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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Members of the Montgomery Area Linux Users Group interested in this thread <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><[malu] Programming for Kids?> , and <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Jason in particuar,</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Seven years old! Wow. What a position to put in the ten thousand hours of <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">practice before twenty that Malcom Gladwell asserts is necessary to get to a<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Bill Gates or Beatles level of mastery . (Gladwell oversimplifies but he has <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">a point.) </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Although being up to speed at seven on the tasks mentioned is a <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">wonderful start, the lack of reading ability is, of course, currently limiting. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Seven in this world is a good place to be. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">I will copy this email to Dr Enoch Lee, who is Head of the Department of <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Mathematics here at Auburn University Montgomery. Enoch has a high level <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">of knowledge of computing, including Linux, and has worked with his children <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">on programming. I forget what language he was using but perhaps it was <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Scratch. Maybe it was Squeak, which is perhaps what is running Scratch.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">If you haven't come across Scratch then please go to <I>http://scratch.mit.edu/</I> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">and be sure to look at the "jigsaw" format of a program segment in order to <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">see how some difficulties of syntax are neatly circumvented. I see that the <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">latest Scratch package for Ubuntu is available from Scratch's home page but <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">it is currently only for a 32 bit version but with some users reporting good <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">results from forcing it onto 64 bit systems. I glanced at<I> </I></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><I>http://scratch.mit.edu/forums/viewtopic.php?id=56623</I> to see about the <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">OpenSUSE OS but my reading level of many posts is such that I have to hunt <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">around and I neither understood my first reading nor hunted.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><BR><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">The Berkley Logo (UCB Logo) which Matt found is indeed excellent for serious <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS">purposes but the manual warns</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> "</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>Features *not* found in Berkeley Logo include <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2>robotics, music, GUIs, animation, parallelism, and multimedia. For those, buy a<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>commercial version." </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">I have the three volume set <I>Computer Science Logo Style</I> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>by Brian Harvey, who uses Berkley Logo and it is a joy to read but it does call <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>for serious reading. We often rise to the task, in this case reading, when the <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>goal, in this case programming, is highly desirable but I'd recommend a different <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>starting place. One of the projects in <I>Computer Science Logo Style</I> is to build <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">a Pascal compiler. </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><o:p><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>It certainly is motivational to be able experience and have your friends <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>experience the animation and music. The near immediate graphics reward is <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>one of the things that makes Logo so appealing. The Logo talk which Matt mentions<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>uses a LCSI Logo called MicroWorlds and I'm really torn about whether or not it <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>would be a good choice. MicroWorlds is great for kids that don't know that they'll <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>love computers and it has worked well in the past but programming does not seem <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>an activity of choice for the masses and kids exposed to MicroWorlds sometimes <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>get seduced into producing animations with music which are quite impressive but <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>do not lead to serious programming -- some programming, yes, but often dead end. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>Why produce a hello-world program or compute Fibonacci numbers when you can <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>so easily produce a movie? For whatever it is worth, the LCSI site is <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">http://www.microworlds.com/</SPAN></I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> and they offer a MicroWorlds Jr for Pre-K through <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>Grade Four. There are two additional expenses -- financial and it only runs on <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>Windows and Macintosh. The MicroWorlds support is good, as it should be for the <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>expense, but I've used the Windows version and Microsoft has yanked the run from<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>under me on MicroWorlds at least once and perhaps twice. Members of the Linux <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Users Group don't need to hear my rants about Microsoft so I'll say no more about this.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><o:p><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">If you go to Brian Harvey's Webpage,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/</SPAN></I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">, you <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">will see some an example of an extended version of Scratch called Build Your <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Own Blocks (BYOB) from MIT using drag and drop. He mentions that he is currently <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">working on it to support an undergraduate-level introductory computer science <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">course using BOYB so please don't be put off by drag and drop.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><o:p><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">I have a wonderful paperback by Warren and Carter Sande titled <I>Hello World! <o:p></o:p></I></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners</SPAN></I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">. It is a fine introduction <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">using Python. I don't know how old Carter was when he helped his dad Warren <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">with the book but he wanted to understand everything; twelve years old is <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">mentioned at some point. The book is solid and I recommend it to anyone who <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">finds that they are able to read it. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">The publisher, Manning, has a neat deal on its publications. When you buy the <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">hardcopy of the book you get, as part of the deal, a link to download some <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">electronic versions -- I forget the options but I've downloaded pdf versions of the <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">books I've gotten from Manning and I think there are Kindle and epub versions. It <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">is great to keep the hardcopy at home but the ability to looks something up quickly <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">on a file on my office computer. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">If you would like to offer your son the option of seeing if he can rise to read <I>Hello <o:p></o:p></I></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">World! </SPAN></I><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"> then the <I>http://www.manning.com/sande/</I> Webpage has some links to <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">sample chapters (and links for installations for Fedora, Ubuntu, and some other OS's). <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">You might take a look first. We all share -- I certainly do -- that having too many <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">choices sometimes freezes action. If Scratch looks good and <I>Hello World! </I>seems a<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>bit much then I wouldn't mention <I>Hello World! </I>until he is in love with Scratch. At <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">seven there's plenty of time.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">It is off the subject but Manning Publications has another feature of interest. You <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">can buy a MEAP publication (Manning Early Access Program) which gives you access <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">to a book as it is being written. You receive the current chapters and, as time goes <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">on, the revised chapters. When the book is finally published, you receive the hardcopy <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">as well as the electronic versions mentioned above -- essentially the finished versions <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">of what you have been receiving. A minor advantage is that you get to read the book <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">earlier. A great advantage for both the reader and the author is that if you come across <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">a part that you don't understand you can write the author about it and perhaps both get <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">your question answered and improve the book. So even if you, as the father, don't think <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">your son is ready for <I>Hello World!, </I>then if you aren't familiar with Manning publications, <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">you might want to take a look at<I> http://www.manning.com/.</I><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Yet another option would be JavaScript. I'm really out of touch with modern <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">programming but as I understand it most of the apps right now are using JavaScript. The <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Codeademy (<I>http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0</I>) seems to offer an addictive <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">introduction. I say additive since it uses positive feedback (you keep getting the right <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">answers) and the feedback is quick. If you don't know Codeacademy then it is worth a <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">look just to experience the "I'll try just one more thing and then I've got to quit and get <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">to work." We should always be aware of that freezing when there are too many choices. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">You might wait until your son says something about wanting to put a cell phone in a drone <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">to fly around the neighborhood but, if such a day comes, perhaps JavaScript will work <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">better than Scratch or Python. Then again, perhaps not. At the risk of repeating myself,<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>at seven there's lots of time.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> --furman </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS">On 29-Jun-2012 at 9:41 am Matt Ragland (Interim Associate Provost of Research and </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS">Graduate Studies at Auburn University Montgomery; <A href="mailto:mragland@aum.edu" target=_blank>mragland@aum.edu</A>; </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN><A href="http://sciences.aum.edu/~mragland" target=_blank><SPAN style="COLOR: blue; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=2 face="Trebuchet MS">http://sciences.aum.edu/~mragland</FONT></SPAN></A><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">) </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">wrote the following with a copy to the Montgomery </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Area Linux Users (malu@lists.malu.org):</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT size=2><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Jason,<BR><BR>At AUM we have an annual math event where local kids </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">are invited to learn math and math related topics. </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Dr. Furman Smith always gives a talk on "How to program </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">your own video game.". He uses the language LOGO, though </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">of I recall, he uses a proprietary version. But, I'm </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">pretty sure you can find a Linux version. Here is a </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">link that might help:<BR><BR></SPAN><A href="http://linuxgazette.net/issue43/silva.logo.html" target=_blank><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: blue; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">http://linuxgazette.net/issue43/silva.logo.html</SPAN></A><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><BR><BR>I'm copying Dr. Smith on this. He might have more to share. </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">I believe he is credited with writing the first fantasy </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">video game for children some time ago.<BR><BR>Good luck with teaching your kid programming!<BR><BR>Best,<BR>Matt<BR>...<BR><BR>On Jun 29, 2012, at 9:23 AM, "Jason Wohlford" </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><jason@wohlford.org> wrote:<BR><BR>> So I've got a 7yr old who wants to make his own game. </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Apparently, him and a friend are making Mario World 4. </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">He's got a bit of Linux skill. He's installed OpenSUSE </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">and Linux Mint a couple of times by himself. Very proud </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">of that! He knows Mac and Windows too. Now reading ability </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">is still lacking. He's 7. He's making great progress there, </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">but full on programming (i.e. Python, etc) would be too </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">much. I cut my teeth on HyperCard when I was a boy. I'm </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">hoping there is something like that for Linux. Any suggestions?<BR>> <BR>> Cheers,<BR>> Jason<BR>> <BR>> -- <BR>> Jason Wohlford<BR>> <jason@wohlford.org><BR>> <</SPAN><A href="http://wohlford.org/" target=_blank><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: blue; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">http://wohlford.org/</SPAN></A><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">><BR>> @wohlford<BR>> <BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> malu mailing list<BR>> malu@lists.malu.org<BR>> </SPAN><A href="http://lists.malu.org/listinfo/malu" target=_blank><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: blue; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">http://lists.malu.org/listinfo/malu</SPAN></A><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><BR>> </SPAN><A href="http://malu.org/" target=_blank><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; COLOR: blue; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">http://malu.org/</SPAN></A><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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