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Math Application Server

This server is an alternative to using ssh/Zeno to run math applications. You can "remote" to the server from home or in the office like ssh/Zeno, but with a graphical interface.
Applications available to you are: Details on how to connect.

Sage Notebook

This notebook will be open for the duration of the 2008 REU, and a few weeks afterwards: https://eight.math.washington.edu:7744

Matlab and LaTeX help

MATLAB Commands and Code Examples

Graphics in LaTeX

Drawing pictures using LaTeX's picture environment is very time consuming. For graphics with any significant complexity it is probably best to import them using the graphicx package and the \includegraphics command. Example code that does this is as follows:

\documentclass{whatever}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{document}

...

\begin{figure}[h]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=10cm]{graphic.eps}
\caption{This caption is self-referential \label{some_label}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

...

\end{document}

This then requires that the graphic file is in .eps format (encapsulated postscript). Adobe Illustrator is a good program to use to produce .eps graphics. It is installed on the computers in the Odegaard computer lab. You might also want to try Xfig. It is installed on Hilbert and is another drawing program that can output eps graphics. To use Xfig, just type xfig at the prompt with X-Windows running in the background.

It's also possible to convert other formats to .eps (although probably not very efficiently) with image conversion software such as Imagemagick. For example, to do this in UNIX you might type, convert mypic.jpg mypic.eps. Most mathematical software can also produce some eps graphics. For example, plots in MATLAB can be saved as .eps files and therefore be easily included in a LaTeX document.

MATLAB also has a latex command that gives the LaTeX representation of a symbolic expression, which could then be pasted directly into a LaTeX document. This could potentially be a time-saver for some.

What About Bitmaps?

Do not use bitmaps unless you know what you are doing. The reason for this is that LaTeX documents which use bitmaps are notoriously difficult to compile under unix. Confer 2002 for several examples of this failure.

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