[Edu-sig] Looking towards Pycon 2006

[Kirby Urner]

OK, so yes, my SIGCSE thing was rejected.  In retrospect I shouldn't have
fussed with that word counter (Word has one built in; in Vi/Vim you could
just use wc in bash mode).  I should have fleshed it all out verbosely in
the submitted PDF, since the primary reason I was denied access (to would-be
workshop attendees, laptops locked and loaded), was that reviewers didn't
already know what this would be like (exactly what computer graphics?
exactly what mathematics?).  Now from my point of view, that's precisely
*why* they might have invited me:  to find out what.  I feel that was a
primary motivation for the 2005 EuroPython trip for example:  frank
curiosity, a willingness to give me a platform.  These Texas people weren't
even offering to be that generous.  So maybe there's a *reason* the
Scandinavians seem to know what's going on?

Anyway... 

Sorry, I was starting to spiral out there for a sec.

Back to the matter at hand, I'm heading into a 9 week commitment today,
that'll give me lots of classroom time teaching Python.  Since Thanksgiving
comes next week, and kids have off, I'll just be in preview mode today,
hitting the highlights, talking up the likely job-relevance of Python, among
other things, even though these kids are still in 8th grade.  Call it
reassurance.

A layer of mission critical Python apps have been and/or are being laid down
even as we speak (in Zope & Plone world for one, but also in so many other
walks of life).  That's not the major reason to learn Python (i.e. is a
reason to learn *any* language still in charge of vital machinery, including
Mumps and FORTRAN -- the former being a factor in much of my hospital work),
but it's still a reason.  I'll also be sharing that O'Reilly wall poster
chart showing the many interesting languages that company tracks, a time
line designed to show influences and fork-offs, not just birth and/or death
dates.

Addendum:  

Conference organizers now have the option to solicit video clip samples, as
a part of the standard speaker's application form, such that reviewers might
not only look at PDFs, but could preview talent much as they do on American
Idol, i.e. with a critical eye.  Of course many speakers on these circuits
are already superstars with cult followings, and have many slick samples
ready to share.  Others, like me, have relatively few tracks in the archive.
Like, I have this one of me talking about the Bucky stuff, but Python is
nowhere explicitly mentioned, except you'll think maybe some of the computer
graphics might have Python behind them (and you'd be right about that):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2137134480771470882

Kirby "Blog Man" Urner

Current blogs:
"Grain of Sand"
"Bizmo Diaries"
"Control Room"
all @ Google's Blogspot.com