Programming greatly helped me go through many school subjects – Of course, including math and physics, but even to much better understand the importance of grammar.
Being able to program the procedures the teacher gave us, and play with the variables, graph the results and so on helped me understand a lot.
Apple products are liberating, Microsoft products are painstaking.
Last time I read this definition of liberation, it was regarding freedom fighters toppling non-US-friendly governments or some such nonsense. Apple is as liberating as handcuffs.
I have long been an advocate of teaching computing at school — hell, I'm sure I'm not the only one in this forum that started off with programming over 25 years ago, in what seemed a trivial thing back then but definitively changed my life!
But the main reason to teach computing is IMO *not* to create more, better programmers, graduated earlier. It should be a core subject of study, just as algebra, philosophy, natural sciences or language.
Programming teaches kids a different way to think, to look at a problem, to form and to transmit the solution — Thinking algorithmically. Programming will also greatly help a kid be more profficient at math, physics or chemistry. Programming can also help kids understand language (i.e. grammar — I understood better many concepts after learning the basics of compilers!)
I must disagree with your comment. Maybe *some* (self-proclaimed?) hackers don't care about such studies. But at the several conferences I have been to (including, yes, many DebConfs, where I met her over eight years ago) there is usually interest and empathy with people doing various social analysis on us, or sharing with us their research.
We have had several anthropologists and sociologists, from college students to holding doctorates, making interviews or presenting their studies and work. There is always, sure, people who are not interested. But they are often most welcome.
Oh, and about the hacker stereotype: I have been an Emacs user for longer than many people here have been alive (first used it in 1983; I was born in 1976). I even am bearded and long-haired (but I do shower every day! Two at most! More than once a week!) But I learn to use and love Emacs' org-mode thanks to another anthropologist friend whom I met while he was studying our group in 2009.
Well, I happen to have been studied by her to some degree — As a Debian Developer who met her several times over the years. I don't know (and I did read the article — Sorry for breaking Slashdot customary ways!) why the article says she spent three years studying hackers... No! She has spent at least eight, probably more. And from knowing her personally, I know that she is also more deeply involved with the "hacker scene" (or hacker ethos, or hacker ways, or whatever) than myself. Which is not a little feat.
Clearly by the time I met her (eight years ago, in DebConf 4 in Brazil) she was by far not a novice, she clearly knew her work and had a very good model of our group. I have written some academic work on the hacker culture, and she is an inevitable quote. Other colleagues, more social scientists than hackers, also recognize the importance, truthfulness and insight of her work.
So, right, I have to fully, completely disagree with your assessment on a person who only spent 3 fricking years (as she put it "researching") comes out with her "immense knowledge" of the hacker subculture.
I have done my fair share of book editting... Even the painful work of adjusting LaTeX output to the likes of a more usual, InDesign user. In the end, I agree, the result is worth all the effort — And it's trivial to spot books that have had this part of the editorial process and those that were hastily printed. I have done very few ebook-style work, but... this is just impossible to translate there. And by ebook I mean the native formats (i.e.MOBI, EPUB). not the electronic-but-for-print versions (i.e. PDF) – A PDF is the description of printed pages, so if you don't make the editorial work, it's because of laziness. And it is trivial to spot. But on native formats.. You just don't have the control it takes. A reader might prefer big text, another small text, a third one will want reading in landscape. Those books will also be often read from a "regular" computer screen. Even if you include the fonts in your files, the actual flow is not something you can control. It's basically the same as HTML — On identical hardware and preferences, two different browsers will render two different (but similar) pages. What you *can* (and should!) control is having a clear, concise, coherent style for the semantically-important bits of text (section/subsection/etc, emphasis, code snippets, etc). But that's basically as far as you can get.
Adding my own to the experiences mentioned above — I live in Mexico. My Raspberry took just over a week to arrive home. Yes, I had originally ordered one when everybody rushed to them, and then cancelled as it seemed it would never arrive, but as soon as the eager hackers got their hands on the first run of boards, it got easier for the rest of us.
Drug posession and use were decriminalized in Mexico (where I live) in 2009. *All* drugs. However, growing and selling them is not legal, and is criminal. What does this mean?
If I am found carrying or smoking a pot cigarrette (or injecting a heroine dose, or whatever), I am not a criminal — I might be a candidate for psychiatric help at some institutions, yes (most probably if I'm a reincident), but not going to jail. If I have 60 pot plants at home, i am not only doing something illegal, but a criminal offense. If I have over the allowed dose for personal use, I am (probably?) trying to sell it, and it is a crime.
Not that our situation is ideal. Far from it. I believe full legalization is the only way out. But at least, it shifts the penalization to the real wrongdoers in our current situation.
Well... Remember that the Government (and thus, the State) have a monopoly on the (legal) coercion through force (that is, of the security bodies). If a libertarian does not pay taxes, he is undermining the principles on which most of the society has agreed to function upon, and cannot simply deny to use what taxes give him. A libertarian cannot live (without much effort) without using the government-paid streets. And will probably won't be able to determine which crops from which he buys food are completely free of government-provided subsidies or protection from international competition. And, of course, a long etcetera. Of course, he won't also be able to pay for those goods without paying the sales tax.
So, no, a libertarian cannot (again, without too much effort to it) completely stay out of using tax-derived services and consuming taxed goods. Right now, all they can do is to complain about it.
The good thing about this is that you have been proven wrong already. The content industries (WTF?) report that illegal copying has grown to previously unimagined levels in the last two decades, but new published creations have grown also beyond predictions.
Authors do not necessarily get any prejudice from this — Part of this new creations are published using novel retribution schemes, such as direct payments, micropayments, etc. Many authors have embraced Creative Commons-like licensing.
If you understand Spanish, I invite you to listen to an interview with Rogerio Azcárraga, the owner of Orfeón, which basically manages all popular music distribution in Mexico. I found it really interesting — And chilling, how he speaks proudly about his business, but basically equates the work of the artists that work with him to selling... boxes of tomatos. And he also makes it clear how benefits for works recorded 50, 70 years ago (and still under copyright for many decades to come) are of benefit for him and his family, not for the creators (i.e. he speaks about Consuelito Velázquez, the author of many songs including world-hit "Bésame mucho", who died in 2005 — "My great-grandchildren will still live off her work")
I might not be a great expert on the topic - but being an urban cyclism fan and convinced user, having the bike as my main means of transportation for over five years now, I can tell you that no matter how expert you are — you will have a fall at some point. I was recently reading that, for well-seasoned cyclists, it's one small fall a year on average, and one that can mean dangerous injuries if not reacted upon quickly every five years. I don't have the bibliography handy, sorry. So far, I'm faring quite close to this study. I have been hit once by a (slowly, thankfully) moving car, and have had three or four falls. And, yes, I am wearing my third helmet. I exchanged the first one after falling - It seemed in good state, but I recall having bumped my head against the ground, and it usually means its inner structure is not so sound. When the car hit me, my helmet was really broken in two. I remember, yes, the bump — But I would not regard it as something serious. When I took the helmet off, I was really surprised. Were it not for the helmet, I might not be happily writing as I am now. So, for me, the helmet is indispensable, even for a two block ride. It has probably saved my life - or at least, it has saved me from a much worse accdent.
Brazil is even the United States of America. And so is Mexico. Brazil's official name is Estados Unidos do Brasil, and Mexico's is Estados Unidos Mexicanos — and they are both located in America. Yes, America is a continent.
Even Argentina was, for some time, although the name was rather "United Provinces of Argentina". That name has changed, though.
The rules have been created in the last 20 years - that's roughly the period where a viable democracy has been seriously considered by the government. So, yes, there are many things not to be imitated in Mexico. There are many that are worth checking out. For instance, AFAIK (and I have done my fair bit of reading) the USA's electoral college system is unique in the democratic world, and it is the main responsible that the USA has a two-party system where no third voice is ever heard (and the two important parties tend to lean towards the center, being almost indistinguishable between them).
A 100-year-old dual party system is not what I'd call democracy either;-)
The leftists took over in January 2003. Before 2003, Brazil's economy was just average, being the giant poor country. After Lula da Silva's two periods and half of Dilma Roussef's first, Brazil is *the* Latin American giant. Its currency is the strongest in the region, and its GNP growth is unrivalled. So, "punishing success" and this "change in policy" that is yet to show up in economic numbers... I'm sorry, you are somewhat mistaken.
*but* if you were contacted by the government of Mozambique, where you happen to have a regional office, notifying that one of your files is in violation of their electoral laws... You can either block that file for Mozambique, or remove that file until it's no longer in violation of their laws, or close down your Mozambique operations and claim you have nothing at stake there. Google *has* Brazilian offices, and they were notified in due time of the violation.
In countries where this kind of bans are enacted, private actors are not censored. People are not forbidden to speak their minds. However, *political parties*, being the actors in controversy, are public figures subject to laws. There is another law, at least here in Mexico, that requires groups running political advertisements to clearly identify themselves - This, because in 2006 we had many "black campaign" ads on TV (on a multimillionary contract) that were not "signed" by any identifiable actor, and were clearly campaigning for one of the candidates (against the other strong one).
Right. There are many fundamentally broken things in the USA democracy - Funding and advertising is one of them. Most countries I know of have strict laws regulating who can fund a party, what are the tops for funding - And how can that be spent. Most countries also require a given period (here in Mexico, 72 hours) before the election where no advertising can be made. Campaigning is over, and it should not distract the citizen - This is done in part because of past experiences where i.e. rallies for party X were conducted in areas that would vote for party Y, making it hard for voters to reach the booths.
At six years old, children are usually learning how to read and write, how to make sense of such abstract concepts as numbers, and learning the basics of arithmetics. I doubt they (at least, a good deal of them) are developed enough for the kind of abstraction needed to program. I first learnt programming, though, around age eight. And even if I am often out of the average, in my school we had computer lessons starting at age 10 (that was back in 1986). For that class, we learnt to program in Logo. And yes, the teachers were amazed that I got bored with repetitions of sequences and found the REPEAT construct by *gasp* reading a book. But anyway - Programming teaches a way to structure thought. Formal languages teach how to precisely convey nonambiguous information. Algorithm analisys is the logical next step. So, yes, teaching programming to kids is as important for me as teaching them mathematics, grammar, history, (an introduction to) philosophy, (general bases of) social and natural sciences. And yes, this does not mean Estonian kids will all grow up to be excellent programmers - It only means they will get one more tool to use in their adult life. Maybe many of my fellow students finished highschool and never cared about algebra again. Maybe I'm not worth much in several topics. But the mere fact of being exposed to those topics, regularly and repeatedly, makes your worldview change.
If I need a surgery and have no money to pay for it, a macroeconomist will say that I'm out of the "supply and demand" cycle. However, I might just die. Is that fair? I am a Mexican. I have treated almost all of my medical needs over the past many (10?) years. Many of my friends prefer private healthcare - just for the reasons you mention. Of course, I have not had to wait for months for an urgent surgery (that happens here, of course), and would most likely do it privately. Thankfully, I am in the social strata where I can choose. Most of the time, I can perfectly live with some waiting and hurrying. Many people won't even consider it. Up to them. But I know many, many people that were it not for the socialized medicine would get no alternatives at all. Of course... this does not sadly cover the whole country. The countryside lives in a dramatically different situation, and the supposed universal coverage... does not exist.
Slashdot Mirror
Programming greatly helped me go through many school subjects – Of course, including math and physics, but even to much better understand the importance of grammar.
Being able to program the procedures the teacher gave us, and play with the variables, graph the results and so on helped me understand a lot.
Strange...
Last time I read this definition of liberation, it was regarding freedom fighters toppling non-US-friendly governments or some such nonsense. Apple is as liberating as handcuffs.
I have long been an advocate of teaching computing at school — hell, I'm sure I'm not the only one in this forum that started off with programming over 25 years ago, in what seemed a trivial thing back then but definitively changed my life!
But the main reason to teach computing is IMO *not* to create more, better programmers, graduated earlier. It should be a core subject of study, just as algebra, philosophy, natural sciences or language.
Programming teaches kids a different way to think, to look at a problem, to form and to transmit the solution — Thinking algorithmically. Programming will also greatly help a kid be more profficient at math, physics or chemistry. Programming can also help kids understand language (i.e. grammar — I understood better many concepts after learning the basics of compilers!)
Some months ago, I published a short article on the subject, you might be interested in reading it if you understand Spanish (Programación en la escuela: Para qué?), or if you trust enough Google Translate (Programming at school: What for?)
I must disagree with your comment. Maybe *some* (self-proclaimed?) hackers don't care about such studies. But at the several conferences I have been to (including, yes, many DebConfs, where I met her over eight years ago) there is usually interest and empathy with people doing various social analysis on us, or sharing with us their research.
We have had several anthropologists and sociologists, from college students to holding doctorates, making interviews or presenting their studies and work. There is always, sure, people who are not interested. But they are often most welcome.
Oh, and about the hacker stereotype: I have been an Emacs user for longer than many people here have been alive (first used it in 1983; I was born in 1976). I even am bearded and long-haired (but I do shower every day! Two at most! More than once a week!) But I learn to use and love Emacs' org-mode thanks to another anthropologist friend whom I met while he was studying our group in 2009.
Well, I happen to have been studied by her to some degree — As a Debian Developer who met her several times over the years. I don't know (and I did read the article — Sorry for breaking Slashdot customary ways!) why the article says she spent three years studying hackers... No! She has spent at least eight, probably more. And from knowing her personally, I know that she is also more deeply involved with the "hacker scene" (or hacker ethos, or hacker ways, or whatever) than myself. Which is not a little feat.
Clearly by the time I met her (eight years ago, in DebConf 4 in Brazil) she was by far not a novice, she clearly knew her work and had a very good model of our group. I have written some academic work on the hacker culture, and she is an inevitable quote. Other colleagues, more social scientists than hackers, also recognize the importance, truthfulness and insight of her work.
So, right, I have to fully, completely disagree with your assessment on a person who only spent 3 fricking years (as she put it "researching") comes out with her "immense knowledge" of the hacker subculture.
I have done my fair share of book editting... Even the painful work of adjusting LaTeX output to the likes of a more usual, InDesign user. In the end, I agree, the result is worth all the effort — And it's trivial to spot books that have had this part of the editorial process and those that were hastily printed.
I have done very few ebook-style work, but... this is just impossible to translate there. And by ebook I mean the native formats (i.e.MOBI, EPUB). not the electronic-but-for-print versions (i.e. PDF) – A PDF is the description of printed pages, so if you don't make the editorial work, it's because of laziness. And it is trivial to spot.
But on native formats.. You just don't have the control it takes. A reader might prefer big text, another small text, a third one will want reading in landscape. Those books will also be often read from a "regular" computer screen. Even if you include the fonts in your files, the actual flow is not something you can control. It's basically the same as HTML — On identical hardware and preferences, two different browsers will render two different (but similar) pages.
What you *can* (and should!) control is having a clear, concise, coherent style for the semantically-important bits of text (section/subsection/etc, emphasis, code snippets, etc). But that's basically as far as you can get.
Adding my own to the experiences mentioned above — I live in Mexico. My Raspberry took just over a week to arrive home. Yes, I had originally ordered one when everybody rushed to them, and then cancelled as it seemed it would never arrive, but as soon as the eager hackers got their hands on the first run of boards, it got easier for the rest of us.
Drug posession and use were decriminalized in Mexico (where I live) in 2009. *All* drugs. However, growing and selling them is not legal, and is criminal. What does this mean?
If I am found carrying or smoking a pot cigarrette (or injecting a heroine dose, or whatever), I am not a criminal — I might be a candidate for psychiatric help at some institutions, yes (most probably if I'm a reincident), but not going to jail.
If I have 60 pot plants at home, i am not only doing something illegal, but a criminal offense.
If I have over the allowed dose for personal use, I am (probably?) trying to sell it, and it is a crime.
Not that our situation is ideal. Far from it. I believe full legalization is the only way out. But at least, it shifts the penalization to the real wrongdoers in our current situation.
Well... Remember that the Government (and thus, the State) have a monopoly on the (legal) coercion through force (that is, of the security bodies). If a libertarian does not pay taxes, he is undermining the principles on which most of the society has agreed to function upon, and cannot simply deny to use what taxes give him. A libertarian cannot live (without much effort) without using the government-paid streets. And will probably won't be able to determine which crops from which he buys food are completely free of government-provided subsidies or protection from international competition. And, of course, a long etcetera. Of course, he won't also be able to pay for those goods without paying the sales tax.
So, no, a libertarian cannot (again, without too much effort to it) completely stay out of using tax-derived services and consuming taxed goods. Right now, all they can do is to complain about it.
What does it mean? "Go through the SS twice"?
Being both island nations with no notion of land borders, the UK name makes some more sense...
The good thing about this is that you have been proven wrong already. The content industries (WTF?) report that illegal copying has grown to previously unimagined levels in the last two decades, but new published creations have grown also beyond predictions.
Authors do not necessarily get any prejudice from this — Part of this new creations are published using novel retribution schemes, such as direct payments, micropayments, etc. Many authors have embraced Creative Commons-like licensing.
If you understand Spanish, I invite you to listen to an interview with Rogerio Azcárraga, the owner of Orfeón, which basically manages all popular music distribution in Mexico. I found it really interesting — And chilling, how he speaks proudly about his business, but basically equates the work of the artists that work with him to selling... boxes of tomatos. And he also makes it clear how benefits for works recorded 50, 70 years ago (and still under copyright for many decades to come) are of benefit for him and his family, not for the creators (i.e. he speaks about Consuelito Velázquez, the author of many songs including world-hit "Bésame mucho", who died in 2005 — "My great-grandchildren will still live off her work")
I might not be a great expert on the topic - but being an urban cyclism fan and convinced user, having the bike as my main means of transportation for over five years now, I can tell you that no matter how expert you are — you will have a fall at some point. I was recently reading that, for well-seasoned cyclists, it's one small fall a year on average, and one that can mean dangerous injuries if not reacted upon quickly every five years. I don't have the bibliography handy, sorry.
So far, I'm faring quite close to this study. I have been hit once by a (slowly, thankfully) moving car, and have had three or four falls. And, yes, I am wearing my third helmet. I exchanged the first one after falling - It seemed in good state, but I recall having bumped my head against the ground, and it usually means its inner structure is not so sound. When the car hit me, my helmet was really broken in two. I remember, yes, the bump — But I would not regard it as something serious. When I took the helmet off, I was really surprised. Were it not for the helmet, I might not be happily writing as I am now.
So, for me, the helmet is indispensable, even for a two block ride. It has probably saved my life - or at least, it has saved me from a much worse accdent.
Bummer, so it's just Mexico now :-/ Brazil was "Estados Unidos do Brasil" between 1889 and 1968, when the military seized power. Thanks, Wikipedia.
Anyway, please continue playing. Oh — But Brazil continues to be America, no way to get that revised!
But it is!
Brazil is even the United States of America. And so is Mexico. Brazil's official name is Estados Unidos do Brasil, and Mexico's is Estados Unidos Mexicanos — and they are both located in America. Yes, America is a continent.
Even Argentina was, for some time, although the name was rather "United Provinces of Argentina". That name has changed, though.
The rules have been created in the last 20 years - that's roughly the period where a viable democracy has been seriously considered by the government. So, yes, there are many things not to be imitated in Mexico. There are many that are worth checking out. For instance, AFAIK (and I have done my fair bit of reading) the USA's electoral college system is unique in the democratic world, and it is the main responsible that the USA has a two-party system where no third voice is ever heard (and the two important parties tend to lean towards the center, being almost indistinguishable between them).
A 100-year-old dual party system is not what I'd call democracy either ;-)
The leftists took over in January 2003. Before 2003, Brazil's economy was just average, being the giant poor country. After Lula da Silva's two periods and half of Dilma Roussef's first, Brazil is *the* Latin American giant. Its currency is the strongest in the region, and its GNP growth is unrivalled. So, "punishing success" and this "change in policy" that is yet to show up in economic numbers... I'm sorry, you are somewhat mistaken.
*but* if you were contacted by the government of Mozambique, where you happen to have a regional office, notifying that one of your files is in violation of their electoral laws... You can either block that file for Mozambique, or remove that file until it's no longer in violation of their laws, or close down your Mozambique operations and claim you have nothing at stake there. Google *has* Brazilian offices, and they were notified in due time of the violation.
In countries where this kind of bans are enacted, private actors are not censored. People are not forbidden to speak their minds. However, *political parties*, being the actors in controversy, are public figures subject to laws.
There is another law, at least here in Mexico, that requires groups running political advertisements to clearly identify themselves - This, because in 2006 we had many "black campaign" ads on TV (on a multimillionary contract) that were not "signed" by any identifiable actor, and were clearly campaigning for one of the candidates (against the other strong one).
Right. There are many fundamentally broken things in the USA democracy - Funding and advertising is one of them. Most countries I know of have strict laws regulating who can fund a party, what are the tops for funding - And how can that be spent. Most countries also require a given period (here in Mexico, 72 hours) before the election where no advertising can be made. Campaigning is over, and it should not distract the citizen - This is done in part because of past experiences where i.e. rallies for party X were conducted in areas that would vote for party Y, making it hard for voters to reach the booths.
Since July, at least according to kuviajes.
I don't know if they even had to wait for him to die... But he has been at the Mexican House of Wax for many months already.
At six years old, children are usually learning how to read and write, how to make sense of such abstract concepts as numbers, and learning the basics of arithmetics. I doubt they (at least, a good deal of them) are developed enough for the kind of abstraction needed to program.
I first learnt programming, though, around age eight. And even if I am often out of the average, in my school we had computer lessons starting at age 10 (that was back in 1986). For that class, we learnt to program in Logo. And yes, the teachers were amazed that I got bored with repetitions of sequences and found the REPEAT construct by *gasp* reading a book.
But anyway - Programming teaches a way to structure thought. Formal languages teach how to precisely convey nonambiguous information. Algorithm analisys is the logical next step. So, yes, teaching programming to kids is as important for me as teaching them mathematics, grammar, history, (an introduction to) philosophy, (general bases of) social and natural sciences.
And yes, this does not mean Estonian kids will all grow up to be excellent programmers - It only means they will get one more tool to use in their adult life. Maybe many of my fellow students finished highschool and never cared about algebra again. Maybe I'm not worth much in several topics. But the mere fact of being exposed to those topics, regularly and repeatedly, makes your worldview change.
MacPaint was only available in black and white in 1985 (and until the advent of the Macintosh II)
If I need a surgery and have no money to pay for it, a macroeconomist will say that I'm out of the "supply and demand" cycle. However, I might just die. Is that fair?
I am a Mexican. I have treated almost all of my medical needs over the past many (10?) years. Many of my friends prefer private healthcare - just for the reasons you mention. Of course, I have not had to wait for months for an urgent surgery (that happens here, of course), and would most likely do it privately.
Thankfully, I am in the social strata where I can choose. Most of the time, I can perfectly live with some waiting and hurrying. Many people won't even consider it. Up to them. But I know many, many people that were it not for the socialized medicine would get no alternatives at all.
Of course... this does not sadly cover the whole country. The countryside lives in a dramatically different situation, and the supposed universal coverage... does not exist.