Comments for Ramblings of a math and CS teacher

Comment on Add a Virtual PDF Printer to Mac OS X (or How to Save Copies of Completed PDF Forms from Acrobat Reader) by jeff

jeff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:50:21 +0000

what about snow leopard??

Comment on Ubuntu Linux on a PPC (G3 iBook) by Vince Stanford

Vince Stanford — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:28:32 +0000

If you want to run a machine of that vintage well consider a MUCH lighter weight window manager than Gnome or KDE. Those are quite modern and expect modern memory and processor specs. If you drop back to one like FVWM95 you could get sparkling performance from this class of machine. I used to run that on Pentium Pro machines at 200 mHz. and they were highly responsive. FVWM95 give you a minimal rock solid stable desktop under X with a start button for launch pad functions. Not fancy but I know programmers who still use it for development machines. You can use google docs, or Abiword and gnumeric, emacs, Latex, and the like. A little vintage, like the machine, but powerful and stable.

Comment on Typesetting Math in Wikispaces and WordPress by Kjemikeren

Kjemikeren — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:51:09 +0000

I know this post is old, but I am struggling a bit with wikispaces and formulas etc right now. I own MathType 6.5, and just figured out that there are several tex-settings in the esport format (translators). If I use the one named TeX – AMS LaTeX, it works fine.

Comment on Add a Virtual PDF Printer to Mac OS X (or How to Save Copies of Completed PDF Forms from Acrobat Reader) by Justin

Justin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:29:27 +0000

I’ve run into the same problem as Leigh above. Any soln?

Comment on Add a Virtual PDF Printer to Mac OS X (or How to Save Copies of Completed PDF Forms from Acrobat Reader) by Leigh

Leigh — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:16:14 +0000

Dan, let me join the others in thanking you – this looks like it will be really useful once I can get it working. Ed, I followed instructions as closely as possible, but I must have done something wrong. (Let me just say that I’m hoping to use your pdf printer fix to batch convert word 2004 docs to pdf.) When I try to send to the printer, the printer automatically pauses, and I can’t get it to continue (error message: “client error not possible”).

My specs: 10.5.8, 1.83 ghz intel core 2 duo. Steps 1 and 2 went smoothly, but adding the printer hasn’t worked. I think I’ve written the pathname wrong, but I’m not sure. And the fields URL and NAME both register whatever I’m entering in either. Is this right? (That is, I can’t get the pathname and the printer name to differ!)

Any advice?

Comment on Redirecting xyz.blogspot.com by Arvind

Arvind — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:49:18 +0000

But how can i do it the other way round ? Have just registered a domain name. I want to redirect requests to the blogspot / wordpress site which i have.

Is that possible ? Please help.

Comment on Add a Virtual PDF Printer to Mac OS X (or How to Save Copies of Completed PDF Forms from Acrobat Reader) by Samsung ML 1610

Samsung ML 1610 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:06:46 +0000

Ed, thanks for the update re Leopard, I have been checking this post out a few times and you must have read my mind, I was struggling until reading your comment..

Comment on Add a Virtual PDF Printer to Mac OS X (or How to Save Copies of Completed PDF Forms from Acrobat Reader) by Ed

Ed — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:18:36 +0000

Thanks for this!

On Leopard, replace steps 3 and 4 with:

3. Go to the Apple Menu and Choose System Preferences. Click on Print & Fax.
4. Click the + button on the left hand side near the bottom. A window should pop up. Right click on the bar at the top (next to More Printers for example) and choose ‘Customize Toolbar’. Drag the cog-shaped ‘Advanced’ icon onto the bar next to the More Printers icon. Click Done. Click the Advanced icon. You may need to wait a few seconds while it loads. For Type: choose PDF Writing. Leave Device as it is. For the URI, use pdf://pathname, where pathname is where you would like the PDF file to be saved — I set mine to PDF://~/Desktop so that it saves the file onto my desktop. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., PDF Writer). Change ‘Print Using’ to ‘Generic Postscript Printer’. Click on Add, and it is all ready to go!

Comment on Problem Based Learning in Math and CS by Fabian

Fabian — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:50:06 +0000

I have to say I am a little shocked that a teacher, which I assume JP is, would be so resistant to another style of teaching. Very little I have read or encountered of PBL deals only with ‘feelings’ which JP so adamantly claims to be the downfall of PBL.

PBL only seems to deal with emotions when used as a tool for motivating students to learn and embrace Self Directed Learning. Read some Ciompi to see what effect feelings may have on the triggers and motivation that spark cognitive processes needed for real learning and understanding.

I find PBL very good in Maths, in response to the first question. I have used presentations undertaken by the pupils alongside problem and inquiry based learning. This enables me to differentiate work groups, ensure all pupils take part (deliver part of the presentation) and assess the level of understanding. My only worry is pushing quiet students to far. So far my quiet pupils have been the ones to embrace this strategy the most, given time and encouragement.

By no means is this the only method I use but it should not be dismissed or misunderstood. Good luck to us all and happy teaching.

Comment on Add a Virtual PDF Printer to Mac OS X (or How to Save Copies of Completed PDF Forms from Acrobat Reader) by ZurdoEse

ZurdoEse — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:09:01 +0000

In Leopard, does the ‘Advanced’ Tab is accessed the same way as in Tiger?