S O S Mathematics and Some Other Math

S. O. S Mathematics and Some Other Math Help Sites on the Internet Helmut Knaust Co-Owner, Math Medics LLC Chair, Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP Math Medics, LLC P. O. Box 12395 El Paso TX 79913 October 20, 2007

Contents q An Overview of the Web Site Itself § § Philosophy & Design The Building Blocks A Short Visit The “S. O. S. Cyber. Board” q A Brief History of Sosmath. com § From www. math. utep. edu/sosmath … to www. sosmath. com q Publishing on a Commercial Server § What Do You Need to Get Started? q The Users of Sosmath. com § Usage and User Statistics q Other Math Help Sites

q Other People Involved § Mohamed A. Khamsi, • Co-owner, Math Medics LLC • Professor, UTEP § Nancy Marcus • Co-owner, Math Medics LLC • Associate Dean, UTEP § Michael O’Neill • Associate Professor, Claremont Mc. Kenna College § Luis Valdez-Sanchez • Associate Professor, UTEP

Original Philosophy “S. O. S. Math is the website at the University of Texas at El Paso, where you can work with material to help you: q Do your homework q Prepare for a test q Get ready for class”

Target Audience q High School Students in their Junior and Senior Year q University Freshmen and Sophomores

Design Choices q Make the browsing experience as easy for the users as possible: § § § No frames, no plug-ins Maximal browser compatibility Easy navigation Uniform look of the pages Keep bandwidth requirements low Allow for user feedback S. O. S. Math started in 1996 Netscape 2. 02 had just been released!

Subjects on Our Site 1 – High School Mathematics Algebra Trigonometry 2 – College Mathematics Calculus Matrix Algebra Differential Equations 3 – Miscellaneous Add-Ons “Cyber. Exams” (Practice Tests) Tables and Formulas “S. O. S Cyber. Board” (Bulletin Board)

A Short Visit to www. sosmath. com www. q Homepage q Algebra § Solving equations with radicals § Solving polynomial inequalities § The “Cubic Formula” § The Bouncing Ball q Calculus § Integration of Rational Functions q Differential Equations § Bifurcations

The “S. O. S. Cyber. Board” q Provides a valuable service to our users q Helps us interact with our users q Helps us to improve our site by accommodating user suggestions Visit the S. O. S. Cyber. Board

A Brief History Summer 1996 Planning; First pages written August 21, 1996 Launch of www. math. utep. edu/sosmath Spring 1999 Negotiations with UTEP to start S. O. S. Mathematics as a commercial enterprise. May 14, 1999 Launch of www. sosmath. com on a shared web server July 5, 1999 Start of the S. O. S. Mathematics Cyber. Board

To Get Started… q A prudent design q A sensible plan q Time, q More time, q … And more time! q A wonderful team! q Some knowledge of technology

To Get Started on a Shoe String Budget q Web Hosting Service, $10 -30 per month for a shared host q Domain Name, about $35 or less per year q Software § § FTP client, $0 -45 Computer algebra system? , $0 -1, 500 Graphics editing software, $70 -1, 000 Back-Up capability, $0 -100

Web Hosting File Upload and Host Management: • FTP protocol, using WSftp etc. • Telnet protocol Local Computer: • Preferably a PC with Windows-OS • Fast internet connection Remote Web Host: • Usually on a PC with Linux-OS • May host 100 s of web sites

q The Math Forum@Drexel q All(? ) Math Faculty at Drexel University

q Purplemath q Elizabeth Stapel, Math Instructor at Western International University, Phoenix, AZ

q Cut the Knot q Alexander Bogomolny, Former Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Iowa

q History of Mathematics q John O'Connor and Edmund Robertson, University of St Andrews, Scotland

q Math World q Eric Weisstein, Wolfram Research

The end Contact info: http: //www. sosmath. com/mail. php This presentation can be found at: www. math-medics. com/GEPCTM. pps Math Medics, LLC P. O. Box 12395 El Paso TX 79913