Everyone who said that "Childhood's End" is depressing (including tvtropes.org) is suffering from a profound lack of imagination. The end of civilization as we know it may not be a bad thing if it is replaced with something infinitely better. The author left that part up to our imagination. How one interprets this book speaks volumes about our ability to imagine a better existence. A pessimistic interpretation indicates an inability to conceive of a posthuman future in which consciousness exceeds its current limitations. Isn't the title of the book enough to make the point that humanity is leaving the cradle? Or is growing up a bad thing, and we should all pine for the nostalgic days of infancy?
If there's no way to disable the GOD-AWFUL Windows 8 Start Screen, then I'm switching to Linux. I'm tired of being condescended to. This is so much like Microsoft BOB that it's not even funny.
I need a neutral interface that gets out of my way and lets me do my work. I don't want real-time status updates on what my friends are doing. I don't want big colorful square buttons in preschool primary colors. I just need a stable OS that permits me full control over my own data, period.
Clearly, Microsoft and Apple don't care about professional users, so I guess I'll have no choice but to jump ship to a Linux distro, despite the administrative hassles that entails. It's about time, really. I'm just sick of Windows, sick of OS X, and absolutely DETEST iOS. It's the triumph of lazy consumption over intelligent creation.
My only problem is that so many of the graphics programs I make my living from do not exist on Linux. And before anyone jumps down my throat telling me all about the GIMP etc., I know about it. GIMP and other Linux-only programs are problematic because I'm a teacher, and I have no choice but to teach the software applications that are dominant in the marketplace.
I could not get past the first paragraph of the article. The author has some serious issues to work out.
Technology is accelerating learning in ways we can't predict. Schools are adapting, albeit slowly, to the new technology. But the real revolution is not in technology, but in technique. Legacy pedagogy is showing its age. Teachers are going to move from being dispensers of information to being facilitators of knowledge acquisition.
There are no reel changes anymore in commercial theaters, haven't had them for a long time. All of the reels are spliced together onto a single giant platter. After the screening run, they are all cut up again and shipped in separate reel cans.
OK, I doubt that many slashdotters, who are typically Libertarian-leaning, will be able to hear what I'm saying. But here is is anyway: free-market fundamentalism is foolish and greedy. It's what got us into trouble with the current economic meltdown. Repeating the mantra "the free market will solve everything" is really very similar to belief in the second coming of Jesus, fairies, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Sadly, we cannot trust government to do the right thing (whatever that is), but neither can we trust the free market. And by "free market," I mean obnoxiously large and powerful corporations. I would rather take my chances with the government; at least there's a tiny bit of accountability there. They've done some good things in the past, such as abolishing slavery and setting minimum wages. Without government intervention, the sacred "free market" would still use the blood of slaves to oil the engines of industry. Now it's just overseas wage slavery, which is something of an improvement, I guess.
It's a well-known fact that the limit of US copyright is always at least the age of Mickey Mouse plus one year. It's kind like Moore's Law for copyright attorneys.
The 50% policy has been in use by teachers for a long time. It's not news, and it's not a symptom of the decay of our education system. Sure, our system has flaws, but this is not one of them. As usual, people love to mouth off about things they know nothing about, especially on the Internet.
As a college teacher with nine years of experience, I can tell you that the 50% policy actually makes no difference in terms of whether a student passes or not. There is never, and I mean never, a situation in which a student fails miserably in one area (such as assignments) and excels in another (such as tests). This goes back to the simple aphorism, "Either you know it or you don't."
Most teachers I know have a simple policy: late work receives a grade of zero. Work submitted on time receives a minimum of 50%. At my school, a passing grade is 65%. For my part, I don't allow a 50% minimum on tests, and I have a reputation of being somewhat tough.
So I've been using the 50% policy, in slightly modified form, for the past nine years. I can honestly say that I have never given a passing grade to a student who did not achieve the bare minimum competencies as outlined in my school's course descriptions. Actually, I've never "given" a grade to anyone... I've only recorded the grades that they earned.
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Everyone who said that "Childhood's End" is depressing (including tvtropes.org) is suffering from a profound lack of imagination. The end of civilization as we know it may not be a bad thing if it is replaced with something infinitely better. The author left that part up to our imagination. How one interprets this book speaks volumes about our ability to imagine a better existence. A pessimistic interpretation indicates an inability to conceive of a posthuman future in which consciousness exceeds its current limitations. Isn't the title of the book enough to make the point that humanity is leaving the cradle? Or is growing up a bad thing, and we should all pine for the nostalgic days of infancy?
Correction: this is the most expensive GAMING card you can buy. The price of a professional card can be up to US$10,000.
Correction: Magical Thinking WAS Good For You In A Prehistoric Age, Today It's A Maladaptive Anachronism
GOD-AWFUL design abortion
If there's no way to disable the GOD-AWFUL Windows 8 Start Screen, then I'm switching to Linux. I'm tired of being condescended to. This is so much like Microsoft BOB that it's not even funny. I need a neutral interface that gets out of my way and lets me do my work. I don't want real-time status updates on what my friends are doing. I don't want big colorful square buttons in preschool primary colors. I just need a stable OS that permits me full control over my own data, period. Clearly, Microsoft and Apple don't care about professional users, so I guess I'll have no choice but to jump ship to a Linux distro, despite the administrative hassles that entails. It's about time, really. I'm just sick of Windows, sick of OS X, and absolutely DETEST iOS. It's the triumph of lazy consumption over intelligent creation. My only problem is that so many of the graphics programs I make my living from do not exist on Linux. And before anyone jumps down my throat telling me all about the GIMP etc., I know about it. GIMP and other Linux-only programs are problematic because I'm a teacher, and I have no choice but to teach the software applications that are dominant in the marketplace.
Indeed, and it comes with the Feinberg accessory sensor
I could not get past the first paragraph of the article. The author has some serious issues to work out. Technology is accelerating learning in ways we can't predict. Schools are adapting, albeit slowly, to the new technology. But the real revolution is not in technology, but in technique. Legacy pedagogy is showing its age. Teachers are going to move from being dispensers of information to being facilitators of knowledge acquisition.
There are no reel changes anymore in commercial theaters, haven't had them for a long time. All of the reels are spliced together onto a single giant platter. After the screening run, they are all cut up again and shipped in separate reel cans.
Worst form factor ever.
OK, I doubt that many slashdotters, who are typically Libertarian-leaning, will be able to hear what I'm saying. But here is is anyway: free-market fundamentalism is foolish and greedy. It's what got us into trouble with the current economic meltdown. Repeating the mantra "the free market will solve everything" is really very similar to belief in the second coming of Jesus, fairies, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Sadly, we cannot trust government to do the right thing (whatever that is), but neither can we trust the free market. And by "free market," I mean obnoxiously large and powerful corporations. I would rather take my chances with the government; at least there's a tiny bit of accountability there. They've done some good things in the past, such as abolishing slavery and setting minimum wages. Without government intervention, the sacred "free market" would still use the blood of slaves to oil the engines of industry. Now it's just overseas wage slavery, which is something of an improvement, I guess.
I'm still using Eudora too... after all of these years. 13 years I think. WinXP64 currently.
It's a well-known fact that the limit of US copyright is always at least the age of Mickey Mouse plus one year. It's kind like Moore's Law for copyright attorneys.
Amen, brother/sister. I was about to point out that this technique is about 15-20 years old.
The 50% policy has been in use by teachers for a long time. It's not news, and it's not a symptom of the decay of our education system. Sure, our system has flaws, but this is not one of them. As usual, people love to mouth off about things they know nothing about, especially on the Internet. As a college teacher with nine years of experience, I can tell you that the 50% policy actually makes no difference in terms of whether a student passes or not. There is never, and I mean never, a situation in which a student fails miserably in one area (such as assignments) and excels in another (such as tests). This goes back to the simple aphorism, "Either you know it or you don't." Most teachers I know have a simple policy: late work receives a grade of zero. Work submitted on time receives a minimum of 50%. At my school, a passing grade is 65%. For my part, I don't allow a 50% minimum on tests, and I have a reputation of being somewhat tough. So I've been using the 50% policy, in slightly modified form, for the past nine years. I can honestly say that I have never given a passing grade to a student who did not achieve the bare minimum competencies as outlined in my school's course descriptions. Actually, I've never "given" a grade to anyone... I've only recorded the grades that they earned.
David Em, Yoichiro Kawaguchi, Ed Emshwiller, Karl Sims, John Whitney, Larry Cuba
You get what you pay for.