"It's the energy of a bus moving at a normal velocity," De Rujula says.
So imagine a bus rolling along -- which has something like 10,000 trillion, trillion particles -- but transfer all that energy into one single particle.
There will actually be a beam of protons; a whole fleet of subatomic particles, each carrying the energy of a bus.
In other words, the grandparent just mis-remembered the story, or didn't realize how important the distinction could be when talking physics . . .
Umm . . . from wikipedia article it sounds like she gained prominence mainly since her mastery of classical seemed to cover such a wide range.
So, to answer your question, I would guess that the original performers did all have brilliant performances, but none gained prominence - sort of like one shot wonders in the classical world. I wouldn't expect anyone to have memorized them, even if they were great performances . . .
I've heard this complaint before, and I've thought similar things myself (I used a TI-85 through high school and my engineering undergrad), but I've never heard such sentiments from those who started with a 92 or an 89.
I think part of it is you become so familiar with one interface, that it becomes harder to learn the 89 or 92, and in general, the learning curve isn't worth it, especially for those who get the math. The capabilities of the higher end TI's to do symbolic algebra and things are nice on paper, but in general, they're also the kind of things that are just as easy to do by hand.
Most of the people I've seen using the 89/92, the damn thing becomes a crutch - they don't learn how to do the actual math, just push buttons . . .
Really? I read at a high threshold, so I see plenty of comments that have been modded up with "Kisses karma goodbye" or similar thoughts, but I doubt it's a sure fire way to get modded up . . .
I would hazard a guess that there are plenty of comments with low scores that have used the line, and have never really seen the light of day . . .
Umm . . . considering that the site is aimed at "VARs and technology integrators," I'd say the wording is totally appropriate.
As stated in the Wikipedia article on VARs, these people are making money by offering services. For their audience, the idea that "the product unquestionably brings new features and capabilities to solution providers that in turn promise new revenue generation dialogues with end users" is one of the key measures of a good product . . . their audience is looking to make money, and diversifying revenue streams is something that most are probably interested in . . .
I'm surprised that none of the comments mentioning graphing calculators has been moderated highly.
While I'm not sure what options are available on newer calcs, I know on my trusty old TI-85 using TI Basic, we did a fair amount of programming. By we, I mean I had the good fortune to be in the advanced math classes in high school, and some of our assignments involved writing simple programs (i.e. factoring, quadratic formula, etc).
I remember that we'd discuss as a class how to write the program, with my teacher writing pseduo-code on the board. He gave us a brief intro to how to do inputs, use variables, and do output, and then we turned us loose, where we were free to work alone, groups, whatever for a few class periods. Granted, there were some students who'd just copy programs from others, but I'd say the vast majority learned about programming (and the math skills that are mentioned in the article) . . . Not bad for public schooling . . .
The other nice thing about this was being able to read other's code - there are plenty of resources to get TI Basic programs, and reading through the code helped me learn about new features and things (some unique to the TI, others that were just functions, algorithms, etc).
That seems like an awfully good ping time to Google. The distance from LA to NYC is about 3940 km, which means a single (one-way) trip is around 13 milliseconds, meaning your ping times are around 90 ms . . . whereas mine are closer to 27 trips from LA to NYC at the speed of light . . .
Your examples of the Atari 800 and then algebra seem to suggest to ne that the main issue with technology in the classroom is that currently, technology isn't being used effectively.
I know I posted a similiar comment years ago (that I can't find) on another thread over here about calculators and education. The main point was that while people rant about students not learning basic math skills and calculators being crutches, by argument was that calculators allow you to push the bounds (mainly in reference to graphing calculators). For example, if I want a student to learn what the coefficients in general forms of parabolic equations do to the x-y plots (i.e. y=ax^2 + bx + c), then graphing calculators can be great. A worksheet suggesting you plot, change a variable, plot, sketch, etc would be the most basic way to do this. Another method would be to write a simple program that plots some points on the graph, and studets have to determine values of a, b, and c such that the graph intersects those points.
But I digress, the point is that while technology can be a hindrance, there are also many ways it can be used effectively. The difficulty is that many of these uses require paradigm shifts. In the currnet context of most schools using Prussian education systems, laptops probably won't work. I would guess that laptops could more effectively be integrated into Montessori or maybe Maharishi. Granted, neither of these solutions scales well.
The other issues is teacher training - paradigm shifts require teachers who are willing to take risks, and also to learn along with their students. I've seen too many teachers afraid to use technology because they're afraid of something going wrong in front of students, and losing their authority, or just not willing to learn it. And of course, there are plenty of traditionalists who thinkg things have gone well enough without tech, so why learn it now? (And sometimes this argument holds merit - tech isn't a magic bullet.)
In general, technology allows students to explore things deeper - PowerPoint could be used to explore outline structures, information presentation, graphic design, etc in a practical, applied manor, but it's not going to teach the basics . . .
Studying doesn't really help with TopCoder - it's a timed, algorithms contest. You have to be able to implement solutions to three problems (easy, medium, and hard), that are then peer-reviewed, before being tested, in a relatively small time window (90 minutes I think?). Think the ACM contest, but shorter time, and no teams . . .
The hard problem from this year's final was:
We want to build a new phone network between numPoints points. A number of possible cables is available to construct the network. Each of the cables connects two of the points and has an associated quality and cost. We want to select a number of these cables such that:
1) All the points are connected to each other, either directly or via other points.
and
2) The quality/cost ratio (i.e., the sum of the qualities divided by the sum of the costs) is as high as possible.
What is the best achievable ratio? If it is impossible to connect all the points, return -1.
The available cables are described by a String[] cables. Each element of cables consists of four integers separated by single spaces. The first two integers describe the two points connected by the cable. The third integer describes the quality of the cable and the fourth integer describes its cost.
Solution and discussion for this and the other two problems are here.
To get to the finals, you have to qualify through a series of online matches. Only 48 advanced to the onsite competition, so holding it the same weekend as DefCon wouldn't help . . .
As for the bit about prizes, there's a significant purse ($20k was the top prize.) And you wouldn't spend money to get to the finals - if you qualify, they pay up to $1,500 per participant in travel costs, provide accomodations, etc. A few years ago, they even paid for a guest to accompany you. I'm not sure if they've figured something out, but in past years, the foreigners had to play for charity as TopCoder couldn't legal give them the purse.
You're missing the point . . . the initial target market for these self-cooling cans will be people like campers, who don't really want to carry a cooler full of ice. It might get to the point that backpackers could carry a few cans with them, rather than resorting to flasks of liquor . . .
Sure there'll be a premium, but they're hoping that there will be people willing to pay that premium for the convenience . . .
I was an engineering student, but the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) at my alma mater requires laptops. System requirements vary - architecture and design programs all require Macs. My step-sister is a current student in the program, and when she started (fall of 2002), the students were all required to buy the same laptop, and had to wait till school started - apparently the school had negotiated a bulk price that had to be executed at one time. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
I haven't heard any complaints from my step-sister. She was required to get Adobe Creative Suite, Form Z, and some other software, but it was all under student pricing.
When I was an undergrad, DAAP students were the kids who you'd never see because they were constantly in studio and pulling all nighters. It seems things don't change much, as my stepsister is constantly working on stuff. Even during the holidays when the family was all home for break, she'd be using her laptop and working on projects.
My stepsister's figured out how to work the support issue - there's an Apple store in the local mall, so students tend to take their laptops in, and they all have Apple care plans. Admittedly, she's figured out how to work the store reps (usually through her feminine charms) so that she's on her third PowerBook, getting her first one replaced for some wireless and dead pixel issues, and I'm not sure how she talked them into replacting her TiBook for an AlBook . . .
Support is also addressed by the fact that every student has a laptop, so there's a lot of knowledge sharing in the studio and the dorms among students . . .
Considering that their fundraising drive is looking to get enough subscribers to raise $70,000/month, I'd say that's it not as easy as you would think. (Figure is derived from their fundraising progress bar on their main page.)
They say that royalties, reliable streaming, and staff are their biggest costs - they have real on-air personalities (who'll personally respond to email and play tons of requests), and they provide health insurance.
I love WOXY - Check their history page. I grew up in the Dayton area, so was able to hear them when they were FM. They were featured in Rainman as the cool-radio station because the moviemakers wanted the true, independent station, something that would be similar to KROQ back in the day.
I think the number of comments from fans of WOXY throught this article, point out that they've definitely found something that works - hopefully they can find a business model that will let them continue.
If you don't have the cash to drop on a nice shell, there's also some crazy gloves that are designed so that the wheel will still work through the glove. (Silly marketing tech sheet is here.)
Note: I'm not affiliated with any of the stores I linked to, they were just the first results of a cursory google search . . .
This isn't the same as the original article. The letter from Coulter is an informational letter to parents, telling them that some students are participating in what could be a risky behavior, while the first article was an outright ban . . .
What Coulter is alluding to when he talks about those participating in extracuricular activities is probably along the lines of this. (Article is about students who posted pictures of themselves at a party and drinking, and then had disciplinary action taken against them.)
Interesting point of view here, but the people you're talking to at Fry's are a different market than the one this change affects. From my understanding, the only Nikon's that write NEF/RAW images are the digital SLRs, which Fry's may not even stock.
I do like how you mention that you use a variety of sources to form your opinion, but then you have the example of how you influence sales, and the Focus, which surprise me. If I go into a store and someone tells me that the expensive item I'm going to purchase isn't very good, most likely I'll go and check online, get some more reviews, and make sure their claim isn't anecdotal. One opinion isn't going to keep me away from a product . . . I want a larger sample size.
I think the point is that some people are using mac, while others are using macintosh, when they're grouping their links on del.ico.us or their photos of Flickr. This means that when people want to browse what other people thought were links related to Macs, they'd have to search both terms (http://del.icio.us/tag/macintosh and http://del.icio.us/tag/mac), which defeats the purpose of the meta-grouping that's occurring.
So while your point is valid in that language tends to define itself, in this context, it might be useful if there was some synonym checking. Of course, given enough time, one of the two synomyms would probably become obsolete by itself, this might take a while, and you'd still need to migrate over the previous links from the obsolete category to the one that survived . . .
Hmm . . . I guess I should have prefaced my comments about MLSA by saying it was the Helena office. From my understanding, the Helena office doesn't use any calendaring/scheduling, besides an in/out white board in their reception area. I did forget to mention their use of Jabber and the Exodus client which is GPL software.
My knowledge of their office comes through currently serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA here in Helena, and knowing some of their VISTA members.
As for open source being used in poverty programs in general, the pickings are definitely slim. My project last year was implementing after-school computer labs for kids. While I felt comfortable building the Boys and Girls Club that I did most of my work at a intranet web server, installing LiveJournal's server software on it for their members so that the kids could keep journals in the protected sandbox of the intranet, installed some wiki software for them to play with, etc etc, I do know that it wasn't sustainable as the expertise isn't there at the club. Anyway, if you want to continue this discussion, feel free to e-mail me . . . hairylunch[at]hotmail[dot]com
Well, it's all relative. Missoula is the second largest city in Montana (Billings is the largest with just under 90k). Of course, MT is pretty sparse, with a total population of a little over 902k and a whopping 6.2 people/square mile. In other words, Missoula is large for MT, but small in an absolute sense . ..
Slashdot Mirror
All right, so this may be the joke flying over my head, but since when did the Sun orbit the Earth?
Hmm . . . women fake it all the time . . .
Umm . . . from wikipedia article it sounds like she gained prominence mainly since her mastery of classical seemed to cover such a wide range.
So, to answer your question, I would guess that the original performers did all have brilliant performances, but none gained prominence - sort of like one shot wonders in the classical world. I wouldn't expect anyone to have memorized them, even if they were great performances . . .
I've heard this complaint before, and I've thought similar things myself (I used a TI-85 through high school and my engineering undergrad), but I've never heard such sentiments from those who started with a 92 or an 89.
I think part of it is you become so familiar with one interface, that it becomes harder to learn the 89 or 92, and in general, the learning curve isn't worth it, especially for those who get the math. The capabilities of the higher end TI's to do symbolic algebra and things are nice on paper, but in general, they're also the kind of things that are just as easy to do by hand.
Most of the people I've seen using the 89/92, the damn thing becomes a crutch - they don't learn how to do the actual math, just push buttons . . .
Really? I read at a high threshold, so I see plenty of comments that have been modded up with "Kisses karma goodbye" or similar thoughts, but I doubt it's a sure fire way to get modded up . . .
I would hazard a guess that there are plenty of comments with low scores that have used the line, and have never really seen the light of day . . .
How do you go from 44/90 being greater than 50%?
Umm . . . considering that the site is aimed at "VARs and technology integrators," I'd say the wording is totally appropriate. As stated in the Wikipedia article on VARs, these people are making money by offering services. For their audience, the idea that "the product unquestionably brings new features and capabilities to solution providers that in turn promise new revenue generation dialogues with end users" is one of the key measures of a good product . . . their audience is looking to make money, and diversifying revenue streams is something that most are probably interested in . . .
I'm surprised that none of the comments mentioning graphing calculators has been moderated highly.
While I'm not sure what options are available on newer calcs, I know on my trusty old TI-85 using TI Basic, we did a fair amount of programming. By we, I mean I had the good fortune to be in the advanced math classes in high school, and some of our assignments involved writing simple programs (i.e. factoring, quadratic formula, etc).
I remember that we'd discuss as a class how to write the program, with my teacher writing pseduo-code on the board. He gave us a brief intro to how to do inputs, use variables, and do output, and then we turned us loose, where we were free to work alone, groups, whatever for a few class periods. Granted, there were some students who'd just copy programs from others, but I'd say the vast majority learned about programming (and the math skills that are mentioned in the article) . . . Not bad for public schooling . . .
The other nice thing about this was being able to read other's code - there are plenty of resources to get TI Basic programs, and reading through the code helped me learn about new features and things (some unique to the TI, others that were just functions, algorithms, etc).
That seems like an awfully good ping time to Google. The distance from LA to NYC is about 3940 km, which means a single (one-way) trip is around 13 milliseconds, meaning your ping times are around 90 ms . . . whereas mine are closer to 27 trips from LA to NYC at the speed of light . . .
Your examples of the Atari 800 and then algebra seem to suggest to ne that the main issue with technology in the classroom is that currently, technology isn't being used effectively.
I know I posted a similiar comment years ago (that I can't find) on another thread over here about calculators and education. The main point was that while people rant about students not learning basic math skills and calculators being crutches, by argument was that calculators allow you to push the bounds (mainly in reference to graphing calculators). For example, if I want a student to learn what the coefficients in general forms of parabolic equations do to the x-y plots (i.e. y=ax^2 + bx + c), then graphing calculators can be great. A worksheet suggesting you plot, change a variable, plot, sketch, etc would be the most basic way to do this. Another method would be to write a simple program that plots some points on the graph, and studets have to determine values of a, b, and c such that the graph intersects those points.
But I digress, the point is that while technology can be a hindrance, there are also many ways it can be used effectively. The difficulty is that many of these uses require paradigm shifts. In the currnet context of most schools using Prussian education systems, laptops probably won't work. I would guess that laptops could more effectively be integrated into Montessori or maybe Maharishi. Granted, neither of these solutions scales well.
The other issues is teacher training - paradigm shifts require teachers who are willing to take risks, and also to learn along with their students. I've seen too many teachers afraid to use technology because they're afraid of something going wrong in front of students, and losing their authority, or just not willing to learn it. And of course, there are plenty of traditionalists who thinkg things have gone well enough without tech, so why learn it now? (And sometimes this argument holds merit - tech isn't a magic bullet.)
In general, technology allows students to explore things deeper - PowerPoint could be used to explore outline structures, information presentation, graphic design, etc in a practical, applied manor, but it's not going to teach the basics . . .
Just to touch upon a few of your points.
Studying doesn't really help with TopCoder - it's a timed, algorithms contest. You have to be able to implement solutions to three problems (easy, medium, and hard), that are then peer-reviewed, before being tested, in a relatively small time window (90 minutes I think?). Think the ACM contest, but shorter time, and no teams . . .
The hard problem from this year's final was:
Solution and discussion for this and the other two problems are here.
To get to the finals, you have to qualify through a series of online matches. Only 48 advanced to the onsite competition, so holding it the same weekend as DefCon wouldn't help . . .
As for the bit about prizes, there's a significant purse ($20k was the top prize.) And you wouldn't spend money to get to the finals - if you qualify, they pay up to $1,500 per participant in travel costs, provide accomodations, etc. A few years ago, they even paid for a guest to accompany you. I'm not sure if they've figured something out, but in past years, the foreigners had to play for charity as TopCoder couldn't legal give them the purse.
You're missing the point . . . the initial target market for these self-cooling cans will be people like campers, who don't really want to carry a cooler full of ice. It might get to the point that backpackers could carry a few cans with them, rather than resorting to flasks of liquor . . .
Sure there'll be a premium, but they're hoping that there will be people willing to pay that premium for the convenience . . .
Considering they're only published weekly (Wednesday), that's not really suprising . . .
I haven't heard any complaints from my step-sister. She was required to get Adobe Creative Suite, Form Z, and some other software, but it was all under student pricing.
When I was an undergrad, DAAP students were the kids who you'd never see because they were constantly in studio and pulling all nighters. It seems things don't change much, as my stepsister is constantly working on stuff. Even during the holidays when the family was all home for break, she'd be using her laptop and working on projects.
My stepsister's figured out how to work the support issue - there's an Apple store in the local mall, so students tend to take their laptops in, and they all have Apple care plans. Admittedly, she's figured out how to work the store reps (usually through her feminine charms) so that she's on her third PowerBook, getting her first one replaced for some wireless and dead pixel issues, and I'm not sure how she talked them into replacting her TiBook for an AlBook . . .
Support is also addressed by the fact that every student has a laptop, so there's a lot of knowledge sharing in the studio and the dorms among students . . .
Is this where I get to point out that "nazis" should probably be capitalized? ;)
They say that royalties, reliable streaming, and staff are their biggest costs - they have real on-air personalities (who'll personally respond to email and play tons of requests), and they provide health insurance.
I love WOXY - Check their history page. I grew up in the Dayton area, so was able to hear them when they were FM. They were featured in Rainman as the cool-radio station because the moviemakers wanted the true, independent station, something that would be similar to KROQ back in the day.
I think the number of comments from fans of WOXY throught this article, point out that they've definitely found something that works - hopefully they can find a business model that will let them continue.
Bleh, such a bad solution for skiing . . .
Sunglasses are a poor substitute for a good pair of goggles.
If you really want music while you're on the mountain, lots of helmets now have built in headphones (some of them have Bluetooth as well)
Of course, you need to tap something into the headphones, but there are several ski shells that are designed with iPod's in mind . . . some even have controls built into the sleeves. Hell, there are even ridiculously expensive coats with built in iPods.
If you don't have the cash to drop on a nice shell, there's also some crazy gloves that are designed so that the wheel will still work through the glove. (Silly marketing tech sheet is here.)
Note: I'm not affiliated with any of the stores I linked to, they were just the first results of a cursory google search . . .
This isn't the same as the original article. The letter from Coulter is an informational letter to parents, telling them that some students are participating in what could be a risky behavior, while the first article was an outright ban . . .
What Coulter is alluding to when he talks about those participating in extracuricular activities is probably along the lines of this. (Article is about students who posted pictures of themselves at a party and drinking, and then had disciplinary action taken against them.)
Interesting point of view here, but the people you're talking to at Fry's are a different market than the one this change affects. From my understanding, the only Nikon's that write NEF/RAW images are the digital SLRs, which Fry's may not even stock.
I do like how you mention that you use a variety of sources to form your opinion, but then you have the example of how you influence sales, and the Focus, which surprise me. If I go into a store and someone tells me that the expensive item I'm going to purchase isn't very good, most likely I'll go and check online, get some more reviews, and make sure their claim isn't anecdotal. One opinion isn't going to keep me away from a product . . . I want a larger sample size.
If you're using Virgin Mobile Australia, you could always just use their drunk dial prevention service . . .
As always the case with new's summaries of findings, I was curious as to what the methodology and wording of the questions were . . .
Specific questions, and a break down of the answers are here
I think the point is that some people are using mac, while others are using macintosh, when they're grouping their links on del.ico.us or their photos of Flickr. This means that when people want to browse what other people thought were links related to Macs, they'd have to search both terms (http://del.icio.us/tag/macintosh and http://del.icio.us/tag/mac), which defeats the purpose of the meta-grouping that's occurring.
So while your point is valid in that language tends to define itself, in this context, it might be useful if there was some synonym checking. Of course, given enough time, one of the two synomyms would probably become obsolete by itself, this might take a while, and you'd still need to migrate over the previous links from the obsolete category to the one that survived . . .
Hmm . . . I guess I should have prefaced my comments about MLSA by saying it was the Helena office. From my understanding, the Helena office doesn't use any calendaring/scheduling, besides an in/out white board in their reception area. I did forget to mention their use of Jabber and the Exodus client which is GPL software.
My knowledge of their office comes through currently serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA here in Helena, and knowing some of their VISTA members.
As for open source being used in poverty programs in general, the pickings are definitely slim. My project last year was implementing after-school computer labs for kids. While I felt comfortable building the Boys and Girls Club that I did most of my work at a intranet web server, installing LiveJournal's server software on it for their members so that the kids could keep journals in the protected sandbox of the intranet, installed some wiki software for them to play with, etc etc, I do know that it wasn't sustainable as the expertise isn't there at the club. Anyway, if you want to continue this discussion, feel free to e-mail me . . . hairylunch[at]hotmail[dot]com
Well, it's all relative. Missoula is the second largest city in Montana (Billings is the largest with just under 90k). Of course, MT is pretty sparse, with a total population of a little over 902k and a whopping 6.2 people/square mile. In other words, Missoula is large for MT, but small in an absolute sense . . .
Here's a PDF with Montana cities' populations and ranks.