Part of the problem is that many schools are staffed with teachers fresh out of school themselves and put into situations that equate to nothing more than glorified babysitting.
The real issue here, and this applies to whether or not we put computers in classrooms or force them to use old-school slide-rules, we've got to get back to teaching kids how to think, analyze and take some mental initiative.
Unfortunately, this usually starts at home... where we the parents are equally culpable for plunking our kid in front of the TV to keep them occupied while we make dinner.
Well, its been clear to me that Amazon has for some time practiced some irritating sales techniques. I mean how many times to I have to wait for some stupid Harry Potter Soshkele when I'm tring to buy something entirely unrelated, such as Vincent Flander's latest tombe?
So to hear a spokeswoman try to play semantic games (for those of you outside of D.C., I believe it's called lying) with lame comments such as - "Perhaps in light of the mini-controversy, instead of saying that customers "also bought" the recommended clothing-store items, Amazon.com now says that the other customers "also wear" the recommended items." - is no surprise.
What I would be interested in is someone enumerating in simple bullet pionts all of Amazon's "irritating" sales gimmicks.
Now pardon me as I change my shorts...
Hmm. So does Amazon.com employ legions of inspectors to check the cleanliness of its customers' underwear?
I think the paragraph that pays for me is: "The GDF's first reaction was negative because they claimed it used the same ideas from other proposals. Once the protocol specs were released this was obviously false, but the GDFs reaction was still negative so Mike has not bothered to release the rest of the specs.
What it really sounds like is that the commercial entities are balking for something. That is, they are negotiating with their veto.What specifically they want out of this, whether it is a voice in the process or perhaps a cut of the action, I'm not entirely clear. I'd like more on what the author of the article called the 'backstory'.
Obviously Andrew Sullivan is the exception, no the rule. But how likely is it that a community of unemployed could muster $80,000 in donations during Mr. Sullivan's recent pledge week?
What about blogs run by authors of books, or people running little companies, churches, and other entities using the blog format to get their information out w/out having to <html> and FTP their brains out?
I want to see some hard numbers before I believe there is a correlation.
Some good comments. It actually looks like some of them aren't bogged down with legalese - now the killer question, will anything result out of these comments? Or are voices in the recording and movie industry too loud, too schrill and too strong to matter?
don't put all your security eggs in one basket
on
When Sysadmins Go Bad
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
If systems are so critical and secure, then you need to separate responsibilities, and dispense information to those holding the keys on a need to know basis.
I have to wonder if the RIAA isn't shooting themselves in the foot in this case. A number of Naval Acadamy cadets have parents in powerful political places, especially some just an hour or so away down RT.50/95/395.
Moreover, it is not uncommon for a Naval Acadamy graduate to find themselves in polotics after a distinguished military career. One wonders some yeard downline if such acts won't cause some grudges to be paid out to the RIAA in spades.
Not only do I want to move my 2.9 year old daughter onto Linux, but I've told her that immediately after potty training, she is to learn a high level language, or at least SQL. She should also be able to install releases such as Mandrake and Lycoris.
Then in a few years, I fully expect her to be able to handle Java and.NET. She should also know how to deal with various engines within the Apache server such as mod_rewrite.
By the time she's 13 or 14, she should have assembler under belt. With this knowledge, she can and should be able to write device drivers.
On my side, my goal is to find a job telecommuting, while 'home-schooling' the kid - who's computer science assignments will be doing my work for me so I can pursue the life of leasure I so richly enjoy.
And if you believe all that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you... low mileage, honest.
I'm not sure what the terms of your separation from your old employer are, but here are a couple of random thoughts.
First, if they are like most companies, they are in it for the money. Help them. Yes. But for a consulting fee. If they were willing to pay you while you were there, they should be willing to pay you now.
Many companies have you sign agreements that you can't work for competitors, etc... my point is, many companies basically say good bye and forget anything you did for us with various mutant forms of non-disclosures. If they are willing to separate at this level, they should not be suprised if you say "pay me" or "no thank you."
Finally - in the future, you might also want to creating a formal agreement so they can't come back and sue your butt if something goes wrong.
Remember, this is a business relationship.
Perhaps some competition would help?
on
Redirecting NASA
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
My father worked for NASA from the Mercury project up through the Galileo launch. The new technologies, the fantastic missions, all of it was spurred on by a mad race against our arch rivals the USSR. Climaxing with a walk on the moon... and plummeting in popularity with the Challenger explosion.
Perhaps what is now needed is some other finish line. A race? To what, I dunno. Could it be competition with commercial endeavours, other countries, national defense... I just know that the race made it exciting. Well, that and watching them huge roman candles get to point A and B in spite of all the complaining I heard from my Dad when he'd get home from work!-)
I'm hedging my bets. I've taken the pains to learn both.NET and Java (there are _some_ differences!-). I'm fortunate enought that I can use both at work. Then again, that's the reason I stay there.
That said, perhaps a place to look-n-see what you might need to study are some of the tech job postings via a source like Monster.com or the Wash.Post tech page?
Well this looks like something that might give my old PCs some new life. I would suspect with the scaled-back interface, it is as geeky as older releases.
Hee hee... ho hoo.. you're killing me. Oh... mercy... let me wipe the tear of laughter from my eye.
Oh my.. that was a good laugh. UNIX System Administration in 24 hours... yeah, I want one of those near my mission critical Solaris servers. I'm sure I can sleep entirely confident that the big iron in my data center will be entirely and completely secure... ho, ho... heee.. I can't stop laughing... oh please stop... no, don't mention backups and restoratin contingencies... hhhooooeeeee
I mean 24 hours isn't a whole lot of time to give someone the experience they need to catch things before they happen.. I mean, I realize *NIX isn't as geeky as it used to be... but c'mon kids... what happens when you need someone to administer something 'for real' like an Apache server?
Too bad these beauties weren't for sale a few years back when various individuals were so freaked out by the Y2K scare that they built undergound shelters in the woods.
Sure, the airplane reminds me of my old railroad appt. in NYC, but it sure beats the school bus David Koresh had buried in his backyard as a bunker.
I like sites like this... but isn't their already an effort to define and tie blogging communities via the The Weblog MetaData Initiative?
I mean, Waypath is at one level convenient, but no more so than well established weblog communities such as blo.gs, the Eaton WebPortal and blogs4God. Moreover, when it comes to gleaning headline news via a blog, I would suspect the real weapon of cohice would be our personal aggregators such as Amphetadesk and HotSheet?
Which is where the WMDI comes in. It helps me identify sites via xml-ish mechanisms such as the Dublin Core Initiative... which is why I would think someone who's blogging their brains out for the hottest headlines might not be better served by the WMDI.
BTW, let's remember that Brian Kernighan is not a "high creator" of C. All he did was write the book with DMR. Here's an exact quote from the aforementioned interview: "I can't comment on the 'worse', but remember, C is entirely the work of Dennis Ritchie"
Still, liberal arts? I guess so. I remember several times thinking "crap, this could be automated"... That said will, as the TIMES article states, students doing "... projects like making their own Web pages and writing a few simple programs..." give them anything more memorable than music appreciation gave business students twenty years ago?
Personally, I think K would do everyone a favor is he actually did send the artsy ones into the inner regions of the macines. Computers are likely to be an every day tool in their careers - but just that - a tool. The students will need to learn how to remain creative and original in spite of the conveniences of a computer automating the drudgery of composing notes, sentences, graphics, etc...
Just the same way we need to keep teaching elemenatary school kids their times tables - in spite of the fact that they are now equipped with solar powered calculators.
On a lighter note, in a paper by by Dennis Ritchie detailing the history of Unix we get this juicy quote about K's wit...it was not well into 1970 that Brian Kernighan suggested the name 'Unix,' in a somewhat treacherous pun on 'Multics'...
Of course, I can't let this go by without asking the all important question "What Would Bjarne Do?"
Liberal Arts? Really? Hmmm. I've got one of them valuable degrees. Had to go back and get a Master's in Computer Science it was so useful.
Perhaps I need to re-read an <a href="http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mihaib/kernighan-in terview/index.html">interview with Brian Kernighan</a>
BTW, let's remember that Brian Kernighan is not a "high creator" of C. All he did was write the book with DMR. Here's an exact quote from the aforementioned interview: <i>"I can't comment on the 'worse', but remember, C is entirely the work of Dennis Ritchie"</i>
Still, liberal arts? I guess so. I remember several times thinking "crap, this could be automated"... That said will, as the TIMES article states, students doing "<i>... projects like making their own Web pages and writing a few simple programs...</i>" give them anything more memorable than music appreciation gave business students twenty years ago?
Personally, I think K would do everyone a favor is he actually did send the artsy ones into the inner regions of the macines. Computers are likely to be an every day tool in their careers - but just that - a tool. The students will need to learn how to remain creative and original in spite of the conveniences of a computer automating the drudgery of composing notes, sentences, graphics, etc...
Just the same way we need to keep teaching elemenatary school kids their times tables - in spite of the fact that they are now equipped with solar powered calculators.
Of course, I can't let this go by without asking the all important question "<a href="http://www.healyourchurchwebsite.com/archive s/000417.shtml">What Would Bjarne Do?</a>"
It depends on your clients ...
on
Suit Up Or Ship Out?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Dressing up is a good idea if you have a lot of stiff-necked, starched-shirted clients coming by. Its also a good idea if you have employees who like to abuse casual dress codes.
That said, I'm part of a detail of code-monkies consigned to a 'skunk works' away from the corporate offices. We dress casual within limits. No jeans, no sneakers, no t-shirts. When a big-wig shows up, we get all 'gussied-up.' It gives them warm fuzzies. It keeps the revenue flowing.
Basically, it is a reasonable policy. It works for us, we work for them.
Slashdot Mirror
Part of the problem is that many schools are staffed with teachers fresh out of school themselves and put into situations that equate to nothing more than glorified babysitting.
The real issue here, and this applies to whether or not we put computers in classrooms or force them to use old-school slide-rules, we've got to get back to teaching kids how to think, analyze and take some mental initiative.
Unfortunately, this usually starts at home
I think they've got land cheap up at Three Mile Island that might be able to accomodate some of the waste.
"... So which claim should you believe?"
Well, its been clear to me that Amazon has for some time practiced some irritating sales techniques. I mean how many times to I have to wait for some stupid Harry Potter Soshkele when I'm tring to buy something entirely unrelated, such as Vincent Flander's latest tombe?
So to hear a spokeswoman try to play semantic games (for those of you outside of D.C., I believe it's called lying) with lame comments such as - "Perhaps in light of the mini-controversy, instead of saying that customers "also bought" the recommended clothing-store items, Amazon.com now says that the other customers "also wear" the recommended items." - is no surprise.
What I would be interested in is someone enumerating in simple bullet pionts all of Amazon's "irritating" sales gimmicks.
Now pardon me as I change my shorts
Hmm. So does Amazon.com employ legions of inspectors to check the cleanliness of its customers' underwear?
Laptops used attack over a wireless network? Teams take turns onstage defending the server?
Bah, Feh!
Whatever happened to the good-old-days of experimental theatre when the audience was encouraged to take off _their_ clothes and join the fun onstage?!
I think the paragraph that pays for me is:
"The GDF's first reaction was negative because they claimed it used the same ideas from other proposals. Once the protocol specs were released this was obviously false, but the GDFs reaction was still negative so Mike has not bothered to release the rest of the specs.
What it really sounds like is that the commercial entities are balking for something. That is, they are negotiating with their veto.What specifically they want out of this, whether it is a voice in the process or perhaps a cut of the action, I'm not entirely clear. I'd like more on what the author of the article called the 'backstory'.
Obviously Andrew Sullivan is the exception, no the rule. But how likely is it that a community of unemployed could muster $80,000 in donations during Mr. Sullivan's recent pledge week?
What about blogs run by authors of books, or people running little companies, churches, and other entities using the blog format to get their information out w/out having to <html> and FTP their brains out?
I want to see some hard numbers before I believe there is a correlation.
Some good comments. It actually looks like some of them aren't bogged down with legalese - now the killer question, will anything result out of these comments? Or are voices in the recording and movie industry too loud, too schrill and too strong to matter?
If systems are so critical and secure, then you need to separate responsibilities, and dispense information to those holding the keys on a need to know basis.
I have to wonder if the RIAA isn't shooting themselves in the foot in this case. A number of Naval Acadamy cadets have parents in powerful political places, especially some just an hour or so away down RT.50/95/395.
Moreover, it is not uncommon for a Naval Acadamy graduate to find themselves in polotics after a distinguished military career. One wonders some yeard downline if such acts won't cause some grudges to be paid out to the RIAA in spades.
We can only hope so.
Not only do I want to move my 2.9 year old daughter onto Linux, but I've told her that immediately after potty training, she is to learn a high level language, or at least SQL. She should also be able to install releases such as Mandrake and Lycoris.
Then in a few years, I fully expect her to be able to handle Java and
By the time she's 13 or 14, she should have assembler under belt. With this knowledge, she can and should be able to write device drivers.
On my side, my goal is to find a job telecommuting, while 'home-schooling' the kid - who's computer science assignments will be doing my work for me so I can pursue the life of leasure I so richly enjoy.
And if you believe all that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you
I'm not sure what the terms of your separation from your old employer are, but here are a couple of random thoughts.
First, if they are like most companies, they are in it for the money. Help them. Yes. But for a consulting fee. If they were willing to pay you while you were there, they should be willing to pay you now.
Many companies have you sign agreements that you can't work for competitors, etc
Finally - in the future, you might also want to creating a formal agreement so they can't come back and sue your butt if something goes wrong.
Remember, this is a business relationship.
My father worked for NASA from the Mercury project up through the Galileo launch. The new technologies, the fantastic missions, all of it was spurred on by a mad race against our arch rivals the USSR. Climaxing with a walk on the moon
Perhaps what is now needed is some other finish line. A race? To what, I dunno. Could it be competition with commercial endeavours, other countries, national defense
I'm hedging my bets. I've taken the pains to learn both
That said, perhaps a place to look-n-see what you might need to study are some of the tech job postings via a source like Monster.com or the Wash.Post tech page?
This isn't the first time The Register has fried Fujitsu' sushi. Check out an article from this past September entitled PCA attacks 'shabby' handling of Great Fujitsu HDD fiasco.
It makes me wonder if The Register, or at least one of the writers there, didn't get stuck with a few sand grinders doubling as hard drives.
Well this looks like something that might give my old PCs some new life. I would suspect with the scaled-back interface, it is as geeky as older releases.
Hee hee
Oh my
I mean 24 hours isn't a whole lot of time to give someone the experience they need to catch things before they happen
Too bad these beauties weren't for sale a few years back when various individuals were so freaked out by the Y2K scare that they built undergound shelters in the woods.
Sure, the airplane reminds me of my old railroad appt. in NYC, but it sure beats the school bus David Koresh had buried in his backyard as a bunker.
You'd think if they took to time to rewrite the sucker, that'd they at least take the time to VALIDATE it!
I like sites like this
I mean, Waypath is at one level convenient, but no more so than well established weblog communities such as
blo.gs, the Eaton WebPortal and blogs4God. Moreover, when it comes to gleaning headline news via a blog, I would suspect the real weapon of cohice would be our personal aggregators such as Amphetadesk and HotSheet?
Which is where the WMDI comes in. It helps me identify sites via xml-ish mechanisms such as the Dublin Core Initiative
Then again, your mileage may vary.
Here is a fun little parody on the entire "electronic ballot" situation. Probably funnier if it weren't so close to the truth !-)
Anyone else have a dog-eared 1st EDITION K&R C out there?
... That said will, as the TIMES article states, students doing "... projects like making their own Web pages and writing a few simple programs ..." give them anything more memorable than music appreciation gave business students twenty years ago?
...
...it was not well into 1970 that Brian Kernighan suggested the name 'Unix,' in a somewhat treacherous pun on 'Multics'...
Liberal Arts? Really? Hmmm. I've got one of them valuable degrees. Had to go back and get a Master's in Computer Science it was so useful.
Perhaps I need to re-read an interview with Brian Kernighan
BTW, let's remember that Brian Kernighan is not a "high creator" of C. All he did was write the book with DMR. Here's an exact quote from the aforementioned interview:
"I can't comment on the 'worse', but remember, C is entirely the work of Dennis Ritchie"
Still, liberal arts? I guess so. I remember several times thinking "crap, this could be automated"
Personally, I think K would do everyone a favor is he actually did send the artsy ones into the inner regions of the macines. Computers are likely to be an every day tool in their careers - but just that - a tool. The students will need to learn how to remain creative and original in spite of the conveniences of a computer automating the drudgery of composing notes, sentences, graphics, etc
Just the same way we need to keep teaching elemenatary school kids their times tables - in spite of the fact that they are now equipped with solar powered calculators.
On a lighter note, in a paper by by Dennis Ritchie detailing the history of Unix we get this juicy quote about K's wit
Of course, I can't let this go by without asking the all important question "What Would Bjarne Do?"
Anyone else have a dog-eared K&R out there?
n terview/index.html">interview with Brian Kernighan</a>
... That said will, as the TIMES article states, students doing "<i>... projects like making their own Web pages and writing a few simple programs ...</i>" give them anything more memorable than music appreciation gave business students twenty years ago?
...
e s/000417.shtml">What Would Bjarne Do?</a>"
Liberal Arts? Really? Hmmm. I've got one of them valuable degrees. Had to go back and get a Master's in Computer Science it was so useful.
Perhaps I need to re-read an <a href="http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mihaib/kernighan-i
BTW, let's remember that Brian Kernighan is not a "high creator" of C. All he did was write the book with DMR. Here's an exact quote from the aforementioned interview:
<i>"I can't comment on the 'worse', but remember, C is entirely the work of Dennis Ritchie"</i>
Still, liberal arts? I guess so. I remember several times thinking "crap, this could be automated"
Personally, I think K would do everyone a favor is he actually did send the artsy ones into the inner regions of the macines. Computers are likely to be an every day tool in their careers - but just that - a tool. The students will need to learn how to remain creative and original in spite of the conveniences of a computer automating the drudgery of composing notes, sentences, graphics, etc
Just the same way we need to keep teaching elemenatary school kids their times tables - in spite of the fact that they are now equipped with solar powered calculators.
Of course, I can't let this go by without asking the all important question "<a href="http://www.healyourchurchwebsite.com/archiv
So will they use the dated Theological Markup Language (ThML)? Or do they go with Cocoon/TomCat to mark-up this data the same way the CCEL does?
Dressing up is a good idea if you have a lot of stiff-necked, starched-shirted clients coming by. Its also a good idea if you have employees who like to abuse casual dress codes.
That said, I'm part of a detail of code-monkies consigned to a 'skunk works' away from the corporate offices. We dress casual within limits. No jeans, no sneakers, no t-shirts. When a big-wig shows up, we get all 'gussied-up.' It gives them warm fuzzies. It keeps the revenue flowing.
Basically, it is a reasonable policy. It works for us, we work for them.