kris

I'm writing a handout for my students on how to handle scientific notation with their calculators. Many calculators have a button labeled "EE" or "Exp". I want to know if there are any other labels that are often used.

(In case you're curious, I'm a college science professor, and many of my students, even the science majors, don't know how to use their calculators! They often use the y^x key to enter numbers in scientific notation, which of course will work but it takes longer. They have no idea that there's an easier way to do it.)

I'm trying to write up homework solutions in MS Word, for a physics class. I know how to draw something that approximates a parabola using the curve tool, but I'd rather have a real parabola. Is there a way to do that, where I can get just the line (I don't want a graph, I'm using a parabola in a diagram showing the motion of a projectile)? I have the full MS Office suite (2010), and Photoshop (plus a bunch of other Adobe products).

What I usually do is draw my diagrams free-hand and scan them in, or I just use the curve tool and not worry about it being perfect. But since it's such a basic shape (in physics, at least) I thought there really should be a better way. Same goes for ellipses, especially when I teach astronomy!

Should it be :

Dos and Don'ts

or should it be:

Do's and Don't's

or a combination of the two:

Do's and Don'ts

I would guess the first one, since these aren't possessives, they are plurals. But I've seen the third one often - of course, that doesn't mean it's correct!

I live in southern New England, so it's almost the end of the a/c season. It's working just fine, but I haven't had it serviced in at least 4 years, maybe more. Should I wait till the spring so they can clean out the leaves, etc, that will get in there this fall, or should I get it done now?

What are the important properties (i.e., processor, processor speed, memory, etc.) and how important are they? I'm not a gamer and I don't watch movies on my computer. I tend to run a lot of programs simultaneously, and they seem to be memory hogs - my current computer often seems quite sluggish (yes, my anti-virus, etc., software is up to date). I'm learning to use Photoshop and also learning to program in Flash, and I'd like to start learning to use Blender. I can't afford to get a computer with the best of everything, so what should I look for? The most memory? Fastest processor speed? Something else?

I'm most likely going to get a laptop, but I am considering an all-in-one.

Thanks!

I have two plastic pieces, both are smooth and flat, that I want to permanently glue together. I tried using superglue, I let it sit for over 24 hours, but it came right apart with the slightest pressure. Any tips? Should I use rubber cement? Should I sand the surfaces to make them rough first?

I know it's impossible for two planets to merge and become a star, since there's not nearly enough mass. But I remember hearing this from somewhere, and I can't remember if I saw it in some sci-fi movie/tv show, if some misinformed person tried to tell me this one time, or if it's a common misconception. Has anyone else ever heard of this? Is it from some movie or tv show?

My house is heated with baseboard heaters, fed by a gas-powered furnace. Tonight I started hearing the sound of water rushing through them, quite loudly (it was similar to the sound of a bathtub draining). Until today, I could hear when the heaters come on only if I was paying close attention and it was quiet in the house. Any idea why this is happening? I hear the sound in all the baseboard heaters, but I don't see any problems (no water leaking or anything bad like that).

My yard is a mess and always has been (unlevel, grass is splotchy, etc.). I'd like to completely redo it, which may even mean starting from scratch with a new lawn. Would it be better to do this in the fall or in the spring? I live in New England, and I know summers aren't a good time to put in a new lawn.

There's a high-pitched squeal coming from somewhere in my kitchen. It started soft last night, this morning is quite loud. Otherwise, it's a constant pitch and volume. It sounds electrical, but I turned off all the breakers in the house and the sound didn't stop. It's definitely coming from inside the house, not outside. I've put in a call to my electrician anyway, but in the meantime I thought I'd ask here. Help, it's driving me batty!

My husband bought a bunch of stock through his company's stock purchase plan 8-10 years ago or so. He left the company about 5 years ago, and passed away about 2 years ago. Last year I had to sell the stocks (the company was bought by another company). Now I'm filling out my tax forms (I know, I shouldn't have put it off this long) and I have no idea when he bought the stocks or how much he bought them for. I might have the paperwork for it somewhere (my husband usually kept everything, but not always in any organized way), but I'm not even sure what I would be looking for. Some of the stocks were kept with E*Trade, but some of them I just had the certificates for (I had to turn them in when I sold them, of course, and I didn't make copies of them - stupid, I know). Is there any way for me to find out when these stocks were bought (I assume they were at several different dates) and for how much? The company was bought out, so I can't really call them, at least I don't think I could. Who else would I call?

I teach astronomy for non-science majors at a public university, and I am constantly astounded by the lack of math ability of my students. Yet I'm pretty sure they all took Algebra II in high school. So I'm wondering if they learn the following topics:

* Given an equation such as a = b * c, solve for b

* Scientific notation

* Logarithms and exponents

I leave dry food out for my cats during the day. My baby thinks it's great fun to grab a handful (or two) of the kibble and start eating it. Is there a way to keep him away from the food, but still leave it out for the cats? My house has an open floor plan, so there's no easy way to keep the baby out of the kitchen, and I don't want to feed the cats on the kitchen counter. Any ideas?

A few years ago I bought and downloaded a bunch of songs. Then, when I bought a new computer, I discovered that all those songs that I paid for, were not playable on any other computer except the one I used to buy them with in the first place. Without buying some sort of subscription service, is there a way to buy songs yet still be able to transfer them to a new computer? I refuse to pay for songs I will only have access to for a few years at most!

I have one of those electrical outlets that is controlled by a light switch, and currently (no pun intended) both the top and bottom sockets are controlled by that light switch. Is there a relatively easy way to change it so that only one of the sockets is controlled by the light switch?

I changed all the outlets in the room recently (I just painted the room, and the color of the old outlets didn't match) and I did notice that the outlet controlled by the light switch had more wires than the other outlets, so I'm guessing there's some configuration that will allow me to do what I want to do.

Are there any websites that will show a wiring diagram? That would be ideal.

Thanks!

I've got remote desktop running between the two computers when I'm at home, but is there a way to connect to my home computer when I'm not home? I don't want to spend any money on remote access software.

Home Computer: Windows XP Pro, connected wirelessly (linksys wireless router, which is connected to the cable modem).

Laptop: Windows Vista Business, also wireless (obviously).

My HP Pavilion dv2000 laptop is dead (again). It's the motherboard (again) and I'm about to send it to HP to be fixed (again). I have some files on the hard drive that I really need. HP probably won't wipe the hard drive, they didn't last time, but you never know. There's nothing wrong with the hard drive - is there any way I can get the data off of it? One of my students told me there's a contraption you can buy that turns an internal hard drive into an external hard drive, or some such. Does such a thing exist?

(Yeah, I know I should have backed up my data. But I didn't.)

I'm trying to find a website that has streaming audio of the world series, for free of course. Any ideas?

My menstrual cycle is not normal, to put it mildly. But my BBT has been a reliable indication of when I ovulated. However, last week I was away on business and didn't bring my thermometer. Since I've gotten home, my sleep schedule has been quite messed up. Before my trip, my temps were low. Now they are high, but I don't quite trust the readings. Today I took my temp during the day to see if it was normal or not, and it was a little high (I'm usually right on 98.6 F, and it was 99.1). So when your BBT is high, is it normal for your normal temp to be high as well? Or do I have a low-grade fever? (I feel fine, but I did have a nasty cold for a month that I'm finally getting over.)

My husband had 4 stents put in on Thursday (he's only 35 but he had some severe blockages in his coronary artery). They went in through his groin (left and right - long story). He's now on a bunch of medications, including aspirin, blood thinner, cholesterol lowering meds, and blood pressure meds. His blood pressure was 150/100 before the meds. Now he's feeling very fatigued, and light headed. Is that normal after what he's been through? I'm mostly worried about the light headedness, perhaps the blood pressure medication is working too well?