They tried this in a Pavilions near my Grandma's house about 10 years ago. Granted, the technology wasn't fantastic at the time, but it was there. It was "cool" for a while, until you realized that it was just telling you a bunch of crap you didn't want to know. It was a bit buggy too, as anything new tends to be. Granted, it didn't keep track of what you bought, only where you went, but it came off as utterly useless and they removed these "features" from the carts within a couple years.
I find that whenever a big project is due, I want to do anything else but that. Therefore, my room becomes extraordinarily clean, clothes are washed, and I practice my clarinet.
Also, sometimes in my procrastination, I'll work on other projects that are not due for quite some time, because the prospect of working on the current project is so unappealing. That is the key.
So... for any project that is due, start working on it a long time in advance. If it is so dreadfully dull that you don't get any work on IT done, you'll soon have finished every other project due for the entire semester. While you'll still have to painfully cram that ONE project, the other projects will be done.
A slightly saner alternative is just to start early on the project, and set very very small, short term goals for yourself. Say "Today, I'm just going to write an outline, one sentence for each paragraph, of the paper." And so on. If you start far enough in advance, you'll be surprised that it's done, and probably at a higher level of quality than if crammed.
Ah, the MLX. I once spent hours (I was 10 at the time, so it took about an hour to copy a page of code) typing in the code for the editor. Four pages into it, I realized I'd just written all the code to make the pretty MLX logo appear and flash on the screen. Another 20 pages to go? I don't think so.
The real problem at hand is their business model. They lower the price of the printers and raise the price of ink cartridges, and thus the insane profits are made in the long run, and continuously.
Printer manufacturers are trying to sell a subscription service rather than a printer. It's all the rage with corporations these days.
As it stands, the only reason people buy the cartridges made by printer companies (besides lack of knowledge otherwise) is because some (not all) of the third-party ones are of incredibly low quality, and someone who is burned tends not to put his hand near the stove any time soon.
However, anyone who thinks an ink cartridge for a $100 printer costs more than $3 to make is a fool, and the perceived dishonesty of printer companies can only hurt business. People like to pay for what they get, and I think it would be a great step forward and a gesture of trust if ink cartridge prices were lowered, even if it means raising the cost of printers.
I blame the marketing departments, because they are the easiest and most fun to blame, and it really is their fault.
On a side note, I'm a bit torn. This ink cartridge racket is a joy to my environmentalist tendencies. Hit people in the wallet, they print less, and therefore less paper is used. I don't print nearly as much as I would if ink was dirt cheap.
Re:Who gets the float...as if I need to ask
on
Cashless Society
·
· Score: 1
In this context, I suppose these cards are simply a fancy gift card.
Except that, unlike regular gift cards, I don't have to walk into a grimy Wherehouse Music to use it.
10 People get mad at republicans so they vote democrat.
20 People get mad at democrats so they vote republican.
30 People get mad at third parties because they didn't win, and therefore the republicans and democrats they're mad at win.
40 People get mad because they are voting for people they're mad at, rather than people they'd be happy with.
50 People get mad because the system doesn't provide them with any good choices and the winner-takes-all-system bites.
60 People get mad at politics in general, say "screw it" and go on with their ever-worsening daily lives.
70 People get mad about abortion or taxes or racial issues or the personality of the people in office, or are just having a bad day.
80 People get mad enough that the politicians notice them and promise to solve their problems.
90 Politicians pander to people's special interests and hand out chocolates and puppies.
100 People like politicians again.
110 People get mad eventually because the politicians utterly fail to do anything constructive.
120 GOTO 10
130 People get mad enough that the system sees great, sweeping political reform for the benefit of all.
I'd wager a guess that the percentage of AOL users who unsubscribe is constant. When a user becomes proficient enough to realize that AOL hinders rather than helps their internet experience, they drop it for another, usually less expensive, ISP.
Yes, I once was an AOL user. Back in the dark ages of 1995-1996. Then we wised up and went with a different ISP, and finally now have a DSL. It's a stepwise process.
My guess is that AOL simply ran out of new subscribers, and the unsubscription rate, remaining somewhat constant, has now surpassed the subscription rate.
What bugs me about this keyboard is that the numeric keypad and the Insert/Delete/Home/etc. keys are in the middle. So when you want to use any of them you have to move your hand out and around or up and over. If they put those keys on the outside, I might consider buying one when the price gets down to, oh, less than you can buy a new (albeit bottom of the line) computer for.
Young folk of today don't know what an earthquake is. A 5.2 is about enough so that everyone feels it, and maybe a shaky brick chimney or two will fall down at the epicenter. In my day (circa 1994) we had REAL earthquakes. Bridges fell! Bridges over water, mind you! And buildings! Dern whippersnappers are so starved for news they'll make a story about a 5.2! Honestly, folks, there's got to be something else going on!
Especially if it's a service you don't really need. When the pages start coming out faded or with a missing color, what did we ever do before the computer told us it was out of ink? Consumers apparently don't have the finely-honed skills of perception required to see when a printout is poor quality and think to themselves, "Hey, maybe the ink's low!" Before the low-ink chip, them was the dark ages.
It's like the little blue bristles on the toothbrush that tell you when it's time to buy a new one.
"I took a knife, and... you know those little 'Do not remove' labels that they put on mattresses?... well, I CUT ONE OF THEM OFF!!!!!"
-Mickey, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"
If I were you, I would most definitely not lock myself into a computer profession. Millions of people consider themselves "nuts about computers."
In your situation, I would enter college undeclared (or as CS if undeclared isn't allowed) and take a bunch of G.E.'s. Find out what you like, and do it. There's more to life than well-paying jobs. I would recommend against distance learning if you are unsure about this course of action, and don't like coding much to begin with. The college experience allows a person to explore.
The people in the computer industry who don't like programming are most often the ones who are stuck in dead-end, unfulfilling jobs.
I am a bit unclear as to what kind of computer job you would desire that doesn't involve programming. I gather you like visual basic. Unfortunately, nobody is going to pay a person to drag buttons onto a form if they can't hook them up with code. The only other "computer" jobs I can think of involve management or business or are lower-prestige careers involving setting computers up for people.
I'd suggest a major that allows you to interact with computers without being a computer specialty. Graphic design, for example.
I think the best course of action is to expose kids to a variety of platforms. I have always been a PC person, and had the inherent extreme dislike of Apples and deference to anything non-Windows (e.g. Linux). Then, in my first year of college, my programming class used Linux. After an initial "No Windows? How Cheap!!!", I progressed to "Hey, that's not so bad." I'm even giving Macintosh a second thought, though not enough to go out and buy a box today.
The worst course of action, in my opinion, is to lock people into a singular mindset. Why not install different systems in the same school and let people decide for themselves which ones they prefer? Make it all accessible.
The biggest hurdle, IMHO, for all things non-Windows today, is a lack of openness and familiarity by primary Windows-users. "Windows is all there is" seems to be the dominant mantra by people who have only used Windows, because that's all they know. The same goes for Linux people and Mac people, etc., who have worked primarily with one system.
I think the best aspects of all systems should be used for what they are.
At my high school, there was a computer in every classroom. It was a big deal for the administration, and it made them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
What were the computers used for? Primarily, the teachers used them to enter grades and type up their tests. Students were rarely allowed onto the computers, which made sense, since there wasn't much useful one can do with them in most classes. What does German class, or Ceramics, need with a computer? As you say, computers in the classroom have little use. Wasted resources.
The only student-useful computers at my high school were used to teach people typing, and for an MS Office class, and a programming class (we used Borland, btw)... and those were either ancient or grossly overpriced. The rest of them were there to look pretty for the Blue Ribbon Award inspectors to come around and give our pretty school a pretty plaque.
Took me a second to figure that your title was NOT sarcastic...
I've always gotten the impression that C# has the learn-in-a-day simplicity of C++, the lightning-fast performance of Java, and the do-anything versatility of Visual Basic.
If this bill passes, it will likely cause a sudden upturn in the economy.
The economic boom will be caused by people like me, spending all my money on pre-SSSCA devices and software while they are still available.
Unfortunately, once supply of such devices has diminished, a recession may be in order.
How about calming down the people? In the past month, everyone has been worked up into a frenzy, partially due to politicians (Feinstein, et al), and partially due to the media ("There's been another possible anthrax mailing... wait, it's a cookie! I'm so SCARED!!!!!").
There's been little reassurance to the people that everything's going to be OK. Whether or not that's true, it's something we should keep telling ourselves. Unfortunately, the nightly news tries to make the flashiest "uh-oh!" headlines, and people get freaked.
I think simple vigilance and common sense on the part of the American people will be far more effective than an ID card. If people use judgment before they freak out over nothing, our nation's existing security resources can better focus on prevention.
teaching me things that I'll never use in my career and that I either could've learned in high school or on my own if the need arises.
If the need arises?
When the need arises, you might not have the opportunity to learn it. When you are in a university, you are given the time and opportunity, albeit half-forcibly, to learn things outside of your normal realm.
Things you learn elsewhere can come in handy, even if you don't realize it. Life is full of "Oh, I remember THAT! That'll make this easy to do!" parallels that can be drawn from any field to another. The more exposure you have to different ways of thinking, the more different ways you can think.
Music classes, for example, have helped me directly and indirectly in many ways in my programming, as have English and history. They may not be evident right away, but they are very helpful. Also, did it ever occur to you that you may have to write a program related to one of those other fields? It's much easier to brush up than to learn from scratch.
Different ways of thinking also help greatly in developing a better sense of intuition. Instead of jumping right into a program, some obscure conglomeration of outside knowledge may make you stop and think "Is this really a good idea? Is there a better way to go about this?"
The classes that I anticipate as being the most drab, uninteresting, or out-of-my-realm, often prove to be the most useful and helpful. They pull you out of your safe little harbor and out into the rest of the world.
Slashdot Mirror
They tried this in a Pavilions near my Grandma's house about 10 years ago. Granted, the technology wasn't fantastic at the time, but it was there. It was "cool" for a while, until you realized that it was just telling you a bunch of crap you didn't want to know. It was a bit buggy too, as anything new tends to be. Granted, it didn't keep track of what you bought, only where you went, but it came off as utterly useless and they removed these "features" from the carts within a couple years.
Would have been a lot more fun to code the C64 if it didn't come with that horrid slow-action keyboard!
I find that whenever a big project is due, I want to do anything else but that. Therefore, my room becomes extraordinarily clean, clothes are washed, and I practice my clarinet.
Also, sometimes in my procrastination, I'll work on other projects that are not due for quite some time, because the prospect of working on the current project is so unappealing. That is the key.
So... for any project that is due, start working on it a long time in advance. If it is so dreadfully dull that you don't get any work on IT done, you'll soon have finished every other project due for the entire semester. While you'll still have to painfully cram that ONE project, the other projects will be done.
A slightly saner alternative is just to start early on the project, and set very very small, short term goals for yourself. Say "Today, I'm just going to write an outline, one sentence for each paragraph, of the paper." And so on. If you start far enough in advance, you'll be surprised that it's done, and probably at a higher level of quality than if crammed.
-Alex
Ah, the MLX. I once spent hours (I was 10 at the time, so it took about an hour to copy a page of code) typing in the code for the editor. Four pages into it, I realized I'd just written all the code to make the pretty MLX logo appear and flash on the screen. Another 20 pages to go? I don't think so.
The real problem at hand is their business model. They lower the price of the printers and raise the price of ink cartridges, and thus the insane profits are made in the long run, and continuously.
Printer manufacturers are trying to sell a subscription service rather than a printer. It's all the rage with corporations these days.
As it stands, the only reason people buy the cartridges made by printer companies (besides lack of knowledge otherwise) is because some (not all) of the third-party ones are of incredibly low quality, and someone who is burned tends not to put his hand near the stove any time soon.
However, anyone who thinks an ink cartridge for a $100 printer costs more than $3 to make is a fool, and the perceived dishonesty of printer companies can only hurt business. People like to pay for what they get, and I think it would be a great step forward and a gesture of trust if ink cartridge prices were lowered, even if it means raising the cost of printers.
I blame the marketing departments, because they are the easiest and most fun to blame, and it really is their fault.
On a side note, I'm a bit torn. This ink cartridge racket is a joy to my environmentalist tendencies. Hit people in the wallet, they print less, and therefore less paper is used. I don't print nearly as much as I would if ink was dirt cheap.
In this context, I suppose these cards are simply a fancy gift card.
Except that, unlike regular gift cards, I don't have to walk into a grimy Wherehouse Music to use it.
10 People get mad at republicans so they vote democrat.
20 People get mad at democrats so they vote republican.
30 People get mad at third parties because they didn't win, and therefore the republicans and democrats they're mad at win.
40 People get mad because they are voting for people they're mad at, rather than people they'd be happy with.
50 People get mad because the system doesn't provide them with any good choices and the winner-takes-all-system bites.
60 People get mad at politics in general, say "screw it" and go on with their ever-worsening daily lives.
70 People get mad about abortion or taxes or racial issues or the personality of the people in office, or are just having a bad day.
80 People get mad enough that the politicians notice them and promise to solve their problems.
90 Politicians pander to people's special interests and hand out chocolates and puppies.
100 People like politicians again.
110 People get mad eventually because the politicians utterly fail to do anything constructive.
120 GOTO 10
130 People get mad enough that the system sees great, sweeping political reform for the benefit of all.
I'd wager a guess that the percentage of AOL users who unsubscribe is constant. When a user becomes proficient enough to realize that AOL hinders rather than helps their internet experience, they drop it for another, usually less expensive, ISP.
Yes, I once was an AOL user. Back in the dark ages of 1995-1996. Then we wised up and went with a different ISP, and finally now have a DSL. It's a stepwise process.
My guess is that AOL simply ran out of new subscribers, and the unsubscription rate, remaining somewhat constant, has now surpassed the subscription rate.
Ah, but what about the first annoying family photographer?
I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say they probably originated at about the same time.
What bugs me about this keyboard is that the numeric keypad and the Insert/Delete/Home/etc. keys are in the middle. So when you want to use any of them you have to move your hand out and around or up and over. If they put those keys on the outside, I might consider buying one when the price gets down to, oh, less than you can buy a new (albeit bottom of the line) computer for.
-Alex
Young folk of today don't know what an earthquake is. A 5.2 is about enough so that everyone feels it, and maybe a shaky brick chimney or two will fall down at the epicenter. In my day (circa 1994) we had REAL earthquakes. Bridges fell! Bridges over water, mind you! And buildings! Dern whippersnappers are so starved for news they'll make a story about a 5.2! Honestly, folks, there's got to be something else going on!
Especially if it's a service you don't really need. When the pages start coming out faded or with a missing color, what did we ever do before the computer told us it was out of ink? Consumers apparently don't have the finely-honed skills of perception required to see when a printout is poor quality and think to themselves, "Hey, maybe the ink's low!" Before the low-ink chip, them was the dark ages.
It's like the little blue bristles on the toothbrush that tell you when it's time to buy a new one.
NOT NECESSARY!
Wow, ours used to last that long.
Then my sister discovered the internet and the "Print" button. Oh well...
Yet another reason we need a better mass transit and long-distance-train system in the U.S.
"I took a knife, and ... you know those little 'Do not remove' labels that they put on mattresses? ... well, I CUT ONE OF THEM OFF!!!!!"
-Mickey, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"
If I were you, I would most definitely not lock myself into a computer profession. Millions of people consider themselves "nuts about computers."
In your situation, I would enter college undeclared (or as CS if undeclared isn't allowed) and take a bunch of G.E.'s. Find out what you like, and do it. There's more to life than well-paying jobs. I would recommend against distance learning if you are unsure about this course of action, and don't like coding much to begin with. The college experience allows a person to explore.
The people in the computer industry who don't like programming are most often the ones who are stuck in dead-end, unfulfilling jobs.
I am a bit unclear as to what kind of computer job you would desire that doesn't involve programming. I gather you like visual basic. Unfortunately, nobody is going to pay a person to drag buttons onto a form if they can't hook them up with code. The only other "computer" jobs I can think of involve management or business or are lower-prestige careers involving setting computers up for people.
I'd suggest a major that allows you to interact with computers without being a computer specialty. Graphic design, for example.
I think the best course of action is to expose kids to a variety of platforms. I have always been a PC person, and had the inherent extreme dislike of Apples and deference to anything non-Windows (e.g. Linux). Then, in my first year of college, my programming class used Linux. After an initial "No Windows? How Cheap!!!", I progressed to "Hey, that's not so bad." I'm even giving Macintosh a second thought, though not enough to go out and buy a box today.
The worst course of action, in my opinion, is to lock people into a singular mindset. Why not install different systems in the same school and let people decide for themselves which ones they prefer? Make it all accessible.
The biggest hurdle, IMHO, for all things non-Windows today, is a lack of openness and familiarity by primary Windows-users. "Windows is all there is" seems to be the dominant mantra by people who have only used Windows, because that's all they know. The same goes for Linux people and Mac people, etc., who have worked primarily with one system.
I think the best aspects of all systems should be used for what they are.
I couldn't agree more...
At my high school, there was a computer in every classroom. It was a big deal for the administration, and it made them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
What were the computers used for? Primarily, the teachers used them to enter grades and type up their tests. Students were rarely allowed onto the computers, which made sense, since there wasn't much useful one can do with them in most classes. What does German class, or Ceramics, need with a computer?
As you say, computers in the classroom have little use. Wasted resources.
The only student-useful computers at my high school were used to teach people typing, and for an MS Office class, and a programming class (we used Borland, btw)... and those were either ancient or grossly overpriced.
The rest of them were there to look pretty for the Blue Ribbon Award inspectors to come around and give our pretty school a pretty plaque.
Took me a second to figure that your title was NOT sarcastic...
I've always gotten the impression that C# has the learn-in-a-day simplicity of C++, the lightning-fast performance of Java, and the do-anything versatility of Visual Basic.
Funny you should mention ad billboards...
Off the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, there was an ad billboard that did just that...
For a good few weeks, the billboard had a Windows dialog box that read something like "Out of virtual memory."
Here would be an interesting project to try to undertake...
An analog computer.
True, it would be a nightmare to write, and inefficient, but it is not an "interactive digital device."
**braces for slaps upside the head due to stupid comment**
If this bill passes, it will likely cause a sudden upturn in the economy. The economic boom will be caused by people like me, spending all my money on pre-SSSCA devices and software while they are still available. Unfortunately, once supply of such devices has diminished, a recession may be in order.
How about calming down the people? In the past month, everyone has been worked up into a frenzy, partially due to politicians (Feinstein, et al), and partially due to the media ("There's been another possible anthrax mailing... wait, it's a cookie! I'm so SCARED!!!!!").
There's been little reassurance to the people that everything's going to be OK. Whether or not that's true, it's something we should keep telling ourselves. Unfortunately, the nightly news tries to make the flashiest "uh-oh!" headlines, and people get freaked.
I think simple vigilance and common sense on the part of the American people will be far more effective than an ID card. If people use judgment before they freak out over nothing, our nation's existing security resources can better focus on prevention.
On the contrary...
If there's a fire, I suspect someone could cut or punch a hole in the back wall and just stroll on out.
teaching me things that I'll never use in my career and that I either could've learned in high school or on my own if the need arises.
If the need arises?
When the need arises, you might not have the opportunity to learn it. When you are in a university, you are given the time and opportunity, albeit half-forcibly, to learn things outside of your normal realm.
Things you learn elsewhere can come in handy, even if you don't realize it. Life is full of "Oh, I remember THAT! That'll make this easy to do!" parallels that can be drawn from any field to another. The more exposure you have to different ways of thinking, the more different ways you can think.
Music classes, for example, have helped me directly and indirectly in many ways in my programming, as have English and history. They may not be evident right away, but they are very helpful. Also, did it ever occur to you that you may have to write a program related to one of those other fields? It's much easier to brush up than to learn from scratch.
Different ways of thinking also help greatly in developing a better sense of intuition. Instead of jumping right into a program, some obscure conglomeration of outside knowledge may make you stop and think "Is this really a good idea? Is there a better way to go about this?"
The classes that I anticipate as being the most drab, uninteresting, or out-of-my-realm, often prove to be the most useful and helpful. They pull you out of your safe little harbor and out into the rest of the world.