There is a reason why serious academic institutions do not overwhelmingly adapt Microsoft. Primarily it is the cost both in dollars and also in loss of academic freedom that comes with the restrictive licensing that comes with many proprietary applications. One of the founding tennants of higher education is that information should be freely and intensely pursued. Sure some "MIS" programs may just be an advanced MCSE/CCNA course, but most real computer science programs could not afford such a narrow scope. CS by definition is much more broad than software developement, MIS, EE, or networking; rather it is the culmination of all of the above with other studies mixed in.
Any CS program that concentrates too heavily on one thing (ie programming in C# or Java for that matter) really short changes its students and limits the potential that they can achieve. A much more broad approach, while not churning out top notch Java developers, produces excellent problem solvers who are able to quickly learn and adapt to the ever-changing technology world. Looking back on my undergrad experience I think that playing around on the HP-UX and AT&T UNIX (R) box helped me break out of the mold and learn much more effectively.
Ok gals don't kill me for saying this. But if I've learned one thing about women, especially those who we date/get engaged to/have married, it is that logic and reason does not always drive their desires. That is the case my friend with diamonds. To us guys (who are ruled by logic, not emotion or other forces) a diamond seems like an aweful waste of valuable cash. Even for a cheap ring (about $1k) you could get some pretty useful tools, or fun toys. Seemingly the only value of a diamond is its sparkle and the thought behind it. I guess it is the same as flowers, to us guys it doesn't make sense, but to my fiance, a bunch of dead plants means the world if I give her a nice boquet for no reason. So buck up, save up, and dish out, no amount of political correctness or reason could replace a ring for your love. Trust me, even the most expensive ring pales in comparison to the value of your relationship, so make her day and get something that sparkles.
I can't imagine what would happen if they actually tried to crack down on this, including all those who use P2P to get a few MP3's. Virtually every college student would be arrested for "stealing" songs that they freely hear on the radio. The amount of police force to pull this off would be astronomical. If the drug war is such a futile effort, just imagine the $$cost$$ of this kind of effort.
Nonetheless, the brain can store an amazing amount of information. Remember, according to information theory, data and information are two completely seperate things. Information has one key element that data does not, that of meaning. Claude Shannon in his historical paper on information theory deomonstrated both the concept of information and compression with the sentence: "only infrmatn esentil to understandn mst b tranmitd." The data when taken as is, has no meaning, but when intellegence is applied the sentence is easily understood as "Only information essential to understanding must be transmitted." In the same manner the intricacies of movements such as dance are not thought of a move by move basis by an advanced dancer (although that is how they are learned), but rather as a natural movement to peroform, say Irish Step Dancing or the Polka. Yet initially each movement is learned, thus in a data sense the full data is entered and the brain does in a sense compress it as it is used. So what does this mean, that we continually decrease the amount of "stuff" stored in our brain. On the contrary, I would suggest that it is the brain's way of making room for more information as we continually learn. As a former pre-medical student (I turned to the light side and became a CS student) I am continuously amazed by the intellegent design of our brain the more I learn about it.
I totally agree. I realise that we don't think in terms of computer code or instructions for that matter. But spend a day in a physical or occupational therapy center with patients that have suffered brain damage. Then you can truly appreciate how remarkable our brain is and how we take things like eating with a fork or recognising simple objects for granted. My point was just that I believe that the scientific, medical, and academic communities do not give the human brain the credit that it deserves. Well I'm gonna watch some TV and see if I can achieve only using.005% of my brain.
I don't think that that is a valid estimate. Just think, if we could actually code the motor control, perception, etc, that would easily make up several GB of code. Just think how many lines of code it would take to program a robot to dance, play football, baseball, basketball, about 20 card games, drive a car, and most importantly have sex (ok well for the last one, some people may take only one or two lines). Then just think of how insanely complex image recognition is, combine it with movement, touch, and dexterity and you are looking at a massive amount of instructions.
Then he assumes that memory loss is final, when actually research proves that a fact or behavior once learned can easily be recalled. For example, it is not hard to pick up biking or swimming if you learned it as a kid. Also think of a programming (or natural) language that you learned early in your career, after years of not using it, getting back to programming/speaking that language will not take long once you are immersed in it.
I've used Python for a numerical analysis / computational methods class (wich delt with algorithms and algorithm discovery). I found it to be very capable in handling very large and very small numbers. For example, it was able to determine 30,000! (yes that's thirty thousand factoral). It also handled extremely small decimal numbers to the precision of 10^(-600000), I didn't go any further as I did not care to test how precise Python would allow. The only problem I had was with garbage collection, when using it I did not know of any GC methods (as I was new to the language) and subsequently after a very memory intensive procedure was run (like computing 30,000!), my computer pretty much crawled along.
I can't believe why there is such a big fuss over genetically altered corn. It does not pose any more risk to the soil than normal corn. If farmers would practice simple crop rotation, they would not need to worry about this. Also with corn prices so low right now they could import natural or genetically engineered corn from the US and Russia, both of which could feed the rest of the world.
Yes that's right, no more ball bearings. That means I can actually see what happens when I shut down my Linux box. Not that I have to, but I dont' have to worry about my ball bearings getting dimples. An added plus it'll save a couple bucks off of the electric bill.
Many Mac apps are atomic, ie they are stored in a folder with a special attribute. To "install" them, you just drag the appfolder to the Applications folder. This is great from the users point of view, it keeps things simple. I looked into it for my autopackage project (see another post i made for details). However, it turns out this is a technically extremely poor way of doing things. It means there is virtually no code reuse on the Mac, as there is no dependancy tracking engine. It means that apps distributed as appfolders also do not have any install process AT ALL, so they cannot ask for EULA agreements, check your system for stuff it needs, alter its configuration and so on. The appfolders system is good enough only for very simple apps.
I think you are missing the point. As a programmer the most important thing is not how pretty your code is (although important for upgrades) or the re-usability of libraries, it is that the user can use it. This is why Apple is doing software development right, whereas Linux is not. It seems as though the entire OS/FS community puts user needs on the back burner. If making code less neat, and more teadious is what it takes to get users to Linux, then fine. As programmers we must abandon our arrogance for once (and yes, programmers are among the most arrogant people I have ever met), and get down to the reason why we are here, to solve the user's problems, which in Linux/GNU's case is a GOOD Free OS.
I really don't think that capiotolism/commercialism conflict with open source. I really think that combining advertising on a desktop with open-source software would be an excellent way to narrow the digital gap. Finnally, the poor and elderly could get cheap machines without having old hardware. Just think if you figured that the advertising would be worth say $300 you could get an E-machinesqe computer for free. Although there might have to be some EULA stipulation about not removing the advertisements.
As a great deal of my fellow CS grads are still without jobs, this is amusing but not suprising. I'll pretyy much take any kind of job even, god forbid, helpdesk:(
If you plan on doing any long distance driving the Civic GX is definately not the car for you as most of the country does not have these special stations (I'm near the chicago area).
The Toyota, although it has the lowest fuel efficiency, is the more spacious than the Insight. It is also a safer car (assuming you drive on the freeway), which is very important.
I would never recommend the Insight, it is a terrible car considering the alternatives.
Another couple options are the Civic Hybrid (which uses unleaded gas), great mileage, reliability of a Civic, safety of a sedan, and spacious enough to haul a couple weeks worth of luggage for four (depending on how heavily you pack). Also there are going to be more hybrid SUV's and other larger vehicles: Ford HEV-2003, as well as a Saturn SUV-2004, Chevy Pickup-2004, Suburban-2005, and Dodge Ram Pickup-2005 , which will be great for those of us who want a bigger, safer car, while being good stewards of our environment.
Hmm, last time I was in the UK, I had cameras staring at my ass all day. In addition, the US has the most open form of Capitolism there is (the freedom to succeed, or fail, financially). While our country was founded on religious principles (read Declaration of Independance and the many works of George Washington and Ben Franklin) our country does not have a state sponsored religion (as many European countries do).
As far as other countries in the world, whether it be in Africa, South America, Europe, or Asia. Nearly every single one limits the freedoms of its citizens. Be it through state sponsored healthcare, high taxation, unrealistic environmental laws, or by limiting the ability of its people to determine their own future by any means.
And finally in a world where money rules, America has economic superiority over all countries.
Cry me a fucking river. I don't agree with you and frankly I don't give a damn. Just because there is a disagreement, even in a song, anthem, or pledge, doesn't mean you have to get you pants in a bunch and make everyone else change because you are uncomfortable. Also the problem with saying that making a religious choice has no matter, is bullshit. To those of us who are religious, that belief has eternal consequences. And frankly to say that those who are religious are illogical or beleving blindly is ludicrous.
The reason why Americans are so patriotic. No offence, but, we live in the BEST fucking country in the world. We have more freedom, more opportunity than anyone else. This may sound arrogant, but hey, when you are on top, you damned well better be proud of it.
If P2P sharing hurts sales, why did Eminem's new CD do so well? Wasn't the release of it pushed up because of P2P sharing? Maybe bands should get a clue, give the listeners additional reason to buy their CD. Eminem had a limited edition DVD, the Beatles did it way back with a poster in some of their LPs. Either that or maybe it is just that Moby's latest isn't nearly as good as his earlier stuff. Weezer on the other hand didn't do the greatest job of marketing their new album. Too bad, its a good one.
As a product of a CS 0 (as defined by IEEE & ACM) curricula, I have seen that a coding emphasis is misleading. In software development, more emphasis should be placed on design and documentation. It would be better for CS tests to be written to have the takers write out the pseudo-code and documenation (relying heavily on UML). That is unless it is for a class focusing on a specific aspect of a language ie, write a code snippet that simulates a queue, linked list, etc. But where you are given a black-box type problem, I feel it is more important that you are able to communicate the method and your thought process than trying not to forget your semi-colons. You can always refer back to a How-To or an Orielly book, but you can't rely on them for the thought process.
I'd actually give Microsoft more creedance that a split (of M$) would have a more adverse affect on the net. Not that I'd care, but the last time I went to a.za site was....
Come to think of it - Never!
Ok, fine I admit it, I'm an arrogant America-centric prick, but hey at least I'm not oblivious to that fact.
I suppose since this is a school you should try and set a good example - that is, use the facilities for education purposes.
Bullshit, not everything in schools needs to be of "educational value." If you can find something educational about 22 thugs on a field hitting each other educational, then I could probably find something educational about a fps.
You fool, you can legally install a spawn of the game for multiplayer purposes for all of the above games. You only need one license and one cd to create a game. Now if you had mulitple mulitplayer games, you'd need more cd's. Nonetheless, $20 for one of those games isn't much, hell, I bet if you were to ask for the students to pool money together to do this, they'd do it.
Frankly I feel that this "video games are addictive" mantra being sung is a bunch of bullshit. Given the right person, anything can become an "addiction" INCLUDING adademics. If you don't agree, go to your nearest university library, I guarantee that if you were to come back you would probably see these people in there again. Not to say that studying is bad, just that some people are obsessive compulsive, and need help, just don't blame the means which they take out their compulsion. Blame them. Myself, I've got a few hobbies which might be seen as an addiction, gaming, visiting/., and drinking fine beer. Now for the last one, I'm not an alcoholic, they go to meetings:).
Those 70% shouldn't even be on broadband at all then. They're the ones sucking up the bandwidth.... either that or maybe allow the "hogs" to continue if you agree not to use morpheus, kazza, etc. That would be nice for those of use who need to d/l ever rc of slackware:)
Slashdot Mirror
Not true. Several cell phone calls were made on Sept 11.
There is a reason why serious academic institutions do not overwhelmingly adapt Microsoft. Primarily it is the cost both in dollars and also in loss of academic freedom that comes with the restrictive licensing that comes with many proprietary applications. One of the founding tennants of higher education is that information should be freely and intensely pursued. Sure some "MIS" programs may just be an advanced MCSE/CCNA course, but most real computer science programs could not afford such a narrow scope. CS by definition is much more broad than software developement, MIS, EE, or networking; rather it is the culmination of all of the above with other studies mixed in.
Any CS program that concentrates too heavily on one thing (ie programming in C# or Java for that matter) really short changes its students and limits the potential that they can achieve. A much more broad approach, while not churning out top notch Java developers, produces excellent problem solvers who are able to quickly learn and adapt to the ever-changing technology world. Looking back on my undergrad experience I think that playing around on the HP-UX and AT&T UNIX (R) box helped me break out of the mold and learn much more effectively.
Ok gals don't kill me for saying this. But if I've learned one thing about women, especially those who we date/get engaged to/have married, it is that logic and reason does not always drive their desires. That is the case my friend with diamonds. To us guys (who are ruled by logic, not emotion or other forces) a diamond seems like an aweful waste of valuable cash. Even for a cheap ring (about $1k) you could get some pretty useful tools, or fun toys. Seemingly the only value of a diamond is its sparkle and the thought behind it. I guess it is the same as flowers, to us guys it doesn't make sense, but to my fiance, a bunch of dead plants means the world if I give her a nice boquet for no reason. So buck up, save up, and dish out, no amount of political correctness or reason could replace a ring for your love. Trust me, even the most expensive ring pales in comparison to the value of your relationship, so make her day and get something that sparkles.
I can't imagine what would happen if they actually tried to crack down on this, including all those who use P2P to get a few MP3's. Virtually every college student would be arrested for "stealing" songs that they freely hear on the radio. The amount of police force to pull this off would be astronomical. If the drug war is such a futile effort, just imagine the $$cost$$ of this kind of effort.
Nonetheless, the brain can store an amazing amount of information. Remember, according to information theory, data and information are two completely seperate things. Information has one key element that data does not, that of meaning. Claude Shannon in his historical paper on information theory deomonstrated both the concept of information and compression with the sentence: "only infrmatn esentil to understandn mst b tranmitd." The data when taken as is, has no meaning, but when intellegence is applied the sentence is easily understood as "Only information essential to understanding must be transmitted." In the same manner the intricacies of movements such as dance are not thought of a move by move basis by an advanced dancer (although that is how they are learned), but rather as a natural movement to peroform, say Irish Step Dancing or the Polka. Yet initially each movement is learned, thus in a data sense the full data is entered and the brain does in a sense compress it as it is used. So what does this mean, that we continually decrease the amount of "stuff" stored in our brain. On the contrary, I would suggest that it is the brain's way of making room for more information as we continually learn. As a former pre-medical student (I turned to the light side and became a CS student) I am continuously amazed by the intellegent design of our brain the more I learn about it.
I totally agree. I realise that we don't think in terms of computer code or instructions for that matter. But spend a day in a physical or occupational therapy center with patients that have suffered brain damage. Then you can truly appreciate how remarkable our brain is and how we take things like eating with a fork or recognising simple objects for granted. My point was just that I believe that the scientific, medical, and academic communities do not give the human brain the credit that it deserves. Well I'm gonna watch some TV and see if I can achieve only using .005% of my brain.
I don't think that that is a valid estimate. Just think, if we could actually code the motor control, perception, etc, that would easily make up several GB of code. Just think how many lines of code it would take to program a robot to dance, play football, baseball, basketball, about 20 card games, drive a car, and most importantly have sex (ok well for the last one, some people may take only one or two lines). Then just think of how insanely complex image recognition is, combine it with movement, touch, and dexterity and you are looking at a massive amount of instructions.
Then he assumes that memory loss is final, when actually research proves that a fact or behavior once learned can easily be recalled. For example, it is not hard to pick up biking or swimming if you learned it as a kid. Also think of a programming (or natural) language that you learned early in your career, after years of not using it, getting back to programming/speaking that language will not take long once you are immersed in it.
I've used Python for a numerical analysis / computational methods class (wich delt with algorithms and algorithm discovery). I found it to be very capable in handling very large and very small numbers. For example, it was able to determine 30,000! (yes that's thirty thousand factoral). It also handled extremely small decimal numbers to the precision of 10^(-600000), I didn't go any further as I did not care to test how precise Python would allow. The only problem I had was with garbage collection, when using it I did not know of any GC methods (as I was new to the language) and subsequently after a very memory intensive procedure was run (like computing 30,000!), my computer pretty much crawled along.
I can't believe why there is such a big fuss over genetically altered corn. It does not pose any more risk to the soil than normal corn. If farmers would practice simple crop rotation, they would not need to worry about this. Also with corn prices so low right now they could import natural or genetically engineered corn from the US and Russia, both of which could feed the rest of the world.
Yes that's right, no more ball bearings. That means I can actually see what happens when I shut down my Linux box. Not that I have to, but I dont' have to worry about my ball bearings getting dimples. An added plus it'll save a couple bucks off of the electric bill.
I think you are missing the point. As a programmer the most important thing is not how pretty your code is (although important for upgrades) or the re-usability of libraries, it is that the user can use it. This is why Apple is doing software development right, whereas Linux is not. It seems as though the entire OS/FS community puts user needs on the back burner. If making code less neat, and more teadious is what it takes to get users to Linux, then fine. As programmers we must abandon our arrogance for once (and yes, programmers are among the most arrogant people I have ever met), and get down to the reason why we are here, to solve the user's problems, which in Linux/GNU's case is a GOOD Free OS.
I really don't think that capiotolism/commercialism conflict with open source. I really think that combining advertising on a desktop with open-source software would be an excellent way to narrow the digital gap. Finnally, the poor and elderly could get cheap machines without having old hardware. Just think if you figured that the advertising would be worth say $300 you could get an E-machinesqe computer for free. Although there might have to be some EULA stipulation about not removing the advertisements.
As a great deal of my fellow CS grads are still without jobs, this is amusing but not suprising. I'll pretyy much take any kind of job even, god forbid, helpdesk :(
If you plan on doing any long distance driving the Civic GX is definately not the car for you as most of the country does not have these special stations (I'm near the chicago area).
The Toyota, although it has the lowest fuel efficiency, is the more spacious than the Insight. It is also a safer car (assuming you drive on the freeway), which is very important.
I would never recommend the Insight, it is a terrible car considering the alternatives.
Another couple options are the Civic Hybrid (which uses unleaded gas), great mileage, reliability of a Civic, safety of a sedan, and spacious enough to haul a couple weeks worth of luggage for four (depending on how heavily you pack). Also there are going to be more hybrid SUV's and other larger vehicles: Ford HEV-2003, as well as a Saturn SUV-2004, Chevy Pickup-2004, Suburban-2005, and Dodge Ram Pickup-2005 , which will be great for those of us who want a bigger, safer car, while being good stewards of our environment.
Then there's my favorite, a Trek Bike.
So then instead of counting to 10 apple before rushing, schoolkids will count to 10 grape?
Hmm, last time I was in the UK, I had cameras staring at my ass all day. In addition, the US has the most open form of Capitolism there is (the freedom to succeed, or fail, financially). While our country was founded on religious principles (read Declaration of Independance and the many works of George Washington and Ben Franklin) our country does not have a state sponsored religion (as many European countries do).
As far as other countries in the world, whether it be in Africa, South America, Europe, or Asia. Nearly every single one limits the freedoms of its citizens. Be it through state sponsored healthcare, high taxation, unrealistic environmental laws, or by limiting the ability of its people to determine their own future by any means.
And finally in a world where money rules, America has economic superiority over all countries.
Cry me a fucking river. I don't agree with you and frankly I don't give a damn. Just because there is a disagreement, even in a song, anthem, or pledge, doesn't mean you have to get you pants in a bunch and make everyone else change because you are uncomfortable. Also the problem with saying that making a religious choice has no matter, is bullshit. To those of us who are religious, that belief has eternal consequences. And frankly to say that those who are religious are illogical or beleving blindly is ludicrous.
The reason why Americans are so patriotic. No offence, but, we live in the BEST fucking country in the world. We have more freedom, more opportunity than anyone else. This may sound arrogant, but hey, when you are on top, you damned well better be proud of it.
If P2P sharing hurts sales, why did Eminem's new CD do so well? Wasn't the release of it pushed up because of P2P sharing? Maybe bands should get a clue, give the listeners additional reason to buy their CD. Eminem had a limited edition DVD, the Beatles did it way back with a poster in some of their LPs. Either that or maybe it is just that Moby's latest isn't nearly as good as his earlier stuff. Weezer on the other hand didn't do the greatest job of marketing their new album. Too bad, its a good one.
As a product of a CS 0 (as defined by IEEE & ACM) curricula, I have seen that a coding emphasis is misleading. In software development, more emphasis should be placed on design and documentation. It would be better for CS tests to be written to have the takers write out the pseudo-code and documenation (relying heavily on UML). That is unless it is for a class focusing on a specific aspect of a language ie, write a code snippet that simulates a queue, linked list, etc. But where you are given a black-box type problem, I feel it is more important that you are able to communicate the method and your thought process than trying not to forget your semi-colons. You can always refer back to a How-To or an Orielly book, but you can't rely on them for the thought process.
I'd actually give Microsoft more creedance that a split (of M$) would have a more adverse affect on the net. Not that I'd care, but the last time I went to a .za site was....
Come to think of it - Never!
Ok, fine I admit it, I'm an arrogant America-centric prick, but hey at least I'm not oblivious to that fact.
Bullshit, not everything in schools needs to be of "educational value." If you can find something educational about 22 thugs on a field hitting each other educational, then I could probably find something educational about a fps.
You fool, you can legally install a spawn of the game for multiplayer purposes for all of the above games. You only need one license and one cd to create a game. Now if you had mulitple mulitplayer games, you'd need more cd's. Nonetheless, $20 for one of those games isn't much, hell, I bet if you were to ask for the students to pool money together to do this, they'd do it.
Frankly I feel that this "video games are addictive" mantra being sung is a bunch of bullshit. Given the right person, anything can become an "addiction" INCLUDING adademics. If you don't agree, go to your nearest university library, I guarantee that if you were to come back you would probably see these people in there again. Not to say that studying is bad, just that some people are obsessive compulsive, and need help, just don't blame the means which they take out their compulsion. Blame them. Myself, I've got a few hobbies which might be seen as an addiction, gaming, visiting /., and drinking fine beer. Now for the last one, I'm not an alcoholic, they go to meetings :).
Those 70% shouldn't even be on broadband at all then. They're the ones sucking up the bandwidth.... either that or maybe allow the "hogs" to continue if you agree not to use morpheus, kazza, etc. That would be nice for those of use who need to d/l ever rc of slackware :)