Snowpocalypse 2014

I'm going to make a wild leap and assume classes will be held tomorrow.

On the outside chance that they are not, the HW due date and exam will shift by one class. Specifically, if there are no classes tomorrow, the HW will be due on Friday and the exam will move to Monday. Again, so long as classes are still on tomorrow, the HW is due Wednesday and the exam will be Friday.

Right. Better get back to shoveling my car out of the snow drifts so I can stock up on bread and milk.

Field trip opportunity. Seriously.

I would like to point out an opportunity for a 3 week field trip to Yellowstone for under-represented students in the sciences.

More info can be found here:

http://physics.ua.edu/news/Yellowstone_FieldCourse_Brochure.pdf

The deadline to apply is 1 Feb 2014. The application is on the last page of the brochure linked above

Reminder: code submission

Each team owes me code ... soon.

Don't worry about dependencies, libraries, etc. I'll figure it out.

Evaluations are today

If you were planning to stay home this morning ... we are doing course evaluations during the second half of class. FYI.

Exam III is IN 2 HOURS

Seriously, people have forgotten before.

Bring a calculator. And writing implements. You won't need anything else.

Have some coffee. Bring music (with headphones) if you think it will help.

Don't forget that you can ask me questions during the exam, and I am somewhat likely to give helpful advice.

Homework 12

Remember, today's homework can be handed in as late as tomorrow night without penalty.

HW 12

Homework 12 is out.

Problems due Tues 7 Apr: 15.24, 15.56, 15.111
Problems due Thurs 9 Apr: 16.25, 16.34, 16.35, 16.60

We'll spend plenty of time during the week going over these problems before they are due.

Keep in mind that there is no class on Friday for Honor's day.

HW11

HW 11 will come out later today, but there are no problems due until thursday.

That is, I'm giving you the day off from homework tomorrow so you have some time to work on your presentations for Thursday & Friday. I'll post details about the presentation requirements later today to help you get started.

Homework due at what time?

So I have said that the homework is due at the end of the day formally, i.e., 11:59pm on the day in question. That is still true. There are 'grey areas,' however.

Less formally, it will not be considered "late" if I am still awake after that time. Tonight that means you have about another hour or maybe 90 minutes. In general, 1-2am is a reasonable bet. If you're staying up until 2am doing homework, that is hardcore, and I'll give you some leeway ;-)

Minimal points are taken off for submissions arriving before I begin grading the homework, usually a day or two after the due date. Things happen, you get busy. Don't make it a habit.

Submissions after I have already posted the solutions online are taken on a case-by-case basis, but will receive some credit for at least bothering to copy the solutions. Learning by osmosis can work sometimes.

The message here is again: always turn it it. It is never given zero credit.

Turning your homework in late ...

If I haven't started grading it yet, it isn't late. If the solutions are not posted yet, the grade reduction is likely to be minimal.

This is something of a gamble ... but always turn it in. It is highly likely that even disgustingly late and incomplete homework will merit some credit, which is better than nothing.

Homework #6

This week, we'll have a bit of a change in the homework procedure.

Rather than have problems due every day, I will let you turn in all problems at the end of the day on Friday. Do not take this freedom lightly: it is unlikely you will be able to complete all of these problems in a single night (e.g., Friday night). You will need to work on this throughout the remainder of the week to have hopes of finishing all the problems.

Anyway: this week's homework consists of the following problems from your textbook: 9.5, 9.8, 9.15, 9.33, 9.45, 9.48, 9.53, 9.59, and 9.68.

A more formal-looking version of the homework is here.

Next HW

I am a bit behind on getting this week's homework set out ...

There will be a new homework set posted later today. Since I am late in getting it out, there will be no problems due until this Wednesday evening.

Basically: no homework due tomorrow ... but don't get too comfortable :-)

Thursday's homework

Change of plans (for the better):

Let's have tomorrow's homework due at the end of the day rather than at the beginning of class, so you have a chance to ask questions if need be.