New Software on Athena

This spring has seen the arrival of important new revisions of Maple and FrameMaker, as well as some new-to-Athena software packages, and all of these are described at the What Runs Where web site. More updates, including a major Matlab upgrade, are on the way this summer. Among the latest arrivals are two language applications and two graphics applications. (All applications are available for both Sun and Linux platforms unless otherwise noted.)

Maple 9.5

Version 9.5 of Maple, released mid-April, includes a host of new features. Of particular interest to the MIT community are:

• Integrated algorithms for optimization problems.
• Solvers for differential-algebraic equation systems for advanced modeling applications.
• Major performance improvements.
• User interface improvements that make complex operations intuitive and quick

Refer to the What Runs Where (WRW) Maple entry for more details.

FrameMaker 7.1 (Sun only)

FrameMaker is a structured document publishing system, frequently used for publishing theses. Version 7.1 has added a number of new capabilities:

• Improved set of tools for XML authoring and publishing.
• Support for placing graphics in PDF format into FrameMaker documents.
• Rendering of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as vector-based graphics in print and PDF files.
• Acrobat Distiller 6 technology.

Refer to the WRW FrameMaker entry for more information.

Programming Language Packages

• SWI Prolog is an ISO compatible compiler for the Prolog language which has various enhancements including a C++ interface, execution profiler and development environment for GUI applications. The Prolog compiler works with a related graphics toolkit XPCE, an object-oriented GUI system. SWI Prolog is both free and small. For more information, see the WRW SWI Prolog entry.
  
• Glasgow Haskell Compiler is a full implementation of Haskell, written in Haskell, which is a functional programming language. The compiler produces fast code, but is itself quite slow and needs a great deal of memory. This installation fills a need for this type of language, which has been lacking on Athena. See the Glasgow Haskell Compiler entry for more information.

Graphics

• inkscape is an open source, scalable vector graphics editor. Similar to Adobe Illustrator in capability, it aims to provide a fully XML, SVG, and CSS2 compliant SVG drawing tool. See the WRW inkscape entry for more information.
  
• Ipe is a freely downloadable drawing editor for creating figures in PDF or encapsulated Postscript format. It supports incorporating text and figures into LaTeX documents and has its own native xml format. For more information see the WRW Ipe entry.

For recent additions and a complete list of applications available on Athena, visit the What Runs Where web site.

MATLAB and Maple Tutorials for Evaluation

Daniel Jamous

Academic Computing is considering purchasing a site license for on-line video-based MATLAB and Maple tutorials developed by TechnicalMastery and is seeking feedback from MIT faculty, students, and staff. These evaluaton tutorials will be available until August 31, 2004 and can be run on any Windows machine residing in the "mit.edu" domain. The tutorials require Internet Explorer 5.5 (or higher) and Windows Media Player 9.0 (or higher) and can be accessed at:
http://www.technicalmastery.com/eval/

Note:Over the summer, Linux and Mac OS X versions of the tutorials will also be available.

We invite people to evaluate the lessons and post comments. After you have tried the tutorials, please let us know if you a have found them useful, either by commenting below, or by sending email to Daniel Jamous

Places for Learning (MIT World Video Lecture)

Speaker:
William J. Mitchell
Head, Media Arts and Sciences
Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences

MIT student cluster redesigns are only one part of the effort to redefine learning spaces on campus. In this MIT World video lecture, Dean William Mitchell, Head of MIT's Media Arts and Sciences program, highlights the integral relationship between the rethinking of effective educational methods and the changes to the physical space in which teaching and learning take place. He defines a building as part of a system that supports a community for learning, interaction and discourse. This lecture includes a slide presentation and discussion around some learning spaces on campus, and the some of the newest buildings at MIT. Play the video