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MOHOM 17" x 13.5" Wool Pressing Mat 100% New Zealand Felted Wool Ironing Mat Pad Blanket for Quilter, Sewing, Quilting Supplies and Notions
I had appreciated the ones I’ve seen in Gerren Balch’s YouTube repair videos for The HotRod Typewriter Co. which he also uses on his workbench, so I asked him his preference. His reply was these 100% wool ironing pads in 17 x 13.5 x 1/2″ form factor for about $15 on Amazon. He said “it’s soaked up 5 years of everything I do and it still looks like the day I bought it.”
The company has some square 13.5 x 13.5 options, which might be better for smaller portables, but I figured that the slightly larger version for both my workbench as well as for my larger standards would be more flexible. Since the price was half of what I’d seen from other vendors, I jumped on it and bought two: one for my workbench and another for my typing desk.
They’re definitely thick and high-quality. On my noisiest table, they definitely make a difference. They prevent some of the typewriter walking my worst rubber-footed typewriters have, but I’ve also got thin sheets of rug pad gripper that I’ve used before if things get out of hand.
On the first anniversary of launching my serialized book, I reflect on what I've learned — including the pros and cons of my pivot from Substack newsletter to indie website.
Point-set topology is the branch of mathematics that deals with collections of points endowed with sufficient structure to make meaningful the notions of closeness, separation, and convergence. Beginning with familiar notions concerning open sets, closed sets, and convergence on the real number line and Euclidean plane, this course systematically develops the theory of arbitrary topological spaces. Topics include bases and subbases, separation axioms (Hausdorff, regular, and normal spaces), countability (first- and second-countable spaces), compactness and compactification, connectedness, and convergence (nets and filters). Instruction emphasizes examples and problem solving. The course appeals to those seeking a better understanding of the algebraic and geometric underpinnings of common mathematical constructs.
September 24 - December 3 on Tuesday 7:00PM - 10:00PM PT
Fee: $453.00
Location: UCLA, Math Sciences Building, Room 5127
As usual, there’s no recommended textbook (yet), and he generally provides his own excellent notes over a required textbook. I’d suspect that he’ll recommend an inexpensive Dover Publication text like those of Kahn, Baum, or Gamelin & Greene.
If you’re curious about what’s out there, I’ve already compiled a bibliography of the usual suspects in the space:
- Armstrong, M. A. Basic Topology. Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics, 3.0. Springer, 1983.
- Conover, Robert A. A First Course in Topology: An Introduction to Mathematical Thinking. Reprint. Dover Books on Mathematics. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, Inc., 2014.
- Conway, John B. A Course in Point Set Topology. Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics. Springer, 2015.
- Crossley, Martin D. Essential Topology. Corrected printing. Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series. 2005. Reprint, Springer, 2010.
- Gaal, Steven A. Point Set Topology. 1st ed. Pure & Applied Mathematics 16. Academic Press, 1964.
- Gamelin, Theodore W., and Robert Everist Greene. Introduction to Topology. 2nd ed. Dover Books on Mathematics. 1983. Reprint, Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, Inc., 1999.
- Kahn, Donald W. Topology: An Introduction to the Point-Set and Algebraic Areas. Dover Books on Mathematics. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995.
- Kasriel, Robert H. Undergraduate Topology. Dover Books on Mathematics. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, Inc., 2009.
- López, Rafael. Point-Set Topology: A Working Textbook. 1st ed. Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series. Springer, 2024.
- Mendelson, Bert. Introduction to Topology. 3rd ed. Dover Books on Mathematics. Dover Publications, Inc., 1990.
- Morris, Sidney A. Topology Without Tears, 2024. [.pdf]
- Munkres, James R., 1930-. Topology. 2nd ed. 1975. Reprint, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1999.
- Shick, Paul L. Topology: Point-Set and Geometric. 1st ed. Wiley-Interscience, 2007.
- Sierpinski, Waclaw. General Topology. Translated by C. Cecilia Krieger. Repring. Dover Books on Mathematics. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, Inc., 2020.
- Viru, O. Ya., O.A. Ivanov, N. Yu. Netsvetaev, and V.M. Kharlamov. Elementary Topology: Problem Textbook. American Mathematical Society, 2008.
- Waldmann, Stefan. Topology: An Introduction. Springer, 2014.
- Willard, Stephen. General Topology. Dover Books on Mathematics. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, Inc., 2004.
AI generated featured photo courtesy of Glif Alpha
Two bits of post-Thanksgiving news: First, the hardcover edition of GENEROUS THINKING is on super duper sale today at @HopkinsPress: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12108/generous-thinking
s p a r k l e s
Hannah Arendt papers, 1898-2006
It’s a very autumnal IndieWebCamp in Nuremberg this weekend. Red, orange and yellow leaves cut out to resemble the IndieWebCamp logo.
Many things have been urged upon the beleaguered public schools: install computers, reduce class size, pay teachers better and respect them more and give them bodyguards, reform teacher training, restore the principal's authority, purge the bureaucracy and reduce paperwork, lengthen the school year, increase homework, stick to the basics, stop ''social promotion,'' kill social studies and bring back history, and (the latest plan) pay kids not to drop out or play truant.
Why information is the unifying principle that allows us to understand the evolution of complexity in nature
At least the press is saying Jan 16, 2024 now. Tough luck for those doing their holiday shopping for me.
Happy to announce that @PrincetonUPress will be publishing “Evolution of Biological Information”. Look for it in 2022. @AlisonKalett pic.twitter.com/EkEpMyMROs
— Chris Adami (@ChristophAdami) November 12, 2021
Topics to be discussed include the isomorphism theorems; ascending and descending chain conditions; prime and maximal ideals; free, simple, and semi-simple modules; the Jacobson radical; and the Wedderburn-Artin Theorem.
Ring theory is a branch of abstract algebra that deals with sets—for example, the collection of all integers—that admit both additive and multiplicative operations. Modules generalize the notion of vector spaces, but with scalars drawn from a ring rather than a field. Beginning with a survey of the basic notions of rings and ideals, the course explores some of the elegant algebraic structuring that defines the behavior of rings—both commutative and non-commutative—and their associated modules. Topics to be discussed include the isomorphism theorems; ascending and descending chain conditions; prime and maximal ideals; free, simple, and semi-simple modules; the Jacobson radical; and the Wedderburn-Artin Theorem. Theory will be motivated by numerous examples drawn from familiar realms of number theory, linear algebra, and real analysis.
As Prince of Wales, Charles was always ready with an opinion. Now, with his coronation at hand, his job is to have none. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/05/08/can-charles-keep-quiet-as-king-coronation
I’m quite excited at the prospect of an impromptu, Kimberly Hirsch-is-in-the-Netherlands-inspired IndieWeb meet-up.
A new year brings new calls for a return to personal blogging as an antidote to the toxic and extractive systems of social media.
From language and writing to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, computers and Adobe Photoshop, our species has a history of inventing tools for augmenting our own intelligence. But what comes next? Andy Matuschak is a developer and designer. He helped build iOS at Apple, founded and led Khan Academy's...