math

It's almost like a "Wizard of Oz" moment for Texas Instruments, which is opening the door to color displays on its popular calculators.

Next month, the semiconductor and educational technology giant is launching the $165 TI-Nspire CX handheld, its thinnest and lightest graphing calculator ever. The specs completely blow away the TI-84 that I used in college.

Thankfully, TI has moved away from the monochromatic screen of yesteryear and boasts that the CX has a 3.2-inch 16-bit color LCD (320x240) with a respectable 125 DPI. TI also bumped up the memory in the CX series compared to previous TI-Nspire models with 100MB of onboard storage and 64MB of RAM. I can imagine hackers are already salivating to get Doom and Game Boy Color emulators running on this thing as soon as possible.

Of course, the real strength of a TI calculator is its ability to handle higher-level mathematic concepts. The TI-Nspire CX is designed for pre-algebra, algebra 1 and 2, trigonometry, geometry, pre-calculus, statistics, business and finance, biology, physics, chemistry, and calculus classes.

An alternate Computer Algebra System (CAS) model is also available and is approved for standardized testing, such as the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, ACT, AP, IB, and Praxis exams. I wonder if it can calculate how many commas were in my last two sentences. … Read more

What's better than one great deal? Three great deals, of course! Now that I'm all rested up after the long weekend, I bring you this money-saving threesome:

1. Today only, a deal-of-the-day outfit called PricePlunge has an 8GB Dane-Elec flash drive for $7.99, plus 99 cents for shipping. Compatible with Windows and Mac systems, the drive is capless and retractable, two features I quite like. Plus, it comes with a five-year warranty. I should note that I've never purchased anything from PricePlunge, so I can't vouch for the reliability of the company. (If you can, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--After a long, hard week at CES, a little stress relief is in order. But can you achieve a peaceful state through a portable PC gadget?

Being demoed at CES this week is the Emwave 2 personal stress reliever from HeartMath. This portable device lets you monitor your stress levels and help you calm down. Specifically, it monitors your heart rhythms as an indicator of how stressed you may be. To use the device, you connect it to your PC and place your finger on its small monitor. A graph charting your heart patterns then appears on the PC.… Read more

Perhaps you, like me, are close to someone who finds trouble counting beyond three. At least in their head.

Perhaps you, like me, occasionally express frustration in what you think is a humorous way, about this alleged inability.

Perhaps, you, unlike me, have tried to zap their brains with a shot of electricity in order to get their math skills up to that of a high school student.

Should you have tried to jolt a math dolt with a volt or two, you might have been doing the right thing. For researchers in Britain have discovered, at least according to the Telegraph, … Read more

A new organization led by major CEOs is hoping to make the U.S. more competitive around the world by putting the focus on education.

Announced by President Obama yesterday as part of his "Educate to Innovate" campaign, Change the Equation is a nonprofit group whose goal is to improve education in the key areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Founded by former Intel Chairman Craig Barrett and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns among other chief executives, and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, the group's membership includes 100 key industry … Read more

As most people know, the thing about buying anything in the computer and gadget world is that you run the risk of your item becoming obsolete after the next revision. People often complain about Apple in this way (first-generation iPhone, anyone?), but it's mostly true across the board: with advances in technology coming so rapidly these days, the neat gadget you got this year will probably be mainstream by next year. It's just the nature of the tech business.

Even though I was armed with knowledge of the "early adopter" phenomenon well before I bought my iPad, it still hurt to read rumors over at AppleInsider saying a refresh of the iPad complete with a front-facing camera might be coming sooner rather than later. Sure, I have the ability to use FaceTime on my iPhone 4, but all that screen real estate is certainly going to make video calls better on the iPad. Much better.

So, here's your chance, readers! Go ahead and gloat--you made the right choice and waited. You didn't fall prey to the keynote for the "magical" device and now you're in the perfect position to get a better version. Congratulations! Now, try not to be too hard on me.

This week's apps include an streaming-audio app with a slick interface, and a fun and addictive puzzle game that will test your math skills.… Read more

One of the drawbacks of many basic calculators is that you can't view each operation in a long equation all at once. CCCalc seeks to remedy this problem by providing users with a view of their work as though it's been written on a piece of graph paper. The program isn't crammed with features, but it is a nice alternative for people who like to view their work as they go.

The program's interface is plain, with a keypad at the bottom and the graph paper-style display on top. The keypad can be turned off if … Read more

Rubik's Cube is a little like Carrot Top. You're either into it or you stare, uncomprehending, as others express their enthusiasm.

Still, there are people all over the world who are desperate to discover all the different ways in which you can solve this infernal puzzle. These people are often called mathematicians.

So, according to AFP, an international group of these mathematicians begged some computer time from Google in order to unburden themselves of an issue that had, perhaps, disturbed their personal relationships for far too long.

Because these mathematicians worship the concept of efficiency (well, one of … Read more

Does the thought of geometry bring back stressful high-school math memories? Geometry Playground, a new exhibit opening Friday at San Francisco's Exploratorium, could help you rethink your associations with proofs, polygons, and acute angles by moving geometry from the textbook realm to, well, the playground realm.

The exhibit includes a series of experiential displays that let you do things like crawl inside giant 3D spaces; watch yourself in a big curved mirror as you try to play hopscotch; look into a tapered kaleidoscope to see a live video creating a 120-sided shape; and use a flashlight to "draw&… Read more