Actually, they'd need to do both a physical inventory and a reconstruction of the original data. If the quantities didn't match, they'd need to investigate whether someone might have been taking advantage of the flaw in the software.
Why is it that \. often posts anti-corporate pieces? How often do you see a \. story heralding free enterprise and for profit work? I know that most of the \. readers are young, so could it be that government schools are teaching our kids to distrust private business? Or are those attracted to \. are just generally leftists? I don't know but I refuse to let stories like these go by without a balanced opinion.
Not to let the esteemed staff off the hook for biasing the selection of articles, but complaining about a leftist bias in Slashdot is like buying a copy of Mother Jones and then complaining that it doesn't give fair time to conservative, pro-corporate viewpoints. What did you expect?
It would be different if Slashdot made any claims to political, social, or cultural neutrality, but the fact is that it doesn't. If you read this site, you should expect a liberal bent. If you want a rightwing take on the same issues, I'm sure Google will dig up plenty of suitable articles and discussions.
I'm not saying that no one should post conservative viewpoints on Slashdot. We need a variety of posts to add perspective and dimension to the discussion. It's just that if the leftward slant on Slashdot bothers you that much, perhaps you should spend your time looking for a website that's more to your liking instead of complaining on this one.
I had a couple of friends in grad school who used FORTRAN for their research in computational fluid dynamics. Neither of them cared much for the language, but they used it because many important algorithms had been implemented and optimized in FORTRAN years ago, and these implementations have been, in their words, tested to death.
Sure, there are implementations of the same algorithms in C and many other languages, but they haven't been put through the ringer the way the old FORTRAN implementations have. It's very easy, in the kind of work they were doing, to end up with subtle bugs that are extremely difficult to track down but nevertheless ruin your results. Given the difficulty of making sure their algorithmic code was absolutely correct, it's no wonder they used well-tested code whenever possible.
I'm not objecting to the idea of using MS products in a summer school class for grade school kids. I am objecting to the idea of using MS products in a summer school class for grade school kids because that's how you give them relevant job skills.
Grade school kids need to explore possibilities for "what I want to be when I grow up," and a summer school computer class would be great for this. But they're never going to list the summer school class they took in fifth grade on their resumes. Jeez, give them a chance to be kids.
Yeah, why bother with silly things like relevant job skills?
Because we're talking about eight-year-olds (or thereabouts). They have ten years to pick up "job relevant skills" before they finish high school. I would think the point of a summer computer class for grade school kids is to get them interested in computers and show them that computers are fun and easy to use. With that background, they'll have a much easier time picking up those job skills in junior high and high school. The worst thing you could do is give them the impression that computer-related jobs are dull and boring.
Don't mess with Word, Excell, etc. Kids don't have any real use for them (with the possible exception of making signs and posters) and it will convince them that computers are boring. Instead, teach them a little programming and turn them loose writing simple graphics programs or text-based games. Something as simple as writing a loop that prints your name on the screen 100 times in five different colors is a lot of fun for a kid. Trust me.
When I was 10, my mom bought a Commodore 64 for my sister and me but she didn't give us any software. She (rightly) figured we'd learn a lot more about computers if we had to write everything ourselves. We quickly figured out how to program in BASIC from the user's manual and had lots of fun writing sprite animations and Mad Libs games. By the time we were old enough to need word processors or spreadsheets, we were comfortable enough with computers to figure out how to use those programs on our own.
For what it's worth, here's what my mother (proud parent of a much-bullied child) had to say about the issue in recent email:
One thing that disturbed me about Columbine was that I was very aware of
the harrassment that you had to endure at Mayville. At the time I
worried but didn't know what to do about it. I'm sorry I was such a
wimp. All I knew to do was try to encourage you that the 'real world'
would be easier (is it?). I suspect the trouble actually begins in
grade school - it certainly did with you (I almost took you out of
school in the spring of 3rd grade). I remember hearing teachers on the
playground say "I'm not their parents". That always angered me, since
schools take children away from their parents at a younger and younger
age. They are therefore in loco parentis. If they don't restrain the
bullies they are encouraging them. Now that they are talkng about
"values education" I'm worried that they'll mess that up too - probably
talk about it but not enforce it.
I agree with the other posters here that parental intervention at school is unlikely to result in anything other than even worse bullying. I don't think my mom could have done much more than she did. But the assurance that things would get better once I graduated did help me persevere.
When I was in seventh grade, I calculated that I only had five and a half years left before I could leave my home town for good and would never have to deal with anyone there again unless I chose to. I was over half way through! This realization didn't make the daily gauntlet any less painful or humiliating, but at least it helped me keep my eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel.
The "real world" isn't perfect, but it's a picnic (socially speaking) compared to what I went through as a child. There are always going to be jerks and bullies around, not to mention social pressures and office politics, but they're seldom as vicious as they are in high school. As an adult, I've chosen to live, work, and recreate in settings where most people are quite civil, and when the going gets tough I have a lot more options than I ever did as a kid.
The big advantage of the internet
on
Republic.Com
·
· Score: 1
Everybody, every day, makes choices about what ideas to expose themselves to. They decide what organizations to join and how often to attend meetings. They decide where to get the news and which magazines and books to read. The choose who they want to talk to and spend time with, what music to listen to, and what movies to watch. And they choose what websites and newsgroups to use.
Online as in the physical world, it is possible--and often quite easy--to expose oneself exclusively to viewpoints that reinforce the beliefs one already holds. If people don't want to hear the other side, they have the power to cut it out of their lives completely, on or off the internet.
In this respect there's not much difference between the internet and traditional media. But the ease with which one can learn about alternative viewpoints through the internet makes it much more likely that people will choose to do so.
If learning more about a political organization involves driving across town to go to their meetings or spending your hard-earned money on their publications, are you going to bother? What if all you have to do is wait for their homepage to download?
No one can force you to learn about ideas you don't agree with, but you're much more likely to do so if it's cheap and easy.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, they'd need to do both a physical inventory and a reconstruction of the original data. If the quantities didn't match, they'd need to investigate whether someone might have been taking advantage of the flaw in the software.
Not to let the esteemed staff off the hook for biasing the selection of articles, but complaining about a leftist bias in Slashdot is like buying a copy of Mother Jones and then complaining that it doesn't give fair time to conservative, pro-corporate viewpoints. What did you expect?
It would be different if Slashdot made any claims to political, social, or cultural neutrality, but the fact is that it doesn't. If you read this site, you should expect a liberal bent. If you want a rightwing take on the same issues, I'm sure Google will dig up plenty of suitable articles and discussions.
I'm not saying that no one should post conservative viewpoints on Slashdot. We need a variety of posts to add perspective and dimension to the discussion. It's just that if the leftward slant on Slashdot bothers you that much, perhaps you should spend your time looking for a website that's more to your liking instead of complaining on this one.
Sure, there are implementations of the same algorithms in C and many other languages, but they haven't been put through the ringer the way the old FORTRAN implementations have. It's very easy, in the kind of work they were doing, to end up with subtle bugs that are extremely difficult to track down but nevertheless ruin your results. Given the difficulty of making sure their algorithmic code was absolutely correct, it's no wonder they used well-tested code whenever possible.
Grade school kids need to explore possibilities for "what I want to be when I grow up," and a summer school computer class would be great for this. But they're never going to list the summer school class they took in fifth grade on their resumes. Jeez, give them a chance to be kids.
Because we're talking about eight-year-olds (or thereabouts). They have ten years to pick up "job relevant skills" before they finish high school. I would think the point of a summer computer class for grade school kids is to get them interested in computers and show them that computers are fun and easy to use. With that background, they'll have a much easier time picking up those job skills in junior high and high school. The worst thing you could do is give them the impression that computer-related jobs are dull and boring.
When I was 10, my mom bought a Commodore 64 for my sister and me but she didn't give us any software. She (rightly) figured we'd learn a lot more about computers if we had to write everything ourselves. We quickly figured out how to program in BASIC from the user's manual and had lots of fun writing sprite animations and Mad Libs games. By the time we were old enough to need word processors or spreadsheets, we were comfortable enough with computers to figure out how to use those programs on our own.
For what it's worth, here's what my mother (proud parent of a much-bullied child) had to say about the issue in recent email:
One thing that disturbed me about Columbine was that I was very aware of the harrassment that you had to endure at Mayville. At the time I worried but didn't know what to do about it. I'm sorry I was such a wimp. All I knew to do was try to encourage you that the 'real world' would be easier (is it?). I suspect the trouble actually begins in grade school - it certainly did with you (I almost took you out of school in the spring of 3rd grade). I remember hearing teachers on the playground say "I'm not their parents". That always angered me, since schools take children away from their parents at a younger and younger age. They are therefore in loco parentis. If they don't restrain the bullies they are encouraging them. Now that they are talkng about "values education" I'm worried that they'll mess that up too - probably talk about it but not enforce it.
I agree with the other posters here that parental intervention at school is unlikely to result in anything other than even worse bullying. I don't think my mom could have done much more than she did. But the assurance that things would get better once I graduated did help me persevere.
When I was in seventh grade, I calculated that I only had five and a half years left before I could leave my home town for good and would never have to deal with anyone there again unless I chose to. I was over half way through! This realization didn't make the daily gauntlet any less painful or humiliating, but at least it helped me keep my eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel.
The "real world" isn't perfect, but it's a picnic (socially speaking) compared to what I went through as a child. There are always going to be jerks and bullies around, not to mention social pressures and office politics, but they're seldom as vicious as they are in high school. As an adult, I've chosen to live, work, and recreate in settings where most people are quite civil, and when the going gets tough I have a lot more options than I ever did as a kid.
Online as in the physical world, it is possible--and often quite easy--to expose oneself exclusively to viewpoints that reinforce the beliefs one already holds. If people don't want to hear the other side, they have the power to cut it out of their lives completely, on or off the internet.
In this respect there's not much difference between the internet and traditional media. But the ease with which one can learn about alternative viewpoints through the internet makes it much more likely that people will choose to do so.
If learning more about a political organization involves driving across town to go to their meetings or spending your hard-earned money on their publications, are you going to bother? What if all you have to do is wait for their homepage to download?
No one can force you to learn about ideas you don't agree with, but you're much more likely to do so if it's cheap and easy.