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Monday, May. 20, 2024

5:51am EDT

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Complex Numbers

by Robert Waltz

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1196512

Not for the faint of art.

Complex Numbers

A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.

The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.

Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.

Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

Signature for Honorable Mentions in 2018 Quill Awards

A signature for exclusive use of winners at the 2019 Quill Awards

Signature for those who have won a Quill Award at the 2020 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Aiva Raine

May 17, 2024 at 6:57pm
In response to "Knead Some Dough?"

I grew up on mostly Wonder Bread despite our family having a large dry farm (dry farm being a farm that grows wheat and barley and safflower without irrigation- it relies solely upon mother nature to rain). I was never fond of it and looked forward to the times my mom would laboriously mill and grind the grain we brought back during harvest into flour and make home-made wheat bread. There was and still is nothing better than fresh whole wheat bread with a little butter and honey.

I think we did the Wonder Bread because my mom wasn't a fan of cooking and making bread is a time-consuming process.

I quit doing the white bread decades ago. There are so many kinds of healthy, no HFCS, etc whole grain breads out there that are delicious that I have no idea why any adult would choose the crappy Wonder Bread.

1 Like

Wordsmitty ✍️

May 13, 2024 at 1:18pm
In response to "The Breakfast and the Breakfurious"

And for those who rather not read the Smithsonian article, the History Channel episode that covers Pop Tarts (if you have a cable TV account):

https://www.history.com/shows/the-food-that-built-america/season-4/episode-1

Annette

May 10, 2024 at 12:05pm
In response to "Meditation Clause"

Everytime a stranger asks me to close my eyes, I keep my eyes open to see what they are up to.
Meditation is not for me.

But I think most people would have 45 minutes every day if they took that time away from social media or TV watching.

2 Like

Wordsmitty ✍️

May 9, 2024 at 1:15pm
In response to "Super Stew?"

But . . .

What's the difference between one being in the soup or in a stew? Is one thinner or thicker? How do writers use soup and stew?

1 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 9, 2024 at 10:11am
In response to "Super Stew?"

"Served in a pot? Maybe in your country."

Honestly, in the US I'd think soup would be served in a pot due to the quantity that ends up being consumed.

1 Like

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

May 8, 2024 at 3:02pm
In response to "Be Positive"

Mine always tell me to eat more fruits and veggies.

Annette

May 8, 2024 at 10:52am
In response to "Be Positive"

Asking doctors for advice has its own pitfalls. Because there is no money in recommending a sensible nutrition pattern, they will say things like: Look it up online.

2 Like

🌕 HuntersMoon

May 5, 2024 at 8:50am
In response to "Revisited: "Fail""

Shame on you for making fun of the Hoggs. Being a Virginian, Bob, you should know the reverence that the name Hog inspires recalling the glory days of the Washington Redskins (now the Commanders). The Hogs

1 Like

Charity Marie - <3

May 4, 2024 at 5:42pm
In response to "Overdraft Dodgers"

I have four different accounts and each one has a purpose. Savings, personal debit card, auto draft debit card, and a b8lls account. The bills account is the only one that can overdraft as it's for manual big bills like rent, cell, electric, etc. Stuff that mist be paid. The rest are blocked from overdraft and the savings account has no debit card attached. My bank accounts have been hacked too many times so I keep it this way to protect myself. It is very rare I ever pay an overdraft. I have a money market account for money greater than $10K so it gains interest and isn't touched except emergencies. That is a secure account too.

1 Like

Kåre Enga in Montana

May 3, 2024 at 4:23pm
In response to "It's a Crime"

Thailand versus Montana versus New York versus Costa Rica.

Theft? Not in Thailand! Not a huge concern in Missoula, perhaps in NYC, definitely an issue in Costa Rica.

Violence? Not a huge concern in Thailand. More so in MT, NY and CR (where it wasn't a concern years ago), definitely a problem in Saint Louis and the US in general. El Salvador is known for violence.

Death by vehicle. Not a huge concern in either NY or MT. A rising problem in Costa Rica. Thailand is one of the worst places in the world in this respect.

You may be shot and killed in parts of the US but you're more likely to be run-over in Thailand.

1 Like

January 19, 2024 at 1:28pm

#1062664

The Once and Future Cheese

It's snowing again here. Not too heavily, and it's not really sticking on the roads, but every time people in Virginia see so much as one flake of snow, it's like some alien invasion, as if they've never seen it before. And it snows here. Every. Winter. Well, not so much last winter, but every other winter. And I had to leave the house, so I got to experience the chaos firsthand.

Anyway, no need to leave the house again until tomorrow evening, so I get to share with you this article from Eater about...

When Cheese Can Tell the Future
The Kitchen Witch brings the ancient art of tyromancy — divination through cheese — to the modern day

Headline notwithstanding, no, cheese cannot tell the future. Unless it's moldy when it's not supposed to be, in which case it predicts its own journey to the trash can or compost pile.

Still, people think it can, and that's fascinating to me.

Throughout history, people have sought answers about the unknown.

Yes. That's why there is science. Do you know how milk becomes cheese? Well, neither do I, beyond the absolute basics, but science does.

But predicting fates and futures hasn’t always been synonymous with tarot cards and oracles; sometimes, it comes down to what you eat or drink.

With me, it's like, "I see a night on the toilet in your future."

Though each society has its own versions of food divination, shape interpretation is the common ingredient in countless fortunes told. In the 1700s, “pulling the kale” was a popular way to predict the qualities of one’s future mate based upon the traits of the pulled-up plant.

And people think kale sprung suddenly onto the scene in the noughties.

And then there’s tyromancy, or cheese divination.

Oddly enough, the word "tyro" means novice or amateur, but that's from a different root word.

And now, Jennifer Billock, the Chicago-based creator of the Kitchen Witch newsletter, is taking this ancient yet new-to-most form of fortune telling into the 21st century with group readings. “It seemed like a fun way to tell fortunes that also ended up being delicious,” she says.

As long as I get to eat the cheese afterward, I'll pretend to believe in divination.

After the introduction is an interview between the publication and Billock. I'm not going to quote from that, but it goes into the mechanics of how it's done (short version: she reads the "variations," like mold stripes or ridges at the break of a hard cheese).

As with astrology, I'm amazed at the amount of work and thought people put into things like this. Sure, I don't accept that dairy products (or stars) can actually tell one's future, but I've come to the understanding that life is a little more fun with these absurdities than it would be without them.

Still, the only future I can predict when I have a hunk of cheese is that it will soon be in my belly.

2 Like • Comment • View 4 comments

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