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Europe Code Week 2015: Cocktails At Microsoft, 'Ode To Code' Robot Dancing

Posted by Soulskill on from the times-are-a-changin' dept.

theodp writes: In case your invite to next week's Europe Code Week 2015 kickoff celebration at the Microsoft Centre in Brussels was lost in the e-mail, you can apparently still invite yourself. "Let's meet to celebrate coding as an empowering competence, key for maintaining our society vibrant and securing the prosperity of our European digital economy," reads the invite at the Microsoft and Facebook-powered All you Need is Code website. And to "keep raising awareness of the importance of computational thinking beyond Code Week," EU Code Week is also running an Ode to Code Video Contest, asking people to make short YouTube videos showing how the event's Ode to Code soundtrack causes uncontrollable robot dancing (video) and flash mobs (video). Things sure have changed since thirty years ago, when schoolchildren were provided with materials like The BASIC Book to foster computational thinking!

15 comments

  1. I've already had Microsoft's cocktails by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I had 'em at GDC 2000. They looked good from a distance, but once you got up close you found out they were cheap and sloppy. You might still take one for free, but you'd be skeptical of the contents.

    I would say that I only wish this were a lie, but that would be a lie. I'm right chuffed that their trade show tendencies follow their products.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. A Microsoft party you say? by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

    I hope it's as riveting as their Windows 7 launch party was.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cX4t5-YpHQ

  3. Thirty years ago... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> Things sure have changed since thirty years ago, when schoolchildren were provided with materials like The BASIC Book to foster computational thinking!

    Thirty years ago, we learned by sitting down in front an Apple II. You either learned the command line and programmed in BASIC or you didn't get to play any games at all. It was a great, distraction-free environment to learn the, er, basics.

    1. Re:Thirty years ago... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      My seventh grade class had Apple ][ with Logo. No BASIC. Just squiggly lines on color monitors.

    2. Re:Thirty years ago... by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

      No games? Choplifter. Aztec. Wizardry. Karateka. Flight Simulator. There were *lots* of fantastic games for the Apple II.

      I still learned AppleBASIC and made my own games though. Thirty years later, I'm still making games for a living. I have to admit, I'm sort of surprised it worked out as planned.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    3. Re:Thirty years ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was a privileged cis white male from a rich family, so I had all the advantages: a TI-99/4A at home, a tape recorder on which to save my programs, and a subscription to 3-2-1-Contact which had a section on programming in BASIC, plus a book specifically on how to program a TI-99/4A in BASIC. That also implies that I was privileged enough to learn how to read, so I'm one of those reading scum that you hear about.

      Dancing robot odes? No, that's for the unprivileged, who need to be drawn gently into the circle of love instead of taught how to code. Privileged fuckers like me had books and work and actually learned to make the computer do something.

    4. Re:Thirty years ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to check your privilege. You are creating a toxic environment. As punishment you need to donate to my Patreon account. You can find my account details on Bittorrent.

    5. Re:Thirty years ago... by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1

      I had to learn on Pascal, you insensitive clods!

    6. Re:Thirty years ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How could you leave out Captain Goodnight - Islands of Fear!?

      "Your ears are ringing. Answer them!"

    7. Re:Thirty years ago... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Moon Patrol (Cracked by The Nibbler) was the popular game title in my middle school Apple ][e lab.

  4. Cocktails are for cows. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cows say MOOOOOOOO.MOOOOOOOOO.MOOOOOOO cows MOOOOOOOOO.MOOOO says the cows.You cocktail cows.

  5. Parties are for crows. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Crows say Cawwwww.Cawwwww.Cawwww crows Cawwwww.Cawwww says the crow.You party crows.

  6. Code code code coding code code everybody code by Lumpio- · · Score: 1

    Code code coding code kids code everybody code code coding ode to code code code cool code code CODE CODE CODE ENDLESS CODE EVERYWHERE CODE

    1. Re:Code code code coding code code everybody code by theodp · · Score: 1

      Africa Code Week is also underway. Don't believe Antarctica Code Week's been claimed yet, if you want to beat Microsoft to it. :-)

  7. Thirty years ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I pounded yo momma and out came you nine months later. Also:BASIC is for Sheeps.Sheeps say Mehhhhh!!!Mehhhhhhhhh!!!Mehhhhhhhhhh!! says the sheeps.You BASIC sheeps. PS:Fuck you APK!!You shitposter!!!