Happy Thanksgiving 2023!

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(C)Copyright 2023, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

Only one person wants that, and it's probably the one that brought it!

There are also side dishes with limited appeal, which is why there are so many side dishes, particularly with large families who are thankful that they can all be together ... right before they start picking fights, being all crammed into the same area for too long. And so it goes.

People complain and say they hate it, but I enjoy the family getting together, even when I need to walk out of the room for a minute. Just so long as there's still stuffing. And gravy. And potatoes. And ...

There could've been a series joke there ... I have to make a note for next year. After 16 years, it's hard to come up with new math-related Thanksgiving jokes. I was going to do a food pyramid. Yeah ... did that 10 years ago. Maybe I'll come up with a new take on it.

I also write Fiction! You can now order Devilish And Divine, edited by John L. French and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, which contains (among many, many others) three stories by me, Christopher J. Burke about those above us and from down below. Order the softcover or ebook at Amazon. Also, check out In A Flash 2020, by Christopher J. Burke for 20 great flash fiction stories, perfectly sized for your train rides. Available in softcover or ebook at Amazon. If you enjoy it, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or on Good Reads.

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Signal-to-Noise 2

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(C)Copyright 2022, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

The caveat being that I strive for more signal in my own blog, but 100% math all the time would short-curcuit my brain.

This is the reason that the math jokes and questions give way to teacher and family jokes of other silliness. And why my Regents explanations try to have a conversational, rather than a purely clinical, academic tone to them. I couldn't enjoy that, and I don't think others could. Really, after the 15th math joke, anyone still here would be saying, "That's nice. What else you got?"

While I was composing this, it occured to me that I might've done something similar in the past. I did -- back in 2013 -- but the graph was different then the one I was envisioning now, so I went ahead with it. (Note the "2" in the title.) I needed a "quickie" after the last two comics.

Okay, now bring in da noise, bring in da signal!

I also write Fiction! You can now preorder Devilish And Divine, edited by John L. French and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, which contains (among many, many others) three stories by me, Christopher J. Burke about those above us and from down below. Preorder the softcover or ebook at Amazon. Also, check out In A Flash 2020, by Christopher J. Burke for 20 great flash fiction stories, perfectly sized for your train rides. Available in softcover or ebook at Amazon. If you enjoy it, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or on Good Reads.

Come back often for more funny math and geeky comics.

Coffee Temperature

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(C)Copyright 2020, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

When the pot has been sitting there long enough -- and there's still some in it -- you can nuke it, or add ice.

And, of course, I'm not dumping coffee that I went out and paid to have prepared for me! (Unless it was swill to begin with.)

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You Get What You Pay For

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(C)Copyright 2020, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

And keep in mind that this comic is free ...

No, I didn't need to do this on an index card. It was just a thing I did a few times in the past. Imitation, flattery, all that.

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Temperature v Time

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(C)Copyright 2019, C. Burke.

That second area is known as "Fiddling with the knobs" or "Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve".

But I probably don't want "piddle" and "shower" in the same comic.

The Goldilocks zone is actually a little narrower than that. The y-axis is adjusted for readability.

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Dollars to Doughnuts

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(C)Copyright 2019, C. Burke.

It's an old saying, so I went with an old spelling.

When I was a kid, $6 vs 6 donuts would have been about 3:1 odds or so. Now, it could be 1:2 or 1:3 or worse, depending on where you shop and the kind of donuts.

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Age vs. Steps

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(C)Copyright 2019, C. Burke.

Based on empirical evidence, collected over a long period.

Originally, this comic came out of a comment that the Brooklyn Bridge seems to have gotten longer since I last crossed it. Then I realized that it used to seem shorter than when I was a kid. When you realized what shape the graph takes, the rest is self-explanatory.

Except for the roadway. I couldn't come up with a clever tag for the roadway for whose steps those might represent.

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It's Fine

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(C)Copyright 2018, C. Burke.

Negative outcome. Not good.




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State of the Union

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(C)Copyright 2018, C. Burke.

Just don't start asking for complements!




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(x, why?) Mini: Cheers!

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(C)Copyright 2016, C. Burke.

Raise a glass and talk charts and graphs!

I hate when my "quickie" comics take longer than my regular ones. I realized halfway through that I probably should have expanded it beyond the usual "mini" borders. Too late.

I don't usually go 9 days without an update. It's not for a lack of ideas, but a lack of (Time AND Energy).

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TV Screens Over Time

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(C)Copyright 2016, C. Burke.

I'm waiting for 40-inch tablets.

Television was the center of family life ... until it was so successful that we had televisions in every room, and the family split up and retreated into their own areas. But still, the center was the living room TV because it was the greatest receiver of all, at least in terms of size. But then that stopped mattering.

For a long time, television sets were limited by the size of the cathode ray tube, making the set to heavy to move and too big to place on any piece of furniture. After a certain size, they became impractical.

And then the flatscreen arrived, and screen sizes (as measured by the diagonals) took off again.

But then something odd happened. Mini-TVs started to have more clarity, and then they slowly grew in size. And then streaming video on phones and tablets became practical, and, again, the clarity and the sharpness of the screens rivaled the bigger cousins.

Shortly after the turn of the 21st century, PDAs shrank and phones grew (after originally shrinking) until they became the same gadget. But then the gadgets kept growing, coincidentally at the same time that streaming has taken off. So people have given up 50 inch screens for 5 inch screens, but the miniatures are getting bigger again.

Personally, I have a big screen in the bedroom where my DVR is, but I'll occasionally watch shows from the DVR on my iPad, but that's for convenience, not a preference.

In any case, I find the situation both curious and amusing.

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Substitute Teacher School Assignment Chart

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(C)Copyright 2015, C. Burke.

There are reasons why some schools have vacancies, not all of them maternity or jury duty.

Just to clarify, in New York City, there is something called the Absentee Teacher Reserve Pool, which is comprised of many teachers who were placed "in excess" for a number of reasons. (For example, shrinking enrollment shrinks the school's budget, meaning there is less need and less money for the same number of teachers.) Every month, teachers in the pool get an assignment to report to a certain school as a substitute. That assignment can be any place in the borough (i.e., the county). Not all parts of Brooklyn are easy to travel to as the subway system generally moves people toward Manhattan. Many of the streets in old neighborhoods are very narrow for the amount of traffic they get today. And don't even think about parking.

Moreover, there are many reasons why schools are low achieving, and many of those reasons have little to do with the students themselves, but none of them work well for a substitute in the midst.

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Holiday Shopping List

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(C)Copyright 2015, C. Burke.

The shopping list keeps growing, right up to the moment the stores close ... or, you know, you go to the store and get everything.

Factors include: deciding (being told to) make more food, more people coming over, realizing that the stuff isn't in your house when you thought it was ...

You know, the usual.

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Disposition of Gift Cards

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(C)Copyright 2014, C. Burke.

There could even now be a gift card in my wallet waiting to be used ... or expired.

Sadly, many do get stolen with handbags, or hacked online. One of the reasons I have old iTunes cards unused is that the very first one I cashed in (for my child) was immediately hacked and spent and an additional $50 was run-up on my credit card. The iTunes card was a total loss because we just couldn't find a human being at Apple to talk to. The credit card was easier to deal with.

That being said, when I can buy anything, I never know what it is I want to buy. If it's just a store card where I'll eventually shop anyway, that isn't so bad. But, as noted in the comic, I'm just as likely to be shopping for a present for someone else, or for run-of-the-mill, day-to-day junk that I need, and not anything special or gift-like in nature.

Caffeine, on the other hand, while being day-to-day, every day, is always a special gift! I'm set for the next month.

Useless Junk

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(C)Copyright 2014, C. Burke.

I just have to make sure that I don't make it on her list.

Modeling

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(C)Copyright 2014, C. Burke.

Because either though I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be doing three days from now, I need that fifth-gen Doppler tech to tell me the weather through the end of next week! Plans need to be made!

On the bright side, the bells and whistles curve is exponential.

Cleanliness v. Bugginess

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(C)Copyright 2014, C. Burke.

Cleaning the pool always makes me a little buggy ... but, seriously ...

The clearer the pool is, the more dead bugs I have to skim off the surface every day.

Either they see their reflection, or it actually isn't clean and there's something bad they're attracted to.
I'm hoping for the former.

Histogram

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(C)Copyright 2014, C. Burke.

This needs to be a website. Make it so.

And it's not just the people taking pictures of their lunch. It's *how many* pictures that they're taking.
Possible excuse if your Photography teacher sent you and your classmates in there, but you still look silly.

Teacher Vacancies

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke.

Nothing is every as simple as it seems. Except Algebra. Algebra's easy. I could show you, but you'd need a vacancy first . . .

Filling vacancies is not a straightforward issue. It's obviously not just a matter of openings vs. teachers: they have to be the right teachers. That is, at the very least, in the correct subject area and with the background necessary for whatever the student population happens to be. And then, of course, are the internal politics that keep veterans out of a school because they just cost too darn much. (It wasn't that long ago in NYC that teachers were "revenue neutral" for the school's budget. Then the principals were forced to do what the mayor couldn't. But enough politics, Have a Nice Day!)

Try Not. DO!

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke.

So far today, they've tried 'hard', 'very hard' and 'really, really hard'. Before today, ... not so much.