Matt Macauley
@visualalgebra.bsky.social
Associate Professor (Clemson) | AIMS Lecturer (South Africa) | Author: "Visual Algebra" (forthcoming) | YouTuber | First Gen | Homesteader | Dad to Ida & Felix | 🔱
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Matt Macauley
@visualalgebra.bsky.social
· Nov 23
a woman is sitting on a couch in front of a wall that says `` welcome ! everything is fine . ''
Alt: "Everything is Fine" opening scene from NBC's "The Good Place", with Kristen Bell.
media.tenor.com
I used to post long #VisualAlgebra threads on #MathTwitter before realizing that I was actually in #TheBadPlace. I'm going to make my debut #MathSky thread today, with visuals that I've never publicly shared. (Can you guess the topic?) I'm excited to show you, and I hope you enjoy!
1/19 🧵👇
1/19 🧵👇
Fall in my orchard. Flying dragon hardy citrus in front of Fuyu persimmon fall foliage.
November 11, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Fall in my orchard. Flying dragon hardy citrus in front of Fuyu persimmon fall foliage.
I got *a lot* of positive feedback about this sign tonight from (parents of) trick-or-treaters.
November 1, 2025 at 2:05 AM
I got *a lot* of positive feedback about this sign tonight from (parents of) trick-or-treaters.
October 29, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Looking for suggestions! I rarely watch mainstream movies, but I enjoy international films, especially from non-Western cultures. But I don’t know how to find the best ones.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
October 26, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Looking for suggestions! I rarely watch mainstream movies, but I enjoy international films, especially from non-Western cultures. But I don’t know how to find the best ones.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
Do you have any favorites? Here are some I’ve watched in the past few years.
I'm sure this will be controversial, because it's a pro-AI post on a notoriously anti-AI site (BlueSky).
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
![ChatGPT's result of the following prompt: Part 1/2:
"Can you give me a UNIX bash shell script for compiling all files like math8530_slides-n.tex (n=1,2,3,4,5,6,7), and twice each so the page number counts works, and then copying each pdf to a file named math8530_slides-n_h.pdf, and them removing all .aux and .log files?"
Nice and straightforward — below is a small, safe bash script that does exactly what you asked:
loops n=1..7,
for each math8530_slides-n.tex runs pdflatex twice (so page numbers / references resolve),
copies math8530_slides-n.pdf → math8530_slides-n_h.pdf,
removes the corresponding .aux and .log files for that base name,
prints helpful messages and continues on errors (doesn't abort the whole run).
Save this as e.g. build_slides.sh, chmod +x build_slides.sh, and run ./build_slides.sh in the directory containing the .tex files.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -u
# Build math8530 slides 1..7: run pdflatex twice for each, copy pdf to _h version,
# and remove .aux and .log files for each.
#
# Edit PDF_ENGINE if you prefer xelatex/lualatex or latexmk.
PDF_ENGINE=pdflatex # change to xelatex or lualatex if desired
TRIES=2 # number of times to run the engine for each file
for n in {1..7}; do
base="math8530_slides-${n}"
texfile="${base}.tex"
pdffile="${base}.pdf"
outcopy="${base}_h.pdf"
if [[ ! -f "$texfile" ]]; then
echo "Skipping: $texfile not found."
continue
fi
echo "=== Building $texfile ==="
success=true
for i in $(seq 1 $TRIES); do
echo " [$i/$TRIES] Running $PDF_ENGINE on $texfile ..."
# -interaction=nonstopmode prevents interactive prompts; -halt-on-error makes the run exit nonzero on errors
"$PDF_ENGINE" -interaction=nonstopmode -halt-on-error "$texfile" > /dev/null 2>&1
rc=$?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yxyo3tr72b3e2caxy5qcidep/bafkreibvgcwhriwp76dwuidshkd34zzymfdbm56dequfowccorpxvr435i@jpeg)
![ChatGPT's result of the following prompt: Part 2/2:
"Can you give me a UNIX bash shell script for compiling all files like math8530_slides-n.tex (n=1,2,3,4,5,6,7), and twice each so the page number counts works, and then copying each pdf to a file named math8530_slides-n_h.pdf, and them removing all .aux and .log files?"
if [[ $rc -ne 0 ]]; then
echo " ERROR: $PDF_ENGINE failed on pass $i for $texfile (exit code $rc)."
success=false
break
fi
done
if [[ "$success" = true ]]; then
if [[ -f "$pdffile" ]]; then
echo " Copying $pdffile -> $outcopy"
cp -f "$pdffile" "$outcopy"
else
echo " WARNING: Expected $pdffile but it was not produced."
fi
else
echo " Skipping copy/cleanup for $base due to compilation error."
continue
fi
# remove only the aux and log files for this base name
for ext in aux log; do
f="${base}.${ext}"
if [[ -f "$f" ]]; then
rm -f "$f"
echo " Removed $f"
fi
done
done
echo "=== Done ==="
Notes / options
If you prefer latexmk -pdf -silent (it handles reruns automatically), replace the compile loop with latexmk -pdf -silent "$texfile".
The script currently silences pdflatex output (> /dev/null 2>&1) to keep the terminal tidy; remove that redirection if you want to see full compile logs while it runs.
It removes only *.aux and *.log corresponding to each math8530_slides-n file (safe). If you want to remove more auxiliary extensions, add them to the for ext in ... list.
Want a variant that aborts on the first error (instead of continuing) or one that uses latexmk? I can paste that too.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yxyo3tr72b3e2caxy5qcidep/bafkreicx7fnb5py3h775gdj4dads5mnfwltjybsz5yjc2kfpeh4hj4kubu@jpeg)
October 24, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I'm sure this will be controversial, because it's a pro-AI post on a notoriously anti-AI site (BlueSky).
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
I'm almost 45 and have never written a UNIX shell script. So I asked ChatGPT for help, and it gave me the following in a matter of seconds. It's really good at this sort of thing.
1/2
One of the silver linings of being a lifelong fan of one of the least successful baseball teams is that I had COMPLETELY forgotten how stressful this is! 😩
October 20, 2025 at 10:59 PM
One of the silver linings of being a lifelong fan of one of the least successful baseball teams is that I had COMPLETELY forgotten how stressful this is! 😩
GET OUT THE MUSTARD AND RYE BREAD!!!
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
October 18, 2025 at 1:04 AM
GET OUT THE MUSTARD AND RYE BREAD!!!
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
I can hear Dave Niehaus calling it.
🔱🔱🔱🥹
BIG DUMPER!!! 🔱🔱🔱🔥🔥🔥
October 18, 2025 at 12:49 AM
BIG DUMPER!!! 🔱🔱🔱🔥🔥🔥
This is just embarrassing. Has to be one of the worst strike calls of the year. #TridentsUp 🔱
October 17, 2025 at 11:11 PM
This is just embarrassing. Has to be one of the worst strike calls of the year. #TridentsUp 🔱
Watching the game with my kids. The Mariners score, and the 9 changes to a 10. My 2-year-old son Felix looks back at me, points at the TV, and says “mo mo! mo mo!” as he puts his hands together to make the baby sign for “more”. 🥹😂🔱💙💛
October 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Watching the game with my kids. The Mariners score, and the 9 changes to a 10. My 2-year-old son Felix looks back at me, points at the TV, and says “mo mo! mo mo!” as he puts his hands together to make the baby sign for “more”. 🥹😂🔱💙💛
Mathematical Finance event in Wellington called the New Zealand All Black-Scholes
Combinatorics event in Flushing called the New York Stem
Numerical Linear Algebra event in Florida called the Tampa Bay Rayleigh quotients
October 10, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Mathematical Finance event in Wellington called the New Zealand All Black-Scholes
Numerical Linear Algebra event in Florida called the Tampa Bay Rayleigh quotients
Probability Theory event in Nevada called the Las Vegas Sample Spaces
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
October 9, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Numerical Linear Algebra event in Florida called the Tampa Bay Rayleigh quotients
Group theory event in India called the Lucknow Supersolvable Giants
Newtonian mechanics event in California called the San Francisco Giant Shoulders to Stand On
Taylor series event in Spain called Real Analytic Madrid.
October 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Group theory event in India called the Lucknow Supersolvable Giants
Taylor series event in Spain called Real Analytic Madrid.
Computational algebra event in Ontario called the Toronto Maple
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
October 9, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Taylor series event in Spain called Real Analytic Madrid.
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
Differential equation solvers event in Alberta called the Edmonton Euler Method
Simulation event in Ohio called The Cleveland Brownian Motion
October 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Back-to-back topology events in the Twin Cities called the Minnesota Hopf Lynx and the Minnesota Wild Knots
Algebraic number theory event in Southern California called The Los Angeles Ramified Primes
Higher-dimensional quadric surfaces event in Washington state called The Seattle Superconics
Lotka-Volterra event in Tennessee called The Nashville Predator–Prey Models
October 9, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Algebraic number theory event in Southern California called The Los Angeles Ramified Primes
Lotka-Volterra event in Tennessee called The Nashville Predator–Prey Models
Set theory event in Missouri called The St. Louis Inaccessible Cardinals
Number theory event in Minneapolis called the Minnesota Twin Prime Conjecture
October 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Lotka-Volterra event in Tennessee called The Nashville Predator–Prey Models
Number theory event in Minneapolis called the Minnesota Twin Prime Conjecture
PDE event in Florida called The Miami Heat Equation
An Alexandrov geometry event in New York called The Brooklyn Polyhedral Nets
October 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Number theory event in Minneapolis called the Minnesota Twin Prime Conjecture
An Alexandrov geometry event in New York called The Brooklyn Polyhedral Nets
An Apollonian geometry event in Wisconsin called The Green Bay Circle Packers
October 9, 2025 at 5:43 PM
An Alexandrov geometry event in New York called The Brooklyn Polyhedral Nets
Geoduck
What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?
October 9, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Geoduck
Clemson has been designated a National Monarch Butterfly City, and there is a public art installation of 20 fiberglass butterflies all around town.
Look closely, one of them appears to have some hidden mathematics on its underside! #IllustratingMath #Mathober
Look closely, one of them appears to have some hidden mathematics on its underside! #IllustratingMath #Mathober
October 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Clemson has been designated a National Monarch Butterfly City, and there is a public art installation of 20 fiberglass butterflies all around town.
Look closely, one of them appears to have some hidden mathematics on its underside! #IllustratingMath #Mathober
Look closely, one of them appears to have some hidden mathematics on its underside! #IllustratingMath #Mathober
Question for #MathSky:
What is your favorite result, trick, or technique involving generating functions?
Whenever I ask a question like this I always learn something new.
What is your favorite result, trick, or technique involving generating functions?
Whenever I ask a question like this I always learn something new.
September 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Question for #MathSky:
What is your favorite result, trick, or technique involving generating functions?
Whenever I ask a question like this I always learn something new.
What is your favorite result, trick, or technique involving generating functions?
Whenever I ask a question like this I always learn something new.
Reposted by Matt Macauley
Here's what a Mississippi judge wrote in 1979 about school vaccine mandates. Things have changed.
www.gravityisgone.com/mississippi-...
www.gravityisgone.com/mississippi-...
September 4, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Here's what a Mississippi judge wrote in 1979 about school vaccine mandates. Things have changed.
www.gravityisgone.com/mississippi-...
www.gravityisgone.com/mississippi-...
I'm 6'1" and 222 lbs. So if I gain 5 lbs before my next physical, I'll have a BMI index of 30 and will thus be eligible for a COVID vaccine. Or I could just not exercise for a few months and claim high risk due to "inactivity." Which should I shoot for?
Make America Healthy Again! 🙄
Make America Healthy Again! 🙄
September 2, 2025 at 3:58 AM
I'm 6'1" and 222 lbs. So if I gain 5 lbs before my next physical, I'll have a BMI index of 30 and will thus be eligible for a COVID vaccine. Or I could just not exercise for a few months and claim high risk due to "inactivity." Which should I shoot for?
Make America Healthy Again! 🙄
Make America Healthy Again! 🙄