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The PSF is always thrilled to be able to help introduce young people to the world of programming. As such,  Young Coders' Workshops  (also see  O'Reilly ) are especially close to our hearts. Young Coders, for those of you who don’t know, was started in 2013 at PyCon in Santa Clara by Katie Cunningham and Barbara Shaurette (see  My Dinner with Katie ). Kids ages 12-17 learn to code using Raspberry Pis, which they then get to keep.  Recently, the PSF has granted funding for PyOhio and for its Young Coders' Workshop. The conference will be held August 1st - 2nd on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Oh, while the YC workshop will take place on Sat August 1 (see  PyOhio ).  PyOhio serves as a regional conference for the Midwest with many attendees from surrounding states. Attendance at PyOhio has grown from 150 in 2010 to 400 in 2014. There will be 4 tracks of talks over 2 days and three days of sprints. This year’s schedule include a keynote ...

Yesterday's blog post about the BBC Micro:bit requires a brief correction. I said that it can be run off of another device or from its own battery power. However, the latest and final version has eliminated the internal watch battery slot that was featured on the earlier prototype in favor of offering an external battery pack that can be attached. This was done as a safety feature, especially given the possibility of 7th year school children having  younger siblings at home ( BBC News ). My sincere apologies for any inconvenience my mistake may have caused.

July 7, 2015 BBC Microbit  Last March, I wrote about a terrific educational project taking place in the UK, with which the PSF is proud to be involved (see PSF Blogpost ). I am very happy to report today that the BBC micro:bit project has successfully launched! The BBC micro:bit release is part of the BBC’s  Make it Digital  initiative, whose purpose is to prepare a generation for the challenges of a tech-driven world. The project is a collaboration of 29 partners from industry, education, and government.  Key partners include ARM, Microsoft, Samsung, Barclays, Freescale, Element14, Lancaster University, Nordic Semiconductor, Technology Will Save Us, ScienceScope and the Wellcome Trust. At the beginning of the school term this September, every year-7 UK student (11-12 years old) will be given a BBC micro:bit computer. Designed to inspire creativity, the BBC micro:bit is pocket-sized, versatile, and, most importantly, easy to use: Something simple can be coded in seco...

The PSF is happy to report that the third annual PyCon Singapore took place June 17 to 19, 2015. This event, organized by the Python User Group Singapore, is a testament to the robust presence of the Python community in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to three PyCons Singapore, PUGS has held three PyCons Asia-Pacific. Congratulations to Ivan Zimine and the organizing committee for a successful conference. According to Ivan, “Feedback from the participants was mostly positive. Out of 18 responses, 7 people gave 4 out of 5 stars, and 6 people gave 5 out of 5 stars for the “How did you like PyConSG?” question." Photo Credit Martin Brochhaus CC 2.0 The PSF contributed to the event as a Silver Level Sponsor, and we were proud that keynote speakers included our own PSF Director Lynn Root and former PSF Director Jessica McKellar. Django core developer Andrew Godwin also gave a keynote. The event was attended by 181 people and was held on the campus of Singapore Polytechnic . It cons...