# Blog: Confessions of a Mathematician

### How to use Office Hours

My office hours, and generally those of the faculty in the math department, are drop-in. That means that you can show up and expect me to be there during my posted office hours (plus or minus five minutes if I’m running a little bit late). You don’t need to schedule an appointment to see me; I usually operate on a first-come, first-served basis. I try to keep the waiting short by limiting an office hours visit to 5-10 minutes if there’s a long line, which means you might not get all of your questions answered at once.

### One Stop Shop (almost!) for Cryptography Resources

Every now and then I receive an email with a great new resource. Today’s link comes courtesy of Ava: Security Baron Blog This website has a long list of links to resources about cryptography, but it also has links specific to internet security, plus some links to games and puzzles, and finally links to learn to write some code. Thanks for the tip, Ava! Emails like yours are a delightful surprise in my inbox.

### Quotes in LaTeX

If you try to use regular quotation marks in $\LaTeX$, you’ll notice you get wacky quotes.

### Searcing for a LaTeX symbol

Know you want to $\LaTeX$ up a summation symbol, but don’t know the command to use? Don’t stress! Head to DeTexify and draw what you’re looking for.

### How to study for Linear Algebra exams

For math exams in general, it can be useful to form a study group to talk over problems and solutions before the exams. It’s also useful to retry problems you’ve seen on homeworks, quizzes, and writing assignments (without looking at your previous attempt or the graders’ comments) to figure out what you need to focus on studying. For specific tips about studying for Linear Algebra exams, read on!

### Sabbatical Update

While I’m breaking for lunch today, I’ll give a quick sabbatical update. But first, today’s #loveyourmath challenge (thanks, Ashley Johnson, for the kick in the pants!).

Today’s #loveyourmath topic: What inspired you to get into mathematics?

*Yep, back. I dropped out of college the first time. I also dropped out of 1st- and 7th-grades. I like to think I was preparing for the sabbatical cycle.

### Software wins and fails

As I get my very first sabbatical going, I’m working on some homework for the American Mathematical Society’s Math Research Community in Algebraic Statistics. So far, I’ve managed to calculate a few examples by hand. But now I’m down the software rabbit hole, and I find that it’s 4 hours later and I need to vent. Successes: Got Singular installed *and* got my mac to shut up about “programs from the internet” every time I open it; Ran an example in Singular with (almost) the expected output; Ran the same example in Macaulay2 with the same output as Singular; Installed Bertini and managed to get the Bertini.

### Three More Years!

I’ve been officially reappointed! Corollary: I get to go (officially!) on sabbatical for the next academic year.

### Moo

In 2004, I adopted a cat who was about one year old and weaning her second litter of kittens. Moo, named for the sound she made, was first rescued by friends Chad and Tiffany from a kill shelter. When I met Moo, she dropped her kittens in my lap and took a nap while I looked after them. Then, she came and gave me a headbutt. It was love at first bonk.

### The Definitive Guide to my Cats, part 1

For some reason, there is a growing segment of the campus population that is interested in my cats. Far be it for me to deny the public what it wants. Here’s a quick guide for those new to the craze. Cats: Moo, Sophie, and Tipper Ages: 13, 8, 1.5 Sexes: Female (spayed)Â Ã— 3 Rescued: 2004 (Colorado), 2008 (Nebraska), 2015 (New York) Follow the #cats tag for more information. Coming up: Moo’s biography.