Kenny’s Blog

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 wiht 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

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash The pilot episode is already uploaded Anchor.fm: https://anchor.fm/kennymingt Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2bBXJdUKst9O0AZhVPTMHW Website: https://thenaturalworld.blog Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/thenaturalworldpodcast/

Photo by NASA on Unsplash [Working draft] Stars have a limit on how big they can be, and when talking about big we are referring to different properties of a star. Some of a star properties are the diameter of the sphere, mass and density. Depending on mass, a star can reach a point when it collapses on its on gravity. It is a this time when nuclear reactions, which releases energy, maintains the star from collapsing completely. The size of the star depends on the relationship between these two forces. Where is the limit? Very massive stars have such a density that their gravity ends up defeating the energy proceded by nuclear fusion, and collapse on their nucleus turning into neutron stars or black holes. We also have 'red giants', which are a kind of stars in their latest phase of their lives. Stars in this phase inflate and grow enormously, as an example when our sun finishes it current main sequence phase and turn into a red giant, we think it will expand enough to cover t...

 Gravity is a phenomena of the physical world. We can observer this phenomena when an object falls to the ground, or in ourselves standing up on the surface of the Earth. Gravity is responsible for tides, keeping our satellite and natural satellites in orbit, planet formation, their orbits around the Sun, ... . Gravity can be observed at grater scales giving structure to galaxies and clusters in the universe. It gathers gas into nebulosas, where hydrogen compacts creating the conditions for nuclear fusion and the birth of stars. It gives us the most mysterious and exotic places and events in the universe: gravitational lensing, supernovas, neutron stars, and blackholes!. Some ideas about gravity Early in the 17th century Galileo Galilei discovered that every object will accelerate in the same amount when falling to the ground, and he proposed his basic principle of relativity. The idea was a constant for gravity that was explored during the second half of the 17th century [^1]. The...

 We are nearly about to reach the first quarter of the 21st century, and we can see how skills and competencies for the job, or in our personal lives, have evolved quickly with the new technologies. Nowadays the line that separates professional and private life is blurred due to how much we use social media. The basic skillsets, transversal skills or soft skills, we need for employability is not just being OK at using computers and new technologies, but also include communication, organization, problem solving, managing and leadership. To study and prepare ourselves to be successful in the carrier we choose, will also bring sense of satisfaction and self-fulfillment. And as more professionals improve themselves in these "secondary" skills or "non technical skills", we all somehow contribute positively to society and our welfare. We may come firstly across these skills from some information read in the internet, and as first step is to be aware that these are importa...

Do you ever wondered how your coupon campaigns are performing? It is possible to implement a “Digital Coupon” with QRcode, and put it to use for your Marketing Campaigns, providing detailed data and insights for your brand or business. It is not difficult to have your own campaign up and running in a few days, because Ditoc is implementing a new product/service for QRCode campaigns. First few tests have been very satisfactory both in acceptance and ease of use, and we are welcoming brands to test it for free. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay I am excited to be starting a new project within Ditoc. The goal is to implement a platform that provides brands with “Digital Vouchers” using QRCodes. The idea is to help brands drive traffic to the stores and to collect analytics about their campaign performance. This data will provide them with insights for future campaigns and B2C communications. So what this platform can do for your campaign It allows shoppers to register and ...

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay We have shoppers walking around in our stores, and we are excited to fill them up with our latest products, offers and membership discounts we are so sure they  would love. At this point we start wondering what is the best communication channel to interact with in-store customers. We are looking for a cost efficient,  powerful , and clear communication channel for our messages. Traditionally, shops advertisers have used printed banners or boards, on counter displays, light boxes and information signs. Luckily nowadays we can use Digital screens to provide a more engaging communication with our customers. What is “Digital Signage” Digital Signage replaces the printed medium for a Digital Screen. It can be a huge LED Wall, a TV Screen, or just a small tablet on a counter. With “Digital Signage” our content become alive with product video presentations, we can add realtime information of our offers and promotions. Over all we get cle...

Photo by Shopify Partners from Burst So I finally enrolled in Math and Physics Bsc degree. This has been one of my passions in life, and a pending subject for my personal development. I am so excited I woke up at 6am this morning, sorted out a few things for work and home, made a cup of coffee, and sipped while logging into the math subject web-page. Of course I was met with the first exercise, a quiz. One of those "let’s see how rusted you are"-quiz . Actually, the course will be starting in October, but there is some introduction material to review, and to make sure all the basics are in place in one's head. I find this really cool, especially for a distance learning degree. So how was my first day back to school? Well, lately, I have been checking quite a few of Math videos in the internet. Very interesting are those from PBS infinite series, 3Blue1Brown, Khan Academy and MIT OCW. So I gave the quiz a go. I believe my understanding was good ...

Design your Digital Product Catalog Station that is really useful for you customers. Photo by Boxed Water Is Better on Unsplash This article is a follow up to the intro to Digital Product Catalogs in Retail . On many occasions I see “Interactive screens” in shops that are just sitting there in a corner. Or placed in a non-favorable spot, being underused. Other times they just contain redundant information, not useful functionality, or it adds no value to the shopper, or the sales staff. This installations have obviously cost some money to the shop owner, and it is a pity to see it gone to waste, and becoming obsolete without giving the service they are supposed to. So let show some love to “Digital Product Catalogs”. Q: So how can I make the shoppers engage more with my “Digital Installation”? A: State clearly what they are there for. The very first thing of all is, we need to have a clear idea of why we would like our customers to interact with our “Digital Systems”. The...

Photo by  Blake Wisz  on  Unsplash As digital screens have become inexpensive recently, more retailers and Brands are adding an interactive digital catalog as marketing and sales platform. The time is now, shoppers are already used to the technology, and they navigate easily through all the pages presented on the screen. What can Digital Product Catalogs do for your customers As most products come neatly packed in boxes, and the packaging has limited space for balancing design and information, a Digital Product Catalog is ideal to add on spot official product information for your shoppers. Think of it as Augmented Information and sales Pitch, which make product catalogs very convenient for shoppers. All the information, and client education, that we want,  and that, for whatever reason is not possible to include directly with the product: Variations, colors, sizes Technical Specs Example use cases Compatible and related products Special offers linked to thi...

The code Ejemplo: http://javascript.kennyming.com/code/5-calculadora-simple-2/ Codigo: https://github.com/kennymingt/javascript/tree/master/code/5-calculadora-simple-2

First mini app Ejemplo: http://javascript.kennyming.com/code/4-calculadora-simple-1/ Codigo: https://github.com/kennymingt/javascript/tree/master/code/4-calculadora-simple-1

HTML input tag Get Input value Concat strings We are displaying an input box for the user to input their name. When clicking a button we display the name in a HTML element. Sample: http://javascript.kennyming.com/code/3-input-text-javascript/ Code: https://github.com/kennymingt/javascript/tree/master/code/3-input-text-javascript

Console message for debug Constants Add Events listeners to DOM Elements functions We are going to display a message when we click a button. We have two elements with Id in the HTML, the button and a div to display a message. In our JavaScript file we grab a reference to elements in the HTML. We add a function to the Click event of the button. Sample: http://javascript.kennyming.com/code/2-buttons-in-javascript/ Code: https://github.com/kennymingt/javascript/tree/master/code/2-buttons-in-javascript