Before diving into the mathematics of the ancient Egyptians, here’s an important question: Were they African? Let’s check a map:

Ah, OK.

A year ago today, my grandpa died. I wrote this essay shortly after, while the memory of his life and the experience of observing his death were still fresh in mind.

For many people, the basic story of the history of mathematics is that Greeks came up with a bunch of cool stuff, it was forgotten for a long time, and then Europeans rediscovered Greek knowledge and ran with it from the Renaissance onward. But maybe that’s not exactly right.

I only finished a handful of books this year. I’ve listed them below, along with a few thoughts that I took away. There were also a few children’s books that stuck out to me, and so I’ve listed those, too.

I know it seems arrogant to tell other people about your own charity. Not only am I bragging about having a few extra dollars to give away, but I’m even more superior because I’m using it to feed the hungry! Or cure malaria! Or whatever! For a couple reasons, though, this is a risk I’m willing to take.

In addition to the two computer science courses I took at Oregon State this term, I also took Linear Algebra at Portland Community College. This post will serve as a short (or not so short) summary of what I learned, what I liked, and how I think the course could be improved.

This term I took three courses: Operating Systems and Software Engineering II at Oregon State, and Linear Algebra at Portland Community College. This post summarizes my experience with Software Engineering II, and offers some advice for people taking the class in the future.

This term I took three courses: Operating Systems and Software Engineering II at Oregon State, and Linear Algebra at Portland Community College. This post summarizes my experience with Operating Systems, and offers some advice for people taking the class in the future.

Every once in a while, people email me to ask whether Oregon State’s post-baccalaureate computer science program is worth it. Now that I’m nearing the end (I’ll graduate at the end of winter term), I feel like I can provide an answer. This post will serve as a long-form explanation of my answer, which is yes (with some caveats).

If you wondered whether or not I’d continue writing these updates every three months, well, here’s your answer. In fact, you can look forward to reading about Idara at six and a half, at ten and three-quarters, and probably even at fourteen (which I’m sure will be a great read).