Al Hoang

Okay, I’m going to try to blog some more stuff that is harder for
non-Japanese speakers to access due to the language barrier… I make
no promises but….

Introducing Mosir a Map
Viewing software built for Squeak.

Features:

• Can read Japanese GSI data
• Can read USGS GTOPO30 data
• It’s 3-D
• Runs on Squeak (Seems to be based on Version 3.2-4956)

I’ll have to admit it’s very neat. According to the author, he originally
wrote Mosir in C++ and OpenGL however the author
had an interest in Squeak so decided
to port it over to Squeak as a way to pick up the language (seems he
didn’t have a lot of knowledge in SmallTalk when he started). The
code is supposedly a mess but at least he has something to show.
If you have any GIS inklings or are a Squeaker, check it out.

Lemme go see it

Kudos to the Squeak-JP Mailing List for the link.

Now this is neat. A version of Dante’s Inferno I (The Divine Comedy) is
available from this Italian website along with a reading in the original
Italian (requires RealPlayer). Very neat.

Check it out

Thanks to Jerry Lerma’s Dante Page
for bringing this up. He also made a map of The Simpsons if you’re interested.

The New York Times has an article about the
intersection of Video Games and Education. In my opinion this is not really
a brand new frontier. However, there definitely is synergy (oh yeah
there’s that evil word!) between two disciplines however I don’t think
it is one of those cut-and-paste cases. To make GOOD educational software
that combine video game aspects requires work and research. And most
importantly, getting the software developers and the educators talking with
one another.

An educator usually knows what type of tool they would like out of
software when teaching a class and the software developer must be
willing to work with the educator to meet that goal. This is nothing
new in my opinion.

It seems in the article they discuss Muzzy Lane Software
that is developing some software called Making History that let’s people
control European Governments in history and simulate the outcome and effects of
their actions. They are also putting it at a very realistic price tag
of $25-$40. While Open Source isn’t an evil route, I know teachers
would be happy to spend money on a software tool that let’s them enable
teaching. However, just putting out the tool IS NOT enough. There
will be some teachers who are computer savvy enough to be able to pick it
up and integrate it into their classroom teaching. However, just handing
someone a car doesn’t give them any idea of how to actually drive it,
maintain and use it in their daily life. What will also be necessary
is information resources for teachers on how to integrate this into their
own classroom teaching. Good luck with that, that is is the toughest
part.

Read it yourself