squeakland December 2009

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Vacation reply
by cal1riv＠hotmail.com 16 Dec '09

16 Dec '09

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Re: [squeakland] Playfield Questions
by p.a.dreyfuss＠excite.com 16 Dec '09

16 Dec '09

Hi,Steve, painting on a playfield adds a sketch with the painting to the playfield, You can easily verify that by right clicking, first you get halo for the playfield,a second click gets the halo for the sketch, You can even pick the sketch with the black handle or move it in the playfield with the brown handle. -----Original Message----- From: "Steve Thomas" [sthomas1(a)gosargon.com] Date: 12/07/2009 09:21 PM To: squeakland(a)squeakland.org Subject: Re: [squeakland] Playfield Questions In the Playfields Viewer -> Category: playfield mouses X and mouses Y QUESTION: Is this the mouses position in relation to the "Playfields" origin? Please help me distinguish Playfield:Viewier->Category:collections->graphic at cursorPlayfield:Viewier->Category:playfiled->graphicIt seems the "Playfield:Viewier->Category:playfiled->graphic which can be set via Halo:Paint Background and via assignment in a script is meant to be a "Background" That makes sense to me but here is my concern/lack of understanding . . . Why is it when I add a Background Image, the Playfield:Viewier->Category:collections->graphic:count Increases? IE, If I try and iterate through the items in the Playfield with the cursor and there is a background, I will get the background sketch as the first item in the list. I would think the "Background Sketch/Graphic would not be part of the "Collection". I created a Etoys project to test this go to page 2 of Fun With Playfields (its a work in progress, suggestions welcome). Stephen ------------------------------------------------------------ Click to learn about options trading and get the latest information. Stock Options http://tagline.excite.com/c?cp=xSaYmLuQhtO5LJCos5iapgAAKZQoxq6zLg1z7wgv2o1i…

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SuperSwiki2 2009 November version is available
by Masashi UMEZAWA 12 Dec '09

12 Dec '09

Hi all, SuperSwiki2 (2009 November) is now available: http://swikis.ddo.jp/SuperSwiki2/3 This version supports Etoys4. You can upload/download projects via Etoys4 (and older versions). Other new features: * Filtering by target age and region * French translation (Thanks to Hilaire Fernandes!) * Bug fix of wiki database * Performance tuning * Small bug fixes and improvements You can see a sample site here: (in Japanese) http://squeakland.jp/super2 (More than 650 e-toy projects) Platform Independent Downloads: http://swikis.ddo.jp/SuperSwiki2/19 Windows installer: http://swikis.ddo.jp/SuperSwiki2/18 Enjoy! -- [:masashi | ^umezawa]

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Thoughts on Using Floss Manuals
by Steve Thomas 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

Folks, Was chatting with Rita and Adam on Floss Manuals and had some ideas: It seems we are trying to solve a number of problems: 1. How do we ensure the complete list of items we want documented are covered? 2. How do we know who is working on what item? 3. How does a new person (or a person who just finished some item) know what items are available to be worked on? 4. We have sections of the book where we have the same content twice 5. How do we decide whether to include all information about a item (ex:Playfield) along with its "Common Tiles" and "Special Tiles" in one spot or in seperate chapters/pages.(for why I think this is is important see Notes on Tufte's talk on Galileo's Starry night below) 6. How will we organize the book So some thoughts:: 1. Floss Manuals has an INCLUDE feature, where you can include the content of another chapter into a specific spot in the text. *AdamHyde:* %INCLUDE{man.chap}% NOTE: INCLUDES may make attribution easier, need to double check with Adam 2. You can have chapters that are NOT included in the final printed/rendered product. (Adam, mentioned how, but it scrolled off my chat window in FM before I could capture it). 3. Finally a warning from *AdamHyde:* i would say stephen that includes can make things unecessarily complex So my suggestion is that: we selectively use includes to allow us to write Once publish everywhere. This will also allow for easier re-use (especially if we can include chapters from this book in another book. It MAY also make it easier to "import" manual parts into Etoys as part of help within Etoys. Although Rita also made a good point during the Skype call yesterday, we need a hard copy book for people who want to read in the bathroom or look at the description in the book and the screen. NOTES: Edward Tufte's talk on Galleo's Stary Night - The first printing of Galeleo's book had the text and images embedded on the same page. In order to save money later printers moved the graphics to pages at the end of the book. See: Links: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00004p His book: Beautful Evidence, or give yourself a real treat and attend one of his one day seminars. Below is an excerpt from our chat (apologies it scrolled off before I could capture the whole conversation.) *AdamHyde:* some strategies *RitaFreudenberg:* ok *AdamHyde:* there are a few technical issues in fm that effect things *AdamHyde:* but i dont think they will be a big issue for this *AdamHyde:* we will work it out *RitaFreudenberg:* that sounds good! *AdamHyde:* :) *StephenThomas:* Great, so Adam ar you the Floss expert? *AdamHyde:* ok, im off to see a friends band play *StephenThomas:* cool *StephenThomas:* Thanks *RitaFreudenberg:* you know, until now I was thinking about manually copying parts together ... *AdamHyde:* stephen - i am the fm founder ;) *AdamHyde:* yes *AdamHyde:* rita i think that is a good strategy *StephenThomas:* Thank you Adam! *AdamHyde:* but then we haev to do a few things to make sure attributon is handled *AdamHyde:* since coopy and pasting does not copy accorss attribution credtis *AdamHyde:* but we can do this *StephenThomas:* Rita, I will think about this some more and send an email to the list as it will be a better way to communicate and discuss the idesas *RitaFreudenberg:* yes, thats true! *AdamHyde:* i can do it on the server *AdamHyde:* but lets talk about this when iu are done *RitaFreudenberg:* stephen, ok! *AdamHyde:* good luck :) *RitaFreudenberg:* thanks :) *StephenThomas:* Luck = 90% work + 10% creativity *AdamHyde:* ahh...i delete those chapters for u first *StephenThomas:* Creativity = 90% work *AdamHyde:* fm = 1% work, 99% facilitation ;) *StephenThomas:* Rita has the hard 99% *AdamHyde:* yep! :) *StephenThomas:* ADAM the Include command scrolled off my chat *StephenThomas:* Can you resend or tell me where I can get a log of these sessons *AdamHyde:* %INCLUDE{man.chap}%

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book sprint, day 3
by Rita Freudenberg 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

Hi everyone, after our long discussion yesterday I feel that we should devote today mostly to writing. I will be in IRC #etoys, you can reach me via Skype or email if you have any questions and of course we can talk on flossmanuals chat. So if you want to have a chat let me know! Otherwise, happy writing! have a look at our wiki page for latest news: http://wiki.squeakland.org/display/sq/Book+Sprint Greetings, Rita Rita Freudenberg rita(a)isg.cs.uni-magdeburg.de

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Where should I edit the Playfield INFO?
by Steve Thomas 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

I started editing the Playfield here: http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/Etoys/TilesPlayfield Then found another spot (which answered my questions on mouse x and y) here:http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/Etoys/Tiles Which version should we keep? Also Why is Playfield called a "Tile" wouldn't a better term be Object. Below is an excerpt on my chat with Bert and Scott regarding Etoys Terms: <mrsteve> Can someone help me distinguish/define the following terms in an Etoys context . . . <mrsteve> Object, Tile and Morph <bertf> An object is what you create in Etoys by painting or from the supplies flap. or more generally, anything you can get a halo on and script - so everything you see in Etoys. A tile is what you put in a script, usually commands., but referneces and expressions are tiles too. Morph is not really used on the user level, it's an implementation detail. <scottwal> "Morph" is any graphical object; it's an internal term which unfortunately has leaked out into some of the documentation. Some morphs are "simple" (e.g. a SketchMorph really is simply a bitmap) but most are nested structures consisting of submorphs which themselves consist of further submorphs, etc. Thus, for example, a "RecordingControlsMorph" consists of a total of 75 parts, each of them a Morph in its own right. <scottwal> As bert wrote (btw what are you doing writing documentation at 3 am, bert?!) "morph" isn't really used (or at least *shouldn't* be used) in user documentation. <mrsteve> Got it! <mrsteve> Just to reguritate and test my understanding . . . <mrsteve> Morph is an internal squeak/smalltalk term of art that should be put back in the closet and kept there (action Item, make sure its NOT in the documentation) <bertf> scottwal: not really, just reading a bit more before going to sleep <scottwal> bertf: :-) <mrsteve> So distinguish Player for me from Object <scottwal> heh heh <mrsteve> Also in the "collections" category for Playfield/Holder there are references to: "first element" and "player at cursor" <mrsteve> Why not "first player" and "player at cursor" <scottwal> good point ;-) <mrsteve> okay so part of facilitating understanding is to define terms <scottwal> One could argue that Player is also an internal term, from the standpoint of our users, but it does occur here and here in the UI such as "player at cursor"... <mrsteve> Is there some Standard reference of terms? <scottwal> :-( <bertf> as Scott said, Player is another internal term. An Object is really a Player + a Morph. The morph being the visible thing and the player defining the Etoys behavior <bertf> mrsteve: that's one reason we need a reference manual, to define our terms <mrsteve> :)

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Musings on the Book Sprint
by Steve Thomas 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

The goal (as I understand it . . .) 1. Facilitate Understanding (Well that's pretty broad, Understanding of What?) 1. How it works 2. How can I use it 1. To build what I want to build 2. In general (more abstract version of (item 1.2.1) 3. With other Objects? 3. What can I combine with it to build something bigger/better, smaller/better, more useful, more fun Who is the target audiences (yes I know adults, but there are many kinds of adults just like there are many kinds of spaghetti sauces: see http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html ) - Teachers - College Students - High School Students - Middle School Students - Elementary School Students Mediums - Textbook (aka Floss Manual) - Etoys - "ScreenCast" - Web Page Use Cases - Teacher - What can I teach with this? - Underlying core concepts (Sequence, corrdinates, ...) - Etoys Concepts - CS Concepts - How can I use this in a project that will motivate the kid? - What will motivate kids and how can I tie this into that? - Cartoons - Comics - Games - College Student - HS Student - Elementary Student

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next book sprint audio chat coming up in 40 minutes!
by Rita Freudenberg 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

Hi everyone, we will have our next book sprint audio chat soon, at 3 pm EST / 12 PST ! Join us for a review of our first day, discussion, questions etc. Send me you Skype contact if you want me to include you in our call! Greeetings, Rita Rita Freudenberg rita(a)isg.cs.uni-magdeburg.de

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What are the differences between a Holder and a Playfield?
by Steve Thomas 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

Here are the functional differences I have found so far: 1. A holder automatically orders things for you visually 2. A holder will "resize" to fit its contents (once something is put in) What other differences are there? Venn Diagram please . . . They both have collection and playfield, um what's the right term(s)? - Categories? - Behaviors and Attributes? - Predicates and Objects? - Nouns and Verbs? - Heeelllllppppp? (no definitely no, help, that's why we are writing the manual ;) Stephen

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Any Recommendations for Teaching Robots
by Steve Thomas 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

I am going to be teaching a course in Robotics starting in late January/early February, any suggestions on the which robot/robot parts to get? Kids: Age 10-13, they are familiar with Etoys. I am actually considering using Scratch for this (sorry) but I think its good for kids to learn a second language. I may have them also try to program it in Etoys as well to test/help develop their understanding. In any case I want to be able to use the same robots for teaching with Etoys in the future. Ideally I want inexpensive and mobile. Also any good ideas for problems to give them would be appreciated. Thanks, Stephen

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squeakland December 2009