Get Valentino Braitenberg's book "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology". Vehicles are his term for robots. It starts very simple and builds to great stuff. It's a great book which is amazingly short though it took me months to read it because I'd read a page or two then spend a few days thinking about it. I can't recommend it enough.
Since back then I spent a lot of time waiting for disks to copy, I would go through the disk copy program executables and replace a character in the "press any key to continue" type prompt with a BEL character so it would beep. That way I could do other stuff and not have to sit and watch for it.
Back in the mid 80's (the dark days of DOS) I had a habit of looking through executable code with the Norton hex editor. One day I came across the string "Nosey, aren't you." I thought it was pretty funny.
In terms of the code I write, sometimes just something cute in the comments. Once when looping through some records I put a comment "these aren't the recORDIDS you're looking for, move along!" Probably nobody got a chuckle but me...
My favorite real idea for a class would be:
1. here's a box of:
- parts sufficient to build a computer
- a printout of the book at http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
- a CD with the source tarballs on it and a liveCD to get the machine booting
- an ethernet connection with a static IP assigned (to make it a little easier)
2. Build a LAMP server entirely from source (and keep the source directories around for proof)
3. Progress points for:
- a bootable machine
- a pingable machine
- a static web page
- a dynamic page
- a dynamic page with data from a database
I'm old enough - probably still have a few CueCats in a box in the closet. The CS1504 is different in that it actually works (very well), uses a laser instead of that cheap CueCat sensor, and doesn't have to be tethered to a computer while you're scanning things. The two aren't in the same league.
You're just confirming my theory that at this point if a geek doesn't already own a GPS, it's that for whatever reason (yours is less humorous than mine) he doesn't care about having one.
First point - if you're reading a geek gift list and it suggests a simple GPS unit, then they don't know what they're talking about. Any real geek is on his thrid GPS by now or else doesn't see the point because he never goes outside.
Second point - none of the geek gift guides I've seen are hardcore geek enough. I'd love to hear other similar ideas (because I've got these two already), but...
Item #1: a Symbol CS1504 handheld barcode scanner (around $100). No significant instructions included or software beyond drivers, and it comes in a plain brown box. It's the size of keyfob car remotes and has memory so you scan stuff then hook it up to your computer later and download what it scanned - once you write the software to do that of course. Kept me entertained for months and now I've written Java code to support it and lookup UPS and ISBN codes.
Item #2: The Pickit2 starter kit from Microchip ($50 direct). Nothing says geek more than programming little extremely cheap microprocessors in assembly language to flash LEDs in sequence. This kit gives you everything you need to get you started in doing just that, and is a gateway gift for future geek paraphernalia like breadboards and electronic parts - nobody else will have a clue what all that stuff is, but at least it's all pretty cheap. Throw in a subscription to "Nuts and Volts" magazine and he'll have geek pr0n all year long. If you play your cards right next year you'll have all sorts of blinky geek ornaments to hang on the tree.
Both of these gift ideas have an extremely high geek fun to price ratio. What I'm looking for is other ideas like this.
I think it would hit home a lot more if bloggers and technical sites called Windows Vista for what it really is: Windows MPAA edition. It wasn't written for consumers, it was written to satisfy the DRM requirements of the MPAA to be fed to consumers. All that DRM down in the driver level is what is slowing it down.
Good! If I had my way they'd also turn on downresing or blocking for non HDMI connections right away. That way they'd annoy enough customers that maybe we could get on to a more consumer friendly format right away after both HD-DVD and BluRay go the way of the Divx DVD players did. As much as BluRay is being touted as the probable winner of this format war, keep in mind that HD-DVD at least has managed copy in the spec while BluRay does not.
Sooner or later all DRM companies are going to shut off content people thought they owned.
Microsoft will simply say that your out of luck and what are you going to going to do about it.
Steve Jobs would announce that the devoted will now be able to buy all their content over again, but it'll be even cooler this time (and the crowd will cheer him over it).
Google says "oops, our bad, here's a refund. In fact here's a DOUBLE refund".
I think you're close to the mark, but just missed it. I'm sure every one of those upgrade certificates have been counted as a sale of Vista, but of all the machines sold with those certificates what percent do you think actually got the upgrade discs, and of those what percentage do you think actually broke the shrink wrap on the discs? Look around your office, what percentage of the folks you see would actually perform a system upgrade like that?
This is a bad idea on Microsoft's part. The best possibility for a good user experience for Vista is for a clean install. The only good option now is to reformat the hard disk, do a clean XP install, and then do a Vista upgrade install, but most people will forgo the clean XP install and upgrade to Vista from an XP system which has been mucked with, had software installed over, and probably picked up some malware. It'd be better for Microsoft in the long run if they encouraged clean installs even for upgrades.
I'm no fan of Zune, but what this tells me is that Sony and Universal think their music sucks so bad that after you've heard it no more than 3 times in 3 days you'll have heard it enough and won't want to purchase it. Doesn't that say a lot about what they think of the quality of their product?
As a person who is now 40 years old and grew up in the New York area, when I was young here are the things we found inspirational about science:
1. The Concorde 2. Star Trek 3. The World Trade Towers 4. The Space Shuttle (a little later)
Now 30ish years later:
1. Concorde retired without a replacement 2. No Star Trek 3. No World Trade Towers 4. Space Shuttle limping along and about to be retired without an obvious replacement 5. To be fair, we had Battlestar Galactica both times, and now people pay me to play with computers all day long.
So you tell me exactly what young people have got for inspriation in science these days? Personally I think that space based science fiction is such an important inspiration that if there isn't enough of it on TV the government should seriously consider grants to encourage it.
>Then I move onto buses.
And if he mentions either ISA or MicroChannel busses, you immediatly get up and trade chairs with him and continue the interview...
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Since pain sticks weren't available for his initiation he had to settle for brain freeze.
Get Valentino Braitenberg's book "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology". Vehicles are his term for robots. It starts very simple and builds to great stuff. It's a great book which is amazingly short though it took me months to read it because I'd read a page or two then spend a few days thinking about it. I can't recommend it enough.
Since back then I spent a lot of time waiting for disks to copy, I would go through the disk copy program executables and replace a character in the "press any key to continue" type prompt with a BEL character so it would beep. That way I could do other stuff and not have to sit and watch for it.
Back in the mid 80's (the dark days of DOS) I had a habit of looking through executable code with the Norton hex editor. One day I came across the string "Nosey, aren't you." I thought it was pretty funny. In terms of the code I write, sometimes just something cute in the comments. Once when looping through some records I put a comment "these aren't the recORDIDS you're looking for, move along!" Probably nobody got a chuckle but me...
My favorite real idea for a class would be: 1. here's a box of:
- parts sufficient to build a computer
- a printout of the book at http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
- a CD with the source tarballs on it and a liveCD to get the machine booting
- an ethernet connection with a static IP assigned (to make it a little easier)
2. Build a LAMP server entirely from source (and keep the source directories around for proof)
3. Progress points for:
- a bootable machine
- a pingable machine
- a static web page
- a dynamic page
- a dynamic page with data from a database
That should be about right...
Imagine my surprise when near our new house we spotted wild turkeys up in the branches of trees. After WKRP we all thought that was impossible...
In charge of Hollywood?
Just kidding, don't take me seriously...
I'm old enough - probably still have a few CueCats in a box in the closet. The CS1504 is different in that it actually works (very well), uses a laser instead of that cheap CueCat sensor, and doesn't have to be tethered to a computer while you're scanning things. The two aren't in the same league.
You're just confirming my theory that at this point if a geek doesn't already own a GPS, it's that for whatever reason (yours is less humorous than mine) he doesn't care about having one.
First point - if you're reading a geek gift list and it suggests a simple GPS unit, then they don't know what they're talking about. Any real geek is on his thrid GPS by now or else doesn't see the point because he never goes outside.
Second point - none of the geek gift guides I've seen are hardcore geek enough. I'd love to hear other similar ideas (because I've got these two already), but...
Item #1: a Symbol CS1504 handheld barcode scanner (around $100). No significant instructions included or software beyond drivers, and it comes in a plain brown box. It's the size of keyfob car remotes and has memory so you scan stuff then hook it up to your computer later and download what it scanned - once you write the software to do that of course. Kept me entertained for months and now I've written Java code to support it and lookup UPS and ISBN codes.
Item #2: The Pickit2 starter kit from Microchip ($50 direct). Nothing says geek more than programming little extremely cheap microprocessors in assembly language to flash LEDs in sequence. This kit gives you everything you need to get you started in doing just that, and is a gateway gift for future geek paraphernalia like breadboards and electronic parts - nobody else will have a clue what all that stuff is, but at least it's all pretty cheap. Throw in a subscription to "Nuts and Volts" magazine and he'll have geek pr0n all year long. If you play your cards right next year you'll have all sorts of blinky geek ornaments to hang on the tree.
Both of these gift ideas have an extremely high geek fun to price ratio. What I'm looking for is other ideas like this.
I think it would hit home a lot more if bloggers and technical sites called Windows Vista for what it really is: Windows MPAA edition. It wasn't written for consumers, it was written to satisfy the DRM requirements of the MPAA to be fed to consumers. All that DRM down in the driver level is what is slowing it down.
Good! If I had my way they'd also turn on downresing or blocking for non HDMI connections right away. That way they'd annoy enough customers that maybe we could get on to a more consumer friendly format right away after both HD-DVD and BluRay go the way of the Divx DVD players did. As much as BluRay is being touted as the probable winner of this format war, keep in mind that HD-DVD at least has managed copy in the spec while BluRay does not.
Here are some things you can track:
- obsolete accounts archived/deleted
- phone passwords changed
- exit interviews logged
Sooner or later all DRM companies are going to shut off content people thought they owned.
Microsoft will simply say that your out of luck and what are you going to going to do about it.
Steve Jobs would announce that the devoted will now be able to buy all their content over again, but it'll be even cooler this time (and the crowd will cheer him over it).
Google says "oops, our bad, here's a refund. In fact here's a DOUBLE refund".
Wow, tough room today - usually this would have been modded +5 funny by now...
Think cloud of mosquitos, all annoying you and trying to suck you dry...
Once we've worked out how copyright enforcement won't infringe on my fair use rights, then I'll be happy to talk about protecting your rights.
I think you're close to the mark, but just missed it. I'm sure every one of those upgrade certificates have been counted as a sale of Vista, but of all the machines sold with those certificates what percent do you think actually got the upgrade discs, and of those what percentage do you think actually broke the shrink wrap on the discs? Look around your office, what percentage of the folks you see would actually perform a system upgrade like that?
On Ebay...
When your machine room starts doing a gregorian chant...
This is a bad idea on Microsoft's part. The best possibility for a good user experience for Vista is for a clean install. The only good option now is to reformat the hard disk, do a clean XP install, and then do a Vista upgrade install, but most people will forgo the clean XP install and upgrade to Vista from an XP system which has been mucked with, had software installed over, and probably picked up some malware. It'd be better for Microsoft in the long run if they encouraged clean installs even for upgrades.
I'm no fan of Zune, but what this tells me is that Sony and Universal think their music sucks so bad that after you've heard it no more than 3 times in 3 days you'll have heard it enough and won't want to purchase it. Doesn't that say a lot about what they think of the quality of their product?
As a person who is now 40 years old and grew up in the New York area, when I was young here are the things we found inspirational about science:
1. The Concorde
2. Star Trek
3. The World Trade Towers
4. The Space Shuttle (a little later)
Now 30ish years later:
1. Concorde retired without a replacement
2. No Star Trek
3. No World Trade Towers
4. Space Shuttle limping along and about to be retired without an obvious replacement
5. To be fair, we had Battlestar Galactica both times, and now people pay me to play with computers all day long.
So you tell me exactly what young people have got for inspriation in science these days? Personally I think that space based science fiction is such an important inspiration that if there isn't enough of it on TV the government should seriously consider grants to encourage it.
>Then I move onto buses. And if he mentions either ISA or MicroChannel busses, you immediatly get up and trade chairs with him and continue the interview...