Wing IDE Editor Video [Test]

So, today's exercise is to embed a ShowMeDo video into my blog. I'm thinking of extending the wxPython series - do readers think there could be a demand for such videos?
I use Wing IDE quite a lot, so I chose that one, but ShowMeDo now have over 100 Python-related videos.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

This video originally comes from here
at ShowMeDo from the Python category.

Time to Book Some Vacation

I noticed today that my schedule shows only one open week between now and September 21. Better make sure I book some time to move house ...

Is Guido Drunk Yet?

So Guido is encouraging people to get him drunk today. I hope someone gets a video!

The Python Community

This page is clearly seditious, as it claims that there are activities that are "more fun" than programming in Python*.

It does start to give you some idea of the breadth of the Python community. Strange as it may seem, after 40 years working with information technology I like the Python community as a place I don't necessarily have to do technical stuff. So I have tended to organize conferences rather than present at them.

With PyCon and EuroPython, and now individual conferences all over Europe and South America starting up under the PyCon [the page is a bit out of date] banner, Python has a truly international community.

Through its various electronic media, both interactive (newsgroups/mailing lists, Wiki, IRC) and with groupings based on geography and technical interests, everyone gets a chance to contribute no matter where in the world they are. The jobs list is also worldwide.

The Python Software Foundation's Advocacy Coordinator (Jeff Rush) certainly has his hands full!

* ObGeek: Outrageous suggestion.

Guido Uses My Birthday to Talk About Python's Future

Not really, of course. He didn't even know it was my birthday. From Dr. Dobb's:

"""June 20, 2007

Guido van Rossum Posts Python Status Update

Guido van Rossum has posted a status update on progress toward the 3.0 version of Python.

Python creator Guido van Rossum has posted a summary of progress in the "Python 3000 project," which is the code name for Python 3.0. The release schedule has slipped by two months, with a proposed first alpha now slated for the end of August. The final release is scheduled for one year from then.

In his update, he lays out an eight-step plan for developers who need to transition their code from Python 2.6 to Python 3.0. Changes between the two versions will break backward compatibility, so transition is not trivial. A tool to convert Python 2.6 syntax to Python 3.0 syntax exists.

Van Rossum then provides a laundry list of language changes, including a new I/O library, new print() and format() functions, and many changes to the class and type system, including class decorators and a new metaclass syntax.

The full posting can be found here."""

Good for Guido. I think that a number of interested parties managed to convince hin of the sincerity of their migration concerns at PyCon earlier this year, and it looks as though Guido has taken these concerns on board.

Where Were You When You Discovered Google Maps Street View?

I was actually teaching a class at One New York Plaza, a building that can be seen in the street view of New York. So I was able to show my students this page on Learning Tree's MagnaLearn display system. The students seemed to think the new service will be popular.

Excellent Free Beer Quote

Though many people would gladly accept a free beer, it is not one of the fundamental principles of democracy.

Jay Pfaffman - It's Time to Consider Open Source Software (I)