squeakland September 2008

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18 participants
18 discussions

Re: [Squeakland] Etoys error on startup
by Michael Rueger 16 Sep '08

16 Sep '08

Jens Mönig wrote: > Hi Michael, > > I tried running Etoys standalone on a German Vista. It won't let me write a > log (and it doesn't seem to produce one by itself, at least I can't find it > anywhere). The error seems to occur in SecurityManager >>startup >>> loadSecurityKeys >>secureUserDirectory. I suspect it has something to do > with the umlaut in my surname. It looks pretty severe because it opens an that's what I suspected... Sigh... Thanks for sending the information! Michael

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Etoys error on startup
by Jens Moenig 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

Hi, I just downloaded the new Etoys and tried to run it on Vista. It came up with an error message informing me about an "invalid utf8 input". -Jens -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Etoys-error-on-startup-tp19490768p19490768.html Sent from the SqueakLand mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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Release Notes for Etoys download - Sept 2008
by Kim Rose 11 Sep '08

11 Sep '08

Release Notes - Etoys -September 2008 These notes accompany the download of Etoys available via www.squeakland.org as of September 11, 2008. In the past, the system has often been referred to as "Squeak", but to help distinguish it from other versions of Squeak, we will refer to the version now available on the website simply as "Etoys." The team at Viewpoints Research Institute (VPRI) has been working on the "Etoys" activity for the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) "XO" platform. We started from the previous version of "Squeakland Squeak", then added new features and made many bug fixes, performance improvements, and visual tweaks. VPRI has decided to release the Etoys activity for the XO as the "universal" Etoys version for all platforms. Advantages include: 1) Two years of work have gone into improving Etoys overall; 2) Etoys will be identical on the XO, Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems; 3) The new features, enhancements, and fixes will be beneficial to everyone. In this way, all users of the XO and other platforms will be "compatible" and be able to share their projects and documentation. Below is a list of "New Features", "New UI Changes", and "Notes on Compatibility". "New Features" -- Functions. There are now over a dozen mathematical functions available for use in arithmetic expressions in scripts, in addition to the arithmetic operators. (Click on the golden treasure box of a script editor, drag out an "abs" tile, drop it on any numeric-valued tile or phrase in a script, and then (unless you actually want "abs") choose the actual function name you desire from the menu that shows up when you click on it. There is also a choice called "parenthesis", which serves to put a subexpression within parentheses, in order to influence order of evaluation. (There is also a way to "wrap" an existing numeric tile expression in a function, by holding down the "shift" key as you click on an "extension arrow" -- this will make the expression governed by the extension arrow become the argument of a function call.) -- Arithmetic Operator Precedence. The arithmetic operators (+ - * / // \\ and min and max) now have more conventional precedence; i.e., multiplication and division are now "stronger" than addition and subtraction. (See below under "Notes on Compatibility" for more details.) -- "RepeatTimes" tile. A tile to write a simple loop is provided. -- Display Scaling. We think it useful to offer a "standard", normalized screen size for users on non-XO platforms, so that a project made on one computer can have a consistent appearance across a broad range of computers with varying display sizes and screen resolutions. Because the XO has a screen with 1200 x 900 pixels, this was chosen as the "standard" size. On a computer with a different display resolution, 1200 x 900 pixels are scaled to fit in the display. If the actual display size is vastly different from 1200 x 900, the scaling may not look very nice; in such cases, scaling can be turned off from the menu bar. -- The Online Help System ("Quick Guides") There are now over 60 help guides included in the system. Click on the question mark button in the menu bar to see them. They can also be printed as a single PDF file found on the Squeakland and Etoys/ olpc websites. -- Polygon Vertices. In a Polygon, the vertices are accessible from tile scripting. Visit the polygon category in the viewer of a Polygon. -- World Stethoscope. World Stethoscope, a tool to use the input from external sensor devices is included. -- Event Theatre. A tool that provides a better way to record and play back a user's actions. This can be used to create small snippets of tutorials; voice-over can be added later, and there is also an "Event-Roll" tool for modest after-the-fact editing of such recordings. -- A New Generation of the Particle System (aka "Kedama"). Kedama has been entirely rewritten for this release. The new version is faster in most cases, and there are semantic changes as well -- see more details in the compatibility section below.) -- All Players Tool. The tools labeled "Players" in the Supplies provides a list of all players in the current project. -- Book Page Reverting. Book pages can be made revertable. Book pages can be marked as revertable, and such pages can be reverted to the state when the book was last saved into a project. -- More Sound Compression Options. In the Sound Recorder, there are choices for Sound Compression. "New UI Changes" -- Bigger and More Consistent Fonts and Buttons. In general, the tools have been redesigned for screens with a higher resolution. Larger fonts are used, and buttons in viewers, scriptors, and other tools have now been made more uniform. -- Stationary Navigator Menu Bar at the Top. Instead of having an orange pop-in/pop-out navigator bar at the bottom of the screen, the navigator bar is now located at the top of screen, and is stationary. Type alt-RETURN at any time to show or hide it. The new Navigator follows the design of the OLPC's UI specification, but we took the liberty to make it narrow, and change its color. -- New Supplies. Click on the "treasure box" in the navigator menu bar at the top of the screen to open or close the new "Supplies" flap. You can resize the flap by dragging its bottom gray edge. -- Script Editor ("scriptor") Redesign. Layout, colors, proportions, menus, and fonts have all been changed. A "Gold Box" has been added -- click on it to get a palette of useful tiles; click on any item in the palette to get a copy of it for use in your script. -- Better Drop Zone Feedback in Scriptors. The green drop zone that shows when dragging over a script is greatly improved. -- Right Click for Halo. On Windows, the default is changed so that right mouse button brings up the halo. -- Opening Screen. The start-up screen now provides links to tutorials and example projects. "Notes on Compatibility" Most projects created in an older "Squeakland" version should load and work fine in the new system. (However, projects created in the new etoys system will *not* be usable in any older Squeakland version.) A few old projects may exhibit different behavior when loaded into the new system. Here are some things to watch out for: - Because of the arithmetic operator precedence change, a script that contains a long chain of arithmetic may produce different results; e.g., "3 * 4 + 5" used to be interpreted as "3 * (4 + 5)" and the result was 27, but now it is "(3 * 4) + 5" and the result is 17. Such a script should be editted (perhaps adding the "parenthesis" described above) to be properly interpreted. - The size and look of scriptors and viewers will change upon loading. The new shapes may hide other carefully located objects, and if the project depends on the specific sizes of these tools, it may not work in the same way. - The changes to Kedama are great enough that, although an old project with Kedama may load and may even run acceptably, it is guaranteed that editing an old project in the new release does not work. For proper migration of any Kedama project, the project should be built afresh in the new system; additionally, the semantics change may require some changes to the project's scripts. This only applies to projects that have the small window where one script controls hundreds of tiny turtles and patches. All in all, we hope this version will be seen as a great opportunity to redo existing interesting projects, if needed. Such projects can be shared among the millions of of Etoys users including XO users. We hope that by using Etoys, you, or your children will learn more about how our world works and have fun in the process!

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start script anObject aScript vs. anObject aScript in eToy
by Young-Jin Lee 11 Sep '08

11 Sep '08

Dear all, I have a question about calling scripts on an object. It seems that there are two different ways to run scripts associated with an object. One way is to directly send the corresponding message to the object (e.g., anObject aScript) and another way is using "start script" tile available in the "Scripting" category. Can anyone explain the difference between these two cases? Thanks in advance.

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{waveplace} mid-pilot glimpse in nicaragua
by Timothy Falconer 08 Sep '08

08 Sep '08

Yes, I know you're all busy. Yes, this email has a lot of text. Take a few minutes anyway and read this post from the Waveplace pilot near Rivas, Nicaragua, written by Mary Scotti, one of our mentors. It's got a good dose of why we're all doing this XO thing :) --- Nicaragua Days 22 to 25 -- This week saw a deluge of thunderous rainstorms at the camp. Electricity was out for whole evenings and nights and Internet service was intermittent at best. When electricity was available, I rushed to insure that the XOs got charged and fortunately the children saw no interruption in classes. This curtailed my ability to write as my computer was often lacking charge and the loss of signal severely limited my ability to post. All the rain also wrecked havoc on the road, still my taxi driver was stalwart and managed to navigate the swamped areas often forgoing the road altogether to ensure transport to and from the school. Fireflies and a random glimpse of a sliver of moon solely illuminated two nights this week. I read by the low beam of a flashlight. These past few days were conducive for contemplation and reflection. A stark contrast to the ebullience of the classroom. Tuesday through Friday covered lessons 16 through 19 of the Waveplace course. Tests (aka conditionals) were introduced for the first time, "color sees color" tests, checking scripts, methods for detecting a bug, and animating with multiple sketches. All of these also entailed disseminating useful hints for organizing, trouble-shooting, and general maintenance. Patrick delivered lesson 16, Roxanna both 17 and 19, and Geovany lesson 18. It is difficult to convey how truly impressed I am with both their preparations and classroom rapport. It's obvious that multiple hours are spent in the evening prior familiarizing themselves with the nuances of the lessons, creating compelling graphics to illustrate the concepts readily and allowing them to display confidence and skill during their delivery. They continue to foster an environment of focused, exploratory learning. Their own self-esteem extends outward and serves to imbue the class with positive energy. David makes himself available to assist wherever needed. Lacking a computer to take home in the evening, he spends the actually teaching time doing the lesson to refresh and uses our planning hour to puzzle out difficulties he may run into. This weekend, he is armed with a computer and charger and will be introducing the players list and it functionality on Monday. Three of the children have some trouble grasping the underlining concepts of Etoys. A singular task - drawing an object, naming and saving, locating a menu - is not a problem. However combining multiple sketches, navigating multiple menus and locating desired commands is overwhelming for them. The underlying "sense of it" has still not clicked for them. We take turns working with them offering different voices and slightly different methods in approaching various tasks. Still they are happy with their work and delighted when a script performs in the way they expect it to. On their own time they are creating simple graphics and scripts. One child has been creating a sun and a tree repeatedly, each time a bit different from the last. Yesterday it was clear that they had finally grasped the concept that a sketch has its own paint palette and if you want to change that sketch you must access it and make changes from there. Over and over they have been frustrated by their attempts to do this action from the toolbar palette only to find that their changes were not integrated into their original sketch. We had demonstrated this many times. For some reason yesterday it sunk in. This was a breakthrough moment. At the other end of the spectrum, five of the children are truly excelling. Animation and scripting is fascinating and clearly rewarding to them. They see potential and possibilities. They crave techniques and methods to actualize what they are imagining. They are attentive during the presentations, rapt even. Occasionally they will wander to the front of the room in order to read the scripts directly. They have difficulty refraining from booting up their XOs during the lesson and I often think they have succeeded in secretly doing so. The exploratory hour has become for them an intense time of innovation and practice. All of the children have been impressed and encouraged by the sharing of their achievements. Ruben has created Pepito, a dancing female figure who fancy foots it across the screen and back again in a village with illuminated windows and a spouting volcano in the background. Jose has embarked on creating a tale following the adventures of a boy and his friendly but mischievous amigo the shark. His sense of graphics, including his use of typography is compelling. Julissa’s story begins in a park, swings swaying, and a trio of young girls playing. Aaron has created a monkey break-dancer who changes color as it cavorts rhythmically about. And Luis is engaged in an abstract creation of universal proportions. Spheres, and complex geometries that spin and interact. His own personal view of an imaginary galaxy. All awesome accomplishments. The rest of the children more typically display the waning in and out of attention. One thing will delight more than another. Distraction comes a bit more easily. Still they are intent and focused. They help and encourage each other, sometimes copying elements from another child’s story that they admire. We had a plethora of butterflies for a while. Still imitation is a form of flattery they say. By end of class Friday, all but two had at least three pages of their stories well underway. We mentors have also been working on stories. Roxanna is purposeful and secretive about hers just yet. No one knows whether the graphics she has been creating for class are incorporated into it or not. Geovany is the master of airplanes. And mine is describing experiences with frogs, fireflies, insects, and such at the camp. This week also brought us Shyra, a Peace Corps volunteer living and teaching English in the nearby pueblo San Jose. The children were thrilled to meet her and a few recognized her as she taught some of their older siblings at the secondary school. She was blown away by the XOs and more importantly the children’s level of skill in using them. Aaron volunteered to introduce her to the XO and Etoys and spent half an hour doing so. At the moment she expresses her doubt that she can learn this. She feels daunted by computers but the children’s expertise in just three weeks is encouraging to her. Aaron’s step-by- step introduction began with just opening the XO, then explaining the home page with its access to the tool and application bars. He led her to Etoys and demonstrated how to make an initial sketch that left her thirsting for more. Aaron thought that was enough for one day and burst forth to join the football game in progress. Everyone was happy to welcome her to our team. ====== Mary is writing almost daily. More posts can be found here: http://waveplace.com/news/blog/ There's also a great article about the start of this pilot in our September newsletter: http://waveplace.com/news/newsletter/web.jsp?id=10#article130 Photos are here: http://waveplace.com/mu/waveplace/item/tp163 Take care, Tim -- Timothy Falconer Waveplace Foundation http://waveplace.com 610-797-3100

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RE: [Squeakland] please help - trouble with mouseDown, mouseUp, and looklike
by Nicholas Bennett 03 Sep '08

03 Sep '08

Scott, Thanks for the help, your suggestion works perfectly for me. regards, Nicholas> CC: squeakland(a)squeakland.org> From: scott.wallace(a)squeakland.org> To: nicholasjbennett(a)hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [Squeakland] please help - trouble with mouseDown, mouseUp, and looklike> Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 18:33:58 -0700> > On Sep 1, 2008, at 3:27 PM, Nicholas Bennett wrote:> > > I have some odd behavior. It seems like what I am doing is > > reasonable and the kind of thing anyone might want to do, I am > > hoping someone can tell me how I am misunderstanding.> >> > I want to get the effect of a sketch button via eToys scripting - to > > let the kids make an active and engaging button to fire a script. It > > should change it's image to a 'button down' version on mouseDown and > > restore it on mouseUp.> >> > I tried the following:> > a - paint a sketch> > b - make a script, 'down', to 'sound croak', set it to run on > > mouseDown> > c - make a script, 'up', to 'sound motor', set it to run on mouseUp> > That all works fine - you get the appropriate sound on the up and > > down events.> >> > Now to extend it to make the button up/down appearance:> > 1 - prepare two sketches for up and down> > 2 - add 'sketch lookslike downSketch' to the 'down' script> > 3 - add 'sketch lookslike upSketch' to the 'up' script> > Only the 'down' script now fires. If I turn the 'down' script to run > > normally then the 'up' script runs on mouseUp.> >> > What am I doing wrong? How can I get the effect I am looking for?> > > Hi Nicholas,> > To get this to work, don't use "look like", which changes the identity > of the morph that is fielding the mouse-down/mouse-up sequence in mid- > stream.> > Instead, use assignment statements to assign appropriate values to the > "graphic" slot of your button, using a script such as:> _________________________________________________________________ Get ideas on sharing photos from people like you. Find new ways to share. http://www.windowslive.com/explore/photogallery/posts?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Pho…

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Etoys - calendar of events
by Kim Rose 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

Hello - Here's wishing everyone a happy "back to school" and start of a new academic year! We hope things are off to a good start already or wish you the best getting started whatever your case may be. We'll soon be launching a brand-new Etoys website - still to be found at squeakland.org -- stay tuned for a further announcement this week. Do you have any specific dates/events set for fall that we can include on the calendar section of our new website? If so, please let us know! We'd love to include news of any workshops, conferences, or presentations relevant to Etoys so the community will know and see what is going on around the world. Please share your events with us! Send either to this mailing list or to info(a)squeakland.org. thanks and cheers, Kim

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please help - trouble with mouseDown, mouseUp, and looklike
by Nicholas Bennett 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

I have some odd behavior. It seems like what I am doing is reasonable and the kind of thing anyone might want to do, I am hoping someone can tell me how I am misunderstanding. I want to get the effect of a sketch button via eToys scripting - to let the kids make an active and engaging button to fire a script. It should change it's image to a 'button down' version on mouseDown and restore it on mouseUp. I tried the following: a - paint a sketch b - make a script, 'down', to 'sound croak', set it to run on mouseDown c - make a script, 'up', to 'sound motor', set it to run on mouseUp That all works fine - you get the appropriate sound on the up and down events. Now to extend it to make the button up/down appearance: 1 - prepare two sketches for up and down 2 - add 'sketch lookslike downSketch' to the 'down' script 3 - add 'sketch lookslike upSketch' to the 'up' script Only the 'down' script now fires. If I turn the 'down' script to run normally then the 'up' script runs on mouseUp. What am I doing wrong? How can I get the effect I am looking for? regards, Nicholas _________________________________________________________________ Be the filmmaker you always wanted to be—learn how to burn a DVD with Windows®. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/108588797/direct/01/

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