Efofex News

We recently received a most uplifting email from a young man who has been using our products for no charge under our EmPower program. We are sharing it, partly because we are very proud of the program, but mostly to remind you that the EmPower program exists and has already helped thousands of students with special needs.

“If there was any word I could use to best describe Efofex’s programs and their impact upon my future, it would be lifesaving. Growing up as a student suffering from Dysgraphia (a handwriting disorder), writing, and math in particular, was an extreme challenge for me, and I had to make every available effort to write legibly. Unfortunately, writing legibly cost me so much of my concentration that I would often lose focus, stumble on the question, and get it wrong. Alternatively, I would get the correct answer but, in the struggle to finish the test, I would misinterpret the numbers or signs of my answer. A negative would be positive, a 4 turned into a 9, etc. The situation got so bad that in my Sophomore year I was happy to receive a C- in Algebra II. This low grade, although fine by district standards to advance to the next level, was not satisfactory for neither my parents or I, so I needed to repeat Algebra II the next year. This time around, however, I had new accommodations in place that would potentially help my academic success.

I started using Efofex’s software at the beginning of the next school year. The ease of installation, the seamless compatibility with my word processor, and the ability to paste directly into documents were all blessings for me and my school work. This made the transition from pencil and paper to computer extremely easy and problem-free. I felt as though FX Equation which, unlike several other programs, did not have the capacity to calculate answers for a student, was perfect for my needs. Instead of solving the questions for me, it provided a canvas by which I could show my true mathematical potential. This helped tremendously, especially once I learned the keyboard shortcuts and intricacies of the program. FX Graph, in the same vein as FX Equation, allowed me to plot complex graphs simply without the hassle of using a physical graphing calculator.

As a result of both FX Equation and FX Graph, my abilities in math, previously trampled because of my writing deficiencies, blossomed. In my senior year I achieved a 99% in Precalculus both semesters by using Efofex products and, without it, I don’t think I would’ve graduated high school with as good of grades. I also used both programs on my ACT exam, where, because of me being able to write with them, I managed to achieve a 31 on the overall test. Without Efofex products, I would not be attending a four year university this fall.”
Zachary

Is there anyone at your school who would benefit from the program?

It recently came to our attention that the weekly digest of news stories has not been automatically generated for some time. This means that if you are only subscribed to our newsletter (as opposed to having liked our FaceBook page) you will not have received any news for a few months. Sorry! We have re-enabled the automatic digest and you might have quite a few stories to catch up on – not least the imminent release of FX Graph 6 with it’s 3D capabilities and the beta release of FX Draw 6, also with 3D capabilities!

If you have been affected by this, please accept our apologies. We will work hard to make sure that it does not occur again.

We have uploaded a new version of the FX Graph 6 Beta. This beta will run until October 31.
This beta is a “Release Candidate” which means that we have finished development and consider the product nearly ready for release.

There have been a number of very important changes with this version.

1. We have implemented support for annotations in 3D graphs. The automatic annotations are fairly limited but you can add information to your graphic.

2. We have implemented OLE support. This version of FX Graph 6 will take over any FX Graph 5 links in your Word documents and will upgrade the graphics to V6 when you open them. This is a one way process. In other words, the graphics cannot be reverted back to FX Graph 5 once converted. If you push the FX Graph button on your Word toolbar, FX Graph 6 will open.

We have just about finished initial development of FX Draw 6 and you will be able to download a beta soon!

FX Draw 6 is an exciting extension of FX Draw’s capabilities allowing you, for the first time, to work in 3D.

What’s New?

· FX Draw 6 will include the 3D graphing engine that we have implemented for FX Graph 6. This lets you graph relationships in 3 dimensions and provide graphic demonstrations of things like volumes of solids of revolution and intersections of planes. You might notice that the planes are slightly transparent, allowing your students to get a better idea of what is going on.

· FX Draw 6 will also add galleries of 3D objects that can be rotated and shaded exactly as you desire. The objects can also display hidden edges as shown below.

FX Draw 6 will come with galleries of dozens (hundreds?) of 3D objects.

· We have also implemented a dimensioning tool. This allows you to quickly add dimensions to any image.

The dimensions are all scaled using a global scaling factor. In the above example, we have changed the global scaling from 1:1 to 1:5 and all dimensions have been scaled accordingly. You can also replaced the measured distance with any text. This combination of features makes drawing scale diagrams trivial.

· FX Draw 6 also implements a “4 point” line tool that permits you to draw diagrams where lines extend beyond the points which define their direction.

Notice that the selected line has four control squares. A and B define the direction of the line. C and D define the end points.

· We have also greatly improved the default line system allowing you to create lines that use the current defaults whilst using any of the six line tools, rather than just the line defined by end points.

· Obviously we have also worked to remove faults and improve the usability of tools.

Most importantly, we have made almost no changes to the user interface of FX Draw 5. We know that teachers are extremely time poor and do not want to learn a new interface, so we have continued to leave things alone. Using FX Draw 6 feels almost exactly the same as using FX Draw 5, you can just do more!

Keep and eye out for the beta!

We have uploaded a new version of the FX Graph 6 Beta. This beta will run until October 31.

Initial responses to FX Graph 6 have been positive with few errors found. We will soon be moving FX Graph to release status and this is your last chance to have a say!

Don’t forget the great new features like volumes of solids of revolution. The ability to animate the creation of the volume is most useful.

Volumes of Rotation

Just don’t forget to tell us about anything you find. Send your feedback to info

We have been asked why you cannot rotate the 3D axes in FX Graph 6 using the mouse. We did experiment with mouse-rotation but found, as we have found with all other 3D graphing implementation, that the result was very difficult to control. When we moved the mouse “something” happened, but not necessarily what we intended. We also decided to let you use the mouse to translate the axes around the page. This conflicted with the use of the mouse to rotate the axes.

What we decided on was:

1. The mouse will translate the axes.
2. The mouse wheel (if fitted) will zoom into and out from the origin.
3. You can rotate the axes using the x, y and z keys. Holding down Shift reverses the rotation.
4. You can use the toolbar to align the axes and start auto-rotations.

As with every thing else, we are interested in your feedback on this. Send feedback to info

FX Graph 6 Beta 2 Uploaded
A big thank you to those users who have taken the time to test the new FX Graph 6. They have definitely found some errors (which is the whole point really!) but the comments we have received indicate that this is a great upgrade. If you have the time to take a short look, we would love you to download the latest beta.

One of the most popular new features is the volumes of solids of revolution. The ability to animate the creation of the volume is most useful.

image

Just don’t forget to tell us about anything you find. Send your feedback to info@efofex.com

Last week we got to see FX Bridge in Perth. This week, Efofex has been invited to Harvard!

OK, that’s a slight exaggeration.

Harvard has asked us to provide software under our EmPower program for one of their students.

It also provides us with another chance to remind you of our EmPower program for students with special needs. FX Equation, in particular, is so simple to use with a keyboard that it provides an ideal opportunity for students who find writing mathematics difficult. We have provided free software to nearly 2000 students all over the world and have a number of college graduates who credit FX Equation with allowing them to pursue their dreams.

If you have students at your school who are having trouble with the physical side of writing mathematics, please consider looking at the EmPower program. Experience shows that it can change lives.