Games in Education

Games in Education: Information

2008 Resources:

1st Playable Productions

Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

WMHT Educational Telecommunications

Bill MacKenty

Second Life

Global Kids

Peggy Sheehy/ MetaVersed Ltd

Marianne Malstrom/ Knowclue Kidd

Brock Dubbels

Gamestar Mechanic

Mentor Interactive

Lauer Learning

Dennis Charksy

Rick Kelsey/ McKinley Technology High School

2007 Resources:

The Education Arcade

Muzzy Lane

SciCentr.org

The River City Project

U.C. Berkeley plans open source software for lecture distribution

U.C. Berkeley plans open source software for lecture distribution - San Francisco Business Times:
Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 11:35am PDT | Modified: Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 11:40am
San Francisco Business Times - by Steven E.F. Brown

The University of California, Berkeley, plans to set up an open source software project for widespread distribution of automatically made video and audio recordings of lectures and other events on campus.

Cal was the first university to put full-length videos of its lectures on YouTube in 2007. Audio podcasts of many of the school's lectures, like Marian Diamond's hugely popular introduction to human anatomy, have been available online for years.

The university has already spent $220,000 this year on this project, named "Opencast Matterhorn." Now grants totaling $1.5 million from the Andrew W. Mellon and William and Flora Hewlett foundations will cover that expense and pay for further development of the system.

Cal will work with ETH Zürich in Switzerland, the University of Osnabrück in Germany, Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and Canada's University of Saskatchewan on the project.

Money from these grants will pay for open source software that automates the recording and posting of academic content, cutting the cost of recording and uploading material. Cal says until now universities have been "stymied by high technical barriers and costs" even when they have wanted to distribute such content.

The software will be aimed at popular services like YouTube (based in San Bruno and owned by giant Google Inc.) and Apple Inc.'s online store, iTunes.

Adam Hochman is U.C. Berkeley's project manager for the program.

An open source system is in keeping with the university's traditions and its sense of its place as a public school, paid for by the public and doing research and teaching in the public interest. Many Cal researchers welcome questions from people who aren't students at the school, and reach out to them as part of their academic mission.

The university counts the open source Unix operating system, with its roots in Cal's 1970s research, as one of its achievements.

What the Microsoft-Yahoo-Bing Deal Means for You

What the Microsoft-Yahoo-Bing Deal Means for You - PC World

Todd R. Weiss
Jul 29, 2009 7:21 am

So what's it mean for computer users now that Microsoft and Yahoo today finally are announcing their long-anticipated marriage of Microsoft's Bing search engine and Yahoo's premium search advertising tools? Will this change our lives?

Actually, I think this partnership will mean far more for Microsoft and Yahoo and their corporate balance sheets than it will for those of us who are technology consumers, and here's why.

1) Will search get better due to the deal between the two companies? Now I don't have a crystal ball, but I tried Bing, I played with Bing, I experienced Bing, but Bing, you're no Google search. Yes, it has some cool features, like bringing up found items in new and useful lists that are highly targeted for users, but there's this little problem that no amount of money and advertising can change -- people's habits. And my habit, like the habit of tens of millions of computer users around me, is to call up Google whenever and wherever I have to search, every time. It's like a mother's love -- it's there forever.

2) Will Yahoo go to the dogs now that it's linked itself in a partnership deal with the slow, hard-to-steer, behemoth known as Microsoft? I do think there are more risks for Yahoo here than there are for Microsoft. Remember when the huge cable TV conglomerate Time Warner Inc. merged with the original America Online (AOL) Internet provider back in 2000, thinking it was the wave of the future and all of humanity would follow in a sea of dollar signs and goodwill? And do you know where they are now? Time Warner is spinning off AOL, which has been struggling for years, as it continues to try to figure out just what to do with it. Before teaming with Time Warner, AOL was the king of the Internet, as we all clamored to have slow, software-laden Internet access at $2.99 an hour like the good consumer lemmings we were in those days. But then cheaper, faster access arrived with DSL, cable and all-you-can-use plans, but AOL and stodgy Time Warner couldn't react quickly enough. There's a lesson here. Bigger isn't always better. I read that in a fortune cookie. I could have saved Time Warner and AOL a lot of money if I'd have told them that. Hey, Microsoft and Yahoo, are you listening?

3) Are there privacy concerns I should be worried about from this deal? That depends on the fine print, and that we'll have to have to check carefully to be sure what Microsoft and Yahoo want to do with all the consumer data they'll be able to collect from our searches. This is already an issue with Google and other search engines as we continue to make our way through this still relatively new global Internet adventure. When we use "free" services like search on the Internet, whether through Google or Yahoo or Bing or whatever, there really is no "free." Someone somewhere is using the spoils of the search - our preferences about what we are looking for - for marketing, for potential revenue enhancement and to help them in their businesses. It's an acceptable risk to us as consumers only when we know what the rules are. Somehow, though, we usually don't ask what those rules are ahead of time. Maybe we should get that information up front this time.

4) Will this Microsoft-Yahoo partnership be enough to knock Google from its perch as the king of search for savvy consumers? I doubt it, and here's why - I just don't see Microsoft and Yahoo, even with the new Bing search engine as its mascot, coming anywhere near Google with the kinds of innovations that make us all excited and Googly. There's Google Earth. Could Microsoft or Yahoo have thought of that? And there's Google Voice. OK, it's still a fledgling effort, but it is interesting and innovative, and users are lining up early to try to get a Google invite to test it out and take it for a ride. What always amazes me is how the Google tech folks are always introducing fascinating new technologies that they can bring to users in ways that no one has else has yet imagined. OK, they haven't found an answer for world peace or the vaccine for swine flu yet, but you never know. I'm just not sure that Microsoft still has any of that kind of turn-on-a-dime mentality anymore. And that's why this partnership may not help search-loving consumers or Yahoo as much as the new partners believe it will.

(Todd R. Weiss is a freelance technology journalist who formerly wrote for Computerworld.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TechManTalking )

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Open-Source Backers March on Washington

Open-Source Backers March on Washington - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
July 23, 2009, 2:03 pm

By Ashlee Vance

Update | 7:43 p.m. Correcting spelling of Roger Burkhardt's name.

Look out, lobbyists: Here come the open-source zealots.

Some of the world's largest technology companies have banded together in a bid to push open-source software on the United States government. They've formed a group called Open Source for America, which seeks to make sure that government agencies at least consider open-source software as an option in their buying decisions. The big, rather timely pitch behind this move is that open-source applications can help save the government money.

"The market for open-source software is growing dramatically, but there still needs to be education around understanding how to get the most out of it," said Roger Burkhardt, the chief executive of Ingres, a maker of an open-source database, who is on the Open Source for America board of advisers. "There are quirks to the government procurement process that need to be addressed."

Open-source companies often give away their base product and then charge customers for support and other services. This model, according to Mr. Burkhardt, can perplex government bodies used to buying software upfront. In addition, the group hopes to make sure that open-source software receives the necessary federal nods for use in things like drug approvals and high-security computing projects.

Some of the initial members of the organization include Google, Oracle, Red Hat, Advanced Micro Devices, Novell and Canonical. A host of smaller open-source software makers are involved as well.

The board of advisers is more or less a Who's Who of open-source advocates, including Eben Moglen, a prominent lawyer; Mark Shuttleworth, the chief executive of Canonical; Michael Tiemann, a vice president at Red Hat; and Jim Zemlin, the executive director of the Linux Foundation.

The government has aimed a large amount of its stimulus money at technology projects, and the open-source backers hope to get their fair share of that cash. More broadly, they would like the United States to follow countries in Europe and Asia with better defined guidelines around buying software.

The open-source "movement," if you will, continues to have some grass-roots momentum, with developers working without charge to improve projects like the Linux operating system and Mozilla Web browser. That said, large companies have come to dominate the open-source world. I.B.M., Google, Intel and others employ many of the best known open-source programmers and have made the software a key part of their internal operations as well as their business strategies.

Regardless of their affiliation, open-source types have demonstrated a fondness for backing free software in a vocal, often argumentative manner. They're sure to give the lobbyists working for proprietary software companies a run for their vocal cords and money.

OLPC software to power ageing PCs

BBC NEWS | Technology | OLPC software to power ageing PCs
Page last updated at 19:01 GMT, Wednesday, 24 June 2009 20:01 UK

Sugar runs on the XO and rival Intel Classmate PC Software originally developed for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project can now be used on any old PC. Sugar on a stick, as it is known, can be run from a USB drive to give ageing PCs a new interface and access to collaborative educational software. The software, designed for use by children, was launched at the LinuxTag conference in Berlin. It has been developed by Sugar Labs, a breakaway organisation from OLPC. "[Sugar on a stick] is a great new opportunity to breathe new life into these old machines," Walter Bender, founder of Sugar Labs, told BBC News. The release could dramatically increase the use of the free software, which has until now been predominantly distributed with the XO laptop, the machine sold be OLPC. The child-friendly computers, originally marketed as the $100 (£60) laptop, currently cost $199 (£120) each. Sugar on a stick, however, can be used on any machine. "It runs on Asus, Dell, HP - it runs on anything," said Mr Bender. "It even runs on phones." It has already been shown working on an Intel Classmate PC, one of the main rivals to the OLPC machines. Sweet release Mr Bender was formerly second in command at OLPC. He left in April 2008 after it was announced that the low-cost laptops would be offering Microsoft Windows software. The software can be run from a 1GB USB stick "I didn't leave OLPC because of the Microsoft deal - it was a symptom rather than the cause," he told BBC News at the time. "I left OLPC because I think the most important thing it is doing is defining a learning ecosystem." Mr Bender went on to found Sugar Labs, an independent effort to develop the software and interface used on the OLPC machines. The interface emphasises collaborative learning, allowing children to share material between different machines. For example, they can write documents or make music together. The open source software also contains a journal and automatically saves and backs up all data. It has been used by more than one million children on the XO laptop and has also been released as part of other operating systems. For example, it was bundled with releases of the Ubuntu and Fedora Linux systems. The latest release - Sugar on a Stick - allows anyone to run the software from a 1GB USB stick. It includes 40 programs, including a word processor, drawing application and games. Mr Bender said the ability to transport the software and plug it into any computer would allow children to have a "consistent experience" wherever they worked. "No matter what computer you have at home or at the library you're going to have the same use experience because you have sugar on a stick," he said. The software can be downloaded for free from the Sugar Labs website. It can be run on Linux machines, as well as Macs and Windows PCs. Recent Mac users and older Windows machines must use an additional "helper CD" to allow the computer to boot-up from the USB stick. The software will also be used to power newer versions of the XO laptop, shipped in the autumn. However, the new machines will not use Sugar as the primary interface. Instead, they will have a traditional desktop and allow children to run Sugar as a separate application. "Our current belief is that Sugar should have always been on a stick," an OLPC spokesperson told BBC News. "In our case it should have been an application on top of a native Linux. "We have been working on decoupling Sugar from our hardware since [Mr Bender] left." Mr Bender said that the statement from OLPC was based on a misunderstanding by Nicholas Negroponte - head of OLPC - about how Sugar worked. "What I think he meant was that Sugar should co-exist with traditional desktops," he told BBC News. "Sugar always has and still does and will continue to do be able to co-exist with traditional desktops. He just never quite understood that."

Perl中三個使用=~ 符號的運算子

http://www.cyut.edu.tw/~ckhung/b/pl/idiom.ph

三個使用 =~ 符號的運算子

1. $var =~ tr/.../.../; 把變數 $var 內的 ... 字元都逐一代換成 ... 字元 兩串 ... 通常長度一樣. 想成是查 "字元典" 翻譯。 (較不常用)
2. $var =~ s/.../.../; 把變數 $var 內的第一個 ... 子字串整個代換成 ... 子字串。
3. if ($var =~ m/.../) { ... } 詢問變數 $var 裡面有沒有 ... 這個子字串呢?

注意:

1. 前兩項功能是破壞性的 (destructive), $var 的內容可能因而改變; 第三項是非破壞性的 (non-destructive)。
2. 後兩項功能在現實生活中較常用到; 兩者都支援 regular expression。
3. 其實可以用其他標點符號來取代斜線, 只要一句話內前後一致就好。
4. 其實第三項功能的 m 可以省略掉
5. 如果 $var 是 $_ 則可以用簡寫, 把 $var =~ 全部省略掉。

代換字串 ... =~ s/.../.../ 時, 可以加上一些選項, 例如

i (ignore) 表示忽略大小寫 (比對成功的條件變得更寬鬆);
g (global) 表示全面代換, 不只代換第一個比對成功的子字串。

神奇的內定參數 $_

在很多場合下, 參數可以省略不寫, 而此時 perl 自動以 $_ 作為內定參數. 例如:

1. 用 <FH> 從檔案讀入的一列, 自動存在 $_ 中.
2. 許多運算子的參數, 例如 tr, s, m.
3. 許多函數的參數, 例如 print, chomp, split, ...
4. foreach 的 dummy variable.