This week, we will be starting to work with Python 2.6, which is a dynamic-oriented programming language that can be used for many kinds of software development. Python works on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, OS/2, Amiga, Palm Handhelds, and Nokia mobile phones. It is distributed under an open source license meaning, it is free to use, even for commercial products. We will be receiving a "Hello World!" program to run at home and then a booklet of several problems.
On November 21st, 2008, the widely anticipated best seller series Twilight, came out with their first movie. Twilight, the title of the first book of the 4 book series by Stephenie Meyers, is a popular read among teenagers. Although the romance novel captures more of a teenage girl's perspective and thus, being more popular among teenage girls, it does not exclude guys. I do not know of many guys who read this, but I do and I find it to be an exceptional book. I am currently on the 3rd book of the 4 books and cannot wait until I get to finish the series. I went to see Twilight on opening night with excitement but disappointingly, we ended up sitting in the 2nd row of the theatre. But even more disappointing was the movie. The movie was clearly based on the novel itself, but instead of directing the movie into a perspective where everyone would understand, it was developed in a sense that you would only understand the movie if you had read the book in advance. Though the movie did have its high points, movie critics, reviews and ratings have not been so generous. It had an average rating of 3/5.
Have you ever wanted to make big bucks by just practically having fun? Well, former ATM software designer for a large bank, Demeter, did just that. He created a game called "Trism" as a applicaton for the popular Apple iPhone. Priced at under $5, he and his company made $250,000 in profits for the first two months. Wow, amazing isn't it!
The OLPC XO is a unique portable machine with features created specifically for children of the emerging world. They have developed this "laptop" to try and pursue their goal of one laptop per child. It is a very distinctive machine that is rugged, durable and child-friendly allowing the child to interact with the laptop he or she desires. Children who get this laptop programs the machine, not the other way around. The laptop also has a user interface that graphically embraces the spirit of the network. It is all about community and collaboration—working and playing together to learn, create and communicate. OLPC G1G1 (give one get one) is a promotion that is going to be expanding to Europe sometime next week.
It's that time of the year again. It is the time where we remember all the lives that have been taken in order for us to live with the freedom we have today. On Monday, November 10, at Notre Dame Regional Secondary Vancouver BC, we had an assembly to remember all these courageous and dignified people. We started off by having skits performed on how losing a life can affect families, friends and even the country as a whole. The assembly then proceeded with a number of slides and clips of movies, as well as more skits. All in all, the assembly turned out very well and it was a very nice way to remember everyone who lost lives in wars for our freedom.
This week, we started to work with a new coding program called Visual Basic or "VB" for short. It is similar to Turbo Pascal in a sense that we have to write our own underlying codes, though it is different in responsive events. As a class, we were introduced how to operate basic events such as creating a form, adding labels and commands. We will continue to be working with this program for some time and this blog will continually update.
