I moved from the corporate world back into Education. When I was out in Industry ( as us Ed folks call it ) I wore camo pants and whatever shirt was clean. One day, I went out to buy a Washer-Dryer looking like this and could not get a lick of service.
Now, when I wear my sport coat, turtle neck, and slacks, I can get all the service I want.
I don't really think that dressing well does anything for my ability to teach or to code, but it makes a huge difference in how people react to me. In a business environment where you have a lot of contacts with clients, that can be extremely important.
In more concrete terms, how does your lobbying budget compare to that of other technology industry lobbyists? Twice as small or twice as big? If your budget is lower, how exactly does this impact your efforts? Do you feel that this hampers your access to elected officials?
I agree in spirit. I have been teaching intro coding at the college level for the past 6 years or so. What I find is that you need to have a decent understanding of what the computer is doing to truly understand coding. Otherwise, the student ends up seeing the programming language as a magic or vodoo. Its full of arcane rules that one must memorize in order to effect change. In reality, there are some very good reasons for why computer languages do the things they do. I have found that by carefully explaining what is going on under the hood you can significantly increase student understanding.
For example, from the very beginning, I pound into the students that idea that variables have addresses and that computers will work the addresses rather than identifiers. Thus, when I get to pointers, they are less surprised by them. Same thing with recursion.
That being said, I do find that one still needs to abstract a little. You need to give beginning programmers some platform to start with. For that, I have found C/C++ and pascal to be very useful. They are close enough to the hardware to faciliate my discussion of the fundamentals, but sufficiently abstract to keep them from worrying about registers.
Now, as for Java, I tend to think that it does have some features that make programming easier. I also tend to thing of it has being somewhat elegant. However, to truly understand Java, I think you have to understand what's going on under the hood. For example, Java tends to pass things by reference. That can be a tricky concept if you don't understand pointers. Pointers are somewhat hidden from you in Java. So, this can be tricky for the beginner, and the beginner is then forced to memorize a set of rules that appears arbitrary. As was stated above, this is not something I find acceptable.
Of course, I have yet to teach Java as an intro language. I may do that this fall or winter. When that happens, I may find a way to explain the fundamentals anyway.
Actually, there is a better explanation. However, it requires some background.
Stealth tech has the effect of reducing the effective radious of a given radar station. Modern air defense relies on setting up a series of stations such that their effective areas over lap. The idea is to have a continuos net of detection across a given area.
When using stealth tech, the effective radius of these stations was drastically cut, thus creating holes in the network. Note that if a stealth craft were to fly over a radar station, that station would still detect the craft. So, part of an effective stealth raid is good intelligence on the location of these stations and plotting a course through the holes.
In the case in question, the USAF got sloppy (more or less ) and began to use the same route through the network more often than was prudent. The FRY ( Fedreal Republic of Yoguslavia ) forces got wise to this route and stationed several stations along the route. Once observers on the forward part of the route detected the F-117, the radar stations on the rear part of the route opened up.
So, you see, it has nothing to do with secret Chinese technology, but rather with a clever FRY AD commander and lax planning on behalf of the USAF.
It must be remembered that on the modern battlefield, there is rarely one dominating system. Rather it is the case that these systems must be used in conjunction with other systems and in the proper way in order to acheive the proper effect.
I think we can all agree as to what would be fair in this case: The bullies should be put to task for their parts in this case.
However, what would be required? The principal or other authority would have to hear about it. Then, the authority would have to take some sort of action. This action would then have to be followed up to ensure that the offending behavior is not repeated.
This all requires work. In order to hear about the taunting, Sean would have to be questioned about the event. Then the bullies would have to be questioned. Decisions would have to be made regaurding the truthfulness of the situation and a punishment decided upon. From there the authority would have to be certain that the bullies simply did not revert back to their old habbits. Of course, any action taken against the bullies may invovle their parents.
It is much simplier to blame Sean entirely and call and end to the whole matter. Further, to ensure that it does not happen again, it is easier to shunt the problem off to another school. What happened to Sean was the path of least resistance.
In the end, if you have to sue the place or whatever to get the administration to act responsibly, then I seriously doubt that this is the place for your son. If you cannot afford private school, then I think home schooling is an excellent option. I am sure Sean will become a much better coder for it.
If you do go the private school option, I strongly recogmend that Sean join some sort of organization so that he can get the proper amount of socializing with his peers.
I was attending the University of Washington during the Magic heyday. One summer, the University played host to a magic camp. Kids of all sorts filled the empty dorms to capacity. At any rate, the event was so big that they could not always find enough space to put all the kids. So at one point, one of the organizers said that a schedualed tournament hour would be set aside for "outside time". Play Magic outside, play soccer, do nothing. Whatever.
Well, this one parent found out and went ballistic. She screamed at the organisor ( I overheard this conversation ) for letting her kid play outside. Saying something like, "If I wanted him to play soccer, I would have sent him to soccer camp."
To this day I am not certain as to what I should think about this....
As the poster points out, many drugs are first discovered in plants/animals and then synthesized. This is what makes the loss of the rain forest and other areas of great genetic diversity so scary, imagine the great potential for new drugs and treatmeants that is lost along with them.
When I was in high school, we programmed robots using legos. You would create a robot using Technic brand legos and would then hook the motors up to an apple IIe. You could then write code using a language known as lego/logo.
These days, if you want to do this sort of thing, you can use the lego Mindstorm. For those who don't know, lego mindstorm is a kit that comes with a programmable brick. The brick which requires a PC to actually develop the code coordinates various motors and sensors. Its a bit pricy, but very fun. The programming language may be a bit too simple for your students, but there is a version of C ( kinda ) that you can get for down load. Slashdot also reviewed a book, "The Unoffical Guide To Lego Mindstorms.." that I would also recogmend. For more information about using lego Mindstorms in the class room, I suggest you contact Dr. R. Belew of UCSD dept of Computer Science. You can find him here: http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/~rik
I see a lot of questions about NSA and SigInt successes, but what about the failures? For example, one hears a great deal about cracking Enigma during WW2. How about Allied codes during WW2? How successful were the Axis in reading our signals? What methods did they use? Who was generally better at SigInt during WW2 and why? It would also be interesting to hear about any significant US failures during the Cold War.
Slashdot Mirror
I moved from the corporate world back into Education. When I was out in Industry ( as us Ed folks call it ) I wore camo pants and whatever shirt was clean. One day, I went out to buy a Washer-Dryer looking like this and could not get a lick of service.
Now, when I wear my sport coat, turtle neck, and slacks, I can get all the service I want.
I don't really think that dressing well does anything for my ability to teach or to code, but it makes a huge difference in how people react to me. In a business environment where you have a lot of contacts with clients, that can be extremely important.
In more concrete terms, how does your lobbying budget compare to that of other technology industry lobbyists? Twice as small or twice as big? If your budget is lower, how exactly does this impact your efforts? Do you feel that this hampers your access to elected officials?
For example, from the very beginning, I pound into the students that idea that variables have addresses and that computers will work the addresses rather than identifiers. Thus, when I get to pointers, they are less surprised by them. Same thing with recursion.
That being said, I do find that one still needs to abstract a little. You need to give beginning programmers some platform to start with. For that, I have found C/C++ and pascal to be very useful. They are close enough to the hardware to faciliate my discussion of the fundamentals, but sufficiently abstract to keep them from worrying about registers.
Now, as for Java, I tend to think that it does have some features that make programming easier. I also tend to thing of it has being somewhat elegant. However, to truly understand Java, I think you have to understand what's going on under the hood. For example, Java tends to pass things by reference. That can be a tricky concept if you don't understand pointers. Pointers are somewhat hidden from you in Java. So, this can be tricky for the beginner, and the beginner is then forced to memorize a set of rules that appears arbitrary. As was stated above, this is not something I find acceptable.
Of course, I have yet to teach Java as an intro language. I may do that this fall or winter. When that happens, I may find a way to explain the fundamentals anyway.
Stealth tech has the effect of reducing the effective radious of a given radar station. Modern air defense relies on setting up a series of stations such that their effective areas over lap. The idea is to have a continuos net of detection across a given area.
When using stealth tech, the effective radius of these stations was drastically cut, thus creating holes in the network. Note that if a stealth craft were to fly over a radar station, that station would still detect the craft. So, part of an effective stealth raid is good intelligence on the location of these stations and plotting a course through the holes.
In the case in question, the USAF got sloppy (more or less ) and began to use the same route through the network more often than was prudent. The FRY ( Fedreal Republic of Yoguslavia ) forces got wise to this route and stationed several stations along the route. Once observers on the forward part of the route detected the F-117, the radar stations on the rear part of the route opened up.
So, you see, it has nothing to do with secret Chinese technology, but rather with a clever FRY AD commander and lax planning on behalf of the USAF.
It must be remembered that on the modern battlefield, there is rarely one dominating system. Rather it is the case that these systems must be used in conjunction with other systems and in the proper way in order to acheive the proper effect.
I think we can all agree as to what would be fair in this case: The bullies should be put to task for their parts in this case.
However, what would be required? The principal or other authority would have to hear about it. Then, the authority would have to take some sort of action. This action would then have to be followed up to ensure that the offending behavior is not repeated.
This all requires work. In order to hear about the taunting, Sean would have to be questioned about the event. Then the bullies would have to be questioned. Decisions would have to be made regaurding the truthfulness of the situation and a punishment decided upon. From there the authority would have to be certain that the bullies simply did not revert back to their old habbits. Of course, any action taken against the bullies may invovle their parents.
It is much simplier to blame Sean entirely and call and end to the whole matter. Further, to ensure that it does not happen again, it is easier to shunt the problem off to another school. What happened to Sean was the path of least resistance.
In the end, if you have to sue the place or whatever to get the administration to act responsibly, then I seriously doubt that this is the place for your son. If you cannot afford private school, then I think home schooling is an excellent option. I am sure Sean will become a much better coder for it.
If you do go the private school option, I strongly recogmend that Sean join some sort of organization so that he can get the proper amount of socializing with his peers.
Best of Luck!
I was attending the University of Washington during the Magic heyday. One summer, the University played host to a magic camp. Kids of all sorts filled the empty dorms to capacity. At any rate, the event was so big that they could not always find enough space to put all the kids. So at one point, one of the organizers said that a schedualed tournament hour would be set aside for "outside time". Play Magic outside, play soccer, do nothing. Whatever.
Well, this one parent found out and went ballistic. She screamed at the organisor ( I overheard this conversation ) for letting her kid play outside. Saying something like, "If I wanted him to play soccer, I would have sent him to soccer camp."
To this day I am not certain as to what I should think about this....
As the poster points out, many drugs are first discovered in plants/animals and then synthesized. This is what makes the loss of the rain forest and other areas of great genetic diversity so scary, imagine the great potential for new drugs and treatmeants that is lost along with them.
These days, if you want to do this sort of thing, you can use the lego Mindstorm. For those who don't know, lego mindstorm is a kit that comes with a programmable brick. The brick which requires a PC to actually develop the code coordinates various motors and sensors. Its a bit pricy, but very fun. The programming language may be a bit too simple for your students, but there is a version of C ( kinda ) that you can get for down load. Slashdot also reviewed a book, "The Unoffical Guide To Lego Mindstorms.." that I would also recogmend. For more information about using lego Mindstorms in the class room, I suggest you contact Dr. R. Belew of UCSD dept of Computer Science. You can find him here: http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/~rik
I see a lot of questions about NSA and SigInt successes, but what about the failures? For example, one hears a great deal about cracking Enigma during WW2. How about Allied codes during WW2? How successful were the Axis in reading our signals? What methods did they use? Who was generally better at SigInt during WW2 and why? It would also be interesting to hear about any significant US failures during the Cold War.