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. |
You know what bugs me the most about hotel rooms? The coffee. Not really the coffee itself, because I never got a taste for the stuff; I don't like it, so I don't drink it. But it's there, in nearly every hotel room I've ever visited, along with a machine to make it. A machine which might as well be a helicopter for all I know how to use it. Problem is, I do need my caffeine. Usually, I get it in the form of Coke Zero: way more convenient, because I just have to open a can or bottle. Normally cheaper, too, at least compared to what you get at Starsucks (I imagine it's way cheaper to make the coffee yourself, but I wouldn't know). But while traveling, hotels tend to charge out the ass for Coke, while the coffee is included in the price of the room. I'd be okay with that if they also offered free tea. I like tea, especially the darker varieties. Though not Lipton. That stuff is ass. Not even iced tea; just tea bags that could work with hot water from whatever contraption they've cheaply installed in the room. But they don't. The one exception I've found is Hampton Inn, which, while I don't think they have tea available in the rooms like they do coffee, usually has bags and a hot water dispenser in the lobby. But then I'm paying more to stay at the Hampton Inn instead of, say, a Super 8, which makes it very expensive tea indeed. (Sometimes I stay at the Hampton, anyway. It's a solid chain hotel with, usually, a nice breakfast included.) Right now, I'm on my last night in a Caesar's property in Reno, and the coffee machine is right there on the desk next to where I have to set up the laptop. Taunting me with its complete and utter lack of tea. Now, I get that this is America and not England, but it's a city with an international airport, so... come ON. Oh, well, as travel inconveniences go, that's a small one, but I wanted to get this entry in now in case I get stuck in a Donner Pass snowstorm later today. And won't I be embarrassed if I end up sliding off the mountain to my final doom, and this inane shit ends up being my final written words? |