Kenny’s Blog

If you write about math, physics, or code on Blogger, plain text falls short fast. You want real equations—integrals, fractions, matrices—not screenshots of LaTeX. KaTeX is a fast math typesetting library that runs in the browser. You load it from a CDN, write math in LaTeX-like syntax, and it renders cleanly on the page. No heavy setup, no image exports, no external equation editors. This guide shows a setup that works on Blogger (including custom domains). You’ll add a small HTML block once per post (or once in your theme), then write math with familiar delimiters. Demo (this page loads KaTeX): \[ f(x) = \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{2\pi i \xi x}\, d\xi \] Inline: \( e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0 \). What you’ll need A Blogger post opened in HTML view (not Compose / rich text) Willingness to paste a small loader block at the top of the post Optional: the same block in your theme if you want math on every page How KaTeX works on Blogger (in one minute) Load the Ka...

If you’re looking for a math dice game that’s easy to set up and actually fun to play with friends, this one is worth a try. It’s a light challenge—enough to make you think, not enough to kill the evening. Four dice, a scrap of paper, and a few people who don’t mind scribbling or thinking out loud. I’ve played it around the table with friends: same target for everyone, same worker numbers, and a friendly race to see who can hit the number (or get closest). There’s usually more than one path, so you compare answers, laugh at near misses, and roll again. No board. No app. Just dice, a little arithmetic, and a bit of friendly competition. The idea in one breath Roll a target . Roll a few worker numbers. Use each worker once . Mix them with +, −, ×, or ÷ (and parentheses if you like). Closest to the target wins the round. That’s it. What you need 4 standard dice Paper and a pencil for each player (scratch paper is fine) 2 or more players (you can also play sol...

In this blog post, I'll guide you through the process of installing wxMaxima on your macOS machine and resolve a common issue related to the plotdf() function in macos Sonoma with maxima 5.47, and all other functions that call the tcl-tk interpreter wish . The plotdf() Function Issue MacOS Sonoma comes with a preinstalled Tcl-TK package. One problem you might encounter when using Maxima is that the plotdf() function or ploteq() , which is used for plotting differential equations, crashes. This issue arises because Maxima calls the wish script from the tcl-tk package, but the version of tcl-tk that comes pre-installed with macOS can be problematic. There's an easy fix for this problem: installing tcl-tk and Maxima using Homebrew. Step-by-Step Installation with Homebrew Homebrew is a popular package manager for macOS that makes installing software a breeze. Follow these simple steps to install wxMaxima and resolve the plotdf() issue:...

LaTeX is a powerful typesetting system that can help you achieve that. In this post, I'll guide you through the process of installing a minimal LaTeX distribution called BasicTex on your macOS machine and setting it up with the popular Visual Studio Code (VSCode) editor. Step 1: Install BasicTex While the full MacTeX distribution provides a comprehensive LaTeX installation, it can be quite large (over 5GB). If you're just starting with LaTeX or have limited storage space, you might want to consider installing BasicTex instead. BasicTex is a smaller alternative that contains all the essential tools you need to create and compile LaTeX documents. Here's how to install BasicTex: Visit the MacTeX website and navigate to the More Packages section . Scroll down to the "A Smaller Distribution, Basic TeX" section and click on the "BasicTeX.pkg" link to download the installer. Once the download is ...

Photo by  Alex Ghizila  on  Unsplash The Pomodoro technique is a way to study that helps you manage your time better. It works by breaking up your study time into small chunks, traditionally 25 minutes long, with short breaks in between. This method is named after a tomato-shaped timer that was used by the person who came up with it, Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.. The idea is to work hard for a short period, then take a quick break, and then start again. This can help you stay focused and productive, especially when you have a lot of work to do that requires a lot of concentration. The Pomodoro technique step by step Here's a step by step guide to using the Pomodoro technique: Choose a task that you want to work on. Set a timer for 25 minutes. This is called a "Pomodoro". Work on the task until the timer goes off. Take a 5-minute break. After four Pomodoros, take a longer break of 15-20 minutes. Repeat this process until you finish the task. Remember to avoid distr...

New Podcast episode https://anchor.fm/kennymingt/episodes/What-is-matter---The-Natural-World-EP-3-e178kap Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2bBXJdUKst9O0AZhVPTMHW Apple podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-natural-world/id1583904938 Google podcasts https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82NzExMTM0Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

 Here is the second episode of The Natural World Podcast, "Talking about gravity". https://anchor.fm/kennymingt/episodes/Talking-about-gravity---The-Natural-World-Ep-2-e17287a