nikhilhs - Slashdot User

Comment Re:facepalm (Score 1) 208

by nikhilhs on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @12:19PM (#48617619) Attached to: New AP Course, "Computer Science Principles," Aims To Make CS More Accessible

Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

Comment How is this an AP? (Score 1) 208

by nikhilhs on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @12:12PM (#48617545) Attached to: New AP Course, "Computer Science Principles," Aims To Make CS More Accessible

I've skimmed through the Curriculum Framework, and it looks like a survey course on computers, technology, and society. I don't see anything about actually building software. It has a lot of ideas, and theories, but when does the rubber hit the road? There may be a match of this course in some schools, but most won't give any Computer Science credit. No one in the major would receive credit for this course.

As I look into my cloudy, crystal ball, I see anyone deciding to go into computer science based on this course to be shocked when they have to write actual code in Intro to Computer Science.

The real tragedy is that AP Computer Science AB hasn't been brought back. Schools need to stop catering to the lowest common denominator and should be providing opportunities to those who will take them.

Comment Re:Another vector for tasks (Score 1) 91

by nikhilhs on Monday November 17, 2014 @11:37AM (#48402017) Attached to: Facebook Planning Office Version To Rival LinkedIn, Google

Which software do you use for this?

Comment A product with no market (Score 2) 164

by nikhilhs on Sunday November 02, 2014 @06:39PM (#48296521) Attached to: Disney Patents a Piracy Free Search Engine

Who cares about a search engine that no one will use? People won't use a search engine that doesn't return the results the people are searching for.

Comment Re:don't use biometrics (Score 5, Insightful) 328

by nikhilhs on Friday October 31, 2014 @06:17PM (#48283925) Attached to: Virginia Court: LEOs Can Force You To Provide Fingerprint To Unlock Your Phone

You'd be surprised how many felonies and misdemeanors they could find on your phone. If they find anything suggesting you committed a crime, they can make your life hell for quite a while. This affects everybody.

Comment Re:That hundreds of thousands of wins (Score 1) 182

by nikhilhs on Saturday September 13, 2014 @11:30AM (#47897001) Attached to: The MOOC Revolution That Wasn't

I was thinking the same thing. As someone who's completed 3 courses and will be taking 2 more this fall, I think it's a great service and am happy to pay money for it.

Comment This is different from what Facebook did (Score 5, Interesting) 161

by nikhilhs on Monday July 28, 2014 @08:15PM (#47554177) Attached to: OKCupid Experiments on Users Too

FB's experiment was to see if they could alter the mood of their user. OKC tried to see if they could get more conversations going. Intent matters. OKC's is fairly harmless. FB's experiment could have a ripple effect and cause negative consequences.

Comment Self Reported Gender (Score 1) 673

by nikhilhs on Thursday April 10, 2014 @11:43AM (#46714907) Attached to: Google: Teach Girls Coding, Get $2,500; Teach Boys, Get $0

From the FAQ:

Where can my students set their gender? Some of your students may have already set their gender when they signed up for a Khan Academy account. If they haven't yet, or you want to make sure it's set, ask them to visit their settings page by clicking their name in the top right corner and clicking "Settings" in that menu. There, they can set their gender. If we find that you have students that have completed the course but have not specified their gender yet, we will notify you.

I predict a lot of "girls" are going to complete this course.

Comment Where's the manual override? (Score 5, Insightful) 154

by nikhilhs on Sunday November 03, 2013 @05:37PM (#45320073) Attached to: RAF Pilots Blinded At 1000 Mph By Helmet Technical Glitch

Glitches happen. I'd assume there's an easy to reach switch that would make the visor of the helmet transparent.

Comment Hollywood cares about historical accuracy! (Score 1) 330

by nikhilhs on Friday January 25, 2013 @07:49PM (#42696947) Attached to: Steve Jobs Movie Clip Historically Inaccurate, Says Woz

Just like The Social Network was based on 100% fact! So was Hackers! And The Net!

Comment Starcraft 2 and Visual Studio (Score 1) 951

by nikhilhs on Monday November 19, 2012 @11:19PM (#42036087) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Video Games Keep You From Using Linux?

On top of that, it needs to be as easy as it is on Windows to get multiple monitors working, install new drivers, and apply patches. Granted, it's been 4 years since I've tried, but I couldn't get multiple monitors working in Kubuntu. The phrase "recompile the kernel" should never be seen by the user. I want to just check "I agree" and click "next".

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