Dance, Dance, Revolution!

As my readers know, these are not instructions for some kind of funky political mutiny...it's, well, DDR. And hey, guess what? DDR is hitting the schools, in the physical education classes.

Here's the NY Times article

I wonder if it'll ever make it's way into adult gyms - my younger brother and roommate Matt has said that if my gym had a DDR machine, he would join it. I would certainly use it as well - I'd go so far as to say it's my preferred cardio activity - I don't even have to bring an Ipod (which I don't have, and don't want)!

For the record, Speed Over Beethoven, the song mentioned in the article, is from DDR Extreme. I don't know what song it's on in the home versions...I think it's also on DDR Extreme, but maybe Extreme 2.

A Game of Numbers

I made it up to use for a driving game - just something to pass the time if I'm driving somewhere on country roads. You look at the numbers for addresses as you drive by and try to solve it. Today was the first time I tried to explain the game to someone else. Now it has a bit of a new purpose. So, here's how it works.

Take any 4 digit number without a zero, and separate those digits into their 4 separate 1-9 values. Find a way to mathematically (in any arrangement), reduce those numbers to 1.

Some examples:
Starting number: 9743
9 - 7 + 3 - 4
9 - 7 = 2
2 + 3 = 5
5 - 4 = 1

Starting number: 9871
(9 + 7) / 8 - 1
9 + 7 = 16
16 / 8 = 2
2 - 1 = 1

Starting number: 2435
(5 - 4) x (3 - 2)
5 - 4 = 1
3 - 2 = 1
1 x 1 = 1

The most difficult starting number I've come up with is 9861 (hint: think exponentially). I haven't come up with any combinations that can't be solved.

Under Construction

Sorry about the mess, I'm experimenting with my blog while I try to find a nice balance for layout. Feel free to leave criticisms, constructive or otherwise.

Update:
Done, for now. Maybe Bonnie is right and it's a little too dark, but I needed something to sharply contrast the strong white that I started with. Why not just change things completely?

Here is the picture I used as a basis for the site. Even the top bar ("Seek Questions") is a graphic pulled from the picture.

Initial Graphic

Why not talk to strangers?

We teach our children never to talk to strangers. Might this foster a future fear that leads to solitude and isolation? Yes, we can talk to our friends from school, but this just encourages us to a) seek friends similar to ourselves (as far as status, age, and background) and b) to only approach those who we already know of. You don't meet new people at school, you make friends with your classmates - you likely already know their name (satisfying b) and they spend a good portion of their day doing the same thing you do - they're in your class (satisfying a).

I'd guess the most commonly cited reason for not wanting children to talk to strangers is safety. Basically, on the off-chance that someone is a kidnapper who wants to get closer to his victim before the kidnapping, we stop our children from talking to anyone. I can, to an extent, understand this viewpoint. No matter how small the chance is, the chance is there. Parents want to do everything they can to protect their children from harm. I never fault anyone for well-intentioned decisions, but I think that perhaps this is doing more harm than good. If our children are able to enjoy the company of "strangers", even just by listening to them talk, it might foster a greater acceptance of others (as opposed to fear).

Yes, there are some weird people out there. But there are a lot more "normal" ones.