I upgraded my MiKTeX installation to version 2.6 because I want to use pdfLaTeX 1.4 for microtyping. But it turns out that upgrading to MiKTeX 2.6 breaks the current release of Ipe:
Ipe cannot currently cope with the PDF output generated by the new version 1.40 of Pdflatex. This version is included in MikTeX 2.6 and in TexLive 2007. Therefore, Ipe does not currently work with MikTeX 2.6 or TexLive 2007. This will be fixed in Ipe 7.0.0, but since I’m changing many other things at the same time, do not expect this version before September 2007.
Thankfully, I also have an older laptop and with Subversion, it is not difficult to work on both simultaneously.
Wiley has published a new book that, in a certain sense, is about algorithms: Computer Science Reconsidered: The Invocation Model of Process Expression, by Karl M. Fant. From the back cover:
A groundbreaking, seminal work that challenges the theoretical foundations of computer science
For some juicy bits of this book, I refer you to the article Want to be a computer scientist? Forget maths, with the subtitle:
A new book seeks to demolish the concept that computer science is rooted in mathematics and, in particular that the notion of the algorithm is fundamental to computer science.
After reading the article, I realized that there are so many things that can be said about this new book and I really don’t know how to begin. I guess I just have to rely on fellow bloggers. You know, with quotes like—
Any program utilising random input to carry out its process, such…is not an algorithm.
—I can only imagine that Mike Mitzenmacher has more than a few things to say on the subject. And consider this—
A logic circuit is not a sequence of operations.
—that, that… that’s a brilliant observation! My sky is falling…
