Changes

It has often been argues by me (and many others) that view source is what made the web transparent and enabled any consumer of web content to become a producer. Indeed, this was the threshold through which a generation has passed—remix is a part of our culture, not just something for Trekkies and other fringe groups as observed by Henry Jenkins in the mid 1980s.

It has often been argues by me (and many others) that view source is what made the web transparent and enabled any consumer of web content to become a producer. Indeed, this was the threshold through which a generation has passed—remix is a part of our culture, not just something for Trekkies and other fringe groups as observed by Henry Jenkins in the mid 1980s.

I have been thinking about view source within the content of Turtle Art lately. I had gotten immersed in Turtle Art when some teachers on the Sur list began asking for some extensions. At the time I tried to get them to make the extensions themselves, but the floor was too high. I jumped in in order to document the process of modifying an Activity and also to try to understand first hand where the difficulties laid. My early attempts are described in the wiki ([[Patching_Turtle_Art|Patching Turtle Art]]).

I have been thinking about view source within the content of Turtle Art lately. I had gotten immersed in Turtle Art when some teachers on the Sur list began asking for some extensions. At the time I tried to get them to make the extensions themselves, but the floor was too high. I jumped in in order to document the process of modifying an Activity and also to try to understand first hand where the difficulties laid. My early attempts are described in the wiki ([[Activities/Turtle_Art/Patching|Patching Turtle Art]]).

Between Bill Kerr's subsequent questions ([[Talk:Patching_Turtle_Art|Talk:Patching Turtle Art]]) and my own experiences, I was awakened to the fact that we have a long ways to go in terms of making view source meaningful to the teacher, the student, and the potential Sugar contributor.

Between Bill Kerr's subsequent questions ([[Talk:Activities/Turtle Art/Patching|Talk:Activities/Turtle Art/Patching]]) and my own experiences, I was awakened to the fact that we have a long ways to go in terms of making view source meaningful to the teacher, the student, and the potential Sugar contributor.

View source was central to the discussion I had with Bill Kerr and Tony Forster last week in Melbourne. We agreed that it worthwhile exploring the impact of the addition of some more steps between using an Activity and viewing the project's Python code; indeed, it would be necessary if any but the most dedicated would venture forth. Tony has braved the GNU/Linux shell to try to modify Turtle Art; he has been documenting his efforts ([http://tonyforster.blogspot.com/ Tony Forster blog]) Previously I had added an export function to Turtle Art so that the psuedo Logo generated in the graphical interface could be viewed inside a text-based, fully featured Logo environment—a one-way path towards more sophisticated programming concepts.  

View source was central to the discussion I had with Bill Kerr and Tony Forster last week in Melbourne. We agreed that it worthwhile exploring the impact of the addition of some more steps between using an Activity and viewing the project's Python code; indeed, it would be necessary if any but the most dedicated would venture forth. Tony has braved the GNU/Linux shell to try to modify Turtle Art; he has been documenting his efforts ([http://tonyforster.blogspot.com/ Tony Forster blog]) Previously I had added an export function to Turtle Art so that the psuedo Logo generated in the graphical interface could be viewed inside a text-based, fully featured Logo environment—a one-way path towards more sophisticated programming concepts.  

=== Community jams, meet-ups, and meetings ===

=== Community jams, meet-ups, and meetings ===

The minutes of the most recent meeting of the Sugar Oversight Board are posted in the wiki (See [[Sugar_Labs/OversightBoard/Meeting_Minutes-2009-02-02|Minutes:2009-02-02]]).  

The minutes of the most recent meeting of the Sugar Oversight Board are posted in the wiki (See [[Oversight Board/Meeting_Minutes-2009-02-02|Minutes:2009-02-02]]).  

There will be a Sugar gather in Brussels at FOSDEM, the free and open-source developers' European meeting (See [[Marketing Team/Events/FOSDEM_2009|FOSDEM 2009]]). The Fedora booth will feature a create your own Sugar-on-a-Stick station.

There will be a Sugar gather in Brussels at FOSDEM, the free and open-source developers' European meeting (See [[Marketing Team/Events/FOSDEM_2009|FOSDEM 2009]]). The Fedora booth will feature a create your own Sugar-on-a-Stick station.

=== Help Wanted ===

=== Help Wanted ===

We continue to advance towards the release of Sugar 0.84 in March. Testers are critical at this time. Please see [[BugSquad/GettingInvolved|the BugSquad page]] for more information on how you can help.

We continue to advance towards the release of Sugar 0.84 in March. Testers are critical at this time. Please see [[BugSquad/Getting Involved|the BugSquad page]] for more information on how you can help.

I had a conversation with a colleague at the World Bank yesterday. We discussed their textbook efforts and how it would be worth exploring some remixing ideas within the context of Sugar. Infoslicer, a tool to enable teachers to quickly and easily select web-based content to edit, package, and distribute as teaching materials, comes to mind (See [[Activities/InfoSlicer|InfoSclicer]]). Let me know if you'd be interested in participating in a follow-up conversation.

I had a conversation with a colleague at the World Bank yesterday. We discussed their textbook efforts and how it would be worth exploring some remixing ideas within the context of Sugar. Info slicer, a tool to enable teachers to quickly and easily select web-based content to edit, package, and distribute as teaching materials, comes to mind (See [[Activities/Info Slicer|Info Slicer]]). Let me know if you'd be interested in participating in a follow-up conversation.

=== Tech Talk ===

=== Tech Talk ===

New versions of [http://sugarlabs.org/wiki/images/9/9f/InfoSlicer-1.xo Turtle Art], [http://sugarlabs.org/wiki/images/6/60/TurtleArtPortfolio-11.xo Turtle Art Portfolio], and [http://sugarlabs.org/wiki/images/9/9f/InfoSlicer-1.xo InfoSlicer] are available for testing.

New versions of [http://sugarlabs.org/wiki/images/9/9f/Info Slicer-1.xo Turtle Art], [http://sugarlabs.org/wiki/images/6/60/TurtleArtPortfolio-11.xo Turtle Art Portfolio], and [http://sugarlabs.org/wiki/images/9/9f/InfoSlicer-1.xo InfoSlicer] are available for testing.

=== Sugar Labs ===

=== Sugar Labs ===