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User: stdion

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  1. Paradigms on Best Paradigm For a First Programming Course? · · Score: 1

    I'd start with the way CPUs process code which is typically imperative, covering Python, assembly then C. Python so they can get the high-level concepts if they are new to programming as a whole. Assembly so they can see how instructions are truly carried out on a machine and issues related to instruction sizes, etc. (mov, cmp, jmp, .. keep it simple). Then C, so they understand why imperative programming is structured the way it is. I'd then cover its perceived weaknesses (I love C but understand its shortcomings) and why C++/Java/others were invented around C. I'd then introduce them to Haskell, Erlang, Scheme/Lisp, etc. that completely break away from this model and why. Give a little history on their purpose and assign real-life examples to work through so they may have a warehouse of tools at their disposal rather than a hammer.

    That's the way I wish I would have learned it. If a student is passionate about programming, he'll find reasons to explore more languages and understand their niche regardless, but as I said, the discovery would have gone a lot faster if I had been taught it rather than wondering around without a guide, ie, being self-taught.

  2. Check... on Google's New Lobbying Power in Washington · · Score: 1

    GOOG's intension was never DO NOT BE EVIL, it was one of their engineers who would write it around the office and Google decided to adopt that "philosophony."Didn't GOOG's stock drop when they denied the government's request for 3 months of search results? I wouldn't be surprised if many politicians had stock in "The Google." The ones with the information have the power which is why Google can get lobbyists on staff in the first place. Maybe next Google will buyout lumber mills, curbing the distribution of paper, so everyone will use their data; "Sergeying their stock" (he plays so dirty) through the roof.

  3. Re:The Mayan perspective on Sunspots Reach 1000-Year Peak · · Score: 1

    And it only goes back 12,000 years, so I guess nothing existed before then? Well, I have no idea how old the sun is. The Mayan calendar covers some 50,000 years and calculates all sorts of cycles.

    I, for one, welcome our new world devouring Jaguar overlords. Yeah, the jaguar gods have done a bang up job.

    I am just curious to see if they were right regarding the catastrophic sunspot predictions. Only a five year wait!

  4. The Mayan perspective on Sunspots Reach 1000-Year Peak · · Score: 1

    By studying sunspots, the Mayan people predicted the sun will supernova in 2012. The Mayan calendar forever ends on their doomsday date of 2012. That, and the planets will be in alignment, Earth will finish a wobble cycle, et cetera on 2012 as well.

    If you are not familiar with the Mayans, they had the most sophisticated and accurate (and obsessive) calendaring system thanks to studying astrology. The calculations are so accurate that they are considered 10,000 times (guesstamation but not exaggerated) more accurate than the time we use today. The Mayans even built a pyramid called Kukulcan that, on every Equinox, would casts shadows showing a snake slithering down the sides.

    The History Channel has a special on the Mayans called "Decoding the Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy." It's pretty good. There's lots of interesting information out there about it, so look it up.