Thanks for the positive feedback, Stephane -- delighted you find it an improvement!

best regards to you, Kim

On Sep 11, 2008, at 12:19 PM, stéphane ducasse wrote:

Good work as we would say in Europe Amazing in US version :) Sorry seriously really good. much better than the pinkish old one

Stef On Sep 11, 2008, at 6:26 PM, Kim Rose wrote:

...

Greetings!

Many of you have started, or will shortly be starting, a new academic year at your school or University. We wish you a successful and fun-filled new school year!

We have just launched our new Etoys web site to coincide with the new academic year. It is still found at "www.squeakland.org", but its design and content are all new. It features a brand-new version of Etoys for download, which we will announce in a separate message.

We hope you'll find the new site simpler to navigate, more straightforward in sharing our message, and loaded with helpful content. New materials include complete video from the "Squeakers" DVD and a series of "screencast" lessons, thanks to Tim Falconer of Waveplace. You'll also find some new tutorials and a showcase of projects. Also on the site are web versions of over 50 "QuickGuides", created by Kathleen Harness of Illinois, which provide concise tutorials for many things about Etoys. Living versions of the QuickGuides can also be found "inboard" in the new Etoys application itself (click on the ? at the left edge of the tool-bar).

The "showcase" section on the new site has very few projects on it at this point -- please share your projects to help populate this area!

We intend the site to be a living, continuously-evolving resource, a showcase and clearinghouse for "all things about Etoys." Please help it evolve and grow. The site will be largely maintained and supported by volunteers, so we need your contributions as well as your suggestions.

We will also be producing a quarterly newsletter that will be posted to the site (and sent to you via email if you choose to subscribe) so please share your experiences with us!

Thanks to you all for your interest in this learning community. We look forward to exchanging ideas, projects, and more.

regards, Kim Rose & the Etoys team

---

Squeakland mailing list Squeakland@squeakland.org http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland

On 2008 September 12, Ron Teitelbaum wrote:

Hi Kim,

It's really great. Nice work everyone! I really loved the showcase. I installed the plugin and it worked great.

Hi Ron,

do you mean the Squeak HTTP plugin, and if so, did you find it on the new pages? I want to update all my browsers with the new version of it, but could not find it.(Well perhaps it is part of the install on the download page but I only have .rpm based systems so far so did not try it yet) -Thanks

Kim, the new site is really cool. It is nice to have a recent blogging activity, maybe it would be easier to keep it fresh long term if students and users can blog about their etoys experience. The Http plugin can be a railway to users, it would be nice to have eToys HTTP plugin on http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/

Milan

On 2008 September 15, Michael Rueger wrote:

Milan Zimmermann wrote:

...

do you mean the Squeak HTTP plugin, and if so, did you find it on the new pages? I want to update all my browsers with the new version of it, but could not find it.(Well perhaps it is part of the install on the download page but I only have .rpm based systems so far so did not try it yet) -Thanks

RPM based installer is coming up soon.

Thanks! - is the squeak http plugin part of the install?

Michael

On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 3:19 AM, Timothy Falconer timothy@immuexa.comwrote:

On Sep 12, 2008, at 10:11 PM, Bill Kerr wrote:

the introductory images give a primary school feel but there is a section indicating it is appropriate for older ages: http://www.squeakland.org/showcase/byAge/ (first visual impressions can be very important)

Do you mean the pastel illustrations? We tried very hard to create custom illustrations that would appeal to primary school ages while not turning off teenagers. It's a difficult balancing act, one that I think our illustrator did well with. The illos are kid-like, but with a high enough quality to convey professionalism and depth. Similar styles are used in corporate marketing and elsewhere ... to convey a friendlier, more human, appeal.

hi tim,

Yes, I was referring to the pastel illustrations. On the other hand, the car animation on the home page I think will appeal to teens. Teens are edgy, wannabe adults. Many of them are not looking for soft pastel.

I just looked at the scratch and gamemaker (commercial site) home pages to see how they approach this issue. You get the impression there of busy action, lots of different types of projects being made, suitable for different age levels. They address this issue by simply displaying a variety of current games / projects on their home page. http://www.yoyogames.com/make http://scratch.mit.edu/

Waveplace banner is professional, "soft" but there is contrast there with rough and ready kids (does the middle one have a tooth missing?) and down below more kids engrossed in xos.

Not to detract I hope from the huge improvement on the previous squeakland site in terms of organisation and presentation of materials. I'm currently using the car project pdfs, introducing etoys to my year 10 class.

Take care, Tim

-- Timothy Falconer http://bigfractaltangle.com 610-393-1889 mobile

Immuexa Corporation http://immuexa.com 610-797-3100

On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 11:54 PM, Timothy Falconer timothy@immuexa.comwrote:

On Sep 15, 2008, at 9:23 PM, Bill Kerr wrote:

Teens are edgy, wannabe adults. Many of them are not looking for soft

...

pastel.

This is often true for teenage boys in some areas (US, etc) , but not others (Caribbean, Africa, Japan, etc). Might seem like a bigger demographic because GameMaker appeals to teenage boys :) It's also hard to do edgy without requiring more frequent design updates to keep trendy (otherwise run the risk of looking out-of-date.) The current site will likely stay fresh in style for 5+ years.

They address this issue by simply displaying a variety of current games /

...

projects on their home page

There's always a tradeoff here ... you can also make the case that just as many first-time visitors are *lost* because of those busy home pages. Imagine technically timid teachers and girls saying "not for me" on the GameMaker site. (I certainly can.)

Good points, Tim. Thanks. It would be worthwhile doing some more cross cultural investigation. (We have a few edgy African refugees in my school - surprised they are not more edgy given what many have been through). My argument all along was to appeal to the full spectrum, not one section of it. I agree that GameMaker does appeal more to boys than girls.