The suggestion that a CS degree isn't worthwhile is preposterous. I lead a fairly large organization and I've hired dozens of software engineers over the years and hundreds of interns. With only a few exceptions, we find that self-taught programmers have some superficial skill in the languages or platforms they tinkered with but lack CS fundamentals that enable them to build well designed, maintainable, and performant systems. Their code doesn't adhere to patterns and standards that make it easy for other programmers to understand. They struggle to decompose complex problems and don't have a mathematical background to tackle the biggest challenges. They often haven't even explored the full capabilities of the languages they use. Yes, there are exceptions, but we've found that a CS degree from a good institution to be a very valuable indicator when selecting our employees. It's the difference between a home cook and a chef trained in a culinary institute.
I second this as well. I'm a computer scientist who spends almost all of his work time in front of a computer and a lot of my leisure time as well, but my two children (aged 7 and 5) never watch television or use computers (truly). What do they do instead? They read, climb, ride, draw, build, etc.. - they're constantly learning how to play, interact with others, and control their bodies. The time will come for them to learn how to use computers and I'll be there, ready with a series of great programming projects that we can work together on, simple robots - the works. I look forward to that, but it's not like there's any shortage of things to do with them in the meantime!
Numerous studies have shown detrimental effects to child brain development associated with the early introduction of television and computers. No, you can't get around these detrimental effects by using "age-appropriate" or "educational" shows and games. Apparently, something about the *medium*, not simply the message, is causing these negative impacts. Perhaps it's the pacing of the material, the quick transitions, or the sugary over-the-top positive feedback that they get for completing even the most simple task in an educational game. For me, I don't need to know exactly what is causing the negative impacts - I see no serious side effects associated with withholding computers and television for now.
I know you might thing that you're helping your child out by letting him get an early start on computers, but keep in mind that some things are much easier for someone to learn at a particular age. For example, I always have to bite my tongue when one of my friends tells me with great pride "It's AMAZING! My two year old already knows how to use a mouse!!!" I always *want* to say "Were you really under the impression that he was going to have a problem picking that up?" Honestly, people, it's a MOUSE. It's DESIGNED to be easy to use. I think it would take a 10, 20, or 30 year old with no training about a minute to figure it out and an hour to master it, and they'll understand the full context and purpose of the mouse and the computer - things that the 2 year old couldn't possibly comprehend. Controlling a mouse isn't something that your child needs a "head start" on.
You could attempt to teach your 2 year old the periodic table, but I think we can all agree that he'll pick that up just fine when it's time to study Chemistry in high school. Maybe it's time to focus on how to dig holes, stack blocks, and chase you around the house instead?
Well, I really hope that people won't be scared away from Maestro because of all the rubbish posted here. It certainly killed any useful discussion before it could start. It's a pity - we worked very hard on Maestro, and I think that there are a lot of people out there who would enjoy it.
I'm very new to Slashdot (ok, ok, I joined just so I could announce Maestro:) ). Does this happen often? How is it usually dealt with? It seems like in situations like this the editors might consider just pulling the article and posting it again later.
Of course, I don't see how anyone could even FIND this post considering the company it will be keeping.. oh well!:(
Jeff Norris Maestro Team Lead Jet Propulsion Laboratory
We (the Maestro team) hope you all really enjoy Maestro. Don't forget to join us in our chat channel (#maestro in mars.telascience.org) and send us your comments at maestro (at) telascience (dot) org.
My name is Jeff Norris - I led the development of Maestro. Thank you for offering your Bit Torrent link - it saved us from totally crashing under the./ load.
What I want to know is this: can you tell me how many people have downloaded Maestro via your link? We are desperately trying to keep track of the total number of downloads and we have no way to track the traffic going through your bittorrent.
We backed off to a REALLY simple single page site that will allow you to download the software (and that's it). The site seems to be holding up to the traffic, so if you got scared off by a dead server before, come on back!
Big thanks to the people who put up BitTorrents for us - this is our first slashdotting and we clearly didn't know what were getting into.
We're making arrangements for a bigger pipe and more mirrors, and we'll be back for another Slashdotting when we make the first data release.
Jeff Norris
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Well, we just discovered how NOT ready we were for Slashdot. Is there any hope of getting ahold of a Slashdot editor and arranging for temporary relief? If we can get an hour or so to put up some mirrors and bittorrent links, then I'll think we'll be ready for you.
Slashdot Mirror
The suggestion that a CS degree isn't worthwhile is preposterous. I lead a fairly large organization and I've hired dozens of software engineers over the years and hundreds of interns. With only a few exceptions, we find that self-taught programmers have some superficial skill in the languages or platforms they tinkered with but lack CS fundamentals that enable them to build well designed, maintainable, and performant systems. Their code doesn't adhere to patterns and standards that make it easy for other programmers to understand. They struggle to decompose complex problems and don't have a mathematical background to tackle the biggest challenges. They often haven't even explored the full capabilities of the languages they use. Yes, there are exceptions, but we've found that a CS degree from a good institution to be a very valuable indicator when selecting our employees. It's the difference between a home cook and a chef trained in a culinary institute.
Numerous studies have shown detrimental effects to child brain development associated with the early introduction of television and computers. No, you can't get around these detrimental effects by using "age-appropriate" or "educational" shows and games. Apparently, something about the *medium*, not simply the message, is causing these negative impacts. Perhaps it's the pacing of the material, the quick transitions, or the sugary over-the-top positive feedback that they get for completing even the most simple task in an educational game. For me, I don't need to know exactly what is causing the negative impacts - I see no serious side effects associated with withholding computers and television for now.
I know you might thing that you're helping your child out by letting him get an early start on computers, but keep in mind that some things are much easier for someone to learn at a particular age. For example, I always have to bite my tongue when one of my friends tells me with great pride "It's AMAZING! My two year old already knows how to use a mouse!!!" I always *want* to say "Were you really under the impression that he was going to have a problem picking that up?" Honestly, people, it's a MOUSE. It's DESIGNED to be easy to use. I think it would take a 10, 20, or 30 year old with no training about a minute to figure it out and an hour to master it, and they'll understand the full context and purpose of the mouse and the computer - things that the 2 year old couldn't possibly comprehend. Controlling a mouse isn't something that your child needs a "head start" on.
You could attempt to teach your 2 year old the periodic table, but I think we can all agree that he'll pick that up just fine when it's time to study Chemistry in high school. Maybe it's time to focus on how to dig holes, stack blocks, and chase you around the house instead?
Actually, we *are* making steps towards open-sourcing Maestro.
Well, I really hope that people won't be scared away from Maestro because of all the rubbish posted here. It certainly killed any useful discussion before it could start. It's a pity - we worked very hard on Maestro, and I think that there are a lot of people out there who would enjoy it.
:) ). Does this happen often? How is it usually dealt with? It seems like in situations like this the editors might consider just pulling the article and posting it again later.
:(
I'm very new to Slashdot (ok, ok, I joined just so I could announce Maestro
Of course, I don't see how anyone could even FIND this post considering the company it will be keeping.. oh well!
Jeff Norris
Maestro Team Lead
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
ACK - no, the irc is #maestro on irc.freenode.net. Sigh - not enough sleep!!!
Join us in #maestro on irc.freenode.net!
Heh. I assure you that steps were taken to ensure that Maestro will pose no risk whatsoever to the mission. We were careful about that. :)
We (the Maestro team) hope you all really enjoy Maestro. Don't forget to join us in our chat channel (#maestro in mars.telascience.org) and send us your comments at maestro (at) telascience (dot) org.
Andrew,
My name is Jeff Norris - I led the development of Maestro. Thank you for offering your Bit Torrent link - it saved us from totally crashing under the
What I want to know is this: can you tell me how many people have downloaded Maestro via your link? We are desperately trying to keep track of the total number of downloads and we have no way to track the traffic going through your bittorrent.
You can contact me at maestro@telascience.org
Thanks again!
Jeff
Come chat with the Maestro developers and other users in #maestro on irc.freenode.net. We're landing in just a few hours - come celebrate with us.
Jeff
We backed off to a REALLY simple single page site that will allow you to download the software (and that's it). The site seems to be holding up to the traffic, so if you got scared off by a dead server before, come on back! Big thanks to the people who put up BitTorrents for us - this is our first slashdotting and we clearly didn't know what were getting into. We're making arrangements for a bigger pipe and more mirrors, and we'll be back for another Slashdotting when we make the first data release. Jeff Norris Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Well, we just discovered how NOT ready we were for Slashdot. Is there any hope of getting ahold of a Slashdot editor and arranging for temporary relief? If we can get an hour or so to put up some mirrors and bittorrent links, then I'll think we'll be ready for you.