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According to authors Ward and Brownlee, it is indeed one of the prerequisites.

I don't know if anyone will go for it, though, except in the case of super-compact motherboards. Since losing enough flash cells means losing the entire integrated "hard drive", and therefore the full function of the motherboard.

Although I think that's where the market is headed. My mother had a perfectly good, roughly 8 year old, 3ghz pentium 4 that had performed reliably and is still powerful enough for what she needs to do. But the headache of removing 6 years worth of viruses, spyware and god knows what else just wasn't worth it. Between upgrading to 2gb of ram, wireless networking, a second video card (for dual monitors), a copy of windows 7 and replacing the buzzing fans and grinding hard drive, it was about the same cost to just replace it with a $300 nettop that bolts right to the back of her monitor that's arguably less powerful than her old computer, but I can lock it down and comes with free MS anti-virus software, and I don't have to worry about legacy support for XP in 2-3 years.
 
My point is, at this point, most people can replace the entire computer when the old hard drive fails for less than the cost to buy a new hard drive and pay for Geek Squad to install it for them. Computers bigger than a shoebox will cease to exist outside of the gaming community and some professions in another 2-3 years. Hell, we might even see some shoebox sized computers with horizontal risers with 2x pci-e slots for gamers, too. A dual core atom computer can play most computer games today, it's just the video card that's holding it back.

Probably going to get marked redundant, but I couldn't agree more.

The truth is, though, that I think the original poster answered his question in the post - The last four LAPTOPS he bought. Most laptops I have seen do have only a headphones out jack and a microphone in jack, at least that I have seen.

Truthfully, dude, are you buying laptops and not even looking to see if the specs meet your needs? You should be laughed at by the Slashdot community.

Second, buy a freakin Desktop or build one yourself. I have yet to see a motherboard with onboard audio that does not have a line in jack. Or just go buy yourself a soundblaster. In fact, they have USB soundblasters. Notice first feature - record old cassette tapes & vinyl to MP3 with included software.

So, he doesn't buy laptops without first checking to see if they have what he needs, he is assumming that because his laptop doesn't have said jack, all computers must not have them, and clearly doesn't know how to use Google. That took me 10 seconds of searching.

Yes, but almost all of those accomplishments are just part-and-parcel of the Apollo 11 mission and the one other just is a silly technical distinction (the first). NASA is to be congratulated on Apollo 11, no doubt. But the Soviets also deserve recognition for so many other meaningful "firsts," and they almost NEVER get it in the U.S. Make no mistake about it, government sanctioned or not, there is a very real propaganda machine in the U.S. that makes the space race sound like it was dominated entirely by the U.S. and NASA. Very rarely is that image ever breached, and when it is, it's usually shut down very quickly.

And example of how difficult it is to pierce that image? Back in 2006, the BBC produced an excellent docudrama miniseries called "Space Race: The Untold Story," that told BOTH the Soviet and NASA space race stories with never-before-seen (or seen since) footage. It aired twice on U.S. television and was effectively banned thereafter. National Geographic has refused to air it since (even though they own the U.S. rights, it's in modern HD, and it got great ratings on its initial airings). Nor has it ever been released on video in the U.S. (about the only modern miniseries to air on National Geographic channel and not be offered for order on video by them or anyone else). It's still to this day only available in Europe and Australia as Region 2 and Region 4 PAL versions. American DVD players won't even play it if you import it.

Parent obviously didn't read the summary. But that said, the code written in NeHe's tutorials are ported to like 20 or more platforms, and you might find that to be useful.

I learned OpenGL by buying a copy of the Red Book, and then used Allegro (a cross-platform gaming library) to set up a rendering surface. This could also be accomplished by using the SDL library, but I do not have any experience using it.

(Regarding Allegro, the 4.4 series is a completely different API from the 4.9 series in development, but both can create a window for rendering OpenGL. I would personally suggest using the 4.9 series.)

Actually I would say yours is an almost solved in that the link you had said out of stock and the price was too high. He can get the same rig for $29 at Amazon.

But what I don't get is this: WTF is this doing in an ask slashdot at all? Hell my PC is less than a year old, and not the baddest board by ANY means, yet even my basic motherboard comes with software that lets you assign the input/output to be anything you want including line in, so WTF? What's next? I didn't read TFM so somebody here explain it to me? Even the old AC-97s would let you change inputs, and hell just about every board out there is based on Realtek designs.

If you want something to write about here is something a little more important, at least for all of us running Windows 7 and/or Server 2K8-Apparently Win7/2K8 don't play nice with most KVM switches which means if you don't want to shitcan your KVM you are probably gonna have to shell out for one of these for each PC on your KVM which if you are using a 4 port or better is really gonna take a bite out of your wallet. It only seems to strike, at least for me, with LCD monitors, which is a PITA since I just got a nice 20 inch Dell given to me brand new as a thank you gift from a client. The best I can get thanks to this bug is 1440x900 instead of 1600x900 native! And for those running large server KVMs imagine how much it is gonna suck buying that damned many adapters to run 2K8.

That to me is a better story than "I don't read manuals or bother to even look at feature lists before I buy...help!" which is pretty much what TFA is. Anybody could solve TFA in 30 seconds of Googling, whereas I've spent 2 days so far beating my head against the wall only to be told "buy more hardware dude" with the monitor bug. Man this bites.

Actually I would say yours is an almost solved in that the link you had said out of stock and the price was too high. He can get the same rig for $29 at Amazon.

But what I don't get is this: WTF is this doing in an ask slashdot at all? Hell my PC is less than a year old, and not the baddest board by ANY means, yet even my basic motherboard comes with software that lets you assign the input/output to be anything you want including line in, so WTF? What's next? I didn't read TFM so somebody here explain it to me? Even the old AC-97s would let you change inputs, and hell just about every board out there is based on Realtek designs.

If you want something to write about here is something a little more important, at least for all of us running Windows 7 and/or Server 2K8-Apparently Win7/2K8 don't play nice with most KVM switches which means if you don't want to shitcan your KVM you are probably gonna have to shell out for one of these for each PC on your KVM which if you are using a 4 port or better is really gonna take a bite out of your wallet. It only seems to strike, at least for me, with LCD monitors, which is a PITA since I just got a nice 20 inch Dell given to me brand new as a thank you gift from a client. The best I can get thanks to this bug is 1440x900 instead of 1600x900 native! And for those running large server KVMs imagine how much it is gonna suck buying that damned many adapters to run 2K8.

That to me is a better story than "I don't read manuals or bother to even look at feature lists before I buy...help!" which is pretty much what TFA is. Anybody could solve TFA in 30 seconds of Googling, whereas I've spent 2 days so far beating my head against the wall only to be told "buy more hardware dude" with the monitor bug. Man this bites.

Amazon has them as well, for $5 less and with free shipping. I'm pretty sure they do free shipping as well. I've been using one of those, hooked up to one of these for about two years now. Flawless.

Amazon has them as well, for $5 less and with free shipping. I'm pretty sure they do free shipping as well. I've been using one of those, hooked up to one of these for about two years now. Flawless.

^^^Pretty much this. There are other options out there just for vinyl if you are concerned about noise from using an analog input.

Most cancer can be prevented or sometimes cured with the right amount of vitamin D3 (5000 IU daily as a base for most adults with a few exceptions, but you need a blood test periodically to be sure), a diet of mostly organic natural foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables), occasional fasting, and moderate exercise -- along with quitting smoking and some other lifestyle changes, and living in a cleaner environment (especially clean water), and some positive emotions, spirituality, and community helps too. These things (especially the right amount of vitamin D) will also sometimes prevent or sometimes cure a good amount of the many other chronic diseases of our modern society as well like heart disease, diabetes, depression, -- and maybe even autism which may result in part from inadequate vitamin D by parents before conception, during pregnancy, and while nursing (as dermatologists have told us all to fear the sun and we also live indoors more at screens). For references to all this, see:
Vitamin D:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/cancerMain.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/new-harvard-paper-on-autism.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2008-october.shtml
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
Fasting and better diet:
http://www.healthpromoting.com/Articles/articles/PleasureTrap.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
http://books.google.com/books?id=nRurn6C142YC
Lifestyle and cancer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elaine-schattner/we-are-all-fat-and-have-c_b_506247.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
Exercise:
http://www.letsmove.gov/
Community infrastructure:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
Positive emotions, community, and spirituality:
http://books.google.com/books?id=RKZreNYKNHQC
http://books.google.com/books?id=bCuC2H-6k_8C

Magic bullets like this RNA-loaded nanoparticle stuff are potentially great (if they have no side effects), but how about just encouraging (and making easy) the simple things first?

We don't have to wait for magic bullets to cure most ill health. Why not put a few trillion US dollars into these things? It would be enormously cost effective. One link above suggests curing vitamin D deficiency alone in Western Europe would save US$4.4 trillion dollars in health care expense over a decade (the USA might see a comparable amount in savings). Of course, in our current economic and sick

Most cancer can be prevented or sometimes cured with the right amount of vitamin D3 (5000 IU daily as a base for most adults with a few exceptions, but you need a blood test periodically to be sure), a diet of mostly organic natural foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables), occasional fasting, and moderate exercise -- along with quitting smoking and some other lifestyle changes, and living in a cleaner environment (especially clean water), and some positive emotions, spirituality, and community helps too. These things (especially the right amount of vitamin D) will also sometimes prevent or sometimes cure a good amount of the many other chronic diseases of our modern society as well like heart disease, diabetes, depression, -- and maybe even autism which may result in part from inadequate vitamin D by parents before conception, during pregnancy, and while nursing (as dermatologists have told us all to fear the sun and we also live indoors more at screens). For references to all this, see:
Vitamin D:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/cancerMain.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/new-harvard-paper-on-autism.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2008-october.shtml
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
Fasting and better diet:
http://www.healthpromoting.com/Articles/articles/PleasureTrap.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
http://books.google.com/books?id=nRurn6C142YC
Lifestyle and cancer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elaine-schattner/we-are-all-fat-and-have-c_b_506247.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
Exercise:
http://www.letsmove.gov/
Community infrastructure:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
Positive emotions, community, and spirituality:
http://books.google.com/books?id=RKZreNYKNHQC
http://books.google.com/books?id=bCuC2H-6k_8C

Magic bullets like this RNA-loaded nanoparticle stuff are potentially great (if they have no side effects), but how about just encouraging (and making easy) the simple things first?

We don't have to wait for magic bullets to cure most ill health. Why not put a few trillion US dollars into these things? It would be enormously cost effective. One link above suggests curing vitamin D deficiency alone in Western Europe would save US$4.4 trillion dollars in health care expense over a decade (the USA might see a comparable amount in savings). Of course, in our current economic and sick

Hmm, I've always thought of metaprogramming as code that produces code, not dynamically interpolating objects in an ORM (as nifty as that might be).

C++ template classes are a Turing-complete meta-language that, to me, really sum up metaprogramming. See this very interesting and horrifying book: http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315

Strange magical physics don't even have to be in play; the aliens only have to believe that quality X is more important than intelligence (or that quality X denotes intelligence), and if we don't have it, then we're defacto non-intelligent.

John Varley wrote some novels with this as part of the back story. The aliens felt that there were only two types of intelligence: cetaceans and a kind living in gas giants. They kicked humans off earth and left them to live like rats on the moon and other inhospitable places. In The Ophichi Hotline he even imagined us getting in contact with other species who had suffered the same fate.

Many people have written on the causes of war from various points of view:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War#Motivations
Often wars result from some back and forth of economic and military aggression (when they are not about policital power or some notion honor).

While what you say about the first Gulf war was what the media portrayed, what it leaves out is that Kuwait had started using slant drilling techiques to take Iraqi oil:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA%20Hits/Iraq_CIAHits.html
"""
The whole dispute started because Kuwait was slant-drilling. Using equipment bought from National Security Council chief Brent Scowcroft's old company, Kuwait was pumping out some $14-billion worth of oil from underneath Iraqi territory. Even the territory they were drilling from had originally been Iraq's. Slant-drilling is enough to get you shot in Texas, and it's certainly enough to start a war in the Mideast.
Even so, this dispute could have been negotiated. But it's hard to avoid a war when what you're actually doing is trying to provoke a war.
The most famous example of that is the meeting between Saddam and the US Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, five days before Iraq invaded Kuwait. As CIA satellite photos showed an Iraqi invasion force massing on the Kuwaiti border, Glaspie told Hussein that "the US takes no position" on Iraq's dispute with Kuwait.
A few days later, during last-minute negotiations, Kuwait's foreign minister said: "We are not going to respond to [Iraq]....If they don't like it, let them occupy our territory....We are going to bring in the Americans." The US reportedly encouraged Kuwait's attitude.
"""

There is more there.

So, with the first Gulf War, we had a ping-pong effect. Kuwait committed economic aggression against Iraq, but the US accepted that (having sold them the equipment). Iraq retaliated with violence, and the US moved in. But, the US media painted this in the way you just did -- as a sudden violent attack by Iraq on Kuwait with no reason other than greed for the Kuwaiti's oil -- ironically, the total opposite of what started it (Kuwait's greed for Iraqi oil).

Aspects of that also happened with WWII, economic agression by the USA leading to military agression by Japan at Pearl Harbor (this is not to defend Japan's attack, or its invasion of French Indo-China that the US retaliated for, just to show this ping-pong effect again of economic aggression begetting military aggression, and it being painted as out-of-the-blue violence):
http://askville.amazon.com/WW2-government-restrict-trade-Japan-blockade-countries-Pearl-Harbor/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=5936557
"The U.S. stopped selling oil to Japan in July of 1941, which was part of the motivation for the attack from Japan's perspective. We were their major oil supplier, and the shipments were stopped in protest of Japan's invasion of French Indo-China. This embargo would've ground their economy to a halt in fairly short order, forcing them to find oil elsewhere. But before they could do that, they had to make sure we wouldn't be able to interfere with their expansion."

Still, ultimately it is all foolishness. While liquid fuels are convenient, it takes more energy from electricity and natural gas to create a gallon of gas than an electric car would require to go the same distance as a car that uses that gallon of gas.
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm

So much ignorance, shortsightedness, narrow selfishness, and so on out there.
"A Christmas Carol -- Ignorance & Want"

http://www.amazon.com/Adesso-WIRELESS-SLIMTOUCH-TOUCHPAD-WKB-4000US/dp/B00083Y0YG

Done! What's next?

FWIW, I have 2 of these, the one used further out is about 25 feet. Works great. Looks like it's the same thing, but mine are: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keysonic-ACK-540RF-Wireless-Keyboard-Touchpad/dp/B002WB1JYQ

Now that this is an "Ask Slashdot," I'm sure someone (who probably helped develop Xenix or something) will give you an exact answer. But in general, "what file system does Xenix use and will it interoperate with Linux/anything modern" is not a difficult sort of question to research, if you're willing to go beyond a Google search. Amazon has plenty of used Xenix books for cheap, and at least the Dallas and Cleveland (and based on that sample, I'm guessing most large city public) libraries have at least a title or two. Even Ebay has a Xenix manual up for sale.They should tell you whatever you need to know about Xenix, and then you can Google about support for it in modern OS's. .

In fact, you may even be able to just Google it. No need to bother a million Slashdot readers.

Hey everybody,

thank you very much for your contributions. I really appreciate the time you spend to discuss that question.
Some clarification:

• My kids are 10 and go to the Catholic High Primary School in Singapore, Primary 4 level.
• They speak Chinese to their grand parents who don't speak English.
• What they are learning is "higher Chinese" (AFAIK a term not used outside the Singaporean educational system) that is supposed to put them on equal footing with native speakers on university level at end of Secondary 4.
• They learn Chinese since Kindergarten.

So we are beyond the stage of the first 500 chars -- and it is still a chore. Therefor I was asking.
Summing up responses so far (in no particular order):

• Flash cards (the physical thing)
• Rosetta Stone
• Anki
• Nciku
• Buzan
• Dating Chinese girls (I like that one)
• Mnemosyne
• Zon (the MMO to learn Chinese while playing) read a review
• Found some nice books: Fun with Chinese Characters
• iFlash for Mac (I wonder is there a Linux or OLPC version too)
• PinYin Info
• ByKi
• Zhong Wen (for unaware readers: that means Chinese in PinYin notation)
• WenLin Software
• SuperMemo (with a comparison to Anki and a store to buy Chinese content
• VeryPracticalChinese (found via this blog
• Skritter
• I found ChinesePod. Not sure what to make of it
• Lao Shi (Chinese for "Teacher") - OpenSource

Again, thx a lot! (and sorry for the caveman English -- don't get it? Read the comments)

2. it has a multitouch interface, unlike other tablets.

Every tablet running Windows 7 (released 5 months ago) has a multitouch interface.

3. it has quite a low price.

The ASUS Eee PC T91 convertible tablet is $453 (with Windows XP) and the Lenovo S10 convertible netbook tablet is $480.

5. it is lighter than other devices.

The Eee PC T91 (9-inch screen) weighs 2.1 pounds. The Lenovo S10 (10-inch screen) weighs 3 pounds and has 16 times more storage than the $500 3g-less iPad.

For me, the only reason not considering an iPad is lack of Flash support and lack of openness.

Windows 7 and Moblin-based Linux support Flash and are open, but I'm pretty sure their interfaces aren't quite there yet by your reasonable standards.

2. it has a multitouch interface, unlike other tablets.

Every tablet running Windows 7 (released 5 months ago) has a multitouch interface.

3. it has quite a low price.

The ASUS Eee PC T91 convertible tablet is $453 (with Windows XP) and the Lenovo S10 convertible netbook tablet is $480.

5. it is lighter than other devices.

The Eee PC T91 (9-inch screen) weighs 2.1 pounds. The Lenovo S10 (10-inch screen) weighs 3 pounds and has 16 times more storage than the $500 3g-less iPad.

For me, the only reason not considering an iPad is lack of Flash support and lack of openness.

Windows 7 and Moblin-based Linux support Flash and are open, but I'm pretty sure their interfaces aren't quite there yet by your reasonable standards.

Steven Johnson: Everything Bad is Good for You

It explains this phenomenon perfectly.

There is a great children's book, "The Chinese word for Horse and other stories" by John Lewis ( http://www.librarything.com/work/1564984 )which shows the structure of some (very few) Chinese characters. (Charles E. Tuttle co. published a small paperback that illustrated some basic Kanji in the same way, but I can't find my copy and I can't remember the name.) Look for a Chinese calligraphy guide that describes the meaning of the radicals as derived from pictures and you will be well on your way to binding the character with the meaning.

It can take as much as 15 years for something to go from short-term memory to long-term memory. (See "Brain Rules" by John Medina http://brainrules.net/ ) A program that helps bridge the gap between initial learning and structured recall is SuperMemo http://www.supermemo.com/ . Ignore the cruddy website and look at the idea behind it and the history.

Flashcards are good, too.

Major practice for writing Chinese is provided in "copy sheets" which can be found at Chinese shops that sell calligraphy supplies and school supplies. They have blocks with faint outlines of Chinese characters and you practice your calligraphy by tracing the character with your brush tip.

You might find "A practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary" by Janey Chen http://www.amazon.com/Practical-English-Chinese-Pronouncing-Dictionary-Language/dp/0804818770 . This book give an International Phonetics pronunciation (both Mandarin and Cantonese) next to the Chinese words. This is VERY important: One slight change in sound utterance and you've said something different from what you intended!

When learning Chinese, learn some patterns. I suggest "Chiang's Practical Chinese Language Patterns" http://www.amazon.com/Chiangs-Practical-Language-Patterns-Self-Learners/dp/9579727236 , "Practical Chinese Reader" (and the associated workbooks) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887271871/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=9579727236&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=14FXWRGNRW203JQ3QYZC , and an advanced monograph: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED280308&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED280308 .

Another resource, associating the sound with the character by typing it, can be found here: http://vpc-mandarin.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-and-why-to-write-chinese-by-typing.html

My ex-girlfriend and I used to watch a lot of Chinese movies together with the captioning on. The right channel would be Cantonese and the left channel would be Mandarin and the characters would change color as the actors pronounced them. You can find a switch to change the audio channel in most Chinese video stores. This is a good way to associate the sound visually with the language. Cartoons are great for kids and beginning adults because the language is syntactically correct but not too complicated. (Watch out though!; Jackie Chan has lousy Mandarin pronunciation and Zhang Ziyi has lousy Cantonese pronunciation.)

Side note: Japanese Kanji are derived from Chinese characters, b

There is a great children's book, "The Chinese word for Horse and other stories" by John Lewis ( http://www.librarything.com/work/1564984 )which shows the structure of some (very few) Chinese characters. (Charles E. Tuttle co. published a small paperback that illustrated some basic Kanji in the same way, but I can't find my copy and I can't remember the name.) Look for a Chinese calligraphy guide that describes the meaning of the radicals as derived from pictures and you will be well on your way to binding the character with the meaning.

It can take as much as 15 years for something to go from short-term memory to long-term memory. (See "Brain Rules" by John Medina http://brainrules.net/ ) A program that helps bridge the gap between initial learning and structured recall is SuperMemo http://www.supermemo.com/ . Ignore the cruddy website and look at the idea behind it and the history.

Flashcards are good, too.

Major practice for writing Chinese is provided in "copy sheets" which can be found at Chinese shops that sell calligraphy supplies and school supplies. They have blocks with faint outlines of Chinese characters and you practice your calligraphy by tracing the character with your brush tip.

You might find "A practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary" by Janey Chen http://www.amazon.com/Practical-English-Chinese-Pronouncing-Dictionary-Language/dp/0804818770 . This book give an International Phonetics pronunciation (both Mandarin and Cantonese) next to the Chinese words. This is VERY important: One slight change in sound utterance and you've said something different from what you intended!

When learning Chinese, learn some patterns. I suggest "Chiang's Practical Chinese Language Patterns" http://www.amazon.com/Chiangs-Practical-Language-Patterns-Self-Learners/dp/9579727236 , "Practical Chinese Reader" (and the associated workbooks) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887271871/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=9579727236&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=14FXWRGNRW203JQ3QYZC , and an advanced monograph: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED280308&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED280308 .

Another resource, associating the sound with the character by typing it, can be found here: http://vpc-mandarin.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-and-why-to-write-chinese-by-typing.html

My ex-girlfriend and I used to watch a lot of Chinese movies together with the captioning on. The right channel would be Cantonese and the left channel would be Mandarin and the characters would change color as the actors pronounced them. You can find a switch to change the audio channel in most Chinese video stores. This is a good way to associate the sound visually with the language. Cartoons are great for kids and beginning adults because the language is syntactically correct but not too complicated. (Watch out though!; Jackie Chan has lousy Mandarin pronunciation and Zhang Ziyi has lousy Cantonese pronunciation.)

Side note: Japanese Kanji are derived from Chinese characters, b

There is a great children's book, "The Chinese word for Horse and other stories" by John Lewis ( http://www.librarything.com/work/1564984 )which shows the structure of some (very few) Chinese characters. (Charles E. Tuttle co. published a small paperback that illustrated some basic Kanji in the same way, but I can't find my copy and I can't remember the name.) Look for a Chinese calligraphy guide that describes the meaning of the radicals as derived from pictures and you will be well on your way to binding the character with the meaning.

It can take as much as 15 years for something to go from short-term memory to long-term memory. (See "Brain Rules" by John Medina http://brainrules.net/ ) A program that helps bridge the gap between initial learning and structured recall is SuperMemo http://www.supermemo.com/ . Ignore the cruddy website and look at the idea behind it and the history.

Flashcards are good, too.

Major practice for writing Chinese is provided in "copy sheets" which can be found at Chinese shops that sell calligraphy supplies and school supplies. They have blocks with faint outlines of Chinese characters and you practice your calligraphy by tracing the character with your brush tip.

You might find "A practical English-Chinese Pronouncing Dictionary" by Janey Chen http://www.amazon.com/Practical-English-Chinese-Pronouncing-Dictionary-Language/dp/0804818770 . This book give an International Phonetics pronunciation (both Mandarin and Cantonese) next to the Chinese words. This is VERY important: One slight change in sound utterance and you've said something different from what you intended!

When learning Chinese, learn some patterns. I suggest "Chiang's Practical Chinese Language Patterns" http://www.amazon.com/Chiangs-Practical-Language-Patterns-Self-Learners/dp/9579727236 , "Practical Chinese Reader" (and the associated workbooks) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887271871/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=9579727236&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=14FXWRGNRW203JQ3QYZC , and an advanced monograph: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED280308&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED280308 .

Another resource, associating the sound with the character by typing it, can be found here: http://vpc-mandarin.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-and-why-to-write-chinese-by-typing.html

My ex-girlfriend and I used to watch a lot of Chinese movies together with the captioning on. The right channel would be Cantonese and the left channel would be Mandarin and the characters would change color as the actors pronounced them. You can find a switch to change the audio channel in most Chinese video stores. This is a good way to associate the sound visually with the language. Cartoons are great for kids and beginning adults because the language is syntactically correct but not too complicated. (Watch out though!; Jackie Chan has lousy Mandarin pronunciation and Zhang Ziyi has lousy Cantonese pronunciation.)

Side note: Japanese Kanji are derived from Chinese characters, b

Yes, there is no reason a K is pronounced like a K. You can make up mnemonics, but it's just an abstract shape. There are only 26 to learn (56 if you include capitals, which can bare resemblance to the lower case versions).

I've been trying to learn Japanese and this effects me too. I learned Katakana and Hiragana pretty easily, using little mnemonics and memory tricks (Kana Pict-o-Graphics is amazing), and so the alphabets are easy to learn and retain. There are only about 100 in total, plus a few combinations that are easy to learn, and two possible add-on marks (called diacriticals, I think) which change the sound. This is made easier because some Katakana look almost exactly like the equivalent Hiragana, and they are all for the same sets of sounds (so there is no sound that you can write in Katakana that isn't in Hiragana). The whole thing can be memorized in a week or two with enough effort. Memorizing that much stuff isn't terrible.

Then you get to the Kanji, which are either borrowed Chinese characters, possibly changed and with new inventions. They're a nightmare. Some are simple and you can learn based on what they represent (forrest and river are pretty easy). Many are composed in ways that would help you learn them if you remember the parts and what they represent. Another Michael Rowley is pretty good here, Kanji Pict-o-Graphix. The problem is that book has over 1000 characters to learn. That's the amount that a 6th grader is expected to know (and the set in the book don't match that set, I don't think). The equivalent of high school is about 2000, with another 200 which have different readings when used in names.

Then you get the fun of X means "moon" and Y means "duck", but XY might mean "reclining chair", which is read totally differently from the pronunciation of X and the pronunciation of Y. But if you don't know that combination, the sentence won't make sense.

The poster is right. With these kind of languages, they really aren't hard. In fact, Japanese seems much more regular than English. The problem is that if you want to be literate, you're going to just have to blindly memorize a ton of stuff, and doing that is really difficult. I'm glad he asked this, it's something I'm struggling with.

Yes, there is no reason a K is pronounced like a K. You can make up mnemonics, but it's just an abstract shape. There are only 26 to learn (56 if you include capitals, which can bare resemblance to the lower case versions).

I've been trying to learn Japanese and this effects me too. I learned Katakana and Hiragana pretty easily, using little mnemonics and memory tricks (Kana Pict-o-Graphics is amazing), and so the alphabets are easy to learn and retain. There are only about 100 in total, plus a few combinations that are easy to learn, and two possible add-on marks (called diacriticals, I think) which change the sound. This is made easier because some Katakana look almost exactly like the equivalent Hiragana, and they are all for the same sets of sounds (so there is no sound that you can write in Katakana that isn't in Hiragana). The whole thing can be memorized in a week or two with enough effort. Memorizing that much stuff isn't terrible.

Then you get to the Kanji, which are either borrowed Chinese characters, possibly changed and with new inventions. They're a nightmare. Some are simple and you can learn based on what they represent (forrest and river are pretty easy). Many are composed in ways that would help you learn them if you remember the parts and what they represent. Another Michael Rowley is pretty good here, Kanji Pict-o-Graphix. The problem is that book has over 1000 characters to learn. That's the amount that a 6th grader is expected to know (and the set in the book don't match that set, I don't think). The equivalent of high school is about 2000, with another 200 which have different readings when used in names.

Then you get the fun of X means "moon" and Y means "duck", but XY might mean "reclining chair", which is read totally differently from the pronunciation of X and the pronunciation of Y. But if you don't know that combination, the sentence won't make sense.

The poster is right. With these kind of languages, they really aren't hard. In fact, Japanese seems much more regular than English. The problem is that if you want to be literate, you're going to just have to blindly memorize a ton of stuff, and doing that is really difficult. I'm glad he asked this, it's something I'm struggling with.

James W. Heisig, a researcher at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, has released an excellent set of books for memorizing Japanese Kanji, traditional Chinese Hanzi, and simplified Chinese Hanzi:

Remembering the Kanji:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Vol-Complete-Characters/dp/0824831659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269118367&sr=8-1

Remembering the Traditional Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Traditional-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833244/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5

Remembering the Simplified Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Simplified-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833236/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

While this technique focuses on memorizing the meaning of the characters (and how to write them yourself) and not so much on the readings of them, I've found it an absolutely invaluable technique for doing the former. I have an abysmal memory to the point that it's shocking, and yet using his techniques, I was able to easily memorize the meaning of about 400 characters and how to write them in a couple of weeks with only a couple of hours of dedication a day, which I was very impressed with. His technique is based on building up from simple radicals and employing visual memory to make everything stick in place, which basically means concocting an elaborate and often ridiculous story for each character to tie the correct radicals into their correct places. The story is usually so silly that it cannot be forgotten, which is, IMO, in where the trick lies. As your skill in recall develops, you can let go of the stories and move to natural recall.

Also, the use of timed memorization software is essential when we're talking about this amount of information. Here are two great free software packages for this that were largely based specifically at learning Japanese (and thus are quite suitable for other languages, especially Chinese):

Anki:
http://ichi2.net/anki

Mnemosyne:
http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

(Personally, I prefer Mnemosyne a bit more, even though Anki has many more features, but this is because I'm making a set of cards to memorize all of Heisig's Kanji, traditional Hanzi, and simplified Hanzi, and I'm using HTML tables to store all the information. Mnemosyne preserves my HTML exactly, whereas Anki futzes with it and ruins the formatting.)

James W. Heisig, a researcher at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, has released an excellent set of books for memorizing Japanese Kanji, traditional Chinese Hanzi, and simplified Chinese Hanzi:

Remembering the Kanji:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Vol-Complete-Characters/dp/0824831659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269118367&sr=8-1

Remembering the Traditional Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Traditional-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833244/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5

Remembering the Simplified Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Simplified-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833236/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

While this technique focuses on memorizing the meaning of the characters (and how to write them yourself) and not so much on the readings of them, I've found it an absolutely invaluable technique for doing the former. I have an abysmal memory to the point that it's shocking, and yet using his techniques, I was able to easily memorize the meaning of about 400 characters and how to write them in a couple of weeks with only a couple of hours of dedication a day, which I was very impressed with. His technique is based on building up from simple radicals and employing visual memory to make everything stick in place, which basically means concocting an elaborate and often ridiculous story for each character to tie the correct radicals into their correct places. The story is usually so silly that it cannot be forgotten, which is, IMO, in where the trick lies. As your skill in recall develops, you can let go of the stories and move to natural recall.

Also, the use of timed memorization software is essential when we're talking about this amount of information. Here are two great free software packages for this that were largely based specifically at learning Japanese (and thus are quite suitable for other languages, especially Chinese):

Anki:
http://ichi2.net/anki

Mnemosyne:
http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

(Personally, I prefer Mnemosyne a bit more, even though Anki has many more features, but this is because I'm making a set of cards to memorize all of Heisig's Kanji, traditional Hanzi, and simplified Hanzi, and I'm using HTML tables to store all the information. Mnemosyne preserves my HTML exactly, whereas Anki futzes with it and ruins the formatting.)

James W. Heisig, a researcher at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, has released an excellent set of books for memorizing Japanese Kanji, traditional Chinese Hanzi, and simplified Chinese Hanzi:

Remembering the Kanji:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Vol-Complete-Characters/dp/0824831659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269118367&sr=8-1

Remembering the Traditional Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Traditional-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833244/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5

Remembering the Simplified Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Simplified-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833236/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

While this technique focuses on memorizing the meaning of the characters (and how to write them yourself) and not so much on the readings of them, I've found it an absolutely invaluable technique for doing the former. I have an abysmal memory to the point that it's shocking, and yet using his techniques, I was able to easily memorize the meaning of about 400 characters and how to write them in a couple of weeks with only a couple of hours of dedication a day, which I was very impressed with. His technique is based on building up from simple radicals and employing visual memory to make everything stick in place, which basically means concocting an elaborate and often ridiculous story for each character to tie the correct radicals into their correct places. The story is usually so silly that it cannot be forgotten, which is, IMO, in where the trick lies. As your skill in recall develops, you can let go of the stories and move to natural recall.

Also, the use of timed memorization software is essential when we're talking about this amount of information. Here are two great free software packages for this that were largely based specifically at learning Japanese (and thus are quite suitable for other languages, especially Chinese):

Anki:
http://ichi2.net/anki

Mnemosyne:
http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

(Personally, I prefer Mnemosyne a bit more, even though Anki has many more features, but this is because I'm making a set of cards to memorize all of Heisig's Kanji, traditional Hanzi, and simplified Hanzi, and I'm using HTML tables to store all the information. Mnemosyne preserves my HTML exactly, whereas Anki futzes with it and ruins the formatting.)

I thought this was a good book for Chinese characters. I agree, flashcards are good as well (I like the paper type, if you can do it away from a computer I think you're more likely to do it)

yes, let's all wait for Apple to come to the rescue and ignore everybody else who's already trying to do that...
and of course, nothing is real unless Apple does it.

Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/

Amazon Self-Publish
http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?topic=200260520

but you do know that publishers don't just "publish", right? editing is a crucial step and good or bad marketing can make or break an author.
Even authors like Doctorow who freely distributes their contents online have editors and publishers. A good combination of the two means that even trash like D*n Br*wn's D* V*nc* C*d* can become a bestseller.

What do mean when you say that? Hmm?

What do mean when you say that? Hmm?

You may be getting your wish.

Or perhaps it's been available for a while.

$109Windows XP
$121Windows Vista
$105Windows 7
$335

This is buying the OEM copy of each in today's prices. The prices were different when they were released.

$109Windows XP
$121Windows Vista
$105Windows 7
$335

This is buying the OEM copy of each in today's prices. The prices were different when they were released.

Here you go. I hear she is really pretty and very quiet at night.

Cracking skulls isn't my line, fortunately. The fondness of cops and rentacops for the larger D cell maglights (plus the wide availability of products like this) is a fairly strong suggestion that they are valued for more than their illuminating properties. Especially since Mag has, in general, lagged rather badly in technology. Assorted little specialist outfits had been doing LED setups that outperformed their C-cell and smaller stuff in a much smaller package for several years before they woke up and bothered to release a rather slapdash LED conversion module for their units. Surefire, and their ilk in the high-power-halogen market have always offered greater light output than a D-cell maglight in a smaller package. Utility as a blunt weapon, and fairly low cost compared to superior flashlights, has always been a strong selling point for the larger mag lights.

My remark on durability comes from having dropped both LED and filament lights a fair number of times, I can be a bit klutzy, especially if the light is damp. The maglight's fairly solid construction does not, indeed, do much more than scratch slightly when it falls on concrete; but that nice rigid aluminum body transmits shock to the delicate filament quite handily. The flashlight suffers only the mildest of cosmetic damage; but the lightbulb dies instantly. LED modules, by contrast, take hits like you'd expect solid-state hardware to. Repeated, significant stresses could well crack a soldier joint; but I've never seen one die from just being dropped(even the time when I had one in my back pocket, slipped on ice, and hit the pavement flashlight-first-and-me-on-top. The aluminum scratched and bent a touch, but the LED didn't even notice).

Alright. I'll play your game. Let's calculate this:

Windows path: 300+107+196 = $603, if I'm adding correctly.

OS X path: 129+ 0+129 (at most - some users could upgrade for $20)+20+129+X+29 = 436+X, if I'm adding correctly.

I couldn't find a reliable price for Leopard, but as long as it was under $167, it looks like OS X is the cheaper route if you want to have all the features available. Yes, you could go with a cheaper version of Vista or 7, but you could also skip some OS X versions without much loss.

Alright. I'll play your game. Let's calculate this:

Windows path: 300+107+196 = $603, if I'm adding correctly.

OS X path: 129+ 0+129 (at most - some users could upgrade for $20)+20+129+X+29 = 436+X, if I'm adding correctly.

I couldn't find a reliable price for Leopard, but as long as it was under $167, it looks like OS X is the cheaper route if you want to have all the features available. Yes, you could go with a cheaper version of Vista or 7, but you could also skip some OS X versions without much loss.

Alright. I'll play your game. Let's calculate this:

Windows path: 300+107+196 = $603, if I'm adding correctly.

OS X path: 129+ 0+129 (at most - some users could upgrade for $20)+20+129+X+29 = 436+X, if I'm adding correctly.

I couldn't find a reliable price for Leopard, but as long as it was under $167, it looks like OS X is the cheaper route if you want to have all the features available. Yes, you could go with a cheaper version of Vista or 7, but you could also skip some OS X versions without much loss.

Depends on what you want. If you want to know what to be on guard against when somebody is trying to lead you down the garden path to false conclusions, I recommend How to Lie with Statistics, which has been mentioned by a few other folks. The examples are dated, but the principles haven't changed and the price makes this one a steal. If you want more of a flavor of statistical thinking, but without the math, then you might consider Statistics by Freedman, Pisani and Purves. People either love it or hate it, and it's substantially pricier.

Neither one of these is adequate preparation to go on and take a second-tier look at the field, but that's not what they were written to do.

Depends on what you want. If you want to know what to be on guard against when somebody is trying to lead you down the garden path to false conclusions, I recommend How to Lie with Statistics, which has been mentioned by a few other folks. The examples are dated, but the principles haven't changed and the price makes this one a steal. If you want more of a flavor of statistical thinking, but without the math, then you might consider Statistics by Freedman, Pisani and Purves. People either love it or hate it, and it's substantially pricier.

Neither one of these is adequate preparation to go on and take a second-tier look at the field, but that's not what they were written to do.

Like Daniel Dvorkin has said Devore's book Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences is an excellent starting point.

Definitely learn to use R since its free you don't have to worry about paying licensing fees. It is also widely used (no matter what you here from SAS, Minitab, SPSS, etc).

Books I would recommend that I think fit his other suggestions are Bowerman/O'Connell Linear Statistical Models: An Applied Approach and Wackerly et al Mathematical Statistics with Applications

Devore talks about Bayes Rule as does Wackerly and Wackerly's last chapter talks about some Bayesian techniques, but these are merely primers for what is typical in a Bayesian course. So I recommend these two books as analogous with Devore's: Bolstad Introduction to Bayesian Statistics and to Wackerly's: Hoff A First Course in Bayesian Statistical Methods

Some things you need from mathematics are the ability to integrate, work with matrices and matrix operations, and algebraic manipulation. Familiarity with transformations and operators especially linear ones is useful since many procedures in statistics are linear operators. The highest levels of statistics will get even more math intense using mathematical results from areas like ODE/PDE, Galios Theory, or general Measure Theory.

The wikipedia's statistics articles are pretty good overall, but as Dvorkin noted some are more technical than what would be friendly to those that are new to statistics. When you feel that's the case try using the sources linked as citations in the article or google confusing parts and it is generally possible to find an explanation for almost any background level.

However if you can get through these texts you're background would be pretty strong.

Like Daniel Dvorkin has said Devore's book Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences is an excellent starting point.

Definitely learn to use R since its free you don't have to worry about paying licensing fees. It is also widely used (no matter what you here from SAS, Minitab, SPSS, etc).

Books I would recommend that I think fit his other suggestions are Bowerman/O'Connell Linear Statistical Models: An Applied Approach and Wackerly et al Mathematical Statistics with Applications

Devore talks about Bayes Rule as does Wackerly and Wackerly's last chapter talks about some Bayesian techniques, but these are merely primers for what is typical in a Bayesian course. So I recommend these two books as analogous with Devore's: Bolstad Introduction to Bayesian Statistics and to Wackerly's: Hoff A First Course in Bayesian Statistical Methods

Some things you need from mathematics are the ability to integrate, work with matrices and matrix operations, and algebraic manipulation. Familiarity with transformations and operators especially linear ones is useful since many procedures in statistics are linear operators. The highest levels of statistics will get even more math intense using mathematical results from areas like ODE/PDE, Galios Theory, or general Measure Theory.

The wikipedia's statistics articles are pretty good overall, but as Dvorkin noted some are more technical than what would be friendly to those that are new to statistics. When you feel that's the case try using the sources linked as citations in the article or google confusing parts and it is generally possible to find an explanation for almost any background level.

However if you can get through these texts you're background would be pretty strong.

Like Daniel Dvorkin has said Devore's book Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences is an excellent starting point.

Definitely learn to use R since its free you don't have to worry about paying licensing fees. It is also widely used (no matter what you here from SAS, Minitab, SPSS, etc).

Books I would recommend that I think fit his other suggestions are Bowerman/O'Connell Linear Statistical Models: An Applied Approach and Wackerly et al Mathematical Statistics with Applications

Devore talks about Bayes Rule as does Wackerly and Wackerly's last chapter talks about some Bayesian techniques, but these are merely primers for what is typical in a Bayesian course. So I recommend these two books as analogous with Devore's: Bolstad Introduction to Bayesian Statistics and to Wackerly's: Hoff A First Course in Bayesian Statistical Methods

Some things you need from mathematics are the ability to integrate, work with matrices and matrix operations, and algebraic manipulation. Familiarity with transformations and operators especially linear ones is useful since many procedures in statistics are linear operators. The highest levels of statistics will get even more math intense using mathematical results from areas like ODE/PDE, Galios Theory, or general Measure Theory.

The wikipedia's statistics articles are pretty good overall, but as Dvorkin noted some are more technical than what would be friendly to those that are new to statistics. When you feel that's the case try using the sources linked as citations in the article or google confusing parts and it is generally possible to find an explanation for almost any background level.

However if you can get through these texts you're background would be pretty strong.

Like Daniel Dvorkin has said Devore's book Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences is an excellent starting point.

Definitely learn to use R since its free you don't have to worry about paying licensing fees. It is also widely used (no matter what you here from SAS, Minitab, SPSS, etc).

Books I would recommend that I think fit his other suggestions are Bowerman/O'Connell Linear Statistical Models: An Applied Approach and Wackerly et al Mathematical Statistics with Applications

Devore talks about Bayes Rule as does Wackerly and Wackerly's last chapter talks about some Bayesian techniques, but these are merely primers for what is typical in a Bayesian course. So I recommend these two books as analogous with Devore's: Bolstad Introduction to Bayesian Statistics and to Wackerly's: Hoff A First Course in Bayesian Statistical Methods

Some things you need from mathematics are the ability to integrate, work with matrices and matrix operations, and algebraic manipulation. Familiarity with transformations and operators especially linear ones is useful since many procedures in statistics are linear operators. The highest levels of statistics will get even more math intense using mathematical results from areas like ODE/PDE, Galios Theory, or general Measure Theory.

The wikipedia's statistics articles are pretty good overall, but as Dvorkin noted some are more technical than what would be friendly to those that are new to statistics. When you feel that's the case try using the sources linked as citations in the article or google confusing parts and it is generally possible to find an explanation for almost any background level.

However if you can get through these texts you're background would be pretty strong.

Probability: The Logic Of Science by Jaynes. Although it is in part a rigorous text, you can skip the derivations and just read the examples. Most of the book is about how to think about probability, emphasizing the methods of correctly formulating the problem and explaining why most people fail at that (admittedly quite complex) task. Even if you don't understand a single equation in the book, you'll still benefit from reading it.

http://www.amazon.com/How-misuse-statistics-Spectrum-book/dp/0134362047 was written by an early president of the American Psyhcological Association and, in its day, was often used when teaching lower-level statistics courses.

I've always thought teaching a good understanding of statistics should be a requirement for high schools, since statistics are so often (mis)used to justify public policies and legislation. We need a citizenry that can see through the bullshit, or at least think a bit critically on the subject.

I think a firm understanding of statistics is more useful than the entry level calculus and the entry-level science courses like chemistry and biology(not that those aren't good too, just not as relevant to citizenship).

Here's a nice book on statistics called "How To Lie With Statistics" that covers a lot of the ways statistics are misused. (not a referrer link or anything like that)

http://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff/dp/0393310728