I remember back 4 years ago my roommate and I were working on mapping out our dorm, including niceties such as a layer of slime in the bathroom, etc. Unfortunately the task of converting a.gif file into a map (by hand) was just more trouble than it's worth. yours,
Actually, this is somewhat untrue. "Freedom" depends on your perspective. The more "freedoms" corporations have, the less "freedom" people have. At least, if you agree with Noam Chomsky's analysis. If you agree with that starting premise, both parties are guilty of taking away freedoms. The Republicans are more likely to take away freedoms (in the form of "moral issues") from individuals, while the Democrats are more likely to take away freedoms from corporations (EPA, gun control, etc.)
I think that way too often Republicans are mistaken as being libertarian. If you want to be a true libertarian, you could vote for neither Democrats NOR Republicans with good conscience, especially if you use the entirety of the platform as a deciding factor.
If the Reform party hadn't suddently develop a massive taste for social issues, it might have had a possible chance.
Also, the authorship of the bill is not exactly an "open party" Since it's original author is a Republican (correct me if I'm wrong), he would insist on one Democrat join in order to ensure the "bi-partisan feel." However, other Democrats are not necessarily welcome to the "authorship table."
Chomsky has an interesting book in which he describes how economically powerful countries such as the United States subjugates smaller poorer countries such as Mexico, and simply "uses" the resources for investors, while not truly helping the local economy. It's called "Profit over People", and is a rather good read for anyone who supports Nader, to see *why* one should support Nader.
I figure given the likeness of Chomsky and Nader's views on big corporations, that their foreign policy is conceptually similar.
"Journalists seem to go to political events with headlines constructed in their heads, and delight in writing stories that coincidentally corroborate these headlines."
I'm probably horribly misquoting this; but I heard it on NPR, and I think it provides quite an insight on why we see newsarticles with the particular biases (on BOTH sides). yours,
... is a religious war, that my Operating Systems prof refused to partake in. However, the whole bundling of the window manager, applications, etc. into an "operating system" is the best way to create something with so many back doors and hooks that interface security is lost (*cough*Microsoft*cough*). Additionally, a user experience is NOT an OS. yours,
Currently it seems that most people take privacy for granted. However, it seems to me that many people would like to see a more explicit privacy law that protects the privacy of individuals. It can be argued that many of the current "privacy" laws take the form of "trade secrets," "copyright," etc, so companies need not be more fully covered. The question is this: What, if any, personal privacy regulations would you support and/or push for? Would it have to balance "national security" (an often abused clause, in my opinion), and would it be as comprehensive as laws in Europe? yours,
Maybe it's a bit cynical, but perhaps they're using this to encourage people to store their information with them? I mean, with the recent change in the privacy policy, think about the implications:
They could be rewarding customers who are keeping cookies on their computers, they could be rewarding the very customers they have information to be sold on.
As mentioned by others it's something that could be considered price discrimination, but if it doesn't fall under that categorization, it could be something more dangerous as a precedent perhaps? yours,
I use a cell phone, and never answer the (emergency only) land line. Oh, and I had applied for this cell phone from another cell phone, and then cancelled the first one. They have no number other than my new cell to contact me. Solicitors are not allowed to call cell phones because it incurs a user cost also. I use a P.O.Box, so that people can't tell where I live, and I intend on changing it every year so that I won't get any mailings I don't want. It makes it somewhat inconvenient, since all of my bills go there, but I figure I can always update the information when necessary. I didn't forward any of my school information to the new workplace I have.
Basically, I'm making it as difficult as possible for anyone to track me for a prolonged period of time. If they're going to collect information about where I am, I can endeavor to change that fact.
So, on the user site it allows you to delete your addresses, and delete credit card numbers that have been stored there. Also, you can change your email address to something else. I personally changed my reported name to be Screw Your Privacy Policy and my email to i.dont.want.my.user.information.sold@bye.com and hopefully if enough people complain in this fashion they'll reconsider. I know there are many cynics out there, but I would hope that activism would have some effect on corporations.
Universities (especially those that rely heavily on donations) are accountable to their alumni, however. If you keep track of your university, and find they're about to institute the system, you can probably get enough of your peers to yell loudly enough to get the system revoked. That is what I intend on doing.
The difference between RedHat and MS, is that you can go ahead and buy the distro without having to pay the service charge, whereas MS seems to be assimilating the service into the code.
It is a different model, because you can no longer just use the software, even if it remains static (as opposed to Red Hat) yours,
I've been thinking about the political system in the U.S., and I found it interesting there doesn't seem to be many people in the "system" who are technically oriented. Every so often on slashdot there's a complaint about some law being pushed in congress. Obviously it's got a lot to do with money in power, but I wonder how often do real issues that effect real nerds get adequate representation in those bodies of power. I would personally like to see someone launch their political aspirations from Slashdot. yours,
Well, it seems to me that Microsoft is doing what's actually a relatively shrewd business model shift. Instead of charging for 'code' or 'software', they're charging for it as a 'service'. Think about services: you pay for them as you use them. The longer you use a service, the more you pay. Now, there are contracts which enable you to save money, but only if you commit to a longer period of time. This seems to be what Microsoft is moving toward. It seems consistent to the.Net philosophy, anyway, and is a sneaky way to keep people paying for software as they use it. In any case, it's a necessity as people see less and less of a need to upgrade.
Frankly, this is an awful development for consumers, but it's a rather smart business practice if they can PR and market it successfully.
Of course, this issue wouldn't be the same if there were some sort of "minimum quality requirement" for the software. It's about time consumers got some rights.
Additionally, what is the make up of your class demographics? It is often said (sorry I can't remember from what source) that CS classes, or programming classes, have a knack for discouraging women when it becomes hardcore gaming.
I would therefore agree with the ideas of having a group project, but have it bounded by it *not* being allowed to be a game. Additionally, it would depend on what they're expected to learn from the AP curriculum. All of these aspects would be necessary.
Perhaps you already have pseudocode. However, there are times either your pseudocode isn't of enough granularity, or you're designing something that could potentially deadlock with something else. In those cases, sometimes it's better to sit down and rethink what you've already written (pseudocode-wise). Many a time I've had to take the pseudocode I had, and completely rethink what I had written, because the requirements changed or there were some unknowns that became known.
Pseudocode, sequence diagrams, object models, software design documents: all of these are design tools that are supposed to help make your coding easier and more efficient, but for these to work the assumption that these documents are correct in the first place. Sometimes that's not the case.
For algorithmic problems, sometimes I like to just sit down with a big mug of hot cocoa, and think about something entirely different. It's worked on a few occasions.
I'd like to just point out, that CMU CS does not use affirmative action in the classical sense; there are no quotas, there are no specific "adjustments made". The admissions office is told SPECIFICALLY not to accept anybody into CS they wouldn't find qualified otherwise. What we *have* been doing, is letting high school teachers know that Carnegie Mellon exists, that it has a decent engineering and CS programs (re CS is engineering: not the approach they take here...) and then only when it comes to the little things that push an applicant over the edge do females have a slight advantage. So that means that the SAT scores have to pass the threshold, the GPAs have to pass the threshold, the essay, etc.
And speaking as someone who's seen the different classes interact, the particular freshman class (37%) has much better social bonding than any class as a whole.
Of course there's a Geek stigma, but that's because of the subculture that has been built up over time. According to sociolinguists, male-only groups have more of a tendency to use abusive language as an "in-group" type marker... now in a society in which the genders have been subtly subverted to certain roles, that type of language, the type of "insider's" lingo and attitudes, will be unattractive to anyone who isn't used to it.
The fact that the specific culture values people based on deeds and exploits doesn't exactly help. Certainly, this is changing, but it'll take time.
But until the subculture's stereotypes are diminished- the all nighters, the lack of social life, the sparse showering, the male egotism and chauvanism that used to be so often prevalent in this field- until these are but a dim memory I think active recruiting is still a necessity.
Certainly, it's not for everyone, but at least we're targetting a group in the population which used to be subtly discouraged from technical fields.
And mind you, CMU is not the only institution doing this. Many large companies also have programs set up to recruit local high school students in underrepresented minorities to go into technical fields. And I think this diversity truly helps the aura of the workplace.
Slashdot Mirror
I remember back 4 years ago my roommate and I were working on mapping out our dorm, including niceties such as a layer of slime in the bathroom, etc. Unfortunately the task of converting a .gif file into a map (by hand) was just more trouble than it's worth.
yours,
Actually, this is somewhat untrue. "Freedom" depends on your perspective. The more "freedoms" corporations have, the less "freedom" people have. At least, if you agree with Noam Chomsky's analysis. If you agree with that starting premise, both parties are guilty of taking away freedoms. The Republicans are more likely to take away freedoms (in the form of "moral issues") from individuals, while the Democrats are more likely to take away freedoms from corporations (EPA, gun control, etc.)
I think that way too often Republicans are mistaken as being libertarian. If you want to be a true libertarian, you could vote for neither Democrats NOR Republicans with good conscience, especially if you use the entirety of the platform as a deciding factor.
If the Reform party hadn't suddently develop a massive taste for social issues, it might have had a possible chance.
Also, the authorship of the bill is not exactly an "open party" Since it's original author is a Republican (correct me if I'm wrong), he would insist on one Democrat join in order to ensure the "bi-partisan feel." However, other Democrats are not necessarily welcome to the "authorship table."
yours,
Chomsky has an interesting book in which he describes how economically powerful countries such as the United States subjugates smaller poorer countries such as Mexico, and simply "uses" the resources for investors, while not truly helping the local economy. It's called "Profit over People", and is a rather good read for anyone who supports Nader, to see *why* one should support Nader.
I figure given the likeness of Chomsky and Nader's views on big corporations, that their foreign policy is conceptually similar.
yours,
"Journalists seem to go to political events with headlines constructed in their heads, and delight in writing stories that coincidentally corroborate these headlines." I'm probably horribly misquoting this; but I heard it on NPR, and I think it provides quite an insight on why we see newsarticles with the particular biases (on BOTH sides).
yours,
Was passed. It was called the "Line Item Veto"... but was ruled unconstitutional as soon as President Clinton tried to use it.
yours,
... is a religious war, that my Operating Systems prof refused to partake in. However, the whole bundling of the window manager, applications, etc. into an "operating system" is the best way to create something with so many back doors and hooks that interface security is lost (*cough*Microsoft*cough*). Additionally, a user experience is NOT an OS.
yours,
Currently it seems that most people take privacy for granted. However, it seems to me that many people would like to see a more explicit privacy law that protects the privacy of individuals. It can be argued that many of the current "privacy" laws take the form of "trade secrets," "copyright," etc, so companies need not be more fully covered. The question is this: What, if any, personal privacy regulations would you support and/or push for? Would it have to balance "national security" (an often abused clause, in my opinion), and would it be as comprehensive as laws in Europe?
yours,
Maybe it's a bit cynical, but perhaps they're using this to encourage people to store their information with them? I mean, with the recent change in the privacy policy, think about the implications:
They could be rewarding customers who are keeping cookies on their computers, they could be rewarding the very customers they have information to be sold on.
As mentioned by others it's something that could be considered price discrimination, but if it doesn't fall under that categorization, it could be something more dangerous as a precedent perhaps?
yours,
I use a cell phone, and never answer the (emergency only) land line. Oh, and I had applied for this cell phone from another cell phone, and then cancelled the first one. They have no number other than my new cell to contact me. Solicitors are not allowed to call cell phones because it incurs a user cost also. I use a P.O.Box, so that people can't tell where I live, and I intend on changing it every year so that I won't get any mailings I don't want. It makes it somewhat inconvenient, since all of my bills go there, but I figure I can always update the information when necessary. I didn't forward any of my school information to the new workplace I have.
Basically, I'm making it as difficult as possible for anyone to track me for a prolonged period of time. If they're going to collect information about where I am, I can endeavor to change that fact.
yours,
So, on the user site it allows you to delete your addresses, and delete credit card numbers that have been stored there. Also, you can change your email address to something else. I personally changed my reported name to be Screw Your Privacy Policy and my email to i.dont.want.my.user.information.sold@bye.com and hopefully if enough people complain in this fashion they'll reconsider. I know there are many cynics out there, but I would hope that activism would have some effect on corporations.
yours,
Universities (especially those that rely heavily on donations) are accountable to their alumni, however. If you keep track of your university, and find they're about to institute the system, you can probably get enough of your peers to yell loudly enough to get the system revoked. That is what I intend on doing.
yours,
The difference between RedHat and MS, is that you can go ahead and buy the distro without having to pay the service charge, whereas MS seems to be assimilating the service into the code.
It is a different model, because you can no longer just use the software, even if it remains static (as opposed to Red Hat)
yours,
I've been thinking about the political system in the U.S., and I found it interesting there doesn't seem to be many people in the "system" who are technically oriented. Every so often on slashdot there's a complaint about some law being pushed in congress. Obviously it's got a lot to do with money in power, but I wonder how often do real issues that effect real nerds get adequate representation in those bodies of power. I would personally like to see someone launch their political aspirations from Slashdot.
yours,
Well, it seems to me that Microsoft is doing what's actually a relatively shrewd business model shift. Instead of charging for 'code' or 'software', they're charging for it as a 'service'. Think about services: you pay for them as you use them. The longer you use a service, the more you pay. Now, there are contracts which enable you to save money, but only if you commit to a longer period of time. This seems to be what Microsoft is moving toward. It seems consistent to the .Net philosophy, anyway, and is a sneaky way to keep people paying for software as they use it. In any case, it's a necessity as people see less and less of a need to upgrade.
Frankly, this is an awful development for consumers, but it's a rather smart business practice if they can PR and market it successfully.
Of course, this issue wouldn't be the same if there were some sort of "minimum quality requirement" for the software. It's about time consumers got some rights.
yours,
Additionally, what is the make up of your class demographics? It is often said (sorry I can't remember from what source) that CS classes, or programming classes, have a knack for discouraging women when it becomes hardcore gaming.
I would therefore agree with the ideas of having a group project, but have it bounded by it *not* being allowed to be a game. Additionally, it would depend on what they're expected to learn from the AP curriculum. All of these aspects would be necessary.
(remove NOSPAM to send email)
yours,
Perhaps you already have pseudocode. However, there are times either your pseudocode isn't of enough granularity, or you're designing something that could potentially deadlock with something else. In those cases, sometimes it's better to sit down and rethink what you've already written (pseudocode-wise). Many a time I've had to take the pseudocode I had, and completely rethink what I had written, because the requirements changed or there were some unknowns that became known.
Pseudocode, sequence diagrams, object models, software design documents: all of these are design tools that are supposed to help make your coding easier and more efficient, but for these to work the assumption that these documents are correct in the first place. Sometimes that's not the case.
For algorithmic problems, sometimes I like to just sit down with a big mug of hot cocoa, and think about something entirely different. It's worked on a few occasions.
(remove NOSPAM to send me email)
yours,
I'd like to just point out, that CMU CS does not use affirmative action in the classical sense; there are no quotas, there are no specific "adjustments made". The admissions office is told SPECIFICALLY not to accept anybody into CS they wouldn't find qualified otherwise. What we *have* been doing, is letting high school teachers know that Carnegie Mellon exists, that it has a decent engineering and CS programs (re CS is engineering: not the approach they take here...) and then only when it comes to the little things that push an applicant over the edge do females have a slight advantage. So that means that the SAT scores have to pass the threshold, the GPAs have to pass the threshold, the essay, etc.
And speaking as someone who's seen the different classes interact, the particular freshman class (37%) has much better social bonding than any class as a whole.
kbs
This is an important point!!
yours,
Of course there's a Geek stigma, but that's because of the subculture that has been built up over time. According to sociolinguists, male-only groups have more of a tendency to use abusive language as an "in-group" type marker... now in a society in which the genders have been subtly subverted to certain roles, that type of language, the type of "insider's" lingo and attitudes, will be unattractive to anyone who isn't used to it.
The fact that the specific culture values people based on deeds and exploits doesn't exactly help. Certainly, this is changing, but it'll take time.
But until the subculture's stereotypes are diminished- the all nighters, the lack of social life, the sparse showering, the male egotism and chauvanism that used to be so often prevalent in this field- until these are but a dim memory I think active recruiting is still a necessity.
Certainly, it's not for everyone, but at least we're targetting a group in the population which used to be subtly discouraged from technical fields.
And mind you, CMU is not the only institution doing this. Many large companies also have programs set up to recruit local high school students in underrepresented minorities to go into technical fields. And I think this diversity truly helps the aura of the workplace.