That's funny. I was just listening to a podcast of The Science Show, and one interviewee was wondering how Oz managed to get the scientific rep it has. Obviously its school system plays a role.
But I, like most Slashdotters, live in the U.S., and here Calculus is only taught at the better high schools. I very much doubt the the U.K. is any better.
I think I was pretty clear about not wanting to get into "my school is better than yours" flame wars. But I am curious as to which states require their high schools to offer calculus.
Perfectly true. But he wasn't asking "how do I learn everything?" He was asking, "Where do I start?" He's wants things laid out for him in orderly progression, like they do with math: arithmetic in elementary school, geometry in middle school, algebra in high school, calculus in college. (No cute comments from you overprivilged types who had calculus in 8th grade.) The aim is not to teach you all of math which is impossible but to give you a grounding in some basic math skills.
And there are computer curicula that do the same thing. And one possible strategy is to work your way through such a curiculum. But most computer geeks would rather work on their own, and they'd rather study technology they see being used, not what some textbook says are "basics". That's actually the way I learned.
And if you take that approach, you will constantly run into references to technology you know nothing about. So deal with it. It isn't a mortal sin to skim over the parts you don't understand well. So you're reading that PHP manual and it starts talking about SQL. That doesn't mean you have to drop PHP and start studying SQL. It probably means that SQL is something that you'll have to learn eventually. But for now, the thing to do is just skim the SQL parts and get a vague sense of what it is and how it relates to PHP. Maybe take a little time to Google or Wikipedia SQL — but don't lose your focus on PHP.
Of course, sometimes you will discover a new topc that's a prerequesite for stuff you don't understand. (Every programmer know aboutbinary encodings and two's complements.) But mostly not. I've been working with computers longer than most Slashdotters have been alive — and I still encounter places where the subject I'm trying to study seems to intersect subject I know little or nothing about.
I agree with their bashing of Realplayer — except they only criticize its current flaws. They forgot to mention the buggy releases that would grab all available CPU cycles and render the machine unusable. They're also guilty of starting a nasty trend that every other media player feels compelled to follow: using fancy "skins" that make the app look cool, but much harder to use.
If you look at the blue model, you'll see a space to the right of the keyboard where the crank handle is supposed to go. But the other two models don't seem to have any provision for a crank. It sounds as if they're moving away from that idea.
It's a great article because you like Wikis? Yeah, that makes sense.
Did you even look at other Wikis before going with MediaWiki? Did you bother to read The Wiki Way? Oh yeah, and are you related to Doctor Mark Alexander Bain? I love the way bad writers trot out their degrees.
I'll take your word for it. But the most obvious reason to avoid MW for project collaboration is that it's simply not designed for it. No use access control. No provision for serious plugin development. If the author of TFA had spent more than 5 minutes studying the subject, he'd have realized that.
What a thoroughly useless article! It makes some vague assertions about what a MediaWiki good for, and than just regurgitates installation instructions. How about comparing this Wiki software with its many alternatives? Or even explaining why Wikis are so big?
The best part of "Star Trek" is the message of hope. (I have read the profiles of many felony convicts and have yet to come across one who is a Trekkie.)
Dude, it's a TV show, created by a semi-talented, extremely cynical, Hollywood hack. If the best you can do in the way of "hope" is to fly off on an imaginary spaceship, you're in serious trouble.
Jeez, dude. Half the stories on the shows were about those gadgets malfunctioning! If Paramount had a working warp core or transporter, selling them would be begging for a lawsuit!
That's nonsense. Beta could do up to 5 hours. I started patronizing video store while Beta was still available, and I don't recall ever seeing two-cartridge movies.
Sony itself is probably responsible for the myth that Beta was useless for long recording times. It was stupid of them to ever try to sell L-125 tapes, which couldn't hold more than 45 minutes, even at slow speed. And although "standard" L-500 tapes could record over three hours at slow speed, I seem to recall that early Beta VCRs only had one speed -- which would mean that L-500 tapes only would last an hour, a time I hear cited a lot as the maximum for Beta recordings.
Undoubtedly a lot of people tried those 1-hour Beta machines (which had other issues, like not being able to start and stop quickly) and said "fuck this, I'm switching to VHS". Like I said, Sony consistently shoots itself in the foot whenever it gets into a format war.
Not all the formats you mention were "locked". But Sony does have a talent for inventing new formats (some of them really nice — I always thought Beta was superior to VHS), and then marketing them in precisely the wrong way, guaranteeing that nobody will adopt them.
Is there any software considered a must-have on a linux system that requires Java that would run acceptably on that hardware?
Like everyone else, you're trotting out the Java performance straw man. Java runs perfectly well on systems a lot less powerful than the $100 laptop, which has a 400mhz processor. Jeez, the first time I ran Java it was on a 100mhz system.
Nevertheless, you have a good point when you talk about "must have" software. There probably isn't any MH Java software for this platform, for the simple reason there isn't that much MH Java software of any kind. Aside from Azureus, I can't think of any commercial consumer software that's written in Java. The big use of Java seems to be for enterpise software, that big companies write for their own use.
I'm not trying to say it'd be a big deal if the $100 laptop doesn't run Java. Such a machine doesn't need every software technology there is. I'm just trying to debunk the notion that such a computer isn't powerful enough to run it.
You're basically responding to Java as it was originally marketed years ago: web-distributed and "write once run anywhere". Nobody believes that shit anymore, not even Sun. Nowadays, Java is just a software platform.
You attitude towards the "weight and complexity" of Java is also out of date. Early versions of Java had a reputation (deserved, alas) for being bloated and slow. But nowadays, the Java runtime isn't any heavier or more complex than most of the runtimes you need to run most of the software out there. Even a C++ program, if it has any features had all, has a heavy-duty runtime. Besides which, the optimizing features of Sun's Java VM adds power, it doesn't take it away.
In any case, the specs of the $100 laptop are not that bad. Aside from lacking a hard disk, it's not much less powerful than a typical laptop sold in the US about 5 years ago.
Slashdot Mirror
Jeez dude, read the sig. And if you still don't get it, Google for "weapons of mass destruction."
But I, like most Slashdotters, live in the U.S., and here Calculus is only taught at the better high schools. I very much doubt the the U.K. is any better.
I think I was pretty clear about not wanting to get into "my school is better than yours" flame wars. But I am curious as to which states require their high schools to offer calculus.
And there are computer curicula that do the same thing. And one possible strategy is to work your way through such a curiculum. But most computer geeks would rather work on their own, and they'd rather study technology they see being used, not what some textbook says are "basics". That's actually the way I learned.
And if you take that approach, you will constantly run into references to technology you know nothing about. So deal with it. It isn't a mortal sin to skim over the parts you don't understand well. So you're reading that PHP manual and it starts talking about SQL. That doesn't mean you have to drop PHP and start studying SQL. It probably means that SQL is something that you'll have to learn eventually. But for now, the thing to do is just skim the SQL parts and get a vague sense of what it is and how it relates to PHP. Maybe take a little time to Google or Wikipedia SQL — but don't lose your focus on PHP.
Of course, sometimes you will discover a new topc that's a prerequesite for stuff you don't understand. (Every programmer know aboutbinary encodings and two's complements.) But mostly not. I've been working with computers longer than most Slashdotters have been alive — and I still encounter places where the subject I'm trying to study seems to intersect subject I know little or nothing about.
I agree with their bashing of Realplayer — except they only criticize its current flaws. They forgot to mention the buggy releases that would grab all available CPU cycles and render the machine unusable. They're also guilty of starting a nasty trend that every other media player feels compelled to follow: using fancy "skins" that make the app look cool, but much harder to use.
If you look at the blue model, you'll see a space to the right of the keyboard where the crank handle is supposed to go. But the other two models don't seem to have any provision for a crank. It sounds as if they're moving away from that idea.
Wikipedia is useful for casual browsing and factoid referencing. But bear in mind that most of the material has not been verified.
Did you even look at other Wikis before going with MediaWiki? Did you bother to read The Wiki Way? Oh yeah, and are you related to Doctor Mark Alexander Bain? I love the way bad writers trot out their degrees.
I'll take your word for it. But the most obvious reason to avoid MW for project collaboration is that it's simply not designed for it. No use access control. No provision for serious plugin development. If the author of TFA had spent more than 5 minutes studying the subject, he'd have realized that.
Try twiki instead.
I always recharge the dilithium matrix before I try anything else.
Sure, wikis are great. I use them myself. But this article does a sucky job of making a case for them.
What a thoroughly useless article! It makes some vague assertions about what a MediaWiki good for, and than just regurgitates installation instructions. How about comparing this Wiki software with its many alternatives? Or even explaining why Wikis are so big?
Your mother was an encyclopedia!
Jeez, dude. Half the stories on the shows were about those gadgets malfunctioning! If Paramount had a working warp core or transporter, selling them would be begging for a lawsuit!
They unloaded the Enterprise a long time ago. Sorry!
On a heavier note, what a low opinion Berman must have of his fans, to design a character around a pair of panties!
You can record over two hours at slow speed with the longer tapes. Like I said, it was stupid of Sony to even sell the shorter ones.
Sony itself is probably responsible for the myth that Beta was useless for long recording times. It was stupid of them to ever try to sell L-125 tapes, which couldn't hold more than 45 minutes, even at slow speed. And although "standard" L-500 tapes could record over three hours at slow speed, I seem to recall that early Beta VCRs only had one speed -- which would mean that L-500 tapes only would last an hour, a time I hear cited a lot as the maximum for Beta recordings.
Undoubtedly a lot of people tried those 1-hour Beta machines (which had other issues, like not being able to start and stop quickly) and said "fuck this, I'm switching to VHS". Like I said, Sony consistently shoots itself in the foot whenever it gets into a format war.
Not all the formats you mention were "locked". But Sony does have a talent for inventing new formats (some of them really nice — I always thought Beta was superior to VHS), and then marketing them in precisely the wrong way, guaranteeing that nobody will adopt them.
You really should read a post all the way through before responding to it.
Nevertheless, you have a good point when you talk about "must have" software. There probably isn't any MH Java software for this platform, for the simple reason there isn't that much MH Java software of any kind. Aside from Azureus, I can't think of any commercial consumer software that's written in Java. The big use of Java seems to be for enterpise software, that big companies write for their own use.
I'm not trying to say it'd be a big deal if the $100 laptop doesn't run Java. Such a machine doesn't need every software technology there is. I'm just trying to debunk the notion that such a computer isn't powerful enough to run it.
You attitude towards the "weight and complexity" of Java is also out of date. Early versions of Java had a reputation (deserved, alas) for being bloated and slow. But nowadays, the Java runtime isn't any heavier or more complex than most of the runtimes you need to run most of the software out there. Even a C++ program, if it has any features had all, has a heavy-duty runtime. Besides which, the optimizing features of Sun's Java VM adds power, it doesn't take it away.
In any case, the specs of the $100 laptop are not that bad. Aside from lacking a hard disk, it's not much less powerful than a typical laptop sold in the US about 5 years ago.