Frankly, I was a bit surprised to see LON come out and suggest people should not commit crimes when they are desperate for money. I think this would be obvious to any rational person.
If your goal is to teach them programing fundamentals, you should skip the IDE.
However, according to the post this is a intro to Java/Python class and it sounds like it has non-trivial programing related prerequisites (1 semester in programming in C++/VB was mentioned). Therefore when using these skills in the real world, they will benifit from having experience with the tools of the trade, and in the Java world the IDE is king of tools.
Teach them how to walk first, show them what is going on under the covers, and once that intro is done, switch to the IDE, demonstrate how the two relate, and don't look back except at the mid-term and the final. The IDE can also be a very powerful teaching tool to help graphically demonstrate things like Class hierarchies, and how important good documentation can be made an integral part of the experience.
Final Scratch 2
on
Learning to DJ?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Go get yourself a set of inexpensive direct drive turntables and a 2 channel mixer, hook up a Final Scratch 2 to a Firewire port, fire up Traktor DJ studio 2.6, let it analyize your mp3's, and you'll be mixing within a few hours.
Traktor 2.6 works with the Final Scratch 2 and let's you do everything you would normally do with records with your mp3 (pick up the needle, move it forwards and backwards and set it down, spin it up, slow it down, scratch, wind it backwards, everything), and Traktor will give you very clear visual cues to help you get your beats in line.
Of course beatmixing is one of the easier skills to acquire, and alone does not make a good DJ. But given that you can probablly put this together for around $1,000 dollars and have a totally viable digital DJ system for learning on, I'd suggest it to anyone who's serious about learning how to make this happen without buying top of the line gear which can easily top $10,000 for just a basic setup.
I seem to vaugely remember the old car driving game 'Stunts' having this. I'm sure there's plenty of information floating around the interweb about it. This is in contrast to a game like "Test Drive ", which I don't remember having the feature.
Anyone else remember this? Or am I making it up? ---
The whole 'tourists in space' is more of a novelty than an -important- advancement.
Now that the barrier to entry to leave the atmosphere has been (or rather, will be) shattered to a fraction of it used to cost, what I'm waiting for is to see more private satellites in space.
There's all the momentum with open source software, and people scratching a particular itch. It's allready made big waves in the embedded realm... well I see that same momentum extending into 'open source (based) satellites'. Specifically communications.
Want to start your own satellite radio service? The barrier to entry isn't going to be anything like what it is right now in 5 years. Someone will literally be able to cobble together some open source libraries onto a tiny footprint computer and launch it into geo-synchronus.
Want to get the internet somewhere? For a couple thousand dollars (as opposed to millions today) you'll be able to stick a 802.11g repeater in orbit. If we're judging by the accomplishments from the most recent DefCon Wireless shootout, it won't even have to be amplified beyond the stock configuration; You'll just need a big dish.
Want to start up a new TV service on an unlicensed band and sell the terrestrial reciever (ala DirectTV)? How about a new satellite cell-phone service? Right now they're terribly expensive, but this is bound to drive the prices down over time.
Putting people in space is cool and all.
What's really cool is what else we're gonna be able to put there real soon now. The possibilities are endless, now that the power is in the hands of the average CEO and not just the government and the extremely wealthy.
Why are are good distro reviews so few and far between?
Because different distributions are (ment to be) different things to different people. It's like trying to decide which beer's the best beer; Everyone's gonna have their own opinion. Some just express it in terms you can relate to, and some don't. I hear what your saying about them being boilerplate, but that just tells me your not looking hard enough, or in the right places. The InterWeb's a big thing you know...
...is there a reliable source for interesting, impartial and full reviews?
Even that's a subjective subject. What's your itch? Desktop usage? Publically facing servers? Trusted systems? Clustering? Embedded? Try narrowing your perspective a little bit when you search... there's a lot of forums and testimony out there.
Are there any guidelines for distro comparisons?
Not that I'm aware of, but things I'd want in a comparison:
Install and drivers
Desktop and applications
Package management
Ease of configuration and learning curve
For me the two most important things are Drivers and Configuration/Learning Curve, with Package Management a close third. Security, and Desktop is just gravy for me, because I can do thoes myself.
What should people really be looking at when reviewing a distribution?
What they're interested in using the Distribution for. If it doesn't cover it in at least some detail, your reading the wrong review (or reviewing the wrong distribution).
I guess the broader question is what sets distros apart?
The community.
I'm serious. EVERYTHING good or bad about a distro can be explicitly linked back to the community and their agenda.
The good distributions are good because they have a dedicated community supporting (and hopefully advancing) a specific set of agendas.
RedHat happens to be a great middle ground because they target the middle ground of usability vs. performance; their agenda is to provide a ubiquitous distribution which can easily be applied to any senario but is optimized for none.
Debian is great for people who know exactly what they want and are willing to jump through a flaming hoop or two (unlike some earlier posters) to get it; their agenda is to provide a distribution which offers you infinate possibilities without forcing anything on you and making change as cheap and easy as possible.
Gentoo's really fast, I'm told, after you compile everything durring the install(!); their agenda is to make 'the ultimate power' distribution.
Mandrake goes a much more user friendly route; their agenda is to provide a good solid Linux based desktop.
In all these cases, if you run into trouble doing what the distribution community's niche is, your most likely going to have a wonderful experience in fixing it because people will come out of the woodwork to fix your problem (assuming you take the time to ask it properly and do your homework (RTFM) first).
That's why you choose one distribution over another: Because it scratches your itch better than any other.
Slashdot Mirror
I've got a job which pays six digits a year for him. That's why.
Frankly, I was a bit surprised to see LON come out and suggest people should not commit crimes when they are desperate for money. I think this would be obvious to any rational person.
You're new here, aren't you?
If your goal is to teach them programing fundamentals, you should skip the IDE.
However, according to the post this is a intro to Java/Python class and it sounds like it has non-trivial programing related prerequisites (1 semester in programming in C++/VB was mentioned). Therefore when using these skills in the real world, they will benifit from having experience with the tools of the trade, and in the Java world the IDE is king of tools.
Teach them how to walk first, show them what is going on under the covers, and once that intro is done, switch to the IDE, demonstrate how the two relate, and don't look back except at the mid-term and the final. The IDE can also be a very powerful teaching tool to help graphically demonstrate things like Class hierarchies, and how important good documentation can be made an integral part of the experience.
Final Scratch 2 and Traktor DJ Studio 2.6 (3.0 will work too) is a killer combonation.
Go get yourself a set of inexpensive direct drive turntables and a 2 channel mixer, hook up a Final Scratch 2 to a Firewire port, fire up Traktor DJ studio 2.6, let it analyize your mp3's, and you'll be mixing within a few hours.
Traktor 2.6 works with the Final Scratch 2 and let's you do everything you would normally do with records with your mp3 (pick up the needle, move it forwards and backwards and set it down, spin it up, slow it down, scratch, wind it backwards, everything), and Traktor will give you very clear visual cues to help you get your beats in line.
Of course beatmixing is one of the easier skills to acquire, and alone does not make a good DJ. But given that you can probablly put this together for around $1,000 dollars and have a totally viable digital DJ system for learning on, I'd suggest it to anyone who's serious about learning how to make this happen without buying top of the line gear which can easily top $10,000 for just a basic setup.
Back? Some of us never left.
I seem to vaugely remember the old car driving game 'Stunts' having this. I'm sure there's plenty of information floating around the interweb about it. This is in contrast to a game like "Test Drive ", which I don't remember having the feature.
Anyone else remember this? Or am I making it up?
---
The whole 'tourists in space' is more of a novelty than an -important- advancement. Now that the barrier to entry to leave the atmosphere has been (or rather, will be) shattered to a fraction of it used to cost, what I'm waiting for is to see more private satellites in space. There's all the momentum with open source software, and people scratching a particular itch. It's allready made big waves in the embedded realm... well I see that same momentum extending into 'open source (based) satellites'. Specifically communications. Want to start your own satellite radio service? The barrier to entry isn't going to be anything like what it is right now in 5 years. Someone will literally be able to cobble together some open source libraries onto a tiny footprint computer and launch it into geo-synchronus. Want to get the internet somewhere? For a couple thousand dollars (as opposed to millions today) you'll be able to stick a 802.11g repeater in orbit. If we're judging by the accomplishments from the most recent DefCon Wireless shootout, it won't even have to be amplified beyond the stock configuration; You'll just need a big dish. Want to start up a new TV service on an unlicensed band and sell the terrestrial reciever (ala DirectTV)? How about a new satellite cell-phone service? Right now they're terribly expensive, but this is bound to drive the prices down over time. Putting people in space is cool and all. What's really cool is what else we're gonna be able to put there real soon now. The possibilities are endless, now that the power is in the hands of the average CEO and not just the government and the extremely wealthy.
Because different distributions are (ment to be) different things to different people. It's like trying to decide which beer's the best beer; Everyone's gonna have their own opinion. Some just express it in terms you can relate to, and some don't. I hear what your saying about them being boilerplate, but that just tells me your not looking hard enough, or in the right places. The InterWeb's a big thing you know...
Even that's a subjective subject. What's your itch? Desktop usage? Publically facing servers? Trusted systems? Clustering? Embedded? Try narrowing your perspective a little bit when you search... there's a lot of forums and testimony out there.
Are there any guidelines for distro comparisons?
Not that I'm aware of, but things I'd want in a comparison:
For me the two most important things are Drivers and Configuration/Learning Curve, with Package Management a close third. Security, and Desktop is just gravy for me, because I can do thoes myself.
What should people really be looking at when reviewing a distribution?
What they're interested in using the Distribution for. If it doesn't cover it in at least some detail, your reading the wrong review (or reviewing the wrong distribution).
I guess the broader question is what sets distros apart?
The community.
I'm serious. EVERYTHING good or bad about a distro can be explicitly linked back to the community and their agenda.
The good distributions are good because they have a dedicated community supporting (and hopefully advancing) a specific set of agendas.
RedHat happens to be a great middle ground because they target the middle ground of usability vs. performance; their agenda is to provide a ubiquitous distribution which can easily be applied to any senario but is optimized for none.
Debian is great for people who know exactly what they want and are willing to jump through a flaming hoop or two (unlike some earlier posters) to get it; their agenda is to provide a distribution which offers you infinate possibilities without forcing anything on you and making change as cheap and easy as possible.
Gentoo's really fast, I'm told, after you compile everything durring the install(!); their agenda is to make 'the ultimate power' distribution.
Mandrake goes a much more user friendly route; their agenda is to provide a good solid Linux based desktop.
In all these cases, if you run into trouble doing what the distribution community's niche is, your most likely going to have a wonderful experience in fixing it because people will come out of the woodwork to fix your problem (assuming you take the time to ask it properly and do your homework (RTFM) first).
That's why you choose one distribution over another: Because it scratches your itch better than any other.
...two robots, the larger one either fixing or rocking the smaller one
These are not the droids your looking for.