Latex Alert + Array + Infer bug

You can't do the following in Latex:


\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{proof}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \begin{array}{c}
    \alert{\infer{A}{A}}
  \end{array}
\end{frame}

\end{document}

For some reason you can \alert an \infer outside of an \array, but not inside.  Weird bug.

Workaround:  Use tabular instea


\begin{frame}
  \[
  \begin{tabular}{c}
    \alert{\infer{A}{A}}
  \end{tabular}
  \]
\end{frame}

Old Jade and the Zombie!

I'm currently reading

History and Future of Implicit and Inductionless Induction:
Beware the Old Jade and the Zombie!

by Claus-Peter Wirth.  My favorite quote so far:

 In practice, however, refutational completeness by itself does not help in refuting
invalid conjectures or in finding finite proofs for inductively valid formulas.
Only theoreticians completely detached from reality can consider nonterminating
proof attempts in refutationally complete inference systems to be
successful proofs.

Alabama

What is wrong with Alabama?

WTF??

The Senate just passed a bill controlling credit card companies.  What the **** is Tom Coburn thinking?  No wonder people hate Congress.  (Why anyone would need a loaded gun in a national park is a good question, but somewhat beside the point.)

One amendment attached to the Senate bill by Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, would restore a Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks. That provision is not in the House version, so there may be discussions between the two chambers over the issue.

BibTeX oddity

Comments don't always work in BibTeX files!  I had the following in my bib file:

@STRING{lncs = {LNCS}}
% @STRING{lncs = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}}

I wanted the shorter "LNCS" rather than "Lecture Notes in Computer Science".  For some reason, the long form kept showing up in my bibliography.  Transposing the lines gives the desired effect.  Weird...

Designer Clock Puzzle

Guess what's special about this clock.  (Thanks to Florian Rabe for pointing this out.)

Pushcart Prize

I discovered a great short story series in the library, more or less by accident.  It's called
The Pushcart Prize.  The collection I checked out, The Book of Short Stories, contains stories by Tobias Wolff, Tim O'Brian, Mona Simpson and many others.  It's a fantastic collection.

How to give a good talk

Nice lecture on giving good research talks, by Simon Peyton Jones.

Big dog

Quite an amazing video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww