So long as the kids are in an environment that is sufficiently flexible, it is fine for kids to learn to read later on. What's really cool about homeschooling is that it gives that flexibility.
We homeschool out kids. One wanted to start reading when he was four and was reading pretty well by the time he was five.
The other was not keen on reading early on and only really got keen when he was 9 (though he could read at a low level before then). He's now 11 and reads Moby Dick - level books. With **self** motivation fast progress is no problem..
There's a terrible misconception that kids who don't start reading/etc early miss out and are doomed for life. Crap. A slef-motivated kid can learn to read well in less than a year.
As for games, well don't use them as educational tools, they are just games. Games might have some might have some educational spin-off, just like many other activities: riding a bike (3d perception, balance, road user skills...), playing softball (3d perception, basic physics of motion...) etc etc. Buying a game because it is educational is like choosing the vitamin enriched cornflakes: you know they're crap and the vitamins is just guilt mitigation.
"As long as they can sell something through spam..." is not quite right.
The spammers don't typically sell directly. They sell the service to people who think it might be a valid way to get sales. The actual spammers don't really care if it sells or not. All they care about is being able to convince their customers that spamming is a good way to sell. To correct your statement:
"As long as they are perceived to sell something through the spam..."
NASA are always worried about their image. They need to be to keep their funding. While the astronauts are far more visible than the people at JPL, JPLers doing the psycho diaper thing could still embarrass them.
Sure there are no guarantees, but some heavy-duty background checking does cut down on wierdos.
Yes, current MEMS operate at a scale where the effect likely has no impact (probably by a few orders of magnitude). However, previously this effect was thought to not exist and thus was not a factor in future MEMS design. That really only limited MEMS devices to size constraints where there is enough mass etc to provide a measurable effect.
Now that a stress issue has been found that places a limit on how the materials can be used and how much MEMS devices can be shrunk etc.
WTF is right. This is an excellet demonstration of how little we really know about this planet and how it works.
Science can't explain a few rocks scooting over the desert, yet is confident enough to make roaring extrapolations about global warming etc.
A mere 35 years ago, the theory was that mountains "just rose up" because teutonic plate theory was just too crazy to accept. Now teutonics is accepted by most. Yes, science does continue to advance, but we should never think we really have any true answers yet. In 50 years maybe we'll be looking back at what we thought in 2007 and laugh at how naive we were back then.
He's right! You should not be allowed to use the web until you fully understand networking, have read all the RFCs and walked through the source of the Linux networking stack.
Seriously though, you should not have to know all this stuff to use a computer. Even a hammer is a lot more complex than most people care to think. When I use a hammer, I don't care about the metallurgy of the steel in the head (which is important to prevent the head from shattering or deforming), the designing engineer did that for me.
The biggest difference with the computer world vs the physical world is that the physical world dangers tend to be a bit more obvious. When my 11 year-old son operates a chainsaw he knows that applying chain to leg is not a clever thing to do. Explaining firewalls etc to him is a bit more difficult. All the more reason for software engineers to do a better job of designing security etc into their products.
In the beginning, radiation was fantastic stuff that only had the effect of whitening your teeth. From 1970..2005, the "safe levels" have only fallen. Now some new guy says otherwise. Gee. I wonder how long his evidence will last?
Most scientists working in GM, or any other field for that matter, have a vested interest to keep their mouths shut. The day of independent scientists is long gone. Even University scientists are funded my MegaCorp and that funding coerces scientists into keeping quiet.
Even apart from funding, it is very difficult for someone to acknowledge the downside to the work they are doing. After 5 years in the lab would you like to acknowledge that your developments could be a Bad Idea? Scientists are human too, well kinda.
So the hot-tub sized device cranks out many MW of thermal power. How big is the turbine/generator set that makes this into electricity? Not much point in just half a system.
OK, Geeks understand a bit about what internet traffic is, but how many youtubers LOL types really understand? All they know is that this an almost infinite amount of internet stuff for not much cost. A bit like paying $20 per month and filling up your car as often as you want. Unlike driving a car, where they have to pay for gas, this internet stuff is intangible and usage is virtually free. Unlike using gas or electricity or roads, there is no tangible throttling mechanism. Hence, more people will continue to suck more data through the internet.
This is worse than the tragedy of the commons because at least (most) farmers understand the downside of over-grazing.
Consumption will continue to increase until there is ssome sort of cost that caps consumption and effects a feedback cycle. That feedback also needs to be something that Joe Sixpack can understand. You and I might know that youtube uses less bandwidth than full DVD quality video, but Joe Sixpack doesn't. Therefore it is going to be very difficult to use cost to temper usage.
Your brain is not a spectrum analyzer. You don't just listen with your ears. Other senses come in to play too. Wood, even if not part of the actual audio loop, does give that feeling of richer sound and likely does help things sound better.
This confusion of senses is well documented and well understood. For example, the resturant industry know that they can make their food taste better by changing the color of the walls, lighting levels, music etc.
The faceless experience of being online is not just limited to rudeness, but other behavior too. People who would never buy porn at a newsstand will surf porn. People who would never go naked on a beach will pose naked for online dating.
This is all to be expected. "Civilaised society", whatever that means, comes from feedback. That feedback is significantly reduced by a computer interaction or by excessive alcohol etc. resulting in less inhibited behaviour online or when pissed.
Slashdot Mirror
We homeschool out kids. One wanted to start reading when he was four and was reading pretty well by the time he was five.
The other was not keen on reading early on and only really got keen when he was 9 (though he could read at a low level before then). He's now 11 and reads Moby Dick - level books. With **self** motivation fast progress is no problem..
There's a terrible misconception that kids who don't start reading/etc early miss out and are doomed for life. Crap. A slef-motivated kid can learn to read well in less than a year.
As for games, well don't use them as educational tools, they are just games. Games might have some might have some educational spin-off, just like many other activities: riding a bike (3d perception, balance, road user skills...), playing softball (3d perception, basic physics of motion...) etc etc. Buying a game because it is educational is like choosing the vitamin enriched cornflakes: you know they're crap and the vitamins is just guilt mitigation.
For me, KDE is already good enough. I'd rather wait until KDE4 is really solid than ty get it out on some arbitrary ship date.
The spammers don't typically sell directly. They sell the service to people who think it might be a valid way to get sales. The actual spammers don't really care if it sells or not. All they care about is being able to convince their customers that spamming is a good way to sell. To correct your statement:
"As long as they are perceived to sell something through the spam..."
Perhaps One Cellphone Per Child is a more useful goal than OLPC? Much cheaper and likely far more useful.
Sure there are no guarantees, but some heavy-duty background checking does cut down on wierdos.
Sorry, just trying to figure out a botherder joke.
"You're within 1000m of coffee. Can you smell it yet?". Thanks!
Now that a stress issue has been found that places a limit on how the materials can be used and how much MEMS devices can be shrunk etc.
Even if code has a banner with terms you don't like, you can often ask the people to modify the terms for your use.
If you don't have other reasons to dig trenches etc, then wireless is typically far cheaper because the installation costs are zero.
Following due process is important and Google should have done so. Releasing info without court demand is as bad as searching without a warrant.
Science can't explain a few rocks scooting over the desert, yet is confident enough to make roaring extrapolations about global warming etc.
A mere 35 years ago, the theory was that mountains "just rose up" because teutonic plate theory was just too crazy to accept. Now teutonics is accepted by most. Yes, science does continue to advance, but we should never think we really have any true answers yet. In 50 years maybe we'll be looking back at what we thought in 2007 and laugh at how naive we were back then.
Seriously though, you should not have to know all this stuff to use a computer. Even a hammer is a lot more complex than most people care to think. When I use a hammer, I don't care about the metallurgy of the steel in the head (which is important to prevent the head from shattering or deforming), the designing engineer did that for me.
The biggest difference with the computer world vs the physical world is that the physical world dangers tend to be a bit more obvious. When my 11 year-old son operates a chainsaw he knows that applying chain to leg is not a clever thing to do. Explaining firewalls etc to him is a bit more difficult. All the more reason for software engineers to do a better job of designing security etc into their products.
In the beginning, radiation was fantastic stuff that only had the effect of whitening your teeth. From 1970..2005, the "safe levels" have only fallen. Now some new guy says otherwise. Gee. I wonder how long his evidence will last?
As previous people have mentioned, many of the items got bad marks for goofy shape which is not really enough to classify them as worst tech.
Still, good to see that people are trying different ideas.
Even apart from funding, it is very difficult for someone to acknowledge the downside to the work they are doing. After 5 years in the lab would you like to acknowledge that your developments could be a Bad Idea? Scientists are human too, well kinda.
... well the important bits ... if it is female.
So the hot-tub sized device cranks out many MW of thermal power. How big is the turbine/generator set that makes this into electricity? Not much point in just half a system.
memset(ptr,0,size)
It only really matters if you go outside, and what geek does that?
This is worse than the tragedy of the commons because at least (most) farmers understand the downside of over-grazing.
Consumption will continue to increase until there is ssome sort of cost that caps consumption and effects a feedback cycle. That feedback also needs to be something that Joe Sixpack can understand. You and I might know that youtube uses less bandwidth than full DVD quality video, but Joe Sixpack doesn't. Therefore it is going to be very difficult to use cost to temper usage.
As with all science, forensics also move on with time and methods used a few years back can be shown to be invalid a short while later.
This confusion of senses is well documented and well understood. For example, the resturant industry know that they can make their food taste better by changing the color of the walls, lighting levels, music etc.
This is all to be expected. "Civilaised society", whatever that means, comes from feedback. That feedback is significantly reduced by a computer interaction or by excessive alcohol etc. resulting in less inhibited behaviour online or when pissed.