MathJax: Include mathematics non-obtrusively

In this blog post I will explain the use of MathJax, a javascript based display engine for mathematics.

In an early post I pointed out that yourequations.com has a very nice solution for producing beautiful LaTeX on the web. Unfortunately as of October 31 2010 their service has shut down. As a result the LaTeX on my blog did not render any more.

So a tweet alerted me to mathjax, a display engine for mathematics. With mathjax it is possible to write mathematics in LaTeX or MathML and the javascript based engine will make a beautiful image.
As a bonus mathjax allows you to scale the mathematics, view the source in LaTeX or MathML and choice the rendermode i.e. straight to MathML or via their custom fonts.

Seeing their beautiful examples I decided that use mathjax for this blog. So once again, mathematics can be viewed in splendid glory.

\[
e^{i\pi}+1=0
\]

Why I changed my twitter picture

In this blog I will explain why I changed my twitter picture.

After a presentation I gave at the University of Utrecht someone in the audience came up to me and asked the following question: "Can I follow you on twitter?"

This flattering request made one thing clear. My twitter pictures has no relation with me. How could anybody know my account from the following picture?

In order to be more accessible, I changed my picture. For now I have changed it to the picture I use for my blog. Maybe in the future I will pick a fancier picture.

Inputting Unicode characters in Ubuntu

This blog is a reminder for myself how to use the keyboard to input Unicode characters in Ubuntu.

Somethings I just can not remember. Every time I need to enter a Unicode character I realize that I do not remember how to do this in Ubuntu, without resorting to graphical character picker.

So this post will settle the score once and for all, and hopefully after this I will be able to remember it. (At least I will be able to come here for reference.)

The keyboard shortcut to enter a Unicode character in Ubuntu is:

Ctrl+Shift+u <Unicode>

For example to enter a € symbol type Ctrl+Shift+u 20ac. All that is left is learning usefull Unicode codes.

Update
Here's a unicode character map

Maven Versions Plugin

I was going to write about the maven versions plugin. But an other blogger beat me to the punch.
So without restating what can be found there, I will point out what John Ferguson Smart has to say on the maven versions plugin

Blogger Stats

In this post I will outline a service Blogger is providing: Stats

I recently switched Blogger dashboard. Instead of the standard Blogger dashboard, I opted for the "Blogger in draft" dashboard. Among other things, this dashboard sports a new button: "Stats".
Behind the Stats button there is a lot of information about the traffic your blog is attracting.

There are four menu's : Overview, Posts, Traffic Source and Audience. Every menu shows information over on of the following periods: Now, Day, Week, Month and All Time. The Overview menu shows an overview of the other three menu's. The post menu shows which posts attracted how many page views.
The Traffic Source menu show referring urls, referring sites and the search keywords which were used to find your posts.
Finally the Audience menu shows a summery of the location from where the request for your blog came and which browser and operating system were used.

So what can this information tell you? Well, for one, do not underestimate the number of page views. Although I have two subscribers to my blog, both of which I know personally, I never thought that my blog would be read.
But contrary to my believe and looking at some of the comments, my posts does get read. Blogger Stats can help you realise that you have an audience.

Furthermore, It gives you a sense of direction. By seeing which post were read the most, you know what your audience likes. For example the top three post in number of page views for this blog are.

1. Counting Unlock Patterns
2. Counting Backgammon End Positions
3. Tethering made easy with easytether

So I presume that writing about my latest experience of playing online backgammon in the train while my laptop was tethered to my android phone, which I had to unlock to set up the connection, would be a show stopper.

But most of all, Blogger Stats is like an addiction. It is hard to resist the urge of checking the stats every now and then, to see how many page views you got for this day.

Google Library: Organizing your bookshelf

In this blog post I will introduce Google Library.

I recently started to use Google Library as a means to organize my bookshelf. This service of Google can be reached by books.google.com. You will find a link called "My library" which will take you to your library.

The library is subdivided in shelf. There are five standards shelfs: Reviewed, Favorites, Reading now, To read, Have read. Custom shelfs can be added as well.
Every shelf can be made private or public. Public shelfs will be published online so others can see them.

Adding books to shelfs is very easy. Search a book. Every book on the result page has a link "Add to my library". A drop-down menu let's you choose the shelf. Once saved the book will appear in the right shelf in your library.

That wraps up this nice service Google is offering.

Spreading Knowledge

In this post I will outline various forms of spreading knowledge.

I signed the manifesto for software craftsmanship and I take my responsibilities serious. Not only should you maintain a high standard for your self, you should help others in becoming software craftsman.
One way in doing this is by spreading knowledge.

There are various ways one can share and spread knowledge. Any form of communication with the intent of explanation is a form of spreading knowledge. Examples of communication forms abound. Let's group these forms according to the number of senders and receivers.

We will distinguish the following numbers: one and many. Below I have created a table listing the various combinations of senders and receivers.

#Senders	#Recievers	Examples
1	1	One-on-one tutoring
1	many	Presentation or blog
many	1	Open outcry or a forum
many	many	Open discussion

In seeing these summary one can check off a list of participation in various forms of communication. For example I now realise that I do not often participate in a forums.
So I will challenge myself in actively seeking out opportunities to contribute to forums.