The downside of this is, if you have trouble understanding the material in lecture, then the explanation in the book may not be an improvement. This can be a price you pay for the opportunity to learn from a top expert.
Hmm... maybe because even though the subject hasn't changed, there is always room for improving the book based on reviews and student feedback? And maybe changing the homework problems helps to limit cheating (but if this was really the goal, it would be better to just sell the professor some new problems without students having to buy them)
Sorry for the bad grammer. But again, if you want to be synical about why professors write books, it is generally more about prestige/tenure than money.
I call BS on this comment. Authors can only make any significant on a textbook if it adopted by many teachers across the country. Payment by their own class probably does not even pay for the time spent writing it.
I teach a Data Structures course using Java. As you say, languages are easy to learn (well, not really so easy for many students new to programming). The fact is, there are lots of languages, including Java, that are perfectly acceptable for teaching a Data Structures class. One of the reasons we use C++ or Java in our introductory-level classes is because these are the languages the students are expected to know in a large percentage of our more advanced classes. So it provides a convenient base.
Bah! The parent is NOT insightful. If the professor wrote a book about the subject they are teaching, it would be absurd to use a different book. In fact, such books are generally developed from the course notes that the professor developed for teaching that very course.
So what does this mean? Sure, YOU might not agree that the book is the best one, but it is clearly the one the professor feels is best. That doesn't have to be about money at all. (it's more about tenure...)
Allison Okamura's Robot Actuators and Sensors class at Johns Hopkins had to create ArtBots (robots that create art) as their final projects last semester.
Wow! That portability document originates from 1998 and hasn't been updated since 2001. I think most C++ compilers have come a long way since then.
As an aside, Mozilla won't run on my old laptop running Windows 95 with 40 MB memory anyway (it's too big -- only modern browser that would run is Opera). So Mozilla is implicitly targetting newer machines than circa 1998 anyway.
Sounds good on the surface. Of course, you still have to deal with the dozens of web sites with user accounts named by your e-mail address. I suppose as long as you keep the old account around, you could scan it for e-mails from specific vendors when you are expecting some notification. It also doesn't deal well with legitimate business-related mailing lists. Some of these are decentralized, with no easy opportunity to change your address (ad-hoc, handed around as necessary). Sure, these ad-hoc lists are a poor way to operate, but still pretty common, I think.
So in short, changing your e-mail address isn't an easily solution for lots of people.
The only way Best Buy can prevent me from using them is to hide their merchandise. It's a useful store for checking out merchandise before purchasing cheaper on-line. (I don't bother trying to get them to match prices).
Look at successful hardware vendors, such as Dell. One of the reasons they are so popular is _because_ they allow people to configure their hardware _their way_. They already have different classes of machines as well, so this proposal seems pretty redundant.
Slashdot Mirror
Neat. Presumably most geeks here already know that is a tribute to a code word in Adventure (i.e. Colossal Cave)
Thanks a LOT! Thanks to you, I almost snarfed my hot coffee!
Fortunately, for C, the best reference does practically fit in your pocket (Thanks, Kernighan and Ritchie!)
The downside of this is, if you have trouble understanding the material in lecture, then the explanation in the book may not be an improvement. This can be a price you pay for the opportunity to learn from a top expert.
Hmm... maybe because even though the subject hasn't changed, there is always room for improving the book based on reviews and student feedback? And maybe changing the homework problems helps to limit cheating (but if this was really the goal, it would be better to just sell the professor some new problems without students having to buy them)
Sorry for the bad grammer. But again, if you want to be synical about why professors write books, it is generally more about prestige/tenure than money.
I call BS on this comment. Authors can only make any significant on a textbook if it adopted by many teachers across the country. Payment by their own class probably does not even pay for the time spent writing it.
I teach a Data Structures course using Java. As you say, languages are easy to learn (well, not really so easy for many students new to programming). The fact is, there are lots of languages, including Java, that are perfectly acceptable for teaching a Data Structures class. One of the reasons we use C++ or Java in our introductory-level classes is because these are the languages the students are expected to know in a large percentage of our more advanced classes. So it provides a convenient base.
True enough.
Bah! The parent is NOT insightful. If the professor wrote a book about the subject they are teaching, it would be absurd to use a different book. In fact, such books are generally developed from the course notes that the professor developed for teaching that very course.
So what does this mean? Sure, YOU might not agree that the book is the best one, but it is clearly the one the professor feels is best. That doesn't have to be about money at all. (it's more about tenure...)
Allison Okamura's Robot Actuators and Sensors class at Johns Hopkins had to create ArtBots (robots that create art) as their final projects last semester.
b ots.html . html
Check it out:
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/audio-video/art
http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2004/13dec04/13artbot
It's been done. Good to relieve/prevent carpal tunnel in the wrists (but what does it do for your ankles?)
http://www.bilbo.com/bilbo.html
http://www.fentek-ind.com/FootPedal.htm
Wow! That portability document originates from 1998 and hasn't been updated since 2001. I think most C++ compilers have come a long way since then.
As an aside, Mozilla won't run on my old laptop running Windows 95 with 40 MB memory anyway (it's too big -- only modern browser that would run is Opera). So Mozilla is implicitly targetting newer machines than circa 1998 anyway.
Here it is: http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/102904 b_spyware
Sounds good on the surface. Of course, you still have to deal with the dozens of web sites with user accounts named by your e-mail address. I suppose as long as you keep the old account around, you could scan it for e-mails from specific vendors when you are expecting some notification. It also doesn't deal well with legitimate business-related mailing lists. Some of these are decentralized, with no easy opportunity to change your address (ad-hoc, handed around as necessary). Sure, these ad-hoc lists are a poor way to operate, but still pretty common, I think. So in short, changing your e-mail address isn't an easily solution for lots of people.
Maybe "the governmenet" wasn't so far off if it led them to create Schoolhouse Rock (which did totally rock!)
The only way Best Buy can prevent me from using them is to hide their merchandise. It's a useful store for checking out merchandise before purchasing cheaper on-line. (I don't bother trying to get them to match prices).
Look at successful hardware vendors, such as Dell. One of the reasons they are so popular is _because_ they allow people to configure their hardware _their way_. They already have different classes of machines as well, so this proposal seems pretty redundant.