Hello, hello!

Argh!

I've not been as regular a poster as I c/should be lately! Yes, it's here, folks: that dreaded End o' the Semester Crunch. It's biting down hard on everybody, including yours truly. I didn't managed to finish quite as many of the tasks I'd hoped to cap off over the oh-so-short Thanksgiving Break we had last week, so this week's found me in the midst of a dizzying whirlwind of activity.

Strangely enough, though, things are starting to come together.

Linear-wise, we're a little over a week out from our Symposium. I've just made up flyers...ooo! That reminds me, I should post them on the website!

That's right, at 3:00 next Wednesday afternoon, we'll be gathering in Room 105 of Rhoades Hall to regale each other with traveler's tales of linear algebra applications to everything from wastewater management to computer graphics. I'm looking forward to it. Today alone I helped one group to use wavelets to generate computer music; another to come up with a reasonable model for their traffic transition matrix, given the observed data they'd gleaned from an hour's worth of counting cars in downtown Asheville (photos forthcoming!); and third to sort out a pretty complicated model for the flow of water through a conservation-conscious household. Busy day in Linearland.

Regarding the upcoming third exam, I floated the idea of an in-class exam, figuring that might help unburden these horrifically busy students a wee bit by freeing up some out-of-class time...but ALL but one person (and I've heard from well over half of the class) is looking for another take-home exam. I guess I'll get to work on that one!

What else? Hmmm...one stalwart and studious person showed up to last night's Problem Session, to match the one who showed up to the previous one, just prior to Thanksgiving Break. Not once have I been totally stood up! And tonight's session promises to be well-attended, I've already had several folks RSVP.

I'd best be off now, after this relatively short missive; there's a bit to be done before today's final Senior Seminar presentations, coming up in about half an hour!

Ta-ta for now...