The article speaks of computers purchased through major distributors, such as Dell, or HP. These computers (and in fact most bundled machines) come with a windows license whether you use it or not.
Sure, a user can choose to un-install their "complimentary" copy of windows and install Linux instead - however that does not mean that they did not pay Microsoft for what they didn't want.
I build my own machines, like many other people here. And I strongly advocate doing the same to most of the people that I meet - but it is not an option for everybody. For the other people, they have to buy a bundle, and thus have to buy windows.
Because OO isn't even compatible with other versions of Open Office.
When trying to assemble a report for a group project last semester (one of us on a windows machine with OO, one using OO in X11 emulation on OSX and one using a supposedly compatible version of Word on OSX) we encountered so many obscure formatting gremlins that we simply couldn't continue. The amount of effort involved in importing a document from Open Office on windows to Open Office on OSX was far too much. We ended up simply taking screen shots in the native environment, and photoshopping them together.
In the end, we switched to notepad, VI and BBEdit. At least it saves in ascii.
(And don't even get me started on OpenOffice on SunOS. The bugs in that application destroyed the work of almost an entire class worth of students last semester. Every one of us encountered it to the tune of 'what the fsck is my screen doing!! Where did my file go! Why the fsck do I have a garbage where a file once was?! Fsck!!')
In short, the Word Processing Suite in Open Office is not flexible enough for a corporate setting. Maybe if you all use the same operating system, with the same version of OO. But not if you intend to send files to other users on other computers using other (or even the same) applications.
I recently met a group of people who are developing an application for just this purpose. It allows for communication throughout the classroom as the lecture is going on. Further, it allows for the instructor to stream his notes to his students as they come on the screen, students can add voice or text annotations to the notes as they see fit, and part of the chat feature allows students to type in questions to the prof while he is lecturing, such that he can read them as they come in and address them without disrupting his lecture.
The software is called silicon chalk and is being developed in Vancouver BC. It has a pretty impressive development team, most notably the founder of WebCT.
Check it out.
Re:alternatives and cultural rant ahead...
on
Working with ADHD?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I completely agree with the above poster. I know several people, myself included, who exhibit mild symptoms, and I would question if they should not be diagnosed with teh disorder. However, I feel that most people should avoid drugs as much as they can. I spen a summer working at a summer camp for kids (6-12). One in every three boys was taking ritalin. It was disgusting.
One amazing alternative that I have seen work was presented by a friend of mine. He has a fairly sever version of the illness.
His parents diagnosed him at an early age, and chose to avoid the drugs as much as possible. Instead, he's made several lifestyle choices that have greatly improved his situation. These include things like altering his diet to include more of certain vitamins and minerals, lowering his sugar intake to as low as he can tolerate, avoiding stimulants in any form, limiting alcohol consumption (which he's recently stopped doing), excercising very frequently (he is actually pursuing a degree in Physical Education -- a Gym instructor), and otherwise living a very healthy and active life.
The signs of the illness are not completely gone. He is still flighty, and sometimes loses track of conversation. However, he has it mostly under control, and finds that he is able to function as a fairly normal member of society. He gets good grades, can dedicate himself to studying, works very hard, and has not really had the disease effect anything in his life other than the ammount of time he spends at teh gym.
I've seen many youth try a similar path, and it does work, although because it takes so much more work than the magic of ritalin, almost all have stopped.
If you want more info on his dietary and active needs. Please post a reply with email, and I'll look into it.
As I understand it, the Bayesian mail filtering system works by:
a) you receiving mail
b) designating where it should go
c) the filter tries to understand your reasoning
d) in the future, before step 1 occurs, the filter tries to interpret whether or not you want the mail based upon statistical analysis of what you have done in the past
Where as current mail filtering techniques work by culling your mail on exact specifications (it doesn't try to interpret. If it doesn't know, it does nothing).
I quite like the idea of my mail filtering software becoming intelligent over time, however I can see a potential for email traffic being lost using this method. The Bayesian mail filter is essentially as effective as a (hopefuly well trained) secretary. When you first get your secretary, she brings you everything. Then she starts culling the most obvious junk mail. Then she would start examining the normal letters... are they important? Relevant? Is this the person who should be dealing with it?
After time, you have your secretary very well trained, and she culls out everything which is not of immediate importance. In real life, this leads to the following problems:
a) you receive mail from an unknown source which could be important (some guy's discovered a new way to _________) but who isn't credible by your standards. His mail gets tossed aside, or redirected to someone else who probably doesn't care.
b) you receive mail from a trusted source at a bad address. i.e. your son is in Zimbabwe (sp?) on vacation. He sends you a letter postmarked from Zimbabwe, on museum letter head (couldn't find anything else handy). Knowing that you do not have dealings in Zimbabwe, and that this is most likely someone asking for charity, your secretary trashes it.
We've all heard stories of the first example, and it's not too hard to imagine the second. My worry is that, just like a good secretary, my mail filtering software will begin to filter for me. I will lose some control and, for the convenience of not having to hit the delete key a few extra times, I may miss potentially important email.
Chance is never a good thing to bring into your business.
Last year I had a similar experience with my power supply.
I'd just finished off a huge term paper, hit the lights and crawled into bed. 45 seconds later, I hear a sound -- like someone hurling golfballs at the back of my desk. (Being scared out of my wits) I bolted up to see what was happening, and was treated to a very nice light show as my power supply exploded, blew all of its capacitors, and burst into flames.
I told this story to peole for bauot 6 months before someone was finally able to tell me what happened.
I'd been having problems with the fan in the power supply (loud... very loud... and then very very quiet). It had chosen that day to just die outright. With no fan running to cool the capacitors inside, they overheated and blew up. The larger ones starting a chain reaction in the smaller ones.
Looked real cool at the time. But scared the bejeebers out of me.
---
Moral: Don't by the cheap power supply, spring for one that is quality and has proper bearings on the fan such that it won't die in the middle of the night.
Had there been anything aside from old coffee cups, tea bags, and kraft singles living inside my case, I would have been calling the fire dep't.
My question is this, why didn't these people take there X-boxes back to the store immediately. There were plenty of X-boxes to go around, at least where I live. There was really no reason they couldn't have exchanged it.
Hmmm... lucky you. Here every store was sold out before they even got them into town.
A console is not just a computer...
on
XBox Defects Draw Ire
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
The thing the people have to keep in mind is that the console market is directed primarily at those who are (partially or mostly) tech-illiterate, and aren't even old enough to drive.
Sure, if I got a faulty system, I'd complain, and fiddle with it for a while, I'd know to take it back to the store (if they'd take it... no way of getting my snazzy new gift replaced until after the store gets a new shipment.. who knows how long that could be), or to be forceful with customer service when they started jerking me around... but think of the target market.
Imagine yourself back in grade 6, you get a brand new console for Christmas, plug it in, just start getting excited, and it blue screens. What do you do? Fiddle with it, then complain to mom or dad. Chances are they won't be able to help, so they have to spend 20 minutes talking to customer support and another 2 weeks waiting. Meanwhile, you are determined that this Christmas sucked, and that mom and dad don't care about your gift. Will I tell my friends how cool my X-Box is? Will they want to buy one? Will my parents ever talk about how happy their kid was, or how good the service (that should be included in the price) is?
Well?
The problem with this disaster is not so much that computer problems happened, or that service sucked. It's that the people producing and servicing the product aren't used to the new customer base they are getting. 10 year olds... impatient 10 year olds.
When you are producing products for children, they should be durable, reliable, and long lasting. A successful console is one that will stand up to all of the difficulties of having kids play with it, and one that will be around long enough to develop a loyal customer base.
Do you remember Nintendo's, SNESs... even playstations? Those things are indestructible. And the service really is great.
Anyhow, my point is this: This is not a product that can be dealt with hap-hazardly. These consumers are vicious, and uncaring. If it doesn't work well... every time... its crap. Period. In this kind of market you have to be able to back things 100% and this manufacturer isn't ready to do it.
My prediction? With the exception of a few software manufacturers, the X-Box will be gone by next Christmas.
If you are looking to get a degree strictly for the purposes of advancement... and not to further your own education... consider majoring in something else.
You do not need a CS degree to go after a CS Masters or Ph. D. You simply need a bachelors of something. If you are lucky, you may find something that appeals to you as a side interest, or something that you can fast track through in the year or two you are looking for.
Also, if your degree is for the purpose of advancement in the working world, check with employers for what they are really looking for. When I was quizzing employers last year, none of them cared what kind of degree I had... just that I had one. For most employers a degree shows that you have determination, and know how to achieve long-term goals (not year long ones... sorry). Others want a degree to help round out their employees. A (small) few want the degree because you need the education (research based jobs) or they are short sighted.
There are only two ways that I trust to ship my computer.
1. Greyhound -- they have never goofed yet, and have always been reliable. Plus their insurance extends cross border.
2. Carrying it by hand with me wherever I go, and storing it as carry on.
---
Also, I've a good tip for shipping/packing your PC. A standard metal (or plastic or whatever) case has a lot of empty space inside (for cooling, expansion, aesthetic reasons, etc.). Because the case is hollow it is more readily dented.
What I have started doing is putting all of my t-shirts, socks and underwear inside of the case before shipping. Simply remove the cover, and *carefuly* line the edges, and all around all cards, with socks, underwear, soft shirts, etc. The extra padding will protect the case from caving in, and will add extra support to the cards inside to prevent them from snapping or breaking.
So far I haven't had any problems with this technique (I've used it 6 or 7 times now). Everything always comes out safe at the end. Plus its one less bag I have to cary.
Last time I moved, I squeezed: 1 pair of pants, 1 pair of shorts, 3 shirts, 6 pairs of socks, 5 pairs of underwear, a mouse, an ethernet cord, two power cords, and a printer cable safely inside of the case.
Canada's educational only network ranks (as of about 8 months ago) the fastest in the world. And (as of 8 months ago) was vastly ahead of both the US and Britain.
I believe the network I am refering to is called CA*Net... but I am not entirely sure.
I don't know where it stands now, but it would be nice to see some mention in these articles.
- Grib
** = Speaking up for the little guy -- where little equals the (second - depending on your point of view) largest country in the world = **
Probably the best advice I'd ever heard was to try a semester teaching. I taught at a summer technology camp for kids for 4 months and loved it.
It is the first thing I had ever been proud of myself for -- at the age of 19. Putting smiles on children's faces - teaching them new things - encouraging them towards new opportunities - letting them know that there is more to a computer than websites, money and games... These are the things that make me happy. I used to jump out of bed every morning and practically run out the door to get to camp.
Now I am continuing my CS degree... I feel your pain.
besides... what good is a CS degree anyhow if you don't ahve something to back it up with?
Sure, I can code... but what am I going to code? If I really want to suceed, I need to know something about physics to make physical modelling programs or computer graphics.
Linguistics to program spell checkers.
Math for graphics, finance, databases.
Art for graphic design.
psychology for User Interfaces.
knowing how to code is useless unless you understand the concept that you are simulating, or the audience to whom you are presenting.
(For the best example of this... look at graphics programs. The best ones not only are fast, and produce good images... but they also simulate how an artist would work with that peice if it was real. You don't learn that in a CS class)
It seems that people have a very convoluded idea of what a University is for. This is probably inspired by the fact that most employers require a degree of an employee -- when they really only need somebody who is has some knowledge; whether self taugh, or in the form of a degree, diploma, or certificate.
In Canada (I'm not sure what its lkike elsewhere) there are three major educational institutions.
1) Technical school -- you go here to learn how to do a task. Wire a house, fix a car, survey land, design websites/clothing. You graduate in less than two years with a certificate.
2) College -- you go here to get a job. They teach you a little more than a technical school, but keep it rounded as well. Colleges take a very practical view of education, and when you finish your diploma (usually 2 years) you are ready to get a job of some sort. {programming, sysadmin, accountant, lab assistant, dental hygenist, nurse}
3) University -- A university provides higher education in the form of a degree. It operates under teh idea that you should learn all of the theory behind what you are doing first, as the skills will come in much less time. (teach the who, what, when and why... the how is simple in comparison). You don't do many things practical, but you understand why things are done, and how to learn. A university degree is not useful for getting a job -- or rather it should not be useful for getting a job. You need skills for that. What it _does_ do, is enable you to get a _career_. Something that you can start, and follow along with for the rest of your life. You don't get that kind of education elsewhere.
I work at a summer camp in Prince George, BC called Science Alliance (http://www.theexplorationplace.com -- yes, I know that our page is terrible, I am trying to change it. We are a not-for-profit organization after all. =] (free web design services are welcome!!) ). We offer science and technology related activities to youth around the city. Every year we deliver curriculum to about 400 kids... all of it original, and meant to be accessible to people from all backgrounds and of all social status.
In addition to this, our camp is a member organization of actua. As such we are part of a community of 27 other camps like ours who service youth all across Canada.
"Actua provides training, resources and support to a national network of 27 local organizations offering science and technology education programs. Actua Members reach over 200,000 youth per year. Please visit Actua on the web at planetactua.com." (Actua's self identification)
For the past three years, I've been working to develop technology camps for the kids in my area, and I would be more than happy to help you out in any way possible. Please feel free to email me at: __holmesd@uvic.ca__ (take out the underscores).
I have curriculum to fill 80+ hours of computer related activities.
Another site that you might want to check is http://connectaction.ic.gc.ca/cc/web/website/engli sh/home.asp.
I recommend it for its curriculum guide and suggestions.
I'm not sure who Carmack is, but I would assume that if this was brought to court, it would be possible to create a law to do this.
Last year, in British Columbia (Canada), the supreme court rules that videgames are to be rated as per movies, and sold under teh same restrictions.
This was a simple ammendment to the law, that made it impossilbe to sell some games to minors - should they be rated R or Adult.
Violence has more of an impact than you would think. And unfortunately it's far subtler than most people would have you believe.
For those of you that think this is a ridiculous lawsuit - I have a challenge for you.
Take a look, a close look, at the videogames you play, and the Television you watch. What is the level of violence? Gore? Realism? (Realism is the real indicator to me).
Give it up.
Not forever... Just for a month, or a week. I gave up TV, and Videogames for over a year, and I REALLY noticed the effects. If you are wondering what you will do in your free time... and you will have a lot of it... go to the Gym, read your textbooks, code something, design a flash movie for your girlfriend, pick up your guitar, play ultimate with your friends, go on a date, learn python, etc. There are a lot of things that you could be doing actively that will better yourself, and pump up your resume/relationships with others.
After a fair amount of time. Reinstall your games, turn on the TV, and rent a movie. Has your view of the entertainment you used to enjoy changed? I know mine has. I can't watch TV without thinking how menial a task it is, or how many other things I could be doing (do people actually realize how stupid a show like survivor, or Will and Grace really is?!). And I can't play a lot of games without being physically ill.
Be careful. It is very easy to go "that game is so disgusting... I wonder what this gun does... hmmm... that's gross too. What does this on do" and get hooked again. (Again, I did, and I wished I hadn't)
If none of this appeals to you - consider this.
Watch a youngster play a video game. Does he/she interact with it the same way you would? Or your mother? Your grandfather?
I installed black and white the other day. My girlfriend spent hours playing with her creature. I zipped around completing quests. My friend made field goals with the villagers through the mountains.
For all of you brave enough to try changing your lifestyle for a whil -- I wish you like.
Close... we are extremely desperate for people to STAY here.
We produce a great number of coders, computer engineers and scientists and other such people in the industry, however they are lured away by the higher salaries down south (despite higher costs of living).
There have been huge articles all over the news for the longest time about the "brain drain."
Should MS move to Canada, people would come here instead of leaving. This would be an attractive offer for MS employees, (poverty level in Seattle = $50,000 per annum USD -- poverty level in Canada = $30,000 per annum CDN -- therefore the average employee instantly becomes richer), not to mention it would have huge benefits to the local economy.
All in all, it benefits BC even more than it would Microsoft.
Slashdot Mirror
Some consumers have choices - most do not.
The article speaks of computers purchased through major distributors, such as Dell, or HP. These computers (and in fact most bundled machines) come with a windows license whether you use it or not.
Sure, a user can choose to un-install their "complimentary" copy of windows and install Linux instead - however that does not mean that they did not pay Microsoft for what they didn't want.
I build my own machines, like many other people here. And I strongly advocate doing the same to most of the people that I meet - but it is not an option for everybody. For the other people, they have to buy a bundle, and thus have to buy windows.
Two of our group had word, the third refused to install pirated software on his computer (and didn't own a copy of word).
I switched to OpenOffice at the recomendation of our sysadmin. He thought it was good, so I figured I'd try it out.
I've since switched back to notepad, and will try OO again in the next version.
Because OO isn't even compatible with other versions of Open Office.
When trying to assemble a report for a group project last semester (one of us on a windows machine with OO, one using OO in X11 emulation on OSX and one using a supposedly compatible version of Word on OSX) we encountered so many obscure formatting gremlins that we simply couldn't continue. The amount of effort involved in importing a document from Open Office on windows to Open Office on OSX was far too much. We ended up simply taking screen shots in the native environment, and photoshopping them together.
In the end, we switched to notepad, VI and BBEdit. At least it saves in ascii.
(And don't even get me started on OpenOffice on SunOS. The bugs in that application destroyed the work of almost an entire class worth of students last semester. Every one of us encountered it to the tune of 'what the fsck is my screen doing!! Where did my file go! Why the fsck do I have a garbage where a file once was?! Fsck!!')
In short, the Word Processing Suite in Open Office is not flexible enough for a corporate setting. Maybe if you all use the same operating system, with the same version of OO. But not if you intend to send files to other users on other computers using other (or even the same) applications.
"... like FrontPage and Dreamweaver..."
It pains me that those two applications were compared; just like a ferrari and a one wheeled skateboard.
I recently met a group of people who are developing an application for just this purpose. It allows for communication throughout the classroom as the lecture is going on. Further, it allows for the instructor to stream his notes to his students as they come on the screen, students can add voice or text annotations to the notes as they see fit, and part of the chat feature allows students to type in questions to the prof while he is lecturing, such that he can read them as they come in and address them without disrupting his lecture.
The software is called silicon chalk and is being developed in Vancouver BC. It has a pretty impressive development team, most notably the founder of WebCT.
Check it out.
I completely agree with the above poster. I know several people, myself included, who exhibit mild symptoms, and I would question if they should not be diagnosed with teh disorder. However, I feel that most people should avoid drugs as much as they can. I spen a summer working at a summer camp for kids (6-12). One in every three boys was taking ritalin. It was disgusting.
One amazing alternative that I have seen work was presented by a friend of mine. He has a fairly sever version of the illness.
His parents diagnosed him at an early age, and chose to avoid the drugs as much as possible. Instead, he's made several lifestyle choices that have greatly improved his situation. These include things like altering his diet to include more of certain vitamins and minerals, lowering his sugar intake to as low as he can tolerate, avoiding stimulants in any form, limiting alcohol consumption (which he's recently stopped doing), excercising very frequently (he is actually pursuing a degree in Physical Education -- a Gym instructor), and otherwise living a very healthy and active life.
The signs of the illness are not completely gone. He is still flighty, and sometimes loses track of conversation. However, he has it mostly under control, and finds that he is able to function as a fairly normal member of society. He gets good grades, can dedicate himself to studying, works very hard, and has not really had the disease effect anything in his life other than the ammount of time he spends at teh gym.
I've seen many youth try a similar path, and it does work, although because it takes so much more work than the magic of ritalin, almost all have stopped.
If you want more info on his dietary and active needs. Please post a reply with email, and I'll look into it.
As I understand it, the Bayesian mail filtering system works by:
a) you receiving mail
b) designating where it should go
c) the filter tries to understand your reasoning
d) in the future, before step 1 occurs, the filter tries to interpret whether or not you want the mail based upon statistical analysis of what you have done in the past
Where as current mail filtering techniques work by culling your mail on exact specifications (it doesn't try to interpret. If it doesn't know, it does nothing).
I quite like the idea of my mail filtering software becoming intelligent over time, however I can see a potential for email traffic being lost using this method. The Bayesian mail filter is essentially as effective as a (hopefuly well trained) secretary. When you first get your secretary, she brings you everything. Then she starts culling the most obvious junk mail. Then she would start examining the normal letters... are they important? Relevant? Is this the person who should be dealing with it?
After time, you have your secretary very well trained, and she culls out everything which is not of immediate importance. In real life, this leads to the following problems:
a) you receive mail from an unknown source which could be important (some guy's discovered a new way to _________) but who isn't credible by your standards. His mail gets tossed aside, or redirected to someone else who probably doesn't care.
b) you receive mail from a trusted source at a bad address. i.e. your son is in Zimbabwe (sp?) on vacation. He sends you a letter postmarked from Zimbabwe, on museum letter head (couldn't find anything else handy). Knowing that you do not have dealings in Zimbabwe, and that this is most likely someone asking for charity, your secretary trashes it.
We've all heard stories of the first example, and it's not too hard to imagine the second. My worry is that, just like a good secretary, my mail filtering software will begin to filter for me. I will lose some control and, for the convenience of not having to hit the delete key a few extra times, I may miss potentially important email.
Chance is never a good thing to bring into your business.
Last year I had a similar experience with my power supply.
I'd just finished off a huge term paper, hit the lights and crawled into bed. 45 seconds later, I hear a sound -- like someone hurling golfballs at the back of my desk. (Being scared out of my wits) I bolted up to see what was happening, and was treated to a very nice light show as my power supply exploded, blew all of its capacitors, and burst into flames.
I told this story to peole for bauot 6 months before someone was finally able to tell me what happened.
I'd been having problems with the fan in the power supply (loud... very loud... and then very very quiet). It had chosen that day to just die outright. With no fan running to cool the capacitors inside, they overheated and blew up. The larger ones starting a chain reaction in the smaller ones.
Looked real cool at the time. But scared the bejeebers out of me.
---
Moral: Don't by the cheap power supply, spring for one that is quality and has proper bearings on the fan such that it won't die in the middle of the night.
Had there been anything aside from old coffee cups, tea bags, and kraft singles living inside my case, I would have been calling the fire dep't.
- Grib
Hell, I had tears in my eyes.
Hooray for geek love!!!
-GribHmmm... lucky you. Here every store was sold out before they even got them into town.
The thing the people have to keep in mind is that the console market is directed primarily at those who are (partially or mostly) tech-illiterate, and aren't even old enough to drive.
Sure, if I got a faulty system, I'd complain, and fiddle with it for a while, I'd know to take it back to the store (if they'd take it... no way of getting my snazzy new gift replaced until after the store gets a new shipment.. who knows how long that could be), or to be forceful with customer service when they started jerking me around... but think of the target market.
Imagine yourself back in grade 6, you get a brand new console for Christmas, plug it in, just start getting excited, and it blue screens. What do you do? Fiddle with it, then complain to mom or dad. Chances are they won't be able to help, so they have to spend 20 minutes talking to customer support and another 2 weeks waiting. Meanwhile, you are determined that this Christmas sucked, and that mom and dad don't care about your gift. Will I tell my friends how cool my X-Box is? Will they want to buy one? Will my parents ever talk about how happy their kid was, or how good the service (that should be included in the price) is?
Well?
The problem with this disaster is not so much that computer problems happened, or that service sucked. It's that the people producing and servicing the product aren't used to the new customer base they are getting. 10 year olds... impatient 10 year olds.
When you are producing products for children, they should be durable, reliable, and long lasting. A successful console is one that will stand up to all of the difficulties of having kids play with it, and one that will be around long enough to develop a loyal customer base.
Do you remember Nintendo's, SNESs... even playstations? Those things are indestructible. And the service really is great.
Anyhow, my point is this: This is not a product that can be dealt with hap-hazardly. These consumers are vicious, and uncaring. If it doesn't work well... every time... its crap. Period. In this kind of market you have to be able to back things 100% and this manufacturer isn't ready to do it.
My prediction? With the exception of a few software manufacturers, the X-Box will be gone by next Christmas.
If you are looking to get a degree strictly for the purposes of advancement... and not to further your own education... consider majoring in something else.
You do not need a CS degree to go after a CS Masters or Ph. D. You simply need a bachelors of something. If you are lucky, you may find something that appeals to you as a side interest, or something that you can fast track through in the year or two you are looking for.
Also, if your degree is for the purpose of advancement in the working world, check with employers for what they are really looking for. When I was quizzing employers last year, none of them cared what kind of degree I had... just that I had one. For most employers a degree shows that you have determination, and know how to achieve long-term goals (not year long ones... sorry). Others want a degree to help round out their employees. A (small) few want the degree because you need the education (research based jobs) or they are short sighted.
There are only two ways that I trust to ship my computer.
1. Greyhound -- they have never goofed yet, and have always been reliable. Plus their insurance extends cross border.
2. Carrying it by hand with me wherever I go, and storing it as carry on.
---
Also, I've a good tip for shipping/packing your PC. A standard metal (or plastic or whatever) case has a lot of empty space inside (for cooling, expansion, aesthetic reasons, etc.). Because the case is hollow it is more readily dented.
What I have started doing is putting all of my t-shirts, socks and underwear inside of the case before shipping. Simply remove the cover, and *carefuly* line the edges, and all around all cards, with socks, underwear, soft shirts, etc. The extra padding will protect the case from caving in, and will add extra support to the cards inside to prevent them from snapping or breaking.
So far I haven't had any problems with this technique (I've used it 6 or 7 times now). Everything always comes out safe at the end. Plus its one less bag I have to cary.
Last time I moved, I squeezed: 1 pair of pants, 1 pair of shorts, 3 shirts, 6 pairs of socks, 5 pairs of underwear, a mouse, an ethernet cord, two power cords, and a printer cable safely inside of the case.
- Gribflex
You forgot to mention Canada's Network.
Canada's educational only network ranks (as of about 8 months ago) the fastest in the world. And (as of 8 months ago) was vastly ahead of both the US and Britain.
I believe the network I am refering to is called CA*Net... but I am not entirely sure.
I don't know where it stands now, but it would be nice to see some mention in these articles.
- Grib
** = Speaking up for the little guy -- where little equals the (second - depending on your point of view) largest country in the world = **
Probably the best advice I'd ever heard was to try a semester teaching. I taught at a summer technology camp for kids for 4 months and loved it.
It is the first thing I had ever been proud of myself for -- at the age of 19. Putting smiles on children's faces - teaching them new things - encouraging them towards new opportunities - letting them know that there is more to a computer than websites, money and games... These are the things that make me happy. I used to jump out of bed every morning and practically run out the door to get to camp.
Now I am continuing my CS degree... I feel your pain.
You have to know a little bit about a lot of things to fully appreciate it.
I agree...
besides... what good is a CS degree anyhow if you don't ahve something to back it up with?
Sure, I can code... but what am I going to code? If I really want to suceed, I need to know something about physics to make physical modelling programs or computer graphics.
Linguistics to program spell checkers.
Math for graphics, finance, databases.
Art for graphic design.
psychology for User Interfaces.
knowing how to code is useless unless you understand the concept that you are simulating, or the audience to whom you are presenting.
(For the best example of this... look at graphics programs. The best ones not only are fast, and produce good images... but they also simulate how an artist would work with that peice if it was real. You don't learn that in a CS class)
- Gribflex
It seems that people have a very convoluded idea of what a University is for. This is probably inspired by the fact that most employers require a degree of an employee -- when they really only need somebody who is has some knowledge; whether self taugh, or in the form of a degree, diploma, or certificate.
In Canada (I'm not sure what its lkike elsewhere) there are three major educational institutions.
1) Technical school -- you go here to learn how to do a task. Wire a house, fix a car, survey land, design websites/clothing. You graduate in less than two years with a certificate.
2) College -- you go here to get a job. They teach you a little more than a technical school, but keep it rounded as well. Colleges take a very practical view of education, and when you finish your diploma (usually 2 years) you are ready to get a job of some sort. {programming, sysadmin, accountant, lab assistant, dental hygenist, nurse}
3) University -- A university provides higher education in the form of a degree. It operates under teh idea that you should learn all of the theory behind what you are doing first, as the skills will come in much less time. (teach the who, what, when and why... the how is simple in comparison). You don't do many things practical, but you understand why things are done, and how to learn. A university degree is not useful for getting a job -- or rather it should not be useful for getting a job. You need skills for that. What it _does_ do, is enable you to get a _career_. Something that you can start, and follow along with for the rest of your life. You don't get that kind of education elsewhere.
- Gribflex
I work at a summer camp in Prince George, BC called Science Alliance (http://www.theexplorationplace.com -- yes, I know that our page is terrible, I am trying to change it. We are a not-for-profit organization after all. =] (free web design services are welcome!!) ). We offer science and technology related activities to youth around the city. Every year we deliver curriculum to about 400 kids... all of it original, and meant to be accessible to people from all backgrounds and of all social status. In addition to this, our camp is a member organization of actua. As such we are part of a community of 27 other camps like ours who service youth all across Canada. "Actua provides training, resources and support to a national network of 27 local organizations offering science and technology education programs. Actua Members reach over 200,000 youth per year. Please visit Actua on the web at planetactua.com." (Actua's self identification) For the past three years, I've been working to develop technology camps for the kids in my area, and I would be more than happy to help you out in any way possible. Please feel free to email me at: __holmesd@uvic.ca__ (take out the underscores). I have curriculum to fill 80+ hours of computer related activities. Another site that you might want to check is http://connectaction.ic.gc.ca/cc/web/website/engli sh/home.asp.
I recommend it for its curriculum guide and suggestions.
Violence has more of an impact than you would think. And unfortunately it's far subtler than most people would have you believe.
For those of you that think this is a ridiculous lawsuit - I have a challenge for you.
Not forever... Just for a month, or a week. I gave up TV, and Videogames for over a year, and I REALLY noticed the effects. If you are wondering what you will do in your free time... and you will have a lot of it... go to the Gym, read your textbooks, code something, design a flash movie for your girlfriend, pick up your guitar, play ultimate with your friends, go on a date, learn python, etc. There are a lot of things that you could be doing actively that will better yourself, and pump up your resume/relationships with others.
It is very easy to go "that game is so disgusting... I wonder what this gun does... hmmm... that's gross too. What does this on do" and get hooked again. (Again, I did, and I wished I hadn't)
I installed black and white the other day. My girlfriend spent hours playing with her creature. I zipped around completing quests. My friend made field goals with the villagers through the mountains.
For all of you brave enough to try changing your lifestyle for a whil -- I wish you like.
Close...
we are extremely desperate for people to STAY here.
We produce a great number of coders, computer engineers and scientists and other such people in the industry, however they are lured away by the higher salaries down south (despite higher costs of living).
There have been huge articles all over the news for the longest time about the "brain drain."
Should MS move to Canada, people would come here instead of leaving. This would be an attractive offer for MS employees, (poverty level in Seattle = $50,000 per annum USD -- poverty level in Canada = $30,000 per annum CDN -- therefore the average employee instantly becomes richer), not to mention it would have huge benefits to the local economy.
All in all, it benefits BC even more than it would Microsoft.