[Blindmath] Question about doing math in notepad

Fri Aug 26 00:01:57 UTC 2011

Question for Ben on the Notepad/dictionary approach.
I certainly understand it has its significant drawbacks, and usually
just would be a stop gap solution, or solution for simple math, but I
like the simplicity of it.
Is there a way to create a dictionary file of the most common math
notations such as x squared etc, and offer it for download, or do
peoplehave to make all their own dictionary entries (of course they
may want to, but a basic list of the most common symbols and terms
might speed up initial development a bit and, hopefully, hgive people
more time to evaluate other options).
It's all about choice, and this is the first time I've seen this idea
for writing math in notepad, and I find it neat.

On 8/24/11, Neil Soiffer <NeilS at dessci.com> wrote:
> I want to echo what Birkir said:  hundreds of thousands of people use
> MathType without a problem (although only a very few use it with a screen
> reader).  If you are having problems, please contact support at dessci.com.  We
> take pride in our responsive support to MathType users.  I hope that they
> will be able to help you resolve whatever problem you are having.
>
> Neil Soiffer
> Senior Scientist
> Design Science, Inc.
> www.dessci.com
> ~ Makers of MathType, MathFlow, MathPlayer, MathDaisy, Equation Editor ~
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 6:48 AM, Birkir R. Gunnarsson <
> birkir.gunnarsson at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Ben
>>
>> This is an odd problem you're having. I've run MathType with no
>> problems (I installed it as an admin in Windows 7 32 bit).
>> You may want to contact Design Science directly, and see if they can
>> assist with some of the installation issues, at lesat those that do
>> not seem to be screen reader related.
>> What you are experiencing is definitely not what I had to deal with.
>> I had to enable the MathType macros to work in Word manually through
>> Word's ActiveX options, but that was the only snag I hit along the
>> way.
>> I know playing with these things is mightily frustrating, but I think
>> you should be able to get a better result and the problems you are
>> describing should not be the default expectation, rather something
>> seems to be wrong and it might be worth a second look/try to see if a
>> simple fix exists.
>> -B
>>
>> On 8/24/11, Ben Humphreys <brh at opticinspiration.org> wrote:
>> > John,
>> >
>> > This turned out to be both interesting and frustrating.
>> >
>> > On the interesting side, the Mathtype add-in allowed me to convert my
>> > instructor's Microsoft Equation Editor equations to Latex within
>> > Word.  At that point, the previously incomplete and nonsensical
>> > equations were spoken as understandable Latex by JAWS.
>> >
>> > Now for the frustrating part.  Mathtype is riddled with installation
>> > and reliability issues, at least for me running Windows 7 32-bit and
>> > Microsoft Word 2010.
>> >
>> >   For example, I got errors from Mathtype installation re: inability
>> > to remove and install fonts.  When launched in Word, I got additional
>> > errors regarding inability to install a toolbar in c:\programdata\...
>> >
>> > Other times, it would crash Word all-together requiring a hard reboot.
>> >
>> > I had to disable User Account Control to overcome these problems and
>> > was then able to convert my instructor's equations to Latex.
>> >
>> > However, the system then suffered from various reliability issues,
>> > such as Skype and Internet Explorer constantly crashing and
>> > restarting for no good reason.
>> >
>> > After returning to a previously good System Restore Point before the
>> > Mathtype installation, these odd problems went away.
>> >
>> > It's not definitive proof that Mathtype is to blame.  However, I
>> > think their dev team is a little behind the curve, not supporting IE9
>> > with Mathreader and I suspect their installation program needs to be
>> > upgraded to work with Windows 7's User Account Control and
>> > non-privileged security defaults.
>> >
>> > Even with all these shortcomings, the ability to convert previously
>> > inaccessible Microsoft Equation Editor equations to Latex is so
>> > compelling that I think I'll rebuild a Windows XP box with an older
>> > version of Word and IE7.  I believe such an environment will work
>> > better with Mathtype and probably Mathreader as well.
>> >
>> > The fight goes on to learn math again...
>> >
>> > Ben
>> >
>> > At 06:23 PM 8/21/2011, you wrote:
>> >>Daria, there is an article on www.access2science about writing math in
>> >> MS
>> >>Word with MathType.  You need to learn a minimum of Latex to read/write
>> >>equations in MSWord+MathType, and you seem like a pretty sharp guy.  So
>> >> I
>> >>guess you should be able to learn how to do this in a few hours of work.
>> >> At
>> >>this point you would have a good tool for reading and writing math - in
>> >> fact
>> >>the most popular single way of writing scientific papers on earth.
>> >>
>> >>I do agree that you need to learn how to write in pure Latex, but you
>> won't
>> >>be able to do that in a few hours.  However using various templates that
>> >>have appeared already on this list, you should be able to write minimal
>> >>Latex documents in a short while too.  But compiling and debugging is a
>> >>longer process.  It woulod be great if you can find somebody to provide
>> >> some
>> >>local tutoring, but if necessary you can do it on your own.  It has been
>> >>done before.
>> >>
>> >>John Gardner
>> >>
>> >>-----Original Message-----
>> >>From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On
>> >>Behalf Of Dasha Radford
>> >>Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2011 2:56 PM
>> >>To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
>> >>Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Question about doing math in notepad
>> >>
>> >>Hi,
>> >>Just a small problem that needs to be taken in to considderation...
>> >>Bit of info number one: I go to a private school which does not have a
>> TVI
>> >>of any type.
>> >>Bit of info number two: Braille displays aren't cheap. The only thingI
>> have
>> >>is an 18 cell RefreshaBraille18 from Aph.
>> >>Last bit of info: I start school tomorrow and I'm using a computer for
>> >>everything else. While I have a braille writer it's hard to find people
>> >>willing to read math problems and such.
>> >>I don't mean to be rude but this is what all of the college students in
>> my
>> >>Ncabs group seem to be learning or using competently as the case maybe.
>> If
>> >> I
>> >>
>> >>let this wait and only learn it a few months before college when nerves
>> are
>> >>strung as tight as whip-cord and Dsb is giving me grief because I need
>> more
>> >>technology than most because I am partially deaf with a fairly good
>> chance
>> >>of being profoundly deaf by 35 well... I don't think not learning would
>> be
>> >> a
>> >>
>> >>good idea right now.
>> >>Thank you and I'm sorry if I come across a bit more strongly than
>> >> perhaps
>> I
>> >>intend for in truth it is not my intention at all. I just want people to
>> >>understand that I am not working on a mainstream public school system
>> >>neither am I making my stand on a field that is level by comparison with
>> >>what you can think of as just plain vanilla blind although there aren't
>> >> many
>> >>
>> >>of those around.
>> >>Again I'm sorry if I come over a bit harsh but this is something
>> everyone,
>> >>not just blind people but anyone else with a disability needs to
>> >> understand.
>> >>
>> >>We don't all play the same game, we don't do the same things with our
>> >> lives,
>> >>
>> >>and we most certainly don't get the option of saying that there is one
>> way
>> >>and only one way to do a thing.
>> >>Daria
>> >>----- Original Message -----
>> >>From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly at ix.netcom.com>
>> >>To: <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>> >>Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2011 4:44 PM
>> >>Subject: [Blindmath] Question about doing math in notepad
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> > Hi Dasha,
>> >> >
>> >> > If you are in high school you shouldn't need to know anything except
>> >> > Nemeth. Your TVI should be interlining your work so you can focus on
>> >> > understanding math.
>> >> >
>> >> > Alternatively, I would suggest that you learn to use Nemetex, which
>> was
>> >> > developed by a blind high school student now attending college.  This
>> >> > program automatically converts Nemeth algebra and other Nemeth math
>> that
>> >> > you enter using a braille display to LaTeX so a sighted person can
>> read
>> >> > it.
>> >> >
>> >> > http://www.accessisoft.com/
>> >> >
>> >> > Best wishes,
>> >> > Susan Jolly
>> >> >
>> >> > _______________________________________________
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>> >>
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/dasha95%40nc.rr.c
>> >>om
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >>
>> >>
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>> >
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