Six letter words are funny — only about half of them don’t repeat any letters, and just under two-thirds of them include the letter “e.” Ok, so maybe these facts are more “funny/strange” than “funny/ha-ha,” but phrases made out …
Continue ReadingOne of Goldbach’s earlier conjectures was that every odd composite integer could be expressed as twice a perfect square plus a prime. For example, 9 = 2(12)+7, and 15 = 2(22)+7. This week’s GeekDad Puzzle of the Week is simple: …
Continue ReadingOne of Christian Goldbach (1690 – 1764)’s conjectures was that every odd composite integer could be expressed as twice a perfect square plus a prime. For example, 9 = 2(1^2)+7, and 15 = 2(2^2)+7. What is the smallest …
Continue ReadingPerfect numbers are numbers that equal the sum of their divisors. For example, the number 6 can be divided evenly by 1, 2, and 3, and 6 = 1 + 2 + 3. Almost perfect number pairs are pairs …
Continue ReadingAlmost perfect number pairs are pairs of numbers that equal the sum of their partner’s divisors. For example, 1184 and 1210 are an almost perfect number pair. This week’s GeekDad Puzzle of the Week is straightforward: How many perfect …
Continue ReadingAs my son Max and I sat together at his 5th birthday party (natal anniversary party) this weekend, we discussed higher math and how it was going to help him take over the world. After walking him through Fibonacci numbers, …
Continue ReadingAs my son Max and I sat together at his 5th birthday party (natal anniversary party) this weekend, we discussed higher math and how it was going to help him take over the world. After walking him through Fibonacci numbers, …
Continue ReadingToday, February 20, 2012, is Presidents’ Day. Originally implemented in 1880 to honor George Washington, it was celebrated each year on his natal anniversary, February 22. Under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, in 1971 the holiday was shifted to the …
Continue ReadingCongratulations to the region that hosts the sports team that won the recent televised sporting event! Here is last week’s puzzle: Watching this evening’s televised sporting event (which will remain nameless, so as to save me visits from intellectual property …
Continue ReadingWatching this evening’s televised sporting event (which will remain nameless, so as to save me visits from intellectual property lawyers), I remembered that I took part in the curious office practice of wagering on the score of the game at …
Continue ReadingCongratulations to everyone that sent in a reply to Monday’s anagrammatic brain bender. Here’s the puzzle as posted: Max Porter, the Roving Reporter, was just reprimanded by his editor for having too many spelling mistakes in his stories. While they …
Continue ReadingMax Porter, the Roving Reporter, was just reprimanded by his editor for having too many spelling mistakes in his stories. While they weren’t technically misspelled words, Max fell prey to the most insidious of “spellcheck” errors — mistyping one word …
Continue ReadingCongratulations to everyone that sent in a reply to Monday’s “Crossnumber” Puzzle. Here’s the puzzle as posted: Across Down 0. Pi 0. Sparta 5. F4 to F7 1. 2^2^2 7. Dozen 2. Luftballons 8. Bond 3. maxint (unsigned) 10. five …
Continue ReadingMost everyone that reads GeekDad has at least one friend or co-worker that can recite Pi out to a few dozen digits — or, more likely, we are that friend or co-worker. A lot of us probably have quite a …
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