Here's the real article (AFAIK) from The Grossman Group @ MIT, no need for credentials. Water Desalination across Nanoporous Graphene (Warning PDF Link): http://zeppola.mit.edu/pubs/nl3012853.pdf
YMMV, but as an IT-admin turned teacher, I can tell you in my neck-o-the-woods, the lockdowns are simple AD policies for Windows and a rather crummy 3rd party AV/FW combo. So, it's really just as easy as getting central admin to whitelist a few more executables and IP addresses (which may not even be necessary as I'm fairly sure this is not going to be an "always online" type Steam app). This won't be a problem IT-wise, but without a strong IT person onsite it may become a "convenience" issue (ie. central admin may not want to deal with support).
Oh come on, seriously? The vast majority of schools are still using some flavor of Windows. I am as gung-ho about Linux as your average/. reader, but even I can see the benefits of this coming out now rather than waiting for the Linux port (which I am waiting eagerly for). Beyond just that, most large school boards run locked down MS desktops which are centrally managed - you think that's going to change anytime soon?
A few things not quite clear in TFA: 1) These are not retail versions of Steam nor Portal 2: 1a) As mentioned, it is a locked down version of Steam called Steam for Schools. Only one application is available right now: 1b) A modified version of Portal called Portal 2 Puzzle Maker which takes most of the concepts in the game but makes it more interactable (i.e. here's a room, here's a pallette of tools, here's what you need to figure out or do...) - a game design tool more than a game. 2) For the teachers among us (me included), they've already collected a number of lesson plans for both Physics and Math curriculums. They're both tending to higher grades (ie 9-12) right now (e.g. parabaloid motion, harmonic oscillation, gravity, spatial geometry/volumes, etc) which makes sense, however, I've only taken a cursory glance as I'm supposed to be marking exams right now... (oops). They're also accepting lesson plans, etc. 3) It looks like they're aiming to extend lessons into the Chemistry, Game Design, Language Arts, and more categories - color me excited as I'm a Chem teacher!
It's unfortunate I'm only finding out about this right now as it's pretty close to the end of the school year, but I supposed the summer is a good time to play with it and figure out how to integrate it into the classroom. For those who are already getting steamed re: "they should be buying textbooks, etc", I have to say that computing resources are already in schools and to a large part being wasted on Facebook and flash games for the most part - this is just another tool to enrich courses and make the curriculum come alive. Oh, and for those that would rather us teachers "take our students outside to learn about physics", I challenge you to a) take more than 5 kids outside and try to keep a lesson run coherently with all the sundry distractions and b) try to do it in the middle of winter.
Kudos to Valve for willing to venture into this territory! Now, let's just get that Linux port finished already okay...?:)
Why does everybody collect and store all these data centrally?
Because "paying for stuff" isn't the only reason Sony collects your data. There's also advertising (especially targeted/predictive), data mining, data sharing (both internally and externally), tracking/trending, etc. I think that data is a lot more valuable sitting on their servers than it is hidden in your console - hence, whatever the cost, it will remain there. That really goes for any internet aware service, not just Sony/PSN.
Since when was efficacy or even logic a metric for whether or not a new department/task-group/domain/[insert group du jour] is deemed "necessary" for any govenrmental body? This is just another not-so-subtle attempt at widening the jurisdiction of the military. After all, if the boogyman is unmasked, why, another must be conjured lest we all wake up to the cold truth that these people are simply pissing large reams of money down the tubes.
In the end, all of this will be justified after the fact despite any protestations. War on terror, anyone?
ps. Although if you think about it, it's somewhat ironic that antivirus firms (Sophos, Symantec, etc), which have been frequent fear mongerers themselves, are calling the military on fear mongering.
This is really too bad. Up here in Canada, we're stuck with disgusting 3 year contracts (the 2 year ones have hardly any discount) with egregious profiteering (world's highest text msg prices for instance) and a culture of neglect after you've bought a phone from our oligopoly of carriers. The N1, expensive as it was, really was the best option for a good, unlocked, and free (as in freedom) smartphone. Any Android you get up here will assuredly be abandoned by the carriers - after all, new firmware means less sales according to the carrier. It really meant that the only consistently upgrade friendly Android phone was the N1.
Where I think Google failed was in not offering more choice like a certain fruit-labelled, obsessed-with-lock-in software maker. After all ~$500 for a phone, cheap though it may be over the long run, is a psychologically difficult barrier to overcome. I do believe, however, that having a few options that were cheaper (with appropriately pared down features) could have made it a more profitable venture. Sadly, I would have bought an N1 in the near future, but now it looks like I'll be sticking with my dumbphone.
Furthermore, trusting people to make buying decisions on long term fiscal calculations (without any assistance), might have been ambitious in retrospect. Maybe putting a cost calculator on the N1 website might have helped?
Maybe this was added on later (?), but they did give a reason for not putting in KOffice 2:
Please note that I used KOffice version 1.6.3 for this roundup. Version 2.0 of KOffice gets full KDE 4 integration and a major face-lift. Though the long-awaited 2.0 has been officially released, it was not yet available via the official repo of any major distribution at posting time. Also, the KDE project tends to make its.0 releases the first look at the development of a new version, not a stable milestone like most other software houses.
I think he's got a point about the "stable milestone" part - remember KDE4?
I find it ironic and more than a little insulting when certain hotels (ones that typically charge high room rates) try to gouge an insane amount of money for wifi from travellers when free wifi is all but the nearest coffee shop away. Why do these places, many of which cultivate an air of "our service separates us from the other rabble", treat their customers with such contempt when it comes to wifi? One would think they would do anything to keep what business they have and actively work to get more customers (especially when just about every small mom and pop B&B has free wifi!).
ps. Hyatt Regency Vancouver, I'm looking at you! (benefit of the doubt: that was a couple of years ago)
Ha, that's certainly somewhat more appropriate. However, I think the GECK was introduced in Fallout 2, IIRC. Also, didn't the German version have all sorts of censorship - ie. no children in the game, less violence etc? Such silliness.
Is there a typo in TFA here? "The result is a monochromatic green-tinted view of the area in front of it."
But the image caption under the green-tinted rendering is "Conventional night vision image, via David Kitson, Creative Commons 3.0". Plus, it looks pretty grainy/low-res compared to the newer BW rendering which is captioned "New 7-series to feature high-tech night vision system".
Regardless, if the IR image is overlaid onto the screen (HUP) display, mightn't oncoming traffic lights be blinding and actually restrict vision at times?
I guess I came across as somewhat facetious in my original message. Yet, I was only semi-joking and still stand by my message.
Visit a local community center, join a neighbourhood committee, take the dog for a walk, join your local friends for coffee, tea, lunch, movies, etc. I know enough people that've eschewed their real social lives for their web 2.0 social "life". Given the lack of privacy, the identity theft or targeting, and the sheer waste of time (how much of the time you spend on Facebook is spent solely on communicating rather than simply advertising the details of your life or, even worse, playing honeypot "games"?)
As for friends 5000+ miles away, there're plenty of IM clients for that!
I'm not sure how I'm ignoring the "American" issue. One of the points brought up was having an extra year in HS, was it not? As a province that already had that, I was giving a concrete example of how it the extra year had a beneficial impact on some students.
As for why CS and integral calculus (amongst other advanced aren't introduced earlier, it mostly comes down to time. Students need time to get through the immense amount of content the state expects them to (believe me, it ain't easy). Whether or not the material is effective at teaching them math and science skills is a whole different kettle of fish - and we (as teachers and parents) have to suffer with a dysfunctional system developed by people more concerned about mechanical efficiency than passing along the tools that facilitate real understanding (ie. the factory vs the mentor model). I could go on all day...
Reposted (I have no idea why my original was posted as AC while I was logged in?!)
I've seen enough "if they're smart, off to college!" type responses here and elsewhere to know that it's a fairly popular proposition. However, as someone who did just that - I left high school as an under-18 kid to enroll in a very demanding engineering faculty in a prestigious university - I can attest that the transition can be extremely difficult. I simply didn't have as mature a mindset I needed as well as the social skills to easily succeed that early. Eventually, I did graduate, but for the first couple of years, I was very close to simply dropping out (and I knew enough colleagues who did - which was a complete waste of their talent and knowledge). I know anecdote =! data, but high school allows a child to struggle and fail without some very real consequences (mostly having to do with the already high and growing cost of retaking courses in university and/or continued residency, or not being allowed to proceed in a field due to low marks, etc).
The Ontario (Canada) HS system used to have an "extra" year (Gr13 or OAC) that was abolished some years back. As someone training to become a teacher (thus, my nick), I've already observed some very obvious negative trends (from talking to and working besides teachers who've been on the front lines for the past 10-20 years) due to the loss of a school year. Without the extra year of prep, students interested in university are discouraged from taking courses outside of the core curricula necessary for entrance. Sadly, this means stuff like comp sci courses, which used to have packed classes, are now sparsely attended and are close to being removed (if not already gone) at many high schools. Other things like integration in calculus (something OAC math used to have) have been dropped for parity with students coming from HS boards that only go up to 12 (who don't teach it) - leading to students being behind the eight ball almost immediately upon walking into any high science or engineering math course.
These two factors (amongst others) can lead to a situation where your high achievers, the ones who are so glibly asked to "go to college!", are negatively impacted by timing pressures or the attitude that they can succeed purely on academic terms.
I don't know anything about this mayor, so I don't know his politics or whether or not this is just a thinly disguised cash grab (as some have implied), but extending HS is not such an evil thing in and of itself.
Slashdot Mirror
[Insert mythic deity here] save you if you get chronically sick or have/develop a medical condition.
...So if Canada has 10% or more of the U.S' debt and our debt has been steadily rising by an exponential factor of around 5% - 10%...
Canada's debt has been exponentially rising by around 5% - 10% per year
Exponential.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Here's the real article (AFAIK) from The Grossman Group @ MIT, no need for credentials.
Water Desalination across Nanoporous Graphene (Warning PDF Link): http://zeppola.mit.edu/pubs/nl3012853.pdf
The main site for the Grossman Group is also pretty fascinating: http://zeppola.mit.edu/
Forgot to mention - it's FREE!
YMMV, but as an IT-admin turned teacher, I can tell you in my neck-o-the-woods, the lockdowns are simple AD policies for Windows and a rather crummy 3rd party AV/FW combo. So, it's really just as easy as getting central admin to whitelist a few more executables and IP addresses (which may not even be necessary as I'm fairly sure this is not going to be an "always online" type Steam app). This won't be a problem IT-wise, but without a strong IT person onsite it may become a "convenience" issue (ie. central admin may not want to deal with support).
Oh come on, seriously? The vast majority of schools are still using some flavor of Windows. I am as gung-ho about Linux as your average /. reader, but even I can see the benefits of this coming out now rather than waiting for the Linux port (which I am waiting eagerly for). Beyond just that, most large school boards run locked down MS desktops which are centrally managed - you think that's going to change anytime soon?
Here's the actual site that Valve has published regarding this particular effort:
http://www.teachwithportals.com/
A few things not quite clear in TFA:
1) These are not retail versions of Steam nor Portal 2:
1a) As mentioned, it is a locked down version of Steam called Steam for Schools. Only one application is available right now:
1b) A modified version of Portal called Portal 2 Puzzle Maker which takes most of the concepts in the game but makes it more interactable (i.e. here's a room, here's a pallette of tools, here's what you need to figure out or do...) - a game design tool more than a game.
2) For the teachers among us (me included), they've already collected a number of lesson plans for both Physics and Math curriculums. They're both tending to higher grades (ie 9-12) right now (e.g. parabaloid motion, harmonic oscillation, gravity, spatial geometry/volumes, etc) which makes sense, however, I've only taken a cursory glance as I'm supposed to be marking exams right now... (oops). They're also accepting lesson plans, etc.
3) It looks like they're aiming to extend lessons into the Chemistry, Game Design, Language Arts, and more categories - color me excited as I'm a Chem teacher!
It's unfortunate I'm only finding out about this right now as it's pretty close to the end of the school year, but I supposed the summer is a good time to play with it and figure out how to integrate it into the classroom. For those who are already getting steamed re: "they should be buying textbooks, etc", I have to say that computing resources are already in schools and to a large part being wasted on Facebook and flash games for the most part - this is just another tool to enrich courses and make the curriculum come alive. Oh, and for those that would rather us teachers "take our students outside to learn about physics", I challenge you to a) take more than 5 kids outside and try to keep a lesson run coherently with all the sundry distractions and b) try to do it in the middle of winter.
Kudos to Valve for willing to venture into this territory! Now, let's just get that Linux port finished already okay...? :)
Why does everybody collect and store all these data centrally?
Because "paying for stuff" isn't the only reason Sony collects your data. There's also advertising (especially targeted/predictive), data mining, data sharing (both internally and externally), tracking/trending, etc. I think that data is a lot more valuable sitting on their servers than it is hidden in your console - hence, whatever the cost, it will remain there. That really goes for any internet aware service, not just Sony/PSN.
... they hold a razorblade to your b*lls
"There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum, it's breathtaking, I suggest you try it..."
Apple's iOS is like that beautiful dominatrix. Controlling, manipulative, and demeaning.
Steve Jobs is the new John Romero - he doesn't have clients, he has bitches.
This never gets old:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAlTOfl9F2w
... shuffling off its mortal coil.
Since when was efficacy or even logic a metric for whether or not a new department/task-group/domain/[insert group du jour] is deemed "necessary" for any govenrmental body? This is just another not-so-subtle attempt at widening the jurisdiction of the military. After all, if the boogyman is unmasked, why, another must be conjured lest we all wake up to the cold truth that these people are simply pissing large reams of money down the tubes.
In the end, all of this will be justified after the fact despite any protestations. War on terror, anyone?
ps. Although if you think about it, it's somewhat ironic that antivirus firms (Sophos, Symantec, etc), which have been frequent fear mongerers themselves, are calling the military on fear mongering.
Schadenfreude (Scha¦den|freude)
Pronunciation:/d()nfrd, dnfryd/
noun [mass noun]
* pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune
+
"Get off my lawn"
=
TFA??
This is really too bad. Up here in Canada, we're stuck with disgusting 3 year contracts (the 2 year ones have hardly any discount) with egregious profiteering (world's highest text msg prices for instance) and a culture of neglect after you've bought a phone from our oligopoly of carriers. The N1, expensive as it was, really was the best option for a good, unlocked, and free (as in freedom) smartphone. Any Android you get up here will assuredly be abandoned by the carriers - after all, new firmware means less sales according to the carrier. It really meant that the only consistently upgrade friendly Android phone was the N1.
Where I think Google failed was in not offering more choice like a certain fruit-labelled, obsessed-with-lock-in software maker. After all ~$500 for a phone, cheap though it may be over the long run, is a psychologically difficult barrier to overcome. I do believe, however, that having a few options that were cheaper (with appropriately pared down features) could have made it a more profitable venture. Sadly, I would have bought an N1 in the near future, but now it looks like I'll be sticking with my dumbphone.
Furthermore, trusting people to make buying decisions on long term fiscal calculations (without any assistance), might have been ambitious in retrospect. Maybe putting a cost calculator on the N1 website might have helped?
Maybe this was added on later (?), but they did give a reason for not putting in KOffice 2:
Please note that I used KOffice version 1.6.3 for this roundup. Version 2.0 of KOffice gets full KDE 4 integration and a major face-lift. Though the long-awaited 2.0 has been officially released, it was not yet available via the official repo of any major distribution at posting time. Also, the KDE project tends to make its .0 releases the first look at the development of a new version, not a stable milestone like most other software houses.
I think he's got a point about the "stable milestone" part - remember KDE4?
I find it ironic and more than a little insulting when certain hotels (ones that typically charge high room rates) try to gouge an insane amount of money for wifi from travellers when free wifi is all but the nearest coffee shop away. Why do these places, many of which cultivate an air of "our service separates us from the other rabble", treat their customers with such contempt when it comes to wifi? One would think they would do anything to keep what business they have and actively work to get more customers (especially when just about every small mom and pop B&B has free wifi!).
ps. Hyatt Regency Vancouver, I'm looking at you! (benefit of the doubt: that was a couple of years ago)
Ha, that's certainly somewhat more appropriate. However, I think the GECK was introduced in Fallout 2, IIRC.
Also, didn't the German version have all sorts of censorship - ie. no children in the game, less violence etc? Such silliness.
Is there a typo in TFA here?
"The result is a monochromatic green-tinted view of the area in front of it."
But the image caption under the green-tinted rendering is "Conventional night vision image, via David Kitson, Creative Commons 3.0". Plus, it looks pretty grainy/low-res compared to the newer BW rendering which is captioned "New 7-series to feature high-tech night vision system".
Regardless, if the IR image is overlaid onto the screen (HUP) display, mightn't oncoming traffic lights be blinding and actually restrict vision at times?
"...a starter kit for the first colonists."
I'd lobby for it to be called the Garden of Eden Creation Kit, but there might be fallout from that decision...
I guess I came across as somewhat facetious in my original message. Yet, I was only semi-joking and still stand by my message.
Visit a local community center, join a neighbourhood committee, take the dog for a walk, join your local friends for coffee, tea, lunch, movies, etc. I know enough people that've eschewed their real social lives for their web 2.0 social "life". Given the lack of privacy, the identity theft or targeting, and the sheer waste of time (how much of the time you spend on Facebook is spent solely on communicating rather than simply advertising the details of your life or, even worse, playing honeypot "games"?)
As for friends 5000+ miles away, there're plenty of IM clients for that!
"What social media options are out there for all of those non-uber-techy folks?"
How about you go outside and talk to honest-to-goodness real people for a change?
Stop making these useless world's smallest thingies already and make something someone might actually buy.
"IBM presents: The World's Smallest Violin."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAlTOfl9F2w&feature=related
I'm not sure how I'm ignoring the "American" issue. One of the points brought up was having an extra year in HS, was it not? As a province that already had that, I was giving a concrete example of how it the extra year had a beneficial impact on some students.
As for why CS and integral calculus (amongst other advanced aren't introduced earlier, it mostly comes down to time. Students need time to get through the immense amount of content the state expects them to (believe me, it ain't easy). Whether or not the material is effective at teaching them math and science skills is a whole different kettle of fish - and we (as teachers and parents) have to suffer with a dysfunctional system developed by people more concerned about mechanical efficiency than passing along the tools that facilitate real understanding (ie. the factory vs the mentor model). I could go on all day...
Reposted (I have no idea why my original was posted as AC while I was logged in?!)
I've seen enough "if they're smart, off to college!" type responses here and elsewhere to know that it's a fairly popular proposition. However, as someone who did just that - I left high school as an under-18 kid to enroll in a very demanding engineering faculty in a prestigious university - I can attest that the transition can be extremely difficult. I simply didn't have as mature a mindset I needed as well as the social skills to easily succeed that early. Eventually, I did graduate, but for the first couple of years, I was very close to simply dropping out (and I knew enough colleagues who did - which was a complete waste of their talent and knowledge). I know anecdote =! data, but high school allows a child to struggle and fail without some very real consequences (mostly having to do with the already high and growing cost of retaking courses in university and/or continued residency, or not being allowed to proceed in a field due to low marks, etc).
The Ontario (Canada) HS system used to have an "extra" year (Gr13 or OAC) that was abolished some years back. As someone training to become a teacher (thus, my nick), I've already observed some very obvious negative trends (from talking to and working besides teachers who've been on the front lines for the past 10-20 years) due to the loss of a school year. Without the extra year of prep, students interested in university are discouraged from taking courses outside of the core curricula necessary for entrance. Sadly, this means stuff like comp sci courses, which used to have packed classes, are now sparsely attended and are close to being removed (if not already gone) at many high schools. Other things like integration in calculus (something OAC math used to have) have been dropped for parity with students coming from HS boards that only go up to 12 (who don't teach it) - leading to students being behind the eight ball almost immediately upon walking into any high science or engineering math course.
These two factors (amongst others) can lead to a situation where your high achievers, the ones who are so glibly asked to "go to college!", are negatively impacted by timing pressures or the attitude that they can succeed purely on academic terms.
I don't know anything about this mayor, so I don't know his politics or whether or not this is just a thinly disguised cash grab (as some have implied), but extending HS is not such an evil thing in and of itself.