Speak now or forever hold your piece (of code)...?

[Alex Vincent]

The Open Source Convention has just put out a call for speakers at its 2004 Portland, Oregon event. As my parents live right across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA, I'm going to be there.

For some time I've been working solo on a project to edit MathML in Mozilla, using an XUL interface. There's nothing released yet, but the (empty) site is at abacus.mozdev.org .

Basically I'm seeking advice on whether I should set up a session to talk about this project. My inclination is "yes", because MathML editing in Mozilla is something that would benefit a lot of technical people. Daniel Glazman (formerly of Netscape, and lead engineer for Nvu.org) has called the concept a "killer app".

I'd like your opinions as well. Is it worthwhile?

[jkd]

Write some code first. ;)
A session would be cool, but I think would be more useful if presented from a "Here's my app idea, and here is how Mozilla is making it possible" rather than from a "Here's MathML. Here's Mozilla. Here is my dream app" p.o.v. :)

[Skyzyx]

I was sure that JKD was going to post about this... :p

[oracleguy]

Hey, you got a link to more information on that event? If I can make it, I will... I live in one of the surrounding cities from Portland. The event sounds interesting.

[Alex Vincent]

... just not a working app yet. That's why I'm posting this thread; should I go with what will likely be a working model by then, but not certainly?

http://conferences.oreillynet.com/os2004/

[liorean]

Makes as much you can working, at least to the point that you can show some examples of what you have and what you want to be able to do.

[raf]

Originally posted by Alex Vincent
[BThat's why I'm posting this thread; should I go with what will likely be a working model by then, but not certainly? [/B]

What is your objective with that session/project ?

I mean, will you be soliciting for cooperation from others? Looking for people with complementary projects? Getting pear-reviews? Creating a (small) develop and support community? Testing the market? Do you wanna put yourself on the map? Presenting a problem/opportunity and roadmap to sollution? Presenting a new feature ?

I think that any project in any stage can benefit from public attention (whatever the goal is). But it should be clear to the possible participants what the goal of your session is.

[Alex Vincent]

Good day, everyone. I submitted the following proposal for a session at OSCON 2004 in Portland, Oregon, USA. I'd very much like speedy commentaries on this, so I can adjust the proposal as appropriate.

---

Dear Alexander Vincent:

Thank you for submitting a conference proposal to
O'Reilly & Associates. Please take a few moments to
review your submission and respond within 24 hours
if you would like to make any changes.


Thank You,
The O'Reilly Open Source Convention 2004 Committee
O'Reilly & Associates

====================
Proposal Information
====================
Title: Mathematics and the WWW: The abacus.mozdev project

Conference: O'Reilly Open Source Convention 2004

Type/Duration: 45m

Audience Level: General

Audience Type: Primarily aimed at educators and scientists, with web designers and programmers in particular welcome. High-school teachers and students are most welcome.





Description:
The W3C has done a great job in introducing MathML to the public, including its Amaya editor. However, MathML by itself is not enough to teach math on the web. For public school districts, commercial programs such as Mathematica are often out of the question. Online textbooks in mathematics often do not have interactivity on the client side.

The abacus project intends to create and release a free Mozilla-based MathML editor, using MathML templates and putting an emphasis on content MathML as well as presentation MathML in multiple human languages. The editor itself will be a component in a larger goal to create commercial, inexpensive tools for interactive mathematics education.

Simultaneously, the abacus project intends to define two new XML languages beyond MathML. One is tentatively called GeoML (Geometry Markup Language), and the other TheoremML (Theorem Markup Language). Combining these two languages with MathML allows for a more XML-friendly understanding of mathematics than MathML alone.

With Mozilla products as a foundation, an inexpensive service may become feasible for public schools. Taking advantage of open source technologies, online textbooks would be easy to create, access, translate, update, and correct errata in.

Description Short:
Mathematics on the Web have been a mixed success to date. The abacus.mozdev.org project intends to change that, first with a MathML editor written in XUL, followed by the introduction and implementation of two new XML languages to handle analytical geometry and mathematical proofs.

Speaker bio: Alex Vincent is an amateur mathematician and dedicated Mozilla developer. He wrote the JavaScript Developer's Dictionary for Sams Publishing (2002), and moderates the XML forum at http://www.codingforums.com. He specializes in client-side technologies such as XUL and XBL, and in creating more powerful tools using current technology.



Speaker notes and comments: Though the initial implementation will be based on the Mozilla Application Suite, GeoML and TheoremML are XML languages and thus platform-independent.

The abacus project's products are not intended in any way to compete directly with Mathematica, Maple, or any professional grade mathematics engine. It is intended for an educational audience primarily at the high-school and middle-school levels. Mathematica and Maple are aimed more at college levels and professional mathematicians.

Other enhancements to the Mozilla Application Suite are being developed to support this project.