From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sat Apr 2 20:16:44 2011 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2011 11:16:44 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] demented Python... Message-ID: In calling something "demented" I'm coming off the namespace used around genres of cartoon. Cartoons I'd consider demented: Pinky and the Brain Ren and Stimpy Teenage Aqua Hunger Force (Kevin Altis of PythonCard a fan) SpongeBob SquarePants ... (see clips on Youtube for any/all) Synonyms for demented: zany, surreal Relevant: links to "grossology" in EuroPython presentation: http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/connectingthedots.pdf (see string.Template Mad Libs) Likewise, Demented Python serves a didactic function, here to remind about the decorator: def sillystrip( f ): if f.__doc__: f.__doc__ = "Your function has been hacked!" else: f.__doc__ = "You should always have a docstring." return f @sillystrip def square( x ): """could also be a triangle""" return x * x def _test(): frank = 2 joe = square (frank) # frank is kinda square print("Hello Joe, Frank here.") print(square.__doc__) if __name__ == "__main__": _test() Usage: >>> ================================ RESTART ================================ >>> Hello Joe, Frank here. Your function has been hacked! Then comment out the docstring in the def of square. >>> ================================ RESTART ================================ >>> Hello Joe, Frank here. You should always have a docstring. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sat Apr 2 20:29:57 2011 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2011 11:29:57 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] demented Python... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sat, Apr 2, 2011 at 11:16 AM, kirby urner wrote: > > In calling something "demented" I'm coming off > the namespace used around genres of cartoon. > > Cartoons I'd consider demented: > > Pinky and the Brain > Ren and Stimpy > Teenage Aqua Hunger Force (Kevin Altis of PythonCard a fan) > Oops: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Teen_Hunger_Force PythonCard: a first (and brilliant) attempt to make cross-platform GUI programming easy with wxPython, Robin Dunn's wrapping of wxWidgets (earlier named wxWindows). SpongeBob SquarePants > ... > and let's not forget an all time favorite: Duckman (too offensive for some on Diversity I'd warrant) Kirby on a Saturday Morning (a customary time for such streaming) Relevant: Mad Magazine, Crumb... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From echerlin at gmail.com Sun Apr 3 05:36:05 2011 From: echerlin at gmail.com (Edward Cherlin) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2011 23:36:05 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] demented Python... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sat, Apr 2, 2011 at 14:16, kirby urner wrote: > > In calling something "demented" I'm coming off > the namespace used around genres of cartoon. > Cartoons I'd consider demented: > Pinky and the Brain and their hosts, the Animaniacs > Ren and Stimpy > Teenage Aqua Hunger Force (Kevin Altis of PythonCard a fan) Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Number 1 in the hood, man) > SpongeBob SquarePants > ... Spaceghost Coast-to-Coast Sealab 2021 Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law Invader Zim South Park The Simpsons Futurama Family Guy Huri-kuri Suupaa Miruku Chan (Super Milk Chan) Bobobo-bo-bobobo Urusai Yatsura and, as you say, ..., in a tradition going back to Aristophanes, and to distant prehistory. Saw a flea Kick a tree, Fubba-wubba Fubba-wubba. Saw a flea kick a tree, Fubba-wubba John. Saw a flea Kick a tree In the middle of the sea, Singin' Old Blind Drunk John, Fubba-wubba John. > (see clips on Youtube for any/all) > Synonyms for demented: ?zany, surreal > Relevant: ?links to "grossology" in EuroPython > presentation: > http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/connectingthedots.pdf > (see string.Template Mad Libs) > Likewise, Demented Python serves a didactic function, > here to remind about the decorator: > def sillystrip( f ): > ?? ?if f.__doc__: > ?? ? ? ?f.__doc__ = "Your function has been hacked!" > ?? ?else: > ?? ? ? ?f.__doc__ = "You should always have a docstring." > ?? ?return f > @sillystrip > def square( x ): > ?? ?"""could also be a triangle""" > ?? ?return x * x > def _test(): > ?? ?frank = 2 > ?? ?joe = square (frank) ?# frank is kinda square > ?? ?print("Hello Joe, Frank here.") > ?? ?print(square.__doc__) > > if __name__ == "__main__": > ?? ?_test() > > Usage: >>>> ================================ RESTART >>>> ================================ >>>> > Hello Joe, Frank here. > Your function has been hacked! > Then comment out the docstring in the def of square. >>>> ================================ RESTART >>>> ================================ >>>> > Hello Joe, Frank here. > You should always have a docstring. Defensive programming: Case: True:... Case: False:... Else: Print("This can't happen.") > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig -- Edward Mokurai (??/???????????????/????????????? ?) Cherlin Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. http://www.earthtreasury.org/ From kb1pkl at aim.com Sun Apr 3 11:39:10 2011 From: kb1pkl at aim.com (Corey Richardson) Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:39:10 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] demented Python... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4D98403E.1080200@aim.com> On 04/02/2011 02:16 PM, kirby urner wrote: > Likewise, Demented Python serves a didactic function, > here to remind about the decorator: > > def sillystrip( f ): > if f.__doc__: > f.__doc__ = "Your function has been hacked!" > else: > f.__doc__ = "You should always have a docstring." > return f > > @sillystrip > def square( x ): > """could also be a triangle""" > return x * x > > def _test(): > frank = 2 > joe = square (frank) # frank is kinda square > print("Hello Joe, Frank here.") > print(square.__doc__) > > if __name__ == "__main__": > _test() Did you see the PyCon2011 video on obfuscating python? http://blip.tv/file/4881220 -- Corey Richardson From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sun Apr 3 19:24:50 2011 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2011 10:24:50 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] demented Python... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: > > > Spaceghost Coast-to-Coast > Sealab 2021 > Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law > Invader Zim > South Park > Team America: World Police (by South Park Studios -- quite demented) > The Simpsons > Futurama > Family Guy > American Dad also a favorite > Huri-kuri > Suupaa Miruku Chan (Super Milk Chan) > Bobobo-bo-bobobo > Urusai Yatsura > and, as you say, ..., in a tradition going back to Aristophanes, and > to distant prehistory. > And a way of teaching that helps some people (more than others maybe) in part because of the resonance with very youthful experience (relearning about body fluids, "grossology"), and in part because of the hard-to-forget imagery (Hieronymus Bosch is also somewhat demented). 'The Art of Memory' by Francis Yates and related tomes draws many links between mnemonics and making an impression through the arts. This hermetic tradition has fed into memetics and advertising (PR, propaganda), as well as spatial data management GUIs. I'd say we're at the other end of the spectrum from a lot of engineering pedagogy however, which seeks the least offensive, abstract, diagrammatic and/or neutral tones. The hallmark of a Springer-Verlag publication is to be scrubbed clean of anything too quirky. My paradigm Snake class, with its eat and poop methods, is already too scatological for "serious adult" learning according to many publishing codes. A workaround (sometimes) when working with adults in a workshop setting, is to say "this is what tends to work with younger kids" (not a lie), at which point they give themselves more permission to get into it, from the safe distance of using curriculum materials intended for a different audience, not for them. I've seen my use of Madlibs as a way of doing string substitution spread to other campuses. String substitution is the basis of templating, such as when outputting web pages or other "driver" codes such as scene description language (POV-Ray) or VRML / x3d (still under utilized in high schools, thanks to the absence of a real digital math track). Behind the scenes, you may look at the megatrend of "biological computation" becoming respectable talk in complexity science (dynamical systems, chaos, Santa Fe Institute) which is rather well established here in Portland as well, through Portland State's "systems" degree program. When ant hills, immune systems, reproducing animals, are identified as "computational" in nature, you start to get more of a cross (hybrid) between metallic science (metallurgy, silicon) and what we might call "slime" (collagen). The feng shui or alchemy among the disciplines is always shifting. It's what's happening in medical science more generally, with more prosthetics and implants, more combinations of biological and synthetic / electronic. A movie that deliberately mixes computer and biological aspects of life (playing up the "grossology") is the (quite demented) 'eXistenZ'. I kept remarking on that film in a recent staff meeting. It wouldn't surprise me if the computer curriculum drifted more into this life sciences vein in part because of the accessibility of CA (cellular automata) to beginners, starting with the Game of Life (of course) and Wolfram's NKS type algorithms (easy to implement and get somewhat grandiose about, but in academically respectable ways). The popularity of the 'Sims' genre is another draw. Each Sim is an object, yet there are clear templates (classes) involved. 'Spore' is another one. Genetic algorithms, agent-based search strategies... lots of concurrency and parallelism. I feel I have a somewhat front row seat on these issues given I'm tutoring someone in the PSU systems department in Python, work for an outfit connected to Wolfram's, and have a history with this "demented cartoons" as pedagogical meme (traces to Mad Magazine and underground comics, not just TV of course). Portland is a center for this kind of animation as well (at least culturally). Bill Plympton is from around here, as is Matt Groening. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Plympton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Groening Here's some typical "chaos Python" with overt ties to PSU's curriculum, where Melanie is currently on faculty: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/5583591181/in/set-72157625646071793/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/5583936921/in/set-72157625646071793/ I've also sought to make the "cartoony" aspects of Python come more alive in the "person" of the PSF snake, a stuffed animal totem. She is developing a character and a history. She's a somewhat rough, street wise, earthy, good natured old girl, who may not always know who the father is (true in the case of Adonis at least, probably that python in Florida, although he looks a lot like a cobra...) http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/5584177622/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/5583588365/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/3988841020/in/photostream/ Kirby > Saw a flea > Kick a tree, > Fubba-wubba > Fubba-wubba. > Saw a flea > kick a tree, > Fubba-wubba John. > Saw a flea > Kick a tree > In the middle > of the sea, > Singin' Old Blind Drunk John, > Fubba-wubba John. > > > (see clips on Youtube for any/all) > > Synonyms for demented: zany, surreal > > Relevant: links to "grossology" in EuroPython > > presentation: > > http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/connectingthedots.pdf > > (see string.Template Mad Libs) > > Likewise, Demented Python serves a didactic function, > > here to remind about the decorator: > > def sillystrip( f ): > > if f.__doc__: > > f.__doc__ = "Your function has been hacked!" > > else: > > f.__doc__ = "You should always have a docstring." > > return f > > @sillystrip > > def square( x ): > > """could also be a triangle""" > > return x * x > > def _test(): > > frank = 2 > > joe = square (frank) # frank is kinda square > > print("Hello Joe, Frank here.") > > print(square.__doc__) > > > > if __name__ == "__main__": > > _test() > > > > Usage: > >>>> ================================ RESTART > >>>> ================================ > >>>> > > Hello Joe, Frank here. > > Your function has been hacked! > > Then comment out the docstring in the def of square. > >>>> ================================ RESTART > >>>> ================================ > >>>> > > Hello Joe, Frank here. > > You should always have a docstring. > > Defensive programming: > > Case: True:... > Case: False:... > Else: Print("This can't happen.") > > I actually see quite a bit of this design pattern in beginning programs: if a < b: elif a > b: elif a == b: else: -- though it's often a try/except that might be more realistic, e.g. complex numbers don't have ordering, just equality, making them more nominal than ordinal in some ways (though subsets may be ordered, and | c | will define equivalence classes. > _______________________________________________ > > Edu-sig mailing list > > Edu-sig at python.org > > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > -- > Edward Mokurai (??/???????????????/????????????? ?) Cherlin > Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. > The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. > http://www.earthtreasury.org/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kurner at oreillyschool.com Mon Apr 4 20:28:00 2011 From: kurner at oreillyschool.com (Kirby Urner) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 11:28:00 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] demented Python... In-Reply-To: <4D98403E.1080200@aim.com> References: <4D98403E.1080200@aim.com> Message-ID: On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 2:39 AM, Corey Richardson wrote: > On 04/02/2011 02:16 PM, kirby urner wrote: > > Likewise, Demented Python serves a didactic function, > > here to remind about the decorator: > > > > def sillystrip( f ): > > if f.__doc__: > > f.__doc__ = "Your function has been hacked!" > > else: > > f.__doc__ = "You should always have a docstring." > > return f > > > > @sillystrip > > def square( x ): > > """could also be a triangle""" > > return x * x > > > > def _test(): > > frank = 2 > > joe = square (frank) # frank is kinda square > > print("Hello Joe, Frank here.") > > print(square.__doc__) > > > > if __name__ == "__main__": > > _test() > > Did you see the PyCon2011 video on obfuscating python? > http://blip.tv/file/4881220 > > Just checked this out, thanks for the pointer. One of the most zany aspects was he's introduced as Rev. (Reverend) yet makes no reference to this in his biographical remarks, nor does anyone bring it up in the Q&A out of curiosity -- just not that curious I guess, or everyone already knows (Subgenius?), or no one really cares (Pycons are notoriously accepting of Diversity -- you could probably give a talk naked and no one would raise an eyebrow). I draw a vertical and horizontal axis and label these "lore" and "technical stuff" respectively, then draw a curve representing the event horizon or standard bandwidth of the listener / learner (attender). http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/p4t_notes.pdf (page 3) This talk (Obfuscated Python) was super-duper to the technical end with hints at lore, such as when he talks about other languages and Curry Haskell in particular (Turing Machine etc.). One hallmark of a super technical talk is you want to rewind and stare at the code. Everything seems to go by too quickly. You focus and concentrate on the technical aspects to the exclusion of all else, which comes across as a distraction (unwanted noise). When you boost the lore component, you get more storytelling and it's more like those trade books for adults that purport to explain math and/or physics but contain nary an equation, or just a few to help boost the self esteem (self confidence) of the reader. On the other hand, other types of artistry may be on display, such as foreshadowing, character development, plot twists of various kinds, tone and texture (look and feel). The humanities have their liberal arts and crafts. It's not like optimizing bandwidth is a new challenge or that symbols became powerful only in our lifetimes. Once you try to capture this stuff (hermeneutics) and teach it, you get into semantic networks, ontologies, diagrams every bit as technical... (film and theater production are not devoid of technical tips and tricks, or lets talk about advertising) so there's a kind of Mobius strip at work (the art of Paul Laffoley comes to mind, for me, at this juncture, as both technical and lore-filled). Take Sesame Street as another good example. There's really not much stress understanding the Letter A in the first place, once you've memorized your alphabet, the presumed technical content of a Sesame Street short is far from overwhelming. It's designed for stay-at-home guardians as well, who need to vacuum, putter about the house, while Big Bird holds forth. Imagine absorbing computer science concepts, along with more of STEM, from similar video clips. Youtube already offers plenty of opportunities. And yet the lore takes up plenty of bandwidth and leaves most viewers more satisfied than bored. The whole point of television is to make "day dreaming" (so necessary when chalkboards and droning pedants are involved) quasi-unnecessary. The tube replaces your dreams with its own. Of course that may serve insidious and/or subversive ends (a nation of zombies), but this doesn't detract from my point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GN_Qv79nnI (the "cult of cute" in Japanese animation -- scatological) Upshot: Python andragogy and pedagogy will develop along different lineages. I'm pioneering zaniness as a useful component, which takes me in the direction of certain kinds of animation we might see on Python.tv someday. Vi Hart's stuff is somewhat zany, but not over the top. Mathematicians have long ties to the surreal, Alice in Wonderland being the work of a logician. OLPC gets somewhat zany in places, without paying too high a price. It's a fine line. A tinge of darkness for happy camper campfire stories: http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/olpc_cia_conspiracy_theory.html http://www.olpcnews.com/prototypes/xo/olpc_xo_icon_say.html Towards the higher end, those on the PSF list know I like to rope in Greek mythology and play up the Python's importance to Athena's cult (also Nike's: "Just Use It"). I'm roughly following what's known as the Parthenon Code among conspiracy theorists, which piggy-backs on the better known Da Vinci Code in terms of gaining name recognition and notoriety. Kirby > -- > Corey Richardson > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From calcpage at aol.com Mon Apr 11 03:11:23 2011 From: calcpage at aol.com (A. Jorge Garcia) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:11:23 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] NEW: Blogs, Videos and Donorschoose! In-Reply-To: <8CDAB50873E1B8D-23D8-5EBE@webmail-d138.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CDAB50873E1B8D-23D8-5EBE@webmail-d138.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CDC5FC8252106C-FFC-24415@webmail-d026.sysops.aol.com> Please enjoy my latest blogs! http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2011/04/updates-updates-and-then-more-updates.html http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2011/04/yes-veronica-you-to-can-you-tube.html http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2011/03/edmodo-update-social-network-for-your.html http://cistheta.blogspot.com/2011/03/cistheta-meeting-xii-2010-2011_26.html Here's some new preCalculus screen-casts (Matrices, Non Linear Systems, Linear Programming)! http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 Here's some documentaries I copies from old VHS tapes for YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/cistheta2007 HTH, A. Jorge Garcia Applied Math and CompSci http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sun Apr 17 17:34:47 2011 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2011 08:34:47 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)? Message-ID: sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2009/02/supy-scripting-sketchup-in-python.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vceder at gmail.com Sun Apr 17 18:08:56 2011 From: vceder at gmail.com (Vern Ceder) Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2011 12:08:56 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Now, that's a cool idea! I'll have to pass that along to our engineering class, which uses sketchup some... Thanks, Vern On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 11:34 AM, kirby urner wrote: > > sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2009/02/supy-scripting-sketchup-in-python.html > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > -- Vern Ceder vceder at gmail.com, vceder at dogsinmotion.com The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sun Apr 17 22:14:29 2011 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:14:29 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I've been going through Ruby tutorials this morning, trying to decide if the easiest way to program Sketchup is to use Ruby first, then mentally translate to Python and start using that. It's a real question, because all the documentation is about Ruby, given SuPy is a tiny pioneering project that I wouldn't have heard of had it not been for Driscoll the architect, one of my blog characters. The Ruby views got me into the language comparison Youtubes again, where the lore is getting passed on to a next generation. This guy thinks Python's debuggers aren't so great, but then in Python who needs to debug right, it just works the first time (kidding, only kidding here). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81WHD0IqheI&NR=1 (a guy with advice) Got there from here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPyJ-siBIls&feature=related (Bruce comparing languages) ... the volume level on these two YouTubes is huge. YouTubes much on my mind given how Google Video just reminded us they're taking down all Google Video content in about a month and making just a video search engine (not a hosting service). We were encouraged to migrate all our GVs to YT, which I've been doing. Here's what it looks like coding for Sketchup in Python: http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/greg.ewing/SuPy/doc/example.py Here's a useful video on just the Ruby aspect of things, and doing something pretty simple: random pulls on some bricks, to make 'em taller. Gets the ball rolling (the sphere doesn't come apart into triangles, is more the classical gore dome system per latitude / longitude). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq1YEaI2XlA I have consistently and for many years advocated that CS curricula highlight a minimum of two languages, because contrast is how to reinforce core concepts in either. You don't know what you're looking at until you have another to compare it two, at which point the concept of "zebra" starts to come into focus. Yes, a deliberate over-simplification, duh. By "contrast" I also mean close similarities, so perhaps should just say "differences". This guy's Ruby tutorial has a comfortably familiar sheen to it, for anyone used to Python: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6It5aK9mJi8&feature=related So yeah, a Ruby + Python course, where we think of Ruby + Python as "one language" (almost). Java/C# would be another combo. I've often written about Python / J, as I think the way J is communicated, as a grammar (complete with parts of speech) is worth the price of admission right there. However if you're a stats person, maybe Python / R would be your better bet? I've looked into Ruby before, including with its inventor at an OSCON, just haven't had much practical need for it. The Systems PhD program at PSU is one of the only one of its kind and connects to the kind of mathematics they promulgate through Santa Fe Institute (also Ralph Abraham has done a lot of related work, J.H Conway, D. Conway (the more brilliant of the two), and of course Wolfram as we all know). We've already done a lot of NKS stuff here on edu-sig, using John Zelle's graphics.py (an adapter for Tk). Whether Sketchup proves ideal for this work, let alone SuPy, remains to be seen of course. Plus I'm not the one doing the work -- am just an adviser. Students come from around the world attracted by Systems Science, but these multi-disciplinary subjects have been withering on the vine of late, or so some people tell me. Kirby Chaos Math: http://4dsolutions.net/ocn/hexapent.html (HP4E) http://4dsolutions.net/ocn/life.html (game of life adapted to hexapent) http://4dsolutions.net/ocn/fractals.html (Mandelbrot with PIL) http://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/2007-February/007736.html (NKS with Dr. Zelle's resource) Martian Math: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315 at N00/sets/72157622961425831/with/4863299407/ On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 9:08 AM, Vern Ceder wrote: > Now, that's a cool idea! I'll have to pass that along to our engineering > class, which uses sketchup some... > > Thanks, > Vern > > On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 11:34 AM, kirby urner wrote: > >> >> sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2009/02/supy-scripting-sketchup-in-python.html >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig at python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> >> > > > -- > Vern Ceder > vceder at gmail.com, vceder at dogsinmotion.com > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From missive at hotmail.com Mon Apr 18 23:45:44 2011 From: missive at hotmail.com (Lee Harr) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:15:44 +0430 Subject: [Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)? Message-ID: Is there an advantage to using SketchUp over Blender? I tried getting in to SketchUp a few times but I never got to the point where I could do anything very interesting. Also, it is not really free. SketchUp Pro cost about $500. Blender, on the other hand is totally free, and has Python built right in. There is an editor where you can write Python scripts. They have put in a huge amount of work on the Python API for their new 2.5 series. There is also an interactive interpreter window built in. From juhasecke at googlemail.com Tue Apr 19 08:32:26 2011 From: juhasecke at googlemail.com (Jan Ulrich Hasecke) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:32:26 +0200 Subject: [Edu-sig] PSF Brochure - call for submissions In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi all, I want to follow up on this. Edward sent us material about the OLPC and Sugar project. Thanks a lot for that! This is great for our education chapter. In our chapter about education we also want to show that Python is the best choice as first programming language. To prove this we need figures, if there are any. Do you know about any study (local, nation-wide, internationally) covering the effects of different programming languages on the outcome of teaching programming? Or do you know of any quote from a well known authority/specialist, which favors Pythons? If you know anyone who could help us in this respect, please send us the contact details or introduce us to him/her. Our contact email is: brochure at getpython dot info ====== Then? ====== Our first newsletter is out: http://brochure.getpython.info/news/newsletter-1-we-need-your-help It covers in detail what we are after. Thank you very much for your help so far. We'll need a lot more of it. Jan Ulrich Hasecke http://brochure.getpython.info From ufkapano at gmail.com Tue Apr 19 09:09:52 2011 From: ufkapano at gmail.com (Andrzej Kapanowski) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:09:52 +0200 Subject: [Edu-sig] PSF Brochure - call for submissions In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello, Please find my article on Python implementation of Algorithm X by Knuth http://arxiv.org/abs/1010.5890 Regards, Andrzej Kapanowski 2011/4/19 Jan Ulrich Hasecke > Hi all, > > I want to follow up on this. > > Edward sent us material about the OLPC and Sugar project. Thanks a lot > for that! This is great for our education chapter. > > In our chapter about education we also want to show that Python is the > best choice as first programming language. To prove this we need > figures, if there are any. > > Do you know about any study (local, nation-wide, internationally) > covering the effects of different programming languages on the outcome > of teaching programming? > > Or do you know of any quote from a well known authority/specialist, > which favors Pythons? > > If you know anyone who could help us in this respect, please send us the > contact details or introduce us to him/her. Our contact email is: > brochure at getpython dot info > > ====== > Then? > ====== > > Our first newsletter is out: > http://brochure.getpython.info/news/newsletter-1-we-need-your-help > > It covers in detail what we are after. > > > Thank you very much for your help so far. We'll need a lot more of it. > > Jan Ulrich Hasecke > http://brochure.getpython.info > > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirby.urner at gmail.com Wed Apr 20 06:31:48 2011 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:31:48 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 2:45 PM, Lee Harr wrote: > > Is there an advantage to using SketchUp over Blender? > Hi Lee -- I've been meaning to reply to this. I have only the utmost respect for Blender, which I've tackled a number of times. I mostly cut my teeth on POV-Ray (stills, but with loop constructs and frame saving), then VRML (+ XML = x3D), then some other formats, the key theme (for me) being simple spatial geometry, like the rhombic triacontahedron and like that. Here's there weirdo kind of stuff that gets me going: http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2008/12/coffee-shops-network.html (top one by me, bottom by Russell Towle) Actually, it hadn't really occurred to me to compare them, as I think of Sketchup as 3D etcha-sketch, whereas Blender is more about multiple objects with independent motion, or at least has that ability. But then I suppose Sketchup, programmed in Ruby or Python, does have this ability to run more of a movie, more than before. [1] I'm awed by this movie of Blender autogenerating whole cities, ala 'Inception', something I'd put beyond the bounds of even Sketchup Pro, but I could be mistaken (none of my current friends seem to have it). One possible advantage of SketchUp is the awesome on-line library of contributed buildings, other structures, which you can just download and snarf. My friend Trevor has been productive with Sketchup, in doing this retro-seeming movie of a never-realized concept in housing (looks like Uru, or that Island in Myst [2]). http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2009/11/4d-house.html John Driscoll picks up on a lot of the same themes (similar architectural memes): http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2010/05/architect.html As for myself, I came down in Visual Python, which is hard to beat for easy of use right out of the box: >>> from visual import * >>> sphere(radius=1) and bammo!, you've got an interactive window open in OpenGL. Arthur and I used to argue about whether it oughta be in the Standard Library. I took the conservative line and bellyached about bloat, but I secretly agree with him: VPython is one of the cardinal flagships, one of the major floats in the Python parade, worthy of its cheerleaders. Which isn't to say it couldn't do more. Will it record successive frames out to disk, at perhaps only a fraction of its rate in real time? I'm pretty sure not, yet that could be useful. Where there are frames, there are movies. > I tried getting in to SketchUp a few times but I never got > to the point where I could do anything very interesting. > > Also, it is not really free. SketchUp Pro cost about $500. > > Blender, on the other hand is totally free, and has > Python built right in. There is an editor where you > can write Python scripts. They have put in a huge > amount of work on the Python API for their new 2.5 > series. There is also an interactive interpreter window > built in. > You don't mention what you've been able to do with Blender. Cool stuff? The learning curve is pretty steep. I'm not thinking either/or. I'm thinking work out in Sketchup, get your feet wet, then move up to Blender maybe. Or take the VPython route. Or.... Kirby [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WaoImXPMtE ("got more, than we had before...") [2] Cyan Software / http://uru.us.ubi.com/ From missive at hotmail.com Wed Apr 20 23:37:14 2011 From: missive at hotmail.com (Lee Harr) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:07:14 +0430 Subject: [Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)? In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: > http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2008/12/coffee-shops-network.html (top > one by me, bottom by Russell Towle) You might like this talk from PyCon : PyCon 2011: Algorithmic Generation of OpenGL Geometry http://pycon.blip.tv/file/4882916/ > Actually, it hadn't really occurred to me to compare them, as I think > of Sketchup as 3D etcha-sketch, whereas Blender is more about multiple > objects with independent motion, or at least has that ability. I use Blender all the time for what I call "sketching." Maybe the limits of SketchUp are what I might feel if I were trying to use an etch-a-sketch for sketching. It would be terribly frustrating. > I'm awed by this movie of Blender autogenerating whole cities, ala > 'Inception' There are a lot of great python scripts and plugins for blender. I think that Make Human is mostly python: http://makehuman.blogspot.com/ (Possibly NSFW due to unclothed humans) > One possible advantage of SketchUp is the awesome on-line library of > contributed buildings, other structures, which you can just download > and snarf. There are lots of free blender resources available: http://www.blendswap.com/ I also found a way to bring SketchUp resources in to blender: http://sites.google.com/site/alexvaqp/sketchupblender > My friend Trevor has been productive with Sketchup, in doing this > retro-seeming movie of a never-realized concept in housing > John Driscoll picks up on a lot of the same themes Maybe I have just never had any use for architectural sketching. > As for myself, I came down in Visual Python, which is hard to beat for > easy of use right out of the box: I've used VPython before, but found it difficult to set up sometimes. > > I tried getting in to SketchUp a few times but I never got > > to the point where I could do anything very interesting. > You don't mention what you've been able to do with Blender. Cool > stuff? Mostly I use if for sketching robot designs: http://robotics.easthighschool.net/design0 http://robotics.easthighschool.net/design1 One nice thing there is that with just a bit more work, the robot can be driven around the arena in blender game mode. > The learning curve is pretty steep. I agree, somewhat. But I think that any 3D design tool is going to take quite a bit of work to master. > I'm not thinking > either/or. I'm thinking work out in Sketchup, get your feet wet, then > move up to Blender maybe. Or take the VPython route. Or.... I ran in to some resistance when I wanted students to learn blender. People were either saying "we already have SketchUp" but when I tried to use it I could not get it to do what I wanted. Or else they say "We have an Autodesk ___ license. We should use that." But like I was saying, these programs take a lot of time to master, so if students can install the program at home, or on any computer they happen to sit down at (portable apps) then they will have that much more time to work on it. For me, Blender suits just about perfectly. And the fact that they are so invested in Python just makes it all that much better! From missive at hotmail.com Fri Apr 22 23:35:34 2011 From: missive at hotmail.com (Lee Harr) Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:05:34 +0430 Subject: [Edu-sig] Platonic / Archimedean / Catalan Solids in Blender Message-ID: Hi; I know some of you like exploring geometry with Python. The latest Blender 2.57 includes a python add-on for generating a huge list of different types of geometric solids. To try it out, you need to enable the add-on. - start Blender - click on File -> User Preferences... - click on Add Ons near the top - click on Add Mesh on the left - check Add Mesh: Regular Solids ??? (Also, look around. Many other cool things available.) - close User Preferences window - click on Main menu -> Add -> Mesh -> Solids ?? (Can select specific solid, or just choose solid. ??? Panel will open on the left allowing real-time adjustments) So, now you may be interested in how this is done with Python. - in top menu, next to Help menu, mouse over until it says "Choose Screen lay-out" - click and choose Scripting - top left panel is Text editor, click Text -> Open - browse to blender install directory - click 2.57 -> scripts -> add-ons -> add_mesh_solid.py The scripts seem to be pretty well commented. You can make changes, click "Run Script" and a new menu will appear alongside the Solids menu running your changed code. From echerlin at gmail.com Sun Apr 24 02:25:31 2011 From: echerlin at gmail.com (Edward Cherlin) Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:25:31 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Platonic / Archimedean / Catalan Solids in Blender In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: 2011/4/22 Lee Harr : > > Hi; > > I know some of you like exploring geometry with Python. > > The latest Blender 2.57 includes a python add-on for generating > a huge list of different types of geometric solids. This is huge progress. Back when Tron was made, there was only one special-effects company that knew how to generate the stellated polyhedra for the Bit, a character that existed in only two visual states. Judson Rosebush did it in APL. Now there are a number of software packages that allow you to do it by a simple command or menu selection. > To try it out, you need to enable the add-on. > > - start Blender > - click on File -> User Preferences... > - click on Add Ons near the top > - click on Add Mesh on the left > - check Add Mesh: Regular Solids > ??? (Also, look around. Many other cool things available.) > - close User Preferences window > - click on Main menu -> Add -> Mesh -> Solids > ?? (Can select specific solid, or just choose solid. > ??? Panel will open on the left allowing real-time adjustments) > > > So, now you may be interested in how this is done with Python. > > - in top menu, next to Help menu, mouse over until it says "Choose Screen lay-out" > - click and choose Scripting > - top left panel is Text editor, click Text -> Open > - browse to blender install directory > - click 2.57 -> scripts -> add-ons -> add_mesh_solid.py > > > The scripts seem to be pretty well commented. > You can make changes, click "Run Script" and a new > menu will appear alongside the Solids menu running > your changed code. > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- Edward Mokurai (??/???????????????/????????????? ?) Cherlin Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. http://www.earthtreasury.org/ From kurner at oreillyschool.com Thu Apr 28 13:29:14 2011 From: kurner at oreillyschool.com (Kirby Urner) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 04:29:14 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] MOTD re CS Message-ID: Cutting and pasting the O'Reilly School of Technology server's MOTD: """ Computer science: (1) A study akin to numerology and astrology, but lacking the precision of the former and the success of the latter. (2) The protracted value analysis of algorithms. (3) The costly enumeration of the obvious. (4) The boring art of coping with a large number of trivialities. (5) Tautology harnessed in the service of Man at the speed of light. (6) The Post-Turing decline in formal systems theory. """ Tongue in cheek of course. Another one of those MOTDs went to a Wittgenstein list where I also post. Kirby PS: fodder for the Python Diversity list, except I won't be the one to post it: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/03/25/scott-adam-sexist-mens-rights/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: