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101090 discussions

Teaching Students Computers... (Semi-OT)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 07:06 PM 5/13/98 +0300, you wrote: >to learn anything in perticular, except for stuff pertaining to... anyway, I >think that here's a good time to give students a choice to know what they're >going to do. I, for instance, want to specilize in Computers. Spending >time learning "Pre-Algebra" (Just spent 2 class periods making a protractor >accurate to 90' from a piece of paper.) isn't helpful, at least not that Okay, so maybe you're a wiz in math/science, but you've got two misspellings in there (pArticular and speciAlize) so perhaps you should be concentrating on grammar/literature/etc? 8^) >>High school, take the first two to the next levels and add skills needed >>to find paying work. > >I say that some students should be given the oppertunity to do this in Jr. >High. Not everyone, but some people. After all, by this time, you know if >you're not going to be a chemist, programmer, or anything. Well, in Jr. High I was all set to be a private dick... er, detective. Early high school, I was ready to head for Harvard Law School. Late high school, the plan was U-Ill/Urbana-Champaign for under Grad Elect/Elect Engineering, then MIT for grad school. During college (SF City College) I was going to join the FBI. After dropping out of college, I wanted to be a synthesist, or maybe an inventor. Now, I want to be a politician. So when is it you know what you want to be when you grow up? --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

28 years, 3 months

Interesting c64 usage

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 07:41 AM 5/13/98 -0500, you wrote: >Did you ask if he added one too many zeros? Obviously the guy is heavy into >hallucenogenic drugs...The Commie itself is worth *maybe* $40 and the mixer is >worth maybe another $200 if your lucky. I have seen and done some things with >those obscure little breadboxes though that most people would never think >possible. Ummm... I don't dispute the commie value (perhaps a tad high?) but a 24-track (or was it 32?) 8-bus mixer with automation for $200? Tell me where -- I'll buy it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

28 years, 3 months

EduComp Rant (OT, Was: RETROCOMPUTING LIQUIDATION)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 06:43 PM 5/12/98 PDT, you wrote: >When was this thing with "computer literacy in schools is everything" >started? I like computers in schools, but I am tired of looking at >proposed plans to replace 5 MORE classrooms with computer labs. Is >this a classic thing? Would you in general say that computers have >affected education (keeping the discussion OnT, of course). Well, I'm shooting from the hip here, but I do have some experience in this area. The idea of "computer labs" comes from IMO two things: 1) The idea of teaching "computers" as a separate subject and 2) the inability for schools to afford computers for every classroom. Looking at these in turn, "computers" as a subject in itself *may* have been a valid concept *at one time* (i.e., with some of the machines we deal with) but now is no longer an issue. Kids today have very little problem with the concepts involved in running a program (it's the same as sticking in a nintendo cartridge) or using a mouse (aka joystick) etc. Certainly, programming is a separate issue, but not everyone needs to learn C or Java or even Basic, just as not everyone needs to learn how to rebuild a transmission or tune a piano. As for schools not being able to afford computers, well heck, they can't even afford pencils and paper. I kid you not. Every fall, I get woken up at 7am to be first in line at Target when the Crayons/folders/pencil boxes/pencils/scissors/etc. go on sale (every week, it seems -- <groan>) so that my girlfriend can buy the supplies she wants for her classroom on sale *with her own money*. So, yes, most schools can't afford computers, in general, let alone enough for each classroom. So, what to do? Should they even bother? I think, based on Rachel's experiences, that the answer is a resounding *YES*, teachers should scrounge and steal and swindle as many computers as they can for their schools/classrooms. But not to teach "computers". They should be a tool, just like any other, to teach reading, math, science, comprehension, etc. And so I'll go against the grain and say it's more important in the lower grades (K-3 or so) to have computers available than in the upper grades. Upper grades, junior and high school especially, can do just as well with older machines as they can with the newer ones. PC-Write under DOS is an excellent solution for writing term papers or book reports, and will teach the concepts of word processing just as well as the latest version of MSWord. Qbasic, Cobol, and C/C++ for DOS are all just as good as their GUI counterparts for learning how to write a program; Once you understand the idea, switching to another language is a piece of cake. I write all my web pages in PC-Write (and I'm damn proud of some of them) and often use Arachne (DOS browser) to check them. Non-readers, however, can make better use of newer technology. Programs like the Playroom, Millie's Math House, and such really get the kids interested and having a good time; they don't realize (or care) that they're actually learning to read or count or what-have-you. This is the real value of computers in education. Mind you, older computers can be used here too, (the original version of the Playroom ran fine on a Mac Plus), but if you've got an old XT and a 486, give the upper grades the XT and the wee ones the 486. As to the craze for pushing computer literacy at the expense of general literacy, I think that older folks (30+) look at technology and how it was new to them, and how it is becoming so pervasive in our society, and they're scared. Scared that their kids will be as unprepared as they were. (What they don't understand, of course, is that that very pervasiveness will make kids take the technology in stride: My niece could work the VCR (play, ffwd, rwd, eject) at 1.5years; she's a wiz on the computer) Add to that the media and the politicians who love to play on the public's fears and work them into a frenzy to serve their own purposes and the corporate world who just want to sell more *stuff*... Computers have affected education, both for good and bad (like most anything.) They allow teachers to come up with fun worksheets that teach, quickly and easily; they can help kids that couldn't learn to read finally do it; they allow kids to work independantly at their own speed, allowing the teacher to work with the kids that need the most help. But, they also cause distractions, can be abused as babysitters by lesser teachers, and can displace funding and space for other, more needed supplies and equipment. Overall, the benefits of computers in the schools (as elsewhere, IMO) *FAR* outweigh the problems. Now the problem with older computers in the classrooms is not that they're not useful, it's that they're not adequately supported for the majority of non-computer-literate teachers. (Teachers know how to teach; they don't know how to do a low-level format on a CP/M hard drive.) So, all you folks on this list, who know what you're doing, call up your local schools and see if they have any [older] computers that they need help putting to use. > honest, the computer department here at the school is rather > pathetic, two Apple //e's and an XT that was donated that I > can't get to work. Apple //e's are fine for teaching BASIC programming and Word processing, and I know there are educational programs available for the younger kids, too. (Right Sam?) That XT should be repairable, and would make a great text-editing station or could be put to use in math classes running Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel. But, we've got a teacher who can't put them to use, but they don't have the skills/knowledge to do so. So, are there any collectors in/around Humble TX that can help out? P.S., I have my girlfriend working on a list of all the EduSoftware she has and what it's good at (and how good it is) to be put on a web page, so that someone who gets a computer for their classroom can see what software works and will run. (All her computers are Mac IIci or less (68030 or lower) (though we've got one IIci with an '040 board in it to go in, as soon as I get a chance to clean up the hard drive and such.)) >>> prejudiced on the side of reading over computers -- I only have >>> fifty-odd computers, I've got [half bought new] several thousand >>> books, mostly the science fiction I've loved since before the Well, I've only got about a 1000 books, and about 100 computers, but there's a lot more in the house (my folks had a whole wall of bookshelves put in when they bought the house). I too would say that if you can't read/write (communicate)/count, a computer's not going to do you much good in the long run -- it can't do that for you. (In fact, it will get you to do more of the above.) Anyway, sorry for the ultra-long rant... --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

28 years, 3 months

RSX-11 Disk Images anyone?

by emu＠ecubics.com

Hi all, > The relevant documentation is "MSCP Basic Disk Functions Manual", > AA-L619A-TK, and "Storage System Diagnostics And Utility Protocol", > AA-L620A-TK, which in turn are parts of the UDA50 Programmer's > Documentation Kit (QP-905-GZ). My copy is version 1.2, April 1982. anyone has this documents here, and don't need it anymore ? thanks, emanuel

28 years, 3 months

PLease ID CD-ROM unit

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

OK, the other chips are: Hitachi HD74LS32P 367AP 240P 164P MB74LS00 138 TI J549X SN74LS541N The card has a weird logo: A large S, progressively narrowing toward the top. Could someone tell me about the actual drive? >They're probably TTL buffers/address decoding logic. Can you post the >numbers (which probably start 74LS) and we'll try to identify them and >guess likely functions. > >My guess is that this is some kind of custom parallel interface. Put the >8255 into Mode 2 and you've got a bidirectional data path on port A and >control lines on the other 2 ports. That's the most likely setup >(although it might be something totally different, like using one port >for input and another for output). > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

28 years, 3 months

PS/2 30 architecture

by pjoules＠enterprise.net

I hope that this is marginally on topic - the technology is over 10 years old and it is about using an old machine even if the OS is brand new. I have a PS/2 Model 30 and am taking part in testing the ELKS port of Linux to the XT architecture. On the PS/2 ELKS cannot see any keystrokes, having booted OK. Does anyone (Tony?) have a techref for this machine and if so what is the difference between this and a 'normal' XT. I am thinking that perhaps the keyboard buffer may be at a different place in memory thus DOS, using the BIOS, can see it but we can't by looking directly at the hardware. TIA Pete

28 years, 3 months

FW: DECStation 2100 help needed

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Found this on Usenet. Can anyone help out? If so, please respond directly to the author of the message. Thanks. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On Wed, 13 May 98 15:22:55 CST, in comp.unix.ultrix you wrote: >>From: Mike.Hoff(a)CRHA-Health.Ab.Ca (Mike Hoff) >>Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix >>Subject: Old DECstation >>Date: Wed, 13 May 98 15:22:55 CST >>Organization: Unorganized. >>Lines: 10 >>Distribution: world >>Message-ID: <This.644(a)Somewhere.COM> >>NNTP-Posting-Host: veena.cc.uregina.ca >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!uunet!in3.uu.net!ais.net!newsfeed.wli.net!news.he.net!news.pagesat.net!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!news.uregina.ca!(a)somewhere.com >> >> >>Sorry to bother you, but I'm not sure who to talk to (and Digital wasn't >>much help). I have an old Decstation 2100 dug out of the basement - is >>this worth anything? Any idea where this equipment could be taken for >>repairs and OS help? Any information you can give me would be >>appreciated. >> >>Please reply to Mike.Hoff(a)CRHA-Health.Ab.Ca directly as I do not have >>Usenet access from my office. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, SysOp, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fido 1:343/272) kyrrin {at} j<p>s d[o]t n=e=t "...No matter how hard we may wish otherwise, our science can only describe an object, event, or living creature, in our own human terms. It cannot possibly define any of them!..."

28 years, 3 months

OS/2 Warp 3 Help... (Yes, off topic...)

by photze＠batelco.com.bh

OK... remember that Arthur J. Carp fellow... well, I got a copy of Warp 3... 3.5" disks. (It's been a while...) Anyway, this is semi-on topic, as OS/2's a pretty good story, and older versions are classic. So here's the deal. I can get all the way to Disk 6, then I re-insert the Install diskette. Then, it asks me to reboot. I reboot, and it's not there. I also have Windows 95 on this system. So how do I: Get past that 2) Get to see the drive's contents (it's not the same C as FAT 32 sees it...) Thanks, Tim D. Hotze

28 years, 3 months

Everything about Apple ///

by wp4wssam＠coqui.net

If you need anything or need any information about Apple /// (SARA) the best place is Washington Apple Pi. They are a group dedicated to all apple and mac hardware and software. Mr. Dave Ottalini is the historian and librarian for the apple ///. To get help from him or any other person ap WAP, you need to join the club.

28 years, 3 months

terminal keyboards needed

by rhblake＠bbtel.com

I just shipped the VT 100 and VT 220 that I had without keyboards. I gave them away for the shipping and a few people in the list had told me that they have extra keyboards for sale/trade/free (I don't remember) but the newe owner in New Hamster is looking for a keyboard for each one and if those people that have them could write me back (direct email) I can relay the message to him. Thanks guys and gals. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Russ Blakeman RB Custom Services / Rt. 1 Box 62E / Harned, KY USA 40144 Phone: (502) 756-1749 Data/Fax:(502) 756-6991 Email: rhblake(a)bbtel.com or rhblake(a)bigfoot.com Website: http://members.tripod.com/~RHBLAKE/ ICQ UIN #1714857 AOL Instant Messenger "RHBLAKEMAN" * Parts/Service/Upgrades and more for MOST Computers* --------------------------------------------------------------------

28 years, 3 months

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