Damn, I had mod points earlier today. Looks like I spent them far too soon... You hit the nail right on the head there and I agree 100%.
The vast majority of computer service requests are going to be Windows or Mac anyways, as most people who run Linux already know how to fix the issue or where to look for compatability. The need for Linux services, for the home user, is a niche market - why bother to train or educate employees on something so different when you will have such a minimal return?
Granted, the 'NT is like Linux' comment is pretty funny as even a mildly educated person should know the difference, but even so. It is ultimately the customer's responsibility to make informed decisions and the salesperon's responsibility to make money.
On the flip side, it seems like it wouldn't be too difficult to have a computer set up in the store with web access so you can type 'FooBar Network Card Linux Support' into Google.
With all due respect, life has been on this planet for millions of years. I can't see that changing any time soon. Have there been deadly viral outbreaks? Yup. Life survived. Have there been dramatic climactic shifts? Yup. The north pole used to be a tropical paradise. But Life survived. Humans aren't as biologically adaptable as other creatures, but I think that given our current state of technology we can survive pretty well even if some big disaster does happen.
And even if we don't - so what? The universe doesn't care if we're here or not and we won't be around to complain about it anyways.
"Long Passwords Are Easy as 1, 2, 3!"
There's a good example of an easy to remember 'password'. It's not a word really, it's a phrase, but it is what I use all the time. They're easy to remember ("I HATE THIS STUPID JOB!!11!1"), fairly secure, and pretty buff against brute force attacks. What about something like "This is my Password for 6/1/2006"?
I understand where you are coming from, being forced to use a 16 character password is a bit unwieldly, but it's not as bad as you are making it out to be.
This is exactly how I feel. Theoretical speed is nice and all, but just where does theory and practice meet? Usually never. It's the practical application that matters, which is why, in my opinion, benchmarks of common operations are important. Things such as frames per second in a video game, or how long it takes to encode a DVD, or how long it takes to open up a large PDF... Those are things that matter and, perhaps more importantly, things that the average joe can wrap his mind around. How many Joe Users know (or care) about stuff like clock speed and cache size?
I don't know where you are located, but if you are in the North-East US I *highly* recommend anything from the Ommegang Brewery, based in New York state. It is a fantastic Belgian-style brewery. My favorite beer of theirs, "3 Philosophers", has never failed to impress a beer lover.
Unlike most American breweries, these guys don't over-hop. Seems like everyone else does... It reminds me of a (Samuel Adams?) commercial where a spokesperson is talking about hops, and how hops define a beer. That's very sad and, IMNSHO, misleading. Water character, mixtures of different malts, the particular yeast strain used, and adjuncts (if used) are just as, if not more, important.
Besides, on the topic of Budweiser... Do you know the last year that Busweiser grew in sales?
1987. (Source: Cavalier Distributing Co.)
Budweiser, and swill like it, is on the decline. I am doing my part, of course, in converting people. Not just imports and micro-breweries, but also home brewing. "Beer Tasting Nights" can be a fun social event, and a good way to expose people to something new. At the very end, I recommend offering a Bud Light to somone and letting them realize how little flavor it really has. The reaction is great!
You mentioned that you are using SharePoint. That already has version control, and you can check out documents while you work on them et al. Are you using SharePoint to its full potential? It doesn't have _everything_ you are asking for, but it does cover several things already mentioned. As long as the directory structure doesn't get out of hand, it works pretty well (if you are using MS Word docs).
Legislation is not going to fix the problem. What ever happened to parental responsibility? You can make all the laws you want, but if the parents are not responsible adults then the laws will mean and do nothing. You cannot legislate responsibility!
If you want your calls to be secure, you're going to need more than that. Sure, 128 bits is enough to keep someone from decrypting the call easily within a few minutes, but give them a few hours and a small server farm... I'm surprised the phone doesn't come with the options to bump it up to 256 or even 512. 128 bits just doesn't seem like enough anymore.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, and IANACE, but still... The Other Guys have money and resources too, you know.
Which is very unfortunate. It's possible to write good, secure PHP code. Others have too. PHP is marketed as an easy to learn language (and it is), and it is commonly installed on hosting services, so new programmers flock to it. The problem is that these new programmers are, well, new. They aren't aware of things like SQL injection attacks. They don't bother to validate data. They make new programmer mistakes.
Is it the fault of the language? I can point to a few things where I can say, Shame on You, PHP!, such as the entire magic quotes 'feature' (which, iirc, is turned off by default now). But, as usual, it is the user, not the tool, that is at fault. This makes the language look bad because vulnerabilities pop up in software packages written in the language.
It's easy to spread FUD when that happens, especially to management and other uneducated people.
Some people say that the language should prevent programmers from doing stupid things. I disagree; I think the language should allow you to do what you want within the confines of its purpose, and if you happen to be making mistakes (such as not escaping data that goes into your queries) then shame on you. I don't see people complaining about C because it lets you point into kernel space and write garbage. If that happens, C programmers will point and laugh and say, "Ha ha, you silly newbie programmer!" not "Ha ha, C is retarded!"
I don't see why PHP should be any different. Sure, there are things that could be improved, but overall, most of the vulnerabilities I see are not the fault of the language. It's just the web's version of the VisualBasic syndrome (OMG I CN PRINT TXT 2 SCREEN, I R GOOD PROGMMR!!!!11one!).
The more used a language is, the more software that exists, and the more bugs that will exist - especially if it's an 'easy' language to learn.
The title is also misleading because no book will ever turn you into a professional PHP developer. Someone who is new to programming and reads this book is still likely to make newbie mistakes - mistakes that they would make in ANY programming language.
Incorrect data validation; Inappropriate use of resources; Inelegant design; Bad debugging methods; Using the wrong tools for the job. All of these and more are things that you really won't learn from a book. You learn these through experience.
Any book that promises to turn you into a 'professional', to me, has a strike against it before I even turn past the cover.
You shouldn't be screwing around in vi/emacs trying to figure out how to type at all.
The basics of emacs are very easy to learn. All you really need to know are a few commands and you're set. Open files, save files, exit. There's no command mode / insert mode that vi has.
For something even easier, grab pico or nano. The commands are printed at the bottom of the screen. Doesn't get much easier than that.
Besides; If you are unable to spend an hour to learn the basics of a text editor then I daresay you can't make it as a programmer, either. You're going to have to learn far more complex things than editor commands.
That said, I've always preferred working on the lower-level. When I was in college taking C/C++ and a bit of Java, it was all taught with an IDE. I soon found that IDEs crippled me by taking care of so much that I didn't know what was happening underneath, which is just as important as what is happening on top.
So, I started doing all my work with emacs and command line compilers. Sure, it took longer, but I feel that I came away as a better developer holistically because of that. It might be one of the reasons I consistently received high marks while others did not.
As long as the advertising isn't too intrusive, I don't really care all that much.
Let's take, for example, a game like the original Half-Life. There are some vending machines in the game with some made up logos. What if they were replaced with Coca-Cola logos instead? Well, considering that the game is supposed to be somewhat 'today' with a sci-fi theme, it would fit and it wouldn't be obnoxious. If it helped in lowering the cost of the game (which it never would, but hey, we can dream) then even better.
Now, if I was sent on a quest of some kind to get someone a Gatorade to quench their thirst, I would be a bit miffed and I would be less inclined to buy the product in the future. Or, if the product placement is just way out of place (So, in Xen, the aliens drive a Yaris, huh?) then they're really in trouble.
All in all, I don't really want advertising because I don't see the benefit for me. But, I can't say that it is going to change my game buying behavior which is all the companies ultimately care about.
I read TFA. I didn't get it. I read the/. comments. I got some laughs but that's about it.
Can someone break this down into 3 year old talk and explain to me what this all means, or, better yet, send me some other FAs that are closer to my level of physics knowledge (about zero)?
I have a much better idea for protecting kids from online predators. It's called the "Adult".
The Adult should know what their charge is doing online. What sites do they visit, what forums do they read and post to, who they're talking to on IM programs.
Install some of those NetNanny-like programs. They're not perfect, but they're pretty good. Cheap too.
At a school, I would imagine that a website whitelist would be just fine. Limit them to sites that are moinitored well on the other end. Teachers can do the monitoring, assuming they have any common sense. At a library, don't allow minors to use a computer unless an Adult (ie, Parent) is present.
Laws like the one proposed, though well-meaning, aren't going to do anything except cause headaches for EVERYONE involved. It's a misguided, poorly thought out attempt. I don't think that predatory issues will ever be resolved through law; Pass all the laws you want, nasty people will still find a way to get to kids.
The only way to ensure safety is active monitoring and, I know this is far fetched and difficult, but taking responsibility. The Government isn't the solution to problems; More often than not, it is the cause of them, and this is another example of that.
I want an AI that will replace a human with believeable behavior (except for calling me a "gay fag", I can live without that, thanks). Something that not just learns, but creates ideas and acts on them.
I need something that will entertain me. As long as it's fun I'm okay with that.
That one things I hate most about most "AI" systems is that they cheat and perform at inhuman levels. Super Duper Never Miss accuracy. 200% production points. Knowing where all your troops are. That's not AI, that's just cheating and it sucks.
For RPG-like games, I always thought that a "Needs" system similar to The Sims (Yeah, I know... But most people know what I'm referring to) would work to an extent. NPCs have needs and they have various ways of fulfilling them. I'm hungry... Go to the tavern? Shoot some game? Go home and tell my woman to make me a sandwich? Starve because I have no money, and beg for some from NPCs and The Player? Or should I steal? If I look at my environment, what's the best way for me to sate my hunger?
This would be better than a simple scripted time-based action (like Oblivion, from what I have heard), easier to extend, and probably a better implementation overall.
But what do I know. I'm just a consumer. Ultimately, keep it fun and you get my money.
I remember trying beer and thinking it tasted disgusting. I got used to it.:)
Tsk tsk. Must have been one of those American 'beers' like Budweiser. I highly recommend trying some imports from Germany, or better yet, Belgium. If you need some suggestions let me know. Beer DOES taste good - just not the way the mega-coporations here in the USA do it.
Modern teaching philosophies like "as long as the message is communicated" and "it doesn't matter if you make mistakes, as long as your attempt is reasonable"
What has made you more comfortable with your writing, or eager to improve what you've written?
The idea that someone might actually read it, and not just inside of a classroom context. I am one of those people who has trouble learning or producing something unless I am either interested in the topic or someone else is going to use it.
When I was in my technicaly writing class in college we had to write instructions on how to do something (I chose the installation of a Half-Life Dedicated Server). The paper was given to five students. Every student was 20% of your grade; If they were unable to accomplish the end result because of a problem with your paper, you didn't get the 20% for the student.
Even the Business major in the class was able to do it with my instructions. THAT is an accomplishment!
Another thing that helped me become interested in writing a good paper is being interested about the subject - which usually meant that I had to choose the subject. Sorry, but writing about the complex social commentary buried in some obscure novel from the 1930s just doesn't get my rocks off. I couldn't care less. Those were my worst papers.
What inspires you to read outside of a classroom or mandated context?
Simply enjoying doing so. Some people like to read; others do not. I'm not sure that there is anything you can do about this. You can't force someone to enjoy an activity. Personally, I read to get away from the 'real' world or to learn about something I enjoy. Most of my reading is fantasy, about animals, or about brewing.
Was has impressed on you the importance of revision, or at least of reviewing your writing at intervals?
We write to convey ideas. If my target audience can't understand that idea then my time and their time has been wasted.
Also, as mentioned above, if I care about what I'm writing I am much more likley to spend time on revision.
If my work is going to be seen by other people then I will give it more effort. Noone likes to be embarressed. This is, of course, a problem with students who are shy. Shy students may spend less time writing and revising because they don't want anyone to see what they've done, so they will do nothing at all.
Seeing examples of bad writing can make damn sure that I don't make the same mistake. I remember reading one of the Shanara books by Terry Brooks. One of his paragraphs had six sentences, all of them starting with the word 'He'. It wasn't done to create emphasis as far as I could tell; it was just damn annoying and it disrupted my flow of reading. The editor must have been on crack to miss that. Ever since then I've been extremely aware of writing just TWO sentences in a row that start with the same word. It just bugs me now!
Which parts of which college (or high school) curricula have helped you write better?
The courses where I read a lot of different styles of writing. I seem to learn well when given different ideas to compare, and then pick and choose the parts I like the best.
Also, I took a creative writing class in high school the was helpful; Every day we were given a subject (though broad, and it was more a suggestion than anything else) and a particular style or form to try, or certain rules. No words with more than three syllables. End every paragraph with the same sentence. Write for a 5 year old. Write for a 30 year old. Write the same story, but from different perspectives, each with a different cultural background. Write a story that goes backwards through time. etc.
Something that can be helpful for creativity is to choose a topic, say, "rings", and just write a sentence or two (or a paragraph, whatever) about what you COULD write about. Just write down ideas. For rings, I could write down:
1) A story about a wedding, where there is a focus on the symbolism of wedding rings. Obvious, boring, but it's sti
Indeed for developers, a big benefit is that a WebOS theoretically makes it easier to develop apps that work cross-platform.
Isn't that what Java was supposed to do? All this "Web 2.0" stuff is getting out of hand; It's trying to duplicate a technology that already exists with inferior tools. I would rather have all the effort go into improving something that already exists.
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Damn, I had mod points earlier today. Looks like I spent them far too soon... You hit the nail right on the head there and I agree 100%.
The vast majority of computer service requests are going to be Windows or Mac anyways, as most people who run Linux already know how to fix the issue or where to look for compatability. The need for Linux services, for the home user, is a niche market - why bother to train or educate employees on something so different when you will have such a minimal return?
Granted, the 'NT is like Linux' comment is pretty funny as even a mildly educated person should know the difference, but even so. It is ultimately the customer's responsibility to make informed decisions and the salesperon's responsibility to make money.
On the flip side, it seems like it wouldn't be too difficult to have a computer set up in the store with web access so you can type 'FooBar Network Card Linux Support' into Google.
With all due respect, life has been on this planet for millions of years. I can't see that changing any time soon. Have there been deadly viral outbreaks? Yup. Life survived. Have there been dramatic climactic shifts? Yup. The north pole used to be a tropical paradise. But Life survived. Humans aren't as biologically adaptable as other creatures, but I think that given our current state of technology we can survive pretty well even if some big disaster does happen.
And even if we don't - so what? The universe doesn't care if we're here or not and we won't be around to complain about it anyways.
"Long Passwords Are Easy as 1, 2, 3!" There's a good example of an easy to remember 'password'. It's not a word really, it's a phrase, but it is what I use all the time. They're easy to remember ("I HATE THIS STUPID JOB!!11!1"), fairly secure, and pretty buff against brute force attacks. What about something like "This is my Password for 6/1/2006"? I understand where you are coming from, being forced to use a 16 character password is a bit unwieldly, but it's not as bad as you are making it out to be.
This is exactly how I feel. Theoretical speed is nice and all, but just where does theory and practice meet? Usually never. It's the practical application that matters, which is why, in my opinion, benchmarks of common operations are important. Things such as frames per second in a video game, or how long it takes to encode a DVD, or how long it takes to open up a large PDF... Those are things that matter and, perhaps more importantly, things that the average joe can wrap his mind around. How many Joe Users know (or care) about stuff like clock speed and cache size?
I don't know where you are located, but if you are in the North-East US I *highly* recommend anything from the Ommegang Brewery, based in New York state. It is a fantastic Belgian-style brewery. My favorite beer of theirs, "3 Philosophers", has never failed to impress a beer lover. Unlike most American breweries, these guys don't over-hop. Seems like everyone else does... It reminds me of a (Samuel Adams?) commercial where a spokesperson is talking about hops, and how hops define a beer. That's very sad and, IMNSHO, misleading. Water character, mixtures of different malts, the particular yeast strain used, and adjuncts (if used) are just as, if not more, important. Besides, on the topic of Budweiser... Do you know the last year that Busweiser grew in sales? 1987. (Source: Cavalier Distributing Co.) Budweiser, and swill like it, is on the decline. I am doing my part, of course, in converting people. Not just imports and micro-breweries, but also home brewing. "Beer Tasting Nights" can be a fun social event, and a good way to expose people to something new. At the very end, I recommend offering a Bud Light to somone and letting them realize how little flavor it really has. The reaction is great!
You mentioned that you are using SharePoint. That already has version control, and you can check out documents while you work on them et al. Are you using SharePoint to its full potential? It doesn't have _everything_ you are asking for, but it does cover several things already mentioned. As long as the directory structure doesn't get out of hand, it works pretty well (if you are using MS Word docs).
And that was modded up 'Interesting'? Moderators on crack today, I guess. Can't recognize a troll when they see one.
The year 2006 isn't even over yet. Geeze. A little premature, don't you think?
Legislation is not going to fix the problem. What ever happened to parental responsibility? You can make all the laws you want, but if the parents are not responsible adults then the laws will mean and do nothing. You cannot legislate responsibility!
If you want your calls to be secure, you're going to need more than that. Sure, 128 bits is enough to keep someone from decrypting the call easily within a few minutes, but give them a few hours and a small server farm... I'm surprised the phone doesn't come with the options to bump it up to 256 or even 512. 128 bits just doesn't seem like enough anymore.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, and IANACE, but still... The Other Guys have money and resources too, you know.
Which is very unfortunate. It's possible to write good, secure PHP code. Others have too. PHP is marketed as an easy to learn language (and it is), and it is commonly installed on hosting services, so new programmers flock to it. The problem is that these new programmers are, well, new. They aren't aware of things like SQL injection attacks. They don't bother to validate data. They make new programmer mistakes.
Is it the fault of the language? I can point to a few things where I can say, Shame on You, PHP!, such as the entire magic quotes 'feature' (which, iirc, is turned off by default now). But, as usual, it is the user, not the tool, that is at fault. This makes the language look bad because vulnerabilities pop up in software packages written in the language.
It's easy to spread FUD when that happens, especially to management and other uneducated people.
Some people say that the language should prevent programmers from doing stupid things. I disagree; I think the language should allow you to do what you want within the confines of its purpose, and if you happen to be making mistakes (such as not escaping data that goes into your queries) then shame on you. I don't see people complaining about C because it lets you point into kernel space and write garbage. If that happens, C programmers will point and laugh and say, "Ha ha, you silly newbie programmer!" not "Ha ha, C is retarded!"
I don't see why PHP should be any different. Sure, there are things that could be improved, but overall, most of the vulnerabilities I see are not the fault of the language. It's just the web's version of the VisualBasic syndrome (OMG I CN PRINT TXT 2 SCREEN, I R GOOD PROGMMR!!!!11one!).
The more used a language is, the more software that exists, and the more bugs that will exist - especially if it's an 'easy' language to learn.
The title is also misleading because no book will ever turn you into a professional PHP developer. Someone who is new to programming and reads this book is still likely to make newbie mistakes - mistakes that they would make in ANY programming language.
Incorrect data validation; Inappropriate use of resources; Inelegant design; Bad debugging methods; Using the wrong tools for the job. All of these and more are things that you really won't learn from a book. You learn these through experience.
Any book that promises to turn you into a 'professional', to me, has a strike against it before I even turn past the cover.
Thanks for posting that link to the FreeTechBooks site - I was unaware that it existed and there's a lot of great stuff there.
The basics of emacs are very easy to learn. All you really need to know are a few commands and you're set. Open files, save files, exit. There's no command mode / insert mode that vi has.
For something even easier, grab pico or nano. The commands are printed at the bottom of the screen. Doesn't get much easier than that.
Besides; If you are unable to spend an hour to learn the basics of a text editor then I daresay you can't make it as a programmer, either. You're going to have to learn far more complex things than editor commands.
That said, I've always preferred working on the lower-level. When I was in college taking C/C++ and a bit of Java, it was all taught with an IDE. I soon found that IDEs crippled me by taking care of so much that I didn't know what was happening underneath, which is just as important as what is happening on top.
So, I started doing all my work with emacs and command line compilers. Sure, it took longer, but I feel that I came away as a better developer holistically because of that. It might be one of the reasons I consistently received high marks while others did not.
As long as the advertising isn't too intrusive, I don't really care all that much.
Let's take, for example, a game like the original Half-Life. There are some vending machines in the game with some made up logos. What if they were replaced with Coca-Cola logos instead? Well, considering that the game is supposed to be somewhat 'today' with a sci-fi theme, it would fit and it wouldn't be obnoxious. If it helped in lowering the cost of the game (which it never would, but hey, we can dream) then even better.
Now, if I was sent on a quest of some kind to get someone a Gatorade to quench their thirst, I would be a bit miffed and I would be less inclined to buy the product in the future. Or, if the product placement is just way out of place (So, in Xen, the aliens drive a Yaris, huh?) then they're really in trouble.
All in all, I don't really want advertising because I don't see the benefit for me. But, I can't say that it is going to change my game buying behavior which is all the companies ultimately care about.
I think I got it now. I appreciate the time you took to write that out. Thanks! (o:
I read TFA. I didn't get it. I read the /. comments. I got some laughs but that's about it.
Can someone break this down into 3 year old talk and explain to me what this all means, or, better yet, send me some other FAs that are closer to my level of physics knowledge (about zero)?
I have a much better idea for protecting kids from online predators. It's called the "Adult".
The Adult should know what their charge is doing online. What sites do they visit, what forums do they read and post to, who they're talking to on IM programs.
Install some of those NetNanny-like programs. They're not perfect, but they're pretty good. Cheap too.
At a school, I would imagine that a website whitelist would be just fine. Limit them to sites that are moinitored well on the other end. Teachers can do the monitoring, assuming they have any common sense. At a library, don't allow minors to use a computer unless an Adult (ie, Parent) is present.
Laws like the one proposed, though well-meaning, aren't going to do anything except cause headaches for EVERYONE involved. It's a misguided, poorly thought out attempt. I don't think that predatory issues will ever be resolved through law; Pass all the laws you want, nasty people will still find a way to get to kids.
The only way to ensure safety is active monitoring and, I know this is far fetched and difficult, but taking responsibility. The Government isn't the solution to problems; More often than not, it is the cause of them, and this is another example of that.
I want an AI that will replace a human with believeable behavior (except for calling me a "gay fag", I can live without that, thanks). Something that not just learns, but creates ideas and acts on them. I need something that will entertain me. As long as it's fun I'm okay with that. That one things I hate most about most "AI" systems is that they cheat and perform at inhuman levels. Super Duper Never Miss accuracy. 200% production points. Knowing where all your troops are. That's not AI, that's just cheating and it sucks. For RPG-like games, I always thought that a "Needs" system similar to The Sims (Yeah, I know... But most people know what I'm referring to) would work to an extent. NPCs have needs and they have various ways of fulfilling them. I'm hungry... Go to the tavern? Shoot some game? Go home and tell my woman to make me a sandwich? Starve because I have no money, and beg for some from NPCs and The Player? Or should I steal? If I look at my environment, what's the best way for me to sate my hunger? This would be better than a simple scripted time-based action (like Oblivion, from what I have heard), easier to extend, and probably a better implementation overall. But what do I know. I'm just a consumer. Ultimately, keep it fun and you get my money.
Tsk tsk. Must have been one of those American 'beers' like Budweiser. I highly recommend trying some imports from Germany, or better yet, Belgium. If you need some suggestions let me know. Beer DOES taste good - just not the way the mega-coporations here in the USA do it.
Hmmm... Sounds an awful like New Math. (o:
The idea that someone might actually read it, and not just inside of a classroom context. I am one of those people who has trouble learning or producing something unless I am either interested in the topic or someone else is going to use it.
When I was in my technicaly writing class in college we had to write instructions on how to do something (I chose the installation of a Half-Life Dedicated Server). The paper was given to five students. Every student was 20% of your grade; If they were unable to accomplish the end result because of a problem with your paper, you didn't get the 20% for the student.
Even the Business major in the class was able to do it with my instructions. THAT is an accomplishment!
Another thing that helped me become interested in writing a good paper is being interested about the subject - which usually meant that I had to choose the subject. Sorry, but writing about the complex social commentary buried in some obscure novel from the 1930s just doesn't get my rocks off. I couldn't care less. Those were my worst papers.
Simply enjoying doing so. Some people like to read; others do not. I'm not sure that there is anything you can do about this. You can't force someone to enjoy an activity. Personally, I read to get away from the 'real' world or to learn about something I enjoy. Most of my reading is fantasy, about animals, or about brewing.
We write to convey ideas. If my target audience can't understand that idea then my time and their time has been wasted.
Also, as mentioned above, if I care about what I'm writing I am much more likley to spend time on revision.
If my work is going to be seen by other people then I will give it more effort. Noone likes to be embarressed. This is, of course, a problem with students who are shy. Shy students may spend less time writing and revising because they don't want anyone to see what they've done, so they will do nothing at all.
Seeing examples of bad writing can make damn sure that I don't make the same mistake. I remember reading one of the Shanara books by Terry Brooks. One of his paragraphs had six sentences, all of them starting with the word 'He'. It wasn't done to create emphasis as far as I could tell; it was just damn annoying and it disrupted my flow of reading. The editor must have been on crack to miss that. Ever since then I've been extremely aware of writing just TWO sentences in a row that start with the same word. It just bugs me now!
The courses where I read a lot of different styles of writing. I seem to learn well when given different ideas to compare, and then pick and choose the parts I like the best.
Also, I took a creative writing class in high school the was helpful; Every day we were given a subject (though broad, and it was more a suggestion than anything else) and a particular style or form to try, or certain rules. No words with more than three syllables. End every paragraph with the same sentence. Write for a 5 year old. Write for a 30 year old. Write the same story, but from different perspectives, each with a different cultural background. Write a story that goes backwards through time. etc.
Something that can be helpful for creativity is to choose a topic, say, "rings", and just write a sentence or two (or a paragraph, whatever) about what you COULD write about. Just write down ideas. For rings, I could write down:
1) A story about a wedding, where there is a focus on the symbolism of wedding rings. Obvious, boring, but it's sti
Isn't that what Java was supposed to do? All this "Web 2.0" stuff is getting out of hand; It's trying to duplicate a technology that already exists with inferior tools. I would rather have all the effort go into improving something that already exists.
No content... Just my sig. (o:
If I was at that school I would be more interested in the school NOT spending all the money on such a device and, instead, lower tuition.