the-codex/005/codex-005.tex

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\documentclass[twoside]{report}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{makeidx}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[nott]{kpfonts}
\usepackage{float}
\raggedbottom
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{gensymb} % Just for the degree symbol
\usepackage{ccicons} % Creative Commons icons; now we can delete an image
\usepackage{lettrine} % Drop caps
% Where are our images?
\graphicspath{{images/}}
% Let's set this as a half-letter sized sheet
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{
paperheight=8.5in,
paperwidth=5.5in,
% heightrounded,
margin=0.5in
}
% Adjust the top and bottom margins
\addtolength{\topmargin}{0.4in}
\addtolength{\textheight}{-0.75in}
% Set the header style
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}
\fancyhead[LE,RO]{\textit{the codex}}
\fancyhead[RE,LO]{Issue \#004}
\cfoot{Page \thepage}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0.5pt}
% Include two- or three-column sections
\usepackage{multicol}
% Stop resetting the footnote count after each chapter
\counterwithout{footnote}{chapter}
% Let's wrap some images
\usepackage{wrapfig}
% Use tab stops when we need to (especially in footnotes)
\usepackage{tabto}
% Define 18 tab stops (at 1/4" intervals)
\NumTabs{18}
% Make things neater. Thanks /u/-LeopardShark-
\usepackage{microtype}
% Easy tables
\usepackage{tabularray}
% Make a nice border and box for the tops of our examples
\newcommand\klab[3]{\vspace{#1}\noindent{}\hrulefill\fbox{\texttt{~#2~}}\hrulefill\vspace{#3}}
% Add an \hrule with space above and below
\newcommand\krule[2]{\vspace{#1}\hrule\vspace{#2}}
% Make hrefs easier (must load package hyperref}
\newcommand\kref[2]{\href{#1}{{\texttt{#2}}}}
% Rotate text in tables easier
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/89115/how-to-rotate-text-in-multirow-table
\newcommand\krot[3]{\parbox[t]{#1}{\multirow{#2}{*}{\rotatebox[origin=c]{90}{#3}}}}
% Use line numbers with code samples
% \begin{Verbatim}...\end{Verbatim} <-- Note the capitalization!
\usepackage{fancyvrb}
% Break lines inside this environment:
\usepackage{fvextra}
% Control spacing in lists
\usepackage{enumitem}
% Don't force text to fill page
\raggedbottom
% Better control over line-spacing
\usepackage{setspace}
% Use nice fractions
\usepackage{nicefrac}
% Keep the footnotes at the bottom of the page
\usepackage[bottom]{footmisc}
% Do we want to include URLs?
% Yes, but we also want to hide the big red box it puts around them in the pdf. Thanks /u/0b0101011001001011
\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref}
% Adjust space between caption and figure
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/45990/how-can-i-modify-vertical-space-between-figure-and-caption
\setlength{\belowcaptionskip}{4pt}
% Just for issue #005 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%% Document Information %%%%%
\author{Kenneth John Odle}
\title{
{\Huge the codex} \\
{\footnotesize Life with Linux — A Zine \\
\bigskip
Typeset in \LaTeX{} \\
Issue \#005}
}
\date{\begin{small}\today{}\end{small}}
% Change the name of the TOC
\renewcommand*\contentsname{In This Issue…}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section*{Impressum}
All contents \copyright2024 Kenneth John Odle
Although this is now in your hands, and it's also on the web, so if you really wanted to steal this, I've made it pretty darn easy. I can't imagine why anyone would want to, though. However, you don't need to, because this is licenced under a CC BY-NA-SA 4.0 Creative Commons license. More information is at
\kref{https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/}{https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/} \ccbyncnd
\medskip
FYI, this is made in \LaTeX \,using the report document class. It then gets exported to a letterhalf (5.5 in x 8.5 in) pdf, which then gets made into a booklet using PDF Booklet, which you can find at
\kref{https://pdfbooklet.sourceforge.io/wordpress/}{https://pdfbooklet.sourceforge.io/wordpress/}
The image of Linus Torvalds on the front cover is courtesy JericoDelayah from the WikiMedia Commons and is at \kref{https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:4_RETAT_04_Linus_Torvalds.jpg}{https://commons.wikimedia.org\\/wiki/File:4\_RETAT\_04\_Linus\_Torvalds.jpg} where you can also find a link to the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license there, as well.
I'm pushing this to my own git server as I write this. You can find it \href{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex}{here}: \kref{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex}{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex}. New issues will be pushed after they are complete. A list of topics I may cover in the future can be found at \kref{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex/wiki/List-of-Future-Topics}{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex/wiki/List-of-Fu\\ture-Topics}.
You can just skip over all the diversions in here if you want. It's just how my mind works. (And yes, there will be politics in this. \textit{You have been warned.}) Also, I use a lot of em-dashes, parentheses, and footnotes because that is also how my mind works. It's just one big long stream of consciousness up in here most days.
If you want to donate financial support for the creation of this zine (and all the hours of research that go into it), you can do so at
\kref{https://paypal.me/kjodle}{https://paypal.me/kjodle} (Thanks!)
\medskip
\noindent \textbf{Errata:} To err is human, to document those errors is divine. A list of errata can be found at
\kref{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex/wiki/Errata}{https://git.kjodle.net/kjodle/the-codex/wiki/Errata}.
\medskip
\noindent \textbf{Credit where credit is due:} A lot of people have come forth (mostly from Reddit) to help me out in various ways. See the preamble to this document in the source code to see them. One aspect of our society is that nobody \textit{has} to help you. It is wonderful when it happens, and I am grateful for their help.
\tableofcontents
\chapter{The Salad Days Are Over}
\section{Today}
I am in a very different place now than I ever thought I would be. I'm not on Plan A or Plan B. In fact, I've pretty much run out of alphabet to describe exactly where I am now.
So where am I?
I work as a data reviewer for a contract research organization in the pharmaceutical industry. That means that drug companies send us samples of their products, and we test them for things like assay, impurities, appearance, disintegration, etc. People who majored in chemistry run the tests and I sit there and look at their procedures and results and make sure that everything was performed correctly and that the results are, indeed, valid.
In theory, I'm an analytical chemist. In practice, I'm a nerdy science accountant who spends his day with his nose buried in Excel spreadsheets. A \textit{lot} of Excel spreadsheets.
Except that I also used to design websites, so my spreadsheets are easy on the eyes, color-coded, and logically oriented—that is, they take you through the analytical method in a step-wise, chronological manner. In other words, we look at standard concentrations first, and then our system suitability tests, and then the actual tests. Every cell is also labeled, so it's clear what goes where. My boss admires them and I am justifiably proud of them. After all, these aren't just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill spreadsheets we're talking about here.
My spreadsheets are so beautiful that when my boss got a glimpse of them he immediately placed me in charge of mentoring new data reviewers, mostly so that they could see what my spreadsheets look like. And I get it. I worked really hard to make spreadsheets that are understandable not just to me but everybody because we may have a corrective action come up at some point and we need to be sable to see how we arrived at the results that have. So yep, I strive to make all my spreadsheets consistent and understandable to someone who has no familiarity with them.
\medskip
\texttt{tl;dr:} I'm \textit{really} good with Microsoft Excel.
\medskip
But it's not satisfying work. It pays the bills\footnote{Well, barely, after the recent fit of massive corporate price gouging—I mean, er…inflation.} It's not exactly the hind end of science, but it's close. (I once worked in a lab that did non-clinical testing\footnote{i.e., rats and mice} and believe me, \textit{that} is the hind end of science.\footnote{Science actually has many hind-ends. This is but one of them.}) I'm not really doing science; if anything I'm just a science accountant, making sure the books balance. It's boring—\textit{really }boring—and more than a bit mind-numbing.
Considering that my entire job exists to help keep the drug supply safe (well, the \textit{legal} drug supply anyway) safe that statement may sound frightening or even disturbing. But it's not really. You want this job to be boring. When it's not boring, it's generally because something has gone wrong, and and this is one of those industries (like nuclear energy or airplane manufacturing) where you really don't want things to go wrong.
\section{Tomorrow}
\chapter{Afterword}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\begin{small}
\noindent{}
\medskip
\begin{flushright}
\noindent{}Thanks,\\—Ken
\end{flushright}
\end{small}
\end{multicols}
\end{document}