Ummm. Not the Industrial Revolution that I read about...
In that one, 90% of workers were involved in agricultural labor and therefor tied to the land. The Industrial Revolution required that these workers be displaced and come to work in the urban factories. They are relatively more mobile and free there compared to being tenant farmers or serfs. Of course, they didn't get much health benefits....
Only at that point did a significant middle class begin to accumulate and the size of corporation begin to grow. If the purported predictions of the book is correct, the decreasing certainty in the lifestyle of most people is the continuation of a long trend whatever the size of corporations and the middle class.
"Protection and preservation of one's rightful property" is NOT an "immutable liberty". Through out much of human existence on this earth, we've lived in cultures where most resouces are communally owned, or viewed as not possible to be owned by human beings. The current concept of 'private property' has evolved to deal with the incresing economic complexity of our environment. Furthermore, the concept of 'intellectual property' did not even exists some 2 centuries ago.
I would not want to go back to those days where composers got almost paid nothing for their work. Nor would I encourage others to break the law. However, if someone feels that the current scheme of distributing rewards to the creator/distributor is inadequate, then she/he should be free to explore ways to change the scheme and the laws. We should not lie back and assume that the current system is the best one possible.
At some primitive level, I might consider property rights a natural right. But can you seriously think of the yard high stack of copyright laws and patent laws as NATURAL?
The 2 most famous epics from India certainly qualifies.
1. The Ramayana is the journey of Rama to rescue his wife Sita who was abducted to Lanka by a demon. We also get to meet Hanuman who may be an ancestor to the Monkey King (in a literary sense) in Journey to the West. This can be enjoyed as mostly an adventure story with a clear good vs evil view.
2. The Mahabharata is a sprawling saga of the feud between two families for control of Bharat, the Hindhu name for India. Among other gems, it contains the Bhagatvha Gita which is the philosophy given to Arjuna by Krisna in the midst of the battle field. This is a much more philosophical and thought provoking work.
Those less inclined to read it may enjoy Peter Brook's NINE HOUR film! And that's an extremely condensed version!
Gee. I must be deaf and blind.
I don't see any bombs or shells falling from the sky.
I don't hear any landmine exploding.
I didn't read any reports of ships or air crafts being down'd by enemies.
If you think this is war, you should go talk to some WWII or Korean war veterans.
So far, this is less of a war than the Gulf War and not much more of a war than the 'war on drugs.'
Consider the UK. They have dealt with terriost attacks for decades and have not declared themselves at war. They just put every one on camera! (See recent NYT maazine article)
I am quite unhappy with the current rhetorics based around the word 'war'. But I'm not sure what might be a better approach to discussing the situation. Any one with some independent thoughts?
That's right.
Don't just sit there whining about how high your electric bill is. Go start a company to build a generating plant and transmission lines to every home in your state.
Don't complain about the lousy trash pickup service at your house. Start a trash hauling service to compete with them. So what if they break both your knee-caps? You're giving people choices!
IT workers are NOT professionals
on
Dial U for Union
·
· Score: 1
not in the sense that lawyer and medical doctors are.
AMA and ABA were set up to lobby for laws to RESTRICT the supply of lawyers and doctors. By restricting the supply, these professionals can charge a higher fee.
Software workers are not in an environment where this is possible.
1. supply still lags demands, so there is no incentive to restricts supply yet. This is also
the primary reason so many/.ers don't feel a need for an union.
2. quality supply is growing around the world, so it is hard to restrict the employers from going oversea. Indian and Chinese software workers are easily as competent as US ones.
3. lawyer, MD, and even civil engineers conjure up the specter of public disasters to support a rigorous certification process which restricts supply. Software workers cannot make those kinds of arguments yet. This may come to pass when a major part of everyone's life depends on some kind of software.
Re:Give me a break! Nietzcheans aren't Randites
on
Andromeda
·
· Score: 1
Ooops.
That poster was clearly confused.
I see now that Objectivists are really the FERENGI's !
Thanks for clearing that up.
Laputa-common source of Nadia & Disney's Atlantis
on
Review: Atlantis
·
· Score: 1
Perhaps the movie in question is: Laputa, City in the Sky.
That is a well known anime which is a source for much of Nadia. I believe it had a theatrical releases in art houses in the US, also. Thus it would more likely be seen by Disney animators than Nadia.
The plot and characters are more or less cliches in Atlantis, so it is hard to gauge similarities.
However, the visual design elements definitely echoes Laputa.
(warning: minor spoiler ahead)
- floating crystals
- floating girl
- blue light spread along crevices to indicate powering up
- giant robot guardians
- semi-ruined city with many bridges, streams, and flying arches
While Atlantis is a solid film, it is not too memorable. Laputa has much more interesting characters and terrific pacing - it flows like and Indiana Jones movies. Of course, the comparison may not be fair as Laputa is one of the major landmarks in anime. It does shows that fancy 3-d animation CANNOT compensate for plot, characters, and dramatic pacing.
If one transpose the question to be what is the appropriate abstration level to teach:
1. OO A/D/P course
2. High school AP course
I believe it is obvious that there are 2 different answers. In fact, most of the posts are trying to answers quite a large variety of questions that was NEVER asked in the original thread.
If one is looking at teaching OO A/D/P, then the question may be simplified into what is the best OO teaching language. This clearly excludes C++
and leaves one with choices like: java, smalltalk, scheme, and eiffel. Probably any of them can be used successfully while Java may be more useful for getting work.
If the question is focused on a highschool AP class, then it's entirely different. The emphasis should cover the broad themes of computer science:
A. critical concepts like algorithm, mathematical logic, and design;
B. application areas familiar to HS students such as computer generated graphics;
A system for teaching these themes might include LEGO ( Check out Abelson & Papert's work if you thought functional language is hard to learn. Their grade school kids had no problems with it!)
Another new possibilities is the Lego Mindstorm systems. The students get to build and program their own robots with different behaviors. This should keep even the most jaded students awake.
Then, they might be ready to work on more abstract symbol manipulation systems such as using a relatinal database system.
In other words, I feel that an introductory class should cover the widest range of topics possible and not be geared toward a specific language or toward finding a job.
What one must remember is that James Martin is an 'Impresario'. That is, he pedals 'new' ideas to business executives that he scoured from elsewhere for a great deal of money! I have yet to see an original idea that his guy has come up with himself. CASE, AI and ubiquitous computing were ideas developed mostly in academia all over the country. What has James Martin's real contributions? He really pushed the 4GL idea and you can see how greatly that've improved our lives!
The TRUE geek should go to the sources and read about the works of the real innovators. Why are you reading fluff pieces from 'Discover'?
Are we going to get articles quoted from 'Popular Mechanics' next?
Regards,
Tungbo
Speaking as a software developer and NPO volunteer for 25 years, I can certainly attest to the fact that most NPO will NOT do any software development. DB design is possible, but not common. HOWEVER, they also have need for special software not shared by for profit organizations:
fund raising, e-mail constituent management, estate planning, accounting packages gear to nonprofit practices, etc.
This is in fact a niche market with some active software vendors. Unfortunately, the smaller NPO's rarely can afford the commercial packages. So I DO see a possible role for Open Source in these niche software. Since MOST of the staff and volunteers in NPOs will NOT be technical proficient, it is imperative that any Open Source project for them should hold forth as a primary requirement: Ease of Use, even at the costs of flexibility and power.
Tungbo
Slashdot Mirror
Ummm. Not the Industrial Revolution that I read about...
....
In that one, 90% of workers were involved in agricultural labor and therefor tied to the land. The Industrial Revolution required that these workers be displaced and come to work in the urban factories. They are relatively more mobile and free there compared to being tenant farmers or serfs. Of course, they didn't get much health benefits
Only at that point did a significant middle class begin to accumulate and the size of corporation begin to grow. If the purported predictions of the book is correct, the decreasing certainty in the lifestyle of most people is the continuation of a long trend whatever the size of corporations and the middle class.
"Protection and preservation of one's rightful property" is NOT an "immutable liberty". Through out much of human existence on this earth, we've lived in cultures where most resouces are communally owned, or viewed as not possible to be owned by human beings. The current concept of 'private property' has evolved to deal with the incresing economic complexity of our environment. Furthermore, the concept of 'intellectual property' did not even exists some 2 centuries ago.
I would not want to go back to those days where composers got almost paid nothing for their work. Nor would I encourage others to break the law. However, if someone feels that the current scheme of distributing rewards to the creator/distributor is inadequate, then she/he should be free to explore ways to change the scheme and the laws. We should not lie back and assume that the current system is the best one possible.
At some primitive level, I might consider property rights a natural right. But can you seriously think of the yard high stack of copyright laws and patent laws as NATURAL?
The 2 most famous epics from India certainly qualifies.
1. The Ramayana is the journey of Rama to rescue his wife Sita who was abducted to Lanka by a demon. We also get to meet Hanuman who may be an ancestor to the Monkey King (in a literary sense) in Journey to the West. This can be enjoyed as mostly an adventure story with a clear good vs evil view.
2. The Mahabharata is a sprawling saga of the feud between two families for control of Bharat, the Hindhu name for India. Among other gems, it contains the Bhagatvha Gita which is the philosophy given to Arjuna by Krisna in the midst of the battle field. This is a much more philosophical and thought provoking work.
Those less inclined to read it may enjoy Peter Brook's NINE HOUR film! And that's an extremely condensed version!
Gee. I must be deaf and blind.
I don't see any bombs or shells falling from the sky.
I don't hear any landmine exploding.
I didn't read any reports of ships or air crafts being down'd by enemies.
If you think this is war, you should go talk to some WWII or Korean war veterans.
So far, this is less of a war than the Gulf War and not much more of a war than the 'war on drugs.'
Consider the UK. They have dealt with terriost attacks for decades and have not declared themselves at war. They just put every one on camera! (See recent NYT maazine article)
I am quite unhappy with the current rhetorics based around the word 'war'. But I'm not sure what might be a better approach to discussing the situation. Any one with some independent thoughts?
That's right. Don't just sit there whining about how high your electric bill is. Go start a company to build a generating plant and transmission lines to every home in your state. Don't complain about the lousy trash pickup service at your house. Start a trash hauling service to compete with them. So what if they break both your knee-caps? You're giving people choices!
not in the sense that lawyer and medical doctors are. AMA and ABA were set up to lobby for laws to RESTRICT the supply of lawyers and doctors. By restricting the supply, these professionals can charge a higher fee. Software workers are not in an environment where this is possible. 1. supply still lags demands, so there is no incentive to restricts supply yet. This is also the primary reason so many /.ers don't feel a need for an union.
2. quality supply is growing around the world, so it is hard to restrict the employers from going oversea. Indian and Chinese software workers are easily as competent as US ones.
3. lawyer, MD, and even civil engineers conjure up the specter of public disasters to support a rigorous certification process which restricts supply. Software workers cannot make those kinds of arguments yet. This may come to pass when a major part of everyone's life depends on some kind of software.
Ooops. That poster was clearly confused. I see now that Objectivists are really the FERENGI's ! Thanks for clearing that up.
Perhaps the movie in question is: Laputa, City in the Sky. That is a well known anime which is a source for much of Nadia. I believe it had a theatrical releases in art houses in the US, also. Thus it would more likely be seen by Disney animators than Nadia. The plot and characters are more or less cliches in Atlantis, so it is hard to gauge similarities. However, the visual design elements definitely echoes Laputa. (warning: minor spoiler ahead) - floating crystals - floating girl - blue light spread along crevices to indicate powering up - giant robot guardians - semi-ruined city with many bridges, streams, and flying arches While Atlantis is a solid film, it is not too memorable. Laputa has much more interesting characters and terrific pacing - it flows like and Indiana Jones movies. Of course, the comparison may not be fair as Laputa is one of the major landmarks in anime. It does shows that fancy 3-d animation CANNOT compensate for plot, characters, and dramatic pacing.
If one transpose the question to be what is the appropriate abstration level to teach:
1. OO A/D/P course
2. High school AP course
I believe it is obvious that there are 2 different answers. In fact, most of the posts are trying to answers quite a large variety of questions that was NEVER asked in the original thread.
If one is looking at teaching OO A/D/P, then the question may be simplified into what is the best OO teaching language. This clearly excludes C++
and leaves one with choices like: java, smalltalk, scheme, and eiffel. Probably any of them can be used successfully while Java may be more useful for getting work.
If the question is focused on a highschool AP class, then it's entirely different. The emphasis should cover the broad themes of computer science:
A. critical concepts like algorithm, mathematical logic, and design;
B. application areas familiar to HS students such as computer generated graphics;
A system for teaching these themes might include LEGO ( Check out Abelson & Papert's work if you thought functional language is hard to learn. Their grade school kids had no problems with it!)
Another new possibilities is the Lego Mindstorm systems. The students get to build and program their own robots with different behaviors. This should keep even the most jaded students awake.
Then, they might be ready to work on more abstract symbol manipulation systems such as using a relatinal database system.
In other words, I feel that an introductory class should cover the widest range of topics possible and not be geared toward a specific language or toward finding a job.
What one must remember is that James Martin is an 'Impresario'. That is, he pedals 'new' ideas to business executives that he scoured from elsewhere for a great deal of money! I have yet to see an original idea that his guy has come up with himself. CASE, AI and ubiquitous computing were ideas developed mostly in academia all over the country. What has James Martin's real contributions? He really pushed the 4GL idea and you can see how greatly that've improved our lives! The TRUE geek should go to the sources and read about the works of the real innovators. Why are you reading fluff pieces from 'Discover'? Are we going to get articles quoted from 'Popular Mechanics' next? Regards, Tungbo
Speaking as a software developer and NPO volunteer for 25 years, I can certainly attest to the fact that most NPO will NOT do any software development. DB design is possible, but not common. HOWEVER, they also have need for special software not shared by for profit organizations: fund raising, e-mail constituent management, estate planning, accounting packages gear to nonprofit practices, etc. This is in fact a niche market with some active software vendors. Unfortunately, the smaller NPO's rarely can afford the commercial packages. So I DO see a possible role for Open Source in these niche software. Since MOST of the staff and volunteers in NPOs will NOT be technical proficient, it is imperative that any Open Source project for them should hold forth as a primary requirement: Ease of Use, even at the costs of flexibility and power. Tungbo