__/ [ Michael B. Trausch ] on Monday 01 May 2006 18:20 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote in <1962187.y6AX6ngevG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on Mon May 1
> 2006 12:02:
>>
>> *smile* Just do yourself a favour and do not contribute them to schools.
>> Their IT staff will (_attempt to_) wipe Elive and install Windows XP
>> instead. XP is known to require 128MB at the very minimum to survive in
>> the medium/long term. It's insanity. Back when I was using Windows 98
>> (probably Microsoft's best O/S to date, for that time), I had only 28 MB
>> of RAM and I coped just fine. Applications, games, the whole deal! Not
>> only has nothing improved significantly since, but all went downhill from
>> there. Notably: Bad security, greed for resources. Meanwhile, GNU/Linux
>> gained steam and has found itself ahead in the game. It just needs more
>> advertising and shackle-breaking solutions (e.g. Thunderbird's Outlook/OE
>> import, Samba).
>>
>> Best wises,
>>
>> Roy
>>
>
> Well, not all schools. We've got one school in the Metro Atlanta area that
> converted to Linux, and right now an effort is underway to try to start
> migrating the rest of the districts and school systems to using it.
>
> While the school did originally resist, they're now at a point of being
> very happy with it -- costs are less and the entire migration overall has
> been a success.
>
> It was talked about at one of our local LUG meetings in February. I hope
> to see the entire educational system get revamped -- not just here, but
> everywhere.
>
> Educating the young on actually *how* to use a computer, and not just
> making them memorize how a web browser or particular word processor works,
> is far
> easier. I'd like to see more of a method based then a memory-based
> approach taught when it comes to using computers and technology --- since
> computers evolve and technology evolves, what's the point in memorizing?
Good point. At school, we were all taught how to create presentations and
animations in Astound. Yes, Astound. Ever heard or hear about it nowadays?
Probably not.
> Before long we're probably not going to be using keyboards and mice for
> input, anyway (I don't expect them to last another twenty to thirty years,
> that's for sure).
>
> http://www.ale.org/new/2006/01/22/ale-central-for-february-9-2006-730pm/
Free as in free ALE? *wink*
I fully agree with your assessment. For interaction, I still fail to see what
will make mice and keyboards (or their ergonomic relatives/derivates/toys)
obsolete. If I knew the answer, I'd probably be somewhere else working on
something. The closest thing to innovative HCI is probably this:
http://schestowitz.com/Weblog/archives/2006/02/24/3-d-interaction-desktop/
Based on my experience, this needs backing from a proper 3-D diplays**. It
also tired the arms, yet that issue can be annulled by having support that
is hooked onto the ceiling, or some bedding, or frame.
Best wishes,
Roy
** I came across http://www.technudgelive.com/2006/03/3d-monitor.html (pseudo
stereo vision) and http://lustrum.etv.tudelft.nl/matrixx/index.html (got to
see this prototype!! 8 metres in width, 4 metres in height and 2 metres in
depth and consists of a matrix of 8.000 LEDs).
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "This sig seemed like a good idea at the time..."
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
7:10pm up 4 days 2:07, 13 users, load average: 0.39, 0.64, 0.59
http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
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