Random Rants LVII: wow. many anger. very whining.

[Truronian]

In the new Foundation Maths GCSE students are expected to know the exact values for sin, cos and tan of 0, 30, 45, 60 and 90. This is despite the fact that surds are not taught in the Foundation GCSE... I can only assume Nicky Morgan has a Pythagorean working for her.

 

[Kennigit]

I hope you mean degrees!

 

[cybrxkhan]

My low-end computer is really low-end and I suspect it's nearing the end of its life soon - it's lasted 4.5 years, which, according to my understanding, is relatively within the ballpark of an average computer's lifespan (not to mention that I've been straining it with GPUs it can barely handle). I dunno whether I'll have the funds to buy a decent replacement anytime soon - no, actually, I do have the funds, technically speaking, but I have to save them for medical bills and school loans and all that since I don't have stable income at the moment. Well, I guess I'm still young enough to leech off my parents, but I wouldn't do that for a silly computer, now would I, not to mention I really shouldn't be leeching my parents, really?

Hopefully once I return to school next month I can also find a good enough job soon after, but all this is kinda depressing me.

 

[Borachio]

So. You've largely recovered from your Crohn's (was it?) disease?

That's good news in itself, isn't it? Never mind a new computer.

 

[cybrxkhan]

So. You've largely recovered from your Crohn's (was it?) disease?

That's good news in itself, isn't it? Never mind a new computer.

Oh yeah, that's definitely good news (well, I haven't recovered per se, you can't be cured of Crohn's (at least for now), but I'm relatively normal). I certainly appreciate being able to even walk to the restroom to poop, to eat (relatively) normal food, to even be able to play Skyrim on a terrible 10 fps on my potato computer - that all beats lying in bed half-dead.

At the moment, though, I'm at that point in my recovery where I'm well enough to do many things, but I haven't been back to school or in the workforce yet, so it makes me feel like a useless bum (I'll be back in school in about a month, but work... well, there's no guarantee the place I worked at before will rehire me, so who knows). And, well, I've been relying on my parents a lot, which isn't bad in and of itself, but I've always felt really, really bad about relying on my parents especially since I'm no longer a kid (it's one of the sources of my depression, I think, really).

 

[choxorn]

I hope you mean degrees!

Why would anyone ever be expected to know trig ratios for, say, 90 radians? You'd hardly ever need to know that. Knowing them for 90 degrees, on the other hand, is pretty easy.

 

[Borachio]

How easy is it if you don't know surds? I'd say it's impossible for sin, and cos of 30, 45 and 60. Sorry, I'm mean pi/6, pi/4, and pi/3.

 

[choxorn]

I'm not familiar with that word, what does it mean?

 

[Borachio]

Oh, don't you call them that?

A surd is a square root which cannot be reduced to a whole number.

(Seems like it's a bit of an outmoded expression.)

So, to express cos (pi/6) exactly you have to leave it in surd form as (sqrt (3))/2.

But TIL that surd is also a term for a Natural_evil. Which is confusing.

 

[choxorn]

I don't have any special name for that.

Yeah, I agree, if you didn't know that numbers can have irrational square roots, trigonometry is pretty hard...

 

[Kennigit]

yea i looked up surd but I've never heard of it used before

Why would anyone ever be expected to know trig ratios for, say, 90 radians? You'd hardly ever need to know that. Knowing them for 90 degrees, on the other hand, is pretty easy.

a good student/engineer/mathematician/statistician/scientist/human being is never ambiguous about units!

i.e., I am being snarky

 

[Truronian]

I hope you mean degrees!

Indeed, apologies.

This will hopefully give an idea of the ability of the students who now will need to know the exact values of sin, cos and tan of 0, 30, 45, 60 and 90. Previously the hardest topics taught in the Foundation GCSE were things like:

- Pythagoras' theroem
- Solving equations of the form 3(x+2)=5(x+4)
- Multiplying fractions
- Prime decompositions
- Interior and Exterior polygon angle facts
- Calculating percentage change

Exact trigonometric values was previous not even taught at GCSE, and now it's going straight into the foundation curriculum. Madness.

 

[Arakhor]

It's Conservatives and education: what do you expect? Do you think she's going to be worse than Michael Gove?

 

[Truronian]

It's Conservatives and education: what do you expect? Do you think she's going to be worse than Michael Gove?

I don't think she'll be any better, though most of the stuff currently being implemented is Gove's legacy rather than her doing.

 

[The_J]

Just don't try to find any logic in politics.

My low-end computer is really low-end and I suspect it's nearing the end of its life soon - it's lasted 4.5 years, which, according to my understanding, is relatively within the ballpark of an average computer's lifespan (not to mention that I've been straining it with GPUs it can barely handle).

He, guess I'm way over the limit with my 10 years old computer ^^.
(to be fair: Had to replace 2 DVD drives, 2 video cards, 2 mainboards + 1 hard drive; half of that on warranty though).

 

[GoodSarmatian]

How do you determine the age of a computer after upgrades ? The last time I bought a new computer was 2007, but the only thing that remains from the original system are the case and the DVD drive. Everything else has been replaced.

 

[cardgame]

Newest piece's availability date is how old it is.

e.g. you installed a new mobo in 2011 but it was made in 2010, you have a 2010 computer. graphics card from 2012 it's 2012 (with older cpu)

 

[cybrxkhan]

I've been trying to contact my uni concerning some financial-related stuff and was getting pissed they weren't responding to me, as the issue in question is something I have to resolve ASAP. Then I realized today is a federal holiday and my school is closed. Grr, e one time I don't need a federal holiday.

Well, hopefully they'll return my call tomorrow.

He, guess I'm way over the limit with my 10 years old computer ^^.
(to be fair: Had to replace 2 DVD drives, 2 video cards, 2 mainboards + 1 hard drive; half of that on warranty though).

That's almost like a new(er) computer to me.

 

[Takhisis]

Why would anyone have more than one DVD drive?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Why would anyone have more than one DVD drive?

To be able to copy cd's/dvd's directly from disc to disc without having to first download the disc to be copied to your hard drive.