[seul-edu] Phase 1 Science Evaluation

[Charlie Cosse <ccosse@asymptopia.com>]

Hello! I volunteered to have a look at the science category and return
some phase 1 results by Feb 7. So, here they are. My comments got
progressively negative the more I read the word "molecule viewer".

I think the best thing that could happen to the science category is
an interface to Encyclopedia Britanica cdroms. Someone already
mentioned that a couple weeks ago. They were exactly right.

Also, several listings should be removed from the SEUL index as they
provide dead-ends, empty indexes, missing servers etc. They are listed
in my comments.

Finally, sorry if I ragged on your application! I just went down the
list and called 'em like I saw them with respect to usefulness in
classrooms and potential reception by teachers/administrators.
I know most/all these applications were not developed with SEUL in
mind, so please don't regard my comments as "criticism".

Thanks,
Charlie Cosse
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Achilles: 
	Don't think AI is a K-12 topic
	Compile errors on gcc-3.2

BKchem:
	Pmw & PIL dependencies
	Homepage says Pmw 0.8.1, but can only download 1.1
	installed Pmw -- ran bkchem as directed...got splash screen and whamo:
		global name 'SAXError' is not defined
	Not clear which pkg this is related to....moving on.

Chemeq:
	server does not respond -- times out.

Chemetool:
	bad url on SEUL page. directory not found.

Citrus:
	"Citrus is a library and suite of demo applications for converting numbers with units into numbers with different units."
	My opinion: If you are learning how to convert units then 1) you should do it manually so you know what you're doing,
	and 2) you already must have conversion factors available to you. This does not seem to me to be a useful application.
	Further: looking at the user's manual, the syntax is cmd line and utilizes programming syntax with quotes around only
	the units, while the magnitude is separate. I think it's more hassel than it's worth.

DLESE:
	This is an online thing -- there's nothing to install. It is a "portal" where "students can logon and learn about the
	earth" etc...  The library is not offered for download, either, so it's not relevant to the ISO project.

Euler:
	The closest analog I know is Mathematica, although I doubt this is anywhere near as developed as Mathematica.
	Most of the content looks above the K-12 levels and it uses a teminal shell to generate plots etc in conjuntion
	with imported pkgs.. I don't think this is appropriate for K-12. On the other hand, it does claim to be able to
	draw and *animate* functions in 2D and 3D -- might be good, didn't install. Still, the majority of it looks over-and
	above K-12 levels and fairly specialized, like FFT's and the Simplex algorithm. That's numerical stuff and really
	not the domain of K-12 education.

Flotator:
	2D fluid dynamics simulation. I wouldn't trust it -- the intro is 60% about this guys ex-girlfriend and how "sad"
	he is that she left him. After reading that...i really didn't feel to bother downloading and installing. oh well!
	Also he confesses it was an old program from when he was a student and he just revived it to remind him of this
	girl blah blah blah 

Free Physics Project:
	empty directory with _zero_ files.

GDIS:
	Seems to be still in development. Supposedly one can download via CVS, but that's more than I care to do. Oh well...
	Also, claims to utilize external packages -- don't know if they're required and/or what it does by itself, or if
	it somehow "wraps" all those others together... looks to be not ready for public consumption.

Glife:
	Life-like programs and Artificial Intellegence stuff, in general, is not well defined much less understood by
	those who claim to be experts. I vote No AI in any form!

GPeriodic:
	The screenshot of the English (color) version lacked the info generally displayed on the periodic table -- Atomic Weight,
	number of protons and Atomic number. It was merely abbreviations -- I know there are better periodic table applications,
	perhaps not stand-alone, but Los Alamos has the best online version I know of, and there's probably a standalone version
	of that available. This looks like a work in progress.

Gravitational Particle Simulator:
	Only content is a message asking: "What did you expect to find here?" "The void rulez" Stuff like this looks bad
	when linked to SEUL (The gang-banger spelling). It should be removed.

Gtk Particle:
	The introduction:
	"This is really just an excersice for me to learn gtk+ and C++ using an application I can relate to. "
	Nope.
	
Interactive Web Physics:
	Nope again! No code released yet. Looks like it's in it's infancy and I personally doubt it will mature by the looks of it.

JChemPaint:
	Helps draw molecular bonds in straight lines and use typset for the "H" in Hydrogen etc, but I don't know who really needs
	that aside from a textbook writer who needs typeset molecular-structure drawings. 

JMol:
	Another chemical modeler; IMHO little balls and toothpicks is all you need. If you're learning Chemistry, this sort of
	thing would be a distraction.

Kalzium:
	Hope it doesn't influence student's spelling or anything! 
	Another periodic table and Chemistry info project. Okay, but is it sanctioned by anyone trustworthy? I suspect it's
	got some good content but not complete content. It's part of the KDE "Edutainment" project. Again, which came first:
	The programmer looking for the application or the application looking for the programmer?

Kchemius:
	German -- can't read.

Kemistry:
	Is that how it's spelled in German or what? Only features are 1)file conversion (not chem!) 2)molecule modeler and
	some conversion of units module. Not enough to warrent SEUL support/recommendation.

KLogic:
	Digital circuit builder/simulator. Looks like another university student project. Might be good, but is it K-12? Nope.

Ksciplot:
	The example screenshot was a 2D graph with no axis labels/units etc (no info -- just curve and 2 axes.) That's never
	a good thing in my book. It looks like the main attraction is to be able to embed in a KWord document. Nope.
	
KUnit:
	Not even going there: Unit conversion is not worthy of a computer program.

Leksbot:
	Botanical "dictionary"; well, it's online only, for one. Two: you have to type in the term you want the definition for
	and _hope_ it's in there!!! I wonder why not just post an index and let people browse rather than submit to a black
	box? Vote=No.

Light Speed:
	Special Relativity effets visualization application. Whoops! No server response.

LUM: 
	French. Je ne cest pax Francais!

Mars Simulation Project:
	This should be in Astro section. (Purpose is to create simulated human civilization on Mars -- hmmmm. Someone else's
	immagination -- Java app, too -- Applets are useful, but full-on Java apps maybe not?)
	
Math-Mol K-12 Activity Page:
	cwis.nyu.edu wasn't there to answer my query! oh well....

Mecanica:
	Espanol -- not my mother tongue, either. Better defer to someone else here.

Mek:
	Vouz is French and so I didn't read on. The logo was intrigueing.

NanoCAD:
	CAD program (Java) for drawing small molecules (aren't they all?)
	Nice applet, but limited functionality so far.

NOOPE: (Newtonian Object Oriented Physics Engine)
	Looks like it's still in the 3 colored balls attracted by 1/R potential stage. More webpage than content.
	(or if not, then they should put a more impressive demo up!)

Numerical Chameleon:
	conversion of numbers with logs of sig figs. Useful? Not to me or any kids I know. Vote=NO.

Open Source Electronic Lab Notebook:
	Well, nice webpage, but the whole purpose of paper lab notebooks is to not re-edit your work. 

Physics Applets:
	Okay, here are a couple nice applets -- the problem with physics applets, usually, is that they aren't 
	necessarily accurate -- i tried the pendulum applet -- it worked fine. A string and rock would be a better
	teaching demonstration, however. These are applets for applets' sake, though.

Phyz:
	Nothing released yet. I won't hold my breath, either. The "Show me don't tell me" principle applies here (i.e. what's
	the use of listing on SEUL when _nothing_ actually exists yet?)

QtX3:
	This looks like something good: it's apparantly an application to use an Intel play Qx3 microscope with Linux.
	Rather specialized, however.

Rlab:
	An interpreted math-programming language. I see know need to dilute the gene-pool, here. Python is the only language
	students need to process math, if any at all. 

Scilab:
	A mathlab-like platform for lots of math operations. Not sure kids need this, though. Never trust a black box!
	Somewhere along the line, however, some math visualization tool should be included in the SEUL distribution. Perhaps
	Scilab is it? Further evaluation required. First guess is it's too technical and low-level for students at SEUL level.

Tabela Periodica:
	Portugese? Another periodic table thingy. Hmmm. Maybe one should be included, but an application for a Periodic table
	is not going to make a big differene in a Chemistry course. I would imagine the class has access to a periodic table
	if they are having a chemistry class, already. It's the old case of: What came first, the supply or the demand?
	Seems to me to be "supply for supply's sake".

Units Filter:
	Supply for supply's sake.

VP7  Way Kook Project:

 	"The idea was to write a program which could simulate an experiment..."
	Whoa...ho..ho.. hold on there: programs simulating experiments -- let's leave this one alone.

VPython:
	While a sophomore in computer science...
	3D virtual world maker of some sort. Not science, though. Sorry!

Weather Plotter:
	online only. Nothing to provide on a cdrom.
	
XDrawChem:
	Another program for drawing chemical structures. Hmm. Seems like about 25% of all science apps are chemical modelers/viewers.
	Why's that? This one is from Georgia Tech -- it might be the best of those listed on the SEUL site; if a chemical viewer
	is to be included, then maybe this is a good one. On the other hand, is there any other chemistry application? Is there
	anything besides Periodic Tables and Molecule viewers? Not yet, and i'm at the X's!

Xem:
	French, though. It is something in addition to PT viewers and molecule viewers, as complained about above. This is from the same
	people that make Mek (judging by the logo). Looks like quality software, in French.

XMakMol:
	Required Motif and assists to view molecular data in 3D. Hmmm. I wonder if it uses the Fermilab plot widgets?

XPovChem:
	"Beautiful 3D Molecular models..."
	Okay, I get the point! I am now convinced that I need a molecule viewer. There are so many, I must need one! Which one?
	Reading the words "molecule viewer" over and over this evening was hard enough. Loading them all and finding which ones
	work must wait for another evening.