Dead Reckonings

As you may have noticed, the history of graphical computing (nomograms and the like) has become one of the major themes of this blog. I did not foresee this, as I knew virtually nothing about the subject before I started researching my first essays on nomography a couple of years ago. This topic is still one of my main pursuits, and I’m as astonished by what I find now as I was back then. To capture a bit of this spirit, I’ve created a free 2010 calendar titled The Age of Graphical Computing that is available for downloading and printing. The fun thing is that you can test the examples right on the calendar to show that they work!

There are two formats available: two-sided 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper printed in landscape mode that can be connected at their edge as shown in the photo on the left, and two-sided 11″ x 17″ sheets of paper printed in portrait mode with two pages per side that can be folded as a group and stapled in the middle. Either of these could be printed to fit on A4 or other sizes, I’m sure. White paper can be used, but the color scheme is really designed for a light beige or ivory paper and it looks so much more professional when it’s printed on paper of some color (gray might work). The stapled format requires no other binding. As you can see from the photo on the left, I printed the first (non-stapled) format and took the printed sheets (24 lb. Southworth ivory linen paper from OfficeMax) to a local office shop (Kinko’s FedEx) and had them add clear plastic sheets to the front and back and install a spiral wire (a 60-second job that costs $5). Drilling a hole in the center along the top to hang it completes the calendar. Using 3 rings through punched holes along the top may be a cheaper option.

Continue below to see thumbnail images and the download instructions.

Small images of the front and back and each page of the calendar are shown at the bottom of this page. These provide only a rough idea of the content, but if you think you might be interested, the complete PDF file is just over 5MB, so it is easily downloaded and viewed at full resolution (for viewing you will want to download one of the first two PDF files listed below in which all pages but the back cover are right-side up).

Flip-Up Landscape Printing with Binding: The following two PDF files are designed for two-sided printing in landscape mode on 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper by default (choose the “flip up” mode of two-sided printing). Some sort of binding is required, as in the spiral binding shown in the photograph at the top. Note that the last page in the PDF file is upside down in order that the back of the calendar has the same orientation as the front cover.

The PDF of the calendar with major U.S. holidays can be downloaded here.

The PDF of the calendar with no holidays can be downloaded here.

Double Portrait Printing with Stapling: The following two PDF files are designed for two-sided printing in portrait mode with two pages per side on 11″ x 17″ paper by default (do not choose the “flip up” mode of two-sided printing). Note that the pages are in a strange order and are often upside down in the PDF file to provide the correct order and orientation when the packet of papers is folded and stapled in the middle.

The PDF of the stapled calendar with major U.S. holidays can be downloaded here.

The PDF of the stapled calendar with no holidays can be downloaded here.

In all cases the moon phases (shown as empty or filled circles) are referenced to U.S. Eastern Standard Time,  or GMT-5, so the date could be off by a day depending on where you live.

Have a happy 2010!

Ron

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 4:35 am and is filed under mathematics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.