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I went to Vintage Computer Festival a few times, and when it stopped happening on the west coast, I started running my own, much smaller, very Atari-oriented Atari Party out near Sacramento.

Last weekend I took the train down to California Extreme to play some old video games (and my 4yo likes the older pinball games a lot). I wish Classic Gaming Expo weren't back in Las Vegas, or I'd go to it.

Plus, I still read comp.sys.atari.8bit on Usenet over an SSH connection to my ISP's shell server. :)

In our school we run these and some othere that are less game like (and for older students).

Tux Math: http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxmath/
Tux Typeing: http://tuxtype.sourceforge.net/
Tux Paint: http://www.tuxpaint.org/

The newbreed software site has a number of programs there. There are actually quite a few educational titles around, I like gtypist for the older students as it is fast, modifiable, and has a lot of lessons. Its curses based though so it will turn some people off if they have a fear of the terminal, also it only runs on Linux, Unix, and OS X via darwin ports or fink (not counting cygwin). You can run it over an ssh session though and could automate that with a script. :)

A couple years ago Linus came to speak at the monthly meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area Linux User's Group. They were giving out t-shirts with this on the front. It was kind of ironic because not soon after, One of the most visible linux companies in San Francisco (and a supporter/sponsor of SFBALUG) reached it's apex and began a downhill slide. What had been a cheeky joke had become suddenly very somber.

I agree with you.

I like notepad.exe in the same way I like pbrush.exe. MS Paint may be a very basic product, it may not have multiple layers or whatever else but it is designed as that, as a straight forward easy to use drawing program.

One of the things for what I use Paint for example is to transform something to an image (like text or powerpoint drawings. It is so easy to CTRL+A CTRL+C CTRL+TAB CTRL+V and you have an Image.

Also, it is a great program to make kids spend time, it is very easy to use for them, I mean, even after comparing tuxpain with MS Paint I find the Linux alternative quite confusing or at least overwhelming.

Notepad is the same, it is great for text buffers, or to write emails (or slashdot comments) before pasting them to the web form.

As someone else kind of pointed out, Microsoft could "update" any of these two programs but they would not be Notepad or Pbrush anymore, they would be other programs. And, as everybody has noted there are tons and tons of programs available already, so why bother?

No Software. I can't buy Kid Pix 3, or Clifford, or Jumpstart Kindergarteners for Linux. Sure, tux paint is similar, but there aren't any other choices.

Admining a network of Linux boxes would be a hell of a lot easier that Windblows - but with out the software, it's an exercise in futility.

And, by and large, this is where the whole OSS stuff falls completely flat - Educational software just isn't as cool for the Uber Geeks to write as yet another bit torrent clone.

Damn shame more college students didn't have kids - perhaps they'd write something worthwhile.

One note - thumbs up to New Breed Software - glad they're capitalizing on this market ( http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/ )

oh, pleez...I've been running high school courses running linux exclusively for more than 4 years now. I've forgotten what windows looks like! I enjoy eating my lunch while the windoze users are running around trying to deal with the latest plethora of windows problems.

As for elementary schools, there are lots using all kinds of open source materials, programs, etc.

Check out places like:

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

Tuxpaint is designed as an elementary school children paint program. They also have tux math and tux type, which I have found to be excellent programs for elementary level school children.

Google for additional info such as: "linux school programs" etc. and you'll find out that there are thousands of schools using linux already.

And here's a link to a massive roll out of 300,000 linux computers! The entire state of Indiana is moving all of the student computers to linux in every high school!
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1844695,00.as p

And then there is the leadership by schools in the Extramadura region of Spain:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/view.html ?pg=4?tw=wn_tophead_3

And so on and so on.

Since you are considering Ubuntu, you might want to look at Edubuntu:
http://www.edubuntu.org/

I have created an account on the family computer (located in the living room) for my 5 year old.
He has the most limited permissions that I can give him.
His desktop has icons for Childsplay, TuxPaint, TuxType, TuxMath, Gcompris and a handfull of other educational games.

And he has access to Firefox. It defaults to a local page with links to selected (by me) kid-friendly web sites. And I have it running in "kiosk mode" (no address bar, no search bar, etc)

He gets "computer time" as a treat, and can loose it for mis-behaving.

I have created an account on the family computer (located in the living room) for my 5 year old.
He has the most limited permissions that I can give him.
His desktop has icons for Childsplay, TuxPaint, TuxType, TuxMath, Gcompris and a handfull of other educational games.

And he has access to Firefox. It defaults to a local page with links to selected (by me) kid-friendly web sites. And I have it running in "kiosk mode" (no address bar, no search bar, etc)

He gets "computer time" as a treat, and can loose it for mis-behaving.

TuxMath. It is still under development, but it does work (the splash screen calls it "Alpha version", but it seems stable).

I was messing with it last night, and I (as the parent) want the option to slow it down a bit. It'll be good for older kids once it's got a few more Revs behind it.

Try teaching him how to use Tux Paint (free download at: http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/), an open source (free) drawing software designed specifically for children. Personally, I find using drawing software the best way to learn computer -- for both children and adults. You learn how to use the interfaces, how to be creative, how to solve problems, and the children get to create a bunch of cute graphics for wallpaper.

I taught myself how to use GIMP, a more advanced open source graphics software, and have been using the graphics I created for my blog at: http://sunandfun.blogspot.com/

I have a Agenda VR3, which is what the device use to be called. It's a very solid and well designed PDA. has a nice big screen without a lot of wasted space on the edges of the screen by placing many of the buttons on the side. It has a nice crisp grayscale display with a backlight that is almost as good as a PalmIII's. It has a flash-based file system, which is especially nice because it has a pitiful battery life. A good rechargable battery would have really made a difference on this device. The AAAs simply don't cut it. I've used NiMH on my VR3 which does help somewhat on battery cost, but s single charge of NiMH's last even less than disposable cells.

The OS and apps are well written, who could have guessed you could cram a full X server in it and have it be as responsive. Running a real X server makes it super easy to port apps over to the VR3. Although the solitaire game and Agendaroids that comes with it are pretty good for stock games.

Cool - Tux Paint 0.9.15 will be translated into Swahili! (It's already in CVS)

What's this!? No Defendguin!?

FYI, There are many many vector and raster graphics programs that work on Linux and are much easier than the GIMP (not that the GIMP is *that* hard).

I like TuxPaint http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/, and gave it to my 4-yr old nephew who loved it.

A few months ago I started plans to learn Python (once and for all!) and begin writing a book for young kids on the subject. (Probably just publish it online...)

Anyway, sadly, I haven't had the time, due to work (and Tux Paint, of course), but already have a few people gathered who have offered to help.

My thought is to write something similar to the old "Atari BASIC: A Self-Teaching Guide," which I read as a kid back when I was 9 or 10 years old.

Email me privately if you're interested in helping or can offer resources (like mailing lists, web space, editing skills, kids to beta-read bits, etc.)

-bill!

These guys seem to have a pretty nice gui for a graphic editing program.

Use this.

After releasing the latest version of Tux Paint (open source paint program for kids), I decided to post it to various download sites.

I went to Download.com, and you actually have to pay (something like $70!) to get listed!

When you're filling out the form, and get to choose how much you pay to get listed, there's a little pop-up "ROI [Return on Investment] Calculator" that you can use to determine just how much profit you'll make.

Strangely enough, it always came back $-70 for me. :^P

Check out this screenshot of the New Breed Software game "Defendguin".
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/defendguin/screens hots/game.gif
The enemies are little floating heads of Bill Gates. Do we really need to brainwash our children like this? Now, I'm all for Microsoft-bashing but we need not be so silly.

New Breed Software makes a lot of good open source edutainment applications. I know TuxPaint is part of Debian Jr. Not sure about the others like Tux Math, but you might want to check it out.

Tux Paint isn't a teaching tool, but it contains educational aspects. It's already been translated into 40+ languages, and we're always happy to accept more!

Other stuff from Tux4Kids would be good, as well. All/most of it is cross-platform and, of course, open source. :^)

-bill!

At my son's school (kindergarten), they use eMacs with a few web sites mostly and one program for the kids to learn and play with:

Tux Paint here
Fun Brain here

I'd load Knoppix and then use Tux paint and anything else you can get free.

COBOL is so easy, business types can learn it. Check out these freebie COBOL languages.

Pascal is one of the easiest languages to learn, they used to teach it in high school. Lazarus has a good IDE to help with development. Also Delphi has a free demo to download and try out.

Also consider Lingo.

If she still cannot program in those, give up. They are about the easiest there is to learn. Not everyone can learn how to program. Instead teach her how to draw pictures in TuxPaint and if she fails to learn that one, take away her Internet privliges.

...Remember that a lot of good Open Source software (like my Tux Paint, for example ;^) ) do run outside of Linux.

TP runs on Mac OS X, pretty much all 32-bit versions of Windows, BeOS, BSDs, Solaris... etc. :^)

What I've always wanted, though, was a Mac OS classic version. There are still plenty of schools who have older Apple hardware, and just can't use OS X. No reason that should keep them from running Tux Paint!!! :^)

I couldn't resist creating an Open Source variation of this logo. I mean, I want to have shiny logos on my software, too! It's just all Open Source stuff, though! ;^)

Anyway, here you go. ("Don't worry, it's Open Source!")

the one thing on my list of needed software is a SIMPLE photo editor

Well, a quick search on Freshmeat (bookmark it, you'll find it very useful) suggests the following:
If you're not after actual re-touching capability, VIPS might be what you want. (Oh, you are. Oops.)
Well, for the princely sum of US$25, JPhotoBrush Pro looks good (there's a trial version available for download).
For very basic manipulation, IV might do. And if you want something really basic...
If you're willing to play with something considerably less mainstream, PyWiew caught my interest for being pure Python. Does sound a bit esoteric, though.

Finally, you could see for yourself what else is out there. There's more than freshmeat, of course. Like the Linux section of Tucows.

Incidentally, if you have the time to learn it, Gimp can be very useful. Best way (like all *NIX at home learning) is to find someone who knows what they're doing and get them to teach you.

P.S. - If you like Linux, try FreeBSD sometime. Not as popular or well covered, but has advantages too.

HTH, etc.

My kid's program, Tux Paint, has been translated into over 30 languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew (right-to-left) and Tamil. :^)

I'll gladly accept a Farsi translastion. (Or any other that's still missing ;^) )

My kid's program, Tux Paint, has been translated into over 30 languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew (right-to-left) and Tamil. :^)

I'll gladly accept a Farsi translastion. (Or any other that's still missing ;^) )

So, who wants to translated Tux Paint for me? ;^)

I've mirrored the mirror of photos. :^)

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/bill/zaurus-sl6000 -photos/

Enjoy!

Well, my Atari 8-bit can display 4096 colors without any hardware upgrades. Mwahaahhaa :)

-bill!
(who demo'd his Atari 800XL at VCS 6.0 in Mountain View this weekend)

I want to be paid to write more stuff like Tux Paint.
But, I suppose that's mainly because I'm lacking a full-time job. (Stupid Worldcom) :^)

The guy understands the secret to enjoyable games. Right now, games are super-elaborate to please the under-20 crowd, who have lots of time to spend on such things. However, the older, more wealthy segment of the population just doesn't care to learn the 400 odd special moves in Tekken Tag Tournament, they have better things to do with their lives.

Enter simple games.

The problem with this is, grandiose games are easy to market. "It will blow your mind!!!" etcetera. If another tetris-like breakthrough came out today, it wouldn't be marketable to sell for $60, and so would slip through the EB and Babbage's crowd unnoticed.

Enter the PC.

Shareware is a distribution model that supports less-than-grandiose titles. After all, if you've already tried the game and like it, you'll be more likely to buy it than another, more expensive game that promises "pulse-pounding action!!!". Can Smega make games with this model? I doubt it will.

And of course, Linux is the ultimate distribution model for games that are actually fun. Since its relatively easy to get put in a distro, millions will see your game. I know the first thing I checked when upgrading to Debian Sarge was the games menu. Circus Linux or Copter Commander will not "blow you away!!!" but they are fun and pass the time. : )

Ok, Tuxpaint on OSX probably isn't what you're looking for, but hey kids love it.

I have to agree with you here.

Scribus looks like it could be the missing piece to my kid's school's upcoming K-12 LTSP network.
This in addition to Open office and tuxpaint covers most of what we need to replace our windows 98 network.

'Tis a great companion for browsing the internet because if it segfaults then you may be near a MS Windows virus.

Screenshots here.

I've also found the Unoffical Zaurus FAQ to be extremely helpful as well.

Sega Genesis 3-button controllers work fine as a joystick on the Atari 2600 and 8-bit computers. (And possibly even on C=64, Amiga and ST; don't take my word for it, though.)

I even wrote a game for the Atari 8-bit computer that took advantage of the multiple buttons available on the Genesis controller.

Yeah, poor old Indrema. I remember when MS announce the XBox not long after the Indrema was announced. Poor John Gildred. :^)

For anyone who cares much about what the Indrema was (going to be), visit my old site: Indrema Informer

-bill!
(on to more important things, like Tux Paint and the Zaurus)

Yeah, poor old Indrema. I remember when MS announce the XBox not long after the Indrema was announced. Poor John Gildred. :^)

For anyone who cares much about what the Indrema was (going to be), visit my old site: Indrema Informer

-bill!
(on to more important things, like Tux Paint and the Zaurus)

My latest project Tux Paint has been lucky enough to have been mentioned in 5 Linux magazines around the globe so far. I also post release announcements to the various Linux-, Unix-, Windows-, Mac- and graphics-related Usenet groups and websites out there.

Locally, I'll have demonstrated Tux Paint at 4 or 5 different user groups (Linux, Mac, and "PC") in my area by the end of the month.

I also have put up flyers around the community advertising this "home grown" software, to try to encourage folks in the area to participate. (So far, no participation, but I'm sure it's been downloaded :^) )

It seems to have been a fairly successful project, so far as both general interest in using it, and interest in helping develop it (especially internationalization)... especially considering it's only about 7 months old and is gear for children ages 2.5 to 12. :^)

It's no Apache or Linux kernel, of course... :^)

Chris' game company's MMORPG is the greatest game ever. I've been playing the secret closed alpha-test for weeks now, and the graphics and sound are simply spectacular. Sure, it doesn't have a license for a famous sci-fi series, decent sound, good graphic design, satisfying character development, or balanced design, but I think it'll really take off.

The real kicker: it's being released for Indrema, America's most innovative open-source gaming console. I can't wait!

Somehow I hadn't heard of (or forgot about) TheOpenCD.

I'm vaguely familiar (as in, two of my apps are included in, and I just submitted many more to) the GNUWin II CD. It's the same idea. A CD of Open Source software we all use and love; just Windows versions of them.

I guess I'm going to have to find someone who runs Windows and have them nominate some of my ported games to TheOpenCD. :^)

the parser can recover from malformed pairs

You mean die from malformed pairs, right? XML disallows any sort of "recovery". Parsers must abort on any kind of mistake like that.

The "benefit"- that error detection is easier- is a tiny one, and far outweighed by the greater difficulty in modifying XML in a traditional text editor. (Sure, an XML-aware editor could update the closing tag for you, but a smart editor would do its own checking anyway).

Another drawback is that XML parsers are more complex and slower than similar Lisp parsers. Of course the performance difference is tiny, but since people want to use XML with big databases and small devices, it still matters.

You might also like Tux Paint. It's being developed specifically for young kids. :^)

If you have kids, and you have Linux (or even if you have Windows or Mac OS X), try out Tux Paint!

It's my answer to "Debian Jr. only came with The GIMP - I can't use the Gimp! How could my 5 year old!" ;^)

TiVo has started checking hashes on everything in the Series2 units, so it's very difficult to hack the code on the TiVo. The kernel is signed with TiVo's private key, which the TiVo firmware checks on each bootup. Inside of the kernel is an initrd ramdisk, which contains to hashes to all the files on the TiVo's ext2 filesystem. (There's another filesystem called MFS that contains all of the TiVo video files and other critical data which isn't checked, but there's no executable code in there unfortunately.) Since the ramdisk is inside of the kernel, if you attempt to modify the ramdisk you ruin the signing, which means the firmware won't boot it. So until somebody hacks either the firmware, the private keys that the kernel is signed with, or manages to find a collision with the SHA-1 hashes, hacking the executable is out of the question. This also means all other fun forms of TiVo hacking are right out, such as TiVoWeb, yac/elseed (caller ID programs), e-mail notification systems and whatnot. (This is why I traded a friend a brand-new Series2 for a Series1 which he wasn't going to hack.)

So, is this more secure than the method used to protect the Xbox? And could this technique be used to create a secure Linux gaming machine (like the Indrema)?

A little less, lately, but it's because I'm busy writing them in my spare time, since I work full-time.

I do get the occassional evening of Wipeout Fusion or Twisted Metal Black out of my PS2, though. Whee!

I don't have kids, yet, though. :^/

Don't tempt me !!!

Don't tempt me !!!