Ergo Letter Bag

There is a coding contest that just went up to encourage folks to try out Perl6: http://strangelyconsistent.org/blog/masaks-perl-6-coding-contest If this is an itch you'd like to scratch, you might also check out: Rosetta Code for examples of using Perl 6 to solve familiar problems: http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Category:Perl_6 The Perl 6 Website: http://www.perl6.org/

According to this article Marvell has given the OLPC project a $5.6 million dollar grant to fund designing the XO-3 around a complete system on a chip (SOC) produced by Marvell. -Which will be based on the Marvell Moby reference platform. This means that the OLPC XO-3 Arm tablet's R&D is now fully funded. And Marvell's $99 tablet may not be vapor after all. $99 tablet availability in 1st world countries is projected for 2011. 3rd world countries will have to wait on the OLPC XO-3 till at least 2012.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd has announced a $100K challenge to developers interested in making creative, innovative, and engaging educational applications for their $99 Android based ARM tablet. Aka the Moby Reference Platform . Note: this is the same reference design which the OLPC intends to use as the basis for the XO-3 . Will Perl developers enter the fray? Is Perl support in the Android Scripting Environment ready for prime time? Application submissions will be accepted from Oct. 11th thru Nov. 11th. Winners will be chosen and awards given during the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 6-9, 2011. [From the Marvell $100K Challenge website:] Start thinking now of your most creative ideas on developing the best tablet app for teaching children any one or more of the following subjects: Math Science Vocabulary Geography Social studies Grammar Spelling Other curriculum most common to children in Kindergarten all the way up to and including the 12th g...

This is a response to a recent blog post by Mark Guzdial , chairman of the ACM education board. Open Source is an integral part of a well rounded computing education. While I will praise efforts to raise awareness of demographic barriers in open source development, I would challenge Mark to do a better job lining up his arguments and checking his references. Especially when many of his links have little or nothing to do with the statements attributed to them. His link "more closed and less diverse than commercial software" links to a National Center for Women in Technology recruitment flyer. -Which sounds like a wonderful organization, but having read it now 3 times through says nothing about open source being more closed or less diverse. The next link "overwhelmingly White or Asian and male" links to a OSCON presentation which says a lot about the male/female ratio... but nothing about white/asian demographics. Furthermore, it is a presentation which shows that the...

A couple weeks ago, I finished reading Kiln People by David Brin. A couple nights back, I watched Surrogates starring Bruce Willis. Kiln People was published back in 2002. The plot can be quickly summarized as... In a future where individuals can send short-lived clones of themselves out to accomplish tasks and later reintegrate... A gumshoe detective in the midst of cornering his arch nemesis drops down a rabbit hole into a convoluted conspiracy of epic proportions. David Brin performs his usual phenomenal job of exploring the possible effects of future technology on society. However, the story takes a back seat to world building. Kiln People is a good read, but it is not a page turner. Surrogates was released Sept. 2009 and follows nearly the same plot (without crediting Brin). Instead of clay surrogates we have robots. The conspiracy is streamlined and simplified... but leads to the same destination. The introspection of technology and its affects on society are dumbed down to...