Mailman 3 May 2010 - Edu-sig

xturtle online via processing.js !?
by Jurgis Pralgauskis Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27, 2012

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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Math 2.0 online live series: June overview
by Maria Droujkova May 30, 2010

May 30, 2010

Join these free, open, weekly live online events at Math 2.0 interest group and meet other interested educators, parents, developers, and community leaders for an hour of an intense discussion. June 5th, 2010, 2pm ET. Host: Julie Harland, Mathematics Professor at MiraCosta College and creator of hundreds of math videos at YourMathGal.com You can ask Julie questions about her projects, as well as using screencasts in your work and online education in general. June 9th, 2010, 9:30pm ET. Host: Peter Gray, Professor of Psychology at Boston College, blogging at Psychology Today's Freedom to Learn. Peter will talk about his blog, and in particular two widely resonating posts about mathematics: the Benezet experiment, and a family learning philosophy called "unschooling." You can also ask Peter questions about his research of Sudbury schools. June 19th, 2010, 2pm ET. Host: Kalid Azad, creator of InstaCalc, and blogger at BetterExplained. We will talk about the meaning of math insights ("a-ha moments") and interactive ways of sharing them online. People interested in the development of lightweight, embeddable math widgets can also ask questions about InstaCalc. June 26th, 2010. Host: Ryan Goble, teacher mentor at South Bronx, graduate student at Columbia University, and creator of Making Curriculum Pop - a resource-sharing community for educators interested in better practices and teaching with pop culture. Ask Ryan about building educator communities, online learning, and using culture at large as the classroom. To join the weekly events, follow this link in your browser to a virtual room that opens half an hour before each event: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.FCAF787B38E30D58F943EB7232EE27 More details about the upcoming events, and full recordings of past events, are at the Math 2.0 wiki: http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/events Cheers, Maria Droujkova http://www.naturalmath.com Make math your own, to make your own math.

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Factory functions: synthesizing top-level names
by kirby urner May 27, 2010

May 27, 2010

Creating Top-Level names root0, root1, root2... rootN Setting the stage: We've come across an ethnicity, in our voyages of the starship whatever, that doesn't share our fascination with squares and cubes. For example, when multiplying n * n, it never occurred to them to picture n * n squares in a checkerboard pattern. Rather, they have a more Chinese Checkers bias towards triangles and hexagons, and their picture of n * n is an equilateral triangle subdivided into n ** 2 similar sub-triangles. Likewise, their picture of n * n * n, or n**3 is a tetrahedron, though here the subdividing process results in a matrix known to Earthlings ("terra-ists") as the FCC and/or CCP and/or... whatever Earthling terminology. The Challenge: The anthropologist-astronauts we've left behind to work and study with these people (to be collected on a next pass a year from now, unless they plan on staying longer), are using Python, and find that saying 'sqrt' just gets in the way (keeps them habituated to patterns of thought they're trying to snap out of). What they'd like to do is this: for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. root of a number, have the functions root2, root3, root4... up to root10 routinely available, perhaps in a module called roots or radicals. >>> import radicals as r >>> r.root3 ( 2.0 / 3.0 ) 0.8735804647362989 So how might we generate root0... root10 in a factory function, such that these function names become top level within their generating and/or defining module? True, we could individually define these functions per the example below, but what is a clever way of generating rootN in principle, such as root2012, taking 2012 as an argument. Hints: For root2, you might take an obvious shortcut: from math import sqrt as root2 For root3, consider the following: def root3 (x): return pow( x, 1.0/3.0 ) In general: def rootN (x): return pow( x, 1.0/N) Rationale for this exercise: Students often want a way to factory-produce new names at the top level, from within a contained scope (such as from within a function). These top level names may be of data, functions or whatever arbitrary objects. The production process often involves synthesizing new names on the fly, as strings. Strings are "right side" objects, usually assigned names, but not themselves names of anything. By what magic might we turn a string object into a top-level name: that is the question this lesson addresses.

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Re: [Edu-sig] Question for Guido van Robot, RUR-PLE and other Karel the robot clone users (Andre Roberge)
by Andy Judkis May 22, 2010

May 22, 2010

I just finished using RUR-PLE to introduce programming for probably the 10th time, and I still feel that it's just about ideal as a starting point for Python. If you haven't looked at it, I highly recommend giving it a try. Every time I teach it, I mean to send Andre an email saying "you know, we can just drop this turn_off() thing", but I never remember. I can't think of any programming concept that turn_off() teaches, and there are always a few kids who confuse it with return. Cheers, Andy > Karel the robot introduced by Pattis in 1981 included a turnoff > instruction. Since then, every clone seems to include that instruction as > well. > > I have never seen a pedagogical reason given for including the turnoff > instruction. I have yet to see a good example where the use of that > instruction is required... > > Karel the robot is used as a mini-language to introduce programming > concepts. An alternative visual environment is provided by turtle > graphics. When I look at turtle graphics, there is no turnoff instruction > ... > > As I am working on a new rur-ple version, I was wondering if it would not be > preferable to simply drop the turnoff [turn_off() in rur-ple] instruction. > > If you use GvR or rur-ple or any other Karel like environment to teach > programming concepts, or if you have used such an environment when you > started learning yourself, I would definitely be interested in hearing your > opinion. > > Cheers, > > Andr? >

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Question for Guido van Robot, RUR-PLE and other Karel the robot clone users
by Andre Roberge May 21, 2010

May 21, 2010

Karel the robot introduced by Pattis in 1981 included a turnoff instruction. Since then, every clone seems to include that instruction as well. I have never seen a pedagogical reason given for including the turnoff instruction. I have yet to see a good example where the use of that instruction is required... Karel the robot is used as a mini-language to introduce programming concepts. An alternative visual environment is provided by turtle graphics. When I look at turtle graphics, there is no turnoff instruction ... As I am working on a new rur-ple version, I was wondering if it would not be preferable to simply drop the turnoff [turn_off() in rur-ple] instruction. If you use GvR or rur-ple or any other Karel like environment to teach programming concepts, or if you have used such an environment when you started learning yourself, I would definitely be interested in hearing your opinion. Cheers, André

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Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python book now on Amazon
by Albert Sweigart May 19, 2010

May 19, 2010

Hello everyone. I've written a book called "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python" which is freely available under a Creative Commons license at http://inventwithpython.com The print version is now also available on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Invent-Your-Computer-Games-Python/dp/0982106017/ Unlike many other programming books which cover programming concepts and principles without concrete examples, each chapter in "Invent with Python" features the complete source code for a small game (Guess the Number, Tic Tac Toe, Hangman, Encryption, Othello, etc.) and then explains the code line by line, covering programming concepts as they are used. This is similar to the old source code listings in Byte magazine and other books on BASIC. The online html and pdf versions are free and unabridged. The print version is $25 and qualifies for free shipping. (I wanted to make the book as affordable as possible, especially compared to other programming books.) If you know of an educational institute or nonprofit that would like to make a bulk purchase, I can lower the price to about $7 a copy (plus shipping). I'm always open to questions and criticisms, or if anyone knows of teachers or after-school computer clubs that could make use of this book. Thanks! -Al Sweigart

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MasterCard Marketplace to revolutionize online shopping experience
by mikle3d kys May 18, 2010

May 18, 2010

MasterCard Worldwide announced a three-year exclusive alliance in the payments space with Next Jump Inc a next-generation e-commerce company, to revolutionize the online shopping experience. The strategic agreement will allow the companies to work together to harness their combined assets in the payments technology, e-commerce and digital marketing space to drive innovation for the industry and improve the consumer experience. It will also give MasterCard access to Next Jump’s extensive aggregated e-commerce network, human capital through its digital technology engineers, and an agile development process to fuel innovation and drive speed to market for relevant and desirable e-commerce solutions that meet consumer demands. “Our new alliance with Next Jump will allow MasterCard to make game-changing advances in the online channel, which is ripe for innovation in a way that allows consumers to have a simple, seamless, secure and valuable experience wherever they are in the world and through whatever device they access the Internet,” says Josh Peirez, Group Executive of Innovative Platforms, MasterCard Worldwide. “The deal is a result of our approach to innovation that is based on deep analysis of the landscape looking at areas of opportunity and identifying leading technologies to help us best meet our customers’ evolving needs.” “MasterCard is an ideal match for Next Jump and we are looking forward to partnering our unique, data-driven approach and technology with their powerful network and insights,” says Charlie Kim, Founder and CEO of Next Jump. “Next Jump has a unique model that benefits both merchants and consumers. For merchants, Next Jump enables sales as a trusted partner – we never compete with them. Our technology allows merchants to re-direct ad spend towards better pricing <http://www.pillsstock.com/> in return for guaranteed sales. The merchant analytics from this model are incredibly impressive, allowing merchants to step up or down their participation in the program. For consumers, the best customers are rewarded with lower prices and/or VIP access to newest, hard-to-get, sold out products. Consumers that either spend more or have greater influence in getting others to shop – are the best customers and are rewarded accordingly.”

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Calling functions...
by kirby urner May 16, 2010

May 16, 2010

Hey Kirby!! This is the best explanation I've seen of Python's argument passing subtleties. If you don't mind I would like to post it on our PyKata website in a section "Tips from the Masters", with you as author, of course. We could also put a link to a page on your website, if you prefer. -- Dave Would be great on PyKata! Kirby

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Calling functions...
by kirby urner May 16, 2010

May 16, 2010

Something I maybe hadn't been clear on before cramming for a workshop: Even functions with purely positional parameters may be passed a dict, in which case the positional parameters will be treated like named ones, i.e. the dict will map to them. I'll use the new formating protocol: >>> from __future__ import print_function >>> def f(a, b, c): print("a={0}, b={1}, c={2}".format(a,b,c)) >>> f(1,2,3) a=1, b=2, c=3 Here's what I'm illustrating: >>> thedict = dict(c=5,a=10,b='cat') >>> f(**thedict) a=10, b=cat, c=5 Now what if we try to sneak in an argument that doesn't map: >>> thedict = dict(c=5,a=10,b='cat', d='dog') >>> f(**thedict) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<pyshell#11>", line 1, in <module> f(**thedict) TypeError: f() got an unexpected keyword argument 'd' The d is caught, an exception is raised. So here we might add the all purpose "pooper scooper" (yeah, scatological -- sometimes effective pedagogy): >>> def f(a, b, c, **kwargs): print("a={0}, b={1}, c={2}".format(a,b,c)) The d now gets through, though nothing echoes: >>> f(**thedict) a=10, b=cat, c=5 Lets make sure we see what's in "overflow": >>> def f(a, b, c, **kwargs): print("a={0}, b={1}, c={2}".format(a,b,c)) print(kwargs) >>> f(**thedict) a=10, b=cat, c=5 {'d': 'dog'} Is an all purpose pooper scooper allowed to have defaults? No, default arguments are what turn parameters into named parameters. *args and **kwargs (often so named by convention) are not named parameters so much as "collectors" of "overflow" arguments (made-up terminology). >>> def f(a, b, c, d='dog', *e): print("a={0}, b={1}, c={2} d={3} e={4}".format(a,b,c,d,e)) >>> f(**thedict) a=10, b=cat, c=5 d=dog e=() >>> Speaking of made-up terminology, when I pass **thedict as an argument, I tend to think of the ** as "explode". If you don't double-star it, it goes through as just the one argument and an exception gets raised: >>> f(thedict) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<pyshell#31>", line 1, in <module> f(thedict) TypeError: f() takes at least 3 arguments (1 given) The same "explode" operator works for tuples in that it "unpacks" the one argument into len(tuple) arguments. The typical use is to make (x,y,z)-tuples map to some function that expects x, y and z as separate arguments. The error messages remind us when we fail to "explode" one argument into many: >>> def f(x, y, z): return x**2 + y**2 + z**2 >>> f(1,2,3) 14 >>> coords = (1,2,3) >>> f(coords) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<pyshell#38>", line 1, in <module> f(coords) TypeError: f() takes exactly 3 arguments (1 given) >>> f(*coords) 14 >>> f(dict(y=2,x=1,z=3)) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<pyshell#40>", line 1, in <module> f(dict(y=2,x=1,z=3)) TypeError: f() takes exactly 3 arguments (1 given) >>> f(**dict(y=2,x=1,z=3)) 14 Kirby

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The perfect IT environment in a school
by Jan Ulrich Hasecke May 8, 2010

May 8, 2010

Hi, since three years I am guiding a Python voluntary workgroup in a school and we are suffering from a badly organized IT environment (a rigidly restricted Windows setting). Most of all we miss a decent VCS as Mercurial or Bazaar. In the official IT classes they never used a VCS so it was never installed. While thinking about this I discovered that some other things are missing. For eg. we cannot install a web framework due to the strange restrictions. They do not have Zotero installed. For students the FF-plugin Zotero would be a great tool to make bibliographies. Does anyone yet compiled a list of things which may not be missing in a perfect IT environment in a school? Perhaps I can lobby some teachers to improve their environment. juh

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