Archive for September, 2009

Net-Generation Instructors

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

The University of Michigan's Carl Berger did some statistical analyses a while back of the faculty at his school.  Long story short, we're now seeing net-generation instructors as well as students. The future always arrives too soon, but in the wrong order.

To Read Is To Learn

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Lots of people have said that computer science students should read code as well as write it.  Not many people have gone the next step and designed a course around that idea, which is why I was excited to read Jason Montojo's recent post, and the course outline he has ...

Good Day, Knitters

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

StreetKnit has started its 2009 winter drive, and you can help: drop off any handmade knitted socks, sweaters, toques, or what-not at one of their collection points, and they'll get it to someone in need.  Please help them make someone's winter a little warmer this year.

Reversible Debugging in GDB 7

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

GDB 7 will have "reverse step", "reverse continue", and several other commands to step backward through a program's execution. This is seriously cool---I wonder whether it will make debugging concurrent programs easier too?

How Far Can You Be From Timmies?

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

You're never more than 107 miles from McDonald's in the lower 48 states. The Canadian Climate Change Scenarios Network gives you some raw material for exploring possible futures.  Google can help... The US Federal government has an app store. What are you doing starting October 18th?

Counting Down to a New Thunderbird

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

As Blake posted recently, a new beta of Thunderbird 3 is available, and the full release is coming up fast --- congratulations!

Why Don’t Students Like School?

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Why don't students like school?  It isn't a rhetorical question---at least, not to cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham, who writes a column for American Educator magazine, and whose new book seeks to answer that topical question. The chapter titles are a good guide to the content: Why don't students like school? How can ...

Bakka Is Moving (soon)

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Congratulations to the folks at Bakka Phoenix, Canada's best SF bookstore, who have acquired new digs just a few minutes from campus. They're not moving 'til next year, but I can already feel gravity tugging on the contents of my wallet...

Google Public Sector

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

A small beginning, but hopefully it will lead to bigger things: Most people reach government and other public sector websites by using Google and other search engines. This site is a guide to the tools and best practices that can help you reach, communicate and engage with your community. Most of ...

Top Up vs. Bottom Down

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Ever heard of Masdar City?  I hadn't 'til this: Consider this: Abu Dhabi ranks first in per capita carbon dioxide and green house gas emissions, with a footprint nearly five times the world average. Its economy is based on oil. Yet, its vision is to become the world leader in renewable ...