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Comment Re:Already happening (Score 2) 867

You're analogy is incorrect. In a star topology, you claim the mail carrier can't go from house to house, he goes from hub->spoke 1->hub->spoke2->hub, etc. Whereas in a ring he can go spoke 1->spoke 2-> etc. Thus his steps taken are N for ring, and 2N for star. The problem is for a cluster box, star as you call it, that serves N homes, the postal carrier only goes to 1 place, where as for a ring of N homes he must go to N places. There is no need for the postal carrier to visit the spokes with cluster boxes. So going door to door is O(n) whereas cluster boxes is O(1).

Comment Re:A constant can't explain a variable (Score 1) 605

I'm not sure why learning how to teach effectively isn't high on the list of objectives. Its all the college PR campaigns spit out along with research, but the latter is all that matters. My wife was a 21 year old grad student and handed a large class of Sophomores and Juniors to teach a 200 level course. She had one-semester under her belt as a TA prior, but no formal training on how to teach, etc.

I have professors who ramble on during examples of the most mundane things simply throwing more and more effort into a failing effort. And there are the complete opposites who never cover the material clearly and never ask students if they understand.

Comment Re:University Professor Here (Score 4, Insightful) 605

As an adult student who has gone back to school, I want to say something as well.

We have seen a dramatic decline in the knowledge retention of students because professors are not trained on teaching methods. Even strong professors who are very prepared on paper have major and substantial gaps in their ability to communicate. Students are struggling to manage this situation. Do you let them teach to the students in a way that just forces memorization? Or do you only learn the course content at a level consistent with the professor's ability to communicate? Do you somehow split the difference, or if so, how? These are the questions we are trying to answer.

Comment Re:Someone forgot to tell these guys (Score 1) 315

Nothing about this decay was ever described as non-linear. By their measure, it would be gone in 1042 years, maybe less.
If say there is a fixed number of enzymes and they can destroy a fixed number of bonds per year, it would be linear.

"environmental conditions such as temperature, degree of microbial attack and oxygenation alter the speed of the decay process."
They also are doing this in ground burial scenario, presumably unfrozen. Mammoth carcasses are still found as they sometimes exist in unfrozen earth for only a small portion of time per year.

Comment Only 37%, really? (Score 1) 288

"But only 37 percent of auto dealers have their own body shops, according to information on the National Association of Automobile Dealers' website."

Ok, I've NEVER seen a franchise dealer who doesn't also have a repair shop. It may not be onsite, but at another one of their locations, etc. I think of a body shop as a TOTALLY different thing, art vs mechanical, if you will. Many dealers will use a local body shop for body work. As far as repair, thats where dealers have a good chance to make money. All the little old ladies take their cars to their dealer for oil changes at $80 a pop.

This number must be including non-franchised dealers, as in used-car dealers.

Comment Re:Not sure what the problem is here (Score 1) 123

This is typical 0-day process. I'm not sure why there is now a problem with the 0-day ethics. But companies that sell their 0-day protection have always paid for and then given to M$ and 0racle (0-details), etc while leaving their customers protected. This is part of the "No more free bugs" approach, it provides a legitimate way to sell your discovery which someone worked towards, while knowing it is going to be responsibly disclosed and tracked and even that some people will be nearly immediately protected in some cases.

Comment Re:More than 1080p (Score 1) 914

You do realize that switching resolutions doesn't change the screen aspect, but only the linear pixel count? You you've effectively stretched things vertically. You would need horizontal black bars to effectively create a 1920x1080 screen on a 1920x1200 native display, otherwise you're skewing the image. So unless you added black bars or changed to new display hardware, you're not watching things in 16:9 or 16:10.

Comment Re:Get a bat (Score 1) 376

So uhm, where is the power source? Either these things have some of the most awesome power efficiencies ever discovered or someone is swapping the batteries on a routine basis or they are plugged in. Just cut the battery wires if you plan to steal it. It is probably programmed to come right back to life when you get it safely home and have removed the GPS module.

Comment Re:get over it (Score 2) 582

Ass|u|me

You assume that this is a public university, and by and large, I think that's irrelevant. Students are paying for an education, not a degree. I'll open a corner market selling degrees if you'll come in and buy one. To say what you wrote is to say, students are "paying for their degree, not access to a comprehensive library. They will only see books directly relevant to their degree, nothing more." So, I'm sure you, in your infinite wisdom, can effectively make a comprehensive, always up-to-date list of approved books, periodicals, etc?

This sounds like a possibly religious-based school. Those of that only schools I've run into who have filtered internet. Some public schools might limit outbound services, but I haven't seen much content filtering. Most school networks I've used have had separate dorm/student and university/faculty/staff networks. With computer labs being on the university network.

Comment Re:CrashPlan (Score 1) 251

Yes, I use crashplan too and it's great. However, its important to note that you don't need a subscription to do what the OP asks. The free version will backup daily to a remote machine running crashplan connected to the target backup drives. You only need a subscription or what used to be called the pro version for certain advanced encryption, immediate backups, etc. A subscription allows for off-site backups to crashplan's servers and they have both commercial and residential plans.

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