OpenNIC has been around since 2000, offering free TLDs. We're still doing it, 8 years later, and it's still free. The only way altroots will flourish in the oppressive environment forced upon us by ICANN is if more people vote with their feet and migrate away from ICANN to alternate roots.
The alternative to ICANN is out there. When will people stop bitching about ICANN and actually do something about it through action rather than words?
I would suggest a spectrum analysis of the audio received from wind noise would be quite valuable, unless NASA happened to also pack along a Doppler radar unit. Instead of guessing if that really *was* a dust devil that passed by, an audio analysis would probably provide definitive proof.
What Python features broke for you between minor releases?
I can assure you that the one Python application I use regularly (trac) cannot be upgraded between minor versions without large-scale upgrades to dependent modules. It was an absolute nightmare upgrading from a machine with 2.2. to 2.3...many hours spent tracking down modules that simply didn't work with 2.3.
Coming from the perl world, having to deal with just one dependency nightmare with Python was enough to entice me to stay in the perl world...
trac, however, is excellent software, so I put up with it being a Python app. I find it rather shameful that minor Python releases render so many modules as doorstops...
But, when kids get tests back that say "50%" and it's obvious that 50% is your floor, now your kids can exploit the system and do just enough to get that passing grade, instead of working their butts off to try to get the passing grade.
It's been my experience that the students that will fail a course due to lack of effort and initiative will do so regardless of whether a 50% floor is implemented. These students will fail the course with a 0, or with a 50.
Those students who try very hard to pull themselves up throughout the semester benefit from being given the chance to do so. These students (contrary to views expressed otherwise by/. overachievers) are no threat to the "top performers," so no unfair advantage is being given. The overachievers can continue to claw away at each other for that ever-elusive "A".
And why the hell doesn't HTML formatting work on the Idle page?
If a kid tries hard and cannot get four questions right on a twenty question test, maybe he needs to stay back a year. Wouldn't that be more kind than fooling the child into thinking he's got a shot? Let him/her be the big fish in next year's pond, instead of a struggling minnow in this year's pond.
So let's say you're assessing for content mastery. The first try, said student gets 4 out of 20 (your example). My higher math skills say that's a 20 on an arbitrary scale of 0 to 100.
The student is given a second assessment. For whatever reason, said student pulls head out of ass, maybe after reviewing what he/she did wrong previously, and scores 14 out of 20 (a 70/100). For all intents and purposes, content mastery at this point is achieved (if one assumes the magical number of "70" represents an acceptable level of content mastery).
You would choose to condemn a student because they failed to master the content the first time around (a 70 and a 20 average to a 45). Education is a learning process best administered cumulatively, not punitively. Assessing non-mastery on a 70-point scale and mastery on a 30-point scale is a rather arbitrary way of encouraging students to learn a topic. Is there some aspect of non-mastery that permits teachers to assess at a finer level of granularity than mastery?
As a high school teacher, I often assign a score of 50 to anything less than a 50. Why? Because it's fundamentally unfair to offer a student with a 60 (a failing grade) a "smaller spread" to get to a 70 than a student who bombs a test with a 20 (also a failing grade). Why should one failing student have an opportunity to make up for a bad test grade, while giving another failing student no opportunity to do the same? The concept of having a 70-point spread for failing students, and a 30-point spread for passing students (on a scale of 100) is fundamentally flawed.
That said, I do assign a grade of zero to the students who simply don't bother to do the work. I would have issues with any school district that mandated that I give a grade no less than a 50, because that removes the option for me to assign a zero if I believe it's warranted.
At any rate, we just need to scrap all this grading scale granularity and assign pass/fail grades: Either you have subject mastery, or you don't. No subject (not even math) is so objective as to ensure fairness for all students operating at the same level of content mastery.
...once every 5 minutes? Pray tell, why would that be? Not being new here, I made a valiant effort to not RTFAs, only to be drawn in by this teaser and succumb to the wiliest of temptations. Yes, I RTFAs, but I am no more enlightened than before...
...has morphed into a "pay to play" scam, where you either pony up what Google demands, or else choose not to do business with Google. I've used AdWords for a couple of years now. This past year, I've noticed a disturbing trend: When I select relatively obscure (but valid) AdWords, with low CPC traffic estimates, it takes about a day before Google exponentially increases the price -- sometimes by a factor of 10, even more. And here's the kicker: Google does not give you the choice of paying to rank "in the middle of the pack". Instead, it's all or nothing: Either pay the exorbitant price tag Google now demands for the number #1 slot, or don't run your keywords at all.
This makes sense, in that it ensures that Google can take in maximum revenue for each keyword, rather than varying levels based upon what customers are willing to pay. As is to be expected from a publicly-traded company seeking to maximize shareholder value.
As a small business owner, I simply can't compete with (1) the click fraud that's rampant in AdWords, (2) the ability of well-heeled businesses such as eBay to bid up random AdWords to excessive CPC values, and (3) legitimate companies who can afford the number 1 AdWord slot for a keyword.
The sooner people realize that Google is not craigslist and has no reason to support anything that does not directly and positively affect its bottom line (thereby further enriching its shareholders), the sooner we'll get alternatives out there from companies and individuals who truly believe in enhancing usability and accessibility for the typical Internet denizen (read: you and me).
The comments! Hell, I don't even RTFP. I just skip right to what you all post, and I just fall over in gales of gut-wrenching laughter. I'm serious. In fact, I bet there could be no e-mails posted, and you guys would rock the house with your comments!
...as Java is an extremely rich and complex programming environment. The usual suspects (O'Reilly's "Java in a Nutshell," Eckel's "Thinking in Java") are good references (yes, I do recommend some trees in the bookshelf). Get familiar with the Java API documentation. You won't go far with more advanced J2EE constructs until you get the fundamentals down solid. Really, the best Java programmers are the ones with experience under their belt -- there's simply no substitute, as the complexity of the language simply removes any option of learning Java "from a book." As a long-time Java programmer (I didn't say I like it, but it does pay the bills), my suggestion is to simply jump in -- read the O'Reilly book, at least Part I, while sitting in front of a Java compiler and writing code! Along the way, find a Java open-source app that is (1) popular, (2) active, and (3) well-documented. Adopt it as your own...write some patches, create enhancements.
You won't even be ready for an entry-level position without at least a year of Java experience, and in this market, you will probably need much more than that. Keep your day job, jump in on an open-source Java app, and build the experience up over time. Don't let anyone convince you that learning Java is simply about learning its syntax. There are so many traps and gotchas in Java. The ones who give you that advice are probably the ones who couldn't code their way out of a wet paper sack.
A "mandatory evacuation" doesn't mean you'll be dragged from your home if you decide not to leave. It simply means you will be left on your own, and there are no guarantees the city/parish/state/federal authorities will be able to assist you if you have an emergency.
Despite that, most rescue personnel would *still* risk their lives to help those who stayed behind.
...of most educational institutions that operate on a restricted public budget (read: K-12 public schools). $600 is rather steep, especially when one considers the limited functionality that's less than equivalent to, say, a Handy Board that costs 1/2 as much, or even the Cricket for a sixth of the cost.
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze polish is designed for removing hairline scratches from clear plastic (including polycarbonate, which is the plastic used in most CDs). It's also used in the flying world to remove scratches from plexiglass windshields. (Notice I said "remove," not "fill". I've never had a scratched CD or an airplane windshield that I wasn't able to get cleaned up with Mirror Glaze.)
True, but Customs and Border Protection does not cede authority to anyone, not even Federal Marshals, nor does it grant entry to anyone, until it has established the national origin of the entrant. That means until your passport is accepted, you are not automatically a US citizen. So until US Customs and Border Protection lets you go, you are not on US soil.
Not quite. You are, in fact, on US soil, but until cleared by Customs, you have not been permitted to enter the US. There is a big difference between the two.
Really, you need to do your homework on this. Having worked for Customs as an inspector, I can assure you that we were not operating in foreign territory. And, in fact, I can assure you that local US-based authorities could, in fact, arrest and detain if necessary.
...I debated on whether to dock this poster mod points for inaccurate reporting, or to correct the record.
I'll correct the record.
When you are searched by ICE, you *are* on US soil. Customs facilities at the border are on US soil. When you fly into the US, your first landing area is US soil. You do *not* give up your constitutional rights when it comes to unlawful search. However, ICE (and previously, US Customs) has a wide latitude to search whatever they want to search. You implicitly consent to this search whenever you leave the US and plan to return. There is really nothing new here other than clarification by DHS as to how laptop searches will be performed.
I'm not saying it's right. But that's the way it works. If you don't believe me, then search the legal landscape for federal appeals ruling that set precedent. Here, I'll give you a head-start:
...is a "cableco"? Am I to assume this is some sort of abbreviation for "cable company"? Or maybe this refers to Cableco, a division of The Carpenter Group?
Note to/. editors: Making up words makes one look ignorant and naive. "Telco" has been around for decades (its original meaning wasn't "telecommunications company" but rather "telephone company," back when there were more than a handful). "Cableco" is a made-up word that makes/. editors look like rubes.
Slashdot Mirror
OpenNIC has been around since 2000, offering free TLDs. We're still doing it, 8 years later, and it's still free. The only way altroots will flourish in the oppressive environment forced upon us by ICANN is if more people vote with their feet and migrate away from ICANN to alternate roots.
The alternative to ICANN is out there. When will people stop bitching about ICANN and actually do something about it through action rather than words?
I would suggest a spectrum analysis of the audio received from wind noise would be quite valuable, unless NASA happened to also pack along a Doppler radar unit. Instead of guessing if that really *was* a dust devil that passed by, an audio analysis would probably provide definitive proof.
Just curious...no need to mod this up, I have plenty of karma.
...comes up as a ... well, a blank page.
Take that for what it's worth.
What Python features broke for you between minor releases?
I can assure you that the one Python application I use regularly (trac) cannot be upgraded between minor versions without large-scale upgrades to dependent modules. It was an absolute nightmare upgrading from a machine with 2.2. to 2.3...many hours spent tracking down modules that simply didn't work with 2.3.
Coming from the perl world, having to deal with just one dependency nightmare with Python was enough to entice me to stay in the perl world...
trac, however, is excellent software, so I put up with it being a Python app. I find it rather shameful that minor Python releases render so many modules as doorstops...
And the price for luck? Only a measly USD329!
Preach on, my antioxidant friend, preach on!
(Not a day goes by that I rue for the /. days of old...I might be a 5-digit denizen, but I seem to remember actually looking forward to reading /....)
It's been my experience that the students that will fail a course due to lack of effort and initiative will do so regardless of whether a 50% floor is implemented. These students will fail the course with a 0, or with a 50.
Those students who try very hard to pull themselves up throughout the semester benefit from being given the chance to do so. These students (contrary to views expressed otherwise by /. overachievers) are no threat to the "top performers," so no unfair advantage is being given. The overachievers can continue to claw away at each other for that ever-elusive "A".
And why the hell doesn't HTML formatting work on the Idle page?
So let's say you're assessing for content mastery. The first try, said student gets 4 out of 20 (your example). My higher math skills say that's a 20 on an arbitrary scale of 0 to 100.
The student is given a second assessment. For whatever reason, said student pulls head out of ass, maybe after reviewing what he/she did wrong previously, and scores 14 out of 20 (a 70/100). For all intents and purposes, content mastery at this point is achieved (if one assumes the magical number of "70" represents an acceptable level of content mastery). You would choose to condemn a student because they failed to master the content the first time around (a 70 and a 20 average to a 45). Education is a learning process best administered cumulatively, not punitively. Assessing non-mastery on a 70-point scale and mastery on a 30-point scale is a rather arbitrary way of encouraging students to learn a topic. Is there some aspect of non-mastery that permits teachers to assess at a finer level of granularity than mastery?
That said, I do assign a grade of zero to the students who simply don't bother to do the work. I would have issues with any school district that mandated that I give a grade no less than a 50, because that removes the option for me to assign a zero if I believe it's warranted. At any rate, we just need to scrap all this grading scale granularity and assign pass/fail grades: Either you have subject mastery, or you don't. No subject (not even math) is so objective as to ensure fairness for all students operating at the same level of content mastery.
...once every 5 minutes? Pray tell, why would that be? Not being new here, I made a valiant effort to not RTFAs, only to be drawn in by this teaser and succumb to the wiliest of temptations. Yes, I RTFAs, but I am no more enlightened than before...
...has morphed into a "pay to play" scam, where you either pony up what Google demands, or else choose not to do business with Google. I've used AdWords for a couple of years now. This past year, I've noticed a disturbing trend: When I select relatively obscure (but valid) AdWords, with low CPC traffic estimates, it takes about a day before Google exponentially increases the price -- sometimes by a factor of 10, even more. And here's the kicker: Google does not give you the choice of paying to rank "in the middle of the pack". Instead, it's all or nothing: Either pay the exorbitant price tag Google now demands for the number #1 slot, or don't run your keywords at all.
This makes sense, in that it ensures that Google can take in maximum revenue for each keyword, rather than varying levels based upon what customers are willing to pay. As is to be expected from a publicly-traded company seeking to maximize shareholder value.
As a small business owner, I simply can't compete with (1) the click fraud that's rampant in AdWords, (2) the ability of well-heeled businesses such as eBay to bid up random AdWords to excessive CPC values, and (3) legitimate companies who can afford the number 1 AdWord slot for a keyword.
The sooner people realize that Google is not craigslist and has no reason to support anything that does not directly and positively affect its bottom line (thereby further enriching its shareholders), the sooner we'll get alternatives out there from companies and individuals who truly believe in enhancing usability and accessibility for the typical Internet denizen (read: you and me).
The comments! Hell, I don't even RTFP. I just skip right to what you all post, and I just fall over in gales of gut-wrenching laughter. I'm serious. In fact, I bet there could be no e-mails posted, and you guys would rock the house with your comments!
(Really. I'm serious!)
...as Java is an extremely rich and complex programming environment. The usual suspects (O'Reilly's "Java in a Nutshell," Eckel's "Thinking in Java") are good references (yes, I do recommend some trees in the bookshelf). Get familiar with the Java API documentation. You won't go far with more advanced J2EE constructs until you get the fundamentals down solid. Really, the best Java programmers are the ones with experience under their belt -- there's simply no substitute, as the complexity of the language simply removes any option of learning Java "from a book." As a long-time Java programmer (I didn't say I like it, but it does pay the bills), my suggestion is to simply jump in -- read the O'Reilly book, at least Part I, while sitting in front of a Java compiler and writing code! Along the way, find a Java open-source app that is (1) popular, (2) active, and (3) well-documented. Adopt it as your own...write some patches, create enhancements.
You won't even be ready for an entry-level position without at least a year of Java experience, and in this market, you will probably need much more than that. Keep your day job, jump in on an open-source Java app, and build the experience up over time. Don't let anyone convince you that learning Java is simply about learning its syntax. There are so many traps and gotchas in Java. The ones who give you that advice are probably the ones who couldn't code their way out of a wet paper sack.
And you'll be subject to whatever curfew is put into place, which might further limit your options in the event of an emergency...
A "mandatory evacuation" doesn't mean you'll be dragged from your home if you decide not to leave. It simply means you will be left on your own, and there are no guarantees the city/parish/state/federal authorities will be able to assist you if you have an emergency.
Despite that, most rescue personnel would *still* risk their lives to help those who stayed behind.
...of most educational institutions that operate on a restricted public budget (read: K-12 public schools). $600 is rather steep, especially when one considers the limited functionality that's less than equivalent to, say, a Handy Board that costs 1/2 as much, or even the Cricket for a sixth of the cost.
Well, you'll certainly reduce the human population on the Internet with threats like this:
http://www.sed.monmouth.army.mil/comm/cms/RAPTer.htm wants to load an applet.
GNU Classpath's security implementation is not complete.
HOSTILE APPLETS WILL STEAL AND/OR DESTROY YOUR DATA!
Dust.
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze polish is designed for removing hairline scratches from clear plastic (including polycarbonate, which is the plastic used in most CDs). It's also used in the flying world to remove scratches from plexiglass windshields. (Notice I said "remove," not "fill". I've never had a scratched CD or an airplane windshield that I wasn't able to get cleaned up with Mirror Glaze.)
True, but Customs and Border Protection does not cede authority to anyone, not even Federal Marshals, nor does it grant entry to anyone, until it has established the national origin of the entrant. That means until your passport is accepted, you are not automatically a US citizen. So until US Customs and Border Protection lets you go, you are not on US soil.
Not quite. You are, in fact, on US soil, but until cleared by Customs, you have not been permitted to enter the US. There is a big difference between the two.
Really, you need to do your homework on this. Having worked for Customs as an inspector, I can assure you that we were not operating in foreign territory. And, in fact, I can assure you that local US-based authorities could, in fact, arrest and detain if necessary.
...I debated on whether to dock this poster mod points for inaccurate reporting, or to correct the record.
I'll correct the record.
When you are searched by ICE, you *are* on US soil. Customs facilities at the border are on US soil. When you fly into the US, your first landing area is US soil. You do *not* give up your constitutional rights when it comes to unlawful search. However, ICE (and previously, US Customs) has a wide latitude to search whatever they want to search. You implicitly consent to this search whenever you leave the US and plan to return. There is really nothing new here other than clarification by DHS as to how laptop searches will be performed.
I'm not saying it's right. But that's the way it works. If you don't believe me, then search the legal landscape for federal appeals ruling that set precedent. Here, I'll give you a head-start:
http://fourthamendment.com/blog/index.php?blog=1&s=customs&sentence=AND&submit=Search
gopher - alive and well, thank you very much
http://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/
Also, some might be interested in work that's been done to solve some Bongard problems:
http://www.foundalis.com/res/solvprog.htm
So it's obvious the parent's original contention that Bongard problems won't be solved within 10 years by machine is patently false.
The link posted in the parent takes you to a site with some sort of crippled PDF reader. Next time, just post the PDF link.
Here are a couple of links that don't involve external applications to understand what's going on, as well as several examples:
http://www.foundalis.com/res/diss_research.html
http://www.foundalis.com/res/bps/bpidx.htm
...is a "cableco"? Am I to assume this is some sort of abbreviation for "cable company"? Or maybe this refers to Cableco, a division of The Carpenter Group?
Note to /. editors: Making up words makes one look ignorant and naive. "Telco" has been around for decades (its original meaning wasn't "telecommunications company" but rather "telephone company," back when there were more than a handful). "Cableco" is a made-up word that makes /. editors look like rubes.