnamon]

Brick & Blanket

Ok so I'm reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and pretty far I think it's kind of interesting. Not something I'd usually read.  I have to read it for school though... ANYWAYS.  There was this part on page 86 and it mentioned something called a "divergence test" and it really stood out to me.  This is when you are given an object and have to come up with as many different uses as you can for it.  I stopped at this point and pondered when it gave the two objects of a brick and blanket.  I am really quick thinking on my feet and I am very creative. Here is what I came up with in less than 20 minutes. (I didn't steal any ideas!!)

Brick: You can hit people with it when they try to rob you, smash it into pieces with a hammar for enjoyment, you can use it as a stepping stone in a garden, build a house with it, use it as an umbrella if that's all you have for shelter from the rain, you could kill yourself with it by overdosing and knocking yourself unconscious.  You can also paint it yellow and pretend you're in the Wizard of Oz. You can tape it to the bottom of your shoes to give you extra height. You can put it on your back and pretend you're a turtle; or some animal making a delivery.  You can stack a brick on a brick. You can also throw it in the pool and rip the liner.  You could cut yourself with the edge. You can also see how long you can balance on top of it for entertainment. You could see how many things you could tie around it with ducktape.  You can use it as a weight and see how high you can lift it.  (Give it to a baby and see if they can hold it.)  

Blanket: You could strangle someone with it, wrap a puppy in it after it comes back indoors from the rain, use it for warmth, tie it around your neck and run around, roll it up and stick it in your pants and run around pretending you're a cat, you can sit on it and pretend you're having a picnic with yourself, you can cut it with scissors and make the shapes into animals and give it to people as gifts, you can get another blanket and cut the sides and tie them to form one ultra blanket, you can put it over your head and pretend you're an Indian, you can wrap you and another person up in it and snuggle and you can also cover a stack of Christmas presents with it.  You can write on it in permanent marker and use it as a sign at a foot ball game. You can also bring it to a midnight showing of a movie theater and wrap yourself when the theater gets warm.  You can wrap yourself around in it and roll across mud so you don't have to get it on your feet. You could also cut and sew it together to make a snuggie or a robe, or you could wrap it around yourself in the middle of summer (trying to be funny). My final use for the blanket is that you can tie it around two trees close together and use it as a hammock for a small animal.