I use laptop in my classes. And yes, it can be a distraction. I find myself checking my mail, reading comics, cnn, updating information on a portal I (with my friends) own. But most distractions do not come from the Internet, they come from what you already have on laptop. You read articles you have downloaded last night, you write documents for your other classes, you prepare your projects, you write your own materials (ie. personal web page or a blog entry to be uploaded later when finished, projects, programs, finish job tasks), try out new soutions (software), audit and configure your PC and do a lot more. So blocking Internet acces is not a good solution!
And blocking Internet access is bad for a number of other reasons as well. The first thing I do when I ge to class, I try to download the latest materials about the subject (and check the classes web page for updates). I also use the Internet to find materials relating to the subject (that can be very handy if you want to "take on" the tutor/presenter/lecturer;)). Also finding alternate viewpoints to the materials can be helpful when trying to understand the lecturer or trying to confront him/her. Finding translations (from estonian to english or french or latin in my case) of terms is a challenge by itself. The downside is you understanding the amount of false information on wikipedia:p.
For people having trouble paying attention to class I have a suggestion. Try to make notes. Not handwritten (you won't be able to read those anyways - that is the reason why I started carrying my laptop to classes at first place), but make notes using Lotus Notes, Microsoft Word (or Excel), KWord, AbiWord or OpenOffice.org Write. If you are some kind of a Linux/Unix geek, you might even take notes in *TeX (which I wouldn't suggest to anyone else). It is especially useful if the class does not yet have an online conspect as then you will be the first to write one and it can be an opportunity to get credit or extra income.
I have seen most laptops in physics and economy classes, a bit less in computer science followed by law and then other social and real sciences and finally others. But I see the use of laptops increasing every week. I consider the use of laptops and Internet in classes more of a necessity than of distraction. It gives you much more opportunities than takes away. Ideally colleges and universities should be able to supply laptops to students in need as I can't see uncomputerised learning possible in ten years. E-learning, i-learning and learning from remote and independent is becoming more and more common. Classrooms are becoming more and more like (student) corporation rooms - places where people with similar interests can gather. It is even possible to graduate an university eithout actually ever visiting the university building (of the university you are to graduate) today. Why should we spend time for commuting between universty and home or university and work or university and cafe or...? And why should we reserve certain times a week just to go and listen to one person talking if you could listen to the recording of his talk any time anywhere? We shouldn't!
Actually, that 1% is normal as the number of people having the equipment and necessary certificaions activated vor voting online is so small (and the necessary equipment was all sold out by the voting day(s)). So we can safely say that more than 25% (actually rather 50%) of people who had necessary equipment (or easy and reliable access to it) voted electronically. And that is a very good ratio.
I mean by that time they would have processing power to crack any format in no time. And even if they do not have CD-players any longer thay could make a detailed 3D scan of it and crack it then.
And why would anyone use DRM on archives? I mean DRM is made on other purposes. Oh, but if they do use it, the computing power available will crack it in no time as well (After all, there is no uncrackable encryption - even one-time pad can be cracked).
Of course we must make sure we do develop higher processing and computing power by then.
No it is not flawed. Just you didn't read the fine print:
do no. 1 evil
As you know, no is short for number (comes from nomer or something), so Google has always been there to become public enemy number one. And if you noticed, they never argued it when confronted!
They can't watch the weather at beaches and cities (here in Estonia) as these webcams are all using ActiveX controls (you have to download) and are not viewable with Firefox. They can't successfully use their e-mail (Squirrel WebMail I guess) because Fx doesn't let them log in (something to do with security I think - you have to use a "clean" (freshly opened) IE to use it too). Now these are quite understandable necessities in the WWW world. And if Fx can't handle them then it can't be used!
2. My sister can't use it!
Because she likes to go chaing and playing games on the web. As we all know, Fx has some serious resource leaks, that will soon render your computer useless (hint - she only has 64kB resources as she is generally using Windows 98SE as The Sims 2 (which by the way works fine - though slow, but no leaks at least) doesn't work on Linux). And the memory use tends to be filled up faster while visiting pages with lots of Macromedia, Java and scripting components on them. Also she blogs at MSN Spaces:D.
3. My brother doesn't want to use it!
Because he likes to visit los of forums and search the web for games. On Fx that brings you to lots of pages that either are not displayed correctly or present him lots of popdowns (and some popups). You can say that on IE there should be more popups, but there are NOT because I have taken my time to configure the security zones in IE and he actually knows how to use them. Actually even my sister does and noone ever tought her how to use them:S. So anyone who cares to improve their web experience be removing disturbing ads and rendering popups or other annoying scripts useless, can easily take up the Security Zone in IE. No need for doing extra installations at all. All I am hoping for is the ability to add more custom secrity zones in IE 7 for more control (and yes I know you can add your own custom security zones by editing registry right now).
4. I can't use it!
Because I follow the latest web standards and techniques - so do the pages I visit. Fx doesn't FULLY support XSL stylesheets (XSLT recommendation is not fully implemented), which causes problems on most of the pages using XSL stylesheets. However, Internet Explorer shows these pages perfectly. XSLT is W3C recommendation.
I would also like to point aut that IE is no more integrated to Windows than Gecko to Windows or Linux. The fact, that IEs engine is being used by many programs doesn't mean integration - Gecko is also been used by many programs in Windows, though many less than IEs engine as Gecko is less common.
The number of flaws found in Fx this year already exceeds the number found in IE. The Fx add-ins seem to be ActiveX alternatives as they seem to do the same things. Fx Extensions seem to be like IEs add-ons - as they seem to be the same things (help on rendering or add toolbars/controls to IEs interface). So what is new in Firefox? Functionally I don't see anything you can do with Fx+add-ins+extensions but can't with IE+add-ons+ActiveX. The biggest difference is user interface. And the speed really depends on the number of components rendered. Plain HTML (+ css and sometimes even JavaScript) tends to be rendred faster in IE, add ActiveX, Flash or Java, Fx will probably be faster. But Flash is generally used for advertising or to annoy people with large or small screens (anything not mainstream), so it will take at least 3 months till you reach a page where you want/need it (that was exactly how long it took for me after installing Linux on my computer before I had to install Flash in Linux).
I am not anti-Firefox or pro-Microsoft, I am a kind of "spokesman" for freeware (as the sofware you don't have to pay money for) for personal use (home use) and Fx and IE are equal to me (Opera would not be equal though there is a freeware version).
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I use laptop in my classes. And yes, it can be a distraction. I find myself checking my mail, reading comics, cnn, updating information on a portal I (with my friends) own. But most distractions do not come from the Internet, they come from what you already have on laptop. You read articles you have downloaded last night, you write documents for your other classes, you prepare your projects, you write your own materials (ie. personal web page or a blog entry to be uploaded later when finished, projects, programs, finish job tasks), try out new soutions (software), audit and configure your PC and do a lot more. So blocking Internet acces is not a good solution!
And blocking Internet access is bad for a number of other reasons as well. The first thing I do when I ge to class, I try to download the latest materials about the subject (and check the classes web page for updates). I also use the Internet to find materials relating to the subject (that can be very handy if you want to "take on" the tutor/presenter/lecturer ;)). Also finding alternate viewpoints to the materials can be helpful when trying to understand the lecturer or trying to confront him/her. Finding translations (from estonian to english or french or latin in my case) of terms is a challenge by itself. The downside is you understanding the amount of false information on wikipedia :p.
For people having trouble paying attention to class I have a suggestion. Try to make notes. Not handwritten (you won't be able to read those anyways - that is the reason why I started carrying my laptop to classes at first place), but make notes using Lotus Notes, Microsoft Word (or Excel), KWord, AbiWord or OpenOffice.org Write. If you are some kind of a Linux/Unix geek, you might even take notes in *TeX (which I wouldn't suggest to anyone else). It is especially useful if the class does not yet have an online conspect as then you will be the first to write one and it can be an opportunity to get credit or extra income.
I have seen most laptops in physics and economy classes, a bit less in computer science followed by law and then other social and real sciences and finally others. But I see the use of laptops increasing every week. I consider the use of laptops and Internet in classes more of a necessity than of distraction. It gives you much more opportunities than takes away. Ideally colleges and universities should be able to supply laptops to students in need as I can't see uncomputerised learning possible in ten years. E-learning, i-learning and learning from remote and independent is becoming more and more common. Classrooms are becoming more and more like (student) corporation rooms - places where people with similar interests can gather. It is even possible to graduate an university eithout actually ever visiting the university building (of the university you are to graduate) today. Why should we spend time for commuting between universty and home or university and work or university and cafe or ...? And why should we reserve certain times a week just to go and listen to one person talking if you could listen to the recording of his talk any time anywhere? We shouldn't!
Actually, that 1% is normal as the number of people having the equipment and necessary certificaions activated vor voting online is so small (and the necessary equipment was all sold out by the voting day(s)). So we can safely say that more than 25% (actually rather 50%) of people who had necessary equipment (or easy and reliable access to it) voted electronically. And that is a very good ratio.
I mean by that time they would have processing power to crack any format in no time. And even if they do not have CD-players any longer thay could make a detailed 3D scan of it and crack it then.
And why would anyone use DRM on archives? I mean DRM is made on other purposes. Oh, but if they do use it, the computing power available will crack it in no time as well (After all, there is no uncrackable encryption - even one-time pad can be cracked).
Of course we must make sure we do develop higher processing and computing power by then.
Hmm, so You are saying the AI will soon pick up politics and rule us all (from UN, White House, etc.)?
No it is not flawed. Just you didn't read the fine print:
do no. 1 evil
As you know, no is short for number (comes from nomer or something), so Google has always been there to become public enemy number one. And if you noticed, they never argued it when confronted!
1. My parents can't use it.
They can't watch the weather at beaches and cities (here in Estonia) as these webcams are all using ActiveX controls (you have to download) and are not viewable with Firefox. They can't successfully use their e-mail (Squirrel WebMail I guess) because Fx doesn't let them log in (something to do with security I think - you have to use a "clean" (freshly opened) IE to use it too). Now these are quite understandable necessities in the WWW world. And if Fx can't handle them then it can't be used!
2. My sister can't use it!
Because she likes to go chaing and playing games on the web. As we all know, Fx has some serious resource leaks, that will soon render your computer useless (hint - she only has 64kB resources as she is generally using Windows 98SE as The Sims 2 (which by the way works fine - though slow, but no leaks at least) doesn't work on Linux). And the memory use tends to be filled up faster while visiting pages with lots of Macromedia, Java and scripting components on them. Also she blogs at MSN Spaces :D.
3. My brother doesn't want to use it!
Because he likes to visit los of forums and search the web for games. On Fx that brings you to lots of pages that either are not displayed correctly or present him lots of popdowns (and some popups). You can say that on IE there should be more popups, but there are NOT because I have taken my time to configure the security zones in IE and he actually knows how to use them. Actually even my sister does and noone ever tought her how to use them :S. So anyone who cares to improve their web experience be removing disturbing ads and rendering popups or other annoying scripts useless, can easily take up the Security Zone in IE. No need for doing extra installations at all. All I am hoping for is the ability to add more custom secrity zones in IE 7 for more control (and yes I know you can add your own custom security zones by editing registry right now).
4. I can't use it!
Because I follow the latest web standards and techniques - so do the pages I visit. Fx doesn't FULLY support XSL stylesheets (XSLT recommendation is not fully implemented), which causes problems on most of the pages using XSL stylesheets. However, Internet Explorer shows these pages perfectly. XSLT is W3C recommendation.
I would also like to point aut that IE is no more integrated to Windows than Gecko to Windows or Linux. The fact, that IEs engine is being used by many programs doesn't mean integration - Gecko is also been used by many programs in Windows, though many less than IEs engine as Gecko is less common.
The number of flaws found in Fx this year already exceeds the number found in IE. The Fx add-ins seem to be ActiveX alternatives as they seem to do the same things. Fx Extensions seem to be like IEs add-ons - as they seem to be the same things (help on rendering or add toolbars/controls to IEs interface). So what is new in Firefox? Functionally I don't see anything you can do with Fx+add-ins+extensions but can't with IE+add-ons+ActiveX. The biggest difference is user interface. And the speed really depends on the number of components rendered. Plain HTML (+ css and sometimes even JavaScript) tends to be rendred faster in IE, add ActiveX, Flash or Java, Fx will probably be faster. But Flash is generally used for advertising or to annoy people with large or small screens (anything not mainstream), so it will take at least 3 months till you reach a page where you want/need it (that was exactly how long it took for me after installing Linux on my computer before I had to install Flash in Linux).
I am not anti-Firefox or pro-Microsoft, I am a kind of "spokesman" for freeware (as the sofware you don't have to pay money for) for personal use (home use) and Fx and IE are equal to me (Opera would not be equal though there is a freeware version).