Raging Hippie

atariboy:

Triumph of Coal Marketing

rentzsch:

Eugene Wallingford:

Of course, using a powerful, fun language in CS1 creates a new set of problems for us. A while back, a CS educator on the SIGCSE mailing list pointed out one:

Starting in Python postpones the discovery that “CS is not for me”.

After years of languages such as C++,…

The first institution that formally taught me CS began with C (we were the last batch, the next cohort started with Java). C scared away a few, but the vast majority stayed. Most I knew around me didn’t enjoy programming, I was one of the few exceptions. Many of my former-classmates went into careers that had nothing to do with tech after graduation.

What’s this about scaring students away again? I think it only postpones or maybe outright blocks the attainment of joy through programming.

atariboy:

mostexerent:

For my Sister - cable management from Lufdesign

Great idea, thanks nova: carlosbela: szymon:

I’m buying a few packs now.  Anyone in Singapore want to join in to save on shipping?

Here’s the thing about Facebook that really gets under my skin: They are slowly incorporating the features from every other independent web application on the internet. This is not inherently a problem—companies get bigger and they begin to have the resources to widen their feature set—the issue…

True.  Facebook is pushing all the competing services they choose to “integrate” to generally only win over the more serious crowd.  Flickr is still relevant thanks to serious photographers who want to share/view high-res images and not just your uncle uploading his vacation pictures.  Same for Vimeo, but for discerning videographers and their viewers.

Know what this reminds me of?  Windows vs. Mac OS X.  Windows is for the less discerning, Mac OS X for those who care for the quality of their computing experience.

(via atariboy, cammacrae)

rentzsch:

Mark Gurman:

Today Apple added a new section dedicated to promoting free applications on the App Store. One of the subsections of this new feature is “Try Before You Buy.” This section features many of the popular “free” or “lite” editions of apps, but the section title is what makes this all interesting.

Apple willfully ignored 25+ years of commercial software distribution trial-and-error market experimentation and education.

Try Before You Buy won a long time ago, but for some inexplicable reason Apple seems to want to drag us back to the days of Egghead Software outlets.

Try Before You Buy is good for customers, and it’s good for developers. My best guess is that Apple somehow thinks it’s not good for Apple, and that was reason enough to have disallowed it.

Psychiatric Tales is a book that attempts to demythologise mental illness. Forget what you’ve seen in movies or on TV. This book shows what the experience of mental illness actually is for both patients and the staff who treat them. 

Media representations of people who suffer mental illness tend to be appalling. We live in an age where racism and sexism is considered unacceptable. Yet the mentally ill are still considered fair game for ridicule and are subject to the worst kind of prejudice. I had an e-mail recently from a young man who intended to buy two copies of the book when it came out. One for his mother, and one for his step-father. He wanted to show his family that the bipolar disorder he’d been diagnosed with, was a real illness, and that he needed their understanding not hostility. 

We still live in a world, sadly, where depression is seen as weakness of character, and psychosis (such as hearing voices) is considered proof of dangerousness. Even the psychiatric nursing profession itself suffers prejudice. I’ve worked with many general nurses who considered psychiatric nurses not to be real nurses at all. 

I’m hoping that Psychiatric Tales will be a real stigma-busting book. An empowering book for those who suffer the illnesses described, and a insight into a much-misunderstood world, for those who know little of the subject.

Want. I HAS IT.

En garde!  :-)

Announcing the arrival of my son, “Ah Boon”/阿文.  Born Born SGT 1623H 11 July 2010, weighing in at 3.294kg.  Facebook Twitter

atariboy:

Even more reason for Holland to win the world cup… German coach eats his boogers. Hup Hup

Confession: I did that too until I was 8 or 9.  Ate ants too.  Yum.

People spending lots of energy, time and money fighting for the welfare of animals, and yet, aiding the killing and mistreatment of another animal, 3 times a day - by eating factory farmed animal flesh, eggs and dairy products - which constitute the vast majority (all?) that’s available in your supermarket and restaurant.

To put it in human terms, it’s like fighting for human rights and welfare, but coming home and abusing your maid (domestic worker) 3 times a day, until she dies. Then replace her with another, like a product, and repeating the process again.

I only wish this analogy isn’t so close to reality.

At 23, my one-person Mac software company was very profitable. But I wasn’t very social at the time. If I could tell my 23-year-old self one thing, it would be: Go out, be social, make friends, and don’t worry so much about the money, because there will always be enough, and more won’t buy you…

Worth thinking about.

John Waters (via ashponders, prostheticknowledge)

In case it’s not apparent, Brian is talking about web apps that allow payment via your Carrier. That is, website charges that land directly…

If this API catches on, look out for AT&T (and other carriers) bending over and letting Apple hook up iTunes to your phone bill.

How Apple, Electronic Arts and many other companies keep their employees.  Many people also inadvertently do this to their significant others.

Anyone can get caught in your sick system if you start slowly enough.

Anyone can fit into your sick system if your standards are low enough.

Any sick system can meet your needs if you keep your needs small enough.

EDIT: Written somewhat as a checklist, but it’s really more of a list of symptoms, like for diagnosing disease.

ashponders:

kurafire:

Your common bread here is truly horrendous. Even the stuff that doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup in it is an abomination to taste.

I can’t believe I’m forced to hunt down artisan bakeries that produce just normal, everyday bread, just to eat a proper slice of bread with cheese.

Alternative: Make your own bread with an hour every day or two days: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html