Python in politics (sssssssssnake!)

[Fiona Czuczman]

Hi Kirby,

Your mail got me thinking...

I've just started trying to teach my 9 year old son how to program, I
choose Python because I'm trying to learn it as well....

He thinks he is 'cool', and I quote 

- "I'm not here to make (make dinner) I'm here to program" - in an
attempt to get out of helping me with the cooking.

body actions of a super hero (muscle flex left and right arms :) ....
hopefully I'll be able to maintain that level of enthusiasm.  Do all you
guys do that?? <g>

I'd be interested if there are guidelines somewhere for parents to teach
their kids how to code?  When it comes to 9 year olds the tutorials are
pretty scary ... maybe I should start working on that? Is anyone
actively working on that now...?

Thanks,

Fiona 

Kirby Urner wrote:
> 
> Something from another newsgroup but mentions Python, so I
> elected to cross-post (to the CIA group as well, because of
> the InQTel thing)[1].  For more context re the below, check:
> 
> http://www.egroups.com/message/synergeo/1319
> http://www.egroups.com/message/synergeo/1321
> 
> Also my "Math Makeover" homepage at:
> http://www.teleport.com/~pdx4d/makeover0.html
> 
> The basic idea is to remix education topics to come up
> with more robust synergies (blah blah) i.e. get more
> kids doing Python programming around polyhedra, while
> watching TV shows which show how life in a Fly's Eye
> dome might be exciting, and useful to others (ala 'ER').
> 
> Kirby
> 4D Solutions
> .projects: videogrammatron, synergetics, philosophers network
> 
> [1] http://www.in-q-tel.com/
> 
> Note: changed "Malthusian" to "Malthusian-minded" for a
> better read.
> 
> =========================================================================
> 
> Newsgroups:   bit.listserv.geodesic
> Date:         Fri, 28 Jul 2000 09:37:43 -0700
> Reply-To:     List for the discussion of Buckminster Fuller's works
>               <GEODESIC at LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
> Sender:       List for the discussion of Buckminster Fuller's works
>               <GEODESIC at LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
> From:         Kirby Urner <pdx4d at TELEPORT.COM>
> Subject:      Re: more late night synergetics
> Comments: cc: synergeo at egroups.com
> To:           GEODESIC at LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
> 
> At 08:55 AM 07/28/2000 -0700, Dick Fischbeck wrote:
> >Kirby-This is getting close to language I can really
> >grab onto.  Would you rewrite this piece, say so that
> >an average sixth-grade could get it?
> >Thanks,
> >Dick
> 
> I think for TV-immersed 6th graders these ideas would
> work best if presented as video with computer graphics.
> 
> What we need is a databank of short videoclips,
> averaging under a minute in length, and retrievable
> by key word.  You string these together or call them
> up in response to student questions.  Hypertext
> interface.  Distribution is by CDROM or DVD.
> 
> In the USA, the Department of Education and DARPA
> should be pumping bucks into some prototypes, in
> consortium with the private sector (the corporations
> need not always be USA-based e.g. Sony), to catalyze
> a renaissance in education.  A presidential candidate
> who doesn't speak in definite, clear terms about how
> she or he plans to revamp education is just blowing
> smoke, trying to get elected without doing the
> requisite homework.
> 
> DARPA previously funded a "Computer Programming for
> Everybody" initiative (CP4E) designed to get more
> programming into the schools, with the Python language
> spearheading the effort.[1]  That grant has long since
> run out, and is small change next to what's needed
> to spark imaginations around design science concepts
> more generally.
> 
> Hollywood needs to get into the act, casting stars
> against a backdrop of futuristic artifacts that exists
> as working prototypes, not simply as phoney props or
> stage magician special effects.  The game of brand
> placement (embedding logos in the actual programs,
> vs. separating out into separate advertising segments)
> will make a lot of sense in this context, as corporations
> vie with one another to prove their sponsorship of
> the "sexiest future" (e.g. Fly's Eye air-liftable
> utility pods, wired to cyberspace and staffed by
> youngsters with heavy duty real world responsibilities,
> ala ER -- real time camera access via webcam and TV
> segments (this is not a new theme for me -- shows
> like 'Survivor' bring us closer)).
> 
> We're in dire need of a realistic futurism, an
> attainable positive tomorrow.  Because a self-indulgent
> and Malthusian-minded academia has fallen down on the
> job (by and large), Federation pseudo-Science ala
> Star Trek has been allowed to fill the cultural
> void, holding out the prospect of a high tech future,
> but using mumbo jumbo concepts instead of hard
> science-math, leaving kids to fantasize helplessly
> about some 24th century, while Spaceship Earth
> meanwhile remains in the grip of obsolete power
> structures, desparate to hang on to power (the
> Napster fracas being just the tip of the iceberg
> vis-a-vis that juggernaut).[2]
> 
> A lot of intellectuals overseas are well-aware of
> how USA politicos are consistently and concertedly
> ignoring their leadership responsibilities, which
> include inspiring positive future visions, vs. simply
> serving as the puppets and task masters of those
> who see humans as little more than exploitable
> consumers.  This has the effect or eroding the
> credibility and even the comprehensibility of the
> political leadership.  Why don't they make any
> sense?
> 
> Education is from the inside out, but the inner world
> has been left in the hands of media manipulators who
> fill heads with cheap googoo-brained claptrap,
> whatever it takes to create a new generation of mall
> rats and fast food junkies.  The USA, such as it
> still exists, is working to counter that diet, with
> healthful content -- design science based positive
> future imagery, backed up with real math and
> science, being chief among the vitamins and
> minerals we need to firm up our jello-brained
> culture.
> 
> We should start a race to see which presidential
> candidate we can get to say "Buckminster Fuller"
> on TV first.  The Republicans have an edge, because
> President Reagan awarded Bucky the Medal of Freedom.
> But Gore is into the internet, and that's a relevant
> segue to design science as well.  Nader is highly
> critical of corporations ala 'Grunch of Giants'
> and so has plenty of hooks.  There's nothing stopping
> any of these campaigns from jumping on the design
> science bandwagon and demonstrating some ability
> to point towards a positive future for all humanity.
> Any candidate who fails to lead the way to a better
> tomorrow ipso facto fails the minimum test for
> leadership ability, in my book.
> 
> Kirby
> 
> [1] CP4E: http://www.python.org/doc/essays/cp4e.html
> [2] http://www.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2000/07/27/napster_shutdown/index.html

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