I got all jazzed-up about this mouse a few weeks ago, and decided to pick one up for my new laptop. One week later, I sold it to a friend.
As far as the mouse is concerned, it's really pretty good -- it tracks great, the buttons feel nice, and the RF receiver fits into the mouse, which can collapse. But it just wasn't for me -- the mouse was too small -- if I were just using it once or twice a week, it'd be okay, but every day for 5 to 8 hours was just too much with such a small design. I could never really find a comfortable position when holding it. After three or four days, I realized that my hand was starting to tense up a bit, and it was becoming sore. I decided not to keep trying to get comfortable with it, and just went back to my old mouse. I think my hand might just be a bit too big for that mouse.
IMO, the scroll-pad is overrated. It's a very neat thing, and at first you are very impressed with it. But over time, the novelty wears thin. The most immediate problem is that it doesn't work as a middle-button -- as a Firefox user, I don't like to do without a middle-button. Then there was the problem with finger position. You kind of have to acclimate yourself to using the scroll-pad -- if you start your finger in the middle and move one direction or the other, you're okay. But if you start from the top of the pad, then scroll down, a lot of times it'll go up for a second, then not scroll at all. I found it sort of frustrating having to be even slightly precise with something I use so much and so quickly. Then, since you can't touch the pad without it scrolling something, you can't really position your hand over it. With a scroll-wheel, if you inadvertently touch the wheel, nothing happens. If you accidentally brush the touch-pad, you're going to scroll somewhere. It makes your hand position a bit more difficult, and I think that's part of why I could never really get comfortable with that mouse.
Oh, and there's this annoying clicking sound -- it's a neat sound, but I would love to be able to turn it off . ..
If you have a smaller hand, this might work for you, but for me, I found the mouse too small, and the touch-pad to be a lot more flash than substance. It is definitely the best-looking mouse around, I just think it's a bit lacking on comfort.
When I graduated college, I went back to work as a sysadmin at my old high school. When I got there, they had just completed their first year with four smartboards as a trial. The year I arrived, we opened up a new building with 13 new SmartBoard Systems. There are several different companies that do this stuff, but the SmartBoard is kind of the leader in the industry -- http://www.smarttech.com/
The total setup runs around $15 grand, plus or minus depending on what you do with it. The projector is the most expensive part, at around $5-6000 for a really nice one. The board itself runs around $2000, for the basic model. To make it easier to start up, we had a touchpanel on the wall with various functions on it - turn on projector, show computer, show video, show laptop, blank screen, increase volume, etc. That really helped make the whole setup a lot easier to use for people.
Since we had them for so long, we had a pretty good understanding of what works and what doesn't. The neatest thing about the SmartBoard is that you can kind of make it what you want. If you want it to just be a whiteboard, it can do that. If you want it to be a glorified powerpoint viewer, you can do that. If you want to really get into it, you can start to do all sorts of cool interactive applications with it. Smart Technology's software has improved markedly in the past few years, and the new version allows you to embed all sorts of multimedia objects, and best of all -- Flash! There is a TON of potential with the new capabilities.
Because it is so versatile, it integrates very easily and very smoothly into existing classrooms. Teachers typically find it very easy to use, provided you have done a good job with setup. Maintenance can get to be time consuming -- teachers rely on these things every single minute of the day, and they have to be working all the time. But there are like two-dozen points of failure. Then there's the projector -- the bulbs cost about $500 each, and last about 1400 hours. Maintaining the SmartBoard setups consumed probably about 20% of my time overall when I worked there.
Through my four years there (I just quit in May to go to grad school at CMU), we eventually ramped up to just over 30 of them. Every teacher wants one, and most teachers used them pretty well. Is it $15,000 well? Probably not, but the students really like them, and a dedicated teacher can REALLY do a lot with them.
I taught for two years, in both a SmartBoard classroom and a non SmartBoard classroom. I taught programming, and having the ability to show the programs on the board and edit code on the board was just fantastic. At one point, I did get moved to a classroom without a SmartBoard and with just a regular old chalkboard. Personally, I preferred using the chalkboard, but really just because: a) if you want to use the smartboard well, you should be prepared for class -- I was never prepared, b) I write a bit too fast and too sloppy for the SmartBoard to pick it up well, c) I like having a LOT of space on which to write, d) playing with chalk is fun. If I had more time to put into the class I was teaching, I would've really gotten a lot more out of the SmartBoard capability when I had it.
A lot of schools are faced with increasing pressure to bring computers and "technology" into the classroom. The primary thrust has been laptop programs. Personally, I think the laptop has very little place in a HS classroom. Our neighboring school did the laptop program, and they had some up and more down with it. The laptop creates a barrier inbetween the teacher and the student. In theory, it creates a more self-driven learning approach. But in High School, 99% of students are not self-driving their learning, they are playing games or on AIM most of the time. And the support costs for a laptop program are astronomical. In contrast, the SmartBoard is a teacher-driven approach that restores the focus back to the front of the classroom and the ma
I introduced Moodle to the school I work at about a year ago, and after a year of trying to make headway, finally I was able to get people to buy into it for this school year. It's been up all semester.
Moodle is GREAT. There's no other way about it. It's easy to use, very featureful, easy to admin, simple to setup and get moving, and still powerful. It blows away anything else we've ever done before -- personal webspace, other course management systems, etc. We did a survey about how many faculty used the web for posting assignments, etc. through our old and exceptionally awful course management system, and the numbers were not good -- about 20% used it at all, and about 5% of the faculty used it often.
Things are very different now. Around 65% of the faculty use Moodle in some capacity, and about 40% of the faculty use it often. They use all sorts of features -- assignments, lessons, resources, discussion boards, etc. It meshes so well with what so many people want to do, and it's so easy to use that there's not much reason for them not to use it in some capacity. And it's flexible enough to be used in whatever way the teacher wants. I think that by next year, about 80% of the faculty will be using Moodle, as those who don't use it now typically want to, they just have been lazy about it.
Moodle is the best thing we've done this year where I work. It's improved communication with faculty and students greatly, and it's helped to keep students more interested in classes. We run Novell, and the LDAP functionality ties in perfectly. Plus with all the great modules, moodle is very extensible. If you don't see an existing module to fulfill a need, you can write it yourself. Moodle can do almost anything you want it to do, and it does pretty much all of it very well.
If you have any questions about Moodle, drop me an email (sigemund AT gmail . com).
But frankly, I don't give a damn. There are very few sites that don't work properly, and with about 1000 users, I don't have time to screw with removing spyware all the f-ing time. There aren't any sites the students need to go to that don't work properly in Firefox. IMO you are the one being pig-headed here, by not considering the value of a move like this and just chastising me for "making life difficult". Faculty still have IE, because there are sites that they need (gradebook) that only work in IE, but there's nothing the students need to go to that doesn't work properly. Alone, I have to deal with about 350 workstations, 11 servers, and 1000 users, plus maintaining Novell, Zenworks, and teaching. I don't have time to deal with people who install bonzi buddy and other spyware through IE. Last year, that's about all I was doing. This year, I haven't had to do it once.
I considered doing that where I work (school), but I did one better. To get to the web, you have to use a proxy server. Well, not only did I remove all mentions of IE anywhere, but I didn't put the proxy settings in. And the user can't change them. So you can try to use IE all you want, but it doesn't work. But Firefox works great, and it's got no fewer than four links on the computer. Plus I set up a firefox roaming profile for users so the bookmarks/etc. travel with them.
I'm so happy with this setup:) Not only do the users HAVE to use Firefox, but they see the name a lot, which, in additon to the good user experience, is marketing for the browser.
What about the American Citizens who live outside of the United States? Why should they not be allowed to view Bush's campaign site? What about the soldiers in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Korea?
You are right on! I learned about CLEP tests when I went to an open house at my college. I'd already taken some AP tests, and by taking the CLEPs, I was able to test out of about a year of college. With some work and good scheduling, I graduated in three years.
It's definitely a good idea for saving some tuition money, or for someone who just doesn't want to sit through humanities courses or history classes. It's also worth checking into departmental exams for colleges -- some have tests that are not part of any national standard, but are created at the university as a means for students to test out of courses.
I work at a school -- We don't license MS Office for the students, but this year is the first that we have put MS Office on every faculty machine (about 60). I also put OpenOffice on every machine. We have been 100% Wordperfect until this year, but the new president "likes MS Office", so he's slowly forcing everything that direction. When I rolled out this year's install image, I had made a bit of a mistake (completely unintentionally). When someone double-clicks on a MS Office document, it opens in OpenOffice instead of MSOffice. This has basically "forced" everyone to use OpenOffice.
And HARDLY ANYONE has noticed. Only two or three of the faculty (those who call themselves the Techno-elite . . . yeah right) have switched it back to MS. Most people don't realize they're not using MSOffice. I'm of the opinion that I could COMPLETELY remove MSOffice, rename all the OpenOffice icons to the MS equivalent, and we'd be in business.
Once, I was asking a third-grade teacher why in the heck she taught the students cursive? I learned it but I never used it after the sixth grade.
Her response was that students don't learn it because its useful or because they NEED to know it. It's taught in order to help develop kids' motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
From my experience, there is still a very useful place for hand-writing, but not necessarily for cursive. However, if writing in cursive is helpful in developing motor skills in children, I'm all for it. There's a distinct difference in motor skill difficulty between typing and writing. Writing certainly aids much more than typing in the motor skill development, as it requires quite a bit more concentration and hand-stability.
On the back of the package of some of the HP print cartridges, there is a recipe. I've never tried it, and I don't know if anyone else has, but it caught my eye one day. Whoever put it there must have been very proud of it . . .
Here it is:
Chili Relleno Hors D'Oeuvres
Ingredients: 12oz can of chili peppers or pickled peppers 1 pound of cheddar or monterey jack 6 eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover the bottom of a flat 9"x9" baking dish with a layer of chili peppers or pickled peppers, slices or chunks. Cover peppers with grated cheese. Beat eggs until mixed. Pour over cheese and peppers.
Bake for 30 minutes or until firm in center. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes, slice and serve.
Just go looking for HP ink cartridges (this one is the 51641A) and you'll be sure to see it. ENJOY!:)
DARK HELMET: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie? COL. SANDERS: Now. You're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now is happening now. DARK HELMET: What happened to then? COL. SANDERS: We passed then. DARK HELMET: When? COL. SANDERS: Just now. We're at now, now. DARK HELMET: Go back to then. COL. SANDERS: When? DARK HELMET: Now! COL. SANDERS: Now? DARK HELMET: Now! COL. SANDERS: I can't. DARK HELMET: Why? COL. SANDERS: We missed it. DARK HELMET: When? COL. SANDERS: Just now. DARK HELMET: When will then be now? COL. SANDERS: Soon
I concur with the other slashdot readers who say that HP has been on a downward spiral for a while now. However, this merger has become the final coffin nail for the "old" HP (old != bad).
I am too young to remember the earlier days of HP -- the first memory I have of HP is my father's RPN calculator in the early 80s. I was too young at the time to remember now, but my parents tell me that while they were doing the taxes in 1981, I knocked a Coke over (I was 1!) and into the calculator. Needless to say, the calculator didn't work during that tax season. After a nominal fee, it returned perfectly fixed. Several years later, the keys had been so worn from use that they no longer had labels. HP replaced the entire keyset for free!
The central theme with those HP experiences -- customer service and satisfaction. High-Quality products. The Free-Market Capitalist system is one that is supposed to reward the hardest workers, pave the way for high-quality products that consumers benefit from.
HP represented all that is good about free-markets. It has the classic founding and success story -- 2 guys beginning in a garage, then becoming business successes. It has provided excellent products to its customers -- HP Printers, calculators, and other tools are world-reknown. Each product is associated with quality, innovation and reliability. The company grew at a steady pace and still provided great products. HP was loyal to its employees, and its employees were loyal to HP. Those who worked for HP were treated well. Customers were treated well. It was the kind of company that makes one think "I'd like to do business with them". It represented all that's good about free-markets and the capitalist system.
This devolution of quality and integrity is nothing new -- rather, it is a condition that has existed across the board for years. Take a look at some of the GREAT audio manufacturers of the 1970s -- Marantz is still around, but it's product quality and excellence is nowhere near its former level, Pioneer is still doing well and has good stuff, but its products are not nearly what they once were, Akai no longer produces the excellent and sturdy products it once did, and Sansui has gone from a top-notch audio equipment manufactuer to a bargain-basement company that makes crappy TVs and audio "equipment" that gets re-branded to sell under a different crappy label. It's the devolution of capitalism -- GREAT products are the exception, not the norm. The 80s and 90s found products decrease in quality, but increasing in price.
What we're witnessing is what's bad about free-markets. Companies have spent years building excellent customer relations only to see them disappear as the company devalues its product in order to increase profits. An excellent profit with great products and a solid customer base is no longer accepted. Profits need to be growing. The easiest way for companies like HP to do that is to decrease the product's quality: "Write printer drivers that are less-robust. No more padded cases with HP calculators. And lay off 5000 people this month. That'll keep our revenue growing and our share price up."
At HP now, there are still many quality products. But there are also lots of mediocre, inferior products. Take the newer calculators for instance. I have an HP 48G - greatest calculator I've ever used -- sturdy, reliable, RPN (hurray!), and it has EXCELLENT features. The quality of construction is second to none. My brother just purchased a new HP graphing calculator for his highschool classes. I've never seen such a piece of junk. It seems to have a tendency to lock-up, requiring a "reset" by pressing three keys on the keypad. The documentation is no longer a 500 page manual, but more like a 10 page pamphlet. The casing is cheap, and the buttons no longer have "the HP feel". I would use a cheap grocery-store calculator over this POS any day of the week. Needless to say, he's looking at a TI-83 now.
HP began because it capitalized on the good qualities of a free-market system. But it's spiraling downward because it has become trapped by the negatives of free market. It's too bad . . .
Thankfully Intel has joined the fight against the SSSCA. We need to not only write to our congressmen, but also to other big corporations who can use their campaign contributions and influence to "persuade" congress to vote against this bill. We need to write to AMD, IBM, Motorola, every computer component manufacturer, and ask them to join the fight. As IT enthusiasts and personnel, the nature and future of our jobs has a lot riding on this. So does the business of technology manufacturers.
In today's government, the will and desire of the people has been usurped by big corporations and their large pocketbooks. Thus, we must get OUR OWN big corporations with large pocketbooks to fight those we oppose.
By no means do I know a whole lot about backup technologies or any of that, but I do have a suggestion that kindof takes a different angle on the hard drive idea.
I understand that you would want and need to keep the data off-site on tape (requirement). However, getting that transfer rate is going to be difficult. Perhaps you could do something like this:
Use the hard drive backup (SCSI RAID perhaps?) idea to backup the data quickly and reliably. THEN, you've got it backed up in your time limit. Now, you can back up that back up with a tape, but you don't have the incredible time requirement. Get it?
Concept:
Original Data on Hard Drive
--> Back it up onto a separate Hard Drive within the time limit
--> Now, back up that hard drive that has just backed up the original. You have a backup done already, so you've met the time needed. Now, you can back it up with tape or whatever without having to do it within such a short amount of time. You can use the technology you desire to back up the hard drive copy while the original data drive keeps working.
Then to restore, you can do it from whatever the removable media is.
Again, I don't know a ton about this, but it's just a thought of another way to accomplish this.
Patent 23901: "A method for combining two Hydrogen molecules and one Oxygen molecule for creating a substance that is liquid at room temperature and can be frozen and boiled within 100 degrees celsius positive or negative"
I'm suing all of you!
This post really has me interested, as I'm building a new computer and I'd like to make it run fairly quietly as I run it 24/7 in my small dorm room. What are some good noise reduction methods for a typical case? (the one I have is full-tower ATX) I know foam can minimize sound waves. What about padding the outside of the case with foam padding to reduce noise? Is it possible to introduce a very small layer of foam into the PC case without having too much dust added? I like the idea of creating a foam sheath-like cover for the sides of the case that may reduce noise. . . I dunno . . . Any ideas? I'm gonna be runnin' a bunch of fans (three case fans, 2 CPU Fans on the Athlon, probably one of graphics card, perhaps one or two more also).
John Romero, you owe me 5 hours of bandwidth and 2 hours of gaming back! This is honestly the worst game I've played since "Scarab" (a lame-ass Egyptian robot-style game from about 3 years ago).
I really, really wanted to love this game, I really did. I figured that "Hey, Romero's been panned in the media and is considered to be one of the biggest jokes of the gaming world" . . . It would be so fitting, so great if he silenced all critics and released a bad-ass game.
Back when the multiplayer-only demo came out, I was very excited. The game was mediocre, at best, but there was so much potential. It looked pretty cool . . . nice visuals, powerful weapons, fast-paced action . . . this could be something good.
Over a year later I can say one thing . . . this isn't something good . . . this must've been designed by "HeadGames" (makers of masterpieces like "Extreme Paintbrawl" and "Swamp Racing"). I've read all the short reviews by other/. ers and said to myself "aw hell, I'm sure it's better than they say it is . . . they're just pilin' on Romero". . . well, after 5 hours of downloading, I wanna jump on that pile too!
The graphics were, um, interesting, to say the least. The machine I'm using (not mine, that's why it has Windows on it:) is sluggish for gaming, and its graphics card sucks. But, I can still run Quake 3 or UT very well and enjoy those games heartily. When I first started up the "Single Player" game, I was treated to a dense haze of green streaks that I could hardly see through (are we near Cheyrnobyl or something?). I disabled those (something crashed . . . iosomethingorother.exe) and played again . . . it was SOOOOOOOO slow. . . rebooted, turned to lowest settings . . . still SLOOOOW . . . stuff popped out of nowhere . . . I felt so lost.
I don't suck at FPS . . . I can whoop it up at Quake 3 and I'm especially good at Single Player mode in games like System Shock, Unreal, Quake 2, etc. I got raked in this game . . . like the US Men's soccer team . . . just bitch-slapped hardcore. As I grabbed my weapon (wtf is this thing?) and headed down the green river (how come *EVERYTHING* in this is green . . . I thought I'd get hurt when I jumped in . . . radioactive) I was attacked by some flying creature that looked like it came from Pokemon. As I figured out these giant flying things, I was conftonted by these jumping frogs that pissed me off to no end . . . I'd shoot them, and they'd lunge at me and poison me . . . wtf!?? Die you little bastards! And where the hell did this crocodile come from? What I really want to know is only one thing . . . WHY ARE THEY ATTACKING ME? Why not just live peacefully . . . can't we all just get along? Oh yeah, how come they just kinda appear all the sudden? Just *POOF*, I'm getting hurt . . . still can't see the little prick though!
After playing single player for about 40 interminable minutes, I decided to fire up MP . . . this is the worst multiplayer I've ever seen . . . I'd rather play C&C: Sole Survivor!!!! I'd just die all the sudden and not have a clue as to who killed me, or from where 'cause I didn't see anyone . . . they just appeared . . . John, can you say it with me . . . LAG . . . L-A-G . . . good boy!
After a couple games of that horrible torture, I came back to post . . . I saw all the negative reviews and tried to like this game again. . . I saw a few people defending the game . . . I figured, sure, why not give it another go . . . it deserves it . . . I'm sure it's much better after one or two tries . . .
I assure you folks, it ain't!!!
If you want to experience bad-game design, pick this up NOW. Although you may wanna just save 30 bucks and get "Extreme Paintbrawl" instead. The BUILD engine gets a better fps anyhow, and I'm sure you'll get more fun from it than this crud.
I WANT MY BANDWIDTH BACK!!! I COULD'VE BEEN DOWNLOADING MORE PORN - ER . . . I MEAN STOCK ANALYSIS
Bad games suck John Romero, you suck War id Software I'm OUT!!
Slashdot Mirror
I got all jazzed-up about this mouse a few weeks ago, and decided to pick one up for my new laptop. One week later, I sold it to a friend.
.
As far as the mouse is concerned, it's really pretty good -- it tracks great, the buttons feel nice, and the RF receiver fits into the mouse, which can collapse. But it just wasn't for me -- the mouse was too small -- if I were just using it once or twice a week, it'd be okay, but every day for 5 to 8 hours was just too much with such a small design. I could never really find a comfortable position when holding it. After three or four days, I realized that my hand was starting to tense up a bit, and it was becoming sore. I decided not to keep trying to get comfortable with it, and just went back to my old mouse. I think my hand might just be a bit too big for that mouse.
IMO, the scroll-pad is overrated. It's a very neat thing, and at first you are very impressed with it. But over time, the novelty wears thin. The most immediate problem is that it doesn't work as a middle-button -- as a Firefox user, I don't like to do without a middle-button. Then there was the problem with finger position. You kind of have to acclimate yourself to using the scroll-pad -- if you start your finger in the middle and move one direction or the other, you're okay. But if you start from the top of the pad, then scroll down, a lot of times it'll go up for a second, then not scroll at all. I found it sort of frustrating having to be even slightly precise with something I use so much and so quickly. Then, since you can't touch the pad without it scrolling something, you can't really position your hand over it. With a scroll-wheel, if you inadvertently touch the wheel, nothing happens. If you accidentally brush the touch-pad, you're going to scroll somewhere. It makes your hand position a bit more difficult, and I think that's part of why I could never really get comfortable with that mouse.
Oh, and there's this annoying clicking sound -- it's a neat sound, but I would love to be able to turn it off . .
If you have a smaller hand, this might work for you, but for me, I found the mouse too small, and the touch-pad to be a lot more flash than substance. It is definitely the best-looking mouse around, I just think it's a bit lacking on comfort.
When I graduated college, I went back to work as a sysadmin at my old high school. When I got there, they had just completed their first year with four smartboards as a trial. The year I arrived, we opened up a new building with 13 new SmartBoard Systems. There are several different companies that do this stuff, but the SmartBoard is kind of the leader in the industry -- http://www.smarttech.com/
The total setup runs around $15 grand, plus or minus depending on what you do with it. The projector is the most expensive part, at around $5-6000 for a really nice one. The board itself runs around $2000, for the basic model. To make it easier to start up, we had a touchpanel on the wall with various functions on it - turn on projector, show computer, show video, show laptop, blank screen, increase volume, etc. That really helped make the whole setup a lot easier to use for people.
Since we had them for so long, we had a pretty good understanding of what works and what doesn't.
The neatest thing about the SmartBoard is that you can kind of make it what you want. If you want it to just be a whiteboard, it can do that. If you want it to be a glorified powerpoint viewer, you can do that. If you want to really get into it, you can start to do all sorts of cool interactive applications with it. Smart Technology's software has improved markedly in the past few years, and the new version allows you to embed all sorts of multimedia objects, and best of all -- Flash! There is a TON of potential with the new capabilities.
Because it is so versatile, it integrates very easily and very smoothly into existing classrooms. Teachers typically find it very easy to use, provided you have done a good job with setup. Maintenance can get to be time consuming -- teachers rely on these things every single minute of the day, and they have to be working all the time. But there are like two-dozen points of failure. Then there's the projector -- the bulbs cost about $500 each, and last about 1400 hours. Maintaining the SmartBoard setups consumed probably about 20% of my time overall when I worked there.
Through my four years there (I just quit in May to go to grad school at CMU), we eventually ramped up to just over 30 of them. Every teacher wants one, and most teachers used them pretty well. Is it $15,000 well? Probably not, but the students really like them, and a dedicated teacher can REALLY do a lot with them.
I taught for two years, in both a SmartBoard classroom and a non SmartBoard classroom. I taught programming, and having the ability to show the programs on the board and edit code on the board was just fantastic. At one point, I did get moved to a classroom without a SmartBoard and with just a regular old chalkboard. Personally, I preferred using the chalkboard, but really just because: a) if you want to use the smartboard well, you should be prepared for class -- I was never prepared, b) I write a bit too fast and too sloppy for the SmartBoard to pick it up well, c) I like having a LOT of space on which to write, d) playing with chalk is fun. If I had more time to put into the class I was teaching, I would've really gotten a lot more out of the SmartBoard capability when I had it.
A lot of schools are faced with increasing pressure to bring computers and "technology" into the classroom. The primary thrust has been laptop programs. Personally, I think the laptop has very little place in a HS classroom. Our neighboring school did the laptop program, and they had some up and more down with it. The laptop creates a barrier inbetween the teacher and the student. In theory, it creates a more self-driven learning approach. But in High School, 99% of students are not self-driving their learning, they are playing games or on AIM most of the time. And the support costs for a laptop program are astronomical. In contrast, the SmartBoard is a teacher-driven approach that restores the focus back to the front of the classroom and the ma
Having read this excellent review, I feel like I don't even need to buy the book any more :)
What if your source of stress is your idiot boss? How does this book address that?
I introduced Moodle to the school I work at about a year ago, and after a year of trying to make headway, finally I was able to get people to buy into it for this school year. It's been up all semester.
Moodle is GREAT. There's no other way about it. It's easy to use, very featureful, easy to admin, simple to setup and get moving, and still powerful. It blows away anything else we've ever done before -- personal webspace, other course management systems, etc. We did a survey about how many faculty used the web for posting assignments, etc. through our old and exceptionally awful course management system, and the numbers were not good -- about 20% used it at all, and about 5% of the faculty used it often.
Things are very different now. Around 65% of the faculty use Moodle in some capacity, and about 40% of the faculty use it often. They use all sorts of features -- assignments, lessons, resources, discussion boards, etc. It meshes so well with what so many people want to do, and it's so easy to use that there's not much reason for them not to use it in some capacity. And it's flexible enough to be used in whatever way the teacher wants. I think that by next year, about 80% of the faculty will be using Moodle, as those who don't use it now typically want to, they just have been lazy about it.
Moodle is the best thing we've done this year where I work. It's improved communication with faculty and students greatly, and it's helped to keep students more interested in classes. We run Novell, and the LDAP functionality ties in perfectly. Plus with all the great modules, moodle is very extensible. If you don't see an existing module to fulfill a need, you can write it yourself. Moodle can do almost anything you want it to do, and it does pretty much all of it very well.
If you have any questions about Moodle, drop me an email (sigemund AT gmail . com).
But frankly, I don't give a damn. There are very few sites that don't work properly, and with about 1000 users, I don't have time to screw with removing spyware all the f-ing time. There aren't any sites the students need to go to that don't work properly in Firefox. IMO you are the one being pig-headed here, by not considering the value of a move like this and just chastising me for "making life difficult". Faculty still have IE, because there are sites that they need (gradebook) that only work in IE, but there's nothing the students need to go to that doesn't work properly. Alone, I have to deal with about 350 workstations, 11 servers, and 1000 users, plus maintaining Novell, Zenworks, and teaching. I don't have time to deal with people who install bonzi buddy and other spyware through IE. Last year, that's about all I was doing. This year, I haven't had to do it once.
I considered doing that where I work (school), but I did one better. To get to the web, you have to use a proxy server. Well, not only did I remove all mentions of IE anywhere, but I didn't put the proxy settings in. And the user can't change them. So you can try to use IE all you want, but it doesn't work. But Firefox works great, and it's got no fewer than four links on the computer. Plus I set up a firefox roaming profile for users so the bookmarks/etc. travel with them.
:) Not only do the users HAVE to use Firefox, but they see the name a lot, which, in additon to the good user experience, is marketing for the browser.
I'm so happy with this setup
What about the American Citizens who live outside of the United States? Why should they not be allowed to view Bush's campaign site? What about the soldiers in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Korea?
More votes for the opponents, I guess . . .
Bah, I've already been to the ones in Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook . . .
"If the RIAA can't figure out who say, 66.35.250.150 is, they can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned."
Search results for: 66.35.250.150
OrgName: Cable & Wireless
OrgID: EXCW
Address: 3300 Regency Pkwy
City: Cary
StateProv: NC
PostalCode: 27511
Country: US
ReferralServer: rwhois://rwhois.exodus.net:4321/
NetRange: 66.35.192.0 - 66.35.255.255
CIDR: 66.35.192.0/18
NetName: SC8-2
NetHandle: NET-66-35-192-0-1
Parent: NET-66-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: DNS01.SAVVIS.NET
NameServer: DNS02.SAVVIS.NET
NameServer: DNS03.SAVVIS.NET
NameServer: DNS04.SAVVIS.NET
Comment: * Rwhois reassignment information for this block is available at:
Comment: * rwhois.exodus.net 4321
Comment: * For abuse please contact abuse@exodus.net
RegDate:
Updated: 2004-05-05
TechHandle: ZC221-ARIN
TechName: Cable & Wireless
TechPhone: +1-919-465-4023
TechEmail: ip@gnoc.cw.net
OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE11-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-877-393-7878
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@exodus.net
OrgNOCHandle: NOC99-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Network Operations Center
OrgNOCPhone: +1-800-977-4662
OrgNOCEmail: trouble@cw.net
OrgTechHandle: EIAA-ARIN
OrgTechName: Exodus IP Address Administration
OrgTechPhone: +1-888-239-6387
OrgTechEmail: ipaddressadmin@exodus.net
OrgTechHandle: GIAA-ARIN
OrgTechName: Global IP Address Administration
OrgTechPhone: +1-919-465-4096
OrgTechEmail: ip@gnoc.cw.net
# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2004-05-24 19:15
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.
You are right on! I learned about CLEP tests when I went to an open house at my college. I'd already taken some AP tests, and by taking the CLEPs, I was able to test out of about a year of college. With some work and good scheduling, I graduated in three years.
It's definitely a good idea for saving some tuition money, or for someone who just doesn't want to sit through humanities courses or history classes. It's also worth checking into departmental exams for colleges -- some have tests that are not part of any national standard, but are created at the university as a means for students to test out of courses.
I work at a school -- We don't license MS Office for the students, but this year is the first that we have put MS Office on every faculty machine (about 60). I also put OpenOffice on every machine. We have been 100% Wordperfect until this year, but the new president "likes MS Office", so he's slowly forcing everything that direction. When I rolled out this year's install image, I had made a bit of a mistake (completely unintentionally). When someone double-clicks on a MS Office document, it opens in OpenOffice instead of MSOffice. This has basically "forced" everyone to use OpenOffice.
And HARDLY ANYONE has noticed. Only two or three of the faculty (those who call themselves the Techno-elite . . . yeah right) have switched it back to MS. Most people don't realize they're not using MSOffice. I'm of the opinion that I could COMPLETELY remove MSOffice, rename all the OpenOffice icons to the MS equivalent, and we'd be in business.
Once, I was asking a third-grade teacher why in the heck she taught the students cursive? I learned it but I never used it after the sixth grade.
Her response was that students don't learn it because its useful or because they NEED to know it. It's taught in order to help develop kids' motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
From my experience, there is still a very useful place for hand-writing, but not necessarily for cursive. However, if writing in cursive is helpful in developing motor skills in children, I'm all for it. There's a distinct difference in motor skill difficulty between typing and writing. Writing certainly aids much more than typing in the motor skill development, as it requires quite a bit more concentration and hand-stability.
Maybe we'll see it as an "Ask Slashdot" :)
first post? not likely . . . .
On the back of the package of some of the HP print cartridges, there is a recipe. I've never tried it, and I don't know if anyone else has, but it caught my eye one day. Whoever put it there must have been very proud of it . . .
:)
Here it is:
Chili Relleno Hors D'Oeuvres
Ingredients:
12oz can of chili peppers or pickled peppers
1 pound of cheddar or monterey jack
6 eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover the bottom of a flat 9"x9" baking dish with a layer of chili peppers or pickled peppers, slices or chunks. Cover peppers with grated cheese. Beat eggs until mixed. Pour over cheese and peppers.
Bake for 30 minutes or until firm in center.
Remove and let cool for 10 minutes, slice and serve.
Just go looking for HP ink cartridges (this one is the 51641A) and you'll be sure to see it. ENJOY!
DARK HELMET: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie?
COL. SANDERS: Now. You're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now is happening now.
DARK HELMET: What happened to then?
COL. SANDERS: We passed then.
DARK HELMET: When?
COL. SANDERS: Just now. We're at now, now.
DARK HELMET: Go back to then.
COL. SANDERS: When?
DARK HELMET: Now!
COL. SANDERS: Now?
DARK HELMET: Now!
COL. SANDERS: I can't.
DARK HELMET: Why?
COL. SANDERS: We missed it.
DARK HELMET: When?
COL. SANDERS: Just now.
DARK HELMET: When will then be now?
COL. SANDERS: Soon
Here are some more links with Parhelia info:
h tm l
w z? cid=3&aid=425
h om e.cfm
http://www.hardocp.com/articles/parhelia/index.
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/articles.h
http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/parhelia512/
I hope they make Linux drivers for it. Hardware text AA seems kinda cool.
I concur with the other slashdot readers who say that HP has been on a downward spiral for a while now. However, this merger has become the final coffin nail for the "old" HP (old != bad).
I am too young to remember the earlier days of HP -- the first memory I have of HP is my father's RPN calculator in the early 80s. I was too young at the time to remember now, but my parents tell me that while they were doing the taxes in 1981, I knocked a Coke over (I was 1!) and into the calculator. Needless to say, the calculator didn't work during that tax season. After a nominal fee, it returned perfectly fixed. Several years later, the keys had been so worn from use that they no longer had labels. HP replaced the entire keyset for free!
The central theme with those HP experiences -- customer service and satisfaction. High-Quality products. The Free-Market Capitalist system is one that is supposed to reward the hardest workers, pave the way for high-quality products that consumers benefit from.
HP represented all that is good about free-markets. It has the classic founding and success story -- 2 guys beginning in a garage, then becoming business successes. It has provided excellent products to its customers -- HP Printers, calculators, and other tools are world-reknown. Each product is associated with quality, innovation and reliability. The company grew at a steady pace and still provided great products. HP was loyal to its employees, and its employees were loyal to HP. Those who worked for HP were treated well. Customers were treated well. It was the kind of company that makes one think "I'd like to do business with them". It represented all that's good about free-markets and the capitalist system.
This devolution of quality and integrity is nothing new -- rather, it is a condition that has existed across the board for years. Take a look at some of the GREAT audio manufacturers of the 1970s -- Marantz is still around, but it's product quality and excellence is nowhere near its former level, Pioneer is still doing well and has good stuff, but its products are not nearly what they once were, Akai no longer produces the excellent and sturdy products it once did, and Sansui has gone from a top-notch audio equipment manufactuer to a bargain-basement company that makes crappy TVs and audio "equipment" that gets re-branded to sell under a different crappy label. It's the devolution of capitalism -- GREAT products are the exception, not the norm. The 80s and 90s found products decrease in quality, but increasing in price.
What we're witnessing is what's bad about free-markets. Companies have spent years building excellent customer relations only to see them disappear as the company devalues its product in order to increase profits. An excellent profit with great products and a solid customer base is no longer accepted. Profits need to be growing. The easiest way for companies like HP to do that is to decrease the product's quality: "Write printer drivers that are less-robust. No more padded cases with HP calculators. And lay off 5000 people this month. That'll keep our revenue growing and our share price up."
At HP now, there are still many quality products. But there are also lots of mediocre, inferior products. Take the newer calculators for instance. I have an HP 48G - greatest calculator I've ever used -- sturdy, reliable, RPN (hurray!), and it has EXCELLENT features. The quality of construction is second to none. My brother just purchased a new HP graphing calculator for his highschool classes. I've never seen such a piece of junk. It seems to have a tendency to lock-up, requiring a "reset" by pressing three keys on the keypad. The documentation is no longer a 500 page manual, but more like a 10 page pamphlet. The casing is cheap, and the buttons no longer have "the HP feel". I would use a cheap grocery-store calculator over this POS any day of the week. Needless to say, he's looking at a TI-83 now.
HP began because it capitalized on the good qualities of a free-market system. But it's spiraling downward because it has become trapped by the negatives of free market. It's too bad . . .
You could name them after characters in the Simpsons.
Unfortunately, I doubt there are 4000 Simpsons characters, but hey, it's a start.
"Log in to Milhouse"
Who couldn't relate to a server named Homer?
. . . is to get our own!
Thankfully Intel has joined the fight against the SSSCA. We need to not only write to our congressmen, but also to other big corporations who can use their campaign contributions and influence to "persuade" congress to vote against this bill. We need to write to AMD, IBM, Motorola, every computer component manufacturer, and ask them to join the fight. As IT enthusiasts and personnel, the nature and future of our jobs has a lot riding on this. So does the business of technology manufacturers.
In today's government, the will and desire of the people has been usurped by big corporations and their large pocketbooks. Thus, we must get OUR OWN big corporations with large pocketbooks to fight those we oppose.
By no means do I know a whole lot about backup technologies or any of that, but I do have a suggestion that kindof takes a different angle on the hard drive idea.
I understand that you would want and need to keep the data off-site on tape (requirement). However, getting that transfer rate is going to be difficult. Perhaps you could do something like this:
Use the hard drive backup (SCSI RAID perhaps?) idea to backup the data quickly and reliably. THEN, you've got it backed up in your time limit. Now, you can back up that back up with a tape, but you don't have the incredible time requirement. Get it?
Concept:
Original Data on Hard Drive
--> Back it up onto a separate Hard Drive within the time limit
--> Now, back up that hard drive that has just backed up the original. You have a backup done already, so you've met the time needed. Now, you can back it up with tape or whatever without having to do it within such a short amount of time. You can use the technology you desire to back up the hard drive copy while the original data drive keeps working.
Then to restore, you can do it from whatever the removable media is.
Again, I don't know a ton about this, but it's just a thought of another way to accomplish this.
The Yopy seems to be practically vaporware . . . vaporhardware
Patent 23901: "A method for combining two Hydrogen molecules and one Oxygen molecule for creating a substance that is liquid at room temperature and can be frozen and boiled within 100 degrees celsius positive or negative" I'm suing all of you!
This post really has me interested, as I'm building a new computer and I'd like to make it run fairly quietly as I run it 24/7 in my small dorm room. What are some good noise reduction methods for a typical case? (the one I have is full-tower ATX) I know foam can minimize sound waves. What about padding the outside of the case with foam padding to reduce noise? Is it possible to introduce a very small layer of foam into the PC case without having too much dust added? I like the idea of creating a foam sheath-like cover for the sides of the case that may reduce noise. . . I dunno . . . Any ideas? I'm gonna be runnin' a bunch of fans (three case fans, 2 CPU Fans on the Athlon, probably one of graphics card, perhaps one or two more also).
John Romero, you owe me 5 hours of bandwidth and 2 hours of gaming back! This is honestly the worst game I've played since "Scarab" (a lame-ass Egyptian robot-style game from about 3 years ago).
/. ers and said to myself "aw hell, I'm sure it's better than they say it is . . . they're just pilin' on Romero". . . well, after 5 hours of downloading, I wanna jump on that pile too!
:) is sluggish for gaming, and its graphics card sucks. But, I can still run Quake 3 or UT very well and enjoy those games heartily. When I first started up the "Single Player" game, I was treated to a dense haze of green streaks that I could hardly see through (are we near Cheyrnobyl or something?). I disabled those (something crashed . . . iosomethingorother.exe) and played again . . . it was SOOOOOOOO slow. . . rebooted, turned to lowest settings . . . still SLOOOOW . . . stuff popped out of nowhere . . . I felt so lost.
I really, really wanted to love this game, I really did. I figured that "Hey, Romero's been panned in the media and is considered to be one of the biggest jokes of the gaming world" . . . It would be so fitting, so great if he silenced all critics and released a bad-ass game.
Back when the multiplayer-only demo came out, I was very excited. The game was mediocre, at best, but there was so much potential. It looked pretty cool . . . nice visuals, powerful weapons, fast-paced action . . . this could be something good.
Over a year later I can say one thing . . . this isn't something good . . . this must've been designed by "HeadGames" (makers of masterpieces like "Extreme Paintbrawl" and "Swamp Racing"). I've read all the short reviews by other
The graphics were, um, interesting, to say the least. The machine I'm using (not mine, that's why it has Windows on it
I don't suck at FPS . . . I can whoop it up at Quake 3 and I'm especially good at Single Player mode in games like System Shock, Unreal, Quake 2, etc. I got raked in this game . . . like the US Men's soccer team . . . just bitch-slapped hardcore. As I grabbed my weapon (wtf is this thing?) and headed down the green river (how come *EVERYTHING* in this is green . . . I thought I'd get hurt when I jumped in . . . radioactive) I was attacked by some flying creature that looked like it came from Pokemon. As I figured out these giant flying things, I was conftonted by these jumping frogs that pissed me off to no end . . . I'd shoot them, and they'd lunge at me and poison me . . . wtf!?? Die you little bastards! And where the hell did this crocodile come from? What I really want to know is only one thing . . . WHY ARE THEY ATTACKING ME? Why not just live peacefully . . . can't we all just get along? Oh yeah, how come they just kinda appear all the sudden? Just *POOF*, I'm getting hurt . . . still can't see the little prick though!
After playing single player for about 40 interminable minutes, I decided to fire up MP . . . this is the worst multiplayer I've ever seen . . . I'd rather play C&C: Sole Survivor!!!! I'd just die all the sudden and not have a clue as to who killed me, or from where 'cause I didn't see anyone . . . they just appeared . . . John, can you say it with me . . . LAG . . . L-A-G . . . good boy!
After a couple games of that horrible torture, I came back to post . . . I saw all the negative reviews and tried to like this game again. . . I saw a few people defending the game . . . I figured, sure, why not give it another go . . . it deserves it . . . I'm sure it's much better after one or two tries . . .
I assure you folks, it ain't!!!
If you want to experience bad-game design, pick this up NOW. Although you may wanna just save 30 bucks and get "Extreme Paintbrawl" instead. The BUILD engine gets a better fps anyhow, and I'm sure you'll get more fun from it than this crud.
I WANT MY BANDWIDTH BACK!!! I COULD'VE BEEN DOWNLOADING MORE PORN - ER . . . I MEAN STOCK ANALYSIS
Bad games suck
John Romero, you suck
War id Software
I'm OUT!!