But those tests are also not at all useful in the real world. Those sorts of tests are designed to certify that hundreds of kids know what Djikstra's algorithm is, but they are not designed to get at the heart of what CS is and how to apply what you know to do something original. I don't think we should just accept that an undergraduate program isn't challenging kids to think creatively. After all, that is what differentiates someone truly bright and original from the rest of the herd.
The problem with this is, exams arent the best way to test someone's knowledge. By definition, they only test a limited subset of knowledge and skills, and they are usually timed, which imposes a different set of demands on the student. Assignments are much closer to a real-world evaluation.
If the school can't enforce no cheating, it is their own fault. All you have to do is start handing out Fs or kicking kids out, and things will change rather quickly.
How much money do you think there is in supporting a Linux distro?
RedHat can barely keep afloat supporting theirs. You think 4 companies can keep afloat supporting the same thing (which I really doubt will even be anything close to the same product offered by each of the companies?) Remember, these companies will have to compete for the same support dollars!
I think we are looking at some consolidation in the Linux market fairly soon.
We have different distributions because they cater to different markets and have different software, different libraries, etc...
If you really want that level of compatibility, you have to ship the same software. And once you do that, what's the point of being a different distribution? But these companies are not merging their distributions - they are just trying to collaborate.
So in the end, you will STILL have to test and certify your software on all the distributions. Effectively, they have just agreed to change their name a bit.
Right, we had the same understanding of the word own.
But I still dont see how the viewers have "stewardship" over the film. We didn't create it. We just paid money to see someone else creation. And that someone else can do as they see fit.
How does Star Wars become a property of the audience once it is released?? The rights are all with Lucas to do what he wants, the fans be damned.
Of course, it makes sense for him to listen to the fans, but I don't buy this "it's mine!" crap. He made the movie. It's his movie. He can do what he wants.
In the same way, we can do what we want by either liking it or rejecting it. But saying it is our property because we paid a few bucks to watch it? That is presumptuous.
When did Kenobi use defense against Force Lightning?
AFAIK, Yoda is the only person ever shown in a starwars movie to defend against it.
Eveyone talks about seeing Yoda's light sabre battle, but I thought his defense againt, and counterattack with, the blue Force Lightning was MUCH cooler and MUCH more impressive.
Often they contain spelling errors, gramamr errors, or other crap that isn't relevant to the story being posted. In particular, the submitter's commentary on the article/gadget/etc or other comments not related to the submission are often included verbatim.
Why don't/. editors edit this out? It would really improve the professionalism and cohesiveness of the site.
Except not everyone ones some all-in-one privacy intruding box from MS.
I have a computer for email and web browsing.
I have a Gamecub for games.
I have a TiVo for PVR.
Each of these devices does a particular task very well. Why do I need to combine these into one box that doesn't do any of the 3 tasks particularly well?
Abstraction is something that has to be balanced against all forces which impact development, including development time, execution speed, and complexity of the code. Needless to say, these are often divergent factors, and there is often no single answer to them all. Therefore, it is important that the developer have a clear understanding of all constraints on the project and proceed accordingly.
Remember the XP tenet of design something only as complicated as it needs to be to solve the problem. This really isn't anything new; rather, it is just clering up the misconception some people have when they take a good thing too far (see UML, XML, and OOP in general)
This paper describes a distributed shared memory system in which just such a hardware mechanism was used, called direct deposit. The paper has some information on it.
In fact, that is why I shop at Albertson's, because they don't have that damn club card.
It's coming. A year ago, Alberton's here in Dallas was all "Club card savings without the card!".
Fast forward one year. Now its "Albertson's Preferred Savings Card: a better way to save!"
The first time I went into the store and saw the card, I left immediately. I haven't purchased anything there since.
Raising the prices to get my personal information amounts to extortion, and I won't stand for it. Not to mention that even with the preferred club savings, the price is still above what it was before on many items.
I picked up one of the new iMacs with Superdrive and all this weekend. I can say, the new display is not just there for looks.
I have found it to be an extremely comforable machine. It moves as I do. Because the screen is so easily movable and flexible, I can easily make it accommodate whatever position I am working in. That alone has made me love the new iMac.
Another problem with this scheme is that more people benefit from NASA than are interested in it. Pure science research pays off (low-gravity manufacturing, tang, etc...) But what fraction of people that use perfectly round ball-bearings are really interested in space science and research?
This type of tax unfairly burdens those who are interested in a subject with paying for it, when everyone reaps the rewards.
Why not store the music separate from the meta data, in big hunks of the disk? Like one poster mentioned, the music doesn't really change once deposited in the filesystem; only the metadata does. So we could store music in arbitrary places on the disk, and then have the metadata categorize it, give it names, etc.
The filesystem would then transparently re-create the MP3 file when copied out to move it across the network, zip file, etc... by attaching the meta-data back onto the music stream as it is ready from disk.
I participated in a programming contest recently; it lasted 3 hours. For the entire rest of the day, I was in "The Zone". It was awesome how much that woke my brain up.
So it seems for me, just being challenged slightly, in a fun and competitive atmosphere works well.
The cost of cheating is the loss of integirty of honest students' degrees. That alone is reason enough for me to care. My school does not publish numbers on academic dishonesty (I suppose for the same reasons as GATech). However, I have been informally told by professors that perhaps 10% of students are caught cheating, but it is widely believed by students, faculty, and administration that the actual number of dishonest students is much higher.
It is an epidemic at my school; so much so that some area employers srutinize graduates especially carefully. It seems in the past year many students have graduated with a good GPA but absolutely no understanding of the material.
It is a huge problem - educators and students recognize this. But how do you combat it? Cheating detection programs are one way, but unfortunately they do generate false positives (causing more work for the teacher and administration) and they certainly don't catch every instance.
Your suggestion that business has to skirt the law to make profit is absurd. The business does NOT have a responsibility to go beyond the law for the sake of the bottom line. Clearly, its duty is to maximize the value of the investment for the shareholders, but that must fall within the bounds of acceptable legal behavior.
As for the notion that an honor code is a joke, I disagree. What's wrong with upholding a basic system of values? We do that every day when we educate our children not to murder, not to steal, etc... I believe that the value to do your own work instead of copying others is just such a basic value. To do otherwise suggests that individual effort should not be rewarded. What sort of message does that send?
While the circumstances of this particular case seem a little harsh, the fact is, cheating is a HUGE problem these days in university.
Where do you draw the line between another student discussing the homework, and a student asking for the answer? How do you distinguish between academic inquiry and laziness?
There must be a strict rule that everyone abides by. In this instance, why didn't the student ask the instructor, or the TA for help? Those are the officially sanctioned channels for asking questions. ESPECIALLY if the honor code forbids students consulting others, why did the student do otherwise?
The problem is, cheating is undermining the integrity of many student's degrees. This is becoming a huge problem at my school - how do you detect the cheaters? Where do you draw the line?
While this case may be a bit extreme, the fact is you have to look at the overall picture. If the student was forbidden to discuss with other students, then he should have asked the teacher/TA.
I really hope Apache NEVER switches to XML config files. Why? Typing all those tags is a HUGE pain.
Apache config files work just fine now. Why switch? Just to have buzzword compliance, and inconvenience millions of apache users in the process? I think not.
I'm glad that IM hasn't caught on at my employer. I would find it incredibly annoying to be distracted by IM popups every few minutes.
At least with email there is the expectation that a response will come back in a a few hours, or by the end of the day. With IM, I'd be expected to respond within a few minutes. What a chore.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually bubble sort does quite well when the input is already sorted. much better than many other sorts.
But those tests are also not at all useful in the real world. Those sorts of tests are designed to certify that hundreds of kids know what Djikstra's algorithm is, but they are not designed to get at the heart of what CS is and how to apply what you know to do something original. I don't think we should just accept that an undergraduate program isn't challenging kids to think creatively. After all, that is what differentiates someone truly bright and original from the rest of the herd.
The problem with this is, exams arent the best way to test someone's knowledge. By definition, they only test a limited subset of knowledge and skills, and they are usually timed, which imposes a different set of demands on the student. Assignments are much closer to a real-world evaluation.
If the school can't enforce no cheating, it is their own fault. All you have to do is start handing out Fs or kicking kids out, and things will change rather quickly.
How much money do you think there is in supporting a Linux distro?
RedHat can barely keep afloat supporting theirs. You think 4 companies can keep afloat supporting the same thing (which I really doubt will even be anything close to the same product offered by each of the companies?) Remember, these companies will have to compete for the same support dollars!
I think we are looking at some consolidation in the Linux market fairly soon.
Except none of this will happen.
We have different distributions because they cater to different markets and have different software, different libraries, etc...
If you really want that level of compatibility, you have to ship the same software. And once you do that, what's the point of being a different distribution? But these companies are not merging their distributions - they are just trying to collaborate.
So in the end, you will STILL have to test and certify your software on all the distributions. Effectively, they have just agreed to change their name a bit.
Right, we had the same understanding of the word own.
But I still dont see how the viewers have "stewardship" over the film. We didn't create it. We just paid money to see someone else creation. And that someone else can do as they see fit.
How does Star Wars become a property of the audience once it is released?? The rights are all with Lucas to do what he wants, the fans be damned.
Of course, it makes sense for him to listen to the fans, but I don't buy this "it's mine!" crap. He made the movie. It's his movie. He can do what he wants.
In the same way, we can do what we want by either liking it or rejecting it. But saying it is our property because we paid a few bucks to watch it? That is presumptuous.
When did Kenobi use defense against Force Lightning?
AFAIK, Yoda is the only person ever shown in a starwars movie to defend against it.
Eveyone talks about seeing Yoda's light sabre battle, but I thought his defense againt, and counterattack with, the blue Force Lightning was MUCH cooler and MUCH more impressive.
This brings up an interesting point.
/. edited?
/. editors edit this out? It would really improve the professionalism and cohesiveness of the site.
Why aren't submissions to
Often they contain spelling errors, gramamr errors, or other crap that isn't relevant to the story being posted. In particular, the submitter's commentary on the article/gadget/etc or other comments not related to the submission are often included verbatim.
Why don't
Except not everyone ones some all-in-one privacy intruding box from MS.
I have a computer for email and web browsing.
I have a Gamecub for games.
I have a TiVo for PVR.
Each of these devices does a particular task very well. Why do I need to combine these into one box that doesn't do any of the 3 tasks particularly well?
Why can't businesses retain a sense of humor and have a little harmless fun? Especially in this economy, when everyone deserves a break?
Abstraction is something that has to be balanced against all forces which impact development, including development time, execution speed, and complexity of the code. Needless to say, these are often divergent factors, and there is often no single answer to them all. Therefore, it is important that the developer have a clear understanding of all constraints on the project and proceed accordingly.
Remember the XP tenet of design something only as complicated as it needs to be to solve the problem. This really isn't anything new; rather, it is just clering up the misconception some people have when they take a good thing too far (see UML, XML, and OOP in general)
This paper describes a distributed shared memory system in which just such a hardware mechanism was used, called direct deposit. The paper has some information on it.
In fact, that is why I shop at Albertson's, because they don't have that damn club card.
It's coming. A year ago, Alberton's here in Dallas was all "Club card savings without the card!".
Fast forward one year. Now its "Albertson's Preferred Savings Card: a better way to save!"
The first time I went into the store and saw the card, I left immediately. I haven't purchased anything there since.
Raising the prices to get my personal information amounts to extortion, and I won't stand for it. Not to mention that even with the preferred club savings, the price is still above what it was before on many items.
I picked up one of the new iMacs with Superdrive and all this weekend. I can say, the new display is not just there for looks.
I have found it to be an extremely comforable machine. It moves as I do. Because the screen is so easily movable and flexible, I can easily make it accommodate whatever position I am working in. That alone has made me love the new iMac.
Another problem with this scheme is that more people benefit from NASA than are interested in it. Pure science research pays off (low-gravity manufacturing, tang, etc...) But what fraction of people that use perfectly round ball-bearings are really interested in space science and research?
This type of tax unfairly burdens those who are interested in a subject with paying for it, when everyone reaps the rewards.
Why not store the music separate from the meta data, in big hunks of the disk? Like one poster mentioned, the music doesn't really change once deposited in the filesystem; only the metadata does. So we could store music in arbitrary places on the disk, and then have the metadata categorize it, give it names, etc.
The filesystem would then transparently re-create the MP3 file when copied out to move it across the network, zip file, etc... by attaching the meta-data back onto the music stream as it is ready from disk.
Thoughts?
I participated in a programming contest recently; it lasted 3 hours. For the entire rest of the day, I was in "The Zone". It was awesome how much that woke my brain up.
So it seems for me, just being challenged slightly, in a fun and competitive atmosphere works well.
I hate flash ads because many of them make noise.
My office mates at work most certainly do NOT like that interruption when I take a coffee break and visit slashdot.
(for instance, with stale installations of Windows 2000, memos, and in one instance, porn)
You didn't happen to buy the drive at Fry's did you?
The cost of cheating is the loss of integirty of honest students' degrees. That alone is reason enough for me to care. My school does not publish numbers on academic dishonesty (I suppose for the same reasons as GATech). However, I have been informally told by professors that perhaps 10% of students are caught cheating, but it is widely believed by students, faculty, and administration that the actual number of dishonest students is much higher.
It is an epidemic at my school; so much so that some area employers srutinize graduates especially carefully. It seems in the past year many students have graduated with a good GPA but absolutely no understanding of the material.
It is a huge problem - educators and students recognize this. But how do you combat it? Cheating detection programs are one way, but unfortunately they do generate false positives (causing more work for the teacher and administration) and they certainly don't catch every instance.
Your suggestion that business has to skirt the law to make profit is absurd. The business does NOT have a responsibility to go beyond the law for the sake of the bottom line. Clearly, its duty is to maximize the value of the investment for the shareholders, but that must fall within the bounds of acceptable legal behavior.
As for the notion that an honor code is a joke, I disagree. What's wrong with upholding a basic system of values? We do that every day when we educate our children not to murder, not to steal, etc... I believe that the value to do your own work instead of copying others is just such a basic value. To do otherwise suggests that individual effort should not be rewarded. What sort of message does that send?
While the circumstances of this particular case seem a little harsh, the fact is, cheating is a HUGE problem these days in university.
Where do you draw the line between another student discussing the homework, and a student asking for the answer? How do you distinguish between academic inquiry and laziness?
There must be a strict rule that everyone abides by. In this instance, why didn't the student ask the instructor, or the TA for help? Those are the officially sanctioned channels for asking questions. ESPECIALLY if the honor code forbids students consulting others, why did the student do otherwise?
The problem is, cheating is undermining the integrity of many student's degrees. This is becoming a huge problem at my school - how do you detect the cheaters? Where do you draw the line?
While this case may be a bit extreme, the fact is you have to look at the overall picture. If the student was forbidden to discuss with other students, then he should have asked the teacher/TA.
I really hope Apache NEVER switches to XML config files. Why? Typing all those tags is a HUGE pain.
Apache config files work just fine now. Why switch? Just to have buzzword compliance, and inconvenience millions of apache users in the process? I think not.
I'm glad that IM hasn't caught on at my employer. I would find it incredibly annoying to be distracted by IM popups every few minutes.
At least with email there is the expectation that a response will come back in a a few hours, or by the end of the day. With IM, I'd be expected to respond within a few minutes. What a chore.
How well does Win2k run in VPC on OSX?
I'm thinking of buying a new iMac or a G4 tower soon, but I would like to do some windows development on it while OSX matures.