First, the shortcoming: Open a new Maple worksheet (I always work in Worksheet mode, so I haven't tested what happens in Document mode), and type anything in 2D Math Input into a line but do not execute that line. Save the file, then open it in a text editor or word processor. If you scroll down to the line containing the information for what you just typed in, you will notice that the attribute "input-equation" will be null; that is, it should say input-equation="" Even though there is input on the line, Maple doesn't add anything to the "input-equation" attribute until the commands are executed.

Some of the most significant members of Maplesoft’s math team are interviewed in this episode: Dr. Juergen Gerhard, Dr. Edgardo Cheb-Terrab and Dr. Allan Wittkopf, who give an inside look at just what is involved in designing and building sophisticated algorithms for advanced mathematics. They discuss symbolic computation, the new Physics package in Maple 11, Maple's DE and DAE solvers, future developments, and ballroom dancing.

There has been quite a number of complaints about new version of Maple being somehow inferior to previous versions in various ways. Lest people think that this is special to Maplesoft, PC World is running a story titled Before they Spoiled the Software, on various multimedia software that used to be better before it got seriously bloated. They also draw the reader's attention to sites like oldversion.com which specialize in archiving older versions of ``free'' software.

Students do the craziest things. This was an interesting bug to run into. The following lines all cause Maple 11 to lose connection with its kernel: solve( x-x = 0 ); solve( x-x = 1 ); solve( x-x = -1 ); Whereas, the following lines do not cause Maple 11 to lose connection with its kernel: solve( 1=0 ); solve( x-x+1 = 0 ); solve( x-x-1 = 0 ); solve( x=x+1 ); solve( (x-x)^2 = 0 ); solve( x-x = x ); This message has also been sent to support@maplesoft.com

Evaluate: lim [1/x * ( (a^x - 1) / (a-1) ) ] ^ 1/x x->infinity where a > 0 and a is not equal to 1

The latest MapleCast episode, Can't Touch This, is now available on the Maplesoft website. Stephanie Rozek (that's me) guest hosts as Tom Lee is out exploring new frontiers… Paul Goossens interviews a group from Quanser about their control solutions for industry, education and research.

MaplePrimes couldn’t exist without the generous contributions of many talented users. They answer others’ questions and post their own valuable insights and experiences for the rest of us to benefit from. In many ways you are true mentors. The MaplePrimes editors would like to acknowledge their contributions and to encourage others to be inspired by their leadership. We will be awarding a series of prizes for exceptional and continued contributions to this site.

Hello all ... FYI, we will be creating new forums specifically for Q&A geared towards undergraduate students. Our goal is to have a section of the forums that are more suited to the kinds of issues that younger users who have neither the computing or math experience, may have. We'll be uploading the test groups this week and the forums should be live by the end of the week. We'll also do subsequent refinements in the autumn once Will gets back. Tom 4.

Hello all ... FYI, our site master Will Spaetzel is getting married this weekend. Please join me in congratulating him and his new bride Laura-Lee on their new life together! Many happy wishes to you two! The bad news is, during his absence (for a couple of weeks), some technical issues with this site may be a bit slower in resolving. We have back-up editors for Will but Will has special talents that are hard to match. Thanks for your patience. Tom 4.

On Monday, Aug. 13, I will be at a big optimization conference at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. It's the joint International Conference on Continuous Optimization (ICCOPT) and Modeling and Optimization: Theory and Applications (MOPTA) conference. I'll be running a session with three Maple-related talks given by Jan Bakus of Maplesoft, Andrew Curtis of the University of Western Ontario, and myself. If any of you are attending the conference (and I

Earlier today, I was re-reading an old post when I was inspired. The post asked how one could use typesetting rules to make the call of a procedure typeset as a binary operation. The example used in the post was something along the lines of: myproc(a,b); becomes a <symbol> b; Inspired by a response to that post, I started looking at the help page for the define command and doing some testing in Maple. I was ready to make a reply to that post, when I stumbled upon a mind-boggling error. In the time it's taken me to track down that error (and run various errands), the original post has vanished from my view. Perhaps it still exists somewhere, but for the life of me, I cannot find it; therefore, I post to the next most appropriate place to describe and discuss this shortcoming: This blog.

I, Andy Gijbels, added 2 new applications on www.maplesoft.com * Tower of Hanoi: Graphical solution (animation) * Double spring pendulum (animation) Feel free to rate or leave comments Andy

The MapleReader has been the source of a bit of confusion on MaplePrimes lately. Hopefully with this post, we can help clear up some of the questions that have come up about it. The MapleReader is, as Scott03 mentioned in his response during a separate thread, an extension of Maple 11 that allows an eBook file format called an 'mbook' to be read. A number of authors are currently in the process of converting their content to an mbook file format, to be distributed independently of Maple. The reason why it was included in Maple 11.01 is to allow our authors access to it and it's updates for authoring purposes.

This is to inform you that we are now shipping the newest version of Maple T.A. – Maple T.A. 3.0. Maple T.A. is an easy-to-use web-based system for creating tests and assignments, automatically assessing student responses and performance. It supports complex, free-form entry of mathematical equations and intelligent evaluation of responses, making it ideal for mathematics, science, or any course that requires mathematics. The new edition – Maple T.A. 3.0 – comes with increased flexibility in content creation, an enhanced user interface and improved grading and assessment capabilities

Maplesoft has now posted the 11.01 update for users running Maple 11. You can download the update here . As the website mentions, this update includes improvements in the following areas:

• Differential Equations
• Maplets
• Physics Package updates
• Plot legends
• Vector Calculus

Who is entitled to Maple 11.01? Maple 11.01 is available to all users running Maple 11. If your Help>About Maple 11 dialog from the Standard Interface reads Maple 11.01, then you already have the update and no further action is required.