I haven't used it myself, but you might want to take a look at the Revolution programming language which has english-like syntax and seems to be more capable than Logo/BASIC as a beginner's language: http://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/11/26/2016255/Dumbing-Down-Programming . I hear it is being used in an academic setting to teach programming to Lit/Art majors.

'Showering' with buckets is actually not that bad. You end up saving a lot of water that way, and you can control the water's temperature more easily (as opposed to having to constantly adjust the hot/cold knob). I used to do it.

This can be a very dangerous weapon if 'the enemy' has mirrors all over their targets that reflect this laser. The invention would be similar to the NASA ballpoint pen if normal mirrors can reflect this laser beam to a non-negligible degree.

Secondly, How do you avoid innocent/friendly fire to those in the line of sight of the laser? Say, there's a village right behind the enemy unit you're targeting with this weapon and the enemy unit is moving faster than you can focus on it. 'Shooting' the laser willy-nilly can really fuck up the village. I guess that wouldn't be a problem if its used in Iraq and Afghanistan since the US army makes it a sport of killing so called Hadjis (thank you Jonny Quest) whether they be innocent or otherwise. In Iraq, it would fit with the drone quad quite naturally.
Still, very dangerous for all involved.

One potential use I see for this weapon (once it is miniaturized to gun size) would be as the ultimate Railgun. Imagine Quake 3 in real life. Running that fast would probably make me dizzy, though.

I know you're right and it does make sense - I also try to follow this line as well. It just feels that trust is worth so little between managers and employees when we are forced to either punch a clock or waste working time on performance reporting.

I'll always be in 2 minds on this one.

So for humans, would this mean when you have sex with your wife, you have to think of someone else for it to get up?

If you had read the article, you'd notice that his point was

A: We recognize writing mostly by the tops of the letter, rather than the bottoms.
B: Hand printing tends to have more recognizable tops than hand cursive, due to a lack of loops. Not to mention the B's, F's, S's, Z's and other letters that bare only a passing resemblance to their everyday counterparts.

Also cursive != all handwriting. You can still hand-print a note to a colleague, a loved one, or a doctor. You could also write in cursive. You could write in Insular Minuscule for all I care. The question is, is it as important to teach students cursive at the 2nd grade level as we have been doing? Or would it make more sense to teach it later, like an optional class in High School? Personally, I'd rather that time be devoted by my student to learning another language, especially while the language centers of the brain remain pliable.

And if, as you say, the grandparent poster has never seen beautiful handwriting... perhaps that is just further evidence of the futility of attempting to teach it to everyone?

My intention wasn't to be disrespectful to the blind or inattentive, but merely ask if even the slightest sound (like they intend) would be noticed all the time by the people for whom the idea is targeted to protect, which of course it wouldn't - hell, people routinely "don't here" even sirens - so it's a dumb idea. Furthermore, some current non-hybrid/electric cars are really quite and don't seem to cause a problem.

Should it also be *required* to have lights on at night?

Lights on at night are so the driver can see dumb-ass. :-)

Oh god... that looks so much better. Why the hell don't they teach that, instead of the Palmer shit that only resembles the letter it's supposed to be about half the time? I might have to practice handwriting for the first time since... well, since they taught us Palmer-style in 2nd grade!

Does this take into account recent (?) phenomenon such as the Mafia Wars game on Facebook?

Part of the object in this game is to gather a bigger 'mafia' with which your 'attack' and 'defense' is based. Each Mafia member needs to first be a 'friend' in facebook. Attempting this type of analysis in this situation couldn't possibly return useful results - unless you are looking to reason why someone added specific people to their mafia? :)

Perhaps they could just add a rule saying 'anyone with over 300 friends should not be evaluated in this manner'?

So many...ellipses in summary...make it hard to...believe....like...telegram from distant...planet

Cursive has some orgins in cryptography. Early "Secretarys" (we're talking Elizabethan early) main job was to write in "Secretary Script" which was an altered form of readable letters, obfucating of the originatory's thoughts from peering eyes.

That's a perspective thing. The two are pretty close in meaning, and it's all about which context the reader _perceives_ it to be in. A lot of people skim through press, and I'm scared for the perception those types would get. Not everyone is completely with the movement, so to speak, and not everyone hears exactly what is said.

After reading more of your work I totally understand where you're coming from and now have a lot of respect for the good questions you ask and the excellent research you do to find their answers. But, whenever politics (of any type) is involved, people's fleeting opinions (often more heart than mind - ref: the healthcare drama) are affected, and so timing is important.

In your valiant pursuit of human progress, truth and freedom in software, it may be easy to ignore the importance of such timing. It may even seem beneath you to give it any consideration, but that doesn't stop the other side from using it to their advantage. Just like how a white flag does not provide any defense against missiles. Oh wait, talking of missiles I had to search this one out from way back: http://membres.lycos.fr/aulon/fun/dilbert.linux.gif

All this is just my opinion, really. To the astute reader, your post signifies that open source is catching on and cleaning up its act to be truly purposeful and that is only a plus against the overcharging proprietary camp. No doubt it is a positive effort, but, I opine, not a well timed one.

Okay, I see your point. Badly timed, then, don't you think? :)

First - the half-assed open source initiative Second - why your Open Source application gets dumped for proprietary Third - Interns at Microsoft make more money visiting museums than you do banging your head on the table 20x7 I'm calling it again, Microsoft' press team is playing out a carefully orchestrated agenda to beat open source software. Why would Sam Ramji leave Microsoft just at this moment? and for Cloud Computing the most unsuccessful technology of the year? Something tells me he knew what was at hand. Stay tuned for more Microsoft brainwashing you. Sad part is, this post will probably get modded down like crazy.

This post coming out just 2 days after the launch of Microsoft's half-assed Open Source initiative. Word of the day is that proprietary software doesn't get it's due credit, and indeed coming from free software proponents. Microsoft is not making as much money as they'd want at this moment, and this just might be a desperate underhanded attempt at swaying public opinion in favor of their lock-in.