Maybe I'll run some checks, but I can't say for sure it was bogus.
It was definitely thrown together, and full of misinformation about Python, e.g. leading CS students to think IDLE is Windows-only, and the only way to make your Python experience resemble what you'd get on Linux is by installing Cygwin. No mention of Mono or .NET, no real overview of the history or future of Python (giving the impression the authors were clueless).
Anytime the text got at all detailed (technically speaking), it would "gloss over for now" and promise we'd get back to it. But of course the two sample chapters didn't really get back to anything (it's all Tk turtle graphics, like fourth graders might do, plus some obsessing about using Python as a calculator, a parody of the first 10 minutes of Guido's tutorial), plus the survey asks me to do all kinds of homework, like "if this isn't right, please show us how" (given everything is wrong, that's a tall order) -- and for less than I make in an hour working for trusted clients around Portland (like Free Geek or the Hillsboro police).
On another front, I see I'm still listed as edu-sig page manager (different from edu-sig list manager). I'm willing to let that be for now. Oregonian reporters have started writing to me, getting more background, and I've pointed to that python.org page in connection with my curriculum prototyping gig at Winterhaven.
I've been posting quite a bit to math-thinking-l by the way. I've amused some of them with my quirky writing style (a known quantity here on edu-sig). Feel free to peruse the archive (I'm not suggesting anyone here *needs* to join -- we've already got it all right here when it comes to mixing math and programming, it seems to me (still, I find this other venue a good outlet)).
If I had an easy way to edit my page, I might even make a link to it (we could use more snake charmers -- Schemer-dreamers seem over-represented). Here's the archive: http://mail.geneseo.edu/pipermail/math-thinking-l/ (note: Python powered).
Finally, I haven't registered for Pycon yet. Prospects seem dim that I'll go. This has nothing to do with any disillusionment with Pycon, which I highly respect and enjoy and get value from. It has more to do with Texas. It's not like I haven't been out of the country before, but even a world traveler like me can't be everywhere at once. We're saving up for a trip to Italy, maybe next winter.
Kirby
On 1/15/06, Grégoire Dooms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
kirby urner a écrit :
>Did anyone else get asked to review this bogus text book by some company in
>England?
>
Yes, I turned down the offer because I lacked time to do the review on
time.
I am amused to see it was bogus. Tell us more about it.
Best,
--
Grégoire
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