It's an excellent analogy because that's how managers and other non-computer scientists in many (maybe most) workplaces view their software developers, software engineers, web developers, sysadms, etc. I spent years fighting to educate my coworkers who didn't understand what a web developer does, and put up with frequent comments like "any monkey can make a web page" and "I can make a web page in Word"... like "making web pages" was what my job was actually about (and, yes, those are actual quotes from high-level professionals).
Yes: kids would have reached these levels of online consumption 10 years ago and we'd already have brain chips connecting us to the Interwebs 24/7 so we wouldn't need to keep those clumsy netbooks next to the bed for midnight porn surfing.
It's cute as a button!!! Uhhhh, gimme the standard entertainment system form factor so I can stack the damn thing on top of the DVD player please. I got nowhere to put that crazy cute thing.
Elegant describes the algorithm or solution as using resources efficiently, having no unnecessary steps in getting to the solution, and easily readable to another programmer familiar with the subject at hand (as AB3A mentioned inre to DSP).
Yes, if we use Webster's definition, there is a certain amount of "cleverness" in beautiful, elegant code. However, when we say "clever" we usually mean cutesy-clever, like mashing several traditional lines of code into a one-liner. That's fine for a geeky contest of "who can write this using the fewest number of characters," but (as most of us agree) does not have a place in professional code. One-liners and similar stunts might be clever, but are rarely elegant, and cause headaches for later maintainers of the code.
First installation was SuSE (don't recall the version, but it was maybe 1997 or 1998) - pretty much was just messing around with it. First actual use was setting up SuSE for an Apache web server on a new Dell server at work to replace an old DEC Alpha (True64/Netscape FastTrack).
Actually, iTunes is barely mentioned in the article. iTunes was inaccurately mentioned in the story headline, apparently to start a flame war among the various flaming fanboys. I'm outta here - apparently someone's letting the new intern approve stories.
I don't have much hope for this in a country where a girl in a bikini is ok, but a girl in a bra and panties is indecent, even though she is equally covered in both outfits. In some places in this country, it's okay for both men and women to bare their chests, yet in other places (including the airwaves) bare chested women are considered indecent and obscene. During some fashion trends, young women have been vilified for exposing their belly buttons (e.g., the Britney Spears look). Some school dress codes don't allow young women to wear tops with spaghetti straps because even an exposed shoulder is too "distracting" to the student body.
On a slightly related note, my first reaction when these "sexting" stories originally popped up was "wow! isn't it wonderful that young women have developed a positive enough body image that they're willing to send such photos to their friends!" How much psychological damage are prosecutors and society doing to these impressionable young people with these ludicrous charges?
There will always be a moral minority of uptight people waving the decency flag, making the rest of society feel bad for allowing young women to be seen in public in anything more exposing than a burka.
I might be moderately alarmed if the FB post linked directly to the download instead of the PB torrent description... but I still have doubts that would be interesting enough to call it news.
So now I wonder: how many links from a torrent must I stack up before I'm clearly not guilty of infringement (my blog links to your delicious bookmark links to Alice's blog links to Bob's/. journal links to Ted's FF links to Carol's FB links to PB links to the torrent which links to material which may be infringing simply because it exists)?
And is it limited to hypertext? What about a URL in a plain text file? What about a screenshot? Professional paper? Tattoo? What if I'm witnessed discussing a torrent (i.e., a "verbal" link)? What if I glance over your shoulder at a PB page on your screen, permanently embedding the image in my memory?
I give up. I'm gonna take my toys and go home now... Let's just shut down the fucking 'net.
It works simply: The Pirate Bay site now includes links under torrents to âoeShare on Facebookâ. Once posted to your profile, your Facebook friends can click the link on Facebook to begin the download right away, provided they already have a torrenting client installed.
wtf am I missing? So, I used the Ubuntu example given by TorrentFreak (linked in the mashable article) and hit their Share on Facebook button. It posted to my FB profile as expected, but when I hit the link in my profile, it didn't start the download, it took me to the Pirate Bay page for the Ubuntu torrent. I have mutorrent installed... Is it just me? Maybe I need to tweek something to make the magic happen? Am I waiting for another FB redesign to go active? Or is the article completely wrong about this behavior, and then who really gives a fuck because I could have shared this on FB already through the Share on FB button I already have on my browser toolbar? (iow, this ain't news: Pirate Bay adding a link to a web page, whoopdeefuckingdoo).
Have you visited MySpace? Not only do things ripple, spin, and dance, they glitter, shimmer, and reflect. Nothing's changed, it just reaches new depths of tastelessness. In general, personal web pages are as bad as they've always been, except now there's CMS/blog/social-whateverthefuck sites to make it oh so much easier.
For all of our systems (servers and workstations) was Lord of the Rings creatures and races - no proper names allowed. Goblin, kraken, and ogre were pretty cool, but the convention was pretty limiting even in a small group... my husband's last DEC workstation was ent. Before the movies, he'd have to explain to most people what an ent was. I bent the rules and used "faerie." For the last few years in a workplace, my system's name was "hedon" except for periods where Active Directory ruined my fun. My web servers all had boring, functional names with the word "web" in them.
At home, we have no convention for our workstations and laptops -- wild animals, wild flowers, mountain ranges, and mystical creatures are all game. Servers however are boring; "web" and "database." Simple, but we never confuse them with anything else.
Four years? This started back in 1996, and the original transition date was already delayed once from 2006 until 2009. This has been going on for waaaay too long -- four months won't make a difference, particularly not enough of one to justify the economic impact of another delay that the current economy cannot afford.
Yeah, I have to agree with this... I think AP is being pissy for pissy's sake. It's a simple portait (possibly because there's no professional portrait available?) intended to do nothing but show what she looks like. And frankly, a professional portrait done in a studio would have been touched up too. This photo is not trying to capture an event or otherwise document anything really at all. I can guess what happened because I've done it -- grab a person in the hall, take a photo of them, Photoshop into a pretty head shot for their web page or whatever.
If you've gotten to the point of asking Slashdot, you know the answer: it's unethical and you need to be looking for a new job if you can't get this resolved.
These first three responses are probably all you need. Start with talking face-to-face with the boss, outline the ethical and technical problems (focus on the technical "ya know Mr. Boss, this is gonna eventually break") and propose a better solution. Follow up with e-mail summarizing the meeting (definitely document).
If you can't get the boss to buy in on a reasonable, ethical solution, then go ahead and do it his way (it's what you're paid to do) or quit (if you can afford it) documenting why you're leaving (make sure HR gets a copy of your resignation notice). Either way, look for a new job and get the hell out of there. Think positive, don't worry about the economic doomsday crap the news makes up to keep us on the edge of our seats, and don't be too proud to take a pay cut or something resembling a "demotion" (you can always work your way back up). Hell, start your own consulting business.
Like others have mentioned, without knowing the age range and dictated goal, it's tough to give really great advice, so I'll tell you about two of the mini-classes I've given.
The first was a weekend "computer camp" for a small group of kids aged ten to sixteen. In a few days, we covered:
Computer hardware: recognizing the components and parts, how to replace components and set up the computer, etc. We ended with destroying an old, dead computer in part to see how what was inside components like the hard drive looked like inside, but also to help some of the kids get over being intimidated by the computer.
Internet safety, privacy, and netiquette. Basic web surfing, resources, and browser usage.
HTML basics. Copyright concerns (i.e. ask permission before stealing graphics).
Javascript basics: using cut-n-paste javascript in pages and tweaking the code (which, as we all know, is a gateway drug to hardcore programming).
The second was a 1.5 hour web development basics course for high school aged girls. While introducing myself, I noticed the girls' interest was piqued when I showed a screenshot of my myspace page. I naturally didn't change my presentation, however, I discussed every topic in the context of "hacking your myspace page." For that class, I covered the basics of HTML hand-coding, CSS, cut-n-paste javascript (see "gateway drug" comment above), and a few basic design concepts (e.g., blue text on black background is unreadable, choosing background textures for text readability, etc.). I short-cutted the process by providing each girl with cheatsheets (HTML, CSS, color names, etc.) tailored for the class and a USB drive containing examples, images, javascripts, etc.
Among my standard bag of tricks (no matter what subject I'm presenting) are:
Keep the more advanced kids involved and interested by charging them with helping the newbies (since they've already finished the next hands-on while I was talking), rewarding them with keeping their help positive.
Ask the class for answers instead of just presenting the material, which helps keep them involved and helps me identify who's already up on the curve before we get to hands-on stuff.
Relate any subject to their world as much as possible, using celebrities, music, movies, events, classmates, teachers, etc. in examples and activities
For many young women, making stuff "pretty" can be a strong motivator. A young woman I was tutoring in a QBasic class excelled at her assignment when I taught her how to add animated ascii-art to her user interface (she designed a flowery border and a blooming flower). As a double bonus, her self-esteem got a serious boost when she became the center of attention for the entire class (20 other kids, all guys) who thought her program was incredibly cool and wanted her to teach them her secrets.
the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this "the final solution to the Jewish question." The word Holocaust is derived from the Greek holokauston, a translation of the Hebrew word 'olah, meaning a burnt sacrifice offered whole to God. This word was chosen because in the ultimate manifestation of the Nazi killing program--the extermination camps--the bodies of the victims were consumed whole in crematoria and open fires.
Note the Britannica definition does not limit the definition of Holocaust only to the genocide of Jews. Wikipedia's source for the definition including only Jews in the definition is a highly biased one and suggests that is the definition among Jews, not among the general populace. Also note the Wikipedia article cites broader definitions:
Although the word "holocaust" has been widely used since the 17th century to refer to the violent death of a large number of people
and
The word "Holocaust" is also used in a wider sense to describe other actions of the Nazi regime. These include around half a million Roma and Sinti, the deaths of several million Soviet prisoners of war, along with slave laborers, gay men, Jehovah's Witnesses, the disabled, and political opponents.
Even the Wikipedia article suggests limiting the term to only refer to the killing of Jews during WWII is highly biased, and personally I'm finding the Wikipedia article to be heinously lacking in objectivity.
The use of the word in this wider sense is objected to by many Jewish organizations, particularly those established to commemorate the Jewish Holocaust. Jewish organizations say that the word in its application to the Nazi genocide was originally coined to describe the extermination of the Jews, and that the Jewish Holocaust was a crime on such a scale, and of such specificity, as the culmination of the long history of European antisemitism, that it should not be subsumed into a general category with other crimes of the Nazis.
I should hope we'd all be outraged and horrified at every single death at the hands of the Nazis, not just those of Jews. The notion that the tragedy of any group is somehow diluted by the remembrance of the same tragedy inflicted upon other groups, suggesting that the killing of gypsies or homosexuals was somehow a "lesser" crime, is absurd and offensive.
Since when has anyone had to show any kind of id to go into a park? There are problems with RealID, but if you overhype the problems, it discredits the opposition to it.
I have to agree... I haven't been able to locate a decent source stating that now or in the future any ID will be required for entering federal property open to the public, such as National Parks. Did CNN's McLaughlin exaggeratedly extrapolate (and therefore, everyone assumes it must be fact), or is there an official document or statement regarding new ID requirements for entry to all federal properties when the REAL ID Act goes into effect? (National Parks aren't anything special, therefore whatever applies to NPS must apply to the properties of other agencies.)
As the statement implies, if indeed one must show a REAL ID or passport to enter federal public properties and lands, the implications are enormous (enormously expensive). Properties maintained by NPS frequently do not have fences, or even someone collecting money... but that's just the beginning. There are numerous federal public buildings and campuses that are open to the public and simply do not have anyone who's tasked with admitting folks - anyone can just walk in. All those facilities will not only need to lock down, but hire a full-time staff of people whose only job is to check everyone coming into the facility. What about lands managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc.? You simply can't fence those regions. We can't effectively monitor a border as simple as our national borders... there's no way we can keep the bad guys out of Yellowstone if they want to collect a little reconnaissance on Old Faithful.
My feeling is McLaughlin's statement regarding the need for a federally approved ID to enter a National Park was simply an alarmist intro based purely on his imagination, not fact. However, I am still alarmed, and find the entire concept nauseating. Once REAL ID goes into effect and gets rolling, the government will continue to find new and interesting uses to categorize as "official use" of the REAL ID.
Opera had it long before any other browser, so I had my hackles up when this popped up in the RSS feed. Discovering that it's all a lame-ass April Fool's hoax just disappointed me to the point I'm considering turning off all my computers for the next 21 hours and reading a book or something so I don't have to look at the fscking Internet. The damned hoaxes started yesterday, and I reached my threshold for pain around 19:47 last night.
When hiring students for our computer programming team, one of the lines of interview questions we have for computer science interns is whether they've built or repaired their own computers, installed O/S's (particularly Linux), etc. They will not be doing these tasks on the job - they will be programming in one more languages and probably using every math class they've taken and a few they haven't. What we're trying to find out is whether computer science is just a major or if it's a calling, if they have problem solving skills, if they are willing to explore and do their own research, and generally if they're motivated. By the same token, we ask if they program for fun, if they have a web site, and so forth. Also, since Linux is our workhorse O/S, Linux experience is a major plus. In the long run, what's most important is that understanding the platform you are writing code for makes you a better programmer. Period.
My recommendations are: Tinker - don't just install one flavor of Linux (on a system you assembled from spare parts), try ten of them, and install lots of interesting stuff (rpms and debs are great, but grab the source and make it from scratch)... pick your favorite and make it your primary development environment. Code for fun (if you don't do that, change your major now). Get a minor in math - if you're in a good CS program, you'll only need one or two more math classes. Minor in something else interesting and practical, or at least focus your electives in a particular area - for example, if you think you want to be a Google Maps programmer, take a lot of geography courses. Being an expert in one language is fine, but definitely get experience (coursework, workplace, etc.) in several - Java, C++, Perl, PHP, hell even Fortran. Don't be a snob, play with C#, Visual Basic, Ada, Basic, Processing, etc. Don't forget to learn make, configure, shell scripting, Qt, STL, CVS/Subversion, NetBeans, MySQL, and other handy tools, libraries, and techniques. Everything you do outside the classroom will only help you build on what you learn in the classroom.
Most importantly, get an internship where you will be programming, preferably in a team of computer scientists where you can learn from them. And, yes, humble yourself and learn - you will find the real world differs from the classroom, and everything you can absorb from simple coding and algorithms to the software development processes, design concepts, interaction with real users, etc. will only help build on the basic skills you are learning in school. On top of that, it looks great on the resume, and interns are often offered jobs after graduation. On the other hand, if you don't do internships or otherwise work in an environment where you are practicing your skills, you will find it incredibly difficult to find a position after graduation. If you can't get a paying internship, volunteer your services.
Lastly, lots of math. I know I said it once, and so have several other folks. We're telling you this for a reason - not only will it build strongly on what you learn in the CS department, but out here in the real world, we use math. A lot. In my particular environment, half our programming team majored in math, the other half in Computer Science & Engineering (which is something like CS with a minor in electrical). Math is good.
Actually, the more applicable law (at least similar to what Georgia's attempting) here might be COPPA (see the text of Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998) which addresses what kids can do on the 'net more than what adults can put online that children might be exposed to. By requiring minors (under 13) to have verifiable consent from a parent/guardian, so it does part of what Georgia's trying to do. Not sure why the law didn't extend to teenagers - possibly because of conflicts with "age of consent" related laws (yeah, IANAL). IMHO, leave these types of laws to the Federal government -- state laws are too varied and difficult to enforce. There needs to be consistency across the board.
I'm a tried-and-true eBook fan. I was happily using a Rocket eBook for six or seven years for almost all of my pleasure reading - 14+ hours of battery life usually got me through at least a week long vacation... no trying to read in the dark using a headlamp, no bothering hubby with a bedside lamp, and I could carry a large number of books in about the weight and volume of a good sized paperback. The downside was being restricted to certain formats and not being able to read books that come out in various secure formats. I originally picked the eBook up to use to read online textbooks for web-based courses - reading off a desktop screen is an incredible pain, and printing the material was simply not feasible.
About a month ago, I took delivery of a Fujitsu Lifebook 1610, in part to replace my eBook (and a few other devices). 2.5 pounds, 7 hours of battery life, and I can read any format for which I can get reader software. I find it far more comfortable to read large amounts of online material (books, websites, or otherwise) than trying to read off my regular computer screen. Of course, I also use it for taking notes (bye-bye pile of ratty steno pads), work and play on-the-road (adios to the 7 pound laptop), watching movies (okay, the iPod's still in my pocket), using customized maps with a GPS receiver, etc. I plan to switch every magazine subscription I can to electronic delivery. With a couple power adapters, I can keep it fairly well charged up where ever I go.
I still buy the occasional hardcopy book, but only when I plan to put the book on my shelf (such as one by a favorite author or a collectible), the book isn't available in eBook format, or (for now) it's a vital technical reference... for some reason, many of the latter are still much easier to use in paper form, with their attendant sticky notes marking useful sections. However, a really well done electronic reference (usually APIs) are actually more usable than the hardcopy. With wireless, a wealth of info is at my fingertips where ever I am, and I don't have to run back to the office for a book.
Slashdot Mirror
It's an excellent analogy because that's how managers and other non-computer scientists in many (maybe most) workplaces view their software developers, software engineers, web developers, sysadms, etc. I spent years fighting to educate my coworkers who didn't understand what a web developer does, and put up with frequent comments like "any monkey can make a web page" and "I can make a web page in Word"... like "making web pages" was what my job was actually about (and, yes, those are actual quotes from high-level professionals).
Yes: kids would have reached these levels of online consumption 10 years ago and we'd already have brain chips connecting us to the Interwebs 24/7 so we wouldn't need to keep those clumsy netbooks next to the bed for midnight porn surfing.
Dude, you're doing it wrong: it's a hands-on tutorial, not a reference manual... you're supposed to work through the exercises, not just read them.
No matter how you say it, it's wrong. It winks from 200,000 kilometers away. The rest of the distance was just data transfer.
Why do you want this thing? Just get over it and build your own.
It's cute as a button!!! Uhhhh, gimme the standard entertainment system form factor so I can stack the damn thing on top of the DVD player please. I got nowhere to put that crazy cute thing.
Elegant and clever are not the same thing.
Elegant describes the algorithm or solution as using resources efficiently, having no unnecessary steps in getting to the solution, and easily readable to another programmer familiar with the subject at hand (as AB3A mentioned inre to DSP).
Yes, if we use Webster's definition, there is a certain amount of "cleverness" in beautiful, elegant code. However, when we say "clever" we usually mean cutesy-clever, like mashing several traditional lines of code into a one-liner. That's fine for a geeky contest of "who can write this using the fewest number of characters," but (as most of us agree) does not have a place in professional code. One-liners and similar stunts might be clever, but are rarely elegant, and cause headaches for later maintainers of the code.
First installation was SuSE (don't recall the version, but it was maybe 1997 or 1998) - pretty much was just messing around with it. First actual use was setting up SuSE for an Apache web server on a new Dell server at work to replace an old DEC Alpha (True64/Netscape FastTrack).
Actually, iTunes is barely mentioned in the article. iTunes was inaccurately mentioned in the story headline, apparently to start a flame war among the various flaming fanboys. I'm outta here - apparently someone's letting the new intern approve stories.
I don't have much hope for this in a country where a girl in a bikini is ok, but a girl in a bra and panties is indecent, even though she is equally covered in both outfits. In some places in this country, it's okay for both men and women to bare their chests, yet in other places (including the airwaves) bare chested women are considered indecent and obscene. During some fashion trends, young women have been vilified for exposing their belly buttons (e.g., the Britney Spears look). Some school dress codes don't allow young women to wear tops with spaghetti straps because even an exposed shoulder is too "distracting" to the student body.
On a slightly related note, my first reaction when these "sexting" stories originally popped up was "wow! isn't it wonderful that young women have developed a positive enough body image that they're willing to send such photos to their friends!" How much psychological damage are prosecutors and society doing to these impressionable young people with these ludicrous charges?
There will always be a moral minority of uptight people waving the decency flag, making the rest of society feel bad for allowing young women to be seen in public in anything more exposing than a burka.
I might be moderately alarmed if the FB post linked directly to the download instead of the PB torrent description... but I still have doubts that would be interesting enough to call it news.
So now I wonder: how many links from a torrent must I stack up before I'm clearly not guilty of infringement (my blog links to your delicious bookmark links to Alice's blog links to Bob's /. journal links to Ted's FF links to Carol's FB links to PB links to the torrent which links to material which may be infringing simply because it exists)?
And is it limited to hypertext? What about a URL in a plain text file? What about a screenshot? Professional paper? Tattoo? What if I'm witnessed discussing a torrent (i.e., a "verbal" link)? What if I glance over your shoulder at a PB page on your screen, permanently embedding the image in my memory?
I give up. I'm gonna take my toys and go home now... Let's just shut down the fucking 'net.
wtf am I missing? So, I used the Ubuntu example given by TorrentFreak (linked in the mashable article) and hit their Share on Facebook button. It posted to my FB profile as expected, but when I hit the link in my profile, it didn't start the download, it took me to the Pirate Bay page for the Ubuntu torrent. I have mutorrent installed... Is it just me? Maybe I need to tweek something to make the magic happen? Am I waiting for another FB redesign to go active? Or is the article completely wrong about this behavior, and then who really gives a fuck because I could have shared this on FB already through the Share on FB button I already have on my browser toolbar? (iow, this ain't news: Pirate Bay adding a link to a web page, whoopdeefuckingdoo).
Have you visited MySpace? Not only do things ripple, spin, and dance, they glitter, shimmer, and reflect. Nothing's changed, it just reaches new depths of tastelessness. In general, personal web pages are as bad as they've always been, except now there's CMS/blog/social-whateverthefuck sites to make it oh so much easier.
For all of our systems (servers and workstations) was Lord of the Rings creatures and races - no proper names allowed. Goblin, kraken, and ogre were pretty cool, but the convention was pretty limiting even in a small group... my husband's last DEC workstation was ent. Before the movies, he'd have to explain to most people what an ent was. I bent the rules and used "faerie." For the last few years in a workplace, my system's name was "hedon" except for periods where Active Directory ruined my fun. My web servers all had boring, functional names with the word "web" in them.
At home, we have no convention for our workstations and laptops -- wild animals, wild flowers, mountain ranges, and mystical creatures are all game. Servers however are boring; "web" and "database." Simple, but we never confuse them with anything else.
Four years? This started back in 1996, and the original transition date was already delayed once from 2006 until 2009. This has been going on for waaaay too long -- four months won't make a difference, particularly not enough of one to justify the economic impact of another delay that the current economy cannot afford.
Yeah, I have to agree with this... I think AP is being pissy for pissy's sake. It's a simple portait (possibly because there's no professional portrait available?) intended to do nothing but show what she looks like. And frankly, a professional portrait done in a studio would have been touched up too. This photo is not trying to capture an event or otherwise document anything really at all. I can guess what happened because I've done it -- grab a person in the hall, take a photo of them, Photoshop into a pretty head shot for their web page or whatever.
If you've gotten to the point of asking Slashdot, you know the answer: it's unethical and you need to be looking for a new job if you can't get this resolved.
These first three responses are probably all you need. Start with talking face-to-face with the boss, outline the ethical and technical problems (focus on the technical "ya know Mr. Boss, this is gonna eventually break") and propose a better solution. Follow up with e-mail summarizing the meeting (definitely document).
If you can't get the boss to buy in on a reasonable, ethical solution, then go ahead and do it his way (it's what you're paid to do) or quit (if you can afford it) documenting why you're leaving (make sure HR gets a copy of your resignation notice). Either way, look for a new job and get the hell out of there. Think positive, don't worry about the economic doomsday crap the news makes up to keep us on the edge of our seats, and don't be too proud to take a pay cut or something resembling a "demotion" (you can always work your way back up). Hell, start your own consulting business.
Like others have mentioned, without knowing the age range and dictated goal, it's tough to give really great advice, so I'll tell you about two of the mini-classes I've given.
The first was a weekend "computer camp" for a small group of kids aged ten to sixteen. In a few days, we covered:
The second was a 1.5 hour web development basics course for high school aged girls. While introducing myself, I noticed the girls' interest was piqued when I showed a screenshot of my myspace page. I naturally didn't change my presentation, however, I discussed every topic in the context of "hacking your myspace page." For that class, I covered the basics of HTML hand-coding, CSS, cut-n-paste javascript (see "gateway drug" comment above), and a few basic design concepts (e.g., blue text on black background is unreadable, choosing background textures for text readability, etc.). I short-cutted the process by providing each girl with cheatsheets (HTML, CSS, color names, etc.) tailored for the class and a USB drive containing examples, images, javascripts, etc.
Among my standard bag of tricks (no matter what subject I'm presenting) are:
Er, I thought wanting to watch videos well-endowed men made me heterosexual... sheesh, I'll never get this stuff straight.
I have to agree... I haven't been able to locate a decent source stating that now or in the future any ID will be required for entering federal property open to the public, such as National Parks. Did CNN's McLaughlin exaggeratedly extrapolate (and therefore, everyone assumes it must be fact), or is there an official document or statement regarding new ID requirements for entry to all federal properties when the REAL ID Act goes into effect? (National Parks aren't anything special, therefore whatever applies to NPS must apply to the properties of other agencies.)
As the statement implies, if indeed one must show a REAL ID or passport to enter federal public properties and lands, the implications are enormous (enormously expensive). Properties maintained by NPS frequently do not have fences, or even someone collecting money... but that's just the beginning. There are numerous federal public buildings and campuses that are open to the public and simply do not have anyone who's tasked with admitting folks - anyone can just walk in. All those facilities will not only need to lock down, but hire a full-time staff of people whose only job is to check everyone coming into the facility. What about lands managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc.? You simply can't fence those regions. We can't effectively monitor a border as simple as our national borders... there's no way we can keep the bad guys out of Yellowstone if they want to collect a little reconnaissance on Old Faithful.
My feeling is McLaughlin's statement regarding the need for a federally approved ID to enter a National Park was simply an alarmist intro based purely on his imagination, not fact. However, I am still alarmed, and find the entire concept nauseating. Once REAL ID goes into effect and gets rolling, the government will continue to find new and interesting uses to categorize as "official use" of the REAL ID.
Opera had it long before any other browser, so I had my hackles up when this popped up in the RSS feed. Discovering that it's all a lame-ass April Fool's hoax just disappointed me to the point I'm considering turning off all my computers for the next 21 hours and reading a book or something so I don't have to look at the fscking Internet. The damned hoaxes started yesterday, and I reached my threshold for pain around 19:47 last night.
When hiring students for our computer programming team, one of the lines of interview questions we have for computer science interns is whether they've built or repaired their own computers, installed O/S's (particularly Linux), etc. They will not be doing these tasks on the job - they will be programming in one more languages and probably using every math class they've taken and a few they haven't. What we're trying to find out is whether computer science is just a major or if it's a calling, if they have problem solving skills, if they are willing to explore and do their own research, and generally if they're motivated. By the same token, we ask if they program for fun, if they have a web site, and so forth. Also, since Linux is our workhorse O/S, Linux experience is a major plus. In the long run, what's most important is that understanding the platform you are writing code for makes you a better programmer. Period.
My recommendations are: Tinker - don't just install one flavor of Linux (on a system you assembled from spare parts), try ten of them, and install lots of interesting stuff (rpms and debs are great, but grab the source and make it from scratch)... pick your favorite and make it your primary development environment. Code for fun (if you don't do that, change your major now). Get a minor in math - if you're in a good CS program, you'll only need one or two more math classes. Minor in something else interesting and practical, or at least focus your electives in a particular area - for example, if you think you want to be a Google Maps programmer, take a lot of geography courses. Being an expert in one language is fine, but definitely get experience (coursework, workplace, etc.) in several - Java, C++, Perl, PHP, hell even Fortran. Don't be a snob, play with C#, Visual Basic, Ada, Basic, Processing, etc. Don't forget to learn make, configure, shell scripting, Qt, STL, CVS/Subversion, NetBeans, MySQL, and other handy tools, libraries, and techniques. Everything you do outside the classroom will only help you build on what you learn in the classroom.
Most importantly, get an internship where you will be programming, preferably in a team of computer scientists where you can learn from them. And, yes, humble yourself and learn - you will find the real world differs from the classroom, and everything you can absorb from simple coding and algorithms to the software development processes, design concepts, interaction with real users, etc. will only help build on the basic skills you are learning in school. On top of that, it looks great on the resume, and interns are often offered jobs after graduation. On the other hand, if you don't do internships or otherwise work in an environment where you are practicing your skills, you will find it incredibly difficult to find a position after graduation. If you can't get a paying internship, volunteer your services.
Lastly, lots of math. I know I said it once, and so have several other folks. We're telling you this for a reason - not only will it build strongly on what you learn in the CS department, but out here in the real world, we use math. A lot. In my particular environment, half our programming team majored in math, the other half in Computer Science & Engineering (which is something like CS with a minor in electrical). Math is good.
Actually, the more applicable law (at least similar to what Georgia's attempting) here might be COPPA (see the text of Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998) which addresses what kids can do on the 'net more than what adults can put online that children might be exposed to. By requiring minors (under 13) to have verifiable consent from a parent/guardian, so it does part of what Georgia's trying to do. Not sure why the law didn't extend to teenagers - possibly because of conflicts with "age of consent" related laws (yeah, IANAL). IMHO, leave these types of laws to the Federal government -- state laws are too varied and difficult to enforce. There needs to be consistency across the board.
I'm a tried-and-true eBook fan. I was happily using a Rocket eBook for six or seven years for almost all of my pleasure reading - 14+ hours of battery life usually got me through at least a week long vacation... no trying to read in the dark using a headlamp, no bothering hubby with a bedside lamp, and I could carry a large number of books in about the weight and volume of a good sized paperback. The downside was being restricted to certain formats and not being able to read books that come out in various secure formats. I originally picked the eBook up to use to read online textbooks for web-based courses - reading off a desktop screen is an incredible pain, and printing the material was simply not feasible.
About a month ago, I took delivery of a Fujitsu Lifebook 1610, in part to replace my eBook (and a few other devices). 2.5 pounds, 7 hours of battery life, and I can read any format for which I can get reader software. I find it far more comfortable to read large amounts of online material (books, websites, or otherwise) than trying to read off my regular computer screen. Of course, I also use it for taking notes (bye-bye pile of ratty steno pads), work and play on-the-road (adios to the 7 pound laptop), watching movies (okay, the iPod's still in my pocket), using customized maps with a GPS receiver, etc. I plan to switch every magazine subscription I can to electronic delivery. With a couple power adapters, I can keep it fairly well charged up where ever I go.
I still buy the occasional hardcopy book, but only when I plan to put the book on my shelf (such as one by a favorite author or a collectible), the book isn't available in eBook format, or (for now) it's a vital technical reference... for some reason, many of the latter are still much easier to use in paper form, with their attendant sticky notes marking useful sections. However, a really well done electronic reference (usually APIs) are actually more usable than the hardcopy. With wireless, a wealth of info is at my fingertips where ever I am, and I don't have to run back to the office for a book.