SAT-prep charlatanism

Let's see some regulation in this area, can't we, please?

For my SAT-prep company BodSAT.com, I'm running statistics comparing actual SAT scores before the seminar and actual SAT scores afterwards. The average gain is 180; the min and max: -30 to 280. Not as impressive as most marketing claims, except insofar that it's honest.

Math gives rise to art via engineering

You simply cant tell me that this MIT solar car isn't a thing of beauty. So very lovely!

It's almost eough to make me wish I were a zillionaire living in the desert. Instead, perhaps I'll just change the background image on my desktop...

No, I haven't gone away.

...I've just been swamped with a few projects. I'll be back soon! But first, a short vacation. Thanks for stopping by. Perhaps you'd like to tour the archives?

Team Codex goes down

...as my team, Beginner's Luck, wins the 2009 MIT Mystery Hunt in 63 hours, 2 minutes. Check out some snarky and fun coverage of the event by G4TV's Attack of the Show.

Some call it the Brain Olympics

...but I call it the MIT Mystery Hunt. (I also call it my January vacation.)

Wish me luck. If you see that "Beginner's Luck" won in 2009, then congratulate me, 'cause that's my team. If not, congratulate me anyhow, because I will have had a great time nonetheless.

You can find my writeup of my first Hunt (last year) here.

Enjoy!

Using game theory to beat the SAT

Sure enough, game theory is a useful tool to have in one's toolbox when setting out to ace the SAT. This short article does a good job of showing how it works.

But don't be fooled. If you want to beat the SAT, your top two priorities are no secret: know your stuff and get enough sleep. That's where the real leverage is.

I don't care whether you're smart. I only care how hard you try.

Carol Dweck hits the nail on the head. You might think that "you're so smart!" is a good thing to say to someone. You'd be wrong, though; that turns out to disincent people to work hard.

If you want to praise a student, a better choice is "you must have worked hard for that."