[Etoys] Smaller onion skin for painting

[subbukk]

On Monday 01 October 2007 1:32 pm, Bert Freudenberg wrote:
> I always wondered how these "tools" could be made more
> discoverable ... I know many people who used etoys for a long time
> but never discovered and used them.
Just watch kids explaining Etoys to other kids :-). Many terms used in Etoys 
are techno-centric and does not reflect a kid's view of the world.

For example, "lasso" is not understood widely around the world. "Scissors" 
with the scissor+string icon and a scissor cursor will make the purpose 
clear. "Grab" has a negative connotation with young children ("Request 
politely, don't grab"). "Cutter" with a scissors+rectangle icon and a 
rubber-band rectangle (like in shift-drag) would be better suited for Grab 
Patch(*). The word object in "object catalog" is superfluous. I liked the way 
the cursor behaved in Randy Smith's ARK.

Some of the dissonances are bugs which can be fixed, but many others are 
design issues that needs to be debated and validated.

Regards .. Subbu
* Yes, real-world scissors cut, while Etoys scissor doesn't leave a hole. 
That's because "it is a magic scissor" :-).