Search

Today's personal computers are designed and sold by Apple, IBM Corp., and others, but researchers had developed ideas and techniques they use by the mid of 1970s. This article discusses nine of those early ideas, the people who had them, and labs where they worked. The personal computer industry had a foundation to build on. The first years were like a fast-forward replay of the computer and word processing industries, assemblers, high-level languages, operating systems, superscalar CPU, and modern applications, were implemented as soon as falling cost allowed. The similarity of today's systems to the Alto, is an indication that the computer industry has consumed much of the intellectual capital developed at MIT, SRI, and PARC. Vannevar Bush, a prominent researcher at MIT developed a device called memex, which keeps an account of all books, records, and communications. Interactive computer bloomed at MIT in the 1950s, beginning with Jay Forrester's Whirlwind computer.

Evaluates the interfaces of an off-line document-preparation system on interactive page-presentation programs of structured documents on computers. Assessments on the functions of typesetting system formats documents; Procedures on making an on-line information data; Relevance of noninteractive document compilers on the evolution of data processing.

Abstract: Mathematical texts can be computerized in many ways that capture differing amounts of the mathematical meaning. At one end, there is document imaging, which captures the arrangement of black marks on paper, while at the other end there are proof assistants (e.g., Mizar, Isabelle, Coq, etc.), which capture the full mathematical meaning and have proofs expressed in a formal foundation of mathematics. In between, there are computer typesetting systems (e.g., ▪ and Presentation MathML) and semantically oriented systems (e.g., Content MathML, OpenMath, OMDoc, etc.). The MathLang project was initiated in 2000 by Fairouz Kamareddine and Joe Wells with the aim of developing an approach for computerizing mathematical texts and knowledge which is flexible enough to connect the different approaches to computerization, which allows various degrees of formalization, and which is compatible with different logical frameworks (e.g., set theory, category theory, type theory, etc.) and proof systems. The approach is embodied in a computer representation, which we call MathLang, and associated software tools, which are being developed by ongoing work. Three Ph.D. students (Manuel Maarek (2002/2007), Krzysztof Retel (since 2004), and Robert Lamar (since 2006)) and over a dozen master''s degree and undergraduate students have worked on MathLang. The project''s progress and design choices are driven by the needs for computerizing real representative mathematical texts chosen from various branches of mathematics. Currently, MathLang supports entry of mathematical text either in an XML format or using the ▪ editor. Methods are provided for adding, checking, and displaying various information aspects. One aspect is a kind of weak type system that assigns categories (term, statement, noun (class), adjective (class modifier), etc.) to parts of the text, deals with binding names to meanings, and checks that a kind of grammatical sense is maintained. Another aspect allows weaving together mathematical meaning and visual presentation and can associate natural language text with its mathematical meaning. Another aspect allows identifying chunks of text, marking their roles (theorem, definition, explanation, example, section, etc.), and indicating relationships between the chunks (A uses B, A contradicts B, A follows from B, etc.). Software tool support can use this aspect to check and explain the overall logical structure of a text. Further aspects are being designed to allow adding additional formality to a text such as proof structure and details of how a human-readable proof is encoded into a fully formalized version (so far this has only been done for Mizar and started for Isabelle). A number of mathematical texts have been computerized, helping with the development of these aspects, and indicating what additional work is needed for the future. This paper surveys the past and future work of the MathLang project. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mathscout is a mathematica 1 [1] mathematica is a registered trademark of Wolfram Research Inc. package to postprocess the output of other programs for scientific calculations. We wrote mathscout to import data from a major program for ab initio computational chemistry into mathematica, so that we could postprocess the chemical results. It can be used to import the output of many other packages that are used, e.g. in molecular dynamics, crystallography, spectroscopic analysis, metabolic and physiological modeling, meteorology and other areas of environmental science, cosmology and particle physics. mathscout assigns a name to each table and non-tabular datum that it extracts. This name is constructed mechanically from the identifier or phrase that precedes or follows or embeds the item in the output that mathscout processes. A selection of non-contiguous items, or all the items in a section of the file, or in the entire file are extracted using simple commands. So far, we have focused on our immediate needs to postprocess the output of the Gaussian 2 [2] gaussian is a registered trademark of Gaussian Inc. program. Calculations on several molecules that illustrate the usage of the package are presented here and in the Supplementary Information. mathscout is shortened to msct in the software. Program summary: Program title: msct.m Catalogue identifier: ADZQ_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADZQ_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen''s University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 30 396 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 799 469 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Mathematica Computer: Any computer running unix and Mathematica Operating system: Unix Supplementary material: The Development guide Classification: 4.14, 5, 16.1, 20 Nature of problem: Import data from output files of scientific computing packages, such as Gaussian, into Mathematica for symbolic calculation and production of publication quality tables and plots. Solution method: Provision of mnemonic top-down parsing procedures, functional programming. Running time: The complete extraction of data from a small basis density functional calculation on the water molecule, and from a larger basis density functional calculation on the zinc hydrate ion, that ran to 33 iterations, took 1 second and 23 seconds, respectively, on a Dell Poweredge 1750. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article presents time saving tips when using the Mac operating system. The AutoCorrect feature in Word X and 2004 automatically fixes common spelling mistakes, but it can be used to avoid repetitive typing of commonly used words or phrases. It can also be used to quickly type symbols without opening the Insert: Symbol dialog box again. In Word 2004, the Comments pane has been replaced by the Reviewing pane and it is available only from the Reviewing Pane button on the Reviewing toolbar. But it is possible to bring it to the regular toolbar. AppleWorks 6 allows users to listen for errors. To add a Speak Text button to the button bar, choose AppleWorks: Preferences: Button Bar and drag the Speak Text button from the Word Processing group onto the Button Bar. Select the text and click on the button to hear it read aloud. When copying text from e-mail or the Web into AppleWorks documents, strange line breaks may creep in. Nisus Writer Express offers a useful feature called Document Manager, which keeps track of documents. One can start all documents in Document Manager by setting the appropriate option in Nisus' General Preferences, but it is easier to go down to the Autosave option in the same box and set it to save every minute. The application will save new documents into Document Manager by default.

The article reports on developments in electronic image processing and publishing. According to the author, more developed software and machines enable high quality graphics and typeset documents to be produced using only a personal computer. Other developments in desktop publishing and the computer models equipped with these capabilities are highlighted in the article.

The article provides tips on how to merge data and other information resources in the computer. Microsoft Word's data-merging tools help automate the process of making letters and promotional pieces of a business enterprise. The key to merging data in Microsoft Word 2004 is the Data Merge Manager palette. To create a simple form-letter to advertise an upcoming event, First create a new blank document in Word and choose Tools: Data Merge Manager to open the palette containing Word's merge tools. Click on the Main Document disclosure triangle and then choose Form Letters from the Create pop-up menu. Type the letter into the Word document.

The author offers his thoughts on some of his personal choice among word processors. He said that OpenOffice and NeoOffice include presentation modules that work well with PowerPoint. He also said that Google Docs lets a computer user to create, collaborate on, and display presentations over the Web. He also said that Adobe Photoshop is effective in creating text slides.

The article shows the two main ways to create styles and how to modify existing ones using the Microsoft Word 2007 software. Users should think about what kind of styles they will create and how they are going to use them so they can come up with consistent naming scheme. It presents the ways to use formatted text to create style. To create new styles, users should click in an area that has the Normal style applied and then open the Styles Pane and click the New Style button. Users can specify how the new style will be displayed and where it will be available through the two checkboxes and a pair of radio buttons.

The article presents information on a recently released word processing tool called WordPress 2.0. The tool provides the added ability to create a new category directly from the post-writing interface, a feature that should be standard in any blogging system. The new version also has improved roles system for users, which replaces previous versions' bizarro level system. WordPress 2.0 also adds a WYSIWYG editor that works fine and will probably be appreciated by many users and an upload option has been added to the posting screen as well, which seems like a good idea.

This section presents the opinion of "MacAddict" staff on what invention they cannot live without. Roman Loyola says he cannot live without aglets. Sean Molloy's invention of choice is the Microsoft Word. He argues that he would not know what to do if someone presented him with a typewriter and forced him to write in a linear, beginning-to-end fashion. Peter Marshutz says he would be broke, bored and lonely if not for eyeglasses and contact lenses. Jake Widman argues that the ATM is the most significant invention of the past 30 years.

The article reviews the StarOffice 8 office suite from Sun Microsystems.

The article presents information about personal digital assistant Nokia 9500 Communicator. At 14.8 x 5.7 x 2.4cm and 230g, the Nokia 9500 is a hulking great gadget. And while this is a Symbian device, Microsoft applications are well supported, with Office-compliant word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software. The 9500 boasts tri-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE for use while on the road, plus Bluetooth and 802.11b Wi-Fi for joining the office WLAN and taking advantage of wireless hotspots. Configuring the different wireless standards is simple — a dialog prompts to select the appropriate network when a connection is attempted. The pointing device automatically switches between acting as a mouse and a navigator for the menu system. Four buttons down the right edge provide context-sensitive actions, and a set of eight hot keys offer quick access to commonly-used applications. With the case closed, phone operation is identical to most Nokia phones. Startup and SIM read times were impressive at 30 and 50 seconds respectively.

The article reports that ValuSoft Inc., a division of THQ Inc. has launched its Office Suite 2005 for personal computers. With Office Suite 2005, crucial everyday applications, including word processing and spreadsheets, are available to PC users at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft Office. The feature-complete Office Suite 2005 allows users to create, edit and save Word and Excel compatible documents for countless uses, including school projects, personal letters, business proposals and accounting spreadsheets. Its powerful features include the ability to enhance documents with pictures, sounds, tables, OLE objects, custom styles and more. The Excel compatible features bring spreadsheets to life with 2D and 3D graphs and "what-if" scenarios. Office Suite 2005 makes document distribution quick and easy with the PDF feature, and the mail merge function is a fast and simple way to create letters, envelopes and labels. The photo editing capabilities include removal of "red eye," restoration of photo color with one click editing, preparation of photo slideshows with professional transition and sounds, publishing of photos on the web or via email and the creation of photo CDs to share with others.

Presents letters to the editor referencing articles and topics discussed in previous issues. "Don't Call Us," which focused on Apple bloggers; "What's So Bad About the GPL," which discussed about graphics programming language.

The Design Science Inc. has released MathType 3.5, a math typesetting software for Windows and Macintosh. MathType is better known as the version of the Equation Editor included in Microsoft Word, Works and PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect 8, ClarisWorks 5.0, and other applications. MathType 3.5 features anti-aliasing algorithms, which allow for the creation of GIF equations for Web pages.