Enlarge blog Math With Drawings and is the author of a new book, Math for English Majors: A Human Take on the Universal Language. To mark its publication, he devised this entertaining accompanying quiz. You can read the Ars interview with Orlin here. Math, we like to say, is math. It often seems that mathematics is something beyond our control—something unyielding, universal, inhuman. But is it really?

Math for English Majors talks about numbers as nouns, verbs as calculations, and algebra as grammar. Galileo once famously described the universe as a great book "written in mathematical language and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures." Unfortunately, it's a language that many people outside of math and science simply do not speak, largely because they are flummoxed and/or intimidated by the sheer density of all that strange symbolic notation. Math teacher extraordinaire Ben Orlin is here to help with his latest book: Math for English Majors: A Human Take on the Universal Language. And just like Orlin's previous outings, it's filled with the author's trademark bad drawings. Bonus: Orlin created a fun personality quiz, which you can take here to find out your mathematical style. Orlin's first book, Math with Bad Drawings, after his blog of the same name, was published in 2018. It included such highlights as placing a discussion of the correlation coefficient and "Anscombe's Quartet" into the world of Harry Potter and arguing that building the Death Star in the shape of a sphere may not have been the Galactic Empire's wisest move. We declared it "a great, entertaining read for neophytes and math fans alike, because Orlin excels at finding novel ways to connect the math to real-world problems—or in the case of the Death Star, to problems in fictional worlds."

Artist's conception of what used to be possible, before BattlEye ruined things. Last week, Rockstar added BattlEye support to Grand Theft Auto V, offering some much-needed anti-cheat protection for the game's highly successful GTA Online multiplayer mode. That anti-cheat support wasn't welcome news for Steam Deck players, though, who now get confronted with an error when trying to log in to GTA Online. According to Valve, though, Rockstar could solve this minor technical issue with a single email. In both a Steam Community update and a Rockstar Support FAQ, the developer notes that "Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online. You will be able to play GTAV Story Mode but unable to play GTA Online." As such, GTA V's Steam page now lists the game as "Unsupported" for Steam Deck users, because "the game's anti-cheat is not configured to support Steam Deck."

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LA public health officials reported this week that two residents have been infected by Baylisascaris procyonis, also known as the raccoon roundworm.

Amazon’s October Prime Day event is just a few weeks away, but if you can’t wait until then, eBay’s taking 20 percent off select new and refurbished items as part of its fall sale when you apply code FALL20OFF at checkout. The promotion will last through 11:59PM PT on September 30th, offering you an excellent chance to save on a wide range of gadgets if you can’t wait until October. The sale includes deals on a lot of products we’re fans of, including Eufy’s 11S Max robot vacuum, which you can buy refurbished for just $87.99 instead of $249.99 — about a third of the price it sells for new. Anker’s Soundcore Sleep A20 Earbuds are also down to just $95.99, saving you $54 over buying them new. And if you’re in the market for a pair of...

Microsoft is launching a Windows app today for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, web browsers, Android devices, and even Windows PCs. The Windows app is essentially a hub for streaming a copy of Windows from a variety of sources, including Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Remote Desktop, and more. This new unified app has been in testing for nearly a year and includes a customizable homescreen, multi-monitor support, and USB redirection so you can use local devices like webcams, storage devices, and printers as if they were plugged directly in to a cloud PC. This Windows app is limited to Microsoft work and school accounts, as it’s primarily designed for existing users of Remote...

Enlarge . The partnership initially aims to raise $30 billion in private equity capital, which could later turn into $100 billion in total investment when including debt financing. The group will invest in data centers and supporting power infrastructure for AI development. "The capital spending needed for AI infrastructure and the new energy to power it goes beyond what any single company or government can finance," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.

The remnants of a mosasaur show a sea predator that was ill equipped for slashing bites, and likely preferred to swallow its prey whole.