I need to start this story with a disclaimer. While I learned a bit about groups during my abstract algebra class in my junior year of college, that class was definitely very abstract to me. In other words, I’m unlikely to be able to answer any questions in the comments for this one. That said, the story of one of the men behind the world’s largest proof on the New Scientist is an interesting one.
HMH Fuse, the innovative textbook from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, now has more editions. Previously, HMH Fuse had both Algebra I and Geometry textbooks. Jump on over to the app store now, and you will find the Common Core editions of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II textbooks have been added to the lineup, bring the grand total of HMH Fuse titles to five. As was the case with the first two textbooks, you can find a full chapter available free to try out.
Just got off the phone with a customer service representative at Texas Instruments headquarters in Dallas. I was trying to get help for a problem with press-to-test mode that’s plagued several of my students’ calculators already this year. Basically, taking the calculator out of press-to-test mode can, in some cases, cause a bootup error (you will know it if you see it by a triangle with an exclamation point). I’ve seen this happen three times so far this school year, always to older grayscale Nspires on OS 3.
UPDATE: (9/1/11) I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough waiting for confirmation on this story. When I originally reported it all the ay back on April 17, I assumed I’d barely beat the rush of posts on other blogs and message boards. Instead, for the first couple of months, I was out there by myself, as there was no news whatsoever. Today, however, I’m pleased to say official confirmation has finally come from HP, pretty much exactly as I originally reported it, other than a delay on the timeline.
Casio is sending students back to school with a couple of cool contests on Facebook that offer the opportunity to win cool prizes, including the Casio Prizm graphing calculator. The first is the Casio Prizm Sweepstakes. Simply like this page on Facebook, and you’ll be entered to win. The winner gets a graphing calculator kit autographed by Mythbusters Kari Byron and Grant Imahara, most likely signed during their special appearance on behalf of the Prizm at the NCTM meeting in Indianapolis.
I know there are a lot of people doing their back to school shopping right now, and for many of you that includes a new computer. I just came across this deal that I wanted to pass along, which the best one I’ve seen so far this school year. The Microsoft Store is offering the Dell Inspire N4030 for $399. No word on how long this one will last, just that it’s a “limited time offer.
Will an HP exit leave TI and Casio as the last graphing calculator makers? Last week’s announcement that HP was shutting down WebOS may have significant consequences in the mathematics community. The original shock was that the TouchPad has been eliminated from HP’s plans just a couple of months after its launch, with a national advertising campaign still going on (at least as of this weekend). But read beyond the headlines at all, and you’ll realize that this announcement was far more significant.
Apparently, this tablet thing is really taking off. While I expected tablets, specifically the iPad, to make significant inroads in schools this year, I have to admit I’m surprised by the volume of stories on tablets in school already this year, specifically the iPad, of course. The latest news has Apple, Intel, and Microsoft all competing over a 15 million tablet deal to make their popular devices for kids in Turkey.
Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill is sponsoring a contest with $174,000 of prizes on the line called, “This Is My Math.” Starting on September 15, teachers of K-5 students can submit their students math artwork. Notably, the artwork must be submitted in digital form. The kids have a chance to explain their artwork, which is a pretty significant factor in the judging–40%. Contest entries must be submitted by October 29. Beginning on November 11, the public can vote on their favorite entries.
Fermat’s famous quote, paraphrased in a 21st century context Google is celebrating Pierre De Fermat’s birthday with one of the trademark Doodles. The Doodle features a blackboard with Fermat’s Last Theorem. If you’re not familiar with the story of Fermat’s famous theorem, it’s a good one. To oversimplify, Fermat claimed in one of his notebooks that if you took the Pythagorean theorem and substituted larger integers than two for the exponents, there were no “non-trivial” integer solutions to the problem.
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