Search where?

This Portfolio (cathartes02)

All of Writing.Com

◄ May ► 2023
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31
Archive				RSS

Offsite Blogs

· Waltz Travel Blog

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Monday, May. 6, 2024

2:31am EDT

Members: 837

Guests: 2,172

Total Online: 3,009

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:

🌕 HuntersMoon

about 18 hours ago
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

a day ago
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

Simply Me

May 3, 2024 at 11:58am
In response to "It's a Crime"

I get it. The fear spreading jerks wants us to have an "us vs. them" attitude. The division gives them leverage. (they think)

1 Like

🌕 HuntersMoon

May 2, 2024 at 11:37am
In response to "Butt Of Course"

My wife tried waterskiing once... called it the 100-yard douche.

Talk about retaining water...

2 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 1, 2024 at 10:53am
In response to "Mad as Hell"

"But if you want to really see how anger is useful, you need to consider how it's used as a tool for manipulation."

This is a line that must be regarded with care. After all, there are people that get angry about the way they are being treated on a large scale and harness that anger to change their circumstances. There is some level of manipulation in this angry but still legitimate flavor of activism. We do have to consider the possibility that this angel's usefulness can have net benefits (such as environmental cleanup and protection; see the Live Canal as an example).

GeminiGem survived GoT

Apr 29, 2024 at 1:53pm
In response to "Supplementary"

Working in health care for a zillion years, I've heard it all. The whole thing about something being natural, therefore it would be good for a person is very, very, very...very prevalent. An internist I worked with had a fantastic comeback to that line of thinking. She would say, "Arsenic is natural, are you going to start taking that?"

1 Like

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

Apr 28, 2024 at 2:14pm
In response to "Revisited: "Exercise""

I will be 75 in July. My stepdaughter gave me a bike because I wanted to ride it again. Well, I started off shaky and stayed shaky...then I fell off it...A passing motorist stopped to help me get up...I have NOT been back on that bike and will not ever again.

🌕 HuntersMoon

Apr 28, 2024 at 10:43am
In response to "Revisited: "Exercise""

So, you're saying that now you pedal your ass differently?

Elisa the Bunny Stik

Apr 27, 2024 at 10:33am
In response to "Pleasure and Pain"

it illustrates why it's important to have people from different backgrounds, with different worldviews, working on scientific research.

This right here is why I get rather irritated by people poo-pooing college these days. I feel like that attitude effectively shits on minority populations that may not have strong finances but do possess persistent curiosity and want to learn about various subjects in-depth. In the 90s, these groups were exclusively told to go to trade schools even if they had the aptitude for college education. Nowadays the blanket "Everyone should consider a trade" mantra employs a more subtle (but still abundant) form of discrimination. I'm so over it.

1 Like

May 28, 2023 at 9:35am

#1050188

Revisited: "Poor You"

It's Sunday, so it's time to unearth an ancient fossil of a blog entry. This one's from early 2020 and references a Guardian article from half a year prior: "Poor You"

The article

I referenced is still there, so context is easy to find.

The article, and my commentary, are pretty much just as relevant now as they were three years ago (though one might be tempted to wonder how the somewhat sheltered author navigated the pandemic): wages aren't growing much, prices are, and people are still people.

So, a few of my comments that might warrant additional explanation:

1) I'm only giving her a pass on the "gluten-free cookbook author" gig because she is apparently diagnosed with celiac.

What I meant by this is that, for a while, "gluten-free" was a fad, and I detest fads. Nevertheless, there are people for whom it's not a choice, but a necessity, and if the fad gave them more choices for a reasonably healthy lifestyle, great.

2) $15 an hour? Stocking groceries? I'm not saying that's a lot of money, but it's above average for unskilled workers.

I have no idea if that's still true in 2023, but for the time, I believe that to be correct.

And yeah, being broke, or close to it, damages one's mind. The crappy cheap food you have to buy if you're poor doesn't help with that.

This probably wasn't the best way I could have phrased that. I wasn't trying to imply that poor people are brain-damaged. I meant it as an indictment of the system that forces some people to be poor, not to rag on the victims of that system.

Tying health insurance to employment is good for employers. Not great for people who'd rather spend their time running a small business.

By "good for employers," I meant that the incentive of keeping one's health insurance is another trick employers can use to trap you in a dead-end and/or low-paying job. The article's author, for example, apparently took the job mostly because it offered health insurance, rare for a part-time gig. People will put up with a lot of bullshit if the alternative is worse. This might have changed a bit in the last three years, judging by all the shitty employers whining "no one wants to work anymore." (In reality, no one wants to put up with your bullshit anymore.)

Now, workers have a bit more power in negotiation. I hope that continues, but it probably won't.

Veganism is a product of privilege.

I stand by this assertion. But I'm not presuming to tell people what to eat. You do you. My objections only start when it becomes like a religion, with self-righteous adherents and attempts at conversion.

I'm aware of the contradiction inherent in my attempt to convert proselytizers to the practice of minding their own business, but I can live with that.

In closing, sometimes "poor" is a matter of one's own perspective. One doesn't have to have a lot of money or a high salary to be privileged. Reading between the lines, this author had, at minimum, a place to sleep, an internet connection, and something to write and post with (laptop, smartphone, something). And some sort of support system. Not to mention the wherewithal to pursue her preferred diet, which requires a good bit of thought, energy, and time. This may have been a step down from her previous experience, but it's not rock-bottom, even if it seemed so to her. Truly poor people are rarely able to be picky about what they eat (which is why I call veganism a product of privilege).

Life has its ups and downs, and I sincerely hope she's doing better. And understands that she could be doing worse.

3 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

© Copyright 2024 Robert Waltz (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Robert Waltz has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/cathartes02/day/5-28-2023