Re: [linux-audio-user] Re: Squeak (was Software suitable for children)

David Baron wrote:
> Just installed it. A very creative but frustrating package. As with too many
> of these things, one must be able to read and that in English (or a few
> European languages?). Fine print abounds in what at first looks like a very
> sparse UI.
>
> The program abounds with objects and widgets. Some very creative and
> versatile, others frustratingly crude. Graphic objects like squares cannot be
> resized

I don't know what you mean by this. If you are referring to morphic
objects (most of what you see are morphic objects) then you can do a lot
with them. Hover over the object and press the right mouse button (or
ctrl-right) (you might need to press your middle button, depends on if
you have your buttons swapped or not - see preferences) and you will
see, what are called, halos. Various halos do different things. Just
hover over them and a popup will appear to inform what each does. You
can resize, move, change the color, etc... even inspect the object (the
wrench tool.) You have full control of the morphic object right on the
desktop.

> (nothing stops one from reprogramming them and then dutifully
> uploading the scalable versions for others to enjoy--smalltalk was once the
> rage.)
> Smalltalk 80 is, well, 26 years old. Before Unicode so is incompatable with
> mutlingual keyboard choices. No Hebrew for my daughter, not in UI and cannot
> type it in to text objects either. Truetype fonts (newer than smalltalk80)
> are beatutiful but they are also Unicode based nowadays.

I'm not a language expert, to say the least. I don't know about Hebrew
usage in Squeak. But, Unicode and multilingual support is supported (I
think from version 3.7 on, don't know.) If it isn't translated to Hebrew
yet, why not help us by doing so! I believe squeak in German, French,
Spanish and Japanese are available.

Today's True type fonts are also supported.

Some links:
Unicode in Squeak: http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/857

A design and implementation paper on Multilingualized squeak:
http://www.is.titech.ac.jp/~ohshima/squeak/m17npaper/index.html

Multilingualized squeak:
http://www.is.titech.ac.jp/~ohshima/squeak/squeak-multilingual-e.html

HowTo Squeak in Russian: http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/5773

>
> I think most kids would enjoy trying various widgets but run out of patience
> doing anything more with them. Most adults would as well.

Squeak is used successfully in classrooms around the world. You might
check out the squeakland.org site for more info. Especially the
tutorials. Click on "Site Map". Also check out the book "Powerful Ideas
in the Classroom" on a progressively hands-on approach for teachers.
It's very good.

You might also download the OLPC etoys version of etoys to see a how it
is configured for the OLPC project.

here are some etoys projects. You'll need to install the squeakland
plugin (which is essentially squeak run in a browser):
http://www.squeakland.org/kids/sqfest_2004.htm

Some excerpts from a previous email from Alan Kay about etoys may be
helpful as well (the original poster was asking about the use of etoys
and high schoolers):

>
> Etoys was designed for 9-11 year olds, and it has
> worked very well with them. However, even 8th
> graders are able to use more features, and high
> schoolers should be using a pretty complete
> programming environment (like Squeak).
>

----
> 
> Squeak itself is very easy -- as Tony Hoare once 
> said about Algol, Smalltalk was a great 
> improvement, especially with its successors! -- 
> the problem for beginners is that the library has 
> only one organization, which kind of lumps 
> everything together, and this is a large lump. 
> This is powerful but can be quite frustrating 
> (other comprehensive systems have similar 
> problems). Etoys is kind of a demo that quite a 
> bit can be done with much much less in the 
> end-user's world, but the aim at 10 year olds 
> limits its range. Our original plan was to wind 
> up with a more Hypercard-like system, still small 
> and simple, but much more comprehensive.
> 
You can find out more at:
wiki.squeak.org
www.squeakland.org
www.squeak.org
-- 
brad fuller
  http://www.Sonaural.com/
  +1 (408) 799-6124