From webmaster at cosmicperl.com Fri May 1 13:12:43 2009 From: webmaster at cosmicperl.com (Lyle) Date: Fri, 01 May 2009 13:12:43 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Free Perl course for local Schools and colleges In-Reply-To: <49F9637A.7020507@uwe.ac.uk> References: <49F90AD4.2080509@cosmicperl.com> <49F9637A.7020507@uwe.ac.uk> Message-ID: <49FAE73B.9060107@cosmicperl.com> Hi Greg, Thanks for the input, great to see you on the list :) Lyle Greg Marsh BIT Staff wrote: > Hi Lyle, > > Two things. > > It's noughts not naughts (or perhaps zeroes) and maybe you could mention > where the term moungers originates. > > cheers > Greg > > > Lyle wrote: > >> Hi All, >> I'm about to send this document out to some local schools I've made >> contact with. I was hoping I could get a little feedback on the content >> before it the first one goes out (later today). After all, as you >> already know my unglish eint grate :) >> >> >> Software Programming >> >> A local programming group is offering schools and colleges, a free >> evening software programming course for their students. Details of which >> follow:- >> >> >> What is software programming? >> >> It is the art of designing and writing computer programs, such as games, >> desktop applications and internet services. All the programs you see and >> use on your computer have been designed and coded by a programmer or >> team of programmers. >> >> >> What is Perl? >> >> Perl is a programming language. There are lots of different programming >> languages, some suited to making specific pieces of software, others can >> be applied to a broad range of applications. A programming language is >> designed to be human readable and writeable, it gets translated into the >> ones and naughts of machine code by a compiler. Perl is what's known as >> a high level language, meaning it's far away from coding in ones and >> naughts. >> >> >> Why is Perl a good first language? >> >> Perl borrows syntax and ways of doing things from older, lower level >> languages such as C, C++, Pascal and LISP. It has also greatly >> influenced newer languages such as PHP, Python, Ruby and JavaScript. >> This makes Perl an excellent entrance point into programming. Learning >> Perl makes it much easier to learn other languages in the future. >> Although many people find Perl is the only programming language they need. >> >> >> Some Perl examples >> >> The popular network game Frozen Bubble is made in Perl. >> http://www.frozen-bubble.org/ >> >> The most popular spam filtering software for internet servers is coded >> in Perl. >> http://spamassassin.apache.org/ >> >> The webs most popular film and movie site is powered by Perl >> http://www.imdb.com/ >> >> >> Jobs as programmers >> >> Programming isn't easy, it requires a lot of practice and skill. >> Employers seeking software developers most often test a programmers >> ability to write code and solve problems. Practical skills and >> experience are commonly valued more than computing qualifications. For >> many programming languages, such as Perl, there is no official >> certification. >> >> >> What does the course provide? >> >> The course teaches the basics of computer programming. How to create >> small programs in Perl that read input from the user and save things to >> disk. Most importantly, the course aims to show students how they can >> teach themselves further programming skills. >> >> >> How much do courses like this usually cost? >> >> Typical beginning Perl programming courses are 5 days long at a cost of >> around ?2,000 per student. A google for "Perl programming course" brings >> up examples. >> >> >> Why is this course offered for free? >> >> Perl itself is open source and free to download. It's not a commercial >> product like Microsoft Windows. The local Perl moungers group wants to >> promote Perl as a programming language and bring new blood to the >> language. After all the beginners of today are the gurus of tomorrow. >> The course is only available to teenagers (ages 13 to 19). Considering >> the usually high cost of attending such a course, we hope this kind of >> scheme will be picked up all around the country. Giving students of all >> financial backgrounds the chance to catch the programming bug. >> >> >> Who are Perl Moungers? >> >> Perl moungers are social groups of Perl programmers. The local group is >> Bristol and Bath Perl Moungers ran by Lyle Hopkins. They hold regular >> meetings with conversations orientated around programming in general. >> Their web site can be found at http://perl.bristolbath.org >> >> >> Who is Lyle? >> >> Lyle is a self employed computer programmer, who has been developing >> Perl based internet applications for 10 years. He is the current >> Managing Director of Cosmic Networks Ltd, a software development >> company. He has a current enhanced disclosure CRB check. >> >> >> >> Lyle >> >> _______________________________________________ >> BristolBathPM mailing list >> BristolBathPM at bristolbath.org >> http://mailman.bristolbath.org/mailman/listinfo/bristolbathpm >> >> >> This incoming email to UWE has been independently scanned for viruses by McAfee anti-virus software and none were detected >> > > > > This email was independently scanned for viruses by McAfee anti-virus software and none were found > > _______________________________________________ > BristolBathPM mailing list > BristolBathPM at bristolbath.org > http://mailman.bristolbath.org/mailman/listinfo/bristolbathpm > > From webmaster at cosmicperl.com Fri May 1 13:13:25 2009 From: webmaster at cosmicperl.com (Lyle) Date: Fri, 01 May 2009 13:13:25 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Free Perl course for local Schools and colleges In-Reply-To: References: <49F90AD4.2080509@cosmicperl.com> Message-ID: <49FAE765.2060202@cosmicperl.com> Hi Peter, Brilliant, This is more than what I'd hoped for. Much appreciated :) Lyle Peter Haworth wrote: > > > On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:20:04 +0100, Lyle wrote: > > I was hoping I could get a little feedback on the content before it > > the first one goes out (later today) > > This might not be early enough, but here's my take: > > > > Software Programming > > > > A local programming group is offering schools and colleges, a free > > evening software programming course for their students. Details of > > which follow:- > > A free evening course for beginners in software programming is being > offered to local school and college students. > > ["Details ..." is superfluous] > > > > What is Perl? > > > > Perl is a programming language. There are lots of different > > programming languages, some suited to making specific pieces of > > software, others can be applied to a broad range of applications. A > > programming language is designed to be human readable and writeable, > > it gets translated into the ones and naughts of machine code by a > > compiler. Perl is what's known as a high level language, meaning > > it's far away from coding in ones and naughts. > > > There are many different programming languages; some specially > designed writing for specific types of software, while others, like > Perl, can be applied to a broad range of software. High level > programming languages, such as Perl, are designed so that programs may > be easily read and written by humans. Such programs are then > translated by a compiler into the ones and zeroes which are understood > by computers. > > ["naught" is nothing, "nought" is zero, and "zero" sounds > better anyway] > > > Why is Perl a good first language? > > [It isn't, as Larry said: "Perl should only be studied as a second > language. A good first language would be English."] > > Why is Perl a good first programming language? > > > > Although many people find Perl is the only programming language > > they need. > > However, many people ... > > > The webs most popular film and movie site is powered by Perl > > http://www.imdb.com/ > > The web's ... > > > Jobs as programmers > > > > Programming isn't easy, it requires a lot of practice and skill. > > s/,/;/ > > > Employers seeking software developers most often test a programmers > > "test a programmer's" or "test programmers'". "most" is superfluous. > > > > What does the course provide? > > > > The course teaches the basics of computer programming. How to create > > small programs in Perl that read input from the user and save things > > to disk. > > ... save output to disk or display it to the user. > > [You probably also need to mention something else, as that's not very > inspiring on its own. Do you include any web stuff? Are any of the > programs interesting in their own right, such as simple games > (hangman, the animal guessing game)?] > > > > Most importantly, the course aims to show students how they can > > teach themselves further programming skills. > > [well worth mentioning] > > > > Why is this course offered for free? > > > > Perl itself is open source and free to download. It's not a > > commercial product like Microsoft Windows. The local Perl moungers > > group wants to > > [Either "mongers" or "mungers", please; I don't like "m[ou]ngers" > much at the best of times, but I really hate the idea of coining > "moungers" from it] > > > > promote Perl as a programming language and bring new blood to the > > useful language [you can't deny that it's a programming language] > > > language. After all the beginners of today are the gurus of > > tomorrow. > > After all, the beginners ... > > > The course is only available to teenagers (ages 13 to 19). > > Considering > > The course is available to students in Key Stages 4 and 5. [Try not to > sound too lecherous, and don't put absolute bounds on the range with > "only" and specific ages] > > > the usually high cost of attending such a course, we hope this > > kind of scheme will be picked up all around the country. Giving > > students of all > > ... country, giving ... > > > financial backgrounds the chance to catch the programming bug. > > > > > > Who are Perl Moungers? > > Mongers > > > Perl moungers are social groups of Perl programmers. The local > > group is > > [mongers aren't groups; they're people who *may* be members of groups] > > Perl Monger groups provide arenas in which Perl programmers may > communicate both socially and on technical matters, and usually serve > specific geographical regions. > > > Bristol and Bath Perl Moungers ran by Lyle Hopkins. They hold > > regular > > ... Mongers, run by ... > > -- > Peter Haworth pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com > "I couldn't even find anything to read. The hotel shop > only had two decent books, and I'd written both of them." > -- Douglas Adams, the Salmon of Doubt > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This email (and attachments) are confidential and intended for the > addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient please notify > the sender, delete any copies and do not take action in reliance on > it. Any views expressed are the author's and do not represent those of > IOP, except where specifically stated. IOP takes reasonable > precautions to protect against viruses but accepts no responsibility > for loss or damage arising from virus infection. For the protection of > IOP's systems and staff emails are scanned automatically.? > > Institute of Physics Registered in England under Registration No 293851 > Registered Office: 76/78 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > BristolBathPM mailing list > BristolBathPM at bristolbath.org > http://mailman.bristolbath.org/mailman/listinfo/bristolbathpm > From webmaster at cosmicperl.com Tue May 5 13:55:12 2009 From: webmaster at cosmicperl.com (Lyle) Date: Tue, 05 May 2009 13:55:12 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] New mailing list service Message-ID: <4A003730.2010206@cosmicperl.com> Hi All, I've finally got round to installing Sympa on PerlPortal.com. I'm very impressed with it, it's much, much better than Mailman. http://lists.perlportal.com/sympa Mark Stosberg is moving across the cgi-app mailing list, they've been having problems with their current mailing list server. I'll be moving across some of my lists, like PerlCertification, etc. I'll leave this list on mailman for the time being, I want to keep the list @bristolbath.org. Luckily sympa allows you to have multiple virtual hosts, so at some point when I have time I'll be able to move us over and still have @bristolbath.org for the list. The http://lists.perlportal.com page (currently unavailable) will effectively be a modern and working version of:- http://lists.cpan.org/ Which hasn't worked properly for years. Before anyone says it, Yes I have made efforts to update the lists.cpan.org site, but the current owner has no interest in it working and would rather have it sit there as yet another embarrassing Perl site. Lyle From pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com Fri May 8 11:28:33 2009 From: pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com (Peter Haworth) Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 11:28:33 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] RFC: Next meetings Message-ID: Let's see whether I can actually get the next meeting organised before the 1 week in advance deadline this time. The Cornubia is incredibly convenient for me and anyone coming by train from Bath, but though the live music is very nice, it does make it hard to hear anything else. This could be ameliorated somewhat by sitting in the narrow bit, but well, it's narrow. Of the pubs sampled during the last Bristol meeting, the Pipe and Slippers was far loo loud to hold civilized conversations, while The Croft (if that's the right place) seemed a bit bare/cold and intermittently loud. On the other hand, the Bell Inn was a pleasant, genuine place, which I think deserves our continued patronage. I left relatively early though, so it's possible that I missed the perfect venue after the Pipe and Slippers. Also, despite the potential volume considerations, I'm still intrigued by the Miners Arms' acoustic open mic night. Let me know your opinions, and I'll pick a definite venue before Tuesday. On a related topic, do we have a definite date for the tech meet yet? We need to get word out as far in advance as possible if we want an audience of more than 5 or 6. -- Peter Haworth pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com "This is *Perl* for f*ck's sake, not C or Java. Indexing into a list is a perfectly sensible thing to do." -- Piers Cawley This email (and attachments) are confidential and intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender, delete any copies and do not take action in reliance on it. Any views expressed are the author's and do not represent those of IOP, except where specifically stated. IOP takes reasonable precautions to protect against viruses but accepts no responsibility for loss or damage arising from virus infection. For the protection of IOP's systems and staff emails are scanned automatically.? Institute of Physics Registered in England under Registration No 293851 Registered Office: 76/78 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.bristolbath.org/pipermail/bristolbathpm/attachments/20090508/74492532/attachment.html From pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com Tue May 12 10:23:24 2009 From: pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com (Peter Haworth) Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 10:23:24 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] ANNOUNCE: Next Bristol Social References: Message-ID: 7pm Tuesday 19 May 2009 The Bell Hillgrove Street BS2 8JT Come along to talk about Perl (or anything else) and drink beer. I don't think anyone tried it last time we were there, but reviews suggest that they also serve a good range of veggie and non-veggie food. So, if you lke Perl or beer, come and join us. Newcomers welcome, but check the People page first, so you know who to look for: http://perl.bristolbath.org/?People -- Peter Haworth pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com "And don't tell me there isn't one bit of difference between null and space, because that's exactly how much difference there is. :-)" --Larry Wall This email (and attachments) are confidential and intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender, delete any copies and do not take action in reliance on it. Any views expressed are the author's and do not represent those of IOP, except where specifically stated. IOP takes reasonable precautions to protect against viruses but accepts no responsibility for loss or damage arising from virus infection. For the protection of IOP's systems and staff emails are scanned automatically.? Institute of Physics Registered in England under Registration No 293851 Registered Office: 76/78 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.bristolbath.org/pipermail/bristolbathpm/attachments/20090512/5915e530/attachment.html From webmaster at cosmicperl.com Tue May 12 17:27:29 2009 From: webmaster at cosmicperl.com (Lyle) Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 17:27:29 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] ANNOUNCE: Next Bristol Social In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4A09A371.2070202@cosmicperl.com> Peter Haworth wrote: > > > 7pm Tuesday 19 May 2009 > The Bell > Hillgrove Street > BS2 8JT Thanks for sorting this Peter, the Bell would have got my vote. I'm just finalizing some details for the tech meet then I'll post an update. I hope everyone has most of their talks ready :) Lyle From pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com Tue May 19 09:11:53 2009 From: pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com (Peter Haworth) Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 09:11:53 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Reminder: Social meeting tonight Message-ID: 7pm Tuesday 19 May 2009 The Bell Hillgrove Street BS2 8JT Come along to talk about Perl (or anything else) and drink beer. I don't think anyone tried it last time we were there, but reviews suggest that they also serve a good range of veggie and non-veggie food. So, if you lke Perl or beer, come and join us. Newcomers welcome, but check the People page first, so you know who to look for: http://perl.bristolbath.org/?People And while I've got your attention, please sponsor me: http://www.justgiving.com/zip60peter -- Peter Haworth pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com "The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility, and among other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague." -- Edsger W Dijkstra This email (and attachments) are confidential and intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender, delete any copies and do not take action in reliance on it. Any views expressed are the author's and do not represent those of IOP, except where specifically stated. IOP takes reasonable precautions to protect against viruses but accepts no responsibility for loss or damage arising from virus infection. For the protection of IOP's systems and staff emails are scanned automatically.? Institute of Physics Registered in England under Registration No 293851 Registered Office: 76/78 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.bristolbath.org/pipermail/bristolbathpm/attachments/20090519/a04daa88/attachment-0001.html From webmaster at cosmicperl.com Wed May 20 22:50:48 2009 From: webmaster at cosmicperl.com (Lyle) Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 22:50:48 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Tech meet update Message-ID: <4A147B38.9060804@cosmicperl.com> Hi All, We have confirmation for the tech meet. Details:- June 13th (Saturday) Between 1pm and 6pm Hamilton House Stokes Croft Bristol As far as I know the speaker line up is the same as before. I know me and Peter are *almost* ready. Could the other speakers please reply to this and give me a final definite? I need to be hitting this out the the other Perl groups, etc by the end of the week... Lyle From mjr at phonecoop.coop Fri May 22 09:36:47 2009 From: mjr at phonecoop.coop (MJ Ray) Date: Fri, 22 May 2009 09:36:47 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Tech meet update In-Reply-To: <4A147B38.9060804@cosmicperl.com> References: <4A147B38.9060804@cosmicperl.com> Message-ID: <4a16641f.jfH7fEAH4V3JDSX/%mjr@phonecoop.coop> Lyle wrote: > June 13th (Saturday) Between 1pm and 6pm > Hamilton House Stokes Croft Bristol I wish you all the best. I'm already double-booked that day. -- MJ Ray (slef) Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ (Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237 From pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com Tue May 26 16:55:37 2009 From: pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com (Peter Haworth) Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 16:55:37 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Tech meet update References: <4A147B38.9060804@cosmicperl.com> Message-ID: On Wed, 20 May 2009 22:50:48 +0100, Lyle wrote: > As far as I know the speaker line up is the same as before. I know > me and Peter are *almost* ready. Well, my outline is almost ready. I could also do a lightning talk about how I solved the Bedlam Cube with Perl. Depending on how much time I spend preparing the CPAN talk, the cube talk might extend to something more substantial. -- Please sponsor me: http://justgiving.com/zip60peter "it's like regression tests, only with less tentacles" -- Nicholas Clark This email (and attachments) are confidential and intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender, delete any copies and do not take action in reliance on it. Any views expressed are the author's and do not represent those of IOP, except where specifically stated. IOP takes reasonable precautions to protect against viruses but accepts no responsibility for loss or damage arising from virus infection. For the protection of IOP's systems and staff emails are scanned automatically.? Institute of Physics Registered in England under Registration No 293851 Registered Office: 76/78 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.bristolbath.org/pipermail/bristolbathpm/attachments/20090526/e3b55bce/attachment.html From robin.ge at gmail.com Tue May 26 17:21:56 2009 From: robin.ge at gmail.com (Robin Edwards) Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 17:21:56 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Tech meet update In-Reply-To: References: <4A147B38.9060804@cosmicperl.com> Message-ID: <303603130905260921y79fd3ffen7fef31ad3aabb4a1@mail.gmail.com> Hi, I will try and finally make it! I am a terrible public speaker, mumbling in monotone, making bad jokes etc etc. If any of you want to hear about my parrot adventures I will be happy to share them with you. Rob From pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com Wed May 27 14:55:05 2009 From: pmh at edison.ioppublishing.com (Peter Haworth) Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 14:55:05 +0100 Subject: [BristolBathPM] Tech meet update References: <4A147B38.9060804@cosmicperl.com> <303603130905260921y79fd3ffen7fef31ad3aabb4a1@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: On Tue, 26 May 2009 17:21:56 +0100, Robin Edwards wrote: > I will try and finally make it! I am a terrible public speaker, > mumbling in monotone, making bad jokes etc etc. A bit of practice will do you good, then! I have to work out exactly what I'm going to say in advance, and then stick to the printed script, otherwise I just end up making fish faces. > If any of you want to hear about my parrot adventures I will be > happy to share them with you. That sounds ideal. Welcome aboard. -- Please sponsor me: http://justgiving.com/zip60peter "I recommend not remaking my mistakes. Please make different mistakes." -- Larry Wall, on number conversions in Perl 5 & 6 This email (and attachments) are confidential and intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender, delete any copies and do not take action in reliance on it. Any views expressed are the author's and do not represent those of IOP, except where specifically stated. IOP takes reasonable precautions to protect against viruses but accepts no responsibility for loss or damage arising from virus infection. For the protection of IOP's systems and staff emails are scanned automatically.? Institute of Physics Registered in England under Registration No 293851 Registered Office: 76/78 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.bristolbath.org/pipermail/bristolbathpm/attachments/20090527/055db707/attachment.html