Category Archives: technology

how it affects me

Microsoft buys GitHub?

Posted on 06/06/2018 by

Some years ago, it was announced that Microsoft had done a deal with Donald Knuth and the American Mathematical Society and had bought the rights to TeX. It was slightly worrying until you noticed that the announcement was dated 1 … Continue reading →

Posted in software, technology | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Publication lists and repositories

Posted on 06/03/2018 by

How many publications do I have? Actually, I don’t care too much about that; but if I were younger and applying for promotion, it would actually matter. But suppose you wanted to answer the question, or indeed to get copies … Continue reading →

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Symmetries in light

Posted on 15/04/2016 by

Last night was the opening in St Andrews of an exhibition Symmetries in Light at the Byre Theatre. The exhibition, which ran in Edinburgh during Science Week there, is in St Andrews on four days starting today; so, if you … Continue reading →

Posted in history, technology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Discrete Analysis launched

Posted on 06/03/2016 by

Tim Gowers’ new journal, Discrete Analysis, launched last week. I took a look, and in the first issue found an article I really needed to read. I urge you to take a look. The design is beautiful, and the website … Continue reading →

Posted in publishing, technology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Data science and statistics

Posted on 11/09/2015 by

Words change their meanings. Once “biometrics” referred to the use of statistics in studying biological systems such as agriculture (as opposed to, say, “technometrics”): now only one item on the Google top ten refers to the International Biometric Society, so … Continue reading →

Posted in mathematics and ..., technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A use for an iPad

Posted on 16/11/2013 by

I haven’t really learned to love my iPad, though I have to admit that it can be used as an encyclopaedia when doing crosswords of the more learned variety. But it did prove its worth during the week. At a … Continue reading →

Posted in technology, the Web | Tagged | 1 Comment

St Andrews 600

Posted on 15/09/2013 by

Last Tuesday (10 September 2013), Diamond Geezer gave a list of anniversaries which fall this year. One he missed was the 600th anniversary of the University of St Andrews. Over the last couple of days, I have been at the … Continue reading →

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Ubuntu upgrade

Posted on 13/05/2013 by

My Meenee laptop, running Ubuntu, has become a necessity for me. For the entire month of April, it was the only computing resource I had. So I got a bit of a shock recently when it started nagging me to … Continue reading →

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World Digital Mathematical Library

Posted on 10/05/2013 by

Many things that have happened recently in mathematical publishing — chiefly the lemming-like rush for gold open access — have seemed rather negative to me. You are probably tired of my carping. So it is nice to report something positive … Continue reading →

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The future of universities

Posted on 13/03/2013 by

Film was one of the great inventions of the nineteenth century. For a century and a half, it was developed and improved, innovations such as colour and moving pictures were made, and photographers used it in artistic and creative ways. … Continue reading →

Posted in maybe politics, teaching, technology | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments