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User: SteveWoz

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Comments · 95

  1. Re:Programming on How To Teach a 12-Year-Old To Program? · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's less important the content (how to program, which language) than the motivation, having the student want to learn it. When a youngster wants to learn something, they will learn more than you ever could have taught them. It's too easy for experts to not be teachers and lose the youngsters early.

    If the kid wants to learn and you have the time and patience, you can never fail, one-on-one.

    I agree strongly with you step-by-step approach to reaching your destination.

  2. Re:Population and cancer on Scientists Crack 'Entire Genetic Code' of Cancer · · Score: 1

    Many well intentioned people contribute millions of dollars to increase the rate of death from cancer. They donate to heart research. If you don't die of a cardiac problem, you're more likely to die from cancer. Or you can give money for cancer research and increase the rate of death from cardiac arrest. The total death rate is constant.

  3. mortuary science student? on Student Banned From Minnesota Campus Over Facebook Comments · · Score: 1

    She was considering an extra-curricular project.

  4. typewriter still works? on Typewriters, Computers, and Creating? · · Score: 1

    if you could get the ink ribbons...

  5. Re:Oh, hey, on Where the Global Warming Data Is · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who cares if it's good or bad science? Parties are taking sides for the fun of taking sides. But there is no science yet that can tell us that by spending $100T over 50 years we can lower the global temperature by a tenth of a degree. Those saying we should make sacrifices are irresponsible if they can't assure us of any beneficial outcome.

  6. Re:Damned if they do Damned if they don't on Where the Global Warming Data Is · · Score: 1

    Many use the 'science' of global warming as a call to make great sacrifices. Those climate 'scientists', to be responsible, should be telling us not to take a single step until they can generate the scientific models to assure us that if, for example, we invested $100T over 50 years we would lower the temperature even a tenth of a degree. Science/math also applies to how you wisely spend money.

  7. Re:NASA Needs Permission? on NASA Campaigns For Safer Launch Requirements · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The solution is to make it so that a politician's child has to ride on each trip.

  8. Simulates a brain? on IBM Takes a (Feline) Step Toward Thinking Machines · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It should run Eliza to make people think it's really a brain.

  9. Re:Same thing happend to Audi a few years ago on Toyotas Suddenly Accelerate; Owners Up In Arms · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My 2010 Prius has a package that includes parallel parking assist and cruise control distance limiter. In some fictional state (let's say 'private property') I tap my cruise control speed lever up and the car speed increases from 80 to 81.I tap this leve again and again, up to 83 mph. Then I tap it again and the car takes off without speed limiting. Tapping this lever down has no effect. The car is shortly up to maybe 97 mph. I repeated this many times.

    One doesn't think of things like putting the car in neutral instantly.

    The natural braking action does disable this effect.

  10. Re:Floor mat, really? on Toyotas Suddenly Accelerate; Owners Up In Arms · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have owned many Prius's. I currently drive a 2010 one. Let's say that I'm in some place where the speed 85 mph is legal. I can nudge my cruise control speed lever and my speed barely goes up, say from 80 to 81.I nudge at again and again, up to 83. Then I nudge it again and the car takes off, no speed limit. Nudging the cruise speed control lever down has no effect until I've done it about 10 times or more. By then my Prius is doing 97. It's scary because it's so wrong and so out of your normal control. I tested this over and over the night I observed it.

    It's scary because you don't think of things like putting the car in neutral when this happens. I am sure you can't turn the car off with the keyless power button, the only option on this model.

    Braking does disable this scary cruise control effect. It is a natural response, so the problem is mitigated a great deal.

    I have not seen this happen before so I think it's new to the 2010. I have the package which includes parallel parking assist and cruise control distance limiter.

  11. Re:Of course astronauts don't get it on SSL Still Mostly Misunderstood, Even By the Pros · · Score: 1

    David Wharton's wife might understand SSL.

  12. Re:Summary on Tetris Turns 25 · · Score: 5, Funny

    But who managed to play Tetris on the 14-story sci-library building at Brown University one cold night?

    And who was repeatedly the top scorer at Gameboy Tetris in the Nintendo Power lists? It got to where they wouldn't print my name any more so I sent in the photo of my score spelling my name backwards, Evits Kainzow, and they printed it. This was back around 1988.

    So many things to measure and remember life by...

  13. We each get 100 points and you let me win by 1 on Dean Kamen Awarded Patent For Robot Competition Rules · · Score: 4, Funny

    Alliances?

    (I wish he'd licensed this to Dancing With The Stars!)

  14. Re:Segway polo on Steve Wozniak To Appear On Dancing With the Stars · · Score: 5, Informative

    BitZtream is not off base. I was very athletic in school with letters and trophies and all. 15 years ago I could run a marathon. After a spinal injury I have not kept in good shape and I let my weight go too, so this will be hard for me. But it's not about dancing. It's about ratings and attracting viewers. You never know what pranks I might find a way to pull on the show.

    I don't mind it when people treat me badly. I wish I had no fame and no money, and I do my best to limit both. But I'm not cool enough to turn down the producers to DWTS. By the way, I had never seen the show until I watch a DVD last night.

  15. Re:Dvorak is better, but how much better? on Dvorak Layout Claimed Not Superior To QWERTY · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I always read about how our QWERTY typewriters were designed to deliberately 'slow' you down. I even taught this to my classes of elementary and middle school students.

    In my classes I tried to teach my young students (5th grade) to use the computer to enhance their regular school work. One day they came to class and told me that their homework was to find a sentence and count, how many a's, how many b's, etc. I delighted in teaching them to use a spreadsheet for this.

    The next day my son came home from school and showed me the class totals. I was struck by an idea. I pulled out my Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing manual (in the days when they came with paper manuals) to compare the results of these 5th graders with the Dvorak keyboard. I was stunned, as they matched almost perfectly.

    If young children without a bias come up with the same result, there is a rightness and a logic to it. Soon thereafter my son switched to Dvorak and after about a week was faster. He was even much faster another week later.

    Soon thereafter, I used Mavis Beacon to learn the Dvorak keyboard while on a flight to Tokyo. I was typing fully in Dvorak by the end of that flight and never went back. Only rarely am I forced to type in QWERTY and on those occasions I have to look at the keys. I try to keep it out of my consciousness so as not to conflict with my use of Dvorak, and I have forgotten how to type fast in QWERTY.

    The main benefit is that it feels so much better, as my fingers travel less. There is a lot less stress on my fingers. My fingers were starting to exhibit signs of pain and exhaustion when typing in QWERTY and that went away. Dvorak is much easier on the fingers.

  16. Re:i like dvorak but stick with the standard qwert on Dvorak Layout Claimed Not Superior To QWERTY · · Score: 4, Funny

    Italian doesn't have a 'y'? Well, at least Italy does.

  17. Re:Well damn... on Is the Yellowstone Supervolcano About To Blow? · · Score: 1

    as if you didn't have a valid excuse tonight...

  18. Re:I think she's had a flashback on When Teachers Are Obstacles To Linux In Education · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Instead of reacting against the teacher, we could be constructive and suggest a polite friendly education session with the teacher. She would probably became a strong advocate of FOSS.

  19. Re:What are the teachers teaching on When Teachers Are Obstacles To Linux In Education · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "No software is free and speading that misconception is harmful"

    well...it's half right...

  20. deliver on your promises? on The Beginnings of Apple Computer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Apple I and II BASIC were basically the same thing and the project was never put on hold. The Apple II had very little extra code, only for handling character I/O differently, some color graphics commands that I added, and the slot-directed character I/O commands (PR #6). If there was some trying to back out of implementing this BASIC on the Apple I, it was never communicated to me. I never spoke to Stan Veit myself about this.

    In fact, I definitely had the completed Apple I BASIC running Star Trek on a dozen Apple I's in a store in Orange County, long before BASIC was adapted for the Apple II.

    Bottom line is...it's news to me although it makes some sense (the push to support the Apple I).

  21. Re:Big duh on Scientists Discover Proteins Controlling Evolution · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One problem is that a lot of people try to hang on the 'scientific' label and follow what they hear, the same as those in a church. Thus those governments working hard to attenuate climate change may be enhancing it, by directing resources in wrong directions. If we really understand global warming enough to believe in our models, they should be able to tell us whether a trillion dollars of effort would affect the global temperature by a tenth of a degree. If not, it's a wasteful effort with no observable impact. Look how a corporation makes important expenditure decisions. How much benefit does a certain expenditure result in. Politics is a fun game but is a lot like religion. We pick a side and follow it, right or wrong.

  22. Re:I've got to say, I agree with this post on Where Have All the Pagers Gone? · · Score: 3, Funny

    loved my pager watch

    I could look down, even from a podium, and read a message while continuing whatever

    service was supposedly complimentary for a year but never seemed to shut off

    but then my dog bit into it

  23. Neither Steve nor Woz owns an Apple I? on 1200-Baud Archeology · · Score: 4, Informative

    I still own a couple Apple I's.

  24. Re:Pi Day? Sing it! on Happy Pi Day · · Score: 1
  25. Re:Global gravity, my shiny metal ass! on More Spacecraft Velocity Anomalies · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The scientists have already admitted such, to some extent at least. It would help if we had any sort of clue as to 'what' gravity is. There is active research to determine the rate of propogation of gravity. If it were at the speed of light, the earth's orbit would double every 1800 years. With quasar-assisted measurements, the best estimate now is that gravity propagates at 20 billion (2 times 10 to the 10th) the speed of light. Our concept of gravity was taught as being instantaneous, and this speed is far from infinite. And if electromagnetic radiation and mass doesn't often exceed the speed of light, this gravity stuff is something very unknown.