Banker's rounding hurts me. In which arenas is it applied?

Well, banking for one. That makes sense, really -- especially if you're dealing with .05's of a cent and whatnot.

This is why rounding numbers is evil. Better just to live with the fractions!!1!

Well, banking for one.

Get the fuck out of town. Any others? I mean, is there a reason for it to be applicable to GPAs?

Better just to live with the fractions!!1!

Tell that to 3.14159265.

This is why rounding numbers is evil.

I don't think rounding is always evil and the irrational numbers support me in e-mail.

I mean, is there a reason for it to be applicable to GPAs?

For grading on a curve? Yeah, I'm just making shit up now.

Any others? I mean, is there a reason for it to be applicable to GPAs?

My guess (and it's the first time I've heard of the rule either, so it's only a guess coming out of my sieve) is that it's a rule for statistics, for when you're using lots of numbers, when you don't want to skew an average or change the sum significantly. Since statistically half the numbers that end with 5 end with odd-5 and the other half ends with even-5 that's just a way to make sure you round-up around the same times of numbers that you round-down, so the sum - and the average - aren't changed.

For something like one perosn's grades, though, just the single number, no statistics nvolved, I don't see how it is needed. Unless, of course, you want to average out grades from students all over. It's still not needed for each single student, but for a group, maybe.

Never heard of banker's rounding before. We were taught always to round 5's up.

Oh, and in news I'm sure will stun you all, it appears that I'm a liberal. However, I'm married to a pro-government conservative. (Which doesn't mean that he's pro this government, but that he believes in social programs, environmental legislation, and other things that are anathema to the powers that be, while still adopting a more conservative view on foreign policy and certain moral issues than a liberal would.) It's a Pew Research Center thing, and you can take the quiz here: [link]

Apparently the liberal group has surged in size since 1999. None of which surprises me at all, because if I'd taken that quiz in '99, I probably would've come out as a conservative Democrat--there's nothing like a radical government to drive people who disagree with them away from anything resembling the center!

Also, shrift, Yahoo Mail is being a phenomenal bitch, so, in short:

Got it! Will check into it this weekend while you're, you know, off having fun and I'm being tortured with bridal stores.

No surprise here, I'm a liberal.

I didn't like all the choices though. There were a number of questions where I wanted to say "I agree, but..."

Up against "Lost".

And "The Inside" most likely.