ANNOUNCE: gcompris 4.1

[Bruno Coudoin <bruno coudoin free fr>]

Application
===========

gcompris 4.1

Description
===========

GCompris is a full featured education game for kids between 3 and 10. 
The game includes many different activities like teaching how to use a
mouse and keybord, memory games, vector drawing, basic educational games,
reading, algebra exerciser and more.

Enhancements
============

In 4.0 we included the first usable activity developped using the python
bindings in gcompris. This showed how great it works and how easy it is now
to develop in gcompris. Hope some will take this opportunity.

Here is the description of the water cycle activity in python:
http://www.ofset.org/gcompris/boards/fun/watercycle_en.html

Now, using gcompris command line option, you can now use:
-A to select the audio output device (esd, alsa, oss, arts,...)
-d <difficulty level> it tells gcompris to display only activities matching
this difficulty level.

As for 4.1 release, there as been many improvement in the vector drawing
activity. They can now rotate and flip images and items. That's the only
vector drawing activity (including proprietary windows software) that I
know to be targeting kids.

It's excellent, I moved my older son clement (10 years old) from gcompris
to sodipodi without trouble, he knew all the concept, just the buttons
changed.

Even with 40 different activities, gcompris maybe looks like a complete
education application.

Not to me. We can and must go further there is many activity missing that
could help schools and kids all over the worlds.

We also miss an integrated reporting system so that it will be easy for
their teachers to monitor what kids are doing well or bad in the school
computer lab.

With gcompris, we already created a top level education application that
makes most prorietary applications useless and inferior.

Hope to see you soon on the gcompris mailing list ;)

Fixes
=====

In the board compilation process, activities are no more dinamic linked
with anything.
- about: added credit to the Background Music to Rico Da Halvarez.
- changed the compilation process (configure.in) to compile python by
default now.

Translation Updates
===================

Translation updates:
- cs.po: Updated Czech translation by Miloslav Trmac
- fr.po: Updated French translation by Bruno
- it.po: Updated italian translation by Immacolata Arenga .
- nl.po: Dutch translation updated by Tino Meinen.
- sk.po: Updated Slovak translation by Zdenko Podobny.
- sl.po: created by damjan kovac 
- sr.po, sr Latn po: Updated Serbian translation by Danilo Å egan
- sv.po: Updated Swedish translation by Christian Rose

Download
========

Gcompris:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=6865

Assetml data (minimum you need the libassetml and assetml-flags):
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13320

Optionnaly you can get these one if there is one in your locale:
assetml-voices-alphabet
assetml-voices-colors
assetml-voices-geography
assetml-voices-misc-en
If they are not available, please help the schools and kids of your
country, pick up a mic and contribute with your voice.

GNOME Software Map entry
========================

http://www.gnome.org/softwaremap/projects/gcompris