# We need some latex in these ads

We have some math ads that look like this:

Can we not render the LaTeX or whatever it's called? This ad makes no sense to me in its current state.

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\$ delimits math mode, _ is subscript, {} for grouping, \  means a macro (i.e. function) and in this case typesets the logarithm. You'll also see ^ for superscript... –  dmckee Sep 25 '10 at 2:23
@dmckee: Lol... my math skills suck. I guess it doesn't make sense either way. –  thyrgle Sep 25 '10 at 2:25
...the question being asked is non-trivial because it involves the evaluation of a recurrence relation. If you're math skills are weak having the latex typeset won't help much. –  dmckee Sep 25 '10 at 2:32
@dmckee: Yeah, mine are weak. They will get better though when I get to college :P. –  thyrgle Sep 25 '10 at 2:34
I imagine you can get some help on math, too. In this case note that each x is defined in terms of a previously numbered one (and we need to be given some starting x, too....). That makes it possible to write out the first expression in the question in full. What the asker wants to do with that and how to get there...I don't know. –  dmckee Sep 25 '10 at 2:39
@dmckee: I'm weak compared to you guys. I'm perfectly fine in school. lol. –  thyrgle Sep 25 '10 at 2:41
For those who are curious, the question the ad points to is this one. –  Larry Wang Sep 25 '10 at 19:32

Not going to happen, as the client-side javascript to render them (MathJax) is about two full megabytes*. It's ABSURDLY heavy. Like "if you have to ask, you can't afford it heavy."

So, for the rare cases where we highlight these, the crazy syntax is part of the appeal.

* I'm exaggerating, but only slightly.

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::boggles:: So I guess it's not just a few cheep heuristics, then? –  dmckee Sep 25 '10 at 2:41
Would it be possible to have the ad generator avoid posts with MathJax in the title? –  uɐɯsO uɐɥʇɐN Dec 9 '11 at 20:04
@GeorgeEdison - To the interested/targetted users, MathJax is quite easy to read. There's no need to avoid it, unless we want to make the ads more attractive to people who aren't potential users of math.stackexchange.com. That, to me, seems like inadmissible discrimination against that community. –  Kevin Vermeer Dec 9 '11 at 20:14
@KevinVermeer: Ah, okay - that makes sense then - it's just a little confusing for people who have never seen MathJax before. They might assume it's a bug of some sort. –  uɐɯsO uɐɥʇɐN Dec 9 '11 at 20:16