I've got two kids (5 & 2.5 yr old). They love to use their computer.
I've tried ubuntu (and indeed have currently got it set up for my wife), but I dont think gnome (even stripped) is the best WM/desktop for young kids.
I don't want them to be able to middle-click, bring up a terminal and 'rm -Rf *'.
(how on earth is a 5 yr old gonna do that you may ask ? -- except you will only ask if you dont have a 5 yr old, if you have had one you will know it highly likely).
Infact I dont want them launching hardly any of the progs installed on any particular box.
For my little users GCompris and firefox with cbeebies as a homepage plus a paint prog is all I want.
I know edubuntu aims at a wider age range, that is not my point here
I think for young kids icewm is easier to strip and create a safe environment for them to play.
It wouldn't be interesting to 7+ yr olds, but then 7+ yr olds are very different. A one size catches all (which edubuntu aims for) is not, therefore, I think the best approach.
Just my 2c
[p.s. geez wierd sh*t man, I never thought I'd be posting here as a parent. Time flies...]
from the linked to web site:
"Mac OS X Tiger delivers 200+ new features which make it easier than ever to find, access and enjoy everything on your computer. Upgrade your Mac for $129."
$ 129 !!! ...for a second rate bsd.
why rank this higher than the real thing (more than 200 improvements), available for free (of course)
I can undestand than joe public could be taken in but, really, pcworld should know better
before it is possible to determine whether they are talking nonsense definitions are needed, at a minimum:
i) define 'intelligence'. what sort of intelligence are they talking about ?. my pocket calculator is very inteligent in the sense of performing arithmetic operations much faster and more accurately than any human ever could. Or, do they mean Turning test intelligence ?, in which case are there any restrictions (in the subject matter) ?. If operating in a narrow field many expert systems can pass the Turing test. A system that can do "interactive banner advertising" is so narrow that it is laughable.
ii) define 'intelligence' test. Was it a blind Turing test ?. Err, some stats please.
The problem here, as so often in AI, is that 'intelligence' is not a very helpful term if it is not defined. I suspect that they do have an intelligent system in the sense they use the term (this is not nit-picking, Cliniton style), i.e., a reasonably advanced web-bot. However, that is not what most/.'ers would understand by the term. Without an agreed definition both parties are right .
What is the danager here ?; that dvd media etc cannot be played on non-open systems. If so what ?. There is an assumption here that playing movies (or mp3s) is important. It undoubtedly is to some. Let them pay. Meanwhile those committed to openness as a philosophy will continue to invest their time and efforts in intrinsically open media, e.g, wikipedia. The luxury of the times we live in is that there is a choice. Will there ever be 'open' movies ?; almost certainly not. So !?. The oss community will be reduced to reading and coding and listen. So much the better. I for one can live without "pkg_add -r mplayer" !
why do people expect things to work.?
I try to avoid this way of thinking. I think it is extremely ungrateful
If things do work : one should thank the efforts of those who have given their time to make it so.
Anyway, there is usually a choice ; If one doesn't like some software one can:
either:
1- be constructive. help improve the OSS in question. this is how we work and grow OSS. make the world a better place...
2 - use something else, e.g. os X
Only 7-15% reported being unhappy with existing OS (i.e., windoze). This may seem on first inspection surprising. It suggests that change to linux was not driven by the user base in these cases.
However, herein lies an important point; users are users, they rate what they can see, the GUI and the apps. They'd have to be working in a very strange company to be allowed to, for example, discover how much easier life is when config is all done by plain text files, i.e., to learn and appreciate the beauty of *nix. Thus, I'm really not sure how they are in a position to rate the OS/kernel.
quite right. for some reason something my 4 y.o. daughter knows that seems beyond US city planners: "the foolish man built his house upon the sand... the wise man built his house upon the rocks" seriously; who on earth builds a city below w/level next to the sea ?!
most folks have similar interests (.i.e p0rn)
on
Amazon Goes Wiki
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
gathering indivdual data will allow for target marketing for individual, etc
however, summing across individuals , i.e., from a population perspective, most folks fall into groups who have similarities w.r.t. purchasing interests
For example:
I would hazard a geuss that most/.'ers would usually be interested in
1. p0rn
2. p0rn
3. xscreensaver hacks
4. the workings of the linux kernel
5. crypto filesystems (keep p0rn safe)
6. ruby
7. how to get a job @ google
8. how to get women to notice they are alive
9. p0rn (again, 'cos they still didn't notice) & does it cause RSI/blindness ?
10. direct neural interfaces 'cos p0rn caused blindness
hmm, wonder if their new 770linux based tablet will suffer the same fate?
It was finally released in europe & US last week and there has been a rush. New stock due in next week
the key point w.r.t. this article is that anonimity is 'built in'
bit torrent can be anonymized but, IMHO the (various) way of doing this all involve rather ugly hacks.
signal transmission via entanglement would appear to the observer to be instant (i.e., 'spooky'), the MWI model explaining this without need to recourse to FLT nonsense ?.
which, going back to my orig Q. implies instant comm is possible ? doesn't it ?
(if the quoted study is correct/replicable etc)
The current consensus, it may surprise you, is that the question is undecided.
It may be possible to communicate (via entanglement) faster than light in a 'many worlds model'
quantum computers have an enormous serial calculation potential; the clock speed would be limited by the plank time, which I am sure you know is 10^-43. So... a quantum computer would process at 10^43Hz. This is fairly impressive isn't it? (remember a 1Ghz pentium ==10^9Hz).
Given this incredible computing power you could, I suppose, use it to game, rather than try to model the weather of the planet at 1cm scale, or solve untold protein folding medical problems, or develop fusion reactors...etc
there cannot be anything beyond a singularity. "Beyond" does not make sense ; as a singularity is a position on the boundary (of physical laws) of the system. Of couse, if we define 'black holes' as being non-singular then wider answers are possible. in such circumstances I personally think jam donuts are more likely...
quite right, but how would 'statistics' help?, seriously:
using a statistical test and assigning a 'p'-value would add what ?
statitics attempts to assign value judgements (e.g. 'significant') to numbers. the process is *always* ultimately arbitrary (and pointless)
using this sort of method may lead to a massive increase in image file size.
this is not necessarily a terminal problem
crucially, by what factor are files bigger ?, I presume O(n)
I hope not O(n^2), or worse
btw, well done graphics.stanford.edu, you have survived slashdotting !!! ... must be running freeBSD
Slashdot Mirror
I've got two kids (5 & 2.5 yr old). They love to use their computer. ...]
I've tried ubuntu (and indeed have currently got it set up for my wife), but I dont think gnome (even stripped) is the best WM/desktop for young kids.
I don't want them to be able to middle-click, bring up a terminal and 'rm -Rf *'.
(how on earth is a 5 yr old gonna do that you may ask ? -- except you will only ask if you dont have a 5 yr old, if you have had one you will know it highly likely).
Infact I dont want them launching hardly any of the progs installed on any particular box.
For my little users GCompris and firefox with cbeebies as a homepage plus a paint prog is all I want.
I know edubuntu aims at a wider age range, that is not my point here
I think for young kids icewm is easier to strip and create a safe environment for them to play.
It wouldn't be interesting to 7+ yr olds, but then 7+ yr olds are very different. A one size catches all (which edubuntu aims for) is not, therefore, I think the best approach.
Just my 2c
[p.s. geez wierd sh*t man, I never thought I'd be posting here as a parent. Time flies
from the linked to web site:
...for a second rate bsd.
"Mac OS X Tiger delivers 200+ new features which make it easier than ever to find, access and enjoy everything on your computer. Upgrade your Mac for $129."
$ 129 !!!
why rank this higher than the real thing (more than 200 improvements), available for free (of course)
I can undestand than joe public could be taken in but, really, pcworld should know better
before it is possible to determine whether they are talking nonsense definitions are needed, at a minimum:
/.'ers would understand by the term. Without an agreed definition both parties are right
i) define 'intelligence'. what sort of intelligence are they talking about ?. my pocket calculator is very inteligent in the sense of performing arithmetic operations much faster and more accurately than any human ever could. Or, do they mean Turning test intelligence ?, in which case are there any restrictions (in the subject matter) ?. If operating in a narrow field many expert systems can pass the Turing test. A system that can do "interactive banner advertising" is so narrow that it is laughable.
ii) define 'intelligence' test. Was it a blind Turing test ?. Err, some stats please.
The problem here, as so often in AI, is that 'intelligence' is not a very helpful term if it is not defined. I suspect that they do have an intelligent system in the sense they use the term (this is not nit-picking, Cliniton style), i.e., a reasonably advanced web-bot. However, that is not what most
.
What is the danager here ?; that dvd media etc cannot be played on non-open systems. If so what ?. There is an assumption here that playing movies (or mp3s) is important. It undoubtedly is to some. Let them pay. Meanwhile those committed to openness as a philosophy will continue to invest their time and efforts in intrinsically open media, e.g, wikipedia. The luxury of the times we live in is that there is a choice. Will there ever be 'open' movies ?; almost certainly not. So !?. The oss community will be reduced to reading and coding and listen. So much the better. I for one can live without "pkg_add -r mplayer" !
why do people expect things to work.? ...
I try to avoid this way of thinking. I think it is extremely ungrateful
If things do work : one should thank the efforts of those who have given their time to make it so.
Anyway, there is usually a choice ; If one doesn't like some software one can:
either:
1- be constructive. help improve the OSS in question. this is how we work and grow OSS. make the world a better place
2 - use something else, e.g. os X
Only 7-15% reported being unhappy with existing OS (i.e., windoze). This may seem on first inspection surprising. It suggests that change to linux was not driven by the user base in these cases.
However, herein lies an important point; users are users, they rate what they can see, the GUI and the apps. They'd have to be working in a very strange company to be allowed to, for example, discover how much easier life is when config is all done by plain text files, i.e., to learn and appreciate the beauty of *nix. Thus, I'm really not sure how they are in a position to rate the OS/kernel.
quite right. ... the wise man built his house upon the rocks"
for some reason something my 4 y.o. daughter knows that seems beyond US city planners:
"the foolish man built his house upon the sand
seriously; who on earth builds a city below w/level next to the sea ?!
gathering indivdual data will allow for target marketing for individual, etc /.'ers would usually be interested in
however, summing across individuals , i.e., from a population perspective, most folks fall into groups who have similarities w.r.t. purchasing interests
For example:
I would hazard a geuss that most
1. p0rn
2. p0rn
3. xscreensaver hacks
4. the workings of the linux kernel
5. crypto filesystems (keep p0rn safe)
6. ruby
7. how to get a job @ google
8. how to get women to notice they are alive
9. p0rn (again, 'cos they still didn't notice) & does it cause RSI/blindness ?
10. direct neural interfaces 'cos p0rn caused blindness
is FUD working ?. /.
yep...its leading to articles like this on
hmm, wonder if their new 770 linux based tablet will suffer the same fate?
It was finally released in europe & US last week and there has been a rush. New stock due in next week
the key point w.r.t. this article is that anonimity is 'built in'
bit torrent can be anonymized but, IMHO the (various) way of doing this all involve rather ugly hacks.
I'm afraid this ajax will suffer the same fate as the original and be speared in the nipple, by the Next Big Thing (TM)
i'm sure he's laughing all the way to the bank
...and then going home and using GNUnet
blah. should get netBSD up and then they'd be able to run text mode doom.
yes, but have I got this wrong or not:
signal transmission via entanglement would appear to the observer to be instant (i.e., 'spooky'), the MWI model explaining this without need to recourse to FLT nonsense ?.
which, going back to my orig Q. implies instant comm is possible ? doesn't it ?
(if the quoted study is correct/replicable etc)
The current consensus, it may surprise you, is that the question is undecided.
It may be possible to communicate (via entanglement) faster than light in a 'many worlds model'
quantum computers have an enormous serial calculation potential; the clock speed would be limited by the plank time, which I am sure you know is 10^-43.
So... a quantum computer would process at 10^43Hz. This is fairly impressive isn't it? (remember a 1Ghz pentium ==10^9Hz).
Given this incredible computing power you could, I suppose, use it to game, rather than try to model the weather of the planet at 1cm scale, or solve untold protein folding medical problems, or develop fusion reactors...etc
presumably, given entanglement, measurement of qbit state allows potentially for instant communication ? (which would be really spooky!).
not surprised he was removed from court if he was a tosser
there cannot be anything beyond a singularity. "Beyond" does not make sense ; as a singularity is a position on the boundary (of physical laws) of the system. Of couse, if we define 'black holes' as being non-singular then wider answers are possible. in such circumstances I personally think jam donuts are more likely ...
more importantly, is it true, or is it a myth that s/he plays dice ?
lets start even more simple: is it true that all first posts are by slash-staff ?
Q. which is better: vi or emacs ?. I want to KNOW,
with conclusive and definative proofs. Oh and, err
Q. Is every language accepted by some nondeterministic algorithm in polynomial time also accepted by some deterministic algorithm in polynomial time ?
sorry, thats two important questions, isn't it
quite right, but how would 'statistics' help?, seriously:
using a statistical test and assigning a 'p'-value would add what ?
statitics attempts to assign value judgements (e.g. 'significant') to numbers. the process is *always* ultimately arbitrary (and pointless)
using this sort of method may lead to a massive increase in image file size.
... must be running freeBSD
this is not necessarily a terminal problem
crucially, by what factor are files bigger ?, I presume O(n)
I hope not O(n^2), or worse
btw, well done graphics.stanford.edu, you have survived slashdotting !!!