I see backticks ( ` ) used quite frequently as an opening quotation mark online and in program output, as in “You named it `Carl’ “. Is this some kind of quiet leet development that people don’t talk about but just pick up, like slang?
LaTeX is a tool used almost exclusively for formatting academic Computer Science papers. Instead of formatting your paper through traditional what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) means, LaTeX is a markup language that is interpreted and formatted for you. For example, instead of highlighting a word and clicking a bold button to make the font bold, e.g. bold, you embed a markup notation that is transformed into the intended formatting at the end, e.g. \textbf{bold}. The argument goes that this allows you to focus more on the content of your paper and not have to screw around with fonts and spacing all the way through the writing process.
What I can’t figure out is why it’s such a giant clusterfuck when it comes to actually getting anything to work with it. WYSIWYG may have its shortcomings, but at least it works out of the box. There’s been something wrong with every LaTeX distribution I’ve ever tried. You’d think a tool used by Computer Scientists all the time would have been improved by now. I don’t understand why academics aren’t up in arms. Maybe one person got it working, and then everyone else just copied his or her setup. That reminds me of a joke I heard about how there isn’t really any Makefile format specification, just a master Makefile floating around from which all examples are copied.
Here are the commands to format your LaTeX document:
That’s right, you have to invoke latex three times. Why? I guess twice wasn’t good enough.
James Koman recently wrote an opinion article in the Mustang Daily, the student newspaper of Cal Poly, entitled Why I hate white people. The article contains very racist and ignorant thoughts about white people, in case you couldn’t tell from the title. The newspaper was flooded with protesting letters to the editor in the following days. I just read the article and found the last sentence amusing, which is ironic since the rest of the article wasn’t:
… White folks always try to rationalize their racial status by stating “I’m half-Italian, half-Norwegian,” or “I’m British,” or “I’m albino,” but they’re just trying to avoid the dreaded truth: they are white people. Not me though, I’m Irish-Polish-Czech. I hope this column forces you and your people to look inward and realize that your egotistic nature, fast-food diet and overall smaller brain size are a drain on this great nation and the dreams of our white Founding Fathers. Thank you for your time.
James Koman is a biology junior and a Mustang Daily humor columnist.
I don’t know how that guy can show his face on campus again.
I threw my back out in class today. I sat down and felt something go. I’m writing this with only my left hand, so I’ll be brief. Ouch! How old am I? God. I can hardly move without sending a spasm of pain down my back.
Okay, I just slowly and painfully and switched into a crossed-legged sitting position that feels pretty good on my back, once I settled into it, so now I can type with two hands.
I had only ten minutes to catch the bus after my class ended and I barely made it. I couldn’t even stand up straight. The highest I could bend was about halfway. I tried to walk that way, but I gave up because it hurt too much and I figured I looked ridiculous. It was so embarrassing. I figured out that I could run pretty well bent forward like that, and it probably looked somewhat normal, so I used that to get most of the way to the bus stop near Mott Gym. I spent the rest of the evening crouching and hobbling around my living room and kitchen like a hunchback, using furniture and tables and banisters as crutches, and lying on the couch watching TV.
I’m hideous! Look away!