Comment Re:*First post.. (Score 1) 590
Actually, tmmagee talked about lesson plans devised while not employed as a teacher. That is about as much "on your own time" as it gets.
Comment Re:proofreading for the college graduate? (Score 1) 836
Is learning another language really so hard for you? With a good background in CS, it shouldn't take you more than a week to be able to start producing code in a new language. If you can't keep up with the arrival of new tools, you probably missed something while you were in school.
The skills you claim are valuable would not help you here; the skills you claim are useless are practically required.
Comment Re:*First post.. (Score 1) 590
GP's point is that introducing more PhD holders into the system will only benefit the schools that need it least.
Comment Re:Algorithms (Score 1) 836
Good programmers should be able to pass a competency test for any employer. If they pass that test, they should be able to seek the job, degree or not.
The process HR has in place (including checking the applicant's education) saves a lot of time (and thus money) in exchange for a relatively small hit to accuracy.
Comment Didn't they teach you about safe sex? (Score 1) 641
... finger; lyx; latex; mount; fsck; more...
Comment Much as they might try... (Score 1) 1345
Those who can't do, can't teach.
"Smash Your Hard Drive" To Fight Identity Theft 527
Will Do This For Free writes "BBC News has a story about the only fireproof way of safeguarding your personal information when dumping your old computer: 'It sounds extreme, but the only way to be 100% safe is to smash your hard drive into smithereens. [...] The more thoroughly the better.'
This sounds like so much fun that I almost feel like doing it right now. Let me press Submit Story first."
Comment Re:Why Not? (Score 1) 516
The argument against anonymity also seems to have roots in the idea that only criminals need and want privacy.
I've always taken a different tack: only someone who wishes me ill would try to deprive me of anonymity/privacy.
Scientists' Success Or Failure Correlated With Beer 349
mernil sends in an article from the NYTimes that casts a glance at a study done in the Czech Republic (natch) on what divides the successful scientists from the duffers. "Ever since there have been scientists, there have been those who are wildly successful, publishing one well-received paper after another, and those who are not. And since nearly the same time, there have been scholars arguing over what makes the difference. What is it that turns one scientist into more of a Darwin and another into more of a dud? After years of argument over the roles of factors like genius, sex, and dumb luck, a new study shows that something entirely unexpected and considerably sudsier may be at play in determining the success or failure of scientists — beer."
Submission + - Concealing documents and patents waives rights? (eweek.com)
gimme00 writes: "If concealing documents and patents makes Qualcomm waive rights — how does this play into companies trying to pull the indemnity trick against linux or other companies and technologies? The following article triggers this type of question. Court Says . Slashdotters dound off..."
Submission + - How do we teach users about filesystem locations?
thc69 writes: The most common education problem I find in users is that they don't know where their files are. They don't understand the file system. They save a file and then wonder how to find it. If I ask them where a file is, they either say "It's in Word" or "I don't know."
"Introduction To Computers" courses apparently don't teach the concept, because users who aced such courses still have no clue. Even people who know lots of advanced stuff sometimes don't understand that their files are in a folder on their C: drive or whatever — I have a friend who knows SQL, C++, and Linux, but doesn't know the locations of her files.
Could it be a gender thing? It seems that the people who I've observed having this problem are all female. I remember reading about studies that show men and women navigate roads very differently; perhaps file system navigation is incompatible with the intuitive navigation method that women use?
It's a very important concept. Once you understand how files and folders (which I still like to call "directories", but I digress) work, everything on the computer becomes much easier. You become less dependent on your applications to keep track of everything for you. Backing up and restoring files becomes much easier.
How can I teach people this concept in a way that will stick? It's so intuitive to me that I don't know how to make it into lessons, it's just second-nature.
"Introduction To Computers" courses apparently don't teach the concept, because users who aced such courses still have no clue. Even people who know lots of advanced stuff sometimes don't understand that their files are in a folder on their C: drive or whatever — I have a friend who knows SQL, C++, and Linux, but doesn't know the locations of her files.
Could it be a gender thing? It seems that the people who I've observed having this problem are all female. I remember reading about studies that show men and women navigate roads very differently; perhaps file system navigation is incompatible with the intuitive navigation method that women use?
It's a very important concept. Once you understand how files and folders (which I still like to call "directories", but I digress) work, everything on the computer becomes much easier. You become less dependent on your applications to keep track of everything for you. Backing up and restoring files becomes much easier.
How can I teach people this concept in a way that will stick? It's so intuitive to me that I don't know how to make it into lessons, it's just second-nature.
Submission + - Are contracts valid if ... 1
MarkWatson writes: "I am frequently asked to sign 2 copies of a consulting contract and send them to the other party. More often than you would think, the other party files away both copies, sends me an email saying everything is OK, but never signs and returns a copy to me.
My policy is to bring this to their attention, and if a signed copy is not forthcoming, complain.
One customer has never returned a contract, but have been promptly paying me for 6 months. In another case, a property management agent in another state never bothered to sign and return a copy of another contract with me, but proceeds as if we are under contract.
Are contracts legal if one party does not sign and return a copy to the other party?"
My policy is to bring this to their attention, and if a signed copy is not forthcoming, complain.
One customer has never returned a contract, but have been promptly paying me for 6 months. In another case, a property management agent in another state never bothered to sign and return a copy of another contract with me, but proceeds as if we are under contract.
Are contracts legal if one party does not sign and return a copy to the other party?"
Submission + - what can you do with a cool antenna to make money? 1
cryptozoologist writes: A friend of mine just purchased an old firehouse that has an 80 ft (24 m) mast and a 20 ft (6 m) antenna. the details on the antenna are not known but it was used by the fire and rescue folks there. My friend has been advised to tear it down, but before that happens i want to ask the slashdot community, what can be done with an antenna like this to make some money, or is just plain cool? it is not in a very densely populated area so a wifi hotspot is not gonna get many users. Thanks in advance for your ideas!
A CIO's View of Ubuntu 308
onehitwonder writes "Well-known CIO John Halamka has rigorously tested six different operating systems over the course of a year in an effort to find a viable alternative to Microsoft Windows on his laptop and his company's computers. Here is CIO.com's initial writeup on Halamka's experiences; we discussed their followup article on SUSE. Now CIO is running a writeup on Halamka's take on Ubuntu and how it stacks up against Novell SUSE 10, RHEL, Fedora, XP, and Mac OS X, in a life-and-death business environment." For the impatient, here's Halamka's conclusion: "A balanced approach of Windows for the niche business application user, Macs for the graphic artists/researchers, SUSE for enterprise kiosks/thin clients, and Ubuntu for power users seems like the sweet spot for 2008."
Schneier Talks to the Head of TSA 342
Bruce Schneier recently had the chance to sit down with Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and discuss some of the frustrations travelers experience head-on. "In April, Kip Hawley, the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), invited me to Washington for a meeting. Despite some serious trepidation, I accepted. And it was a good meeting. Most of it was off the record, but he asked me how the TSA could overcome its negative image. I told him to be more transparent, and stop ducking the hard questions. He said that he wanted to do that. He did enjoy writing a guest blog post for Aviation Daily, but having a blog himself didn't work within the bureaucracy."
