Tuition at Stanford University can break the bank.
But Stanford has been making some of their course available to the public, for free! Molly Goossens reports in A Stanford education (free!):
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This time they’re offering 7 computer science courses:
Computer Science 101 http://www.cs101-class.org/
Machine Learning (one of the offerings this past fall) http://jan2012.ml-class.org/
Software as a Service http://www.saas-class.org/
Human-Computer Interaction http://www.hci-class.org/
Natural Language Processing http://www.nlp-class.org/
Game Theory http://www.game-theory-class.org/
Probabilistic Graphical Models http://www.pgm-class.org/
Cryptography http://www.crypto-class.org/
And two entrepreneurship courses:
The Lean Launchpad http://www.launchpad-class.org/
Technology Entrepreneurship http://www.venture-class.org/
No tuition, no textbooks, no set class times (students get a week to complete the assignments). The only downside is that you probably don’t have time to do them all.
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Hat tip: one of my cousins.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Capital Tour with David Barton
This video provides some insight into the Christian history of our nation:
Has anyone watched David Barton's 2 hour Capital tour?
Has anyone watched David Barton's 2 hour Capital tour?
Friday, December 09, 2011
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Pretty cool: Flight Assembled Architecture
This is impressive - Flight Assembled Architecture. Flying robots built the tower:
Flying robots build 20-foot-tall tower has more details. The article starts with:
----------
Robotic quadrocopters — that is flying machines with four rotors — have built a 20-foot-tall tower of polystyrene blocks at a museum in France.
This may come as bad news for unemployed construction workers hoping for a bright future building next-generation skyscrapers, but it's yet another way robots are aiming to re-shape the global workforce.
In this case, an architect still draws up a blueprint for the building, but computers and robots do the rest — interpreting the blueprint and controlling the crew of robotic copters, for example.
----------
Hat tip: Instapundit
Flying robots build 20-foot-tall tower has more details. The article starts with:
----------
Robotic quadrocopters — that is flying machines with four rotors — have built a 20-foot-tall tower of polystyrene blocks at a museum in France.
This may come as bad news for unemployed construction workers hoping for a bright future building next-generation skyscrapers, but it's yet another way robots are aiming to re-shape the global workforce.
In this case, an architect still draws up a blueprint for the building, but computers and robots do the rest — interpreting the blueprint and controlling the crew of robotic copters, for example.
----------
Hat tip: Instapundit
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Blog Carnvial is partially broken. It is accepting submissions, but not forwarding them. It would be easier if you just submitted your post directly via email. Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
This will be the 311th edition.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
Thanks.
Please remember to send in a post about homeschooling for the next Carnival of Homeschooling.
Next week's carnival will be held at Teach Beside Me.
Next week's carnival will be held at Teach Beside Me.
This will be the 311th edition.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
Another cool APOD picture: NGC 7822 in Cepheus
Manuel Fernández Suarez gave me his permission to post his picture of NGC 7822 in Cepheus:
Image Credit & Copyright: Manuel Fernández Suarez
The 5 Best Toys of All Time
People get that the basics work better than the fancy.
The 5 Best Toys of All Time explains why the simple toys are better than more expensive toys.
More and more people are coming to realize that homeschooling is a tried and true way to educate children.
Hat tip: a brother-in-law
The 5 Best Toys of All Time explains why the simple toys are better than more expensive toys.
More and more people are coming to realize that homeschooling is a tried and true way to educate children.
Hat tip: a brother-in-law
Humor - Cello Wars
This is pretty cool:
I think we would have more boys playing the cello if they could do it with light sabers.
Hat tip: a nephew
I think we would have more boys playing the cello if they could do it with light sabers.
Hat tip: a nephew
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Well we did it! This is our 1000th post for the year
Blogger reports that this is our 1000th post for the year.
Kind of amazing.
Kind of amazing.
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is up - The Relevant Edition
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is up at The Homeschool Post.
The carnival starts with:
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Each carnival writer has the option to put their compilation to a ‘theme’ if they so choose. And around here, we like themes. A couple of months ago, many of our authors went to the Relevant conference… so we decided to share what we loved about Relevant (and blog conferences in general). Did you know that there were over 70 homeschooling moms in attendance at Relevant (out of 200 attendees)? Homeschool mom bloggers are our favorites!
----------
Enjoy!
The carnival starts with:
----------
Each carnival writer has the option to put their compilation to a ‘theme’ if they so choose. And around here, we like themes. A couple of months ago, many of our authors went to the Relevant conference… so we decided to share what we loved about Relevant (and blog conferences in general). Did you know that there were over 70 homeschooling moms in attendance at Relevant (out of 200 attendees)? Homeschool mom bloggers are our favorites!
----------
Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Power consumption as surveillance
I am don't know just how much information people can get from watching your eletricity usage, but I do think it is a good idea to tell the power company not to use smart meters to gather data on you.
Use the letter below to forbid smart meter installation (or modify the letter to demand the meter be removed).
From:
Energy Customer's Name
Street Address
City State Zip
To:
Energy Provider
Street Address
City State Zip
Date of letter
NOTICE OF NO CONSENT TO TRESPASS AND SURVEILLANCE, NOTICE OF LIABILITY
Dear (Energy Provider) and all agents, officers, employees, contractors and interested parties,
If you intend to install a "Smart Meter" or any activity monitoring device at the above address, you and all other parties are hereby deny consent for installation and use of all such devices on the above property. Installation and use of any activity monitoring device is hereby refused and prohibited. Informed consent is legally required for installation of any surveillance device and any device that will collect and transmit private and personal data to undisclosed and unauthorized parties for undisclosed and unauthorized purposes. Authorization for sharing of personal and private information may only be given by the originator and subject of that information. That authorization is hereby denied and refused with regard to the above property and all its occupants. "Smart Meters" violate the law and cause endangerment to residents by the following factors:
1. They individually identify electrical devices inside the home and record when they are operated causing invasion of privacy.
2. They monitor household activity and occupancy in violation of rights and domestic security.
3. They transmit wireless signals which may be intercepted by unauthorized and unknown parties. Those signals can be used to monitor behavior and occupancy and they can be used by criminals to aid criminal activity against the occupants.
4. Data about occupant's daily habits and activities are collected, recorded and stored in permanent databases which are accessed by parties not authorized or invited to know and share that private data by those who's activities were recorded.
5. Those with access to the smart meter databases can review a permanent history of household activities complete with calendar and time-of-day metrics to gain a highly invasive and detailed view of the lives of the occupants.
6. Those databases may be shared with, or fall into the hands of criminals, blackmailers, corrupt law enforcement, private hackers of wireless transmissions, power company employees, and other unidentified parties who may act against the interests of the occupants under metered surveillance.
7. "Smart Meters" are, by definition, surveillance devices which violate Federal and State wiretapping laws by recording and storing databases of private and personal activities and behaviors without the consent or knowledge of those people who are monitored.
8. It is possible for example, with analysis of certain "Smart Meter" data, for unauthorized and distant parties to determine medical conditions, sexual activities, physical locations of persons within the home, vacancy patterns and personal information and habits of the occupants.
9. Your company has not adequately disclosed the particular recording and transmission capabilities of the smart meter, or the extent of the data that will be recorded, stored and shared, or the purposes to which the data will and will not be put.
10. Electromagnetic and Radio Frequency energy contamination from smart meters exceeds allowable safe and healthful limits for domestic environments as determined by the EPA and other scientific programs.
I forbid, refuse and deny consent of any installation and use of any monitoring, eavesdropping, and surveillance devices on my property, my place of residence and my place of occupancy. That applies to and includes "Smart Meters" and activity monitoring devices of any and all kinds. Any attempt to install any such device directed at me, other occupants, my property or residence will constitute trespass, stalking, wiretapping and unlawful surveillance and endangerment of health and safety, all prohibited and punishable by law through criminal and civil complaints. All persons, government agencies and private organizations responsible for installing or operating monitoring devices directed at or recording my activities, which I have not specifically authorized in writing, will be fully liable for any violations, intrusions, harm or negative consequences caused or made possible by those devices whether those negative consequences are justified by "law" or not..
This is legal notice. After this delivery the liabilities listed above may not be denied or avoided by parties named and implied in this notice. Civil Servant immunities and protections do not apply to the installation of smart meters due to the criminal violations they represent.
Notice to principal is notice to agent and notice to agent is notice to principal. All rights reserved.
Signature
Hat tip: Consent of the Governed.
Use the letter below to forbid smart meter installation (or modify the letter to demand the meter be removed).
From:
Energy Customer's Name
Street Address
City State Zip
To:
Energy Provider
Street Address
City State Zip
Date of letter
NOTICE OF NO CONSENT TO TRESPASS AND SURVEILLANCE, NOTICE OF LIABILITY
Dear (Energy Provider) and all agents, officers, employees, contractors and interested parties,
If you intend to install a "Smart Meter" or any activity monitoring device at the above address, you and all other parties are hereby deny consent for installation and use of all such devices on the above property. Installation and use of any activity monitoring device is hereby refused and prohibited. Informed consent is legally required for installation of any surveillance device and any device that will collect and transmit private and personal data to undisclosed and unauthorized parties for undisclosed and unauthorized purposes. Authorization for sharing of personal and private information may only be given by the originator and subject of that information. That authorization is hereby denied and refused with regard to the above property and all its occupants. "Smart Meters" violate the law and cause endangerment to residents by the following factors:
1. They individually identify electrical devices inside the home and record when they are operated causing invasion of privacy.
2. They monitor household activity and occupancy in violation of rights and domestic security.
3. They transmit wireless signals which may be intercepted by unauthorized and unknown parties. Those signals can be used to monitor behavior and occupancy and they can be used by criminals to aid criminal activity against the occupants.
4. Data about occupant's daily habits and activities are collected, recorded and stored in permanent databases which are accessed by parties not authorized or invited to know and share that private data by those who's activities were recorded.
5. Those with access to the smart meter databases can review a permanent history of household activities complete with calendar and time-of-day metrics to gain a highly invasive and detailed view of the lives of the occupants.
6. Those databases may be shared with, or fall into the hands of criminals, blackmailers, corrupt law enforcement, private hackers of wireless transmissions, power company employees, and other unidentified parties who may act against the interests of the occupants under metered surveillance.
7. "Smart Meters" are, by definition, surveillance devices which violate Federal and State wiretapping laws by recording and storing databases of private and personal activities and behaviors without the consent or knowledge of those people who are monitored.
8. It is possible for example, with analysis of certain "Smart Meter" data, for unauthorized and distant parties to determine medical conditions, sexual activities, physical locations of persons within the home, vacancy patterns and personal information and habits of the occupants.
9. Your company has not adequately disclosed the particular recording and transmission capabilities of the smart meter, or the extent of the data that will be recorded, stored and shared, or the purposes to which the data will and will not be put.
10. Electromagnetic and Radio Frequency energy contamination from smart meters exceeds allowable safe and healthful limits for domestic environments as determined by the EPA and other scientific programs.
I forbid, refuse and deny consent of any installation and use of any monitoring, eavesdropping, and surveillance devices on my property, my place of residence and my place of occupancy. That applies to and includes "Smart Meters" and activity monitoring devices of any and all kinds. Any attempt to install any such device directed at me, other occupants, my property or residence will constitute trespass, stalking, wiretapping and unlawful surveillance and endangerment of health and safety, all prohibited and punishable by law through criminal and civil complaints. All persons, government agencies and private organizations responsible for installing or operating monitoring devices directed at or recording my activities, which I have not specifically authorized in writing, will be fully liable for any violations, intrusions, harm or negative consequences caused or made possible by those devices whether those negative consequences are justified by "law" or not..
This is legal notice. After this delivery the liabilities listed above may not be denied or avoided by parties named and implied in this notice. Civil Servant immunities and protections do not apply to the installation of smart meters due to the criminal violations they represent.
Notice to principal is notice to agent and notice to agent is notice to principal. All rights reserved.
Signature
Hat tip: Consent of the Governed.
Monday, December 05, 2011
Christmas letters and homeschool progress
One of our family traditions is an annual Cate Christmas letter. We tend to be a bit obsessive about it. Year after year Janine and I spend anywhere from forty to eighty hours. It is a major production.
Part of why we invest so much time into each letter is because we are writing for two audiences. The first audience is our family and friends that we are staying in touch with. But the second audience is the next couple generations. Around the time that the first set of grandchildren start to read, we’ll gather up thirty to forty years worth of these Christmas letters and bind them into a book. Our hope is the grandchildren and beyond will enjoy the letters. We want them to have some idea on just what it was like in the Cate household around the turn of the century.
Another facet of this Christmas letter tradition is we reread the old letters. Around Thanksgiving we start from 1992, when we got married. Every day before breakfast we read another year. Our children love it when we start reading about them. It is great to remember the good times and the changes. It is also a bit hard to be reminded about the passing of loved ones.
We have just started working on the 2011 Christmas letter. I have been rereading journal entries for the last eleven months and updating our address list. While it is a ton of work, but I am sticking to it because I will be very happy once the letter is down.
Doing all this work focused on Christmas letter I’ve been struck by the progress we are seeing in our children. While reading the letters this last week I’ve been reminded of all the books our daughters have read. The children themselves have reminisced on the good times we had traveling. Way more important is that I am pleased to notice our children are turning out to be wonderful people. They aren't perfect, but they are pretty good. They work hard; they are self directed. They are kind to each other most of the time. They have good hearts and are trying to follow the Lord.
Our Christmas letters help me to see the growth in our children and remind me that I am so glad we homeschool.
Part of why we invest so much time into each letter is because we are writing for two audiences. The first audience is our family and friends that we are staying in touch with. But the second audience is the next couple generations. Around the time that the first set of grandchildren start to read, we’ll gather up thirty to forty years worth of these Christmas letters and bind them into a book. Our hope is the grandchildren and beyond will enjoy the letters. We want them to have some idea on just what it was like in the Cate household around the turn of the century.
Another facet of this Christmas letter tradition is we reread the old letters. Around Thanksgiving we start from 1992, when we got married. Every day before breakfast we read another year. Our children love it when we start reading about them. It is great to remember the good times and the changes. It is also a bit hard to be reminded about the passing of loved ones.
We have just started working on the 2011 Christmas letter. I have been rereading journal entries for the last eleven months and updating our address list. While it is a ton of work, but I am sticking to it because I will be very happy once the letter is down.
Doing all this work focused on Christmas letter I’ve been struck by the progress we are seeing in our children. While reading the letters this last week I’ve been reminded of all the books our daughters have read. The children themselves have reminisced on the good times we had traveling. Way more important is that I am pleased to notice our children are turning out to be wonderful people. They aren't perfect, but they are pretty good. They work hard; they are self directed. They are kind to each other most of the time. They have good hearts and are trying to follow the Lord.
Our Christmas letters help me to see the growth in our children and remind me that I am so glad we homeschool.
This is what homeschooling is all about
Friday, December 02, 2011
A lot of truth to this
From Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list:
It isn't what we don't know
that gives us trouble,
it's what we know ain't so.
-Will Rogers
It isn't what we don't know
that gives us trouble,
it's what we know ain't so.
-Will Rogers
Cute: Fun suggestions on Budget Cuts
This is is funny, and I would be happy if all ten suggested cuts were implemented (Chuck Woolery on Budget Cuts):
Did I miss a memo? Are we now on Bizarro World?
In the Superman comics there is a planet often referred to as Bizarro World. Everthing there is backwards and nothing makes any real sense.
I wondered if I had been moved to Bizarro World after reading Teen stopped at airport for design on purse:
----------
Vanessa Gibbs, 17, claims the Transportation Security Administration stopped her at the security gate because of the design of a gun on her handbag.
Gibbs said she had no problem going through security at Jacksonville International Airport, but rather, when she headed home from Virginia.
"It's my style, it's camouflage, it has an old western gun on it," Gibbs said.
But her preference for the pistol style didn't sit well with TSA agents at the Norfolk airport.
Gibbs said she was headed back home to Jacksonville from a holiday trip when an agent flagged her purse as a security risk.
"She was like, 'This is a federal offense because it's in the shape of a gun,'" Gibbs said. "I'm like, 'But it's a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'"
After agents figured out the gun was a fake, Gibbs said, TSA told her to check the bag or turn it over.
----------
Reread the last line, the agents finally figured out a little image on a purse was not a real gun. I wonder how long it took them? A news video shows the purse is small and the image of the gun is only two inches.
Because of the TSA investigation the teenage girl missed her plane.
What happen to common sense?
Can we just ship TSA to Bizarro World? I'm sure people there would be happy with the lack of common sense.
Hat tip: Boycott Flying
I wondered if I had been moved to Bizarro World after reading Teen stopped at airport for design on purse:
----------
Vanessa Gibbs, 17, claims the Transportation Security Administration stopped her at the security gate because of the design of a gun on her handbag.
Gibbs said she had no problem going through security at Jacksonville International Airport, but rather, when she headed home from Virginia.
"It's my style, it's camouflage, it has an old western gun on it," Gibbs said.
But her preference for the pistol style didn't sit well with TSA agents at the Norfolk airport.
Gibbs said she was headed back home to Jacksonville from a holiday trip when an agent flagged her purse as a security risk.
"She was like, 'This is a federal offense because it's in the shape of a gun,'" Gibbs said. "I'm like, 'But it's a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'"
After agents figured out the gun was a fake, Gibbs said, TSA told her to check the bag or turn it over.
----------
Reread the last line, the agents finally figured out a little image on a purse was not a real gun. I wonder how long it took them? A news video shows the purse is small and the image of the gun is only two inches.
Because of the TSA investigation the teenage girl missed her plane.
What happen to common sense?
Can we just ship TSA to Bizarro World? I'm sure people there would be happy with the lack of common sense.
Hat tip: Boycott Flying
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Please remember to send in a post about homeschooling for the next Carnival of Homeschooling.
Next week's carnival will be held at The HSBA Post.
Next week's carnival will be held at The HSBA Post.
This will be the 310th edition.
Blog Carnvial is partial broken. It is accepting submissions, but not forwarding them. It would be easier if you just submitted your post directly via email. Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
Some other homeschooling carnivals
Homeschool Showcase #85 is up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
The recent HandsOn Homeschool Blog Carnival is up at Talking to Myself.
The latest Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up at Piney Woods Homeschool.
The recent HandsOn Homeschool Blog Carnival is up at Talking to Myself.
The latest Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up at Piney Woods Homeschool.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - Homeschool Open House
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is up at NerdFamily Blog.
This is the 309th carnival!
The NerdMom is hosting a Homeschool Open House:
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I am so honored to be hosting this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling! Welcome to my Homeschool Open House!!! So come on in and relax for a while. There are some great entries into the carnival this week.
----------
This is the 309th carnival!
The NerdMom is hosting a Homeschool Open House:
----------
I am so honored to be hosting this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling! Welcome to my Homeschool Open House!!! So come on in and relax for a while. There are some great entries into the carnival this week.
----------
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