I'm saying that to produce people who are educated with relevance to the needs of industry today, you need computers (or at least, they are very helpful). Sure Plato was a clever guy, but could he get a good job these days with his qualifications? I would hazard that he couldn't. To produce the sort of people who will bring along the countries economy, you need computers and so on. At least, thats what I think.
Hello. What you say is very true. If you have to teach a subject, you have to know it inside out, so that you can answer questions from you students. I have done it myself a few times, but only unofficially. If they are doing similar in Cambodia, I should think it will be very successful, and also cheap. Third World children are usually a lot more willing to learn and enthusiastic about education than their pampered first world equivalents, because they *know* it is the only way they are going to get anywhere. If only our children had a similar attitude!
They sre building nearly 50 new schools thanks to this method. It sounds like an extension of the 'monitor' system of education developed in India in the 1820's by Dr Andrew Bell (I know this because he founded my old school in Scotland;). The system is that A teacher educates some children, and then the eldest children, who have learned what the teacher has told them, teach the youger children. It is a very cheap and effective method.
I wonder if in Third World countries today this method could be used or even extended upon? These events in Cambodia sound like just the ticket, but they have extended it to even building the schools themselves. But the big problem today is that you need more than just a piece of chalk, a Blackboard and a teacher for a good education, you need to have computers and all sorts of High Tech devices. The only problem is that the only nations that have the education to make these things can get the money to do the education in the first place, so it is like a Catch 22 situation:(
I just don't quite know how third world countries can break into the cycle. See, I am not a global affairs expert!
Hi. My cousin is an MCSE in London, and when he took the exam for his certification, he managed to get all the answers in advance off the World Wide Web! I don't know if this problem is exclusive to MCSE's, but if it isn't, doesn't this problem devalue certification for the honest? I'd really like to know more about this, because I am considering getting a Java Certification from Sun at some stage myself. Thank You!
It's so true. I remember when I very first used Linux, after being in the world of Microsoft and Macintosh for years, and I thought it was really odd and backwards that I had to log in and out all of the time to do simple things! But now I can see that there are lots of advantages. Did you know that there are no viruses for Linux at all (except one that was made as an academic exercise just to show it could be done)?
That is what I like about Linux most of all - its security and stability. Its good when I'm working on my portfolio to not have to fearfullt press the 'save as' button all the time. I wish there were more art programs for it though.
The beauty of the 'I Love You' virus, AFAIK, was not in the program code itself but in the insightful understanding of Human Nature it showed. I know when I recieved one, I opened it (tee hee!) in a fit of curiosity. I really was disappointed though:-(
So they have a history of doing that. I did not know this - the OS/2 saga is slightly before my time, sorry! But it is interesting.
Someone else pointed out that Microsoft can't very well continue these practices now that they are on a legal leash, which seems quite sensible and true to me. It's frightening that the decisions of some executives can impact my little life.Hopefully, out of self interest, they won't mess with WINE or Linux. Thanks!
Thanks very much. Writing documentation seems like a good idea. I can only speak English though, but I suppose there must be developers crying out for documentation writers. And next time I have to buy hardware I will look into the options you suggest (I will need to buy a new printer soon, actually). I will definately have a look at the documentation option though. Thank you again!
Thanks for your most interesting and informative reply, it is great.
1) That really is great news! I am looking forward to the day when Windows programs run faster on Linux, it will be a watershed when this is realised. Perhaps then businesses will migrate over to Linux and gradually start using Linux apps. WINE could be a sort of Trojan horse for Linux.
2)This is good too, and I really should have thought of it. Microsoft can't start saying one thing and doing another now, it is under far too much legal scrutiny.
Deal: you fight the DCMA, and I'll keep working on the kernel, ok?
I haven't been using Linux for very long, but I am already very enthused. I use the platform to work on Java (I am trying to learn it) and the problem is that now I feel guilty all the time. See, I haven't contributed anything to the Linux community at all (though I have convinced a few friends to give it a whirl;), but I would very much like to. I can't code very well (and Java isn't much used in Linux), but perhaps helping a pressure group as you suggest or doing some Graphics work would help. I also feel guilty when I am using Windows or Macintosh (I have one for Graphics reasons), it feels as though I am betraying Linux. Anyhoo, I do want to help.
Microsoft management wouldn't know what to do then, they only know how to play when they get to write the rules.
It would be so great if they were taken down a peg or two. I don't think Microsoft is inherently eveil, it is behaving in the same way that any company would if it were in that position. If Microsoft were just another company then it would be better for everyone. If you ask me, it should be split up into about 4 or 5 smaller companies, that way these companies would be on a par with the rest of the industry, and they would be free to develop for Linux, too, instead of it being taboo.
Hi all! There are a couple of things that I have wondered about the WINE project, and I was wondering if you could enlighten me:
1) Is it true that the WINE project could one day run Windows programs faster than Windows does itself? I would have thought that with the open nature of the program code, it would just get faster and faster until it outstrips Windows itself. If this is true, then it would be great for playing games on;)
2) Is it likely that Microsoft will deliberately try to scupper the WINE project by introducing new API's that are top secret but required to make MS programs work? Or perhaps try their hand legally? But then, I'd have thought that the WINE project benifits Microsoft in a perverse way, by giving them another market to sell to.
Brrrr. I just can't get over how cold NE America is. I can't get used to it at all!:o)
I agree with you, actually. It would be good if all browsers had GPL'ed Flash/Shockwave plugins. I suppose I am a little jaundiced just now because of my poxy dial up connection. But you are quite right, IMO, to say that pure text is not the final word in Web Page content (sorry about the pun). It would be nice if every browser had the latest in Graphical Plugins, and every site used said plugins, provided I had the bandwidth. It would certainly improve the presentation of information, and even the sheer fun to be had from browsing the web. But I think that just now would be too soon for that.
Anyway, what I wanted to say most was, thank you for your kind and informative reply! It really is very interesting.
That is really remarkable! You mean to say that they don't check to see if a patent is valid at all? This seems to be different from other patent offices. AFAIK (which isn't much at all) the British Patent Office has fairly strenuous standards that must be passed. Why are they so biased towards the commercial model? Surely they should be independant of their 'customers' desires? That would seem a sensible approach, anyway.
But then, I don't know, maybe in the end it makes sense. Many things in America seem to rely on the courts, I have noticed since I've been here, and the Law seems to be the way that disputes such as these are decided. It does seem a little odd though, all the same, hehe.
What I don't understand is, surely to goodness there is absolutely *tons* of prior art for this? Why, surely the X-rated sites alone have had thumb-nail galleries for quite some time;) (I know this because I caught my brother at one once, the naughty boy;)
So how can they hope to get this patent passed? Only by hoping that the patent office is too ignorant to realise the truth. But even the patent office knows this, surely? And thats not to mention the surefire countersuits from other companies whose business will be threatened by this.
Do they have some unique (*very* unique) twist on the usual thumbnail scheme? That is the only way, it would seem to me, that this application should be allowed.
*sigh* I'm so tired. I can't wait to get home and into bed with a nice hot water bottle. Its quite cold in Maine just now.
A gpl'ed version would be great. I'm fed up of being sent links by friends that I can't follow because the webpage on the other end has endless Flash/Shockwave type nonsense on it.
How could these two systems be GPL'ed though? I would guess (I am not an expert;) that these systems are copyrighted. So could they be reverse engineered or simulated somehow without violating copyrights, and the result be GPL'ed? I would hope so, but looking at DeCSS and whatnot you never know.
I have a nasty feeling that proprietry plugins are going to become ever more insidious. The main thing that holds them back just now is the extra bandwidth that they consume. When ADSL and the like become much more common, these restrictions will be gone, and I would expect to see plugins become lots more popular among websites.
If Linux is not to be isolated or left with second best solutions, we will need to look carefully at these issues, I should think. I hope I'm wrong though!:o)
Thats very true, it is a very multilayered read, and it would be very difficult to get bored of. I suppose what I was grasping for was the feeling you get when you read something *amazing* for the first time as a child. Theres nothing like the first time, and not knowing what is around the next corner. I suppose that when you reread, there isn't quite the same tension or magic as there was the first time, so it is a feeling that is difficult to get back. It annoys me that once I have read something, I will probably never enjoy it quite as much again. Do you know what I mean? I'm not very good at explaining myself I'm afraid;)
...grandeur of the book into reality. I am hoping that this film will be very impressive to watch! The only thing that concerns me is that I hope they have been able to cram the general gist, and more importantly atmosphere, of the book into this film. The book is so large and involved, that there is bound to be a great deal lost in the translation, but as long as they do better than the animated cop out in the 80's I'll be happy:o)
I just wish I could be 12 years old again, so I could read the book all over again. (My favourite scene is in The Hobbit, where Baggins and the Wizards are planning their journey and blowing multi-coloured smokerings over the surrounding countryside;) I can't wait!
I've thought about DNA computing myself a few times. It seems to me that the problem might be speed. The Human genome contains about as much information as a CD. Now, the DNA is read by a transcriptor (I think thats what it is called - I'm a little rusty) and each transciptor read 200 base pairs per second. The Human Genome uses thousands of these transcriptors at once, and so it can copy itself in about an hour and a half. This is not very fast! But the main uses for DNA computing, I would guess, would be as massively parallel computing devices, where billions or even trillions of strands can compute independently and be selected for the answer. I believe scientist at Cambridge University recently demonstrated a system of this sort, but please take this with a pinch of salt, because I can't remember the exact details.
So there may well be an exciting future for DNA computing as part of a massively parrallel computing system, at least until we get Quantum Computing sorted out, hehe.
I am quite new to Linux, so perhaps I don't remember the 'good old days', but could the 'cancer of disillusionment' perhaps be restricted to those that do remember the 'good old days'?
I suppose that popularity has brought in undesirables to the community, but I would bet that for every disillussioned old timer there are sveral enthusiastic newbies (like me;). I don't think that Linux will suffer too much - ultimately everybody is committed to it, despite doctrinal differences, and everyone remembers or has read about the 'Unix Wars' of the Eighties. Also, the Linux community is paranoid about splitting. I see a lot more people talking about a split and fearing it than I do people advocating one. I just don't think its *too* great a concern, in the long run;)
I agree! I'm not a physicist, in fact I am merely a lay(wo?)man but I am still excited. I realise that it will be some time before technology does become advanced enough to be robust when its internal structure is perturbed (erm, my command of English is not so great, but I'm sure you get what I mean;).
It seems to me that there is a close interface between all the sciences at the frontier of genetic engineering. Nanotechnology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, computer science - they all seem to come together at this one point. I think that it is where the disciplines touvh that the most interesting advances will be made (like DNA computing). But then, I don't really know, but it really does fascinate me no end!
What I think I have noticed is that technology seems to be changing away from critical systems to more fluid, biological systems. I am not some professor or expert, but what I mean by this is that technologies have always been critical up until now - if you change just one microscopic transistor in a computer, the entire system is broken. The same is true for the components in cars, microwaves, televisions etc etc
But now we seem to be getting more biological type systems! Neural nets and DNA computers and suchlike are appearing, and they seem to be very robust and non-critical. You can monkey around with them quite a lot without breaking them! Would I be right in thinking, and please bear in mind that I am an ignoramus, that such systems will become more common in the future, and may be a replacement for the design methodologies we use at the moment? When you consider that the most complex thing we know of, the Human Brain, is built with this design philosophy, we can see just how powerful it is, I think. Anyway, thank you for reading my ramblings! I really am getting addicted to this Slashdot lark - work is so boring:-)
That sounds great! I can't wait to get it, I've decided to as soon as I have updated my Linux system. It seems to be a very powerful system, and if it is easier to use than Vampire:TM (I can't spell it either - tee hee!) then that is good too, because while I liked that game (my brother had it) it could be a little difficult on that score.
This would seem to bring a whole new dimension to the computer D&D game. They always used to be limited by the two dimensional storyline advanced by the producer, and then some became entirely free, but without much plot. Now that we can control the plot and have freedom, things should be much better! I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl, thats for sure:o)
Hello again Mr Joe! I think you have made a mistake - there isn't really any such thing as a Linux game or a Windows game. Most games are independant of platform, and it does not matter really whether they are on Linux or Windows. The only thing stopping Linux games is the market share of the OS, which is increasing at an incredible pace! Now we are begginning to see Linux games become more and more common all the time. Look at the article after this one, about a D&D game that has been released on Linux & also Beos. Market share alone does not make an OS superior, but also the qualities it inherently possesses. If Linux has games released for it, then more people will use Linux, and so more games will be released. It seems that it has entered a virtuous circle, to me.
I bet if the top fifteen games of all time were to be compiled, Windows would be low on the list! Ahead would be the Atari 2600 and whatever, but that does not mean that they are superior in other respects!
I'm sorry that this is the second time today that I have replied to you, perhaps I should just leave you alone, eh!
Because it can only help it as a platform to be recognised. I would guess that it would make a good gaming platform too, because of its reputable multimedia capability, though I have yet to try it. I consider Linux exotic, so give me a chance!;)
I like the sound of this game, too. I like D&D, and I've wanted to try out a decent online game in the genre for some time. I know that there is Ultima Online, which is perhaps a little dated (am I wrong?) and also Asheron's Call, the Microsoft game, but ideally I'd like something on Linux because I plan, one day when I have the courage, to get rid of my Windows partition. Also, this game's website mentions that the player can control the plot of the game, and write it herself. Is that true? I'd be interested to know how that works, because I would like to make my own atmospheric scenarios and share them with my friends. Oh, and coo, it looks as though it has good graphics too! heheh:)
I don't know really. I would be surprised if what you say is true regarding the animosity among developers. From what little I have seen there is a degree of variety hall style humour, but little in the way of personal dislike. Does ESR dislike RMS personally, or vice versa? I would be surprised if they do. Also, I would guess that the more factions there are, the less likely a split becomes. If the factions are many and small, then each depends on the other all the more, but if there were, say, only two factions, then each could harvest ambitions of making a split.
I just don't see much evidence of genuine dislike in the Linux Community, but then you probably know more than I do - I am not Au Fait with the mailing lists you mention, for one! Perhaps I shall look into them though, Linux gurus mention them often, I have noticed:o)
Isn't the variety a strength though? I thought that one of the points of the whole 'Bazaar' idea (not bizarre;) was that disorganization is not necessarily bad. So there being lots of different factions or cults shouldn't really be bad for Linux, I would guess, but should help to give it variety and creativity. Just as long as everyone can still steal everybody elses ideas, and things remain open and free on the whole, I don't think the development of multiple factions need be bad for Linux, in fact it could be an opportunity, a development for the better, don't you agree? I tend to think so anyway, for what little thats worth!
Hi! What you say is really quite interesting, but aren't you jumping to conclusions? Just because some Open Source stocks have fallen, this does not mean that the entire business model is doomed! Imagine if people had said that about the Telephone business in the slump of 1905 - we should not be too hasty to judge, you know. Also, ESR is probably just a figurehead on the board he is on. He doesn't know anything about it because he has better things to do, surely? I'm sorry if my arguments aren't very good, I'm not an expert, just quite interested.
Karma Whore - Haha! Thats really funny, actually.
Thanks, and sorry if I seemed a bit condescending!
Slashdot Mirror
I'm saying that to produce people who are educated with relevance to the needs of industry today, you need computers (or at least, they are very helpful). Sure Plato was a clever guy, but could he get a good job these days with his qualifications? I would hazard that he couldn't. To produce the sort of people who will bring along the countries economy, you need computers and so on. At least, thats what I think.
Hello. What you say is very true. If you have to teach a subject, you have to know it inside out, so that you can answer questions from you students. I have done it myself a few times, but only unofficially. If they are doing similar in Cambodia, I should think it will be very successful, and also cheap. Third World children are usually a lot more willing to learn and enthusiastic about education than their pampered first world equivalents, because they *know* it is the only way they are going to get anywhere. If only our children had a similar attitude!
I wonder if in Third World countries today this method could be used or even extended upon? These events in Cambodia sound like just the ticket, but they have extended it to even building the schools themselves. But the big problem today is that you need more than just a piece of chalk, a Blackboard and a teacher for a good education, you need to have computers and all sorts of High Tech devices. The only problem is that the only nations that have the education to make these things can get the money to do the education in the first place, so it is like a Catch 22 situation :(
I just don't quite know how third world countries can break into the cycle. See, I am not a global affairs expert!
Hi. My cousin is an MCSE in London, and when he took the exam for his certification, he managed to get all the answers in advance off the World Wide Web! I don't know if this problem is exclusive to MCSE's, but if it isn't, doesn't this problem devalue certification for the honest? I'd really like to know more about this, because I am considering getting a Java Certification from Sun at some stage myself. Thank You!
That is what I like about Linux most of all - its security and stability. Its good when I'm working on my portfolio to not have to fearfullt press the 'save as' button all the time. I wish there were more art programs for it though.
The beauty of the 'I Love You' virus, AFAIK, was not in the program code itself but in the insightful understanding of Human Nature it showed. I know when I recieved one, I opened it (tee hee!) in a fit of curiosity. I really was disappointed though :-(
Someone else pointed out that Microsoft can't very well continue these practices now that they are on a legal leash, which seems quite sensible and true to me. It's frightening that the decisions of some executives can impact my little life.Hopefully, out of self interest, they won't mess with WINE or Linux. Thanks!
Thanks very much. Writing documentation seems like a good idea. I can only speak English though, but I suppose there must be developers crying out for documentation writers. And next time I have to buy hardware I will look into the options you suggest (I will need to buy a new printer soon, actually). I will definately have a look at the documentation option though. Thank you again!
1) That really is great news! I am looking forward to the day when Windows programs run faster on Linux, it will be a watershed when this is realised. Perhaps then businesses will migrate over to Linux and gradually start using Linux apps. WINE could be a sort of Trojan horse for Linux.
2)This is good too, and I really should have thought of it. Microsoft can't start saying one thing and doing another now, it is under far too much legal scrutiny.
Deal: you fight the DCMA, and I'll keep working on the kernel, ok?
I haven't been using Linux for very long, but I am already very enthused. I use the platform to work on Java (I am trying to learn it) and the problem is that now I feel guilty all the time. See, I haven't contributed anything to the Linux community at all (though I have convinced a few friends to give it a whirl;), but I would very much like to. I can't code very well (and Java isn't much used in Linux), but perhaps helping a pressure group as you suggest or doing some Graphics work would help. I also feel guilty when I am using Windows or Macintosh (I have one for Graphics reasons), it feels as though I am betraying Linux. Anyhoo, I do want to help.
Microsoft management wouldn't know what to do then, they only know how to play when they get to write the rules.
It would be so great if they were taken down a peg or two. I don't think Microsoft is inherently eveil, it is behaving in the same way that any company would if it were in that position. If Microsoft were just another company then it would be better for everyone. If you ask me, it should be split up into about 4 or 5 smaller companies, that way these companies would be on a par with the rest of the industry, and they would be free to develop for Linux, too, instead of it being taboo.
Just my stupid opinions, anyway! :o)
1) Is it true that the WINE project could one day run Windows programs faster than Windows does itself? I would have thought that with the open nature of the program code, it would just get faster and faster until it outstrips Windows itself. If this is true, then it would be great for playing games on ;)
2) Is it likely that Microsoft will deliberately try to scupper the WINE project by introducing new API's that are top secret but required to make MS programs work? Or perhaps try their hand legally? But then, I'd have thought that the WINE project benifits Microsoft in a perverse way, by giving them another market to sell to.
Brrrr. I just can't get over how cold NE America is. I can't get used to it at all! :o)
Anyway, what I wanted to say most was, thank you for your kind and informative reply! It really is very interesting.
But then, I don't know, maybe in the end it makes sense. Many things in America seem to rely on the courts, I have noticed since I've been here, and the Law seems to be the way that disputes such as these are decided. It does seem a little odd though, all the same, hehe.
So how can they hope to get this patent passed? Only by hoping that the patent office is too ignorant to realise the truth. But even the patent office knows this, surely? And thats not to mention the surefire countersuits from other companies whose business will be threatened by this.
Do they have some unique (*very* unique) twist on the usual thumbnail scheme? That is the only way, it would seem to me, that this application should be allowed.
*sigh* I'm so tired. I can't wait to get home and into bed with a nice hot water bottle. Its quite cold in Maine just now.
How could these two systems be GPL'ed though? I would guess (I am not an expert;) that these systems are copyrighted. So could they be reverse engineered or simulated somehow without violating copyrights, and the result be GPL'ed? I would hope so, but looking at DeCSS and whatnot you never know.
I have a nasty feeling that proprietry plugins are going to become ever more insidious. The main thing that holds them back just now is the extra bandwidth that they consume. When ADSL and the like become much more common, these restrictions will be gone, and I would expect to see plugins become lots more popular among websites.
If Linux is not to be isolated or left with second best solutions, we will need to look carefully at these issues, I should think. I hope I'm wrong though! :o)
Thats very true, it is a very multilayered read, and it would be very difficult to get bored of. I suppose what I was grasping for was the feeling you get when you read something *amazing* for the first time as a child. Theres nothing like the first time, and not knowing what is around the next corner. I suppose that when you reread, there isn't quite the same tension or magic as there was the first time, so it is a feeling that is difficult to get back. It annoys me that once I have read something, I will probably never enjoy it quite as much again. Do you know what I mean? I'm not very good at explaining myself I'm afraid ;)
I just wish I could be 12 years old again, so I could read the book all over again. (My favourite scene is in The Hobbit, where Baggins and the Wizards are planning their journey and blowing multi-coloured smokerings over the surrounding countryside;) I can't wait!
So there may well be an exciting future for DNA computing as part of a massively parrallel computing system, at least until we get Quantum Computing sorted out, hehe.
I suppose that popularity has brought in undesirables to the community, but I would bet that for every disillussioned old timer there are sveral enthusiastic newbies (like me;). I don't think that Linux will suffer too much - ultimately everybody is committed to it, despite doctrinal differences, and everyone remembers or has read about the 'Unix Wars' of the Eighties. Also, the Linux community is paranoid about splitting. I see a lot more people talking about a split and fearing it than I do people advocating one. I just don't think its *too* great a concern, in the long run ;)
It seems to me that there is a close interface between all the sciences at the frontier of genetic engineering. Nanotechnology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, computer science - they all seem to come together at this one point. I think that it is where the disciplines touvh that the most interesting advances will be made (like DNA computing). But then, I don't really know, but it really does fascinate me no end!
But now we seem to be getting more biological type systems! Neural nets and DNA computers and suchlike are appearing, and they seem to be very robust and non-critical. You can monkey around with them quite a lot without breaking them! Would I be right in thinking, and please bear in mind that I am an ignoramus, that such systems will become more common in the future, and may be a replacement for the design methodologies we use at the moment? When you consider that the most complex thing we know of, the Human Brain, is built with this design philosophy, we can see just how powerful it is, I think. Anyway, thank you for reading my ramblings! I really am getting addicted to this Slashdot lark - work is so boring :-)
This would seem to bring a whole new dimension to the computer D&D game. They always used to be limited by the two dimensional storyline advanced by the producer, and then some became entirely free, but without much plot. Now that we can control the plot and have freedom, things should be much better! I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl, thats for sure :o)
I bet if the top fifteen games of all time were to be compiled, Windows would be low on the list! Ahead would be the Atari 2600 and whatever, but that does not mean that they are superior in other respects!
I'm sorry that this is the second time today that I have replied to you, perhaps I should just leave you alone, eh!
I like the sound of this game, too. I like D&D, and I've wanted to try out a decent online game in the genre for some time. I know that there is Ultima Online, which is perhaps a little dated (am I wrong?) and also Asheron's Call, the Microsoft game, but ideally I'd like something on Linux because I plan, one day when I have the courage, to get rid of my Windows partition. Also, this game's website mentions that the player can control the plot of the game, and write it herself. Is that true? I'd be interested to know how that works, because I would like to make my own atmospheric scenarios and share them with my friends. Oh, and coo, it looks as though it has good graphics too! heheh :)
I just don't see much evidence of genuine dislike in the Linux Community, but then you probably know more than I do - I am not Au Fait with the mailing lists you mention, for one! Perhaps I shall look into them though, Linux gurus mention them often, I have noticed :o)
Isn't the variety a strength though? I thought that one of the points of the whole 'Bazaar' idea (not bizarre;) was that disorganization is not necessarily bad. So there being lots of different factions or cults shouldn't really be bad for Linux, I would guess, but should help to give it variety and creativity. Just as long as everyone can still steal everybody elses ideas, and things remain open and free on the whole, I don't think the development of multiple factions need be bad for Linux, in fact it could be an opportunity, a development for the better, don't you agree? I tend to think so anyway, for what little thats worth!
Karma Whore - Haha! Thats really funny, actually.
Thanks, and sorry if I seemed a bit condescending!