User talk:Alexb@cut-the-knot.com

Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~&#126;); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome!
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
 * How to edit a page
 * Help pages
 * Tutorial
 * How to write a great article
 * Manual of Style

(Dobro pojalovati, priyateli! :) Thank you for your fixes at inscribed angle. Oleg Alexandrov 21:09, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Hi
Hi Alex, it is good to see such an illustrious contributor over here at WP, even if most of your edits are to add external links :) Anyway, I noticed in one of your edits a mention of new math. New math was fantastic; I learned set theory and boolean algebra when I was ten, and I think its absolutely shameful that its not taught today. As far as I can tell, you can teach the cyclic group Z/3Z and modulo arithmetic to seven-year-olds just fine, but the teachers do not understand the concept :( oh well. You wouldn't happen to have any suggested math curricula that could be taught to grade-schoolers? Something that would have homework exercises in it, a teacher's guide, something I could take to my school principal to discuss? linas 13:45, 24 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Linas, hello. I, too, liked the way mathematics was taught under the new math umbrella. As a mass undertaking, however, the new math was bound to fail, as will fail the current NCLB policy.


 * In its generality, the statement like As far as I can tell, you can teach the cyclic group Z/3Z and modulo arithmetic to seven-year-olds just fine can't be correct, because implicitly it relates to all seven-year-olds, not to some or even to many. I do not believe in that this is possible. And teacher's innumeracy is only a part of the problem.


 * No, I do not have a curriculum to recommend. I would not even think of a one-fit-all approach.

Best, Alexb@cut-the-knot.com 13:11, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

Farey, continued fractions
By the way, I have some stuff over at my website, dealing with Farey numbers, continued fractions and fractals in general that I think you might enjoy. Its mostly written at a college math skill level, but I think it illustrates connections to fractals which seem to be rarely if ever mentioned in the pop lit. For example, the Koch snowflake curve is isomorphic in a certain sense to the Stern-Brocot tree. This last bit is illustrated in the chapter on the Takagi Curve, in the section called 'the de Rham construction'. Presumably you'll spot immediately why this is just the Stern-Brocot tree, if not, one of the other chapters covers this. linas 14:03, 24 May 2005 (UTC)


 * You have a remarkable collection of ideas up there that is definitely worth exploring. I'll seek an occasion to do so.


 * Best, Alexb@cut-the-knot.com 13:14, 26 May 2005 (UTC).

Bandwidth woes
I saw your bandwidth complaints on the AfD. I may be able to offer mirroring, if you are interested; however, I would like to know how many GB a day of bandwith you are dealing with (I can offer a GB or two, but beyond that would get in trouble myself). linas 04:27, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Linas thank you. I truly appreciate your offer. But the episode you refer to happened years ago. The bandwidth is not a problem any more.

I am sorry for the time discrepancy: never looked for messages at wikipedia, noticed yours just today, 29 March 2006.

square root of 2
At, why do you attribute to Tom Apostol a proof that you say appears in a 19th-century book? I know I read exactly that proof in about 1980 in some old book, which I think attributed it to an ancient Greek (I don't remember the name of the book; if I find it, I'll let you know). Michael Hardy 22:44, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

PS: At http://www.cut-the-knot.org/proofs/sq_root.shtml, if I could have just clicked on some "discuss" button on the article page, I'd have posted this there. But the forums you've got seem more complicated than that. Michael Hardy 21:48, 4 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I've found it: The Calculus: A Genetic Approach, but Otto Toeplitz, English edition published by the University of Chicago Press in 1963, original German published by Springer-Verlag in 1949. Toeplitz seems to suggest, but I don't think he explicitly says, that this is an ancient Greek proof.  I've shown this to many people during the '80s and '90s and told them it was an ancient Greek proof, after I read it in Toeplitz's book, so I was surprised when I saw it published in the Monthly as a novel argument. Michael Hardy 21:46, 4 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Michael, I do not have access to the book, but I've checked The Enjoyment of Mathematics by Rademacher and Toeplitz. There are two proofs of the fact that correspond to #5 and #1 on my page. Are you sure that in Toeplitz's book it's #6 and not #5. Many thanks. Alex

I don't understand #5, unless it's just #6 with an insufficient number of words to make it clear. I'll take a look at Rademacher & Toeplitz. Michael Hardy 20:17, 9 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The difference is int that the graphics in #5 is just an illustration. You do not need it for the sake of the argument. In #6, the graphics is in fact the argument. The construction, i.e., the presence of the arc makes what is claimed obvious.


 * Alex 23:50, 14 August 2006 (EST)

Golden ratio aesthetics: Request for source
Dear Alex: Could you please cite a source for the material you added to Golden ratio? Thanks. Finell (Talk) 15:02, 26 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Dear Alex: Thanks for getting back to me. While I was posting the above note to you, another editor (an admin) deleted what you added for lack of source. So we will need a source citation to include it. Also, we are trying to stay away from speculation (it leads everywhere except to knowledge), except in the "false sighings" section. Finell (Talk) 22:14, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Loss of session data
That happens to me sometimes, also. With my browser, I just go back, my previously prepared text is there, then submit again. That or sometimes I hit "refresh" from the page where it tells me I have a loss of session data.

Your mileage may vary, depending on the browser you use. --A. B. (talk) ("the other AB") 16:05, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

ARBPIA notice
As a result of an arbitration case, the Arbitration Committee has acknowledged long-term and persistent problems in the editing of articles related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, broadly understood. As a result, the Committee has enacted broad editing restrictions, described here and below.


 * Any uninvolved administrator may, on his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working in the area of conflict if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process.
 * The sanctions imposed may include blocks of up to one year in length; bans from editing any page or set of pages within the area of conflict; bans on any editing related to the topic or its closely related topics; restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors; or any other measures which the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project.
 * Prior to any sanctions being imposed, the editor in question shall be given a warning with a link to this decision; and, where appropriate, should be counseled on specific steps that he or she can take to improve his or her editing in accordance with relevant policies and guidelines.
 * Discretionary sanctions imposed under the provisions of this decision may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard (currently WP:AE), or the Committee.

These editing restrictions may be applied to any editor for cause, provided the editor has been previously informed of the case. This message is to so inform you. This message does not necessarily mean that your current editing has been deemed a problem; this is a template message crafted to make it easier to notify any user who has edited the topic of the existence of these sanctions.

Generally, the next step, if an administrator feels your conduct on pages in this topic area is disruptive, would be a warning, to be followed by the imposition of sanctions (although in cases of serious disruption, the warning may be omitted). Hopefully no such action will be necessary.

This notice is only effective if given by an uninvolved administrator and logged here.

General warning
Your edits at Gaza flotilla clash have continued to remove well-sourced material. Such material should be retained, as long as it adheres to a neutral point of view. (Note that the source does not have to be neutral, but the article's mention of that source should be.) Furthermore please note that the article is currently under a 1 revert restriction. Please do not continue to remove well-sourced material. Continuing in this fashion may result in a block, under the terms of the ARBPIA case mentioned above. If you contest the addition of material, instead try using the talk page to discuss the issue. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks, Sh i r ik  ( Questions or Comments? ) 04:05, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Your recent edits
Hello. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( &#126;&#126;&#126;&#126; ) at the end of your comment. You may also click on the signature button located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your username or IP address and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you. --SineBot (talk) 01:13, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:59, 23 November 2015 (UTC)