7 ms·

LaTeX coffee stains

154 points by shard 16y ago

levesque 16y ago
Those aren't very convincing coffee stains.
- die_sekte 16y ago
  I think what we really need is a coffee stain plotter.
  - viraptor 16y ago
    It it like a coffee vending machine that overflows the cups?
    - die_sekte 16y ago
      I think it would have a bit more precision. Some people would like intricate coffee stain patterns, me thinks.
- hsmyers 16y ago
  Those of us who unwittingly leave coffee stains, tend to leave more than one and at different concentrations (color of stain) so I'd like to see a bit more complexity in the image...
dmvaldman 16y ago
I've been trying to think how to express my fascination with this software. The only thing I can think of, is that this piece of ingenuity would never exist in a post apocalyptic future where humans have evolved into exacting machines. This software is, in this sense, a win for humanity.
- yuan 16y ago
  I resent your speciesism insinuating that simply because you are born human, you are somehow superior to machines.
alatkins 16y ago
Computer Modern & coffee stains. What a beautiful combo :-)
prodigal_erik 16y ago
Nice that Rein didn't cop out and embed images. I'm a little surprised that adding arbitrary closed outlines to PostScript output was the most straightforward way to do it. I would think you could algorithmically mask out a portion of an ideal ring (because the cup wasn't resting flat and saturation across the rim wasn't even). I also didn't realize until now that DVI can only natively encode characters and aligned rectangles in black, and that's why so much TeX work requires PostScript support downstream.
julius_geezer 16y ago
Clearly the next thing we need is a package to add blood, sweat, and tear marks.
- jgershen 16y ago
  Or furiously scribbled, illegible notes from your advisor.
ludwig 16y ago
Nice. I'm getting flashbacks of the time I managed to get a big coffee stain on one of the pages of my application to MIT. This was at the post office, minutes before the final deadline >.< I simply wrote "sorry!" right by the stain, and mailed it off. I've no idea what influence this might've had, but it didn't seem to hurt since I got accepted anyway :)
GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
Fuck, I can't upvote more than 10 times. Deserves lots more. The intro text pwns any "awesome intro text" I've ever seen.
rubidium 16y ago
Reminds me of the U of Chicago Physics prof who took an interest in coffee stains. I believe he even has a full font of coffee stains; perhaps that could be the next step. http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/ring-around-the-coffee-2/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/ring-around-t... for public article about the research and http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rddeegan/PDF/Coffee_Rings_1_nature.pdf http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rddeegan/PDF/Coffee_Rings_1_n... for the Nature article about it. As is, this addition to LaTeX is a bit redundant for me... all papers I have soon enough have this feature anyways.
- lnguyen 16y ago
  Sid Nagel (experimental) and Tom Witten (theoretical) Papers http://jfi.uchicago.edu/~tten/Coffee.drops/ http://jfi.uchicago.edu/~tten/Coffee.drops/ News https://mrsec.uchicago.edu/research/nuggets/coffee/stories.html https://mrsec.uchicago.edu/research/nuggets/coffee/stories.h...
kraemate 16y ago
What's the appeal of coffee-stains on documents? Anyone care to explain?
adulau 16y ago
Interesting. I hope there will be an option for tea stains (and especially for Lapsang souchong or strong Assam) in this document class.

LaTeX coffee stains

154 points by shard 16y ago

levesque 16y ago

Those aren't very convincing coffee stains.

die_sekte 16y ago
I think what we really need is a coffee stain plotter.
- viraptor 16y ago
  It it like a coffee vending machine that overflows the cups?
  - die_sekte 16y ago
    I think it would have a bit more precision. Some people would like intricate coffee stain patterns, me thinks.
hsmyers 16y ago
Those of us who unwittingly leave coffee stains, tend to leave more than one and at different concentrations (color of stain) so I'd like to see a bit more complexity in the image...

dmvaldman 16y ago

I've been trying to think how to express my fascination with this software. The only thing I can think of, is that this piece of ingenuity would never exist in a post apocalyptic future where humans have evolved into exacting machines. This software is, in this sense, a win for humanity.

yuan 16y ago
I resent your speciesism insinuating that simply because you are born human, you are somehow superior to machines.

alatkins 16y ago

Computer Modern & coffee stains. What a beautiful combo :-)

prodigal_erik 16y ago

Nice that Rein didn't cop out and embed images. I'm a little surprised that adding arbitrary closed outlines to PostScript output was the most straightforward way to do it. I would think you could algorithmically mask out a portion of an ideal ring (because the cup wasn't resting flat and saturation across the rim wasn't even). I also didn't realize until now that DVI can only natively encode characters and aligned rectangles in black, and that's why so much TeX work requires PostScript support downstream.

julius_geezer 16y ago

Clearly the next thing we need is a package to add blood, sweat, and tear marks.

jgershen 16y ago
Or furiously scribbled, illegible notes from your advisor.

ludwig 16y ago

Nice. I'm getting flashbacks of the time I managed to get a big coffee stain on one of the pages of my application to MIT. This was at the post office, minutes before the final deadline >.< I simply wrote "sorry!" right by the stain, and mailed it off. I've no idea what influence this might've had, but it didn't seem to hurt since I got accepted anyway :)

GrandMasterBirt 16y ago

Fuck, I can't upvote more than 10 times. Deserves lots more. The intro text pwns any "awesome intro text" I've ever seen.

rubidium 16y ago

Reminds me of the U of Chicago Physics prof who took an interest in coffee stains. I believe he even has a full font of coffee stains; perhaps that could be the next step. http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/ring-around-the-coffee-2/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/ring-around-t... for public article about the research and http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rddeegan/PDF/Coffee_Rings_1_nature.pdf http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rddeegan/PDF/Coffee_Rings_1_n... for the Nature article about it. As is, this addition to LaTeX is a bit redundant for me... all papers I have soon enough have this feature anyways.

lnguyen 16y ago
Sid Nagel (experimental) and Tom Witten (theoretical) Papers http://jfi.uchicago.edu/~tten/Coffee.drops/ http://jfi.uchicago.edu/~tten/Coffee.drops/ News https://mrsec.uchicago.edu/research/nuggets/coffee/stories.html https://mrsec.uchicago.edu/research/nuggets/coffee/stories.h...

kraemate 16y ago

What's the appeal of coffee-stains on documents? Anyone care to explain?

adulau 16y ago

Interesting. I hope there will be an option for tea stains (and especially for Lapsang souchong or strong Assam) in this document class.