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User: vlpronj

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  1. Re:Culturally meaningful? on San Francisco Public Schools To Require Computer Science For Preschoolers · · Score: 2

    As a former K-8 tech instructor, who had to setup "Computer Classes" for the PreK section, I also question what truly culturally meaningful computer science lessons can be taught to PreK classes effectively. Trying to keep them all on track in Millie's Math House was hard enough. My experience has been that if the teachers can use tech effectively, the students don't need "computer science" for a while. You want to do something? Teach LOGO, or an analogue thereof; or just simple circuits. Circuits should fit into a science curriculum well. But OSs, dominant programming languages, input devices, even office suite layouts will likely all be different by the time they're out of 3rd grade.

  2. Re:All I can say to that is... on Rental Business Aaron's Admits Role In Spying On Customers · · Score: 1

    I used to do summer programs with out-of-school youth, geared to help them get a job, and keep it loner than the average first job. One of the biggest things we did was wake them up to the "Real World". Shady salesmen, illegal interview questions, lots of roleplay stuff.

  3. Re:Cockroach rights? on Cyborg Cockroach Sparks Ethics Debate · · Score: 1

    FWIW, when shock collars are used properly, they are used to train a dog to avoid a behavior or area. The dog has the opportunity to avoid the shocks by behaving properly. There is no such option for the cockroach (or the rat, pig or cat in future kits?) if someone is using a remote control to turn it left and right. It simply endures. I don't think shock collars for dogs would be looked at the same way, if people used them to steer the dog through an obstacle course.

  4. Re:Cockroach rights? on Cyborg Cockroach Sparks Ethics Debate · · Score: 1

    U sure, I sure, we all sure.

  5. Speaking of classic literature... on All Your Child's Data Are Belong To InBloom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sounds a little like Brave New World, too

  6. Re:I monitor the space fence on Air Force Space Fence Being Shut Down · · Score: 2

    I'm glad you monitor it. But that reveals it's true nature: not a fence, but a "webcam". Anything we see on it, that will affect a large number of people, we have little to no options. Calling it a fence is a feel-good tactic, implying it will keep the space debris, UFOs, and illegal green aliens out. It, on it's own, just lets us know when something is coming to our door. The big fear that would have many people clamoring to keep it, a large asteroid heading for earth, has no viable plans ready to go. A warning from the space fence, a dire warning of imminent strike, would only incite panic.

  7. They'll be so smart... on Why We'll Never Meet Aliens · · Score: 2

    So, aliens won't have any interest in us, because they'll be so much smarter than us? Just like we're so much smarter than ants, bacteria, and plain old rocks, that nobody studies them?

  8. Re:Gun Makers on Build a Secret Compartment, Go To Jail · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is what's right, and then there's what's true. The accounting saying you should or shouldn't have $800k is how they determine if it's their business. It is right that the money you have is yours, and yours to do anything legal with (and illegal, if you accept those consequences). It is true that you cannot simply walk into most U.S. banks, auto dealers, etc, plop down $10k or more, and have a normal transaction. In fact, making multiple /perfectly legal/ transactions, totalling $10k or more in a short span of time, can get you arrested for evading the laws covering transactions over $10k, because by making transaction below what the law sets as a limit, you are, in the eyes of the law, /evading/ the limit. And that's... not right.

  9. Re:Oblig. XKCD on BigDog Robot Grabs, Lifts, and Throws Cinder Blocks With Its New Arm · · Score: 1

    "Even if they're guarding all of the power stations and somehow manage to operate them without humans (which is currently impossible), there's absolutely no way to guard all of the power distribution." Even Stephen King could figure out a problem there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Overdrive) "In the storm of bullets, Hendershot, Wanda June, and three of the truck drivers are fatally gunned down. Then the military vehicle begins beeping its horn in a morse code message which Deke translates as "Someone must pump fuel. Someone will not be harmed. All fuel must be pumped." When the power for the building comes on again, Bill decides to turn on the pumps, despite Brett's protests not to trust the trucks. Bill points out that they have to with the military vehicle's presence. Over most of the day, in 100F degree heat, Bill, Brett, Deke, Curtis, and a few others take turns venturing outside and refuling all the trucks, plus hundreds more trucks that arrive at the Dixie Boy to refuel. When the fuel runs out, a driverless tanker truck appears and beckons Bill to refill the truck stop's fuel tanks to continue the refueling."

  10. Re:I must be getting old on Of the Love of Oldtimers - Dusting Off a Sun Fire V1280 Server · · Score: 1

    Nice to find a laptop line that's dead simple to work on and stick with it, isn't? I happened to settle on the D510, just by chance, but I've often bought a lot of 3 for one spare part, and sold 1-2 of them for a little profit, either fixed up or as discrete parts. My desktop PC at home - I just bought a 2nd Xeon 5050 processor for it. If I ever find a cooler in my bare-budget price range, it'll be a happy day. that's a Dell XPS 690 I picked up off the side of the road.

  11. Re:upside down keypads? on John E. Karlin, Who Led the Way To All-Digit Dialing, Dies At 94 · · Score: 1

    I would guess by Braille, as seen or felt on Drive Up ATM consoles, at least in my area.

  12. Re:Two potential problems on Asteroid Resources Could Make Science Fiction Dreams and Nightmares a Reality · · Score: 1

    1) DeBeers, according to some, manages the first problem with moderate discretion. Assuring certain investors that you have income into perpetuity can get you large cash investments upfront. 2) Depending on the size of the asteroid, it might not be out of line to plan for a sudden stop at the moon. Close to home, not overcrowded yet.

  13. Re:I don't understand the "high cap" magazine ban on 3D Printable Ammo Clip Skirts New Proposed Gun Laws · · Score: 1

    It's not as simple as that. In certain (many?) states, they are illegal. On a federal basis, it's (in theory) a simple matter of taxation. Apply for, and pay, the tax stamp fee, and you're good to go. Just as the American Revolutionary War was really "just" a matter of taxes.

  14. Re: Once it's going away, how would we catch it? on Asteroid Apophis Just Got Bigger · · Score: 1

    Put the bomb on the asteroid when it is close, and use a timer? Probably need something with a little longer duration than a washing machine timer, but that shouldn't be the most complicated part of the plan.

  15. Re:Good Advice on Boston Declares Health Emergency Due To Massive Flu Outbreak · · Score: 1

    No surprise that Red Lobster and Olive Garden don't offer it, at least to hourly restaurant staff. When companies make prominent lists because of being lousy employers, there's probably more than one reason. Low pay, lousy benefits, the-employee-is-always-wrong mentality, etc. http://247wallst.com/2012/11/21/the-12-companies-paying-americans-the-least/2/

  16. Video Standards on College CIO Predicts Tablets Will Kill Smart Boards · · Score: 2

    I think "standardization of video standards" would be the biggest bugbear here - which college student will want to avoid a device that uses the latest Retina display or equivalent, if it means the 640x480, or equivalent "low-end" spec of the time will look either tiny or crappy on their screen? Look back a few years - we had the VGA "standard", XGA, WGA, etc., then the whole 4:3, 16:9, or 16:10 aspect ratio shift.

  17. Good point. I'm guessing he's had 0 lawsuits from tenants over the period of vacancy. I would also think his insurance costs would be pretty low, since fire risk, if the building is properly maintained and monitored, should be minimal. There's always the temptation to increase income, or offer room to charities, but even if his profit is only 50% of the income, why risk that to make a few more million? If the owner is anything like most people, a "few more million" a year won't really improve his quality of life once he's earning 10s of millions a year - it'll just complicate it. Without RTFA, here's hoping he's living happily in a nice $1.5 million home somewhere, with a few nice high-end cars and 60" TVs scattered around, donating the majority of income to charity. If anybody doubts that someone could be happy doing that, I'd be willing to try, if you provide the funds...

  18. Re:Wait! It gets better! NO IT DOESN'T on Theologian Attempts Censorship After Losing Public Debate · · Score: 1

    Digging up would be stupid - what if you find a lake, or worse, lava? (go ahead, tell me I don't get the Digg joke)

  19. At last! on Copiale Cipher Decoded · · Score: 5, Funny

    Upon reading the translation, we've found the source of the kinghts who say *nee*!

  20. Re:Interesting on An Operating System For Cities · · Score: 1

    Actually, given the time-critical nature of trades, I >imagine that managing a stock exchange is not necessarily a level below managing a city.

  21. Re:OS on An Operating System For Cities · · Score: 1

    Distributed Denial Of Service?

  22. Hacking Target? on An Operating System For Cities · · Score: 1

    All we need is someone to figure out a DDOS on the city (flashmob - everybody press the pedestrian crossing button on 3,2,1...)

  23. Re:excuse me while I laugh hysterically on GameStop's Upcoming Android Tablet · · Score: 1

    And they're conveniently set up, being essentially the last mall/strip plaza gaming chain, to have kids who play on every console out there come to them. So whether they play on XBox360, PS3, Wii, or what comes next, they've got their market literally coming to them, where they will browse the games for their current system, and see the only non-console device (but I think they maybe looking to blur that) in the store is the one GameStop sells. If it is cheap enough, and games are cheap enough, then they could even offer DLC in the store, for those w/o highspeed home internet connections.

  24. Re:Money in a post-scarcity world on Kevin Kelly Answers Your Questions · · Score: 1

    To me, that begins the breakdown between "labor" and "skilled time". The amount of physical labor involved in writing code, editing photographs, or designing a building is minimal, in relation to the thought involved. Mental labor will still be necessary, and will not be made unnecessary by free energy.

  25. So, it's to prevent unauthorized use of his words? on The Copyright Nightmare of 'I Have a Dream' · · Score: 2

    In 1952 Rev. Archibald Carey gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. Here is part of that “not so well known” speech by Rev. Archibald Carey, Jr. at the Republican Convention in 1952: “We, Negro Americans, sing with all loyal Americans: My country ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims’ pride From every mountainside Let freedom ring! That’s exactly what we mean – from every mountain side, let freedom ring. Not only from the Green Mountains and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire; not only from the Catskills of New York; but from the Ozarks in Arkansas, from the Stone Mountain in Georgia, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia – let it ring not only for the minorities of the United States, but for the disinherited of all the earth — may the Republican Party, under God, from every mountainside, LET FREEDOM RING!” And, here are the famous words from the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963: This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim’s pride, From every mountainside, Let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”