Think about it for a moment... how many college students would have had computers in 1996/1997? 50 percent? 65 percent? How many students have computers now? Almost everyone. But alas Slashdot, why is warezing going down?!?!
The small number of students who had computers in '96/97 were most likely students who were familiar with technology and aware of such things like w4r3z. The students who have since purchased computers are less likely to be familiar with software piracy. They know nothing beyond Best Buy and/or Future Shop.
I don't think software piracy is going down... I think that the students who have purchased computers in the interim are unaware of warez.
Re:Why I think Jon Katz articles are a Good Thing
on
Heart of the Net
·
· Score: 1
As a student studying technoculture, I find Katz's articles to be thought provoking. (Trolls and Katz haters feel free to rant about my lunacy). Why is Katz thought provoking? His faults don't lie in his ideas - he has some very original ideas. Where he steers wrong is a lack of supporting ideas and clarity.
The search for the heart of the net is an interesting idea. First we need to define what the heart is... Are we talking about the physical heart (routers), powerful corporatization (AOL/Microsoft), geurilla organizations (hackers/p2p) or a combination of these?
Once we've defined the heart, we need to look for some supporting works. Is there previous work on the topic? What sort of statistics can I find to back up my claims?
While I concur with the trolls that Jon Katz enjoys over-hyping issues, he is definitely not fluff. He brings forth many interesting ideas and as previously mentioned, it is our search for the particulars that make the ensuing discussion so interesting.
Don't lash out at the hype. Take Katz's ideas and develop them into your personal view of the world inside the routers and beyond the cables.
Like some of the Slashdot crowd, I have a wide variety of interests. Deciding on a field of study was insanely difficult. I spent the better part of 2 years debating between potential fields of study. Upon choosing one, I then had the option of choosing combined honours (double major) or sticking with one area of concentration. Yet again, this was a very lengthy decision.
So where am I now? What was I debating? And what's the point of this message?
My potential fields of study were all over the place:
Meteorology
English
French
Classical Studies
Comp Sci
Philosophy
Coming out of high school, I decided that meteorology wasn't something I could pursue. At the time, I was foolish enough to believe that my field of study determined my career. As such, I applied to several CS programs and one very young Arts program that sounded interesting: Media, Information, & Technoculture.
I was accepted into all of my choices and then I had to make a real decision. At this point, I'd decided that a math-intensive CS degree wasn't where I wanted to go. I was apprehensive of the Arts program, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Before I could go, I needed a break. I deferred my acceptance for a year and enrolled in an MCSE course. I won't go into the details, but if you want to get an MCSE - buy the books, read them, and write the tests. Anyone with half a brain can get these damn things (and I can see the replies now - "you're proof eh?" funny..) Regardless, the year off was the best thing I could have done. I worked 20-30 hours a week and had all the time I didn't have in high school to tinker with technology and read.
When June rolled around, I was chomping at the bit to get back to school. I was completely refreshed and I'd distanced myself from high school. The distance from high school has done nothing but help me, because university is a totally different world from high school. The study methods you used in high school won't help you here. By this time I was extremely interested in literature, film, philosophy and techology. I researched the arts degree a bit more and made a gamble.
I've never been happier. My program is an eclectic mix of all my interests. I've also decided to combine honours with Philosophy. While all of this is happening, I have a sweet job working for the university's technology services department.
The point of all this? If you're more interested in the implications of technology than alogrithms, go for an Arts degree. In your free time, tinker with code. It's an excellent combination. I recommend it to anyone.
Before I end, a shameless plug for my program. The University of Western Ontario: Media, Information & Technoculture.
List of MIT courses - http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/ACCALS/2002/sec_2914.h tm
MIT Degree Information -http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/ACCALS/2002/sec_1176. htm
MIT Student's Council - http://www.usc.uwo.ca/mit/
While your compassion for non-professionals is laudible, your request for a simple markup language that allows users to code as they please isn't. Why repeat history?
HTML is a simple language even for non-professionals. Please don't try for a rebuttal that I am sitting upon my high horse. I've worked in several positions where my sole job was to instruct computer illiterates. I've taught many people (even senior citizens) to write HTML. The foundation of the WWW was built upon HTML, it's logical and easy to learn. Many designers found the language inadequate for their needs, so they developed more advanced languages. The majority of which were created to assist the end user. DHTML is an excellent tool for creating navigation schemes for large websites. I agree that these "advancements" have made it slightly more difficult for the non-professional. Where the real problem begins is with the adoption of these new languages. This has made webdesign difficult for professional and non-professional alike.
When companies begin throwing in proprietary code or only adopting a portion of a language - then the real problems begin. We've been tumbling down this rabbit hole for a few years now. And finally, we may be getting somewhere. Microsoft and Netscape are slowly becoming more standards compliant, and the W3C is waiting with open arms. Read: XHTML.
XHTML may be the first language that both browsers will adopt completely. And the days of coding for two completely different browsers will be over!
Oh wait, what about those old browsers? Nevermind. Guess we'll keep tumbling down this rabbit hole.
Slashdot Mirror
Think about it for a moment... how many college students would have had computers in 1996/1997? 50 percent? 65 percent? How many students have computers now? Almost everyone. But alas Slashdot, why is warezing going down?!?!
The small number of students who had computers in '96/97 were most likely students who were familiar with technology and aware of such things like w4r3z. The students who have since purchased computers are less likely to be familiar with software piracy. They know nothing beyond Best Buy and/or Future Shop.
I don't think software piracy is going down... I think that the students who have purchased computers in the interim are unaware of warez.
As a student studying technoculture, I find Katz's articles to be thought provoking. (Trolls and Katz haters feel free to rant about my lunacy). Why is Katz thought provoking? His faults don't lie in his ideas - he has some very original ideas. Where he steers wrong is a lack of supporting ideas and clarity.
The search for the heart of the net is an interesting idea. First we need to define what the heart is... Are we talking about the physical heart (routers), powerful corporatization (AOL/Microsoft), geurilla organizations (hackers/p2p) or a combination of these?
Once we've defined the heart, we need to look for some supporting works. Is there previous work on the topic? What sort of statistics can I find to back up my claims?
While I concur with the trolls that Jon Katz enjoys over-hyping issues, he is definitely not fluff. He brings forth many interesting ideas and as previously mentioned, it is our search for the particulars that make the ensuing discussion so interesting.
Don't lash out at the hype. Take Katz's ideas and develop them into your personal view of the world inside the routers and beyond the cables.
So where am I now? What was I debating? And what's the point of this message?
My potential fields of study were all over the place:
Coming out of high school, I decided that meteorology wasn't something I could pursue. At the time, I was foolish enough to believe that my field of study determined my career. As such, I applied to several CS programs and one very young Arts program that sounded interesting: Media, Information, & Technoculture.
I was accepted into all of my choices and then I had to make a real decision. At this point, I'd decided that a math-intensive CS degree wasn't where I wanted to go. I was apprehensive of the Arts program, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Before I could go, I needed a break. I deferred my acceptance for a year and enrolled in an MCSE course. I won't go into the details, but if you want to get an MCSE - buy the books, read them, and write the tests. Anyone with half a brain can get these damn things (and I can see the replies now - "you're proof eh?" funny..) Regardless, the year off was the best thing I could have done. I worked 20-30 hours a week and had all the time I didn't have in high school to tinker with technology and read.
When June rolled around, I was chomping at the bit to get back to school. I was completely refreshed and I'd distanced myself from high school. The distance from high school has done nothing but help me, because university is a totally different world from high school. The study methods you used in high school won't help you here. By this time I was extremely interested in literature, film, philosophy and techology. I researched the arts degree a bit more and made a gamble.
I've never been happier. My program is an eclectic mix of all my interests. I've also decided to combine honours with Philosophy. While all of this is happening, I have a sweet job working for the university's technology services department.
The point of all this? If you're more interested in the implications of technology than alogrithms, go for an Arts degree. In your free time, tinker with code. It's an excellent combination. I recommend it to anyone.
Before I end, a shameless plug for my program. The University of Western Ontario: Media, Information & Technoculture.
List of MIT courses - http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/ACCALS/2002/sec_2914.
MIT Degree Information -http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/ACCALS/2002/sec_1176
MIT Student's Council - http://www.usc.uwo.ca/mit/
Faculty Homepage - http://www.fims.uwo.ca/
While your compassion for non-professionals is laudible, your request for a simple markup language that allows users to code as they please isn't. Why repeat history?
HTML is a simple language even for non-professionals. Please don't try for a rebuttal that I am sitting upon my high horse. I've worked in several positions where my sole job was to instruct computer illiterates. I've taught many people (even senior citizens) to write HTML. The foundation of the WWW was built upon HTML, it's logical and easy to learn. Many designers found the language inadequate for their needs, so they developed more advanced languages. The majority of which were created to assist the end user. DHTML is an excellent tool for creating navigation schemes for large websites. I agree that these "advancements" have made it slightly more difficult for the non-professional. Where the real problem begins is with the adoption of these new languages. This has made webdesign difficult for professional and non-professional alike.
When companies begin throwing in proprietary code or only adopting a portion of a language - then the real problems begin. We've been tumbling down this rabbit hole for a few years now. And finally, we may be getting somewhere. Microsoft and Netscape are slowly becoming more standards compliant, and the W3C is waiting with open arms. Read: XHTML.
XHTML may be the first language that both browsers will adopt completely. And the days of coding for two completely different browsers will be over!
Oh wait, what about those old browsers? Nevermind. Guess we'll keep tumbling down this rabbit hole.