allgeektout

File this under “Cool concept, needs work”. Sikulu is a free visual programming language, but it’s not like Kodu or Mindstorms (or even LEGO Universe). The code itself is fairly standard, with if, while, and for loops. But instead of identifying what you want the program to click with code, you identify it with pictures.

It’s very intuitive, and you don’t have even have to take the pictures in advanced – you can do it all from inside the program. I’m a bit curious about how much you can actually do with it, but the website shows some pretty impressive examples. Plus, (I have to say this again) it’s really easy – that’s always a plus.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work well with big pictures… or pictures that are too small. Sometimes a script will run accurately, and sometimes it won’t. In addition, the documentation needs some serious work before it can become accessible to those it is most useful for. But still, Sikulu is a great concept, and I can’t wait to see it a little while down the line, when it works a bit better. In the meantime, enjoy these possible uses for Sikulu.

• Automatically “Like” all Facebook statuses. (See above)
• Refresh Twitter as soon as new tweets come in.
• Write your own blog posts. (What? No, I don’t do that!)

What would you use Sikulu to do?