I actually got my start in Turtle, that silly drawing application that was so popular in the 80s and early 90s in elementary school and middle school. I learned the satisfaction of seeing words I typed on a screen DO something cool! (Even if it was just drawing a series of boxes and making them move around the screen)
I then moved on to QBASIC and hacked some QBASIC games I'd found to create my own games.
From there it was graphics in QBASIC. That's when I really started to appreciate the puzzling challenges that programming provides and began to feel good about myself and the clever ways I came up with to solve these problems.
The follow on at that point was C++ and I've never looked back.
I'd say that you know your son the best. If he's the kind who likes SEEING the results of what he can do, maybe starting with something simple with graphics would work. If he's more cerebral then maybe that isn't important.:-)
Walmart's new pricing stance on music isn't new or unique to the music industry. They do this to all their suppliers and its part of the reason so much manufacturing of American goods has been sent overseas. They squeeze and squeeze and squeeze until their supplier can't supply anymore.
Here's how it works:
Walmart wants to sell a widget
Manufacturer ACME wins deal with Walmart, selling it for price $X
Walmart proceeds to order obscene quantities of this product, forcing the business to scale up to meet demand
For a little while, things are going great and money pours in at ACME. ACME becomes dependent upon Walmart's revenue stream.
Walmart then decides that they want a lower price and give ACME and ultimatum: "Sell us your widgets for $15% less or we'll go somewhere else."
Since this is the first time it happens, ACME probably says "Okay."
Then Walmart does it again the next year
And again the next year
And again the year after that
Pretty soon Walmart is demanding such a low price for the product that ACME is actually losing money on the deal
Then along comes the Asian manufacturer who's spent the last several years developing a knock-off on Acme's widget that they are able to sell for a much lower price and still make money
Walmart drops ACME in favor of the Asian manufacturer, forcing ACME to close down because they've been sucked dry by Walmarts forced discounts
Absolutely agreed. If I were a DB engineer I'd have the same frustrations.
I've used that book
on
Head First SQL
·
· Score: 1, Informative
Boy, that review sure does sound like a shameless o'reilly sponsored plug for the book. And all the negative banter is so very/.. If it's directed towards beginners,/. will roast it. All that aside, I've actually read and enjoyed this book.
I took some DB classes in college and used SQL quite a bit (albeit nothing that complex) in my work for a few years afterwards at a software company. I wasn't a dev or a dba or anything like that so my rudimentary skills were good enough for the job. Several months ago I decided that I wanted to firm-up on the SQL fundamentals that had grown rusty since college before I tackled a more intense book/online learning method. I'd had great experience with another book in the HeadFirst series so I picked this one up too.
Let me tell you, this book is gold. Though as other posters have said, it isn't anywhere near a comprehensive book that a DBA or SQL coder would be even remotely interested in, but that's not the point. The point of the book is to help newbies (or rusty-people) (re)establish their SQL fundamentals so that they can move on to more complex/cooler stuff. This book does that job very, very well. The examples are fun and they way they engage the reader keeps even the most un-techy person involved while at the same time not insulting the intelligence of any who does consider themselves tech saavy, just SQL ignorant. Granted, anyone who thinks they're a SQL master after reading this book really has no idea what they're talking about and probably has never really looked at a production DB and the code behind it.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a good entry level SQL book, then this would be a great place to start.
Very VERY well put.:-) I'm a hunting friendly type and I must say that I appreciate both your perspective and the apparent time you've taken to understand and think about things from the other side of the line. Thank you.
I completely agree with you. There is no reason a blind person should not be allowed to hunt, but I can see why somebody who is already predisposed to hating both firearms and killing Bambi's dad would think this is stupid. As evidenced by all of the anti-gun/anti-hunting posts above, these individuals just don't understand and probably never will. They'd say the same things about us though. In any case, I for one think it will be pretty awesome if this bill passes.
Because it was never meant to be a form of national identification. It is a non-unique identifier with the possibilty of two people sharing the same SSN.
Wow. I really didn't mean this in the malicious way that it seems to have come across. I simply don't see how it is such a bad thing for us to have a national ID. What freedoms would we lose anyways?
In my book, the term "protect" doesn't only mean "military response." It can mean any number of other things, such as "Protecting me from illegal aliens in Southern California (Where I grew up) who vote illegally simply because it is (for some odd reason) illegal to ask for identification."
Why is wanting protection from this sort of illegal activity wrong? California is also the state who's former governor wanted to (and even approved) giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens, at the cost of a California driver's license no longer being a legal form of ID in most states. If that had gone through Californians would have to carry a passport to travel within their own country.
This thing in friggin' awesome! I love it! This just goes to show that we geeks can come up with some wicked cool stuff that the general tech-ignorant populace can appreciate! (How often does that happen? Seriously) Way to go fellas!
See, this is what happens when a tired bloke like myself gets into an ethical conversation at 3:31 in the morning.;-) I miss things.
I am in complete agreement with you. We all need to pay for the music we download, but yes, once we own it we should be able to do with-it whatever we want. I appreciate the purpose of DRM, but I wish there was a better way.
It all comes down to IP (Intellectual Property) and the fact that artists make their living from selling their music. What if someone suddenly found a way to get whatever it is you do to support your family, for free? That would put you out of a job and leave your kids and wife (assuming you have either) hungry. Additionally, taking your music from p2p networks hurts all those other non-artists who work in the entertainment industry.
That is material that is owned by somebody, material that somebody put their time and energy into. So why the hell doesn't it seem wrong to anyone to take music off p2p networks? It doesn't make sense. You're stealing!
Sorry bro, won't work. In the words of Jack Valentie (President, MPAA) "There is no business model struck off by the hand of man that can compete with free, it can't be done!"
Besides, they have found ways to make you want their product. They provide functionality or entertainment you desire. That in-and-of itself is a reason to want to buy their product. It's the way the whole captitalism thing works--people want something, so they buy it.
You know, you're absolutely right. (Not that I doubted you as a woman mind you) Women definitely percieve IT related topics in school as being intimidating and "too challenging." They play themselves down like "I'm not smart enough for that, I just don't understand it, That's too hard." When the fact is, I know that if more of them put their minds to it they could understand it just as well as us guys.
I'm a senior (done in June thank God) at a Christian university in Seattle where there are more than 3 women per man in the school population. Such a ratio would lead you to think that the percentage of women in IT related majors would be higher than the national average. But sadly it is not. Out of ALL the 200+ students in the CS major from all four classes combined, I know of only 2 women.
This is a real disappointment because I think that women have a great many abilities to bring to the workforce that men simply don't have. Hopefully this will turn around.
Slashdot Mirror
The chorus of a certain George Strait song comes to mind... :-) Who knew he was a prophet?
"I got some ocean front property in Arizona.
From my front porch you can see the sea."
I actually got my start in Turtle, that silly drawing application that was so popular in the 80s and early 90s in elementary school and middle school. I learned the satisfaction of seeing words I typed on a screen DO something cool! (Even if it was just drawing a series of boxes and making them move around the screen)
I then moved on to QBASIC and hacked some QBASIC games I'd found to create my own games.
From there it was graphics in QBASIC. That's when I really started to appreciate the puzzling challenges that programming provides and began to feel good about myself and the clever ways I came up with to solve these problems.
The follow on at that point was C++ and I've never looked back.
I'd say that you know your son the best. If he's the kind who likes SEEING the results of what he can do, maybe starting with something simple with graphics would work. If he's more cerebral then maybe that isn't important. :-)
Walmart's new pricing stance on music isn't new or unique to the music industry. They do this to all their suppliers and its part of the reason so much manufacturing of American goods has been sent overseas. They squeeze and squeeze and squeeze until their supplier can't supply anymore.
Here's how it works:
What is this guy trying to say? And what does the non-existence of earth have to do with getting shocked? He needs to get more grounded. :-P
In Soviet Russia, Paraguay hacks you.
Absolutely agreed. If I were a DB engineer I'd have the same frustrations.
Boy, that review sure does sound like a shameless o'reilly sponsored plug for the book. And all the negative banter is so very /.. If it's directed towards beginners, /. will roast it. All that aside, I've actually read and enjoyed this book.
I took some DB classes in college and used SQL quite a bit (albeit nothing that complex) in my work for a few years afterwards at a software company. I wasn't a dev or a dba or anything like that so my rudimentary skills were good enough for the job. Several months ago I decided that I wanted to firm-up on the SQL fundamentals that had grown rusty since college before I tackled a more intense book/online learning method. I'd had great experience with another book in the HeadFirst series so I picked this one up too.
Let me tell you, this book is gold. Though as other posters have said, it isn't anywhere near a comprehensive book that a DBA or SQL coder would be even remotely interested in, but that's not the point. The point of the book is to help newbies (or rusty-people) (re)establish their SQL fundamentals so that they can move on to more complex/cooler stuff. This book does that job very, very well. The examples are fun and they way they engage the reader keeps even the most un-techy person involved while at the same time not insulting the intelligence of any who does consider themselves tech saavy, just SQL ignorant. Granted, anyone who thinks they're a SQL master after reading this book really has no idea what they're talking about and probably has never really looked at a production DB and the code behind it.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a good entry level SQL book, then this would be a great place to start.
Dude, come on. Mode parent down.
:-D rofl
You're absolutely right. I didn't completely think it through.
Very VERY well put. :-) I'm a hunting friendly type and I must say that I appreciate both your perspective and the apparent time you've taken to understand and think about things from the other side of the line. Thank you.
You bring up an excellent point. :-) Thanks for sharing. I didn't think of that.
I completely agree with you. There is no reason a blind person should not be allowed to hunt, but I can see why somebody who is already predisposed to hating both firearms and killing Bambi's dad would think this is stupid. As evidenced by all of the anti-gun/anti-hunting posts above, these individuals just don't understand and probably never will. They'd say the same things about us though. In any case, I for one think it will be pretty awesome if this bill passes.
Because it was never meant to be a form of national identification. It is a non-unique identifier with the possibilty of two people sharing the same SSN.
Wow. I really didn't mean this in the malicious way that it seems to have come across. I simply don't see how it is such a bad thing for us to have a national ID. What freedoms would we lose anyways? In my book, the term "protect" doesn't only mean "military response." It can mean any number of other things, such as "Protecting me from illegal aliens in Southern California (Where I grew up) who vote illegally simply because it is (for some odd reason) illegal to ask for identification." Why is wanting protection from this sort of illegal activity wrong? California is also the state who's former governor wanted to (and even approved) giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens, at the cost of a California driver's license no longer being a legal form of ID in most states. If that had gone through Californians would have to carry a passport to travel within their own country.
Why is it wrong for our government to be able to know which of us to protect and who to protect us from?
Dude, don't even go there. That's not right.
That's all I'm gonna say.
This thing in friggin' awesome! I love it! This just goes to show that we geeks can come up with some wicked cool stuff that the general tech-ignorant populace can appreciate! (How often does that happen? Seriously) Way to go fellas!
See, this is what happens when a tired bloke like myself gets into an ethical conversation at 3:31 in the morning. ;-) I miss things.
I am in complete agreement with you. We all need to pay for the music we download, but yes, once we own it we should be able to do with-it whatever we want. I appreciate the purpose of DRM, but I wish there was a better way.
It all comes down to IP (Intellectual Property) and the fact that artists make their living from selling their music. What if someone suddenly found a way to get whatever it is you do to support your family, for free? That would put you out of a job and leave your kids and wife (assuming you have either) hungry. Additionally, taking your music from p2p networks hurts all those other non-artists who work in the entertainment industry. That is material that is owned by somebody, material that somebody put their time and energy into. So why the hell doesn't it seem wrong to anyone to take music off p2p networks? It doesn't make sense. You're stealing!
Huh? -1? why?
Sorry bro, won't work. In the words of Jack Valentie (President, MPAA) "There is no business model struck off by the hand of man that can compete with free, it can't be done!"
Besides, they have found ways to make you want their product. They provide functionality or entertainment you desire. That in-and-of itself is a reason to want to buy their product. It's the way the whole captitalism thing works--people want something, so they buy it.
HAHAHA! That's wicked awesome!
Man, this gives a new meaning to the phrase "passing gas" ;-)
You know, you're absolutely right. (Not that I doubted you as a woman mind you) Women definitely percieve IT related topics in school as being intimidating and "too challenging." They play themselves down like "I'm not smart enough for that, I just don't understand it, That's too hard." When the fact is, I know that if more of them put their minds to it they could understand it just as well as us guys. I'm a senior (done in June thank God) at a Christian university in Seattle where there are more than 3 women per man in the school population. Such a ratio would lead you to think that the percentage of women in IT related majors would be higher than the national average. But sadly it is not. Out of ALL the 200+ students in the CS major from all four classes combined, I know of only 2 women. This is a real disappointment because I think that women have a great many abilities to bring to the workforce that men simply don't have. Hopefully this will turn around.