Dear Squeakers,

welcome to this edition of The WeeklySqueakSummary, an irregular traffic-dependent report on what's going on in the world of Squeak based on the WeeklySqueak blog. It's been a rather long time since the last issue because I've been on parental leave for two months... anyway, here we go again with a slightly longer e-mail than usual.

Highlights of the past weeks:

First, some updates. Monticello 2 is out [36], and so is Swazoo 2.2 [32]. The former is essentially a complete re-write with an all-new core versioning mechanism. The latter especially features faster uploads. The popular "Squeak by Example" book has also been updated - updated to be available in another language: French [4]!

Some interesting new projects have emerged: at Qwaq, Eliot Miranda is building an improved Squeak VM called Cog [14]; and what started as a coursework assignment at HPI to improve some of the functionality of JSqueak [20] has been turned into a SourceForge-hosted project called Potato [25]: a Squeak VM implemented in Java. Also an, albeit different, VM, MagLev supports Ruby on top of GemStone/S [12]. SandstoneDB [28] is a simple OODBMS based on ideas from ActiveRecord and Prevayler. Algernon [2] helps navigating the Squeak image.

The native widgets side of the universe has interesting news. After a long time, wxSqueak has been updated [27] - let's hope it's come fully back to life! SeasideXUL [5] uses the Firefox XULRunner to support building GUIs, and one of this year's Squeak-related GSoC projects [26] is SqueakGTK.

Squeak has been ported to two more platforms: the iPhone [16], and WiFiBots [7].

Last but certainly not least, congratulations to the CMSBox team for winning an UI usability award [35]!

The past weeks' news items:

[1] Seaside: your next web framework http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/05/seaside-your-next-web-framework/

[2] Algernon: your personal assistant for Squeak http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/07/algernon-your-personal-assistant-for-squea...

[3] Squeak Etoys - Students Build Their Own Games In Four Days http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/09/squeak-etoys-students-build-their-own-game...

[4] Squeak by Example now available in French http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/11/squeak-by-example-now-available-in-french/

[5] Native look and feel apps with Firefox XULRunner http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/13/native-look-and-feel-apps-with-firefox-xul...

[6] 16th International Smalltalk Joint Conference - Call for Contributions http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/16/16th-international-smalltalk-joint-confere...

[7] Driving WifiBots with Squeak http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/18/driving-wifibots-with-squeak/

[8] S3 Highlights: Lively, COLA, Huemul, Squeak on Python and more http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/20/s3-highlights-lively-cola-and-more/

[9] German Squeak Association Meeting: Demos http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/22/german-squeak-association-meeting-demos/

[10] New Yorkers' chance to see Squeak-based education tools http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/24/new-yorkers-chance-to-see-squeak-based-edu...

[11] Dan Ingalls Interview on FLOSS Weekly http://news.squeak.org/2008/05/29/dan-ingalls-interview-on-floss-weekly/

[12] Gemstone's MagLev presented at RubyConf http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/03/gemstones-maglev-presented-at-rubyconf/

[13] Smalltalk Solutions 2008 - two weeks to go! http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/05/smalltalk-solutions-2008-two-weeks-to-go/

[14] Qwaq developing new fast Smalltalk VM http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/07/qwaq-developing-new-fast-smalltalk-vm/

[15] Randal Schwartz to join Smalltalk podcast (warning, some recursion involved) http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/09/randal_schwartz_podcast/

[16] Squeak on the iPhone! http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/11/squeak-on-the-iphone/

[17] Conference News: Smalltalks 2008 in Buenos Aires http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/13/conference-news-smalltalks-2008-in-buenos-...

[18] Conference news: C5-09 in Kyoto http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/16/conference-news-c5-09-in-kyoto/

[19] ESUG Awards for innovative software http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/18/esug-awards-for-innovative-software/

[20] JSqueak - Smalltalk interpreter written in Java http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/21/jsqueak-smalltalk-interpreter-written-in-j...

[21] Conference News - Libre Software Meeting, 1-5 July, France http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/24/conference-news-libre-software-meeting-1-5...

[22] One stop shop for Smalltalk jobs http://news.squeak.org/2008/06/28/one-stop-shop-for-smalltalk-jobs/

[23] Smalltalk Solutions 2008 - slides now available http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/01/smalltalk-solutions-2008-slides-now-availa...

[24] Conference news: ESUG 2008 - more information http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/04/conference-news-esug-2008-more-information...

[25] Potato - version of JSqueak from HPI http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/07/potato-version-of-jsqueak-from-hpi/

[26] Squeak's Google Summer of Code projects http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/10/squeaks-google-summer-of-code-projects/

[27] WxSqueak reaches 0.5 http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/14/wxsqueak-reaches-05/

[28] SandstoneDb - Simple ActiveRecord-style persistence in Squeak http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/16/sandstonedb-simple-activerecord-style-pers...

[29] Get recording your Squeak videos now! http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/19/get-recording-your-squeak-videos-now/

[30] Plopp featured in MacWorld http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/23/plopp-featured-in-macworld/

[31] Avi Bryant Interview http://news.squeak.org/2008/07/28/avi-bryant-interview/

[32] Swazoo 2.2 beta with fast file upload released http://news.squeak.org/2008/08/01/swazoo-22-beta-with-fast-file-upload-relea...

[33] Volunteers wanted for Squeak project http://news.squeak.org/2008/08/06/volunteers-wanted-for-squeak-project/

[34] New Video Tutorial - Squeak Bug/Fix Reporting http://news.squeak.org/2008/08/11/new-video-tutorial-squeak-bugfix-reporting...

[35] CMSBox wins top usability awards http://news.squeak.org/2008/08/13/cmsbox-wins-top-usability-awards/

[36] All new Monticello 2 http://news.squeak.org/2008/08/15/all-new-monticello-2/

You can find this and much more on The WeeklySqueak blog, the newsblog dedicated to the world of Squeak:http://news.squeak.org/

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Happy squeaking,

Michael