Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Re:well... (Score 5, Informative) 428

I think you make an important distinction. I attended two traditional brick-and-mortar undergraduate state universities in engineering and math/computer science. I wouldn't characterize the learning as "outstanding" at either, since I did learn a lot more on the job. However, the quality between these and the UofPhx where I got my masters was astounding.

I didn't learn anything. I learned a few things in an accounting class that helps me with budgeting for a non-profit I'm involved with. But most of the work was busy work - reading and posting messages to a Outlook-based message forum. We also had to do 4-5 page papers each week, but the grading was very lax. There was also a lot of group work. Now, I think that this is a good idea since it mimicks the real world where in IT there is a lot of team work required. However, it was very inconsistent with the people who were in my group, and there was no choice on our part of whom to be in groups with.

The biggest frustration was not any hands-on learning. It was all writing papers about databases, networks, operating systems, etc. There wasn't any actual logging into a database, a network switch, a server, or even writing a single line of code. Fortunately, I took it upon myself for my capstone project to do some actual coding and complete a project, rather than the usual writing again.

So now, I'm stuck with $56k of student loans I'm struggling to pay back.

I definitely would NOT recommend UofPhoenix.

Comment Re:Syllabus? (Score 1) 931

I had a professor who would take all quizzes and tests back after we had looked how they were graded. This procedure of his was documented in the syllabus, but didn't make it any less a pain in the butt. He didn't want his tests ending up in a test file but it made it hard to study the material you were weak on.

It made it that much more difficult when I felt he was singling me out by putting questions on tests that I had missed in on the quizzes.

Television

Iron Chef Game Listed, Then Pulled 93

Joystiq notes that a game based on the excellent Iron Chef television show on the Food Network is apparently in the works. Apparently, because the game was listed and then pulled within the last few weeks. "The game appears to be on the brink of an announcement, with a listing appearing and disappearing on Gamestop's website for DS and Wii versions of the game, and Siliconera's Spencer Yip indicating that an IC game was being created at Destineer. (Yes, that Destineer). We're already sharpening our knives in anticipation, but we have to ask: [how do we get] Alton Brown in the game?" Their post includes a great animated spot for the show.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Magnetic avalanches cause hard drive failure

An anonymous reader writes: According to this report by IT PRO, scientists working at the University of California have discovered the main reason of hard drive failure. According to researchers, some materials used in hard drives are better at damping spin precession than others. Spin precession of magnetic material effects its neighbors' polarity and this can spread and cause sections of hard drives to spontaneously change polarity and lose data. This is known as a magnetic avalanche. So next time Windows fails to start, you'll know why!
United States

Journal SPAM: Naomi Wolf: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps 5

If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

Space

Submission + - Water Found in Exoplanet's Atmosphere

anthemaniac writes: Astronomers have long suspected that water should exist in the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. Now they have evidence. Water has been discovered in a planet called HD209458b, which was previously found to have oxygen. From the article: 'The discovery ... means one of the most crucial elements for life as we know it can exist around planets orbiting other stars.' But don't go looking for little green men. You might remember HD209458b as a 'hot jupiter' that boils under the glow of its very nearby star.
United States

Journal SPAM: Beware Dominionist Sleeper Cell in the U.S.A. 15

If another nation had specifically trained agents in ways to subvert our constitution, and then managed to get these agents embedded into positions throughout the government, would we be afraid? Very afraid!

User Journal

Journal Journal: April Fool's Submissions Overboard and Underfunny 2

I agree with some of the comments and submissions I have seen today that the yearly stupidity on Slashdot is just plain dumb. Unfortunately, these comments are drowned out. One or two good hoaxes would have made my day. ("Google Paper" was actually quite good). A score of idiotic and unbelievable posts just ruins the site and real news is buried. Having looked through the Firehose at several points today, there have been several serious submissions that have been voted up but have never made

Music

Submission + - Better Jukebox Software for Bigger Libraries?

jimjenkins1975 writes: I recently ripped and encoded my entire CD and Vinyl library, as well as merged my home and work computer's libraries (I work at a music company so my work library is very very large). It resulted in well over 750 GB of MP3's. I was hoping to get away with using iTunes to manage this, however the XML database file has grown very large, and the application itself is nonresponsive or very sluggish at best once it has loaded up (a process that takes several minutes itself) Question: Is there another application with similar features out there that can handle a library of this size with aplomb? I'm primarily on a Mac, and would prefer to keep using it, but I have a PC as well. Any ideas?

Feed U.S. Balks at Climate Talks (wired.com)

All delegates agree on the critical need to cut emissions, but the United States still worries about its economy and the contributions from developing countries. By the Associated Press.


Privacy

Journal Journal: Kinkos has your number 2

CNN is carrying an article about a "new" (or rather, newly disclosed) way to get your personal information.

Now, experts are warning that photocopiers could be a culprit as well.

That's because most digital copiers manufactured in the past five years have disk drives -- the same kind of data-storage mechanism found in computers -- to reproduce documents.

Feed 'Yahoo Betrayed My Husband' (wired.com)

The wife of a jailed Chinese dissident treks to the United States to hold Yahoo accountable for helping the government track him down. Luke O'Brien reports from Fairfax, Virginia.


Slashdot Top Deals

If entropy is increasing, where is it coming from?

Working...