True Type Fonts in LaTeX: a brief guide

Adding new fonts to LaTeX doesn’t have to be painful…

One of the things I love about \LaTeX is how customisable it is.  Separating content from design a long time before web design cottoned on to this.  However, out of the box, \LaTeX comes with very limited fonts and most people just use these defaults, mainly because setting up other fonts isn’t as easy as it should be.

One of the great things about drawing diagrams in \LaTeX is that the fonts match, it’s always a little jarring to my eye when I see papers with a mismatch between diagrams and main text.  However, sometimes you just can’t control what’s in your diagram or you want something a little more modern than Times New Roman for whatever you’re putting together.

So how do you go about doing this?  Like most things, the answer is “it depends”… let’s start with an assumption that you’re starting from scratch and if you’re already a few steps down the process then that’s just less work for you to do 🙂 Continue reading True Type Fonts in LaTeX: a brief guide

Algorithmic transparency – is it even possible?

Could you explain to a lay person how this network makes decisions?

The Science and Technology Select Committee here in the UK have launched an inquiry into the use of algorithms in public and business decision making and are asking for written evidence on a number of topics.  One of these topics is best-practise in algorithmic decision making and one of the specific points they highlight is whether this can be done in a ‘transparent’ or ‘accountable’ way1.  If there was such transparency then the decisions made could be understood and challenged.

It’s an interesting idea.  On the surface, it seems reasonable that we should understand the decisions to verify and trust the algorithms, but the practicality of this is where the problem lies. Continue reading Algorithmic transparency – is it even possible?