Over the upcoming weekend of September 11-12, we will be making a modification to the MathJax CDN. Web sites using the CDN won’t be affected, and the CDN service will remain continuously available. The change is aimed at resolving a problem affecting some users of Internet Explorer. Technical details are given below.

Change
Requests to the MathJax CDN that don’t contain an “Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate” HTTP header will in future be served with uncompressed content.

Rationale
Up to now the MathJax CDN has delivered gzip compressed content for all non-image requests, even when the “Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate” header was absent. This meant that browsers could still receive faster gzip’d responses even if an intermediate proxy (for instance) had stripped the header.

Unfortunately, all versions of Internet Explorer disable gzip handling completely when HTTP 1.1 is disabled. This can occur in several ways, including

1. when a user does not have administrator privileges, regardless of the
   advanced configuration option “Use HTTP 1.1″ setting, or
2. when the advanced configuration option “Use HTTP 1.1″ is disabled, or
3. when the advanced configuration option “Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy
   connections” is disabled and a HTTP request is made through a proxy.

The upcoming change will maximize the number of users who are able to
receive content from the MathJax CDN.

Implications

1. There is no need to change the way you use the MathJax CDN with your
   pages.
2. There may be a few users of Internet Explorer who previously could
   not view math in your pages, but now are able to.
3. There may be a few users who have a slightly slower experience due to
   not receiving gzip’d content from the MathJax CDN.

MathJax is experiencing a rapid growth in the domain of online learning resources. The MathJax CDN usage figures (see also this News post from June 2011) indicate that the MathJax user base is growing and diversifying, particularly in the domain of online learning resources. These range from online math encyclopedias to integrated course material, and from online math quizzes to test preparation services.

Motivated by this rapid uptake, we have looked deeper into how MathJax is being used by the e-learning community and released an article that describes this on mathjax.org. Please read “Mathematics E-learning Community Benefits from MathJax” to learn more about the landscape of mathematical e-learning websites, and to understand how MathJax is helping online educators to teach mathematics on the web.

The MathJax project is pleased to welcome IOP Publishing as a new MathJax Supporter.

The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics, providing publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. Beyond a traditional journals program, IOP Publishing makes high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services.

IOP Publishing seeks to make the most of new technologies and continually make it easier for researchers to find what they need, when they need it, in the format that suits them best. Through its generous support of MathJax project, IOP Publishing demonstrates it commitment to being a partner to the science community.

For more information, visit the IOP Publishing site.

Project Euclid has renewed its support for the MathJax project for another year. Project Euclid was an early supporter and large-scale adopter of MathJax for use in scholarly publishing, so its continued support for the project is a welcome vote of confidence. “MathJax is transforming the way we display math in Project Euclid,” says Mira Waller, Project Euclid Manager, “without installing anything on their browsers, our users can now enjoy cleanly displayed mathematics.”

Project Euclid, jointly managed by Cornell and the Duke University Press, addresses the unique needs of low-cost independent and society journals. Through a collaborative partnership arrangement, these publishers join forces and participate in an online presence with advanced functionality, without sacrificing their intellectual or economic independence or commitment to low subscription prices. Mathematics display in titles and abstracts via MathJax, full-text searching, reference linking, making collection metadata available through the Open Archives Initiative, and long-term retention of data are all important components of the project.