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teadawg1337
teadawg1337
12:03 AM
I was expecting question quality to rise over the holidays, but it's actually gone WAY down...
 
Behaviour
Behaviour
@teadawg1337 You answered 8 questions all time, the most recent of your answers being "ways to write 50".
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Behaviour Your point being? I enjoy a little bit of recreational mathematics every now and then
 
Behaviour
Behaviour
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
It's too hard
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Behaviour I sincerely apologize for not meeting your standards for MSE, I'll be sure to be 100% super serious about everything from now on.
The things I put up with...
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
12:18 AM
really I swear some of these problems are meant for PhDs
wow and when I come back to chat everyone is gone
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx Well, PhDs cannot do IMO questions, doesn't matter, lol.
@DonLarynx Now someone is gonna come and flag that, lol.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
lol
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Behaviour You know, the only two times you've interacted with me in chat involved giving me crap about something I did. How about you just take a chill pill? I want no quarrel with thee
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@teadawg1337 Is a fight going to start?
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Jasper No, I'm resisting temptation.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
12:29 AM
@teadawg1337 I am also trying to figure out Behaviour. I don't know him well enough now to figure out anything.
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Jasper My main point above is that implying someone screwed up by posting an answer to a question they found interesting is completely uncalled for
I'm probably gonna get flagged and temporarily banned from this chatroom, lol. W/e
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@teadawg1337 It's interesting how you use thee instead of you.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
Maybe he's just envious @teadawg1337
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@teadawg1337 Well, I doubt it.
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@JasperLoy Imo, "thee" fits better in that sentence than "you" :P
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
12:35 AM
@teadawg1337 I am thinking that maybe you are into reading the bible. Because you use thee and temptation, lol.
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Jasper I'm the opposite of religious
I just have an expansive vocabulary, that's all
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
There was once I said I hated animals, and someone said he wished I would die a terrible death. He got flagged.
I think he was being serious, so I did not disagree with the flag.
He should know that saying I hate animals doesn't mean I like to torture animals. There is a big difference.
It's a bit like saying I hate ice cream.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@teadawg1337 I have a very small vocab. I don't read anything at all.
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Jasper I don't read anything either, except math textbooks xD
I absorb information through osmosis, that's why I have such a good vocabulary
(and yes, I realize I used that word incorrectly)
(it's part of the joke)
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
12:41 AM
@teadawg1337 Why is it used incorrectly?
 
teadawg1337
teadawg1337
@Jasper Oh, I guess I did use it correctly... I confuse osmosis and diffusion a lot when I'm really tired
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@teadawg1337 Now that you mention both osmosis and diffusion, I am confused too, lol.
 
beginner
beginner
12:58 AM
What is special physically or geometrically about a topology?
IS NOONEQbre
Is no one here?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@beginner Nothing.
 
beginner
beginner
Then why do we care for them?
Why do they get their own field?
Why do we want to have something that holds all of its finite unions and intersections/ what is so special about that?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
Your question is very vague, to begin with.
 
beginner
beginner
Do you dislike me Jasper??
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
To understand the motivation for a topological space, you may first want to understand what a metric space is.
 
beginner
beginner
1:05 AM
It is a space based on distances between all points
But I don't know the math for it
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
People generalise things, from Euclidean space to normed space to metric space and then to topological space.
 
beginner
beginner
What does Euclidean normed and metric fail to describe that topology succeeds?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
Because structures naturally arise that are no longer in the smaller domain of spaces.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@beginner...why is math useful? why is eating useful? why is talking useful? why, for god sakes, are abelian finite napkin dimorphisms useful?
 
beginner
beginner
I don't want useful for real life, I essentially want to know the chain of reason, like with natural numbers, to negatives, to rationals, real numbers, complex numbers
But with topology being built because x,y,z failed
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
1:08 AM
You may read Wikipedia first. It's very good for math.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
the study of geometric properties and spatial relations unaffected by the continuous change of shape or size of figures.
how do you feel about that statement @beginner?
see, that's one more reason why I studied math instead of English. Wikipedia aint got nothing on English.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx Napkin?
 
beginner
beginner
So it is about maintaining the object? Like the video I watched about inverting the sphere, we are looking at certain changes that don't stop us from mathematically seein the sphere?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@beginner No, I don't. I just think your parents are too strict for grounding you, lol.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I was just blowing into and out of a plastic bottle, now my head feels like its oscillating.
 
beginner
beginner
1:11 AM
I yelled at my mum, if it were my dad it would have been fine
My mum wasn't upset but my dad was
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@beginner: it can be really useful when you consider functions. for example, does one function preserve the one-to-one and onto properties if it is applied to another space?
 
beginner
beginner
So we are passing bijectivity to other spaces?
Do we worry about homomorphisms or isomorphisms still?
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
Let me give you a simpler example
 
beginner
beginner
Ok I didn't see that omen gnough
one though
Ted are you a algebraic geometer?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
a differential geometric sort, yeah, @beginner, although I'm not much of anything any more :P
 
beginner
beginner
1:18 AM
Did you already retire??
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
no, 5 more months
 
beginner
beginner
You will always be our professor here(hopefully in our opinion)
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Are you learning what all the fields of math are, @beginner?
 
beginner
beginner
Yeah I am trying to understand the reason for topology
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
what do you mean by "the reason for"? and what do you mean by "topology"?
 
beginner
beginner
1:21 AM
like with rational numbers we had a problem, so we made the reals and then we had problems so we made the complex numbers
What problems did we have in earlier spaces that made us work on topological spaces
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
well, there's a different viewpoint to your algebra progression ...
Suppose you started with a continuous function on $\Bbb Q$ that was negative at $a$ and positive at $b$ ... must it be $0$ somewhere in between?
 
beginner
beginner
Oh did I get it wrong
Yes it must
The intermediate value theorem I think
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Or suppose you have a continuous function ... must it have a max and a min? Well, no, not necessarily. So you discover that you need properties on your domain in order to get these results.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@beginner that only applies for $\Bbb{R}$
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
The intermediate value theorem won't work on $\Bbb Q$. Consider $f(x)=x^2-2$.
 
beginner
beginner
1:24 AM
Oh woops
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
So my first question leads you to define connectedness and my second question leads you to define compactness and soon you're trying to deal with more complicated spaces and wonder if they have these properties ... and it goes from there ...
 
evinda
evinda
Hey @TedShifrin :)
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
hi @evinda
 
beginner
beginner
But that means we had limitations that we circumvented, what did we not like with the metric space and the Euclidon space?
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
"no, 5 more months," he replied begrudgingly. @Ted :)
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:26 AM
I don't think "begrudgingly" is a word, @Kaj. And what did you mean?
 
evinda
evinda
@TedShifrin Could you take a look at this?
http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1078697/the-points-are-mathbbz-linearly-dependent
Is the substitution the only method to show what I am supposed to?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@KajHansen I am now wearing the same stupid hat as you.
 
beginner
beginner
I thought it meant that you did it sadly without motivation
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Hmmm, now I'll have to think of a synonym for what I meant...
 
beginner
beginner
Sadly without motivation @kaj??
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:28 AM
Well, we're naturally led to far more interesting spaces, @beginner. Infinite dimensions, curves spaces, etc. What if I identify points $(x,y)$, $(x',y')$ in $\Bbb R^2$ to one another if $xy=x'y'$. What is the collection of identified points looking like?
Sadly without motivation?
 
beginner
beginner
I thought that is what begrudgingly meant
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@evinda: That isn't for me, sorry.
I don't begrudge you success, @beginner :)
 
beginner
beginner
:)
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
But I think as a modifier of me, it needs to be "grudging(ly)" :P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Ugh, English is hard
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:30 AM
This is why Azoff only got a C in it, @Kaj :P But I did better :D
 
beginner
beginner
:P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
This reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask you for some time @Ted
 
evinda
evinda
@@TedShifrin A ok... :) Do you maybe have an idea about the following?
http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1078757/how-could-we-show-that-the-abelian-group-has-text-rank-0
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@evinda: I don't do characteristic $p$ geometry ...
You need to start asking your own teacher stuff.
 
evinda
evinda
@TedShifrin A ok.. :)
 
beginner
beginner
1:31 AM
I have to go, my parents are taking me somewhere in 5 min :(. I will copy what you said to a notepad and think about it thanks ted!!
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Be well, @beginner, and don't fight with your parents ;)
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
In learning French, I'm rather confused about when it's appropriate to use "on" vs. "nous". Is there any convention in that regard? From context clues, it seems like one would be more likely to use "on" in the royal sense, as in the royal "we" in English.
 
r9m
r9m
@DanielFischer I think I was wrong !! my latest question was well recieved :) I got 2 fantastic answers ! :D
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Right, or just "one" in English.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Ok, so I do have the correct interpretation?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:32 AM
The royal we often sounds condescending in English, @Kaj. Using "on" in French is not nearly so.
You should ask @Hippa sometime. He's an actual Frenchman, although he tries to pretend he isn't :P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Interesting. I'll have to talk to him next time he's on :D
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Well, he's an actual French kid :D
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Important distinction! haha
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Did you pass French, @Kaj?
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Of course! It was a hard course too; I'm glad it's over. I took that accelerated version that combines two semesters into one.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:35 AM
Well, you had no choice, because you had 2+ years in high school.
You still have one more semester, so don't relax yet.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
It was probably the hardest non-math course I've taken at UGA. Really felt like we were flying through the material.
True, true
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Well, at least your math training should make you a better student than 99% of people on campus :P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I hope so, haha. By far the hardest part was keeping all the irregular verb conjugations straight in my head.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@TedShifrin Sometimes, the more one can think, the more one suffers in this sick world.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Well, @Jasper, Mike Spivak sank himself into his book writing so as not to think about how depressed he was. It took years to bounce out of it.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
1:39 AM
@TedShifrin I didn't know he is a loonie too, lol.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@Kaj: I always found I could "hear" conjugations, etc., in my mind ... I don't know if you have an ear for language, but I memorized relatively little.
Not so much in later life, @Jasper, but, yes, very much so in the early days.
In his case, @Jasper, it was largely sexuality-based.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@TedShifrin Is he gay too?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Yup.
 
skullpatrol
skullpatrol
Do you know any programming languages Professor @TedShifrin?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
I know some LaTeX, if it is considered one, lol.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:42 AM
I've had to learn a little Perl to write hundreds of WeBWork problems, @skull. I can program in Mathematica, which apparently is somewhat similar to C(+) ... I studied some FOCAL and Fortran back in the 60's ...
I don't think LaTeX counts as programming ... although plain TeX will do simple programs (like list primes if you teach it to) ...
I hope our new mods are still alive :P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I can't remember if I mentioned it already, but point-set has $9$ people next semester. I'm pretty excited about the small class size.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Well, I hope a few are registered at the 6000-level or it won't run ...
I don't remember if any of my advisees are in at the 6000-level.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I'm just in the 4000 level myself, but I've been tempted to bump up into the 6000 level in either that or complex.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
well, sorry to discriminate, but only Honors can do that ...
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
That's what I figured, but I'm sure strings can be pulled somewhere or the other :P

At any rate, next semester is high-stakes for me. I'll be trying to solidify a letter from Dr. Graham and maybe also from Dr. Clark.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:49 AM
Good idea ...
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
I guess it's time to apply for REUs?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Yup, it is ... I've just been writing/submitting recommendations for literally 11 people for grad school. I don't look forward to the REU stuff soon...
@Kaj: Someone gave me 1's across the board on evals in probability :P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Any writing to go along with it? Or just someone with a chip on their shoulder?
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@TedShifrin I don't see why math programs don't rely more on interviews.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Can't tell ... One person wrote a bitter comment. Another said I wouldn't care what he/she wrote because I'm retiring.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
1:52 AM
It was me, @Ted
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@Alex: Because we don't link to labs/grant support the way the experimental sciences do.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
Not the comments, the 1s
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
This reminds me of those silly RateMyProfessors things. I've definitely had pretty good professors with terrible reviews on that site.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Wait 'til you see what I said about your bungling Taylor series, @Mike ...
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@TedShifrin how does that affect interviewing?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:53 AM
Generally, only people who love or who hate bother with RateMyProfessor. I've had pretty positive ones there. The one negative one seems to have disappeared a few years ago.
@Alex: I think bio/physical sciences interview to align people with particular labs/advisers. In math we don't link support or admission to a particular lab or adviser.
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@KajHansen I encourage my students to slam me on there after evaluations. If people are checking to RMP to see which professor is easiest, they probably ain't gonna like my class.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Of course, math programs do have visitation days and the contacts prospective students make may influence decisions for either the university or the student @Alex.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
That's how I am with professor evals. I know it's a terrible practice, but I'm only ever inspired to write anything in the evaluation when the professor has had a wonderfully positive impact on me.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
So you wrote a glowing eval on analysis, @Kaj?
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@TedShifrin I see, so, you're saying it's because math research is more decentralized.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:55 AM
I doubt I've had a "wonderfully positive impact on you," @Kaj. That would be limited to algebra courses :D
Well, not so grant-dependent, @Alex, in general.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
@TedShifrin, ok, so there are exceptions...
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
uh huh
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Also, I wasn't seriously considering a math major prior to your course :)
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
Grades not submitted yet. I'm gonna punch someone.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@KajHansen What were you majoring in then?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
1:57 AM
ducks to hide from @Mike .... oh wait, he's short, too.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@MikeMiller Flagged.
@TedShifrin I know Brian Scott is shorter than me.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
@JasperLoy, I was thinking about physics or chemistry
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
I don't want Jasper to know what I look like, @Ted.
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
I guess the reason it surprises me is because I feel like I could get a much better read off of somebody in a 10 minute interview than I could from a transcript and statement of purpose. I don't know about letters... it's probably easy when they're good, but I imagine it's sort of tough to quantify when they're less than perfect.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@Alex: The statement of purpose is very minor. It's the letters of recommendation that carry 95% of the weight ... and the subject GRE.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
1:58 AM
@MikeMiller Don't worry, I am not gay, lol.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
I don't see why that would be a reason to worry.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
The problem @Alex is the generic letters from small colleges that are empty raves. Specifics and letters from well known people are always better.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
That would have gone well for me, @Ted.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
You had the Penn State thing going for you, @Mike.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
I got a letter from Andrews... but I suspect the content of that was my worst letter. Maybe not when the name was attached.
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
2:00 AM
@TedShifrin Yeah it seems a little unfair for students who didn't go to good schools for undergrad. Luckily I had U. Cincinnati near me which is not bad, but I went there to be near family which I'm sure is what motivates a lot of great students who go to lousy schools
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I was motivated by HOPE. :P
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@KajHansen Hope is all I have now.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Well, but generally more well-known schools have more demanding courses and fellow students. That's not to say that certain individuals can't do great coming out of smaller schools with less advanced coursework.
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@TedShifrin I think it depends on what you make with what you have.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
Yes, you can make apple juice with apples and orange juice with oranges.
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
2:03 AM
I'd be a lot more impressed by somebody with published research coming out of an offbeat little college than a 4.0 student at a tier 1 with unambitious coursework
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
well I was unable to solve problem 494. usually I am a guy that needs to finish problems or else I will never get my mind off it.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Generally, people coming out of more competitive undergrad programs are better prepared to handle the toughness of grad school, @Alex. There are always exceptions.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
drinks cabernet sauvignon
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@MikeMiller Did you finally read my article? =)
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
@Alex yes, which I assume is why students with unambitious coursework don't do well... but that's mg impression.
Nope @Jasper. Sorry.
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
2:08 AM
@MikeMiller Sure, I'm just making the comparison. performed averagely at good school < performed exceptionally at bad school
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
Is Lang the most popular grad text for algebra these days?
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@JasperLoy Lang or Hungerford
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Dummit and Foote and Ash (free online) are also used reasonably widely.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@AlexanderGruber OK. The biggest difference between them that I know is that rings are defined with and without 1.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
D&F <3
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
2:13 AM
There's kind of a huge difference in presentation between them...
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
OK, sorry, not the biggest...
 
Alexander Gruber
Alexander Gruber
@JasperLoy I have mixed feelings about Lang. I started off disliking it but I kinda grew into it. It's a pretty good book. I don't know Hungerford well enough to compare.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@AlexanderGruber The thing about using Lang is that there are all kinds of things done only in the other books, so you reall have to get them all. That is, for algebra, he has 4 books, lol.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
far from true, @Jasper
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
I once considered using his Introduction to Linear Algebra, Linear Algebra, Undergraduate Algebra, and Algebra.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
2:17 AM
But for a graduate algebra course, all one needs is the last. I still prefer Jacobson unless one is quite sophisticated.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
"Basic" Algebra I
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
we're back to @Kaj's favorite Amazon comments :P
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
:P
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
Amazon?
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
I don't like Jacobson.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
2:18 AM
BTW,@Kaj, has Doug messaged you to gloat?
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
He's done a fair amount of gloating....are we talking about his probability scores or his analysis?
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
I like Jacobson's doing modules over a Euclidean domain, where you can see what's going on, as opposed to Lang's abstract proofs for a PID.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
It's sad that when Jacobson rewrote his algebra text, the linear algebra got omitted.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
oh, I only know about probability, @Kaj
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
He was actually more on the disappointed side about probability. Said he needed to do better on some tests and homework.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
2:20 AM
I was trying to compare Jacobson's Lectures in Abstract Algebra 1,2,3 and his Basic Algebra 1,2.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
well, he did, but he still got a flavor of A from me on his sixth try ... I thought he'd be happy (relatively)
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I still think it's kind of funny he's taken $\mathbf{6}$ courses from you.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
I think it's totally insane.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
I think that might be a record, @Kaj. I had people who'd done 5 before.
Lots of 4.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
2:21 AM
I would've done $5$ had you taught algebra the year I came through.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
I had my last hurrah the year before. :)
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@KajHansen You are that guy? LOL.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
One person from probability (who hadn't had me before) has signed up for diff geo. @Kaj
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Not me. I just took a screenshot @JasperLoy
Is that a good or bad thing @Ted?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@KajHansen I know about amazon reviews, lol. I just thought you said something on amazon.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
2:24 AM
He never came to office hours, blew an A on the final, but smart guy, I think. We'll see how he does in a 35% homework course.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Oh no, I never have.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I remember how ODE went for me too @Ted
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
ODE, too? @DonL
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I had a 91 in the class and blew it to an 83 lol @Ted
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
That's how soo many of my classes have gone. I do wonderfully up until the final @DonLarynx
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
2:25 AM
(final exam)
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
oh :(
not like I fail to curve on the finals ...
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Kaj: I personally did not open my ODE book.
@Kaj: I should have.
I cannot taste my cabernet sauvignon anymore
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
:O I've been absolutely dependent on my textbook in basically all my courses.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Kaj I was, too, but only in high school.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@Kaj slept through most of my lectures :D
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
2:27 AM
Only a few! And, coincidentally, they were the mornings of due homework.
I've gotten myself out of that habit though. I've been finishing them early enough to TeX.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
good boy
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
:P
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I remember impressing my teachers with TeX @Kaj
they still remember me :O
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I'm just trying to get into good practices for grad school. Plus I find that I'm much more thorough in my arguments when I do. I guess it's a sort of a pride-in-my-work thing.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
@Ted Who took 6 with you now?
I took 8 with one professor at my school.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
2:29 AM
Kaj's comrade
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
Doug.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
8 ... well, you had only epsilon profs :)
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Ted: have you ever gone crazy from math
@Ted that is a deep fear of mine
@Ted I was always the weird kid in high school (yet most people were okay around me)
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx Math will not make you crazy, but people who do math are more likely to become crazy.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Jasper why
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
2:33 AM
@DonLarynx Because people who do math are those who think more.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
@DonLarynx, I might've been the weird kid too. I think I've grown out of a lot of it though :P
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Jasper beats being an extrovert who doesn't think at all lol
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx Well, I don't think people who think more are introverts. Also, it's not good being crazy.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I'm only extroverted when I am drunk i.e. (now)
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Hey, John von Neumann was a huge extrovert
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
2:36 AM
oh I may also be extroverted when I play sports, but that's pretty much it
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
I have become more extroverted over time.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I'm fairly introverted personally. A few hours interacting with a bunch of people and I'm exhausted, mentally and physically.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I gain a short boost in extrovertism when I move to an area I previously have not been acquainted with before
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Oh I'm the opposite. Meeting new people is very difficult for me.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
Other idiosyncratic elements of Erdős's vocabulary include:[23]
Children were referred to as "epsilons" (because in mathematics, particularly calculus, an arbitrarily small positive quantity is commonly denoted by the Greek letter (ε))
Women were "bosses"
Men were "slaves"
People who stopped doing mathematics had "died"
Alcoholic drinks were "poison"
note the last one, please
it is very true
ironically I am under the influence of it
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
2:42 AM
Amphetamines were candy?
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Kaj: Yes.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
@TedShifrin, is it true that Erdos would visit UGA back in the day? At least a few professors, historically, were Erdos 1's.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
Do you think Erdos did LSD?
 
Vincenzo Oliva
Vincenzo Oliva
Hi guys, can I ask a quick general question on induction?
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Vincenzo: Shoot
Paul Erdos denoted "To give an oral exam to a student was "to torture" him/her."
I cannot imagine such a preposterity
my friends have gone through orals
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
2:46 AM
@don Do you know you can edit?
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
I would actually prefer oral exams. I feel comfortable getting up and explaining things to people at a blackboard. I tend to "blank" on traditional exams.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
I hate prostate exams, lol.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
WAT. @Jasper
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx Well, I had one a long time ago...
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
At 25 correct? 8 years ago?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
2:47 AM
@DonLarynx Why do you say so?
 
Vincenzo Oliva
Vincenzo Oliva
@Don Suppose I want to prove $P(n)$. So I do all the stuff and then, in the inductive step, I find that $P(k+1)$ is implied by $Q(k+1)$. Am I allowed to use induction again, this time on $k+1$?
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I am a mathematician @Jasper. You stated you graduated 10 years ago.
 
robjohn
robjohn
@DonLarynx The general exams I took in grad school were oral
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Vincenzo. Assume $P(k)$ is true. Prove $P(k+1)$ is true.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx Yes, but that has nothing to do with when a prostate exam would take place, nothing at all.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
2:48 AM
@Jasper: If I am correct, exams are given at 25 and 50
@robjohn: Boss level
 
Vincenzo Oliva
Vincenzo Oliva
@Don Proving the inductive step by induction is not acceptable? Why?
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@DonLarynx In my case, I had a certain condition and so they had to check it. There's no age they are checked here.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Yes, Erdös visited several times a year for many, many years, working with Pomerance, @Kaj.
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@VincenzoOliva Not sure what you mean by P(k+1) and Q(k+1). Induction step uses P(k) to prove P(k+1)
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Vincenzo: What are $P$ and $Q$? I don't understand what you are doing...
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
2:50 AM
That's really cool. I wish I was around back then.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
Berkeley's quals were orals when I took them. Because I had a lot of teaching experience when I started grad school, I was confident and not intimidated. But it made a lot of grad students fall apart, and they switched to written exams before I left.
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
That's true, @Ted... but there were enough that it was a choice to do so many with one.
The second most influential I took 3 with, and the third most influential I took 0 with.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
You have to be very advanced to survive oral exams @Ted...
Why does it smell like rice in here?
 
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
Oral exams are good. I'm for them.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
2:52 AM
We had some grad students at Berkeley who were literally so nervous that the exam would continuously degrade to something like: What is a matrix? before the guy could dig himself out ...
 
Jasper Loy
Jasper Loy
@MikeMiller Aural exams are the best. You just listen.
@TedShifrin Even I can answer that, lol.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
One of my friends turned into an alcoholic because she couldn't sleep for the months before her quals and needed booze to "relax" to sleep. Not cool.
Yeah, @Jasper, me too.
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@VincenzoOliva This is always how induction is done:

Assume $P(k)$ is true. Prove $P(k+1)$ is true.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
I started my algebra qual by giving my two examiners a question I didn't know how to do. After 5 minutes or so of their not knowing, they decided to start the exam :P
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Ted: Phenibut (legal), and L-theanine (legal, too) work.
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
2:54 AM
Sure, @Don ...
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
I have a funny story @Ted
 
Vincenzo Oliva
Vincenzo Oliva
@Don Yes, I know. My question is: is there something wrong with proving $P(k+1)$ showing by induction that a stronger statement, let's call it $Q(k+1)$, holds?
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Vincenzo: What is $P$, and what is $Q$?
 
Vincenzo Oliva
Vincenzo Oliva
If it actually depends on $P$ and $Q$, give me some minute to write them down @don @JasperLoy
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
@Mike: On my geometry/topology exam they asked me stuff that wasn't on the syllabus after about half way through. I figured that must have meant I passed. I knew enough to get part way and then they would give a hint, and I'd finish the rest. That's where I learned the Thom-Pontryagin construction :P
That was after they asked why any manifold with a connection on its frame bundle had to be paracompact. Blech. I told them all manifolds are paracompact, but I sketched the argument.
@Don: I'm about to leave, so unless your funny story is quick, I'll ask you to save it :)
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
2:57 AM
@Ted: Good night!
 
Ted Shifrin
Ted Shifrin
See ya soon ...
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
Wow, cabernet sauvignon is way better than vodka
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
That's not saying much @Don
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
@Kaj: I have not finished my bottle yet and I am drunk
@Kaj: If I finish my bottle of vodka, I sleep
 
Jorge Fernández
Jorge Fernández
@PedroTamaroff congratulations on your new moderator position
 
Don Larynx
Don Larynx
2:59 AM
@Pedro: Yes, congratulations.
 
Kaj Hansen
Kaj Hansen
Everyone I voted for for mod was elected :D
 
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