Dear Mefites, a long time ago I got a degree in graphic design but never worked in the industry. Along the way I somehow (don't remember how or why or when) became interested in math and I finished a
graduate diploma in maths as a distance learning course in my free time. I am considering applying for masters programmes in maths or related subjects but ... can I? Should I?
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posted by Cat Set Go
on Mar 31, 2013 -
10 answers
Mathematics-filter: If there are seven funds with various charges, how can I work out the allocation to these funds of a fixed amount so that the weighted mean charge is below a certain level and the allocations are of similar sizes?
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posted by djgh
on Dec 31, 2012 -
13 answers
Can you think of a method that allows an individual to pseudo randomly create a sequence of numbers (at the very least the randomness is opaque to the minds of other people) assuming said individual may only use his mind and body (no physical tools are allowed)?
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posted by Foci for Analysis
on Dec 21, 2012 -
7 answers
A colleague alluded to a passage from Sherlock Holmes where all the evidence is re-written as formal logic propositions, leading to a mathematical solution that matches Holmes' solution (and is far from trivial). Does anyone else know where I could find this passage?
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posted by Anon Ymous
on Dec 12, 2012 -
11 answers
Say that I have a bag which contains 100 balls and every ball in the bag should be red, but it's possible that one or more of these balls is the wrong colour. How many balls should I look at to be 90% sure that all the balls are red? Or 95%? Or 99.9%? Talk me through how to work this out, please?
posted by xchmp
on Nov 12, 2012 -
14 answers
I know the price of something now and what the price was 2 years ago - how do I calculate that as an annual percentage increase?
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posted by jontyjago
on Oct 19, 2012 -
12 answers
I'm looking to learn how to calculate probabilities for a multi-round dice game. I've researched this question some, and it looks like I might need to know how to use the multinomial distribution, but I can't find any good introductions. Please point me to the most layman-accessible educational material on this subject, and help me to help myself.
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posted by Richard Daly
on Sep 28, 2012 -
6 answers
Maths (math) people of the US: I need your help in working out if certain British conventions would be understood or standard in the US classroom.
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posted by cincinnatus c
on Jul 10, 2012 -
15 answers
After tens of thousands of games of pool, every time I rack the balls I seem to switch about half of them around. I know I'm wasting time. So, I want to know exactly how many balls I should
normally expect to swap (the median), and what is the most I should
ever have to swap. For those of you who aren't pool nerds like me, I've explained the 8-ball racking process inside.
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posted by omnigut
on Apr 4, 2012 -
19 answers
What is the difference between floating point accuracy and precision?
posted by conrad101
on Jan 2, 2012 -
10 answers
My son, who is finishing up third grade, loves math and especially the basic Algebra he's been doing. He is actually sad to be leaving school for the summer because he's so into it. How can I keep this going for him over the summer? Fun books, board games, computer (on-line and OSX) games?
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posted by bondcliff
on Jun 8, 2011 -
42 answers
Can you cite any examples where a technological breakthrough wasn't possible until there was some sort of mathematical breakthrough?
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posted by Brian Puccio
on Apr 6, 2011 -
32 answers
Help me understand the efficacy of a headbutt as an offensive opening gambit in a bout of fisticuffs...
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posted by dougrayrankin
on Feb 24, 2011 -
27 answers
Which probability distribution should I use to model examination results?
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posted by alby
on Jan 13, 2011 -
13 answers
Maths-filter: please recommend some good resources (books, sites, software) for learning about numerical simulations of large (like 20+ dimensional) dynamical systems, especially in continuous time.
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posted by moorooka
on Dec 21, 2010 -
3 answers
But Sir, what is x? Teaching students algebra for the first time. They keep wanting to put values in for x, and write that down.
E.g. x + x = . Becomes 1 + 1 = 2, in their books. Whereas I want x + x = 2x.
Does anyone have any strategies, or techniques to overcome this?
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posted by 92_elements
on Nov 11, 2010 -
23 answers
Statistics! I need to use them at work, but over the past few years numbers seem to make my head spin. Any tips for parsing them? Any recommended books for someone who only scraped a C at GCSE Maths?
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posted by mippy
on Oct 20, 2010 -
6 answers
Help! I need (in a hurry) to put my matlab images into a latex document. I'm exporting them as eps files, but when I put them in the latex file, all the text (legends and axis labels) have vanished. I can't find a solution on google. I can't use jpg instead because it looks crap. Why is the text in my eps file not showing up??
posted by moorooka
on Sep 7, 2010 -
8 answers
Where can I find a proof for the strong order of convergence of the Euler-Maruyama or Milstein schemes used to model stochastic differential equations?
posted by moorooka
on Aug 29, 2010 -
4 answers
If I multiply 1¢ by 10¢ I get 10¢? However, if I use the same monetary amounts and express them as dollars and then multiply them: I get $0.01 * $0.10 = $0.001, which is obviously a different answer to 10¢.
I know this is wrong and but how and why?
posted by therubettes
on Jul 26, 2010 -
18 answers
I have a list of 6 items. I need to make a list of unique combinations where 3 items are taken from the list in any order and the 4th item is also taken from the same list but cannot be one of the 3 items already selected
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posted by missmagenta
on Jun 18, 2010 -
13 answers
I have a list of 10 questions to help prepare for an exam. Of these 10 questions, 6 will be selected for the exam paper. Of the 6 on the exam paper I need to choose 3 to write an essay on. How many do I ACTUALLY need to research to be okay on the day?
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posted by nothing too obvious
on Jun 10, 2010 -
8 answers
Wolframm's "A New Kind of Science" is a very thick book that would require a significant investment of time to read through. I'm interested in the computational modeling of complex adaptive systems and have heard it recommended as an interesting read. I've also seen it described as a huge load of crap. Is it worth the bother?
posted by moorooka
on Mar 28, 2010 -
12 answers
I've annoyed myself by getting stuck attempting to work out a silly maths problem relating to permutations. It's an extension of the 'how many odd socks do I have to pull out of a drawer before I find a pair' problem. Only my theoretical sock-wearer has three legs. And a penchant for odd socks.
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posted by Beautiful Screaming Lady
on Sep 1, 2009 -
7 answers
Ive been tearing my hair out trying to work out a mathematical formula for a sequence of numbers I have. Have a look inside and tell me if you see a pattern.
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posted by phyle
on Aug 16, 2009 -
18 answers
If something takes 2 hours to complete and is then re-run and takes only 1 hour ... is that 100% quicker or 50% quicker?
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posted by cantthinkofone
on Aug 13, 2009 -
73 answers
Optimisation problem: trying to find the subset of my data that meets a couple of constraints.
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posted by muhonnin
on Jun 14, 2009 -
18 answers
I am trying to fit my data onto a sigmoidal function. The fit won't be perfect, but I am stuck with it for now.
To help with this, I have been (very generously) given a spreadsheet that creates a sigmoidal curve if the values a, b, x0 and x are known. How do I get these values?
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posted by doctor.dan
on May 24, 2009 -
8 answers
Interested to know more about the 'numbers' in JS Bach's music. Sometime ago I heard a radio programme about how some of Bachs music had patterns in which could be viewed as significant outside of what the music sounded like.
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posted by southof40
on Apr 13, 2009 -
10 answers
Best books, websites, lecture series on game theory and its applications for smart people who understand mathematics but can't stand trawling through pages of unnecessary complex formulae?
posted by vizsla
on Jan 26, 2009 -
8 answers
GISfilter -- I have a PostGIS table containing spatial data in the form of a few thousand shapefiles. Anybody know a quick way I can move *all* of them by about 40 metres?
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posted by genghis
on Jan 10, 2009 -
11 answers
Applied Math Filter: Help me use math!
I'd like to learn more about mathematics and it's practical applications - particularly in Computer Science
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posted by dcbarker
on Aug 1, 2008 -
13 answers
How can I help my 6 1/2 year old son to *get* maths? It hasn't clicked with him at all and I find myself getting frustrated with having to repeat really basic stuff when helping him with his homework. I'm not a maths genius myself and I really don't want to put him off by getting cranky because he's just not getting it. How do I help him get it?
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posted by h00py
on Jul 30, 2008 -
35 answers
I am useless at mathematics. If company A grows at 5% a month, how much bigger is it after one year?
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posted by dydecker
on Jun 13, 2008 -
7 answers
