Moon

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Revision as of 21:44, 18 September 2008 by Garycmartin (talk | contribs) (New v5 bundle release)
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Moon-icon.png
.xo BundleMoon-5.xo

Moon

Moon is a simple Lunar phase activity for the XO laptop, including upcoming Lunar eclipse information and effects. Its usefulness as a shared activity will make more sense once the planned Sugar bulletin-board overlay interface is implemented, where children will be able to point out features and places of interest to each other.

Screenshots

Moon screen1.jpg

Moon screen2.jpg Moon screen3.jpg

How to Install

Download this .xo file using the Browse activity: Moon-5.xo

Development

Moon is a fully Python activity that uses PyGTK for graphics and events. All Python code is in an easily modifiable single file with a Sugar activity subclass that takes care of control, views, and a model class for actual Moon calculations. The code was ported from a Cocoa application I wrote some time ago for the Mac, called MoonDock.

Release Notes

v5

Cleaned up MANIFEST. Added extra licensing texts and activity.info fluff. Journal stores state for grid on/off and southern/northern view. Activity remembers last used defaults and will use them for new launches. GIT now includes the below Spanish name modification

v4

Now called Luna in the activity bar in Spanish locales. Still needs translation for spanish...

v3

Added a view toolbar. Feature added to display selenographic longitude and latitude grid lines (to help learning the terms). Feature added to toggle Moon image view between Northern and Southern hemisphere viewing location (rotates view 180deg). Textual displayed dates/times comply with local daylight saving rules and time zones (all internal calculations are in UTC). More accurate selenographic terminator visualisation (shadow) for waning gibbous & waxing crescent (corrected estimate for 3d curvature).

v2

Minor update to display information using your local time zone, instead of UTC

v1

Beta version with basic core functionality (text information, Moon phase visualisation, Lunar eclipse data & effect).

Testing (Yes)

Moon v1 has been tested on build 690, 691, 693 and various joyride builds on a B4 XO laptop.

TODOs

  • Mouse over hover hints for major Lunar features
  • Markers for interesting locations, view toolbar button, showing Lunar landings etc.
  • State saving to Journal, for the new view options
  • Simplify/clean-up textual data and information
    • Improve information for the targeted demographic age
  • Convert main view to Cairo to allow improved rendering
    • Soft shadows
    • Antialiased grid
    • New daylight view feature (would be an estimate)
      • Light blue to black transition of sky and Moon composite
  • Translation work (string code is all marked up but not extracted for Pootle yet)
  • Consider possible shared activity functionality
    • Shared markers with text notes?
  • Mini-month Lunar calendar (stylised icons)

Feature requests

Add your feature requests here!

It would be good to have associated displays that explain some of the technical terms like, waxing, Julian, lunation, Selenographic, terminator, & longitude for the schoolchild or anyone wanting a lesson on Earth's moon. --FGrose 23:00, 19 February 2008 (EST)

In version 3, I've added an extra colour coded view showing a longitude and latitude grid along with compass directions - I'll probably extend this technique (least text as possible) in future versions (e.g with a view mode for labelling/highlighting the terminator edge in green). Hopefully this will help. --garycmartin 2:00, 26 February 2008 (GMT)


Activity Summary

Icon: Sugar icon::Image:moon-icon.png
Genre: Activity genre::Math and Science
Activity group: ,|x|Activity group::x}}
Short description: Short description::A simple Lunar phase activity for the XO laptop, including upcoming Lunar eclipse information and effects.
Description:
Maintainers: ,|x|Contact person::x}}
Repository URL: Source code::http://dev.laptop.org/git?p=activities/moon
Available languages: ,|x|Available languages::x}}
Available languages (codes): ,|x|Language code::x}}
Pootle URL:
Related projects: Related projects,|x|Related projects::x}}
Contributors: ,|x|Team member::x}}
URL from which to download the latest .xo bundle Activity bundle::http://wiki.laptop.org/images/1/1d/Moon-5.xo
Last tested version number: Activity version::5
The releases with which this version of the activity has been tested. ,|x|Software release::x}}
Development status: Devel status::5. Production-stable
Ready for testing (development has progressed to the point where testers should try it out): ,|x|Ready for testing::x}}
smoke tested :
test plan available :
test plan executed :
developer response to testing :


URL from which to download the last .xo bundle that works with old releases Activity bundle::http://wiki.laptop.org/images/1/1d/Moon-5.xo
Activity version number: Activity version::5
The releases with which this version of the activity has been tested. ,|x|Software release::x}}
Development status: Devel status::5. Production-stable