Bah I can't mod because I just posted and I want peopled to see this.
So why not do something like releasing the ENTIRE average for the class during the year you took it? So when you show your transcripts to someone, you can show them how you ranked that year when you got a C in fluid mechanics or something.
I liked this idea at first and still do for things like first year coures with 150+ students. But I had a logic course with 14 people. I know people who've had course with fewer than that (5 to 8). What I'm getting at is what if everyone really does understand the proofs, concepts, etc. These classes tend to be casual and students often end up discussing the ideas in class. Also someone who takes these courses are likely to really be into computability or whatever. Is it right to grade relative to everone else in this situation too?
Is a C average meant to say you have an average grasp of the material, or that you have an average grasp of the material as compared to your classmates?
Now that's a really interesting question. I'm not really sure.:) Maybe transcripts should have both a grade and a percentile.
Hmm this might be why the U of Calgary introduced an A+ just this year. It counts as a 4.0 (same as an A) towards the GPA but shows up on the transcript as A+. One of my instructors said students with a 98% or higher on everything would get an A+ in the course. I think an A was 90% (possibly 85%).
In first year (a few years ago) I had a calculus prof who explained that a C was "good", a B was "really good" and, an A was "exceptional". I had to evaluate two (Comp Sci) teams at the end of a course last semester. I didn't give out a sigle A or A- (about 24 team members overall).
My reasoning was I hadn't seen anyone who was "exceptional", a couple of "really good"s for sure but I didn't give out an A.
This month I ran into someone from one of my teams. This person recieved a C+ from one team. That was below average so their mark was dropped down. To me a C+ is someone who showed up, worked enough and was willing to participate. I guess I'm behind the times a bit or maybe too critical.
Is there a time limit on IP rights? Eventually will we be able to say "Well no we didn't write the original Unix but the code is over 50 years old so we are free to use it?"
On a lighter note I found this on a Solaris machine:
$ cat/usr/bin/true #!/usr/bin/sh # Copyright (c) 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 AT&T # All Rights Reserved
# THIS IS UNPUBLISHED PROPRIETARY SOURCE CODE OF AT&T # The copyright notice above does not evidence any # actual or intended publication of such source code.
I should also ask if it might be possible for me as the PC's owner to disable certain vendor's programs?
Is there any method of revoking trust? For example suppose some software has been signed but it is later discovered that the program has a malicious virus/trojan/etc.
Firstly I'm not familliar with the implementation details however I'm noticing that there is a fear that what is "trusted" to run on a person's PC will be choosen by companies who sell software and not the PC's owner.
What is the feasability of adding a mechanism such that the PC's owner will be able to generate a key pair and sign thier own programs (or even programs they download from the net)?
Slashdot Mirror
Aleph did a good job on this one. It's a classic. Exploit posts to bugtraq somtimes contain comments in the source code crediting this article.
http://www.shmoo.com/phrack/Phrack49/p49-14
Bah I can't mod because I just posted and I want peopled to see this.
:)
So why not do something like releasing the ENTIRE average for the class during the year you took it? So when you show your transcripts to someone, you can show them how you ranked that year when you got a C in fluid mechanics or something.
I liked this idea at first and still do for things like first year coures with 150+ students. But I had a logic course with 14 people. I know people who've had course with fewer than that (5 to 8). What I'm getting at is what if everyone really does understand the proofs, concepts, etc. These classes tend to be casual and students often end up discussing the ideas in class. Also someone who takes these courses are likely to really be into computability or whatever. Is it right to grade relative to everone else in this situation too?
Is a C average meant to say you have an average grasp of the material, or that you have an average grasp of the material as compared to your classmates?
Now that's a really interesting question. I'm not really sure.
Maybe transcripts should have both a grade and a percentile.
Hmm this might be why the U of Calgary introduced an A+ just this year. It counts as a 4.0 (same as an A) towards the GPA but shows up on the transcript as A+. One of my instructors said students with a 98% or higher on everything would get an A+ in the course. I think an A was 90% (possibly 85%).
In first year (a few years ago) I had a calculus prof who explained that a C was "good", a B was "really good" and, an A was "exceptional". I had to evaluate two (Comp Sci) teams at the end of a course last semester. I didn't give out a sigle A or A- (about 24 team members overall).
My reasoning was I hadn't seen anyone who was "exceptional", a couple of "really good"s for sure but I didn't give out an A.
This month I ran into someone from one of my teams. This person recieved a C+ from one team. That was below average so their mark was dropped down. To me a C+ is someone who showed up, worked enough and was willing to participate. I guess I'm behind the times a bit or maybe too critical.
Frink
On a lighter note I found this on a Solaris machine:
I wonder if I'll get in trouble for that. I'm sure it's been mentioned before. Is the the stuff SCO is worried about?
I should also ask if it might be possible for me as the PC's owner to disable certain vendor's programs?
Is there any method of revoking trust? For example suppose some software has been signed but it is later discovered that the program has a malicious virus/trojan/etc.
Firstly I'm not familliar with the implementation details however I'm noticing that there is a fear that what is "trusted" to run on a person's PC will be choosen by companies who sell software and not the PC's owner.
What is the feasability of adding a mechanism such that the PC's owner will be able to generate a key pair and sign thier own programs (or even programs they download from the net)?