be warned, SpacePen ink never actually dries. It can impress on adjacent pages if pressed tightly or if you write double sided. It will easily smudge as well. I've found that it will also form blobs on the end of the pen reasonably frequently.
That said, I still use a SpacePen half of the time. relatively bulletproof and reliable.
By preference, I use a fountain pen. With practice, I could write maths notes down to 2mm letter size for "you can bring a sheet of notes" style exams. I realise it's not for everyone.
I'd advise you to hang around with some pilots/take some flying lessons/study the Basic Aeronautical Knowledge coursework. Mountain flying is a lot of fun but fraught with peril. Being remotely linked to the drone, it will be much harder to control and VERY challenging for it to be autonomous. Turbulence, mountain waves, wind shear... The wind behaves ~VERY~ differently when mountains are involved. I'm certified for low-level flying in a fixed-wing including mountainous terrain (in Western Australia... not that we have real mountains...) and can't stress the flying skills that you will need. This is assuming you're already up to speed on how day-to-day weather would impact your drone's safety and performance.
There's a lot of posts on the technical issues of telemetry and autonomy, I won't go into that.
This sounds like an AWESOME project and I'm envious that you have the time investigate it and possibly start work on it. I wish you all the best.
But seriously, talk to someone at the local flying club/search&rescue/police pilot/military pilot. Ideally, find someone who's flown through the area in a fixed-wing in weather that is similar to when you would want to use this drone. Maybe leave out that you're planning on building a drone until you get the idea that they would be interested. You're simply a dude who wants to learn to fly around the mountains where you live. At least you'll get an honest answer of how hard it will be to keep it from cruising into a mountain side IF you were inside of it.
I really hope to read about this on HackADay.com in a few months time.
in the mean time, maybe some solar-charged cameras + transmitters with a good view of the areas would be easier?
Viruses such as adenovirus and rhinovirus affect mucous membranes. The urinary tract has mucous membranes. Adenovirus urethritis in men is ~exquisitely~ painful.
Moral of the story: your wang getting a 'head cold' isn't fun, if she has the sniffles then she should watch her oral intake.
Does everyone realise that you are talking about the kids for whom every days is a struggle.
crack vials in the school-yard, domestic violence, abuse and barely getting the essentials. a "bright glistening future" means bugger-all if you are starving (physically, emotionally, mentally).
spend some time in a public paediatric ED, or do some underprivileged mentoring. Understand the stressors that these kids have to deal with. Offer them the concept of a work-reward that will help them cope for the WEEK, see the results. Talking about "years later" simply has no concept for them.
so, children are meant to "learn for the joy of learning"? are you on drugs? are they good drugs? they sound good.. oh, or are the children you speak of on drugs? that would explain a lot. A couple of grand a year for Ritalin, instead of a couple of tens or hundreds in incentives makes a LOT of sense.
I had no motivation in school. I did ok at the classes I liked, failed the ones I didn't. I ended out dropping out 18 months before graduation. I got myself into college out of a motivation to never have another menial job. I got into medicine out of desire to no never again work as an engineer (and, hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time). I now have 5 tertiary qualifications and am a medical doctor. If I have any say in the matter, I'll never leave university (getting PAID to LEARN!!! HELL YEAH!!!) If you had told me this 15 years ago, I would probably have either tried to stab you in the throat or said "that sounds like a good future.. I hate it here".
Children are the ultimate pragmatists. they also have the most profound sense of "fairness". they get bullied at school, punished by teachers who are burned-out, their parents work 70 hour weeks, they never seen their parents and said parents never seem to care unless they screw-up. You expect them to LIKE it? to work without tangible goals? you want them to suffer through all of this with NO rewards? in all honesty, WHAT IS IN IT FOR THEM? the only time they get attention is if they are bad and ignored if they are good. You are essentially punishing and imprisoning them WITH NO COMPENSATION! let them draw the parallels between reading books/behaving/going to school and getting the money for a new bike or computer game, HELL.. YOU SHOULD ENCOURAGE IT!!! Then drop the bombshell on them: "This has just been a game. If you do the same thing as an adult, you could be a DOCTOR, or an ASTRONAUT, or EARN AND BUY ANYTHING YOU WANT!!" Think of it like this: they draw the line between effort and reward. They do work and get money.. just MAYBE they will get the idea that working hard = one day owning two mercedes and a mansion.. If you went back and had to endure what your kids do every day, you WOULD kill someone. YOU ARE NOT AS TOUGH OR RESILIENT AS YOUR KIDS, you simply don't comprehend the stressors that keep them in a perpetual state of panic. Yet you expect them to do it "because they must", nay.. "because they must WANT to"... wow, you must have some AWESOME drugs...
Parents want to "invest in their future", but have no interest past throwing money ("time" is too precious to give to a kid). The time:money exchange rate has been getting worse. Now they're getting choosy about what happens to the money... WTF.. Suggest that parents should not beat their kid, should spend more time with them, PRETEND to take an interest, play sport with them rather than dump them in-front of the TV... I've been yelled at to "stop trying to tell me how to raise my kid" and "I can't do that, I'm too busy", like a first-time parent (or even a 10th-time parent) is some kind of expert... just because you successfully put Rod P in Slot V without using a gasket doesn't make you an expert, it does not give you some kind of intrinsic knowledge.. it makes you a learner like the rest of us. Emotional intuition does NOT trump years of experience, success and failure. Emotional intuition does NOT trump scientific rigour and quantified results. Just because you feel "it is a profound truth, I feel it deep in my soul" does not make you RIGHT, it makes you IGNORANT AND BLIND when someone challenges your preconceptions. Maybe that scientist/teacher/nurse/doctor/shrink/cop/judge/prison-warden/cell-mate-butch-who-thinks-you-have-a-purty-mouth DOES know better "how to raise your damn kid" An emotional investment simply gives you another avenue to try and best help your kids through the trauma that is 12 years of unrewarding, institutionalising, hard labour.
Two final remarks: 1. If you reward them if they are good and punish them
dude, it's a script writing service:p anything more and would get sued into the stone-age. looking at the how health operates in the US, they're giving the razor for free and charging for the blades. $45 for a con-sult and here's the repeats on 50 different drugs. You know who's pockets are going to be padded from this.
The sad thing is that they'll be going after the people that can't afford to see a "real-doctor" and will simply be promoting pill-popping. A couple of GOMERs will get killed by some kid straight out of internship using this system, there'll be lawsuits, crying, hugging. Maybe some kind of new oversight or regulations and a bunch of executives will go for a swim in their money bin.
what can you say? it's not as though the "real" medical system in the US can handle the steaming-masses..
pft.. I swapped from Physics and IT consulting to medicine.. actually, kinda fell into it.. ~plenty~ of scholarships and funding if you know where to look. you can do it in 4yrs post-grad. It requires a whole new level of "knowledge density", though the average IT guy has the endurance to put the hours in.
tie in a ~little~ maths, ability to program and medicine... SOOOOO MANY offers for research... seriously, the offers out there are... astounding. I've only got a Diploma in Electronic Eng, and get offers
In.au you can work 2 half days a week (assisting in surgery, locum, whatever) earn enough to cover living and hobbies.. three mates did that to fund a biotech startup.
plan B). hotties at med conferences. She's a doctor = kept man. she's even keen for me to stay in uni to do a PhD:D
I can't emphasise how exciting and fun med is to study. it's hard work, but just comes down to hours of the day:)
I'm in my 3rd degree (Medicine), the Australian system works with government sponsored places (for most students) as well as "full fee paying" places. As a medical student, which is about the most expensive degree you can study, I accrue about $3500 of debt per semester. This amount is the "contribution" I have to make to my tuition costs. Each year, it's probably about ~$8000-9000 when you include some books and equipment, if I was to pay it all up-front. By comparison, an international student prices are currently $41,000 per annum. All values in $AUD and don't include living expenses.
To highlight some of the above comments about "price matching what the market will tolerate", there has been uproar down here over the past few years about the increases in the proportion of "Full Fee Paying" places. In the past over 90% of student places were government sponsored in almost any degree, you had to pay a contribution that was accued as debt. This has since swung closer to the centre, there is money to be had and the institutions want it. There has been a remarkable increase in international student numbers, decrease in places for locals... essentially it's all following the money.
As quirky side note.. WA had it's first private univerisity open about 10 years ago.. an ex-girlfriend went there for a while. While she was there, she didn't get a government sponsored place.. yet their fees were only a little higher than at any of the public uni's (maybe $12,000 per year?). I'm not sure if they had government backing but not the loan system... but it's interesting none the less. Some of the private university's in Australia are EXTORTIONATE (up to $50k per semester), but others have shown that the bottom line cost can be fair.
Regardless, it astounds me how much money each student brings in.. multiplied the number of bums in seats in the average lecture, divided by the number of staff (my sister is an full-time academic, I earn more in my part-time job).. even counting the number of new buildings, programs and research.. there is a LOT of money making it's way into the tertiary system.
Lecutre: A stadium of stuffed wallets, all staring at one dude who is talking for a minimum wage.
ever used a bandsaw/circular saw under fluorescent light?
an RPM that is any multiple of the AC frequency looks like it is sitting still. For this reason, all workshops have incandescent lights.. I seem to remember hearing that fluorescent lights were illegal as primary overhead lighting in machine shops (or had to be augmented with incandescent) for this reason.
More than a few guys have lost fingers/hands because the blade looks like it's sitting still.
I was always hungry after the anatomy and dissection labs.. used to go to Uni. Chinese at Broadway for Sweet & Sour Pork or Pork Spare Rib on Rice.
This wonderful discovery finally explains why: a). I always craved those particular dishes after the cutting labs. b). it was only those particular dishes that would make some of the "gentler-folk" in the class look a bit ill... (hey, everyone gets hungry in dissection labs... *everyone*) about 1/4 of the class turned vegetarian for a bit that year.
Robotic cullinary revelations asside.. I'm sure that pork would be a leaner meat than ppl-flesh.
So far, almost all lecturers in my current course post their slides online before the lecture (out-roar of fury by the students when they aren't available). The past 1.5 years (I'm in 3rd year), they have been posting recordings.
Attendance has hardly changed...
The lectures almost ubiquitously have 80-90% attendance. The only exception is the one unit that does not release the notes in advance (outright trying to blackmail the students into attendance), ironically this is the one unit that would gain the most by students being able to annotate the notes. The people not attending either live in their text-book or are on a practical session.
In comparison, my previous courses had "varying" attendance.. Maths (Calculus) ~90% attendance and ~50% pass rate, Physics ~70-80% attendance and ~80% pass rate (awesome textbook and questionable lecturers) and Chem ~10% attendance and 90% pass rate (awesome notes and self-paced, lectures were advertised as "optional").
By the way.. I'm doing medicine now.. so it's not like the material is any easier or "slow paced.."
my University (UWA) has fitted out almost all of the male urinals with the "Desert" waterless system.
There seems to be two models, a "blue cube" that replaces the urinal-cake or soap (propaganda speaks of microbes that takes care of the smell, etc..), and the "oil trap" that everyone is familiar with.
The units have been installed for about the last 12 months, and they have since removed most of the cisterns and "buttons" for flush. So far, the only departments that I've found not sporting these innovations are Animal/Human Biology, and Medicine (my faculty).
No complaints as of yet, haven't noticed any smells or dodgy-stains. The maintenance crew on campus is pretty good, and as long as the "polish wax" is sprayed onto the steel urinals, it's all good.
as an extra plus, the "blue cubes" make for a good "target". A good solid stream can cut one in half over a morning of coffees/colas in the library;)
_____________________________ Bone jokes aren't necessarily humerus
As with most typical guys, my PC has a girls name..
Usually used to start start with a "oh come on now.. don't be a dirty little tart.." Then the Sweet Talk.. Then the insults. Then the threats.. Then the promises to practice whatever new surgical procedure we learnt that week.
I think I might have put my g/f name in place of my computer at one time or another.. needless to say, no g/f anymore.
now.. I got a mac:p
first you get the mac, then you get the uptime, then you get the chicks..
I think that Summers is trying to make excuses for being a bigot. Girls are continually made to feel alienated, lonely, peer-less, like they are 'objects to be stared at' in male-centric departments. THIS has MUCH more of an impact than any genetic differences.
It's easier for him to say "there is something *wrong* or *different*" than to risk someone noticing that there is something wrong with his attitude.
I'm a male "perpetual student" in W.Australia. which campus/how does you department go about getting female enrollments? I would say that a mixed-gender class is *ESSENTIAL* if you want to be any better than a "mediocre, white-male student". Post your uni name and I'll know where to go if I decide to go for post-grad (if/when I get back into that field).
When I did engineering there were only a handful of girls, my Physics/chem/maths undergrad had maybe 4 girls : 38 guys in physics, 50/50 in chem and maybe 1/4 in maths. The physics department got labeled as "little boys creche". mostly because of the level of immaturity of the students. the attitude of the department didn't help.
Without exception, a good mix of girls improved performance (you could spot the classes/tutorials/labs that didn't have girls). frankly, the girls I've studied with out-performed the guys in maths and *ALSO* physics (plus, ex-g/f who would routinely kick my ass in any of my fields except chem/languages.. couldn't even pretend to keep up with her fields of study). having female colleagues stopped the guys being sloppy in their work (aka. lazy) & improved their attitude, in my current course you can spot the guys who have female study-budies to work with.
I'm now studying medicine (as if 5+ years of hard-science +field work wasn't bad enough:p ). The mix is now ~110 girls : 60-70 guys. and it is *GLORIOUS*. the top students are equally gender mixed.
before anyone says "yeah, medicine is a different type of logic... you can't compare them.." *YOU* go do Electronic Engineering (+ work + good dose of programming/CS/IT), Physics/Chem + Maths, THEN Medicine/Surgery.. then come back and tell me what to think. yes, it has differences, but I still think that much of the performance is due to the support that the students receive. provided with the correct encouragement and support..
I think there needs to be a 'mind-shift' in the many physics departments. sure, girls are wired differently to guys. BUT that shouldn't be used to excuse the discrimination that occurs. Male-centric common-rooms, a lack of female mentors and role-models. Most of the 'social events' can be described only as "boys-nights". Frankly, the attitude of my old department was DISGUSTING.. they were "trying to get more girls into the field", but frankly, there were more girls in the honours class than in my 1st year class, when I first enrolled.
Mixed gender classes are an advantage to all students, and frankly a *LOT* of girls can kick the boys asses when it comes to maths/physics.
I was much the same, used to drive my highschool teachers crazy "can see your potential... why don't you apply yourself" that particular teacher used some *different* teaching methods (graded me harder, more work...) to the point of me having a nervous breakdown and dropping out. Went to TAFE (community college?) and did a DipTech (electronic engineering), worked as a "systems engineer" on loan to a research group in the US for six months... $mega$ but HATED the work. Got back to Australia and used my diploma to get into Uni. 2 years of a Physics/Chem double degree (with enough maths for a double major in one of them) realised "sure, I can see myself getting into the research I *want*... but I've only done this stuff because I was good at it... do I really like it?" So, started trying "different" stuff.. did a semester of Japanese with my usual work-load (NOT a good idea.. hardest unit I've ever done..) tried some other humanities stuff... Got offered a place in the Medicine degree at another uni & thought I'd try it out "want to get into bio-medical research with my physics anyway... this'll be good insight"
LOVE IT!!! I can't see where this'll take me (used to be a v. important part of my studies), I'll be 30 before I graduate university and can't say I like the idea working grave-yard in a hospital for at least 2-3 years (final, intern and resident)... but I love the people I'm working with, the course material and the atmosphere... I know that it'll lead me *somewhere* that has a future (even if it is a "drone") but for now I'm enjoying the journey...
If you don't know what to do, take a year off and work/travel/both... learn a language and discover the world... esperanto is meant to be good for helping with travel (free accommodation).
do something that you can say is "living" THEN go to college... find your focus, your inspiration (plus, being a little older CERTAINLY helps with the ladies).
4 things I've learnt: a). The Engineer in me thinks "I understand the world and am God", in reality is a bit of a tool and knows nothing... b). The Physicist in me thinks "I know nothing.. I am a speck in the universe", in reality has a better grip than the engineer and is a nice, helpful person... humble c). Be the first to acknowledge the genus in others, don't tell others how smart you are.. force them to find out slowly, through helping them with school work NOT SHOWING OFF (plus, girls love a challenge/mystery... tie "making them work a little to get to know you" in with being a little older...:D ) d). DO NOT BE A DOOR MAT!!!
Company is in NSW (I think), got one about 2 years ago. Great little device, bit of fun to assemble (circuit diagram only at the time) and wouldn't work for about 2 weeks due to undocumented errata.
Now there is a downloadable "Construction Manual".
One note for people in Aus. if you call up you should be able to get it at a discount (much sweeter exchange rate), or at least I did back then.
Be warned, it's a fairly heftly package that arrives, expect to be stung on the postage.
Slashdot Mirror
be warned, SpacePen ink never actually dries. It can impress on adjacent pages if pressed tightly or if you write double sided. It will easily smudge as well.
I've found that it will also form blobs on the end of the pen reasonably frequently.
That said, I still use a SpacePen half of the time. relatively bulletproof and reliable.
By preference, I use a fountain pen. With practice, I could write maths notes down to 2mm letter size for "you can bring a sheet of notes" style exams.
I realise it's not for everyone.
It's always Lupus..
Nerd-Herd... NOOOOOoooooooo......
sounds like a fun project!
I'd advise you to hang around with some pilots/take some flying lessons/study the Basic Aeronautical Knowledge coursework. Mountain flying is a lot of fun but fraught with peril. Being remotely linked to the drone, it will be much harder to control and VERY challenging for it to be autonomous. Turbulence, mountain waves, wind shear... The wind behaves ~VERY~ differently when mountains are involved. I'm certified for low-level flying in a fixed-wing including mountainous terrain (in Western Australia... not that we have real mountains...) and can't stress the flying skills that you will need.
This is assuming you're already up to speed on how day-to-day weather would impact your drone's safety and performance.
There's a lot of posts on the technical issues of telemetry and autonomy, I won't go into that.
This sounds like an AWESOME project and I'm envious that you have the time investigate it and possibly start work on it. I wish you all the best.
But seriously, talk to someone at the local flying club/search&rescue/police pilot/military pilot.
Ideally, find someone who's flown through the area in a fixed-wing in weather that is similar to when you would want to use this drone.
Maybe leave out that you're planning on building a drone until you get the idea that they would be interested. You're simply a dude who wants to learn to fly around the mountains where you live. At least you'll get an honest answer of how hard it will be to keep it from cruising into a mountain side IF you were inside of it.
I really hope to read about this on HackADay.com in a few months time.
in the mean time, maybe some solar-charged cameras + transmitters with a good view of the areas would be easier?
S
Pilot, E.Eng
Viruses such as adenovirus and rhinovirus affect mucous membranes.
The urinary tract has mucous membranes. Adenovirus urethritis in men is ~exquisitely~ painful.
Moral of the story: your wang getting a 'head cold' isn't fun, if she has the sniffles then she should watch her oral intake.
-IAAD
Does everyone realise that you are talking about the kids for whom every days is a struggle.
crack vials in the school-yard, domestic violence, abuse and barely getting the essentials.
a "bright glistening future" means bugger-all if you are starving (physically, emotionally, mentally).
spend some time in a public paediatric ED, or do some underprivileged mentoring. Understand the stressors that these kids have to deal with.
Offer them the concept of a work-reward that will help them cope for the WEEK, see the results. Talking about "years later" simply has no concept for them.
...sure...
so, children are meant to "learn for the joy of learning"?
are you on drugs? are they good drugs? they sound good..
oh, or are the children you speak of on drugs? that would explain a lot. A couple of grand a year for Ritalin, instead of a couple of tens or hundreds in incentives makes a LOT of sense.
I had no motivation in school. I did ok at the classes I liked, failed the ones I didn't. I ended out dropping out 18 months before graduation.
I got myself into college out of a motivation to never have another menial job. I got into medicine out of desire to no never again work as an engineer (and, hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time).
I now have 5 tertiary qualifications and am a medical doctor. If I have any say in the matter, I'll never leave university (getting PAID to LEARN!!! HELL YEAH!!!)
If you had told me this 15 years ago, I would probably have either tried to stab you in the throat or said "that sounds like a good future.. I hate it here".
Children are the ultimate pragmatists. they also have the most profound sense of "fairness".
they get bullied at school, punished by teachers who are burned-out, their parents work 70 hour weeks, they never seen their parents and said parents never seem to care unless they screw-up. You expect them to LIKE it? to work without tangible goals? you want them to suffer through all of this with NO rewards? in all honesty, WHAT IS IN IT FOR THEM? the only time they get attention is if they are bad and ignored if they are good.
You are essentially punishing and imprisoning them WITH NO COMPENSATION! let them draw the parallels between reading books/behaving/going to school and getting the money for a new bike or computer game, HELL.. YOU SHOULD ENCOURAGE IT!!! Then drop the bombshell on them: "This has just been a game. If you do the same thing as an adult, you could be a DOCTOR, or an ASTRONAUT, or EARN AND BUY ANYTHING YOU WANT!!"
Think of it like this: they draw the line between effort and reward. They do work and get money.. just MAYBE they will get the idea that working hard = one day owning two mercedes and a mansion..
If you went back and had to endure what your kids do every day, you WOULD kill someone. YOU ARE NOT AS TOUGH OR RESILIENT AS YOUR KIDS, you simply don't comprehend the stressors that keep them in a perpetual state of panic. Yet you expect them to do it "because they must", nay.. "because they must WANT to"... wow, you must have some AWESOME drugs...
Parents want to "invest in their future", but have no interest past throwing money ("time" is too precious to give to a kid). The time:money exchange rate has been getting worse. Now they're getting choosy about what happens to the money... WTF..
Suggest that parents should not beat their kid, should spend more time with them, PRETEND to take an interest, play sport with them rather than dump them in-front of the TV... I've been yelled at to "stop trying to tell me how to raise my kid" and "I can't do that, I'm too busy", like a first-time parent (or even a 10th-time parent) is some kind of expert... just because you successfully put Rod P in Slot V without using a gasket doesn't make you an expert, it does not give you some kind of intrinsic knowledge.. it makes you a learner like the rest of us.
Emotional intuition does NOT trump years of experience, success and failure. Emotional intuition does NOT trump scientific rigour and quantified results. Just because you feel "it is a profound truth, I feel it deep in my soul" does not make you RIGHT, it makes you IGNORANT AND BLIND when someone challenges your preconceptions. Maybe that scientist/teacher/nurse/doctor/shrink/cop/judge/prison-warden/cell-mate-butch-who-thinks-you-have-a-purty-mouth DOES know better "how to raise your damn kid"
An emotional investment simply gives you another avenue to try and best help your kids through the trauma that is 12 years of unrewarding, institutionalising, hard labour.
Two final remarks:
1. If you reward them if they are good and punish them
dude, it's a script writing service :p anything more and would get sued into the stone-age.
looking at the how health operates in the US, they're giving the razor for free and charging for the blades. $45 for a con-sult and here's the repeats on 50 different drugs. You know who's pockets are going to be padded from this.
The sad thing is that they'll be going after the people that can't afford to see a "real-doctor" and will simply be promoting pill-popping.
A couple of GOMERs will get killed by some kid straight out of internship using this system, there'll be lawsuits, crying, hugging. Maybe some kind of new oversight or regulations and a bunch of executives will go for a swim in their money bin.
what can you say? it's not as though the "real" medical system in the US can handle the steaming-masses..
pft.. I swapped from Physics and IT consulting to medicine..
actually, kinda fell into it.. ~plenty~ of scholarships and funding if you know where to look.
you can do it in 4yrs post-grad. It requires a whole new level of "knowledge density", though the average IT guy has the endurance to put the hours in.
tie in a ~little~ maths, ability to program and medicine... SOOOOO MANY offers for research...
seriously, the offers out there are... astounding. I've only got a Diploma in Electronic Eng, and get offers
In .au you can work 2 half days a week (assisting in surgery, locum, whatever) earn enough to cover living and hobbies..
three mates did that to fund a biotech startup.
plan B). hotties at med conferences. She's a doctor = kept man. she's even keen for me to stay in uni to do a PhD :D
I can't emphasise how exciting and fun med is to study. it's hard work, but just comes down to hours of the day :)
I'm in my 3rd degree (Medicine), the Australian system works with government sponsored places (for most students) as well as "full fee paying" places.
As a medical student, which is about the most expensive degree you can study, I accrue about $3500 of debt per semester. This amount is the "contribution" I have to make to my tuition costs. Each year, it's probably about ~$8000-9000 when you include some books and equipment, if I was to pay it all up-front.
By comparison, an international student prices are currently $41,000 per annum. All values in $AUD and don't include living expenses.
To highlight some of the above comments about "price matching what the market will tolerate", there has been uproar down here over the past few years about the increases in the proportion of "Full Fee Paying" places.
In the past over 90% of student places were government sponsored in almost any degree, you had to pay a contribution that was accued as debt. This has since swung closer to the centre, there is money to be had and the institutions want it. There has been a remarkable increase in international student numbers, decrease in places for locals... essentially it's all following the money.
As quirky side note.. WA had it's first private univerisity open about 10 years ago.. an ex-girlfriend went there for a while.
While she was there, she didn't get a government sponsored place.. yet their fees were only a little higher than at any of the public uni's (maybe $12,000 per year?). I'm not sure if they had government backing but not the loan system... but it's interesting none the less. Some of the private university's in Australia are EXTORTIONATE (up to $50k per semester), but others have shown that the bottom line cost can be fair.
Regardless, it astounds me how much money each student brings in.. multiplied the number of bums in seats in the average lecture, divided by the number of staff (my sister is an full-time academic, I earn more in my part-time job).. even counting the number of new buildings, programs and research.. there is a LOT of money making it's way into the tertiary system.
Lecutre: A stadium of stuffed wallets, all staring at one dude who is talking for a minimum wage.
ever used a bandsaw/circular saw under fluorescent light?
an RPM that is any multiple of the AC frequency looks like it is sitting still.
For this reason, all workshops have incandescent lights.. I seem to remember hearing that fluorescent lights were illegal as primary overhead lighting in machine shops (or had to be augmented with incandescent) for this reason.
More than a few guys have lost fingers/hands because the blade looks like it's sitting still.
I was always hungry after the anatomy and dissection labs..
used to go to Uni. Chinese at Broadway for Sweet & Sour Pork or Pork Spare Rib on Rice.
This wonderful discovery finally explains why:
a). I always craved those particular dishes after the cutting labs.
b). it was only those particular dishes that would make some of the "gentler-folk" in the class look a bit ill... (hey, everyone gets hungry in dissection labs... *everyone*) about 1/4 of the class turned vegetarian for a bit that year.
Robotic cullinary revelations asside.. I'm sure that pork would be a leaner meat than ppl-flesh.
didn't they cover this in StarGate...?
then again, I guess it's only a matter of time before the Simpsons do it. No ancients to help them out though
-Learn Clinical Microbiology from http://adoptamicrobe.blogspot.com/
I'm in Australia (RIP Steve Irwin).
So far, almost all lecturers in my current course post their slides online before the lecture (out-roar of fury by the students when they aren't available). The past 1.5 years (I'm in 3rd year), they have been posting recordings.
Attendance has hardly changed...
The lectures almost ubiquitously have 80-90% attendance. The only exception is the one unit that does not release the notes in advance (outright trying to blackmail the students into attendance), ironically this is the one unit that would gain the most by students being able to annotate the notes.
The people not attending either live in their text-book or are on a practical session.
In comparison, my previous courses had "varying" attendance.. Maths (Calculus) ~90% attendance and ~50% pass rate, Physics ~70-80% attendance and ~80% pass rate (awesome textbook and questionable lecturers) and Chem ~10% attendance and 90% pass rate (awesome notes and self-paced, lectures were advertised as "optional").
By the way.. I'm doing medicine now.. so it's not like the material is any easier or "slow paced.."
-Crickey
Finally, I'll be able to run that damn gate bypass...
my University (UWA) has fitted out almost all of the male urinals with the "Desert" waterless system.
;)
There seems to be two models, a "blue cube" that replaces the urinal-cake or soap (propaganda speaks of microbes that takes care of the smell, etc..), and the "oil trap" that everyone is familiar with.
The units have been installed for about the last 12 months, and they have since removed most of the cisterns and "buttons" for flush. So far, the only departments that I've found not sporting these innovations are Animal/Human Biology, and Medicine (my faculty).
No complaints as of yet, haven't noticed any smells or dodgy-stains. The maintenance crew on campus is pretty good, and as long as the "polish wax" is sprayed onto the steel urinals, it's all good.
as an extra plus, the "blue cubes" make for a good "target". A good solid stream can cut one in half over a morning of coffees/colas in the library
_____________________________
Bone jokes aren't necessarily humerus
As with most typical guys, my PC has a girls name..
:p
Usually used to start start with a "oh come on now.. don't be a dirty little tart.."
Then the Sweet Talk..
Then the insults.
Then the threats.. Then the promises to practice whatever new surgical procedure we learnt that week.
I think I might have put my g/f name in place of my computer at one time or another.. needless to say, no g/f anymore.
now.. I got a mac
first you get the mac, then you get the uptime, then you get the chicks..
I think that Summers is trying to make excuses for being a bigot. Girls are continually made to feel alienated, lonely, peer-less, like they are 'objects to be stared at' in male-centric departments. THIS has MUCH more of an impact than any genetic differences.
:p ). The mix is now ~110 girls : 60-70 guys. and it is *GLORIOUS*. the top students are equally gender mixed.
It's easier for him to say "there is something *wrong* or *different*" than to risk someone noticing that there is something wrong with his attitude.
I'm a male "perpetual student" in W.Australia.
which campus/how does you department go about getting female enrollments?
I would say that a mixed-gender class is *ESSENTIAL* if you want to be any better than a "mediocre, white-male student".
Post your uni name and I'll know where to go if I decide to go for post-grad (if/when I get back into that field).
When I did engineering there were only a handful of girls, my Physics/chem/maths undergrad had maybe 4 girls : 38 guys in physics, 50/50 in chem and maybe 1/4 in maths.
The physics department got labeled as "little boys creche". mostly because of the level of immaturity of the students. the attitude of the department didn't help.
Without exception, a good mix of girls improved performance (you could spot the classes/tutorials/labs that didn't have girls). frankly, the girls I've studied with out-performed the guys in maths and *ALSO* physics (plus, ex-g/f who would routinely kick my ass in any of my fields except chem/languages.. couldn't even pretend to keep up with her fields of study).
having female colleagues stopped the guys being sloppy in their work (aka. lazy) & improved their attitude, in my current course you can spot the guys who have female study-budies to work with.
I'm now studying medicine (as if 5+ years of hard-science +field work wasn't bad enough
before anyone says "yeah, medicine is a different type of logic... you can't compare them.." *YOU* go do Electronic Engineering (+ work + good dose of programming/CS/IT), Physics/Chem + Maths, THEN Medicine/Surgery.. then come back and tell me what to think. yes, it has differences, but I still think that much of the performance is due to the support that the students receive. provided with the correct encouragement and support..
I think there needs to be a 'mind-shift' in the many physics departments. sure, girls are wired differently to guys. BUT that shouldn't be used to excuse the discrimination that occurs. Male-centric common-rooms, a lack of female mentors and role-models. Most of the 'social events' can be described only as "boys-nights". Frankly, the attitude of my old department was DISGUSTING..
they were "trying to get more girls into the field", but frankly, there were more girls in the honours class than in my 1st year class, when I first enrolled.
Mixed gender classes are an advantage to all students, and frankly a *LOT* of girls can kick the boys asses when it comes to maths/physics.
I was much the same, used to drive my highschool teachers crazy "can see your potential... why don't you apply yourself" that particular teacher used some *different* teaching methods (graded me harder, more work...) to the point of me having a nervous breakdown and dropping out.
:D )
Went to TAFE (community college?) and did a DipTech (electronic engineering), worked as a "systems engineer" on loan to a research group in the US for six months... $mega$ but HATED the work. Got back to Australia and used my diploma to get into Uni.
2 years of a Physics/Chem double degree (with enough maths for a double major in one of them) realised "sure, I can see myself getting into the research I *want*... but I've only done this stuff because I was good at it... do I really like it?"
So, started trying "different" stuff.. did a semester of Japanese with my usual work-load (NOT a good idea.. hardest unit I've ever done..) tried some other humanities stuff...
Got offered a place in the Medicine degree at another uni & thought I'd try it out "want to get into bio-medical research with my physics anyway... this'll be good insight"
LOVE IT!!! I can't see where this'll take me (used to be a v. important part of my studies), I'll be 30 before I graduate university and can't say I like the idea working grave-yard in a hospital for at least 2-3 years (final, intern and resident)... but I love the people I'm working with, the course material and the atmosphere... I know that it'll lead me *somewhere* that has a future (even if it is a "drone") but for now I'm enjoying the journey...
If you don't know what to do, take a year off and work/travel/both... learn a language and discover the world... esperanto is meant to be good for helping with travel (free accommodation).
do something that you can say is "living" THEN go to college... find your focus, your inspiration (plus, being a little older CERTAINLY helps with the ladies).
4 things I've learnt:
a). The Engineer in me thinks "I understand the world and am God", in reality is a bit of a tool and knows nothing...
b). The Physicist in me thinks "I know nothing.. I am a speck in the universe", in reality has a better grip than the engineer and is a nice, helpful person... humble
c). Be the first to acknowledge the genus in others, don't tell others how smart you are.. force them to find out slowly, through helping them with school work NOT SHOWING OFF (plus, girls love a challenge/mystery... tie "making them work a little to get to know you" in with being a little older...
d). DO NOT BE A DOOR MAT!!!
just my $0.038 AU (inflation and exchange rate)
Company is in NSW (I think), got one about 2 years ago. Great little device, bit of fun to assemble (circuit diagram only at the time) and wouldn't work for about 2 weeks due to undocumented errata.
Now there is a downloadable "Construction Manual".
One note for people in Aus. if you call up you should be able to get it at a discount (much sweeter exchange rate), or at least I did back then.
Be warned, it's a fairly heftly package that arrives, expect to be stung on the postage.