Unless there's an interface option I've missed, gmail is hardly cutting edge when it comes to web interfaces.
Ive used:
elm, Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express (mac and PC versions), Entourage, Zimbra Desktop, Eudora since v1.5.1, OS X Mail, Mailsmith, at least half a dozen various email interfaces on BBS's (CNet Amiga, WWIV, Hermes II, NovaLink Pro, Wildcat, TBBS, Searchlight, White Knight/Red Ryder, FirstClass, TeleFinder, RIPscrip-interfaces, various QWK offline readers, others I can't recall), and of course GMail, Hotmail, and Yahoo. I suppose to be complete I should add to the list CompuServe's command line and GUI interfaces as well as (I'm embarrassed to say it) AOL's client and the old Prodigy system.
Out of all of those, in my opinion GMail has the best interface. Why?
-You almost never have to take your hands off the keyboard. If you want to open a message in a new window, or compose one in a new window, just hold down shift and press the shortcut. With Labs you can also move to labels using the "gl" shortcut.
-Speaking of single-key shortcuts, I love GMail's. Im a vi guy not an emacs guy so maybe that explains why I like single-key shortcuts. I know I can always use some multi-key combination in all of the other above-mentioned applications, but I find single-key superior for some reason. That's just my preference.
-GMail's Search function. Wonderful. Look for anything remotely like this in the GUI clients available on Mac and Windows right now, about the only thing that comes close is Instant Search in Outlook 2007. Even Spotlight's performance is lackluster. When I tested GMail Offline on my old PowerBook G4, it actually finds email faster than spotlight searching Entourage's catalogs. This was a completely subjective test but it looks to be true.
About all that's keeping me from dumping my current mail app and moving completely to GMail to consolidate all of my email accounts into a single inbox are two things:
-That annoying "(sent by account@gmail.com)" GMail appends in the From: header with every message sent using a different from address. Yes I know I can add Google Docs to my domain name, but even then it will add (sent by account@gdocsuser.com) which is just as annoying.
-Multiple signatures linked to specific From: addresses. I don't want to use Scriptmonkey hacks to do this, since that just ties me down to an app only usable on my own laptop.
Incidentally, GMail Offline seems to work fine on Safari 3.2.1 running under German localization, as well as Firefox under German localization.
...including the ability to switch power profiles from the power menu icon. Now if you want to temporarily switch from Better Performance to Better Battery Life, you have to open System Preferences.
You already said they are avid readers - challenge them. Just because it might seem dry or too political when you look at it as a parent doesnt mean they wont like it or get something out of it. If they don't like it, they won't read it, but whatever you do don't decide not to bring something because you think they wont like it. Imagine the disaster if they hate everything you bring because you tried to dumb it down too much.
When I was younger, I read LOTR in 4th-5th grade, had an abortive attempt at reading Neuromancer in 6th grade (I loved the old Interplay game so much I made myself try reading the novel again 6 months later. it turned out to be the first book I read under a day). One of my best memories as a child was emailing Orson Scott Card on the old Prodigy network after I read Ender's Game. He encouraged me to read Speaker, albeit with the 'its a bit slower-paced' warning. Turned out I loved Speaker, and my father, who recommended Ender's Game to me, couldnt care less for Speaker.
All of these books, we read when we were kids or teenagers. They shaped our understanding of the world but also helped us formulate our own. Let your kids do the same. Thats the beauty of a book.
No, it means new Macs will look like old Peoplemover cars and that lame rocket jet at the entrance to tomorrowland will be replaced with AirPort Extreme saucers.
Here's my experiences with "online" schools, and insights on why I left them to pursue a "standard" education along the JC/transfer route:
1) Course quality was _highly_ variable. Two of the courses, a generic "study skills" course and another a College Algebra course, were well thought out and prepared. The third, however, a wierd hybrid of environmentalism and political science, was terrible. I found blatant errors in the assignments and tests, emailed the "professor" who responded "oh yea, I know about those, Ill fix them one day. Just go ahead and pick B for those questions and Ill mark you right." In contrast, although coursework quality also varies at a "traditional" school like a JC, UC, or private, it is not allowed to devate THAT much IMHO. I should also point out that these were GE courses (not having had any college credits up to that point I had to take them), but as I will mention later, GE's can be the most important reason to go to school.
2) Teacher interaction - being raised on BBS's I naturally prefer email at times. However, nothing, as someone else mentioned, beats human interaction. There are simply opportunities at a regular university that you cant get at an "online" or "diploma mill" university. Example: undergraduate research. Sometimes this isnt just slave work. I responded to one solicitation from a professor where Im at now and ended up working on a graduate level project. There is also something to be said about maintaining eye contact on a daily basis with your professors: they remember you in a different way and keep you in mind, which means that you will have better opportunities of getting choice undergrad research positions that will look pretty on a graduate application.
3) Related to the above - "working" the system: in person it is easier to cut through red tape BS than online or over the phone. Its much easier to blow someone off if you dont have to look them in the eye. In my case, I was able to bypass a completely ricoculous placement test system and sign up for upper division coursework, just because people in places that matter saw me running around doing the footwork and decided to cut me a break, either that or I was an annoying/persistent punk. Compared to the "virtual" school, where I found teacher accessibility very inconsistent.
4) Graduate Schools - Graduate schools like to see school names and projects and so forth on applications. Although Im not at all ruling out the possibility that someone with a BS in CS from an online university will not be able to get into a graduate program at a tier 3, it would be much harder to get into one at a tier 1. Why? Because these schools have "reputations" which you yourself appear to be cognizant of, otherwise you wouldnt be asking this question. For reasons like I mentioned above, you almost _need_ undergraduate research to get into a competitive graduate program.
5) Accredidation - lots of people overlook this one, but it is the most important. Ask what agency the school is accredited with. Then, call your graduate school of interest and ask them if they recognize that agency. Just because the US Department of Education recognizes the school doesnt mean that all other schools must or do. Oftentimes, correspondance style schools are accredidted by the Distance Education/Training Council, which is recognized by nobody outside of other schools that are also a part of that. This is even more important if you plan on graduate school: it is very likely that a school will not acknowledge your diploma simply because they dont recognize the accrediation agency.
6) While I was interviewing applicants to fill my position in the IT dept where I worked before I went back to school full time, I found, as most of you have who hire people, that most of these guys didnt know a mouse from a keyboard, yet held AA's and BS's from schools like Westwood or Phoenix or some other place. Perfect example: one guy who had an AA from a school I wont mention could not answer a SINGLE QUESTION on my screening test! And i
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Unless there's an interface option I've missed, gmail is hardly cutting edge when it comes to web interfaces.
Ive used:
elm, Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express (mac and PC versions), Entourage, Zimbra Desktop, Eudora since v1.5.1, OS X Mail, Mailsmith, at least half a dozen various email interfaces on BBS's (CNet Amiga, WWIV, Hermes II, NovaLink Pro, Wildcat, TBBS, Searchlight, White Knight/Red Ryder, FirstClass, TeleFinder, RIPscrip-interfaces, various QWK offline readers, others I can't recall), and of course GMail, Hotmail, and Yahoo. I suppose to be complete I should add to the list CompuServe's command line and GUI interfaces as well as (I'm embarrassed to say it) AOL's client and the old Prodigy system.
Out of all of those, in my opinion GMail has the best interface. Why?
-You almost never have to take your hands off the keyboard. If you want to open a message in a new window, or compose one in a new window, just hold down shift and press the shortcut. With Labs you can also move to labels using the "gl" shortcut.
-Speaking of single-key shortcuts, I love GMail's. Im a vi guy not an emacs guy so maybe that explains why I like single-key shortcuts. I know I can always use some multi-key combination in all of the other above-mentioned applications, but I find single-key superior for some reason. That's just my preference.
-GMail's Search function. Wonderful. Look for anything remotely like this in the GUI clients available on Mac and Windows right now, about the only thing that comes close is Instant Search in Outlook 2007. Even Spotlight's performance is lackluster. When I tested GMail Offline on my old PowerBook G4, it actually finds email faster than spotlight searching Entourage's catalogs. This was a completely subjective test but it looks to be true.
About all that's keeping me from dumping my current mail app and moving completely to GMail to consolidate all of my email accounts into a single inbox are two things:
-That annoying "(sent by account@gmail.com)" GMail appends in the From: header with every message sent using a different from address. Yes I know I can add Google Docs to my domain name, but even then it will add (sent by account@gdocsuser.com) which is just as annoying.
-Multiple signatures linked to specific From: addresses. I don't want to use Scriptmonkey hacks to do this, since that just ties me down to an app only usable on my own laptop.
Incidentally, GMail Offline seems to work fine on Safari 3.2.1 running under German localization, as well as Firefox under German localization.
...including the ability to switch power profiles from the power menu icon. Now if you want to temporarily switch from Better Performance to Better Battery Life, you have to open System Preferences.
You already said they are avid readers - challenge them. Just because it might seem dry or too political when you look at it as a parent doesnt mean they wont like it or get something out of it. If they don't like it, they won't read it, but whatever you do don't decide not to bring something because you think they wont like it. Imagine the disaster if they hate everything you bring because you tried to dumb it down too much.
When I was younger, I read LOTR in 4th-5th grade, had an abortive attempt at reading Neuromancer in 6th grade (I loved the old Interplay game so much I made myself try reading the novel again 6 months later. it turned out to be the first book I read under a day). One of my best memories as a child was emailing Orson Scott Card on the old Prodigy network after I read Ender's Game. He encouraged me to read Speaker, albeit with the 'its a bit slower-paced' warning. Turned out I loved Speaker, and my father, who recommended Ender's Game to me, couldnt care less for Speaker.
All of these books, we read when we were kids or teenagers. They shaped our understanding of the world but also helped us formulate our own. Let your kids do the same. Thats the beauty of a book.
Subjects should be autogenerated for us. That way, our posts will be named just like old Papal bulls used to be: unam sanctum, Execrabilis, and so on.
Subjects are only as good as the author's ability or willingness to summarize.
No, it means new Macs will look like old Peoplemover cars and that lame rocket jet at the entrance to tomorrowland will be replaced with AirPort Extreme saucers.
Here's my experiences with "online" schools, and insights on why I left them to pursue a "standard" education along the JC/transfer route:
1) Course quality was _highly_ variable. Two of the courses, a generic "study skills" course and another a College Algebra course, were well thought out and prepared. The third, however, a wierd hybrid of environmentalism and political science, was terrible. I found blatant errors in the assignments and tests, emailed the "professor" who responded "oh yea, I know about those, Ill fix them one day. Just go ahead and pick B for those questions and Ill mark you right." In contrast, although coursework quality also varies at a "traditional" school like a JC, UC, or private, it is not allowed to devate THAT much IMHO. I should also point out that these were GE courses (not having had any college credits up to that point I had to take them), but as I will mention later, GE's can be the most important reason to go to school.
2) Teacher interaction - being raised on BBS's I naturally prefer email at times. However, nothing, as someone else mentioned, beats human interaction. There are simply opportunities at a regular university that you cant get at an "online" or "diploma mill" university. Example: undergraduate research. Sometimes this isnt just slave work. I responded to one solicitation from a professor where Im at now and ended up working on a graduate level project. There is also something to be said about maintaining eye contact on a daily basis with your professors: they remember you in a different way and keep you in mind, which means that you will have better opportunities of getting choice undergrad research positions that will look pretty on a graduate application.
3) Related to the above - "working" the system: in person it is easier to cut through red tape BS than online or over the phone. Its much easier to blow someone off if you dont have to look them in the eye. In my case, I was able to bypass a completely ricoculous placement test system and sign up for upper division coursework, just because people in places that matter saw me running around doing the footwork and decided to cut me a break, either that or I was an annoying/persistent punk. Compared to the "virtual" school, where I found teacher accessibility very inconsistent.
4) Graduate Schools - Graduate schools like to see school names and projects and so forth on applications. Although Im not at all ruling out the possibility that someone with a BS in CS from an online university will not be able to get into a graduate program at a tier 3, it would be much harder to get into one at a tier 1. Why? Because these schools have "reputations" which you yourself appear to be cognizant of, otherwise you wouldnt be asking this question. For reasons like I mentioned above, you almost _need_ undergraduate research to get into a competitive graduate program.
5) Accredidation - lots of people overlook this one, but it is the most important. Ask what agency the school is accredited with. Then, call your graduate school of interest and ask them if they recognize that agency. Just because the US Department of Education recognizes the school doesnt mean that all other schools must or do. Oftentimes, correspondance style schools are accredidted by the Distance Education/Training Council, which is recognized by nobody outside of other schools that are also a part of that. This is even more important if you plan on graduate school: it is very likely that a school will not acknowledge your diploma simply because they dont recognize the accrediation agency.
6) While I was interviewing applicants to fill my position in the IT dept where I worked before I went back to school full time, I found, as most of you have who hire people, that most of these guys didnt know a mouse from a keyboard, yet held AA's and BS's from schools like Westwood or Phoenix or some other place. Perfect example: one guy who had an AA from a school I wont mention could not answer a SINGLE QUESTION on my screening test! And i