Mailman 3 February 2007 - Edu-sig

Python for Halloween
by kirby urner Oct. 21, 2007

Oct. 21, 2007

Something about using 'ghost' in place of 'self' in a Shell class (allusion to anime as well). Maybe I did something like this last year (having deja vu again). But I'm realizing edu-sig is no longer a preferred venue for my curriculum writing. I'd rather huddle with MIT, Bruce Sherwood, Alan Kay and play *against* Arthur's team. Arthur, you make too many enemies too quickly and too easily. Even more, I'm into my Portland Knowledge Lab (PKL) business (gotta pay that rent today) and want to … [View More]

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More Pipeline News
by kirby urner March 19, 2007

March 19, 2007

Appended: a cut 'n paste from Math Forum, fixing one typo. Posted here cuz of the reference to South Africa, home of kusasa.org and the Shuttleworth pipeline (Logo -> Squeak -> Python). On the Logo -> Squeak front, I'm seeing a lot of activity in robotics, making a Squeak front end for controlling robodogs, other kid friendly cuties, e.g.: http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MicroRaptor That's good, cuz the Logo and GvR type IDEs, involving controlling an avatar, need … [View More]

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Training or cert
by Eric Frost March 14, 2007

March 14, 2007

I might be taking a job for which there is a need for some python programming, I'm decent at it but no export. I'm sure this question has been asked before but is there some on-line training course leading to a "certificate of completion" so I prove at least a minimal level of Python knowledge instead of just saying "yeah, I know Python". The only thing I've found is this BrainBench but it's 1.5 -- http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/taketest.xml?testId=443 Any other … [View More]

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OLPC: first thoughts on the first keynote at Pycon
by Andre Roberge March 12, 2007

March 12, 2007

I just attended a great talk on OLPC. I thought I should share my first reactions with folks not fortunate enough to be able to attend. BTW, if anyone feels this is a bit of an abuse of this list, feel free to let me know (I won't be offended). I recognize that these are not well polished notes and perhaps should rather find their way on my blog. The first part was about school and learning - great stuff. Goal: changing the way kids learn (no mention as this point about laptops). Art … [View More]

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chicago hackmeeting 003 : lateral education
by jake elliott Feb. 27, 2007

Feb. 27, 2007

hello python edu siggers, apologies if you have seen this information on another channel i'm reaching out for interest in developing the third chicago hackmeeting - a collaboratively wiki-programmed conference slated for march 16,17,18 @ daisychain [dai5ychain.net] in pilsen.chicago.il.us. This hackmeeting is loosely themed around ( processes | projects | practices ) of ( punk | lo-fi | bbs | irc | scriptkiddy ) training+education+skill-sharing. education as a component of a radical social … [View More]

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Re: [Edu-sig] [Python-3000] Pre-PEP: Simple input built-in in Python 3000
by Guido van Rossum Feb. 27, 2007

Feb. 27, 2007

We implemented this at today's sprint. Andre wrote the transformations for the 2to3 tools, I copied the raw_input() implementation from the trunk back into the p3yk branch. Thanks Andre for your efforts in writing the PEP, pushing for its implementation, and writing the transformations! --Guido On 2/20/07, Guido van Rossum <guido(a)python.org> wrote: > Consider the PEP accepted. > > Regarding the conversion, please do use the sandbox/2to3 framework. > Write me if you have … [View More]trouble understanding the many examples already > in fixes/. > > On 2/20/07, Andre Roberge <andre.roberge(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > On 2/20/07, Guido van Rossum <guido(a)python.org> wrote: > > > Why do you want this *before* PyCon? It would be much easier to do > > > this as part of the Py3k sprint. > > > > > > > My main interest was to have, prior to Pycon, the PEP recorded as > > such; it had been close to 2 months since the last post on this issue > > on the list. > > > > As for the actual work, I'd be willing to volunteer to write the > > required code (with test cases) that could be use to do the conversion > > input(...) -> eval(input(...)) > > raw_input(...) -> input(...) > > > > Unfortunately, I will not be participating in any sprints. > > > > André > > > > > > > > > On 2/20/07, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Andre Roberge wrote: > > > > > Any possibility that (some of) the following can be done before Pycon? > > > > > Respectfully yours, > > > > > André Roberge > > > > > > > > I've added the PEP as 3111. I made a few small modifications (and > > > > committed it directly as Accepted) based on Guido's comments in this thread. > > > > > > > > The actual change still needs to be made, though. > > > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > Nick. > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Nick Coghlan | ncoghlan(a)gmail.com | Brisbane, Australia > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > http://www.boredomandlaziness.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Python-3000 mailing list > > > > Python-3000(a)python.org > > > > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-3000 > > > > Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-3000/guido%40python.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/) > > > > > > > > -- > --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/) > -- --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/) [View Less]

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Re: [Edu-sig] Reloading code (was Re: OLPC: first thoughts)
by Laura Creighton Feb. 26, 2007

Feb. 26, 2007

In a message of Mon, 26 Feb 2007 01:54:15 +0100, Laura Creighton writes: > >Speakingf as swho has maintained a smalltalk interpreter ... > >In a message of Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:25:01 EST, "Paul D. Fernhout" writes: ><skip damn near all of it> > >><guido> >>> Why do you care about avoidung VM changes? The VM changes >>> (incrementally) at each minor Python release. >> >>Just so everyone (especially *me* :-) can use start using it … [View More]

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Re: [Edu-sig] Reloading code (was Re: OLPC: first thoughts)
by Laura Creighton Feb. 26, 2007

Feb. 26, 2007

Speakingf as swho has maintained a smalltalk interpreter ... In a message of Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:25:01 EST, "Paul D. Fernhout" writes: <skip damn near all of it> ><guido> >> Why do you care about avoidung VM changes? The VM changes >> (incrementally) at each minor Python release. > >Just so everyone (especially *me* :-) can use start using it right now, >including in older versions of Python (like 2.4 etc.). > >Of course, I would have to break that … [View More]

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Ren'Py and Visual Novels games
by francois schnell Feb. 25, 2007

Feb. 25, 2007

Hello, What about visual novels ? according to a Wikipedia article [1]: """ A visual novel is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art. As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels or tableau vivant stage plays. Visual novels are classified as a sub-genre of adventure games, referred to as AVGs in Japan. Visual novels are especially prevalent in Japan, where they make up nearly 70% of PC games released. """ This kind of game … [View More]are still rare in the EU and US market but they are now coming with title like "Phoenix Wright" [2] and "Hotel Dusk" [3] for the Nintendo GBA and/or DS. I'm not myself a regular 'user' of these games but they could be interesting to consider : - they encourage reading (but in a colorful and multimedia context which helps comprehension) - the kid read at their own pace - it's also often possible to integrate minigames in the Visual Novel itself - user interaction is usually required with different endings Obviously for kids the best educational and fun part is to actual make their own Visual Novel (possibly in a collaborative way): - imagine a story to share if possible with different choices - learn to draw (characters ?) or take pictures of landscapes/scenes/characters or use existing contents - use/create some sound/music - share it with other kids Few hours ago while browsing pygame.org I stumble on Ren'Py framework that I didn't noticed before (they've released a new version - 0.6 - few days ago). See www.renpy.org. I've tested the Demo novel (which explain how it works in a Visual Novel itself) and looked at the website, I like: - very neat end result and nice UI to select, load or edit the script of a Visual Novel - Open Source and Multiplateforme and Python/Pygame based - possibility to include directly some Python code in the easy to learn Ren'Py scripts (a '$' prefix for a single line or 'python:' for a block of code) - possibility to integrate pygame minigames in the novel (there's a Pong game in the Demo novel) - good documentation, cookbook, etc - distribution tool of the visual novels - lively community on their forum I've also noticed someone in the forum 'remaking' a chapter of the original "Phoenix Wright" (with Ren'Py and some Python extras) : it looks to me very near to the quality of the original Nintendo version (with items and people management tool also nicely integrated).[4] So far I like what I've seen :) francois [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_novels [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Wright [3] http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72702-0.html?tw=wn_columns_6 [4] http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1767&postdays=0&postorder=… [View Less]

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Python in a paper on languages for introductory programming
by Atanas Radenski Feb. 25, 2007

Feb. 25, 2007

A recent paper entitled "An objective comparison of languages for teaching introductory programming" - by Linda Manilla and Michael de Raadt - praises Python as a beginner's language: http://www.it.uu.se/research/group/upcerg/Publications/proceedingsKoliCalli… A comparison is outlined in Section 3, Table 2 in the above paper. The volume that contains the paper was just announced on the ACM-SIGSE list. It can be found here: http://www.it.uu.se/research/group/upcerg/Publications/… [View More]

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