Teaching : The Quantum Pontiff

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Dave Bacon is a theoretical ski bum who is also a pseudo professor. His research is on quantum computing, his scientific passions extend to everything in physics, mathematics, computer science and beyond, and his personal pleasures include making wine, playing poker, skiing, camping, and daydreaming (although not all of those at the same time.) Nothing he says on this blog should be construed as having anything to do with his employer or his dog.

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The use of Occam's razor on this website is strickly prohibited.

Cows are well approximated by a sphere.

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Teaching:

Make Em Laugh, Make Em Cry

Category: Self: Meet Center. Center: Meet Self.

Scenes from today's CSE 322 (introduction to formal methods in computer science) final:...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 7:47 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Schools Out For Winter

Category: Teaching

The final has been administered:...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 7:59 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Will the Real Reason For Quantum Theory Please Stand Up?

Category: Quantum

Michael Nielsen has a nice essay up explaining Why the world needs quantum mechanics:Conventional wisdom holds that quantum mechanics is hard to learn. This is more or less correct, although often overstated. However, the necessity of abandoning conventional ways of...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 12:30 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

WTFA to LOLCAT Conversion

Category: Teaching

What I drew on the whiteboard during today's final:...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 7:43 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

School's Out For Summer...Almost

Category: Self: Meet Center. Center: Meet Self.

Today is the final exam for the course I've been teaching this summer. So I need some reading material for when I'm not watching the students take their exam. Here are two fun ones I just downloaded (one via Alea):...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 12:27 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Teacher of the Year

Category: Teaching

For a second straight year, the winner of the U.S. Teacher of the Year, is a University of Washington graduate. Of course I'm not supposed to say that, as not bragging is an sacred northwest tradition. (Did you know that...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 3:13 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

CSE 322 Week 2: Nondeterminism Rocks

Category: Computer Science

Last week, in the class I'm teaching, we talked about the basics of deterministic finite automata. In week two we moved on to more interesting and slightly less basic material. In particular we introduced the notion of a nondeterministic finite...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 6:36 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

CSE 322 Spring 2008, Week 1

Category: Teaching

This quarter I am teaching CSE 322: Introduction to Formal Models in Computer Science. Good fun. As part of my teaching I am LaTeXing up lecture notes from the class, which follow closely the book we are using, Sipser's "Introduction...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 10:03 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Embarassment Is...

Category: Teaching

...realizing that the class you are teaching for the first time this quarter ends on the half hour, not the hour, and therefore the fact that you are rushing through the material must seem extremely amusing to the students who...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 5:37 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Do We Teach Addition Backwards?

Category: Teaching

Addition, for me, is intimately connected up with my concept of a number. When I think of numbers in my head, I often think of the number in connection with its constituent parts, and when I divide these parts up...

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Posted by Dave Bacon at 2:03 PM • 47 Comments • 0 TrackBacks