At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual
later discovered to be a public school teacher was
arrested trying to board a flight while in possession
of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule,
and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney general John
Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the
notorious al-gebra movement.

He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons
of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," Ashcroft said. "They
desire average solutions by means and extremes, and
sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute
value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y'
and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have
determined they belong to a common denominator of the
axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'there
are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush
said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of
math instruction, He would have given us more fingers
and toes."

I enjoyed this bit of humor. After reading it, I had to glance up at the slide rule I have hanging on my wall. Below it is a list of reasons why a slide rule (and paper pad) are better than a computer:

1. A slide rule doesn't shut down abruptly when it gets too hot
2. One hundred people using slide rules and paper pads do not start wailing and screaming due to a file server failure
3. A slide rule doesn't smoke whenever the power supply hiccups
4. A slide rule doesn't care if you smoke, or hiccup
5. You can spill coffee on a slide rule; as a matter of fact, you can use a slide rule while completely submerged in coffee
6. You never get nasty system messages about filling up your entire paper quota
7. A slide rule and a pad of paper fit in a briefcase with space left over for lunch and a change of underwear
8. You don't get junk mail offering pricey slide rule upgrades
9. A slide rule doesn't need scheduled hardware maintenance
10. A paper pad supports text and graphics images easily, and can be easily upgraded from monochrome to color
11. Slide rules are designed to a standard, open architecture
12. You can hold a slide rule at arm's length to hit the obnoxious person at the next seat over
13. A slide rule is immune to viruses, worms and other depradations from hostile adolescents with telephones
14. Additional paper pads can be integrated into the system seamlessly without reconfiguring anything
15. Nobody will make you feel bad by introducing a smaller, faster, cheaper slide rule next month.

Had to share the humor...

- Mark (S-4-C)

Has to be an old story, no one uses sliderules these days. For a long time I had a cylindrical sliderule. But somehow lost it during my last move.

Allen,

When I was still collecting slide rules I remember that the cylindrical rules were highly prized and mighty valuable. I was never able to afford one. I still have quite a few brands and styles stored away. I sure would hate it if I had lost one like yours.

Though many people consider them obsolete, they're a great tool to teach people about logarithms.

Well, my geek is showing. Gotta go suppress it now...

- Mark (S-4-C)

About 5 years ago, I decided to put it in a box with a plexglass front and sign that said "In case of computer failure break glass". That is when I discovered it was missing. Since then I have been trying to find a reasonable priced abacus to put in the box.

from a teachers prospective .. HAHAHA! thanks for the laugh! - TP

I have an abacus but the TI-83 plus is one of the greatest pieces of technology to come to the Mathematics classroom ever!!(high school OR college)

quote:

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Originally posted by AllenLacy:
Since then I have been trying to find a reasonable priced abacus to put in the box.

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We found a nice wooden one at Toys 'R' Us for $10. It's one of our 18-month old's favorite toys!

I still have my old Post slide rule, and can even remember how to use it. I also remember when the first small electronic calculators came out ... about 1971. They did simple math and cost about $250. You can buy a similar calculator now for $5.

CharlieP

quote:

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Originally posted by Boo:
We found a nice wooden one at Toys 'R' Us for $10. It's one of our 18-month old's favorite toys!

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I like this one. It has the double set with bar between allowing faster calculations.