# Installing Python on OS X

Caveat: I stopped using a Mac for my development machine way back in the fall of 2014. You probably shouldn't listen to me.

### What Not to Do

The first rule of using Python on any operating system: don't use system Python. The OS relies on that Python, including the packages …

# How Does Go Compute a Logarithm

About a year ago, I was reading the Go source for computing $\log(x)$ and was very surprised by the implementation.1

Even three years into a PhD in Applied Math (i.e. numerics), I still managed to learn something by diving in and trying …

# Newton's (Method's) Failure

Finding zeros of any old function is a common task, and using Newton's method is one of the best tools for carrying out this task. I've even written an old post that used this method.

However, Newton's method loses some of it's luster around repeated roots. Consider the iteration

${\mathrm{x \dots }}_{}$

# How Many Ways to Make a (Football) Score

While watching today's Seahawks-Vikings game, my wife asked:

How did the Seahawks score 9 points? Did they get a field goal and miss an extra point after a touchdown?

I had been head down coding and didn't know the answer. I quickly jotted down the possibilities (like solving the coin-change …

# An Interesting Bug

A fairly common interview question is

What is the "hardest" bug you've dealt with?

I've both asked it and answered it in interviews. It's pretty rare that the answer is useful and actionable, but I'll hold off on commenting on the state of the art in tech interviews today. (Usually …