I've been teaching my 9-year-old daughter programming. We started with http://www.codecademy.com/ learning JavaScript but have now moved on to Python, which she prefers because of the Monty Python references.
JavaScript is similar enough to C++ (those annoying semi-colons!) to give them a bit of the flavor, and CodeAcademy makes it easy to give them a taste.
On a side note, Python has a great free intro book, Think Python: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython It's not turnkey like CodeAcademy, but it's very well written for someone who has never programmed before. I think Python is easier to learn but it is less similar to C++ than JavaScript, so there are pluses and minuses to using it in your situation.
I use BackupPC at home and at work. It backups up linux clients easily.
Setting up Windows XP pro as a client is actually pretty easy, too, using a very small version of rsyncd that is available at the BackupPC site.
I have not had luck setting up XP Home as a client using rsyncd, I suspect because of the way it handles permissions. If an XP Home client is on an internal network, you could share the folder you want backed up I don't do that because the XP Home machine I want to back up is a laptop -- shares bad on laptop.
I administer 2 Linux servers as part of my work duties so I'm reasonably comfortable as a Linux user, but for my home server I put off switching from 98. My home server is my former desktop (a common enough rotation pattern) and 98 ran fine on the homemade 1 GHz AMD-based machine. I also connected a cheap Win9x-only scanner to it because my XP desktop wouldn't support it.
I stayed with 98 for years because of my scanner and a few other 9x only features, and because I was never 100% comfortable with the thought of rebuilding a Linux box after a hardware failure. Most of those reasons went away over time, except for one: I can rebuild a 9x machine on FAT32 partitions really fast (and in my sleep) without the loss of anything. I no longer work in IT, so I don't have time to keep up with learning how to boot from alternate media for every new OS/file system that comes along. Oh, sure, 98 would occasionally die and need rebuilding, but that was fast and easy (given reasonable partitioning) and it ran fine between rebuilds. Not reliable for uptime, but it was a home server, and I never lost a file.
I've spent the last couple of years administering two Mandriva boxes, but the package manager is not that great. I started feeling more confident in my ability to rebuild a Linux machine after catastrophic error when I found out that Ubuntu (1) runs on my existing hardware and (2) has easy package management.
I valued the security updates from MS; the end of those updates was the final straw. I switched to Ubuntu recently, and I'm not looking back...except when I want to scan something at home. I may yet reinstall 98 and dual-boot, just to scan things -- I don't need security updates for that as long as I don't install NIC drivers for 98.
Please save your "Oh, this guy isn't a true geek because he finds (computer activity X) to be unnecessarily challenging." Computers are tools for me, not a hobby. I have other (yet still geeky) things I would rather do with my time.
Clearly this is a sore spot with you. Too bad it's not a sore spot that innocent motorists and pedestrians die from people in unmarked cars speeding because they "have a good reason". I've done my time as a firefighter and surprisingly I managed to do my job with no loss of life and without breaking safety rules. If volunteers need to exceed the speed limit to respond appropriately, train them, give them flashing lights, and change the relevant local laws.
There would be a lot fewer lives needing saved if people didn't incorrectly and unsafely assume they have a right to speed. Something about your rights ending where mine begin comes to mind.
That said, GPS enforcement is a ridiculous, invasive, hopefully unconstitutional, and almost certainly unworkable solution. I guess I'm just sore about getting run over trying to drive without endangering my passenger-daughter.
Need to speed to avoid an accident? Riiiight. When was the last time you had to exceed the speed limit to avoid an accident when all of the other cars were also obeying the speed limit? Have you ever tried actually driving the speed limit? It's amazing how spacious and safe interstates feel when driving the speed limit (when the crazies aren't almost running into your rear bumper.) If everyone were moving this* speed, I bet the reduction in accidents (and increase in mileage) would far more than offset any few odd accidents that might occur.
Objections along these lines remind me of the objections to seat belt laws. "What if I need to get out? What if I drive into a lake, the car is filling up with water, and my seatbelt gets stuck? What if aliens land and the only way to save the planet is to go 80 MPH????" Hmmm...I'm guessing this isn't too likely. Similarly, if everyone were to drive the speed limit, I bet a lot of these "emergencies" would go away because reaction windows would expand.
Here's a revolutionary idea that wouldn't involve big brother technology: why not just obey the posted speed limits? This allows for judgment when (theoretically) it might be necessary, and also saves lives and gas.
Or don't obey the speed limits. I don't care. When you all are speeding it means that I can set my cruise control on the speed limit and relax even in heavy holiday traffic because everyone else is having an aneurysm trying to go.3 MPH faster.
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I've been teaching my 9-year-old daughter programming. We started with http://www.codecademy.com/ learning JavaScript but have now moved on to Python, which she prefers because of the Monty Python references. JavaScript is similar enough to C++ (those annoying semi-colons!) to give them a bit of the flavor, and CodeAcademy makes it easy to give them a taste. On a side note, Python has a great free intro book, Think Python: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython It's not turnkey like CodeAcademy, but it's very well written for someone who has never programmed before. I think Python is easier to learn but it is less similar to C++ than JavaScript, so there are pluses and minuses to using it in your situation.
Why is nobody asking the important questions?
I use BackupPC at home and at work. It backups up linux clients easily. Setting up Windows XP pro as a client is actually pretty easy, too, using a very small version of rsyncd that is available at the BackupPC site. I have not had luck setting up XP Home as a client using rsyncd, I suspect because of the way it handles permissions. If an XP Home client is on an internal network, you could share the folder you want backed up I don't do that because the XP Home machine I want to back up is a laptop -- shares bad on laptop.
I love all of these "reasons" for not using Excel that seem to boil down to "When I learned to program, we didn't have ones and zeros, just zeros, and were were glad to have 'em." I use Excel occasionally for fast, free-form calculations and even exploration, but never for real research. The reason is simple: it gives incorrect answers. Check out the the links here for details: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=On+the+accuracy+of+statistical+procedures+in+Microsoft+Excel+97&btnG=Search This one is easy to read and gives a short, detailed list of some of the problems: http://www.amstat.org/sections%5CSRMS%5CProceedings%5Cy2001%5CProceed%5C00470.pdf
I stayed with 98 for years because of my scanner and a few other 9x only features, and because I was never 100% comfortable with the thought of rebuilding a Linux box after a hardware failure. Most of those reasons went away over time, except for one: I can rebuild a 9x machine on FAT32 partitions really fast (and in my sleep) without the loss of anything. I no longer work in IT, so I don't have time to keep up with learning how to boot from alternate media for every new OS/file system that comes along. Oh, sure, 98 would occasionally die and need rebuilding, but that was fast and easy (given reasonable partitioning) and it ran fine between rebuilds. Not reliable for uptime, but it was a home server, and I never lost a file.
I've spent the last couple of years administering two Mandriva boxes, but the package manager is not that great. I started feeling more confident in my ability to rebuild a Linux machine after catastrophic error when I found out that Ubuntu (1) runs on my existing hardware and (2) has easy package management.
I valued the security updates from MS; the end of those updates was the final straw. I switched to Ubuntu recently, and I'm not looking back...except when I want to scan something at home. I may yet reinstall 98 and dual-boot, just to scan things -- I don't need security updates for that as long as I don't install NIC drivers for 98.
Please save your "Oh, this guy isn't a true geek because he finds (computer activity X) to be unnecessarily challenging." Computers are tools for me, not a hobby. I have other (yet still geeky) things I would rather do with my time.
Clearly this is a sore spot with you. Too bad it's not a sore spot that innocent motorists and pedestrians die from people in unmarked cars speeding because they "have a good reason". I've done my time as a firefighter and surprisingly I managed to do my job with no loss of life and without breaking safety rules. If volunteers need to exceed the speed limit to respond appropriately, train them, give
them flashing lights, and change the relevant local laws.
There would be a lot fewer lives needing saved if people didn't incorrectly and unsafely assume they have a right to speed. Something about your rights ending where mine begin comes to mind.
That said, GPS enforcement is a ridiculous, invasive, hopefully unconstitutional, and almost certainly unworkable solution. I guess I'm just sore about getting run over trying to drive without endangering my passenger-daughter.
The "slowpokes" aren't really going 25 MPH, they're usually just driving the speed limit. It just seems like 25 to the folks driving 80...
Need to speed to avoid an accident? Riiiight. When was the last time you had to exceed the speed limit to avoid an accident when all of the other cars were also obeying the speed limit? Have you ever tried actually driving the speed limit? It's amazing how spacious and safe interstates feel when driving the speed limit (when the crazies aren't almost running into your rear bumper.) If everyone were moving this* speed, I bet the reduction in accidents (and increase in mileage) would far more than offset any few odd accidents that might occur.
.3 MPH faster.
Objections along these lines remind me of the objections to seat belt laws. "What if I need to get out? What if I drive into a lake, the car is filling up with water, and my seatbelt gets stuck? What if aliens land and the only way to save the planet is to go 80 MPH????" Hmmm...I'm guessing this isn't too likely. Similarly, if everyone were to drive the speed limit, I bet a lot of these "emergencies" would go away because reaction windows would expand.
Here's a revolutionary idea that wouldn't involve big brother technology: why not just obey the posted speed limits? This allows for judgment when (theoretically) it might be necessary, and also saves lives and gas.
Or don't obey the speed limits. I don't care. When you all are speeding it means that I can set my cruise control on the speed limit and relax even in heavy holiday traffic because everyone else is having an aneurysm trying to go