Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Recalculations place it at 0.4999.

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Mental arithmetic improving remote control

 Let kids learn as they surf tv channels
  (+14, -1)(+14, -1)
(+14, -1) 		  [vote for,
against]

A remote control, but with a '+' and '-' key on it, so when selecting channel 453 and you're currently on channel 189, you type '+' 264. Obviously with an override, so I don't have to use it in maths mode.

Limited to add and subtract. Don't think it needs Sin, Ln, Log, cube-root etc.

—paraffin power, Mar 08 2005

[link]






       You'd probably want to couple this with a randomisation of assigned channel number, so as to avoid kids performing over and over again the same additions and subtractions between their few favourite channels.
—calum, Mar 08 2005
   

       oh very good! my kids learned to read from the TV guides.
—po, Mar 08 2005
   

       [crash] can spell the names of all the Pokemon, other words he's still learning...
—wagster, Mar 08 2005
   

       Bun for bringing back a happy memory of my then 2 year-old son spending a puzzled few minutes pointing my calculator towards the TV.
—AbsintheWithoutLeave, Mar 08 2005
   

       // avoid kids performing over and over again the same additions and subtractions between their few favourite channels.//   

       Actually, I think the repetition is useful. Then if she someday needs to subtract 36 - 29, she can remember "Ah, 36-28 = Seinfeld, so 36-29 must be seven".
—phundug, Mar 08 2005
   

       surely we should have multiplication, division, squareroot and square. Need channel 16? 4square.   

       I can see this becoming a bit like Carol Vorderman on Countdown*. If the remote was just armed with numbers 0-9 and a range of mathematical functions, the challenge will be to get to the right channel number in double-quick time. Splendid.   

       *Countdown. Daytime TV quiz. Containing mathematical competition section.
—jonthegeologist, Mar 08 2005
   

       For kids? Heck, I need this for myself!
—Machiavelli, Mar 08 2005
   

       I couldn't help but think of a cable channel in the US called "e" and wonder how you would get there from an integral channel number.   

       (Actually its called "E!" but humor me).
—krelnik, Mar 08 2005
   

       Let's see, volume 2 raised to the power of 10...
—FarmerJohn, Mar 09 2005
   

       Very good!
—DesertFox, Mar 09 2005
   

       You're scaring me. I still haven't got over the Particle Physics category on Jeopardy yesterday.
—mensmaximus, Mar 09 2005
   

       //Actually its called "E!"//
So you'll need a factorial button as well.
—angel, Mar 09 2005
   

       e! = Gamma(e+1) = 4.26082
—Detly, Mar 09 2005
   

       Wow, a halfbakery full of mathmaticians. I'm spooked.
—froglet, Mar 09 2005
   

       9i+15, for the imaginary channel.
—jonthegeologist, Mar 09 2005
   

       2 + 0 = 2
—half, Mar 09 2005
   

       "OK, who broke the TV with 238/0 ?"
—FarmerJohn, Mar 09 2005
   

       [Hits "twice the inverse of square root of pi times integral over real numbers with respect to 'x' of exponential of negative 'x' squared" button]
—Detly, Mar 10 2005
   

       I'd have to cheat off other people's remotes.
—schematics, Mar 10 2005
   
      
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