Let the remixing begin. I just got word today that the Infoslicer project has been checked into the Sugar code repository at http://git.sugarlabs.org/projects/infoslicer, and released under the GPLv2 license. Can I get a whoohoo? Oh yeah!
Infoslicer is a Sugar Activity that enables students and instructors around the world to assemble Wikipedia articles into new information packages. Under the covers one of the technologies that makes this possible is the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). I first wrote about the InfoSlicer last fall, in Wikislicing project gets real – introducing InfoSlicer as a Sugar Activity with a picture of students using scissors to re-assemble Wikipedia articles.
If you want to download the Activity to your XO or another computer with Sugar installed (here’s how) to try it out yourself, go to http://sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/InfoSlicer and install the Activity (here’s how).
I have downloaded it to my XO in anticipation of showing it off at the next XO Austin Users Group meeting and the install was straightforward. I’ll get it on a USB stick to share at the meeting (2/16 at Central Market on N. Lamar in Austin at 6:30). Here’s a screenshot – and be sure to check out the YouTube video!
Laura Cowen notes that the xo package that you download doesn’t contain any sample articles from Wikipedia (which ideally it would to help you get up and running more quickly using the tutorial). You can use InfoSlicer without these sample articles (you download Wikipedia articles from within InfoSlicer anyway). If anyone is able to re-compile the xo package with sample articles in it, Laura can provide instructions on where to put the sample articles in the package so that InfoSlicer automatically picks them up when it starts. Who wants to create the wikislice seen ’round the world?