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Comment Re:So tell them about game development (Score 1) 315

Yeah, that's a great point, and one well worth emphasizing:

Computers don't do anything magical or mysterious, they just do lots of simple things very, very quickly.

If you could somehow slow execution down to the point that they could see individual lines and screen sections being redrawn, pointer positions being calculated, text lines being positioned, etc, it would be a lot less impressive.

Comment So tell them about game development (Score 1) 315

Talking about games (something they're familiar with and interested in) gives you a springboard for:
- Graphics (screen drawing, rendering, vector math)
- Physics simulations (particle physics, gravity, collisions)
- Interfaces (Kinect, controllers, touch)
- AI
- Databases
- Networking

Even thought they're interested in games because they're "cool" and "fun," you can use that interest to direct them to the deeper topics behind games. Games intersect with lots of hard, interesting CS topics.

Image

Icelandic Company Designs Human Pylons 142

Lanxon writes "An architecture and design firm called Choi+Shine has submitted a design for the Icelandic High-Voltage Electrical Pylon International Design Competition which proposes giant human-shaped pylons carrying electricity cables across the country's landscape, reports Wired. The enormous figures would only require slight alterations to existing pylon designs, says the firm, which was awarded an Honorable mention for its design by the competition's judging board. It also won an award from the Boston Society of Architects Unbuilt Architecture competition."

Comment Wheels and Velcro (Score 1) 323

My home office desk has wheels, so it's easy to roll back from the wall, and it has a large solid panel in the back. So I screwed velcro strips in to the backside, labeled my wires on both ends and the middle, coiled them up, and strapped them to the back. The only wires that leave the desk are one coax and two power, so my desk is mobile and nearly self-contained, with few visible wires on the front or top.

Admittedly, though, it's also enormous.

Comment This is bad for Amazon, too (Score 1) 645

I don't condone what Amazon did, and I think they should've gone to bat for their customers, but don't lose sight of what a problem this presents for Amazon's bottom line.

This could render them effectively unable to use any of the Kindle ebook revenue for non-public domain works, since they could conceivably be required to refund all of those funds at the demand of the publishers. They could be forced to collect the money, then just stuff it into an interest-bearing account in case they have to give it back.

So, in effect, we're not even renting the ebooks, we're just giving Amazon an interest-free loan in exchange for getting to borrow the books for a while.

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