Back in January I mentioned that we had released the first edition of our OLPC Activity Handbook. Now it's my pleasure to announce a significant update to the handbook which we worked on over the past weeks and months. We have now included chapters on topics such as the Sugar user interface, datastore and collaboration, the Journal and XO Input Devices. The handbook was formally presented by my colleague Daniel Jahre at the Wiener Linuxwochen (Vienna Linuxweeks) on Friday.
At the moment the current version is only available as a pdf that's been optimized for print purposes (alternating margins, etc.) but we should have a normal version soon. I also hope to find an hour or two this week to upload some of the .py and .xo files that I produced for the handbook to the wiki entry.
I have to say that I'm quite happy to have reached this milestone. Going forward I definitely want to enhance the current material however I'll have to see how much spare time I have in the coming weeks and months as I'll have another significant committment starting tomorrow...
Showing posts with label activity handbook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activity handbook. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
What I call a Sunday night...
Uncle Ben's Country Inn: Broccoli Rice au Gratin, a glass of water, Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo 1435W laptop with lots of post-its: for documentation writing, a bottle of "Turn Me Red" Austrian Red Wine, a glass of wine: for keeping my sanity, OLPC XO laptop: for testing my Python code (from left to right)
Friday, February 22, 2008
Movies, movies, movies, ...
It's just insane how quickly time passes, especially during the holidays. Being a student around here I'm currently enjoying 4 solid weeks of holidays in-between the two university terms. I spent the past 12 days back home in Upper Austria with my family and I'm proud to say that I managed to hit a perfect work-life balance. On the one hand I did get quite a lot of things done, for my bachelor thesis, preparation for the Chemnitzer LinuxTage and CeBIT (which means that I'll be heading to Germany for 10 days next Thursday) and also for the Activity Handbook. On the other hand I also spent a lot of time chillin', reading, visiting my grandmothers, meeting friends, going out and watching movies.
When it comes to watching movies I have a tendency to underachieve as they're are simply too many great movies to watch at any given moment. However this time 'round I had quite a good run as I saw the following movies in the past 2 weeks:
"3:10 to Yuma"
What can I say, this movie was everything I expected. And then some more. Having a thing for good vs. not-quite-sure-how-bad western stories and liking the main actors Christian Bale and Russell Crowe this film didn't have a chance of disappointing me. The pace of the film is just right with lots of action filled scenes and shoot-outs being balanced out by many quiet moments and dialogues. I'm not going to go into more details here but if you like westerns then this is a must-see!
"Charlie Wilson's War"
I read about that movie several weeks ago in the newspaper and based on the comments there I didn't expect to be blown away. And I wasn't. Charlie Wilson's War is definitely a solid movie and quite entertaining at times, however it's nothing to call home about. While Tom Hanks makes a solid impression as Charlie Wilson and his secretaries are definitely good looking my favorite character is CIA agent Gust Avrakotos who is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. In the end the portrayal of Charlie Wilson's actions and the results in Afghanistan are simply too shallow to have a lasting impact. Yes, the movie allows for a quick glance at the inner workings of how things came to be but these days I simply expect a broader and more differentiated perspective of things. You can watch it, but it's definitely not a must-see.
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Apart from deserving an Oscar for having one of the longest titles I found this western to be pretty darn good even though I'm not the biggest fan of the middle of the movie. The first and especially the last hour are absolutely amazing but there are about 40min somewhere in the middle where the movie is simply stretched too thinly and ends up being too long. The acting, especially by Brad Pitt (Jesse James) and Casey Affleck (Robert Ford) is outstanding and the quiet and long scenes really add a lot to the atmosphere. The movie is also quite stylized in some regards, especially when it comes to depicting violence. All in all certainly well recommended if you like westerns and/or enjoy a dense and epic struggle between two exceptionally well portrayed characters.
"Batman Begins"
I have to admit something, I hadn't seen Batman Begins up to now. I know, I know, there's no real excuse for that but now I'm glad I finally managed to watch the movie. I actually did it in anticipation of the release of "The Dark Knight" because after seeing that outstanding trailer [YouTube link] I know I have to see it once it hits the cinemas. Again with Batman Begins having been directed by Christopher Nolan, Gothan City being the prototype of a 'seedy', dark and atmospheric city (Sin City anyone?) and featuring Christian Bale and Michael Caine there's nothing that can really go wrong here. Even though the movie is nearly as long as "The Assassination of Jesse James" it never felt thinly stretched. In fact it's quite the opposite, all the 140min are dense and exciting and I wouldn't want to cut a minute of it.
"The Band's Visit"
This one is definitely the least well known movie on this list. The setting is quite simple: an Egyptian police band goes to Israel for a concert but ends up in the wrong city. There they meet some locals who help them out and thanks to one woman the members of the band are able to stay at various homes around the city while they wait for their bus to arrive the next morning. The individual members of the band and also the Israeli locals are all extremely interesting and different characters. Much of the communication in the film happens via facial expressions, small gestures and the lack of spoken words. The fact that the movie comes in a mixture of English, Hebrew and Arabic (with English subtitles) really adds to the atmosphere and realism. While the beginning focuses on the strange setting the story slowly develops to show the similarities between people who at first glance seemed to be so different. Some might go as far as saying that it's a romanticized and idealized notion of intercultural understanding and while that may be true I really liked the fact that the film focuses on the small steps towards each other that happen on a personal level. The movie might not be for everyone but I liked it a lot.
The next movie up my to-be-watched list is "Tropa de Elite" which won the Berlinale last Saturday. Seeing the first comments about the film and the fact that the co-writer is also behind the excellent "Cidade de Deus" / "City of God" I'm pretty certain that I'm going to like it. I actually wanted to watch the movie the other night but as it was quite late already I settled for "The Band's Visit" which was shorter.
Other films I hope to see in the near future include "Into The Wild", "No Country for Old Men", "Persepolis", "Cloverfield" and "Sweeney Todd".
When it comes to watching movies I have a tendency to underachieve as they're are simply too many great movies to watch at any given moment. However this time 'round I had quite a good run as I saw the following movies in the past 2 weeks:
"3:10 to Yuma"
What can I say, this movie was everything I expected. And then some more. Having a thing for good vs. not-quite-sure-how-bad western stories and liking the main actors Christian Bale and Russell Crowe this film didn't have a chance of disappointing me. The pace of the film is just right with lots of action filled scenes and shoot-outs being balanced out by many quiet moments and dialogues. I'm not going to go into more details here but if you like westerns then this is a must-see!
"Charlie Wilson's War"
I read about that movie several weeks ago in the newspaper and based on the comments there I didn't expect to be blown away. And I wasn't. Charlie Wilson's War is definitely a solid movie and quite entertaining at times, however it's nothing to call home about. While Tom Hanks makes a solid impression as Charlie Wilson and his secretaries are definitely good looking my favorite character is CIA agent Gust Avrakotos who is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. In the end the portrayal of Charlie Wilson's actions and the results in Afghanistan are simply too shallow to have a lasting impact. Yes, the movie allows for a quick glance at the inner workings of how things came to be but these days I simply expect a broader and more differentiated perspective of things. You can watch it, but it's definitely not a must-see.
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Apart from deserving an Oscar for having one of the longest titles I found this western to be pretty darn good even though I'm not the biggest fan of the middle of the movie. The first and especially the last hour are absolutely amazing but there are about 40min somewhere in the middle where the movie is simply stretched too thinly and ends up being too long. The acting, especially by Brad Pitt (Jesse James) and Casey Affleck (Robert Ford) is outstanding and the quiet and long scenes really add a lot to the atmosphere. The movie is also quite stylized in some regards, especially when it comes to depicting violence. All in all certainly well recommended if you like westerns and/or enjoy a dense and epic struggle between two exceptionally well portrayed characters.
"Batman Begins"
I have to admit something, I hadn't seen Batman Begins up to now. I know, I know, there's no real excuse for that but now I'm glad I finally managed to watch the movie. I actually did it in anticipation of the release of "The Dark Knight" because after seeing that outstanding trailer [YouTube link] I know I have to see it once it hits the cinemas. Again with Batman Begins having been directed by Christopher Nolan, Gothan City being the prototype of a 'seedy', dark and atmospheric city (Sin City anyone?) and featuring Christian Bale and Michael Caine there's nothing that can really go wrong here. Even though the movie is nearly as long as "The Assassination of Jesse James" it never felt thinly stretched. In fact it's quite the opposite, all the 140min are dense and exciting and I wouldn't want to cut a minute of it.
"The Band's Visit"
This one is definitely the least well known movie on this list. The setting is quite simple: an Egyptian police band goes to Israel for a concert but ends up in the wrong city. There they meet some locals who help them out and thanks to one woman the members of the band are able to stay at various homes around the city while they wait for their bus to arrive the next morning. The individual members of the band and also the Israeli locals are all extremely interesting and different characters. Much of the communication in the film happens via facial expressions, small gestures and the lack of spoken words. The fact that the movie comes in a mixture of English, Hebrew and Arabic (with English subtitles) really adds to the atmosphere and realism. While the beginning focuses on the strange setting the story slowly develops to show the similarities between people who at first glance seemed to be so different. Some might go as far as saying that it's a romanticized and idealized notion of intercultural understanding and while that may be true I really liked the fact that the film focuses on the small steps towards each other that happen on a personal level. The movie might not be for everyone but I liked it a lot.
The next movie up my to-be-watched list is "Tropa de Elite" which won the Berlinale last Saturday. Seeing the first comments about the film and the fact that the co-writer is also behind the excellent "Cidade de Deus" / "City of God" I'm pretty certain that I'm going to like it. I actually wanted to watch the movie the other night but as it was quite late already I settled for "The Band's Visit" which was shorter.
Other films I hope to see in the near future include "Into The Wild", "No Country for Old Men", "Persepolis", "Cloverfield" and "Sweeney Todd".
Monday, February 4, 2008
olpcaustria blog goes soup
During a meeting dedicated to planning our presence at CeBIT in March it was decided that OLPC Austria needs to get a blog so we can document the work that we're doing. I'm not sure whether it was Simon or Helga who came up with the idea of using soup, soup.io that is, a very light-weight KISS (that's keep it simple, stupid) blogging-service that was invented right here in Vienna.
I have to say that I'm extremely impressed with soup.io and especially its interface that really gets out of the way and let's you post links, texts, pictures, etc. in close to no time. I think it would be a bit too simplistic for my own blogging needs, especially since I love having those long lists of links, places I want to travel to, etc. on the right hand side of the blog. However for the intended purposes, keeping people posted about what OLPC Austria is up to, it's just perfect!
So head over to olpcaustria.soup.io where for now you can see Helga, Daniel and me hackin' away on the Activitiy Handbook.
I have to say that I'm extremely impressed with soup.io and especially its interface that really gets out of the way and let's you post links, texts, pictures, etc. in close to no time. I think it would be a bit too simplistic for my own blogging needs, especially since I love having those long lists of links, places I want to travel to, etc. on the right hand side of the blog. However for the intended purposes, keeping people posted about what OLPC Austria is up to, it's just perfect!
So head over to olpcaustria.soup.io where for now you can see Helga, Daniel and me hackin' away on the Activitiy Handbook.
Friday, January 18, 2008
OLPC Activity Handbook
I think I previously mentioned that Daniel, Helga and me are currently working on the so-called "Activity Handbook". To quote myself from the introduction of the handbook:
"The purpose of this handbook is to provide you with all the information you need in
order to get started with software development for the OLPC XO."
Last weekend we managed to finish the first few chapters and we therefore decided to post the activity handbook over on the OLPC Austria website. Currently there are two downloads available, the first pdf is optimized for printing purposes (with alternating margins, etc.) while the second one is meant for regular viewing.
We're working on cleaning up the DocBook files (basically the source-code of the book) so we can also make them available to the community. This will enable people to contribute by submitting corrections, additional information and extra chapters in the form of patches. Therefore the whole project is very open and we encourage anyone to contribute to it! We're already working on the next chapters and we're also integrating some of the outstanding feedback that we've gotten from other OLPC Austria members.
This is definitely one of the most interesting projects I've ever been involved in and while it's a lot of hard work I'm having a great time doing it. I'm really learning a lot along the way and it's fun to learn Python while also spending a lot of time thinking about how to come up with a readable and useful documentation.
Stay tuned for updates in the future!
"The purpose of this handbook is to provide you with all the information you need in
order to get started with software development for the OLPC XO."
Last weekend we managed to finish the first few chapters and we therefore decided to post the activity handbook over on the OLPC Austria website. Currently there are two downloads available, the first pdf is optimized for printing purposes (with alternating margins, etc.) while the second one is meant for regular viewing.
We're working on cleaning up the DocBook files (basically the source-code of the book) so we can also make them available to the community. This will enable people to contribute by submitting corrections, additional information and extra chapters in the form of patches. Therefore the whole project is very open and we encourage anyone to contribute to it! We're already working on the next chapters and we're also integrating some of the outstanding feedback that we've gotten from other OLPC Austria members.
This is definitely one of the most interesting projects I've ever been involved in and while it's a lot of hard work I'm having a great time doing it. I'm really learning a lot along the way and it's fun to learn Python while also spending a lot of time thinking about how to come up with a readable and useful documentation.
Stay tuned for updates in the future!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
"Christoph Derndofer" makes it into the OLPC community-news
What's less than 15 minutes of fame?
Half a second of fame.
And today I had that second. Or rather a certain Christoph Derndofer (my name minus an r) did. As previously mentioned I'm part of OLPC Austria and one of our current projects is to write a so-called "activity handbook" for people who want to write software for the OLPC X0 (more commonly known as the "$100 laptop"). Documentation is definitely one of the areas where the OLPC project is still lacking and therefore we decided it was time to write something ourselves. I'm not going into more details here but you can expect me to talk more about this writing project over the coming weeks and months.
For now it's good to see that OLPC really picked up on the current documentation efforts and that lead to the following paragraph in the latest edition of the OLPC community-news:
26. How-tos/documentation: A few groups have independently developed their own "how-tos" about using Sugar and the XOs. Christoph Derndofer and Eduardo Silva each took a stab at how-tos for using activities and Todd Kelsey and Val Scarlatta worked on updating the 542 Demo Notes with more detailed information from the wiki and updates for recent builds. John Gilmore wrote in with his own ideas for help files. There is a group discussion planned for next Saturday to bring these similar works together.
I hope that I can still convince them to change that meeting to Friday or something because next Saturday I'll be celebrating the birthday of one of my best friends (and my own birthday) with a party!
For now I'm happy with my split-second of fame... :)
Half a second of fame.
And today I had that second. Or rather a certain Christoph Derndofer (my name minus an r) did. As previously mentioned I'm part of OLPC Austria and one of our current projects is to write a so-called "activity handbook" for people who want to write software for the OLPC X0 (more commonly known as the "$100 laptop"). Documentation is definitely one of the areas where the OLPC project is still lacking and therefore we decided it was time to write something ourselves. I'm not going into more details here but you can expect me to talk more about this writing project over the coming weeks and months.
For now it's good to see that OLPC really picked up on the current documentation efforts and that lead to the following paragraph in the latest edition of the OLPC community-news:
26. How-tos/documentation: A few groups have independently developed their own "how-tos" about using Sugar and the XOs. Christoph Derndofer and Eduardo Silva each took a stab at how-tos for using activities and Todd Kelsey and Val Scarlatta worked on updating the 542 Demo Notes with more detailed information from the wiki and updates for recent builds. John Gilmore wrote in with his own ideas for help files. There is a group discussion planned for next Saturday to bring these similar works together.
I hope that I can still convince them to change that meeting to Friday or something because next Saturday I'll be celebrating the birthday of one of my best friends (and my own birthday) with a party!
For now I'm happy with my split-second of fame... :)
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