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
I've been haunting the math-teach list, as usual,
suggesting we take a page from AP computer
science and build our math around an interlinked,
themed, consistent set of story problems -- rather
than making these "meaningless" (deliberately).
The opponents in this debate bring up the specter
of political manipulation, propaganda, tainted "pure
math" with someone's good ideas about applications.
My approach to math teaching, as readers here
know (some of 'em), is to bake OO into the matrix
pretty early, meaning the idea of "math objects"
(vectors, polyhedrons, rational numbers) connects
to our Pythonic notion of types.
Here's some background reading for any wanting
to sample the more detailed nuances of this thread
(on-going, and for over a decade for sure).
http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2289577&tstart=0
(most posters long time veterans of this list, with
carved out positions)
I also take it a step further in that the story problems
under consideration often have a strong "off your
duff" component, in that your mathematical reasoning
translates into physical expenditure of energy.
Yes, sounds a lot like summer camp (the "self
quantification movement" also syncs up).
http://fastwonderblog.com/2011/07/30/crunching-the-numbers-open-source-comm…http://hashtags.foxepractice.com/healthcare-hashtag-analytics.php?hashtag=Q…http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/urnermindstorm.pdf
Kirby
"""
Re: freeing scholars to return to their studies
===
http://www.pythonanywhere.com/user/pdx4d/consoles/
You won't be able to access that username's consoles without
a password, but feel free to set up your own account. Here's
a way to share Python across the wire. A way to play around
and learn with others. Math teachers take note.
Have a shared Python console open, along with audio/Skype,
and you have the basis for an interesting meetup.
Ideally, someone leading the presentation has uploaded some
modules via DropBox. I could showcase rbf.py or quadrays.py.
Something to work on. I'll post an update one day soon.
"""
to another list I frequent...
Kirby
One still hear's tones of regret that the good old
days are over, when one's choice of a first year
computer language was obvious: Algol or Pascal.
Today there's no such consensus (if there ever
was), but another question is "should we have
learning languages?"
There was a time when it was considered
intuitive that languages not used in the "real
world" could be all that much more powerful
as educational tools because weighted to
"learner" needs.
BASIC was one of those languages, and we
may argue that it gave birth to the PC era, which
is what gave rise to the *nix explosion (aka the
"dot com bomb") as a follow-on event.**
But is the Darwinian process that winnows
the field to but a few languages also giving us
more learnable ones?
Consider Grace, a new language in development
for the express purpose of teaching object
oriented programming to students. Why not
use Python? Python lacks compile time type
checking.
Is that bad?
It's a subject of religious wars. Note how the
voices beneath the main question worry about
it's "subjective" nature: code for it's potential
to inspire "flame wars":
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/125367/dynamic-type-languages-versus-sta…
The answer that's eventually accepted takes
the approach of reserving scorn for extremists
in both camps.
Kirby
** of course "dot com bomb" sounds bad
for business whereas the *Nix revolution paved
the way for the Free Web and free just about
everything. New businesses depend on "going
viral" i.e. the infinite replicability of binary
objects is the key to their success, versus
failure (a big turnaround in some industries)
I brought up the idea of edu.pycon.org again recently.
My idea was to have more university-based events
instead of meeting in business hotels.
Chairman Steve immediately pointed out the error of
my ways. Pycons, including us.pycons, have already
been university-based, many times.
Those of you following the various blogs (planet this,
laughing that) maybe saw how pycon.org is able to
do outreach by tying to related domains through a
subdomain. us.pycon.org is a good example.
edu.pycon.org might map to a university that has
chosen to specialize in Python, MIT for example.
Or would that be fair? The PSF, as the owner of
the pycon.org domain, would have to decide.
Just because MIT hosted the site wouldn't mean
the edu.pycons couldn't be somewhere else.
On another front, I've been looking into the 'dirty
jobs for academic credit' scenario, which is already
a reality for some vets. My friend Glenn, in the
military for a spell, got credits towards a degree
at Antioch, or I believe he did, based on previous
life experience. But this would be different, more
like a semester abroad.
One of Haverford Colleges former presidents is
an inspiration here too. He would take other jobs
just to keep his experience base broad. He wasn't
trying to wear a halo, he was trying to stay smart
and up to date.
What "dirty jobs" might involve you with Python?
A lot depends on what counts as a "dirty job".
In one translation, it simply means "involving
hard physical labor, such as heavy lifting, or
the need to wear special clothing to guard
against toxins or extremes of heat and cold".
Python is not so often embedded in small devices
as Java I'm pretty sure. The Java VM has a stronger
market share. Who wants to talk about cell phones?
If we have an edu.pycon someday, I hope there
are tracks for people from many walks of life, and
therefore with a wide variety of experience.
I'm not saying the existing Pycons, in Asia, in South
America, in North America, aren't already diverse.
They are.
Chairman Steve got to the ones in Argentina and
Brazil last year, and in Singapore the year before.
Python is sprouting up all over.
I always think of Jeff Rush as an inspiration
and mover and shaker behind the edu.pycon
idea.
Given how quickly us.pycon sold out, we might
be seeing a surge of interest in this technology.
Even more teachers are giving it a first or
second look.
Kirby
My whimsical title relates to the conflation of two
notions: cows in a morphogenetic field, and
the spread of computer languages.
As more and more people learn Python, does it
get easier to learn? That would seem an obvious
"no" unless you believe in magic, but then think
about it: more people learning it means more
people who know Python and can write books,
or already know how to make TV. It's the overlap
in skill sets that spreads it, not spooky "action
at a distance."
The cow part comes for the story about those
bars across ditches, aimed at scaring cows from
trying to get through the gate. They were
eventually so effective that baby cows would
"just know", even if not shown the consequences
(the adults already knew too).
Lets see what my CropCircle Tractor can dig up
on this...
Bingo.
"Is this because calves learn from older cattle
that they should not try to cross? Apparently not."
Feel free text search in the article below to this
well known meme (be the 100th monkey to do
so and win a prize!):
http://www.noetic.org/noetic/issue-four-november-2010/morphic-fields-and-mo…
Hey, I'm not saying I don't believe in a Noosphere
(what they called it at Princeton).
Kirby
