processing

this past weekend, spent both days learning a bit about processing, an "electronic sketchbook" and an "open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions."

http://processing.org/

i found out about the class from the dorkbot nyc mailing list.

http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotnyc/

the workshop was held in teacher will's apartment, as a fundraiser for parts and crafts, a collective which teaches kids (and adults), believing "building, playing, and experimenting are the best ways to learn, but, beyond that, we believe that they are also

the best ways to live."

http://www.partsandcrafts.org/

a picture from saturday, will's computer is hooked up to the tv so we can see what he's doing:

a screengrab after making a program which would draw lots of randomly-colored circles of random translucency and move them around in random directions at random speeds:

when judson and i collaborated, he kept telling me i might really like processing, and be able to do some of the things i want to do in it, maybe easier (better) than using flash. i was really glad to brush up on my programming and start seeing what can be done in a different environment. i don't know how comfortable i'll be with processing outside of the context of a class, or if it will replace flash for me, but i like having the option of using it, and i want to learn more.