[This is a re-print of the monthly Update Email that is sent to all of our Members]
The biggest change you might notice right now is that we’ve added a statement-of-purpose to our frontpage:
http://showmedo.com/
which says that ShowMeDo is focusing on Free & Open-Source software.
Here’s a part of it:
“We’re here to help address the need for good documentation and tutorials, the lack of which, we believe, prevents some great software from gaining the popularity it deserves. If you want to contribute, just join-up and submit a video. It’s a great way to give something back.”
You’ll find notes on making and uploading videos at the end of this email. We’d love to see more videos on topics like Inkscape, OpenOffice, Linux, programming and useful applications.
Helping by spreading the word:
You can help in another way too - spreading the word about our videos is just as important as making them. Do you have a favourite topic here? Remember the pain of trying to find the right documentation and just finding it to be all out of date (or maybe to not even exist!)?
If something here would have helped you in the past - why not write a post telling the right people how to find it?
New Subscription Club Videos:
The ShowMeDo Subscription Club keeps growing, now we have 5 series lasting almost 6 hours:
http://showmedo.com/club
covering:
* pyWin32 for Windows COM - (being published this month)
* wxPython for Beginners (made in March)
* Reliable website testing with twill and nosetests (made in March)
* Python Development and IDEs including PyDev and IDLE
* Python 101 - easygui and csv
Both Kyran Dale and John Montgomery will be publishing their first Club series soon. The new topics will include:
* More wxPython (with more advanced controls and sizers)
* Python CGI (the fundamentals of web-programming with just plain Python 2.5)
* Beginner Python
Join the Club to learn more about Python. Club membership can cost just $5 (US) per month, refunds are (of course!) available, we’re happy to answer any questions you have:
http://showmedo.com/club
Conference Call on Thursday:
Every month we have a conference call, a group of us get together to discuss the latest happenings in ShowMeDo and what needs to be done. You are encouraged to join the call (even if just to lurk and listen in). We run the conferences using free VoIP software (gizmo5 on SIP) on the second Thursday of the month in the UK evening.
You’ll find more details in the ShowMeDo author group, we’ll be arranging the details in the next day or so. Keep an eye on this thread for details:
http://groups.google.com/group/showmedo/browse_thread/thread/1d5a47cafda00722
Fabio’s PyDev video is the most popular video of the month:
Last year we ran a series of most-popular-video-of-the-month competitions - whoever was top of the most-popular list at the end of the month:
http://showmedo.com/mostPopular
won a £20 Amazon gift voucher (or something equivalent for those not in the UK). This month Fabio wins - his long-standing PyDev videos have always been high in our listings:
http://groups.google.com/group/showmedo/browse_thread/thread/f427df1c4c37505d
Well done Fabio!
In the ShowMeDo Learners group:
http://groups.google.com/group/showmedo-learners/t/b9fb4c0b2071c8ce
I was happy to announce that we have a long and colourful article in this month’s Python Papers:
http://pythonpapers.org/
(vol 3 issue 1) which discusses some of our better-known Python authors including Siddhi, André, Jeff, Lucas, Horst and Erik. The article also mentions why users should make screencasts to help document open-source - we humbly suggest that you think about giving back to the community by creating screencasts on your own favourite topics.
In the Learners group marlow has posted a link to a nice article on ‘Why use nosetests? To help you work “without any thought!”‘. Anyone who isn’t using unit-tests but wants to know why they should ought to take a look at this!
http://groups.google.com/group/showmedo-learners/browse_thread/thread/8889750ba86841ba
Are you a member of the Learners Group? It is the ideal place to ask questions and share your own knowledge. We urge you to join the group:
http://groups.google.com/group/showmedo-learners
How to add your own screencasts:
Making a screencast is very easy - if you have the software installed you can produce a 5 minute screencast in just 5 minutes. Everything you need to know can be found here:
http://showmedo.com/addVideoInstructions
The basic steps are:
1) Install screencasting software - free on Windows and Linux, shareware on Mac
2) Test your mic (built-in mics and basic headsets work just fine - half our authors use this sort of equipment)
3) Draft a 5 minute demo on paper - pretend you are giving an off-the-cuff demo to a friend
4) Press ‘record’ and start your screencast - you can re-record as many times as you need to
5) Login to ShowMeDo, visit ‘my page’ and ‘add a new video’ - give it 30 minutes to process and then preview the result
6) We’ll publish it within a day (we always preview new material - we don’t want any spam in ShowMeDo like some of those ‘video-sharing sites’…)
If you can give a demo to a friend then you can make a screencast to teach people around the world - you’ll be giving something back to the community and helping to make more people aware of open-source. If you want advice and you’d like to meet our authors just visit our Authors Group (everyone’s very friendly!):
http://groups.google.com/group/showmedo
50 new videos since the last mail. You can keep track of these as they are published using our RSS feed:
http://showmedo.com/latestVideoFeed/rss2.0
GPSBabel by steve
Tags: maps, GPS, gpsbabel, osm, openstreetmap, map, mapping, gpx
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1800020&fromSeriesID=180
How to use `GPS babel <http://www.gpsbabel.org/>`_ on a mac to get data off of your GPS and in to `G…
Talking to Excel with pyWin32 by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: beginner_programming, windows, python, excel, com, pywin32
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2190010&fromSeriesID=219
Here we test `pyWin32 <http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/win32/Downloads.html>`_ (build 210) …
3 Minute Overview (pyWin32) by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: com, pywin32, beginner_programming, windows, python, excel
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2190000&fromSeriesID=219
Here we use `pyWin32 <http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/win32/Downloads.html>`_ to communicat…
python: create art with xturtle, random, and genetic programming, part 4 (English) by felix schaber, Horst Jens
Tags: art, xturtle, python, genetic_programming, random
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1880030&fromSeriesID=188
Felix has now a working progotype of a program that makes xturtle patterns and improve those pattern…
Notecase Encryting a File by Dai
Tags: notecase, myfavouriteapps
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1740040&fromSeriesID=174
We show you how to encrypt a file in Notecase
Credits by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_framework, turbogears, web_application, python, web_development
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000120&fromSeriesID=200
It took many people to get to where we are today. This list has some of them.
Originally produced b…
The Future of TurboGears by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: sqlalchemy, cherrypy, python, web_development, web_framework, turbogears, sqlobject, WSGI, web_application
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000060&fromSeriesID=200
I’ll talk about what I have in mind for the coming versions of TurboGears and what it means for the …
TurboGears Core Tour by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_development, turbogears, web_framework, python, web_application
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000050&fromSeriesID=200
A discussion of the packages and modules that make up TurboGears, including a look at modules such a…
More About Widgets by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: metaclass, web_framework, widget, turbogears, python, web_development, API, web_application
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000040&fromSeriesID=200
In-depth coverage of the TurboGears 1.0 widgets API. Walks through the implementation of widgets so …
python: create art with xturtle and random, part 3 (English) by felix schaber, Horst Jens, battlelinus
Tags: linux, art, python, ubuntu, programming, xturtle, genetic_programming
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1880020&fromSeriesID=188
Felix moves the xturtle program now in the direction of `genetic programming <http://en.wikipedia.or…
Test Logins using Form Manipulation by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: nosetests, python, twill, functional_testing, unittest, unit_tests
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2090040&fromSeriesID=209
Finally we look at manipulating the form so that our session can login. We use this to both confirm…
Using Test Classes, Test Title and Link by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: unit_tests, python, unittest, functional_testing, twill, nosetests
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2090030&fromSeriesID=209
For our third test we write a class-based test and look at the setUp and tearDown methods. During t…
Notecase by Dai
Tags: notese, myfavouritesapps
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1740030&fromSeriesID=174
a nice little application similar to task paper on the mac for taking notes
Intro to remote command line part 2 by Aaron Fay
Tags: remote, commandline, shell, linux
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2140010&fromSeriesID=214
In this tutorial, we’ll continue on snooping around my webserver, trying things like tail’ing files,…
Intro to remote command line (linux) by Aaron Fay
Tags: putty, beginners, commands, commandline, kitty, linux
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2140000&fromSeriesID=214
In this video we’ll get started poking around in a remote server. We’ll learn how to change directo…
Tips On Importing Writer Documents by Dai
Tags: desktoppublishing, scribus
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1250250&fromSeriesID=125
Here are some Tips when Importing OpenOffice Writer documents into Scribus
NoteCase by Dai
Tags: notes, notecase, favouriteapp
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2060000&fromSeriesID=206
notecase is an application for keeping notes. It is very useful for keeping notes that are very disj…
Python: introducing graphic with xturtle (Russian) by Lesly, Horst Jens
Tags: graphic, linux, xturtle, ubuntu, python, beginner, programming, russian
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2020010&fromSeriesID=202
Angela shows how to program very simple graphics using the `python <http://www.python.org>`_ module …
Python Anfänger Tutorial: Wahr und Falsch (German) by Horst Jens
Tags: anfänger, deutsch, ubuntu, beginner_programming, linux, python, german
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2120000&fromSeriesID=212
This video is in German language but anyone should be able to understand it.
Python Anfänger Tutorial: Namen multiplizieren (German) by Horst Jens
Tags: ubuntu, python, linux, deutsch, german, beginner_programming
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2120010&fromSeriesID=212
This video is in German language but anyone should be able to understand it.
Introducing Generic Functions by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_framework, turbogears, web_development, generic_function, python, web_application, JSON
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000030&fromSeriesID=200
Explanation of what generic functions are, followed by a demonstration of their use in a concrete ex…
Test for a 404 Not Found by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: unittest, unit_tests, nosetests, python, twill, functional_testing
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2090020&fromSeriesID=209
Next we check that an incorrect URL generates a 404 Not Found error. Use this to confirm your error…
Installing twill (shell web browser) by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: beginner_programming, web, browser, shell, python, easy_install, twill, firefox
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2080000&fromSeriesID=208
See how to install `twill <http://twill.idyll.org/>`_ - a Python (and shell) web-browsing tool - in …
Test a page exists - 200 OK by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: nosetests, python, unit_tests, twill, functional_testing, unittest
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2090010&fromSeriesID=209
First we check that a page exists at the url we specify and that it generates a 200 OK - use this to…
3 Minute Overview by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: twill, nosetests, unittest, functional_testing, unit_tests, python
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2090000&fromSeriesID=209
We’re going to use twill (`installing twill <http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2080000&fromSerie…
Installing nose for nosetests by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: nose, unittest, python, unit_tests, nosetests
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2100000&fromSeriesID=210
Install `nosetests <http://somethingaboutorange.com/mrl/projects/nose/>`_ using a 1 line easy_instal…
Installing easy_install with ez_setup.py by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: easy_install, python, ez_setup, beginner_programming
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2070000&fromSeriesID=207
Here we install `easy_install <http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall>`_ using ez_setup…
GWT-Ext and saving Form data to a database by Sanjiv Jivan
Tags: forms, gwt, ext, gwt-ext
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2040020&fromSeriesID=204
This screencast shows how to send form data back to the server. In the screencast, Abhijeet validate…
Working with GWT-Ext forms by Sanjiv Jivan
Tags: gwt-ext, gwt, ext
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2040010&fromSeriesID=204
This is a example of working with GWT-Ext forms. This screencast shows how to add the `Ext <http://w…
GWT-Ext and Cypal Studio by Sanjiv Jivan
Tags: gwt-ext, ext, gwt
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2040000&fromSeriesID=204
`GWT-Ext <http://code.google.com/p/gwt-ext/>`_ and `Cypal Studio <http://www.cypal.in/studio>`_. Cyp…
Bob Ippolito’s MochiKit 1.1 Intro by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_development, turbogears, web_framework, web_application, python
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000100&fromSeriesID=200
Bob Ippolito produced a screencast introducing MochiKit 1.1. Though Bob has released a couple more v…
The 20 Minute Wiki, 2nd Edition by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: python, web_framework, web_application, turbogears, web_development
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000080&fromSeriesID=200
The 20 Minute Wiki demo for TurboGears 1.0. Building a dynamic web application (with Ajax) in 20 min…
Using JavaScript with TurboGears, Part 3 by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_application, javascript, cheeseshop, web_development, turbogears, python, web_framework
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000020&fromSeriesID=200
In in-depth look at wrapping a JavaScript library as a widget. In this video, I wrap the DOMinclude …
Effective Ajax with TurboGears by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_framework, web_application, web_development, python, turbogears
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000110&fromSeriesID=200
[NOTE - no video, view `this SWF <http://videos1.showmedo.com/ShowMeDos/extras/TurboGearsUltimateDVD…
Rapid Web Applications with TurboGears by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_application, turbogears, python, web_framework, web_development
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000070&fromSeriesID=200
Hear a little about the new TurboGears book from authors Mark Ramm and Kevin Dangoor. You can `orde…
Python: Beginners Tutorial: True and False, If, Else and Print (Russian) by Lesly, Horst Jens
Tags: python, linux, true, programming, ubuntu, print, prompt, false, else, russian, if, beginner, shell
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2020000&fromSeriesID=202
Angela shows some basic `Python <http://www.python.org>`_ commands at the interactive Python prompt….
Adding Numbers with BlockHead by John Posner
Tags: elementarymath, python, tkinter, directmanipulation, drag-and-drop, cuisenairerods
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2010000&fromSeriesID=201
This video introduces `BlockHead <http://www.geocities.com/jjphoogrp>`_, showing how it represents n…
python: create art with xturtle and random Part 2 (English) by felix schaber, Horst Jens
Tags: random, xturtle, art, programming, linux, easygui, english, ubuntu, python
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1880010&fromSeriesID=188
Felix improved the xturtle python script from part 1 and by randomizing the operators to calculate t…
Using JavaScript with TurboGears, Part 2 by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: web_development, turbogears, web_application, web_framework, javascript, python
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000010&fromSeriesID=200
A demonstration of how easy it is to use JavaScript that has been packaged up as a widget. Uses the …
Using JavaScript with TurboGears, Part 1 by Ian Ozsvald, Kevin Dangoor
Tags: turbogears, web_development, web_framework, python, javascript, web_application
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2000000&fromSeriesID=200
A quick introduction to why you’d want to wrap JavaScript libraries with `TurboGears <http://turboge…
Worked solution - Splash Screen by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: python, IDE, beginner_programming, wing, exercise_solution, wxpython, wingware
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1790130&fromSeriesID=179
Here I show the worked solution for the Splash Screen exercise. We also test to make sure that the …
Installing PCLinuxOS by Jaqui
Tags: ubuntu, install, pclinuxos, linux, GNOME, kde, vmware
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1950000&fromSeriesID=195
This updated first video is the complete installation of `PCLinuxOS <http://www.pclinuxos.com/>`_ fr…
Exercise - Add a Splash Screen by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: python, IDE, exercise_solution, wxpython, wingware, beginner_programming, wing
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1790120&fromSeriesID=179
In this exercise you’ll add a touch of professionalism by using a Splash Screen. The exercise is fa…
Uploading a modified Blink routine with a 3 second delay by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: windows, windows_xp, hardware, usb, arduino
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1940010&fromSeriesID=194
After the first video I change the delay from 1000ms to 3000ms and upload the modified program to th…
Arduino ‘Blink’ in 2 minutes on XP by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: hardware, usb, windows_xp, windows, arduino
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1940000&fromSeriesID=194
This is a 2 minute primer on starting with the `Arduino <http://arduino.cc/>`_ hardware-experimentat…
Worked solution - HTML About Dialog by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: IDE, wing, exercise_solution, wingware, beginner_programming, python, wxpython
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1790110&fromSeriesID=179
Here I present a worked solution to the previous exercise. We’ll walk through the steps for adding …
Exercise - Add an HTML About Dialog to the Help menu by Ian Ozsvald
Tags: beginner_programming, wingware, IDE, exercise_solution, wxpython, wing, python
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1790100&fromSeriesID=179
In this episode we’ll add an About box to the Help menu. Most programs that are released to users h…
Inkscape Tutorial by heathenx - EP049 Sunbursts by rfquerin-heathenx
Tags: graphics, art
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1920000&fromSeriesID=192
In this screencast I will demonstrate how to make a sunburst and apply it to a logo in Inkscape 0.45…
Inkscape Tutorial by Richard Querin - EP054 Scrapbooking Effect by rfquerin-heathenx
Tags: graphics, art
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1910000&fromSeriesID=191
In this screencast, I demonstrate a slotted corner scrapbooking effect. I also demonstrate a simple …
Inkscape Tutorial by heathenx - EP055 RSS Icon by rfquerin-heathenx
Tags: graphics, art
http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=1900000&fromSeriesID=190
In this tutorial I will demonstrate how to illustrate a very simple RSS icon in Inkscape v0.45.
Regards,
Ian and Kyran (founders of ShowMeDo.com)
This is some text prior to the author information. You can change this text from the admin section of WP-Gravatar To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box. 