User Comments - RJ

Posted on: The Better Man

Bill is my hero

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Yeager

Posted on: Dental Floss

persimone

we call this a "water pik". Your choice of words would raise some eyebrows in the US, but I will let you figure that one out. I got your meaning, even if it did make me chuckle.

Posted on: Dental Floss

I see. Sorry for the public service announcement btw but flossing is near and dear to my heart (there is a connection to cardiovascular disease as well). Look up calculus (dental) in Wikipedia if you are not convinced, just don't do it at lunch time. Ive done my part to encourage flossing in China and I approve this message, as they say.

Posted on: Dental Floss

you can but its more socially acceptable to use a toothpick in public. Use floss as toothpick - lose face. Use toothpick as floss - lose teeth.

Posted on: Dental Floss

Actually tooth picks are for dislodging uncomfortable particles of food from between the teeth. Floss is for cleaning plaque from between teeth and below the gum line before it hardens and becomes calculus.  Calculus is difficult to remove and causes gingivitis and bone loss which leads to serious periodontal issues including tooth loss. Flossing and "picking" are definitely not interchangeable. Even floss is not enough, thats why its recommended that teeth be professionally cleaned and scaled every 6 months. I know one thing, if I floss properly every day, my visits to the dental hygenist are much shorter and more comfortable. As much as I hate flossing, I make a point of it.

Posted on: Essential Math Terms

Skippy? Oh no, say it isnt so. In the US we have suffered through Lassie, Flipper, and even that talking horse (Mr. Ed) but it all pales to a Roo in the bush. I had no idea. Evidently the show was very popular in Spanish too. Thankfully it was never translated into American. So do Roos actually make good pets?

Posted on: Essential Math Terms

"Now, f'(3) really doesn't make much sense"

yes I agree - by itself it doesnt. Thats what started the whole thing. I dont disagree with anything you said, including the no more math part :-)

Posted on: Essential Math Terms

I think you got it but to me its all ass backwards. Math must be much harder in Chinese. As we used to say as kids- "hard as Chinese arithmetic". You did make one mistake however- in the third expression "h 平房" should be "h 平方" - I was trying to solve for a bungalow. Just a pinyin typo actually. I still think it flows much better in English than the Chinese version, but then again, I would.

Posted on: Essential Math Terms

I have always used f'(x²) and (d/dx)(x²) interchangeably. To me the prime on the f'(x²) makes it the derivative and it represents the same thing. Granted I have not been in a calculus class in many years and I typically only use the formulas derived for the various general functions, so maybe I am out of touch with current convention, or have just forgotten this. At least we understand each other. It is so difficult to share such thoughts in this medium. But math is not the question here so I look forward to reading next your translation. Thanks for keeping me honest.

Posted on: Learning about Levels

I believe the only way to declare a level is by the level of lessons you subscribe to. There used to be a level choice within profile but that is gone now. Someone at cpod will have to correct me here if I am wrong but I think that is the current situation. Any level you subscribe to will be added to the drop down filter on the community page automatically. You can see "All" or just elem or intermediate for example but you must be subscribed to this level to see only comments filtered by the same. I hope that makes sense.

On the right, mid dashboard page is "your levels/shows' under which those levels you subscribe to are listed and under that a "manage subscriptions" button that functions same as cogwheel.