squeakland February 2018

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7 participants
9 discussions

Question about Audio Buffer/Timing
by Jeremy Landry 18 Mar '18

18 Mar '18

Hi, I made a quick audio sequencer test in Etoys and found that there's a hidden 'timer' that limits the responsiveness of new sounds that go into the playback buffer (terminology isn't accurate, but hopefully it makes sense to people). I found the sound buffer setting, but was wondering if there's something else that limits how fast new sounds get added to the playback stream? I read somewhere (old-man-aphasia here) that some code was added to prevent overloading the buffer so surely there's a snippet of code I could add to a project to reverse this, if it's what is causing the delay? Thanks for any help finding the solution.

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Re: [squeakland] Retro Aesthetic In 'Vanilla Etoys' Tutorial
by Jeremy Landry 07 Feb '18

07 Feb '18

I'll be posting this and other tutorials here: https://hseiken.itch.io/etoys-retro/ Ultimately it will end up as a digital magazine partly related to the previously announced Etoys 'retro-hack' I'm working on here and there. The goal is to drum up a little interest outside of the academic sphere for Etoys using some fun media and demos that aren't necessarily all about science and math and dropping things off of rooftops (though that is fun too!). https://hseiken.itch.io/etoys-retro/devlog/23401/and-so-it-begins-the-prett… Basically, I'm taking up the impossible task of building a community around Etoys that has nothing to do with education so I can teach even more people what it's about. I'm a firm believer that people will eat brocolli the first time with a little cheese and eventually prefer to just eat the brocolli because there really wasn't anything wrong with it in the first place, it just smelled a little funny. On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 5:29 PM, Steve Thomas <sthomas1(a)gosargon.com> wrote: > Jeremy, > > Thanks for sharing this. It worked fine when I ran in Etoys on my Mac. > > You obviously put in a lot of work(211 steps, although the last one needs > some work ;-) > > Couple of thoughts: > 1) Try creating a set of short video's showing how you created the > project. The steps you have are very thorough, but screenshots may not be > the best medium for so many steps. Here is an example of one of the Etoys > Minutes I created on animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMDYf3_uovk > > Kathleen Harness also created some great tutorials you can see at > https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7B1F2928FF2B9AB7 > > 2) Another way to do this is use "Event Theatre" in the Object Catalog > under "Multimedia" this can work and is great for embedding the "screen > cast" inside the Etoys project, but you could run into some issues, be sure > to move the mouse slowly when recording if you want to use this > > 3) Have you looked at Etoys Castle and Etoys Challenge in "Tutorials and > Demos" these are great examples of ways to facilitate learning. > > 4) Consider using a Book with flaps. Flaps provide a way to provide > instructions/guides where you can easily show/hide the information as > needed. > > Cheers, > Stephen > > On Mon, Feb 5, 2018 at 2:25 AM, Jeremy Landry <hakyoku(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi, I hope someone can give this tutorial a test run and see if it works >> for them. It is intended to be both a primer on what etoys is about when >> it comes to making your own tools to make the thing you want to make as >> well as give insights and instruction on achieving the specific goal of the >> tutorial which is how to get retro-aesthetic out of Etoys using nothing but >> Etoys. It seems like a 'lot of steps' but since it's intended for the >> absolute Etoys novice it covers more than just what it takes to create the >> effect/final look. >> >> The zip file contains over 200 screenshots with titles that put them in >> the correct order as well as tells you what the actions and purpose of that >> step and accompanying shot are for. After each element is introduced the >> first time, it is no longer shown in 'long form' (i.e. the first time a >> playfield menu item is mentioned, it is shown through multiple screenshots, >> the 2nd time it is assumed the reader remembered how to find that menu >> etc.) >> >> If anyone runs through this tutorial has any ideas, concerns or it didn't >> work for them or they have suggestions on making it a little more enjoyable >> or novice-friendly, please chime in. >> >> The zip file is on google drive and is around 5MB and includes the actual >> project I constructed while taking all of the screenshots. I will turn >> this into a proper web-based page and maybe even put it into an Etoys Book >> as well if there is interest so that one can flip through the book inside >> Etoys while trying it out. >> >> Thanks, all! >> >> Jeremy >> >> Download the tutorial here: https://drive.google.co >> m/file/d/1R0PNrKP2qa-lA73KTMnW3tSk3ZFv4An_/view?usp=sharing >> >> _______________________________________________ >> squeakland mailing list >> squeakland(a)lists.squeakland.org >> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland >> >> > > > -- > > To some of us, writing computer programs is a fascinating game. A program > is a building of thought. It is costless to build, weightless, growing > easily under our typing hands. If we get carried away, its size and > complexity will grow out of control, confusing even the one who created it. > This is the main problem of programming. It is why so much of today's > software tends to crash, fail, screw up. > > When a program works, it is beautiful. The art of programming is the skill > of controlling complexity. The great program is subdued, made simple in its > complexity. > > - Martin Harverbeke (from Eloquent JavaScript > <http://eloquentjavascript.net/index.html>) >

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The Squeak Oversight Board 2018
by Ron Teitelbaum 07 Feb '18

07 Feb '18

Hello everyone, I'm pleased to announce your Squeak Oversight Board for 2018! Thank you to everyone that ran for the board! Your 2018 Squeak Oversight Board members are 1. Bert Freudenberg 2. Eliot Miranda 3. Tim Rowledge 4. David T. Lewis 5. Marcel Taeumel 6. Craig Latta 7. Nicolas Cellier Full results are available here: http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/6590 If you want to vote in the election next year please feel free to contact us anytime to get your name on the list. All the best, Ron Teitelbaum

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Squeak Oversight Board 2018 - 4 more hours to vote!
by Ron Teitelbaum 06 Feb '18

06 Feb '18

Hi All, Voting time is almost up. Thank you to everyone that voted and for everyone that went the extra mile to find your ballot and vote at the last minute. I received a number of emails and new votes. It's not too late you have 4 more hours to vote. Let me know if you are an eligible voter on our voters' list and can not find your ballot. I can send it to you again. Also feel free to contact me if you would like to vote next year! Thanks again everyone! All the best, Ron Teitelbaum

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Squeak Oversight Board Election 2018 - Time to Vote!
by Ron Teitelbaum 05 Feb '18

05 Feb '18

Hi All, You have one more day to vote for the Squeak Oversight Board! The election ends Tuesday 6th of February 2018 6 PM (23.00 UTC). http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/6590 Let me know if you are on the voter list and didn't get your ballot, I can resend it to you. Also now is a good time to get on the voter list. Send me an email and I'll add you for next year! Thank you, everyone, for your participation in this years election! All the best, Ron Teitelbaum

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Retro Aesthetic In 'Vanilla Etoys' Tutorial
by Jeremy Landry 05 Feb '18

05 Feb '18

Hi, I hope someone can give this tutorial a test run and see if it works for them. It is intended to be both a primer on what etoys is about when it comes to making your own tools to make the thing you want to make as well as give insights and instruction on achieving the specific goal of the tutorial which is how to get retro-aesthetic out of Etoys using nothing but Etoys. It seems like a 'lot of steps' but since it's intended for the absolute Etoys novice it covers more than just what it takes to create the effect/final look. The zip file contains over 200 screenshots with titles that put them in the correct order as well as tells you what the actions and purpose of that step and accompanying shot are for. After each element is introduced the first time, it is no longer shown in 'long form' (i.e. the first time a playfield menu item is mentioned, it is shown through multiple screenshots, the 2nd time it is assumed the reader remembered how to find that menu etc.) If anyone runs through this tutorial has any ideas, concerns or it didn't work for them or they have suggestions on making it a little more enjoyable or novice-friendly, please chime in. The zip file is on google drive and is around 5MB and includes the actual project I constructed while taking all of the screenshots. I will turn this into a proper web-based page and maybe even put it into an Etoys Book as well if there is interest so that one can flip through the book inside Etoys while trying it out. Thanks, all! Jeremy Download the tutorial here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R0PNrKP2qa-lA73KTMnW3tSk3ZFv4An_/view?usp=…

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Possible Bug?
by Jeremy Landry 03 Feb '18

03 Feb '18

I haven't investigated it into the Etoys source, but I found this bizarre bug, likely appearing due to a number being turned into an integer when it's odd, but I cannot figure out why it would be called at all... Included is a project that demonstrates this bug. I looked at the individual pieces and they aren't 'personally' responsible, but when working as a unit, they then exhibit the bug. custom window demos.013.pr <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nefep7r-gSbJ5xyLGKbWUU54ozFlzNid/view?usp=…> Basically what seems to cause it is resizing nested playfields via script. Resizing with morphic handles works fine, but when sending an Etoys 'LENGTH' change, somewhere along the line, things go wrong. Again, my guess is that some number is getting changed into an integer from a floating point, and thus getting rounded up, which would shift it up when it's not a floating point number any longer. However, this doesn't explain why it doesn't have the same symptom when changing WIDTH. Thanks for any insight into dealing with this. I'm not exactly sure where to begin looking within the Etoys Source to make things work as expected since there's likely 30 reasons (read: random object methods) why this might occur and only for vertical change/LENGTH change.

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Re: [squeakland] [Newbies] Time to Vote!
by Ron Teitelbaum 03 Feb '18

03 Feb '18

Hi Offray, I'd be happy to add you to the voting list. Let me know and I'll add you for next year. I agree with you. Many years ago I used to be much more active (if you can believe that). My idea at the time was that we would actually have a period of time for campaigning. For a while, I started doing community interviews for news.squeak.org. I had tried also presenting questions, but I got some feedback that my questions were too focused on what I wanted and didn't represent the community at large. At that point, I tried to encourage the community to ask questions instead but that didn't work either because nobody asked questions. I'm was actually happy that everyone that is running this year gave some indication of what they are interested in doing and why they were running. See http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/6590 - Posts related to the Election (chronological). I can tell you that for the group of people we have running there are no bad votes! Everyone is terrific! I could highlight some differences but that won't really help because the community members were correct, I AM BIASED. :) What I would recommend is getting on the voters' list. Talk to your friends and get to know the people that are active in the community. You might have to subscribe to Squeak-Dev or VM-Dev to get to know people better. Most of the candidates don't often post to the beginners' list. The beginners' list has always had a soft spot in my heart. I was here from the very beginning. That is why I include it in my election emails. Wow, just looking the beginners' list started in May 2006[1], it's been 12 years! Once you have a good idea of what the community needs, you could ask questions! Talk to the candidates. Your questions will probably be helpful for others that didn't take the time to ask but might want to know the answer too. Do let us know If you have other suggestions on ways we can improve or write me directly. I will do whatever I can to help! All the best, Ron Teitelbaum [1] http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/beginners/2006-May/thread.html On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 6:32 PM, Offray Vladimir Luna Cárdenas < offray(a)riseup.net> wrote: > Hi, > > I have seen the voting call, but I don't know who I could vote for. I > think that we have excellent candidates list, but having low voting rates > is, for me a symptom of low communication rates, not about the voting > candidates, but about what is happening in general in the community. > > So, how can approach the more structural program about improving community > participation and communication so, we can have a more informed voting > campaign and proactivity from voters and the community in general. > > Cheers, > > Offray > > On 02/02/18 08:06, Ron Teitelbaum wrote: > > Hi All, > > Not sure if I've mentioned this but IT"S TIME TO VOTE! > > You may be asking why is Ron pushing so hard for people to vote? > > We are on track to have our lowest vote count ever. The number of voters > is going down year to year but the drop this year is significant. I'm sure > we can do better! > > Please let me know if you have trouble finding your ballot. I can resend > it to you. > > Thanks! > > All the best, > > Ron Teitelbaum > > > _______________________________________________ > Beginners mailing listBeginners@lists.squeakfoundation.orghttp://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners > > > > _______________________________________________ > Beginners mailing list > Beginners(a)lists.squeakfoundation.org > http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners > >

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Time to Vote!
by Ron Teitelbaum 02 Feb '18

02 Feb '18

Hi All, Not sure if I've mentioned this but IT"S TIME TO VOTE! You may be asking why is Ron pushing so hard for people to vote? We are on track to have our lowest vote count ever. The number of voters is going down year to year but the drop this year is significant. I'm sure we can do better! Please let me know if you have trouble finding your ballot. I can resend it to you. Thanks! All the best, Ron Teitelbaum

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squeakland February 2018