Comment Re:They didn't build that (Score 1) 105
In fact, many years of funding by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
http://www.brandonsun.com/busi...
Comment Are we the first of April? (Score 1) 185
I think, it's an hoax.
Isn't it?
Comment Are Big Data the secret ingredient of MOOCs? (Score 1) 73
Greetings Dr Agarwal,
The invisible part of MOOCs is the massive collection of data on the behavior of students. Here, we're talking about Learning Analytics and Big Data which should be used to improve the next generation of MOOCs. This is a common practice of Web 2.0, the improvement process à la Google that exploits the data of its millions of users to improve its search engine. Here, students' data are a goldmine.
It is not easy for a teacher to find the sources of confusion and less effective pedagogical approaches from the small samples of data collected with a class of 20 students each year. Moreover, those students are pretty similar (the sample is statistically pretty homogenous). At the contrary, a MOOC with its thousands of students from all around the world and with very different backgrounds can use effective statistical data mining methods to detect problems and improve teaching. MOOC can also use machine learning to discover situations (or patterns) where students have common problems, in order to present evidence or explanations to help them.
More, compared to human, a computer never gets angry and it is always ready to resume its explanations, making it an ideal teaching tutor.
Do you see the potential for continuous improvement of MOOCs mainly due to Big Data, the secret ingredient of MOOCs in the long term?
Claude Coulombe
Montréal
The invisible part of MOOCs is the massive collection of data on the behavior of students. Here, we're talking about Learning Analytics and Big Data which should be used to improve the next generation of MOOCs. This is a common practice of Web 2.0, the improvement process à la Google that exploits the data of its millions of users to improve its search engine. Here, students' data are a goldmine.
It is not easy for a teacher to find the sources of confusion and less effective pedagogical approaches from the small samples of data collected with a class of 20 students each year. Moreover, those students are pretty similar (the sample is statistically pretty homogenous). At the contrary, a MOOC with its thousands of students from all around the world and with very different backgrounds can use effective statistical data mining methods to detect problems and improve teaching. MOOC can also use machine learning to discover situations (or patterns) where students have common problems, in order to present evidence or explanations to help them.
More, compared to human, a computer never gets angry and it is always ready to resume its explanations, making it an ideal teaching tutor.
Do you see the potential for continuous improvement of MOOCs mainly due to Big Data, the secret ingredient of MOOCs in the long term?
Claude Coulombe
Montréal
Comment Re:Native SC Here. (Score 1) 421
It's as if a bunch of people were brought up to believe human beings aren't adaptable to some moderate temperature hikes. We are, only stupid ones aren't.
It sounds like the Exxon CEO: . Fossil fuels will warm planet, but humans can adapt Therefore, no problem for people rich, young and in good shape. Just too bad for the others and wild animals! I've found indecent and immoral to read these disconnected comments.
Comment Re:Would anyone else recommend GWT? (Score 1) 409
Few months ago, a couple of key GWT developers have left Google to create a startup.
But Google keeps the project alive and well and they will deliver a brand new version 2.5 version of GWT to Google I/O 2012.
Futhermore, GWT wrappers for the Google+ API have just been released (http://code.google.com/p/gwt-google-apis/).
Comment Re:Would anyone else recommend GWT? (Score 1) 409
From my experiences, there is two extremes use cases with a gray zone between.
For great and complex client-side project (desktop like web app), you should take GWT and MVP (Model-View-Presenter) framework like GWTP (http://code.google.com/p/gwt-platform) with eventbus, activities and places. You've got Eclipse tooling, visual editor, debugger and jUnit testing. As bonus, get a generated JavaScript code that runs faster than handwritten JavaScript. This is the software engineering playground.
That said, to write HelloWorld and small cute web apps using jQuery or any JavaScript librairies could do the job quicker and keep the craftman happy.
Submission + - RIM unveils new OS based on QNX (businessweek.com)
HommeDeJava writes: "Research In Motion unveiled a new operating system for its tablet and smartphones at RIM’s BlackBerry developer conference in San Francisco.
Called BlackBerry BBX, the new OS combines features of existing BlackBerry's OS and its recently acquired real time QNX OS.
Could BBX attract software developers and spur interest from the consumers?"
Called BlackBerry BBX, the new OS combines features of existing BlackBerry's OS and its recently acquired real time QNX OS.
Could BBX attract software developers and spur interest from the consumers?"
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Music 261
mbone writes "Ever wonder how Jimi Hendrix would cover Lady Gaga? Whether you do or not [I'm guessing not], you may be about to find out. Writing for Wired, Eliot Van Buskirk describes North Carolina's Zenph Sound Innovations, which takes existing recordings of musicians (deceased, for now) and models their 'musical personalities' to create new recordings, apparently to critical acclaim (PDF). The company has raised $10.7 million in funding to pursue their business plan, and hopes to branch out into, among other things, software that would let musicians jam with virtual versions of famous musicians. This work unites music with the very similar trend going on in the movies — Tron 2.0, for example, will clone the young Jeff Bridges. If this goes on, will the major labels and studios actually need musicians and actors? In the future, it could be harder to make money playing guitar with all of the competition from dead or retired artists."
Comment iPad is the Kindle Killer not a computer (Score 1) 1634
The troll did not understand or he pretended not to understand. The iPad is a consumer device not a computer.
iPad Is a "Huge Step Backward" 1634
An anonymous reader writes "FSF's John Sullivan launches the Defective by Design campaign and petition to rain on Steve's parade, barely minutes out of the starting gate. 'This is a huge step backward in the history of computing,' said FSF's Holmes Wilson, 'If the first personal computers required permission from the manufacturer for each new program or new feature, the history of computing would be as dismally totalitarian as the milieu in Apple's famous Super Bowl ad.' The iPad has DRM writ large: you can only install what Apple says you may, and 'computing' goes consumer mainstream — no more twiddling, just sit back, spend your money, and watch the show — while we allow you to." What is clear is that the rise of the App Store removes control of the computer from the user. It makes me wonder what the next generation of OS X will look like.
An Experiment In BlackBerry Development 207
ballwall writes "We've all read the stories about how lucrative selling apps on the iPhone can be (or not), but what about other platforms? BlackBerry accounts for twice as many handsets shipped as Apple, according to Gartner, so I decided to find out. I wrote about my experiences developing my first BlackBerry application including sales, platform issues, and a bunch of other things I thought new mobile developers might want to know about."
Obama Taps IBM Open Source Advocate For USPTO 88
langelgjm writes "President Obama has announced his intent to nominate David Kappos, a VP and general counsel at IBM, to head the US Patent and Trademark Office. This move is particularly notable not only because of IBM's much friendlier attitudes towards open source compared with some of their rivals, but also because Kappos himself is open source-friendly: 'We are now the biggest supporters of the open source development project,' explains David. 'Admittedly this policy is not easily reconcilable with our traditional IP strategy, but we are convinced that it is the way to go for the future.' Not just a lawyer, Kappos earned an engineering degree before working in the legal field. Kappos has been described as 'critical of the American approach to patent policy.' Given his background, could this mean a new era for US patent policy?"
Google Chrome Developers On Browser Security 61
CowboyRobot writes "Developers of Google's Chrome browser have spoken up in an article describing their approach to keeping the browser secure, focusing on minimizing the frequency, duration, and severity of exposure. One tool Chrome uses is a recently open-sourced update distribution application called 'Omaha.' 'Omaha automatically checks for software updates every five hours. When a new update is available, a fraction of clients are told about it, based on a probability set by the team. This probability lets the team verify the quality of the release before informing all clients.'"
A Mathematician's Lament — an Indictment of US Math Education 677
Scott Aaronson recently had "A Mathematician's Lament" [PDF], Paul Lockhardt's indictment of K-12 math education in the US, pointed out to him and takes some time to examine the finer points. "Lockhardt says pretty much everything I've wanted to say about this subject since the age of twelve, and does so with the thunderous rage of an Old Testament prophet. If you like math, and more so if you think you don't like math, I implore you to read his essay with every atom of my being. Which is not to say I don't have a few quibbles [...] In the end, Lockhardt's lament is subversive, angry, and radical ... but if you know anything about math and anything about K-12 'education' (at least in the United States), I defy you to read and find a single sentence that isn't permeated, suffused, soaked, and encrusted with truth."
Comment Nice try... but nothing to scare Google (Score 2, Insightful) 560
Rather than trying to compete on general research against Google, Bing's strategy is to select the targeted queries as the search for goods and services (travel, shopping, health, local searches., etc).
The idea is bright, especially since such queries are the most likely to bring the $ dollars from advertisers. However, the trick is good but I see nothing that Google cannot ultimately counter ...
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