squeakland August 2011

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9 participants
11 discussions

More than one input for a script?
by R.D. Latimer 31 Aug '11

31 Aug '11

I'd like to make a simple drawPolygon script that needs two inputs, one of length of each side and one for number of sides. The basic prototype is: drawPolygon (length, sides): repeat sides forward length turn sides/360 With Etoys, It looks like the limit is one input parameter for a script, so that the script would be limited to: drawPolygon (sides): repeat sides forward 100 <-- the user would need to hard code the length of the sides turn sides/360 Can I use more than on numerical input in a script? Thanks, Randy Latimer

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Etoys problems in Tablada, Buenos Aires, Argentina
by Carlos Rabassa 30 Aug '11

30 Aug '11

TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL SIGUE AL INGLÉS A few days ago, Gustavo Ibarra from Argentina, posted a few questions from a group that deployed 600 XOs in a school in Tablada, Buenos Aires, Argentina. One of the questions referred to Etoys. This is why I volunteered to post it in the Squeakland lists. When they drag the cursor over the Etoys tool bar, with the icons at the top of the page, they get the help balloons. However, some of the balloons show the help text in Spanish and others in English. The situation is the same regardless of the language selected by the user. I tried to reproduce the problem in my commercial computer, I don´t have an XO. I used Etoys 4.1 running directly on my computer. I couldn´t find any problem. We asked Gustavo for more details: > ¿Do you have the latest Etoys version? Etoys version 115 for Sugar Sugar version 0.84.31 SO 10.1.3 Argentina > ¿What computer are you using? XO-1.5 Thanks for any help you can offer. TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL COMIENZA AQUÍ Hace unos pocos días, Gustavo Ibarra desde Argentina, publicó algunas preguntas de un grupo a cargo de un despliegue de 600 XOs en una escuela en Tablada, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Una de las preguntas se refería a Etoys. Por eso me ofrecí a publicarla en las listas de Squeakland. Cuando arrastran el cursor sobre la barra de herramientas de Etoys, la que tiene los iconos en la parte superior de la página, se abren los globos de ayuda. Sin embargo, algunos de esos globos muestran el texto de ayuda en Español y otros en Inglés. La situación es la misma, sin importar el idioma que seleccione el usuario. Traté de reproducir el problema en mi computadora comercial. No tengo una XO. Usé Etoys 4.1 corriendo directamente en mi computadora. No pude encontrar problema alguno. Pedí más detalles a Gustavo: > ¿Tienes la última versión de Etoys? versión etoys para sugar 115 versión de sugar 0.84.31 SO 10.1.3 Argentina > ¿Con qué máquina estás trabajando? XO-1.5 > ¿Usas Etoys directamente o a través de Sugar? etoys para sugar Gracias por cualquier ayuda que puedan ofrecer. Carlos Rabassa Volunteer Plan Ceibal Support Network Montevideo, Uruguay

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Etoys problems in Tablada, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 2nd problem
by Carlos Rabassa 30 Aug '11

30 Aug '11

TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL SIGUE AL INGLÉS Gustavo Ibarra from Argentina, recently sent us this message, with a second request for Etoys help from the Tablada group: May I share with you another detail related to Etoys, which is not in the list posted by the Tablada deployment. We recommend, as a reference book for Etoys training, the famous "Powerful Ideas in The Classroom". The screen shots illustrating the examples (scripts, tiles, etc.) contained in the book [the Spanish translation], are in English (Etoys was set to English when creating these examples). What then happens is that the teachers look up, for example, a tile in English and do not find it since they are using Etoys after selecting Spanish as the language they want. And, since they cannot translate the script´s name into Spanish, they cannot replicate the example shown in the book. This is what I am answering: You are doing the right thing. "Powerful Ideas in The Classroom" is an excellent book and we are lucky to have a Spanish translation. But as you said, this is a reference book. When readers wish to experiment, hands on, with the guidance of the examples offered by the authors, my suggestion is they work with the many examples offered in the Showcase: http://squeakland.org/showcase/ I am quite sure you will find there, among many others, the same examples offered in the book or very similar ones. I am now on the road and cannot take the time to double check this. The best way to learn, in my opinion is, after using the tutorials in English in the Waveplace site or the Spanish ones in the RAP Ceibal site, select examples from the Showcase and run them to see how they were created. I find particularly useful as a starting point to open the Supplies box and, from there, open the Players list. For each object in the project, you will be able to easily locate it in the screen and open the scripts associated with it. Gustavo, you say: "... since they cannot translate the script´s name into Spanish," If we translate a script name, we would completely mess up the project. These names are used by the computer to execute other scripts where they are referred to. If a child named John emigrates to Argentina and the teachers, when registering him in school, change his name to Juan without letting him know, when Juan is called, John will not answer. The Players list offers you something much better than a translation, shows on the screen the objects with the names selected by the author of the project and shows the original names of the scripts, also selected by the author. If you open the project with Etoys set to Spanish you shouldn´t have any problem. Other members of the lists will probably come up with other suggestions, hopefully better than this one. Please thank your friends in Tablada for their questions and suggest they keep asking, this way we all learn. Feedback from users, explaining the difficulties they find, is essential for the Etoys developers to focus their efforts to the areas where they are needed the most. TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL COMIENZA AQUÍ Gustavo Ibarra, desde Argentina, recientemente nos envió este mensaje con un segundo pedido de ayuda con Etoys del grupo en Tablada: Comparto otro detalles con relación a etoys y que no esta en esa lista. Para la capacitación en etoys recomendamos como referencia bibliográfica el famoso "Ideas Poderosas en el Aula". Las capturas de los ejemplos(guiones,mosaicos,etc!) del libro están en ingles(se uso un etoys con el idioma ingles). Entonces ocurre que los maestros, por ejemplo, buscan un mosaico en ingles y no lo encuentran, ya que están usando el etoys en español. Y como no logran traducir al español el nombre del guion no pueden reproducir el ejemplo del libro. Esto es lo que le estoy contestando: Has hecho lo correcto. "Ideas Poderosas en el Aula" es un libro excelente y, tenemos la suerte de tener una traducción al Español. Pero, como bien dices, es un libro de referencia. Cuando los lectores deseen experimentar usando la computadora, guiados por los ejemplos que ofrecen los autores, mi sugerencia es que trabajen con los muchos ejemplos que se ofrecen en la Vitrina: http://squeakland.org/showcase/index.jsp Estoy casi seguro de que encontrarás allí, entre muchos otros, los mismos ejemplos ofrecidos en el libro u otros muy parecidos. En estos momentos estoy fuera de casa y no dispongo de tiempo para verificar esto. La mejor manera de aprender, en mi opinión es, después de usar los cursillos en Español en el sitio de RAP Ceibal o en Inglés en el sitio de Waveplace, seleccionar ejemplos de la Vitrina y correrlos para ver cómo fueron creados. Me resulta muy útil como punto de arranque, abrir la caja de Provisiones y, desde allí, abrir la lista Objetos con Guiones. Podrás, para cada objeto del proyecto, ubicar fácilmente al objeto en la pantalla y abrir los guiones asociados con ese objeto. Gustavo, dices: "... como no logran traducir al español," Si traducimos el nombre de un guión, estropearemos completamente el proyecto. Estos nombres son usados por la computadora para ejecutar otros guiones que hacen referencia a este. Si un niño llamado John emigra a Argentina y los maestros al inscribirlo en la escuela le cambian su nombre a Juan sin avisarle, cuando llamen a Juan, John no responderá. La lista de Objetos con Guiones te ofrece algo mucho mejor que una traducción. Muestra los objetos en la pantalla con los nombres que eligió el autor del proyecto y muestra los nombres originales de los guiones, también seleccionados por el autor. Si abres el proyecto con Etoys, habiendo seleccionado Español, no deberías tener ningún problema. Otros miembros de las listas seguramente harán otras sugerencias, esperamos sean mejores. Por favor agradece a tus amigos en Tablada por sus preguntas y sugiéreles que sigan preguntando, así todos aprendemos. Para los desarrolladores de Etoys es fundamental saber cuáles son las dificultades con que tropiezan los usuarios para así guiar sus esfuerzos hacia donde más se necesitan. Carlos Rabassa Volunteer Plan Ceibal Support Network Montevideo, Uruguay

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Re: [squeakland] Create siblings in a loop?
by R.D. Latimer 29 Aug '11

29 Aug '11

Can siblings be created in a loop in a script? So I can create 100 siblings at once? On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 6:46 AM, R.D. Latimer <rdlatimer(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Also - > Recursion works - (I think) > I made a drawsquare with 1 input for a counter, > If number < 4 > forward 100 > rt 100 > drawsquare (number + 1) recursive call. > > That's nice that recursion looks like it's supported. > > When I make an input, using 'number' for example, can I change the name to > 'counter'? I think I have to use the default name provided by etoys - > 'number' > > Randy > > > On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 6:42 AM, R.D. Latimer <rdlatimer(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Thanks - I got #2 below to work. I put all the turtle objects onto a >> playfield and use "tell all contents". >> For #1, I guess I have to specifically call each turtle object reset, so >> if there are 10 turtles, I'll need 10 blocks, one for each turtle reset? >> It'd be nice to somehow loop through a list of turtle objects, saying to >> each one 'reset'. >> I tried this with the "Holder" - put turtle tiles for each turtle in the >> holder, then use "Holder send to all" or "Holder tell all contents" to >> reset. THat didn't seem to have any affect. 1 >> >> In NetLogo, you write a procedure named 'reset', then use 'tell all' for >> something like >> tell all turtles [ reset ] (I forget the exact syntax) >> >> #3 locked up for my version. Each turtle has a reset script. Each turtle >> is a sibling of the first turtle. When I use tell all siblings 'reset', the >> program locked up. I may be doing something wrong on that. >> Do I use turtle 1 to create all the siblings, turtle1 for sibling1, >> sibling 1 for sibling2, sibling2 for sibling3, etc. >> >> Also, to set random pen color, I used an indirect way I found someone >> suggested online. I don't think I can assign pencolor a random color. I >> made an object, assigned it random rgb amounts (1-100?), then assigned the >> pen color to be the color of that object. >> >> Randy >> >> >> On Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 11:11 PM, Steve Thomas <sthomas1(a)gosargon.com>wrote: >> >>> So from what I can tell about what you are trying to do the best way may >>> be to create "sibling copies" or your turtles. This is done by either >>> holding down the shift key when you click on the copy icon in the halo or >>> from the menu in the halo there is an option to create siblings >>> >>> That said there are a number of ways to reset things I can think of and >>> hopefully this is not too much info: >>> >>> 1. You can create a script that executes the resets for all objects >>> you want to reset >>> 2. Use the scripting tile "tell all contents" (found in the scripting >>> category for playfields) to execute all scripts named "reset" (or whatever >>> name you choose). Note, this will only go "one level deep" in a playfield. >>> This will work if all objects you want to reset are in the playfield (but >>> will not work for any objects embedded in a playfield in that playfield) >>> 3. Use the scripting tile "tell all siblings" Siblings are really >>> neat. When you change a script in one sibling all siblings get the same >>> script changes. So in effect they share a common set of scripts and >>> variables, but can have different values for each siblings copy of a >>> variable and different script states as well. >>> 4. If you are using a Book, you can make a page (and the entire book >>> "revertible. In the book's menu is an option "save this page for later >>> revert" which allows you to set the page (or book) as "revertible" Which >>> will save the current state of the page. Then from the Book's menu you can >>> choose "revert this page" or "revert this book". You can also use the menu >>> item in a script, by getting the halo for that menu item (ie: "revert this >>> page") and drag the "fire" tile into a script. >>> >>> Note: you can either create a button to reset the page (from a script >>> editors menu, there is an option: "button to fire this script" or you can >>> set a scripts status to "opening" which can be used to reset a page or a >>> book when that page or book is opened. >>> >>> Stephen >>> >>> On Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 10:41 PM, R.D. Latimer <rdlatimer(a)gmail.com>wrote: >>> >>>> Etoys- >>>> I have a 'turtle' with a reset button (clears screen, sets position to >>>> random xy) and a drawpattern script with random colors. >>>> >>>> Can I create many copies of this turtle and run all the resets at once - >>>> re-positions all 'turtles' and clears the screen, and then run drawpattern >>>> all at once for all turtles? Note that drawpattern needs to run only once, >>>> not constantly as with a timer. >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> Randy Latimer >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> squeakland mailing list >>>> squeakland(a)squeakland.org >>>> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland >>>> >>>> >>> >> >

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Multiple objects running the same script
by R.D. Latimer 29 Aug '11

29 Aug '11

Etoys- I have a 'turtle' with a reset button (clears screen, sets position to random xy) and a drawpattern script with random colors. Can I create many copies of this turtle and run all the resets at once - re-positions all 'turtles' and clears the screen, and then run drawpattern all at once for all turtles? Note that drawpattern needs to run only once, not constantly as with a timer. Thanks, Randy Latimer

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Mesh Networking for Etoys?
by Steve Thomas 27 Aug '11

27 Aug '11

So I have been playing with ScratchConnect for Etoys, Scratch/BYOB and python (scripts here<http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Communicating_to_Scratch_via_Python>) and was able to connect all three and exchange messages using the Remote Sensor Protocol <http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Remote_Sensors_Protocol>developed for Scratch. So I see this can be used in a couple of ways: 1. Have Etoys and Scratch interact where one computer is the Game Board and the others are game controllers (or they are all a combination of both) 2. Multi-player games 3. An Etoy project that "reacts" to external events (ex: animations fire when you receive a tweet or a remote sensor in your room detects that your little brother/sister has broken into your room without proper authorization). 4. Interface to robotics using Python interfaces (or using Physical Etoys and a controller on an iPad) 5. Interface to Social Networking sites using Python interfaces (example auto-post to a blog using the Google APIs) 6. All of the above using a web site as the Mesh Relay So my questions are: 1. Am I over simplifying? What am I missing as to why this wouldn't work? 2. Can we add ScratchConnect with one enhancement (similar to those in BYOB <http://byob.berkeley.edu/>) where the Etoy project can act as a HOST (ie: no need for a Scratch project to relay the messages) or simply join a Mesh 3. Can we setup a "Web Relay service" where kids (like me :) can setup private Mesh Networks and interact and play? How hard would this be and what would it take? 4. The ScratchConnect interface currently does not support serializing and transporting objects (ie: it would be great if I could "serialize a morph" send it over the ScratchConnect interface to another Etoys project and have it appear there). I know there was work like this with either the Nebraska Server, ?NetMorph? et al, but I like the simplicity of the ScratchConnect interface. Stephen

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Bananas in a Box questions
by R.D. Latimer 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

Hi, I'm new to Etoys. We're implementing this fall in an elementary school in Fairfax County VA. I'm running the Bananas In A Box program for kindergarten by Kathleen Harness. The bananas spin around according to their scripts Banana Forward by 12, Banana turn by 4 When they get into the box, a counter should increment. This part I'm unsure how to do. Box has a field called "count" under the "collections" field. I don't see how to increment this. So I created a variable for Box called "counter". I create a script within, or coming from, the Box viewer: Test: if Box's color sees yellow (of the banana), increment my variable counter by 1. I run the 'all scripts' box, but this new 'incrementer' script from Box is not included. Only the banana scripts are in the 'all scripts' box. So the counter variable script does not run when a banana goes into the box. THanks for any help, Randy Latimer

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Re: [squeakland] NYTimes.com: Out to Lure Audiences to Liszt et al.
by R.D. Latimer 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

Here's the link to the website, I think http://www.sfskids.org/templates/sitemap.asp?pageid=19 On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 6:29 AM, <carnen(a)mac.com> wrote: > [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/> [image: > E-mail This] <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=global.ny…> > *This page was sent to you by: * carnen(a)mac.com > > Message from sender: > In this article: "The symphony has also developed an interactive game for > its children's Web site ." Best regards, Carlos Rabassa > > * U.S. * | August 26, 2011 > * The Bay Citizen: Out to Lure Audiences to Liszt et al. > <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/us/26bcculture.html?emc=eta1> * > By KEVIN BERGER > Michael Tilson Thomas believes that classical musical remains relevant and > that orchestras must do a better job of proving that to young people. > Copyright 2011 > <http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html> The New York > Times Company <http://www.nytco.com/> | Privacy Policy<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/privacy.html> > > > _______________________________________________ > squeakland mailing list > squeakland(a)squeakland.org > http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland > >

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NYTimes.com: Out to Lure Audiences to Liszt et al.
by carnen＠mac.com 26 Aug '11

26 Aug '11

This page was sent to you by: carnen(a)mac.com. In this article: \"The symphony has also developed an interactive game for its children's Web site .\" Best regards, Carlos Rabassa U.S. | August 26, 2011 The Bay Citizen: Out to Lure Audiences to Liszt et al. By KEVIN BERGER Michael Tilson Thomas believes that classical musical remains relevant and that orchestras must do a better job of proving that to young people. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/us/26bcculture.html?emc=eta1 ---------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS E-MAIL This e-mail was sent to you by a friend through NYTimes.com's E-mail This Article service. For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help(a)nytimes.com. NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Copyright 2011 The New York Times Company

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How can you make a graphic in Etoys transparent?
by Steve Thomas 03 Aug '11

03 Aug '11

How can you specify the alpha for a sketch? I was using the Fractionator as described in this post<http://mrstevesscience.blogspot.com/2011/08/fraction-day-day-34-is-it-half-…> and it would be nice to be able to set the sketch's transparency. I can add an extra transparent playfield (which shows the gridlines even when alpha=0, which is nice) but the ability to set a sketch's alpha would be useful. Stephen

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squeakland August 2011