basically grabbing a random figure out of thin air

1) It's not a random number, it's the same as any symbol used to represent something. We use letters to represent the sounds we make. Just because Arabic doesn't look like English, doesn't mean it's not language.

2) It follows specific rules. It works one way and one way only. Just like 2 will always be 2.

So, your bridge is not going to fall down because of the math. It will fall down because the contractor is a cheap shit who used materials that did not meet the engineers carefully laid plans.

So are there other imaginary numbers exclusive of i? Like, is there a letter that represents i+1, i+2, the square root of i, etc.?

If i is one specific value within the set of imaginary numbers, is it possible to explain to a layman what kind of property i has that makes it different from the rest of the set?

Edited to add that I'm not trying to be belligerent or dismissive; I really want to understand this and I have never been able to do it. It's very frustrating.

Hates math. It makes me feel so dumb and I AM NOT DUMB.

ION, my new haircut is cute. It's a bob (I always end up back at the bob) that's angled up in back and longer in front. A bit longer than chin length in front. I'm tempted to go short next time... I saw a girl at the oil change place with the cutest short hair and I think I want it. Tell me know. Every time I try to go short, I end up not liking it. My ideal length is anywhere from chin to shoulder. Any shorter or longer and it doesn't really suit me as well.

How do use that site? Do ihave have to download something to make it work?

You need a downloading client, yeah. I recommend Azureus. Just install, and then click!

Jen, I don't know if this will help you, but it explains imaginary numbers better than I feel I can. Good luck.

Hello, mi Bitches!

So, on the left hand menu of my iTunes, I've got something I don't recognize. Under my iPod there's something called Siggy's LimeWire Tunes. It's an icon just like the green one for the Music Store, only its blue. Does anyone know what it does? Is it a door to musical Narnia?

So are there other imaginary numbers exclusive of i? Like, is there a letter that represents i+1, i+2, the square root of i, etc.?

i+1 and i+2 are just i+1 and i+2. The square root of i is something like (i+1) divided by the square root of two (I can't remember it exactly right now, and I'm too lazy to figure it out -- it might be (i-1) or (1-i) rather than (i+1), but it's something like that.) Numbers that can be written as a+bi, where a and b are real numbers, are called complex numbers.

Ok, so I downloaded Azureus, and the Alias file I wanted (last Wed's) but it says that Windows Mediaplayer will not play it.

EDIT Should I take this to the Tech thread?

Jen, perhaps this will help: [link]

and: [link]

Still can't get into my LJ. I can get to the front page, but when I try to log in, Wacky Things happen.

I coordinated a wedding at church today. It worked out pretty well, if you ignore such trifles as the organist not arriving until ten minutes before the ceremony, the freezing rain (I went to the grocery store across the street during the ceremony to try to buy kitty litter or rock salt, figuring that'd be quicker than rummaging through every place in the church that might in theory have something of the kind, and they just gave me a box of de-icer), and the fact the flower girl was so overwhelmed by all the people looking at her that she walked down the aisle in realllly slowwww motion, dropping petals one at a time behind her back. Which was actually very cute, of course.

There was a memorial service scheduled for about an hour and a half after the wedding ended, so we had to very quickly get the sanctuary turned around. So one of the elders got a bunch of volunteers, and I told them what went where. And since they're going to be the ones to make sure everything is OK for tomorrow--no clogged toilets, etc.--and lock up, all I really had to do was empty the trash in the wedding party changing rooms.

But all the elder did was rave about how accommodating I was being! While they were sparing me from what's usually a 2-3 hour slog of a clean-up by myself in a barn of an empty church. I feel like I barely earned my keep this time around--I'd almost be willing to do the cat-herding part of the job for free, but I feel like I earn every penny and more on the facilities side.