It really depends on what the rest of your curriculum looks like. If you're in a Computer Science program it is likely that you already have a required Algorithms course, usually with some sort of discrete math prerequisite. In that class you'll have the most important math concepts for computer science hammered into your brain. In that case, I'd take the vectors course because it covers math which, while very useful for a large number of fields, usually doesn't get covered in a CS curriculum. If, on the other hand, you're in some other discipline and are looking to improve your programming skills either for work or for your own enlightenment, take the discrete course. It'll do a much better job at improving your programming skills, and will expose you to some very interesting parts of math that most primary- and secondary- school curricula ignore.
It looks like there's at least one usb port on it, so you might be able to plug in an average usb keyboard to work with it.
I hate dictation though. A dictation-only or even primarily-dictation-oriented interface makes it incredibly hard to do any sort of work in a public place, and in private you just sound stupid and/or crazy talking to yourself.
Given what I've seen Ubuntu do with a normal tablet PC, I'd almost rather buy just the hardware itself and screw whatever operating system they have pre-installed.
Timothy Zahn has some fascinating short series: his novel/series 'Cobra' is an interesting twist on a major cold war issue (super-soldiers as a stand-in for nuclear proliferation), while his Conqueror's Trilogy presents a fascinating look at cultural clashes in the guise of a first contact story.
Also, Eric Flint's 163x series is a fascinating exploration of the technological, societal, and ideological changes which would come about were a modern-era town to be dropped into the middle seventeenth century Germany. Plus, at least a couple of books from that series can be read for free online/downloaded from the Baen library (http://baen.com/library).
Aside from the majority of the Star Wars novels (especially the X-Wing series), my three favorite authors are Timothy Zahn, David Weber, and Eric Flint.
Zahn's stuff is a bit older than the other two (80's on up). His books are generally fast-paced, with enough action to keep a younger reader interested but they also almost always deal with themes or include moral dilemmas which keep even jaded college students such as myself thinking. Some of my personal favorites include The Icarus Hunt, the Cobra trilogy, and the Conqueror's trilogy.
Weber is almost a "Tom Clancy of Sci-Fi". He writes almost exclusively military sci-fi, almost hard sci-fi but with one or two "fantastic" technologies (usually some form of FTL travel and some form of artificial gravity, but no more). His language is a little coarser and his characters sometimes get into adult situations, but its pretty much PG-13. Some of his best work include the Honor Harrington series (which has been described as Horatio Hornblower in space) and the Empire From the Ashes trilogy.
Flint is the comedian of the group. In every one of his books I've read there has been at least one or two points where I've laughed out loud. In addition, he seems to be very adept at writing characters who younger Sci-Fi readers can relate well to. He writes mostly fantasy, with an emphasis on alternate history. He's probably best known for his 1632/Ring of Fire Series, in which a small West Virginian mining town from the late 20th Century gets sent back to Seventeenth century Germany, in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Flint's material is also generally PG-13.
If you're interested in trying out Weber or Flint, the Baen Free Library has much of their work available for free in about a half-dozen formats (including HTML and RTF).
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It really depends on what the rest of your curriculum looks like. If you're in a Computer Science program it is likely that you already have a required Algorithms course, usually with some sort of discrete math prerequisite. In that class you'll have the most important math concepts for computer science hammered into your brain. In that case, I'd take the vectors course because it covers math which, while very useful for a large number of fields, usually doesn't get covered in a CS curriculum.
If, on the other hand, you're in some other discipline and are looking to improve your programming skills either for work or for your own enlightenment, take the discrete course. It'll do a much better job at improving your programming skills, and will expose you to some very interesting parts of math that most primary- and secondary- school curricula ignore.
It looks like there's at least one usb port on it, so you might be able to plug in an average usb keyboard to work with it.
I hate dictation though. A dictation-only or even primarily-dictation-oriented interface makes it incredibly hard to do any sort of work in a public place, and in private you just sound stupid and/or crazy talking to yourself.
Given what I've seen Ubuntu do with a normal tablet PC, I'd almost rather buy just the hardware itself and screw whatever operating system they have pre-installed.
Timothy Zahn has some fascinating short series: his novel/series 'Cobra' is an interesting twist on a major cold war issue (super-soldiers as a stand-in for nuclear proliferation), while his Conqueror's Trilogy presents a fascinating look at cultural clashes in the guise of a first contact story. Also, Eric Flint's 163x series is a fascinating exploration of the technological, societal, and ideological changes which would come about were a modern-era town to be dropped into the middle seventeenth century Germany. Plus, at least a couple of books from that series can be read for free online/downloaded from the Baen library (http://baen.com/library).
Excellent.
Now I have the tools to acquire some Wonderflonium for my Freeze Ray
Aside from the majority of the Star Wars novels (especially the X-Wing series), my three favorite authors are Timothy Zahn, David Weber, and Eric Flint.
Zahn's stuff is a bit older than the other two (80's on up). His books are generally fast-paced, with enough action to keep a younger reader interested but they also almost always deal with themes or include moral dilemmas which keep even jaded college students such as myself thinking. Some of my personal favorites include The Icarus Hunt, the Cobra trilogy, and the Conqueror's trilogy.
Weber is almost a "Tom Clancy of Sci-Fi". He writes almost exclusively military sci-fi, almost hard sci-fi but with one or two "fantastic" technologies (usually some form of FTL travel and some form of artificial gravity, but no more). His language is a little coarser and his characters sometimes get into adult situations, but its pretty much PG-13. Some of his best work include the Honor Harrington series (which has been described as Horatio Hornblower in space) and the Empire From the Ashes trilogy.
Flint is the comedian of the group. In every one of his books I've read there has been at least one or two points where I've laughed out loud. In addition, he seems to be very adept at writing characters who younger Sci-Fi readers can relate well to. He writes mostly fantasy, with an emphasis on alternate history. He's probably best known for his 1632/Ring of Fire Series, in which a small West Virginian mining town from the late 20th Century gets sent back to Seventeenth century Germany, in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Flint's material is also generally PG-13.
If you're interested in trying out Weber or Flint, the Baen Free Library has much of their work available for free in about a half-dozen formats (including HTML and RTF).