Complex Numbers
A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.
The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.
Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.
Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.
I'm reminded of this scene from The Princess Bride.
(Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up)
Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Tangentially related to 6. Adidas and Puma: During my first tour in Germany, I was assigned to the Army agency that formerly occupied Herzo Base, an airfield probably located within medium mortar range from the sport shoe factories.
As far as German revenge is concerned, I would venture a guess that it's planned down to the smallest detail and executed with appropriate gusto.
Earlier today I did a bit of shopping. I found a couple of items I had not planned on purchasing on sale so I grabbed them. As the cashier rang them up, I noticed they did not register the sale price, the regular price, but an even higher price. I questioned it and was told this, "The sale ended yesterday, but we didn't get the sign changed. Today the price increased because our cost has now increased." Yes, how did you guess, one of the items was eggs, now over a dollar each!
This would depend upon their political affiliation.
PROMPT November 10th
Your neighbor’s hay crop is ready to harvest. Everyone in their family is sick and their Combine is broken. How do you respond to this situation?
Okay, no, not really. I'd help out regardless.
I'm actually not unfamiliar with combines or the process of harvesting field crops... though my experience is likely outdated now.
First of all, if my neighbor's a farmer, then I'm a farmer. In reality, this is too much work, which is the reason I'm not a farmer. But in this hypothetical situation, then I have farm equipment and I'd just use that.
Often, small farmers don't own their harvesters -- they'd have a tractor, because that's useful year-round, but a combine is something most farmers use once a year for a couple of days, and it makes more sense to rent one or participate in a cooperative. You know, like communism.
Or, maybe I could fix the combine. Like I said, I'm not without experience in that area, though a) the latest models have to be fixed by the company that sold them, which is bullshit and b) that's too much like work, too.
The real issue here, though, is: it's a hay crop, not wheat or barley or corn. The main purpose of a combine is to separate grain from straw (basically). No grain, no need for a combine. Hay-making is usually done by a reaper (basically a giant lawnmower), rake (also a giant one that you pull behind a tractor), and baler. First the mower does its work, then the hay needs to cure for a couple of days; the rake organizes the hay into windrows, and then the baler picks it up and poops out bales.
All of that sounds like a lot of work, but you're basically just sitting on your ass driving a tractor, so unless something breaks, it's just time-consuming.
Picking up the bales, though... well. That's a major reason I got off the farm as soon as humanly possible.
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