Notebook interface and Wolfram-Alpha
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg117012] Notebook interface and Wolfram-Alpha
- From: Didier laplot <didier.laplot at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 05:49:57 -0500 (EST)
Good day, Mathematica 8 puts by default in the notebook a thin grey line with a plus sign on its left that activates a local menu allowing the selection of the mode of input, including Wolfram-Alpha and free-form input. The fact is that: 1. I have no use at all for Wolfram-Alpha or free-input form; and 2. I much prefer the traditional simple notebook interface as found in previous versions. So my question is: can we get rid of this "Plus" button ? I spent hours perusing through all the options available via Option inspector and trying a few ones without success so far. I have nothing against Wolfram-Alpha but I may be old-fashioned or I read too many times and with too much attention the "Introduction a l'=E9tude de la m=E9decine exp=E9rimentale" so that if I need some data, I usually know exactly where to find it and I preferably would need the reference to the actual work or study so that if I use the data I am fully aware of the method of measurement used and its inevitable limitations and possibly of the background of the study. I also don't like the fact that it's a private company that is behind such a project. I would rather see this as an international governmental disinterested endeavor. But that's a matter of personal preference really. I have no need for free-input form because Mathematica for me is a programming language, a scientific computing environment and a collection of functions implementing all sorts of useful algorithms. I use it along with other similar tools and libraries. Sometimes I like to prepare notes or reports where the programs and their outputs are accompanied by comments and plots and form a kind of complete documents. The same can be done in other systems but not so naturally and easily, and this is a clear advantage of the notebook interface of Mathematica. I welcome your suggestions on how one could cure the notebook interface of the horizontal line with a "plus" sign. Many thanks