Mailman 3 October 2009 - Edu-sig

xturtle online via processing.js !?
by Jurgis Pralgauskis 27 Sep '12

27 Sep '12

Hi, I am struggling around with interactive online py tutorials with https://launchpad.net/projects/intro-to-code (ith might become securely sandboxed soon, as pypy made it possible http://blog.sandbox.lt/en/WSGI%20and%20PyPy%20sandbox :) but one more thing is I'd like to let access xturtle functionality online - one possible way could be triggering tkinter to save its canvas to ps, and then convert them with imagemagic and show via web (animated gif or static) - but if pyjamas can render GUI for js (http://www.google.lt/search?&q=pyjamas+python ), mayby there is a way to **translate turtle commands to processing.js analogues** http://ejohn.org/blog/processingjs/ would it be difficult -- how do you think? -- Jurgis Pralgauskis tel: 8-616 77613; jabber: jurgis(a)akl.lt; skype: dz0rdzas; Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;) http://sagemath.visiems.lt

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turtle in education
by roberto 23 Dec '09

23 Dec '09

hello, i am looking for materials, experiences etc. about using turtle module in math, physics and related for middle or high school students i realized a lot of work is going on but is there any place where all or part of this material is gathered ? i am going through the talk of Gregor Lingl at PyCon; if you're aware of anything else just tell me thank you very much -- roberto

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Re: [Edu-sig] [Diversity] Unicode and Ed Initiatives
by Carl Trachte 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

2009/8/19 kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com>: > كيربي Urner 's CP4E الموارد البرمجة بيثون دمج مواضيع في الرياضيات. > """ > More and more, Python is making inroads at all levels in education. > Python offers an interactive environment in which to explore > procedural, functional and object oriented approaches to problem > solving. أكثر وأكثر ، بيثون تحرز تقدما على جميع المستويات في مجال > التعليم. بيثون عروض تفاعلية البيئة التي لاستكشاف الإجرائية والفنية > وجوه النهج الموجهة نحو حل المشاكل. Its high level data structures and > clear syntax make it an ideal first language, while the large number > of existing libraries make it suitable to tackle almost any > programming tasks. ارتفاع البيانات على مستوى الهياكل وتركيب واضح جعله > مثاليا اللغة الأولى ، في حين أن عددا كبيرا من المكتبات الموجودة جعلها > مناسبة للتعامل مع أي برمجة المهام تقريبا. > > Edu-sig, through its mailing list , provides an informal venue for > comparing notes and discussing future possibilities for Python in > education. ايدو - سيج ، من خلال قائمة البريد الإلكتروني ، ويوفر مكانا > غير رسمي لمقارنة الملاحظات ومناقشة امكانيات بيثون في المستقبل في مجال > التعليم. Its origins trace to Guido van Rossum's pioneering Computer > Programming for Everybody (CP4E) , a grant proposal accepted by DARPA, > and which provided a modicum of funding in 1999. تتبع أصولها إلى غيدو > فان Rossum الرائد الكل لبرمجة الحاسوب (CP4E) ، ومنحة مقترح DARPA قبلها > ، والتي توفر حدا أدنى من التمويل في عام 1999. > > Membership includes, but is not limited to, educators using Python in > their courses, independent developers, and authors of educational > materials. Discussion focuses on Python use at all levels, from > beginning to advanced applications. تضم في عضويتها ، على سبيل المثال > لا الحصر ، والمربين باستخدام بيثون في مناهجها ، والمطورين المستقلين ، > والمؤلفين من المواد التعليمية. بيثون مناقشة تركز على استخدام على جميع > المستويات ، من اوله الى التطبيقات المتقدمة. > > كيربي Urner 'sCP4E الموارد البرمجة بيثون دمج مواضيع في الرياضيات. > """ > > My apologies to those not getting the right unicode translation. I'm > thinking on a diversity list, we should expect more stuff like this, > not less, over time. > > Kirby > _______________________________________________ > Diversity mailing list > Diversity(a)python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/diversity > With the caveat that I don't understand Arabic script, it looks legit on my gmail on FreeBSD 7.2/KDE/Opera. May I make a suggestion? Can we change the topic to something like what I changed it to above and start a new thread? I got a bit confused as the previous thread has a long history. Apologies if I've misinterpreted the thread and the topic. Please feel free to change it to its true meaning. Thanks a ton. Carl T.

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Python for Philosophers
by kirby urner 30 Oct '09

30 Oct '09

I've been seeing some conversations aimed at expanding the Python community (the community of Python users) beyond the world of computer science and IT, into the Liberal Arts more generally.[0] Of course this is music to my ears. Parallel to this notion that ordinary math learning would be enhanced through mastery of an "executable math notation" (aka a programming language) [K. Iverson], is the idea that contemporary academic philosophy curricula should take these languages more seriously. What's closer to fulfilling the Leibnizian dream of automating thinking, modal logic or Python? Not that it's either/or of course. I've been looking at this one of the Wittgenstein lists.[1] Speaking of philosophy, old timers here know I've poked at this issue of "objectification" i.e. in some corners "to objectify" is a bad thing to do, means you're at best being a cold fish, at worst being inhumane to your fellow humans. I've flagged this as a PR issue we need to address. Along those lines, I've buried a comment for feedback, probably won't get any (too buried).[2] Wev'e got James Bennett in the Django tribe, yakking about the relevance of a philosophy background to his work with Python.[3] Imagine a four-year philosophy program that actually featured some programming. How would we connect Python to a philosophy of mind thread? I try my hand at forging that link on said Wittgenstein list (concluding paragraphs).[4] Kirby [0] http://archives.free.net.ph/message/20090831.140043.d7465e01.en.html [1] http://www.freelists.org/post/wittrsamr/More-on-meaning-as-use-reply-to-Jos… [2] http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/10/01/the-dos-and-donts-of-being-a-good-… [3] Excerpt from http://uswaretech.com/blog/2008/04/interview-with-james-bennett-django-rele… James: Well, I wouldn’t say there’s anything specific necessarily. But I think there’s a big place for people with liberal-arts backgrounds to come to programming, and I think philosophy’s a good path to do that. If you look at a typical philosophy program, you’re doing a lot of logic, a lot of critical analysis, a lot of abstract reasoning. You have to get comfortable sooner or later with all sorts of formalisms that don’t necessarily have any practical meaning, and that’s very similar in a lot of ways to programming :) And when you get right down to it, as programmers, about 90% of what we’re paid to do is think: our job is to take a problem, analyze it, break it down into pieces and solve them. And that’s not terribly different from what you spend four years doing in a philosophy program. I’ve actually joked about that a bit with some of my former professors, that I still get to argue as much as when I was doing philosophy, but the programming pays a lot better. I do think, though, that there’s a big need for that sort of thing; we don’t really teach critical thinking anymore, and while it’s a vital skill to have no matter what you do for a living, it’s absolutely crucial to programming. So if you can get a good liberal-arts background where you’ve been taught how to look at things and pick them apart and analyze them, you can definitely do well as a programmer. Though it’d also be a good idea to take at least a few elective math courses… [4] http://www.freelists.org/post/wittrsamr/More-on-meaning-as-use Computer languages were far less evolved when Wittgenstein was writing, however they today provide a clear exhibit of meaning as use, as the language games have everything to do with driving machinery, making things happen, more like those "orders in battle" he was talking about (indeed, we speak of "imperative languages" sometimes, of expressions as "commands"). In the Python language, one tends to use the word "self" a lot, and indeed it plays an analogous role to "self" in ordinary speech, in that every object has one, and because of this "self", each object is "personalized" i.e. rendered distinct from every other, even if it arises from the same blueprint or class definition. Academic logicians may have no training in such a language, as analytic philosophy hasn't upgraded very quickly. If we ever get to a point where contemporary high level computer languages get into the philosophical literature, post-Wittgensteinian especially, we may find we're blessed with yet another tool for dislodging outmoded ways of conceiving of "meaning". [ Speaking of Python, we also have a strong nominalist model in that everything is an object and every object has its names (note use of the plural). Yes, that's right, the very same object may have lots and lots of names, all pointing to the very same thing. It's only when a thing ceases to have any names at all that it's automatically "garbage collected", meaning the memory it occupied is now free to hold other things instead (this memory is called "the heap"). ] So in computer languages we have language games in which "self" has plenty of meaning. It would also be quite permissible to use the word "mind" in place of "self" (the Python interpreter would not fuss at this). Yet no one imagines that this use of "self" or "mind" is with reference to some spooky mental phenomenon that we can't quite put our hands on. There's far less superstition about what it takes for these words to be meaningful. For this reason alone I would urge anyone wishing to understand the later Wittgenstein to pay some attention to computer languages. Kirby

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PyWhip
by Andrew Harrington 29 Oct '09

29 Oct '09

What has happened to PyWhip? It looks like the answers immediately appear with problems, and some one changed the code for a submission of mine to something strange. Is there any activity with it? -- Andrew N. Harrington Director of Academic Programs Computer Science Department Loyola University Chicago 512B Lewis Towers (office) Snail mail to Lewis Towers 416 820 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611 http://www.cs.luc.edu/~anh Phone: 312-915-7982 Fax: 312-915-7998 gpd(a)cs.luc.edu for graduate administration upd(a)cs.luc.edu for undergrad administration aharrin(a)luc.edu as professor

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Practice Programs/Problems
by Kristin Baaki 28 Oct '09

28 Oct '09

Hi All, I was hoping someone could recommend a book of practice programs/problems. I've been creating all my class exercises and large programming projects on my own and at times I've run out of ideas. If someone could point me in the right directions I'd appreciate it. Thank you in advance, Kristin

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Re: [Edu-sig] Python for Philosophers
by Laura Creighton 28 Oct '09

28 Oct '09

I think that a course in Epistemology that ended up in Bayesian logic and probability would be pretty cool. Laura

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Re: [Edu-sig] Practice Programs/Problems
by Laura Creighton 28 Oct '09

28 Oct '09

In a message of Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:15:31 -0400, Kristin Baaki writes: >--===============2029537282== >Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=001485f6cc72512f6b0477039e5 >3 > >--001485f6cc72512f6b0477039e53 >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > >Hi All, > >I was hoping someone could recommend a book of practice programs/problems >. >I've been creating all my class exercises and large programming projects >on >my own and at times I've run out of ideas. If someone could point me in >the >right directions I'd appreciate it. > >Thank you in advance, > >Kristin I get lots of good stuff, and more ideas about how to make more good stuff here: http://www.uselesspython.com/ Laura

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Fwd: Donald McIntyre
by Edward Cherlin 27 Oct '09

27 Oct '09

FYI. Much loved in the APL community. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Curtis A. Jones <curtis_jones(a)ieee.org> Date: Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 08:34 Subject: Fwd: Donald McIntyre To: APLBUG(a)listserv.acm.org ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Roger Hui <RHui...(a)Shaw.CA> Date: Oct 25, 8:48 pm Subject: Donald McIntyre To: comp.lang.apl Donald B. McIntyre (1923-08-15 to 2009-10-21) passed away peacefully in the afternoon of October 21. Donald was an eminent geologist who pioneered the use of computers in geology. He was a gifted and inspiring teacher, an early and long-time APL and J user, and a friend and colleague of Ken Iverson and myself. He is survived by his wife Ann and his son Ewen. A memorial service will be held in St. John's Kirk in Perth, Scotland, this coming Friday, October 30. Information about Donald's life and times and his work can be found athttp://www.dbmcintyre.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ -- Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. http://www.earthtreasury.org/

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At last... Posters and Virtual posters at PyCon
by Vern Ceder 26 Oct '09

26 Oct '09

Hi everyone. I'm pleased to announce that we are now accepting proposals for both regular and virtual posters for PyCon 2010 in Atlanta. For full details and to submit a poster or virtual poster, please visit http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/posters/ This will be a first time for poster sessions at this conference, with the idea largely arising from discussions that Steve Holden, Kirby and I had after last year's PyCon. Fortunately the PyCon organizers rather quickly decided that posters would add a valuable dimension to the conference's perennial theme "Connecting the Community" and we have strong support. Among other things, posters will be a great way for educators and their students to get their feet wet with a less formal and more interactive PyCon presentation, and to share and get recognition for the work they are doing with Python. If someone can't make it to the conference, we are also offering the chance to present a "virtual" poster, a recorded video of their poster presentation. Virtual posters will be played in rotation on a monitor during the conference posters sessions (assuming resources are available), and will be archived as part of the PyCon video stream. So spread the word - all levels of the Python in/and/about/with Education communities (in fact, ALL Python communities!) are invited to submit. Oh, yeah, if you have any questions or find any errors in the poster session pages, please let me know. A bigger poster push will come with the announcement of the regular talk decisions, so here's your chance to get on board early. ;) Cheers, Vern Ceder, PyCon Poster Session Coordinator -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder(a)canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137

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