Keyper7 writes “The first programming course I had during my computer science schooling, aptly named ‘Introduction to Programming,’ was given in C because its emphasis was on imperative programming. A little before I graduated, though, it was decided that the focus would change to object-oriented programming with Java. (I must emphasize that the change was not made because of any hype about Java or to dumb down the course; back then and still, it’s presented by good Java programmers who try to teach good practices and do not encourage excessive reliance on libraries.) But the practices taught are not paradigm-independent, and this sparked a discussion that continues to this day: which paradigm is most appropriate to introduce programming? Besides imperative and object-oriented, I know teachers who firmly believe that functional programming is the best choice. I’m interested in language-independent opinions that Slashdotters might have on this matter. Which paradigm is good to introduce programming while keeping a freshman’s mind free enough for him/her to learn other paradigms afterwards?”
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PC World – The Internet is full of filth. From “barely legal babes” to barely avoidable male-enhancement spam, something risqué seems to be lurking around every corner online.
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PC World – Having coined the phrase “the network is the computer” more than a decade ago Sun Microsystems could expect to be leading the march towards cloud computing, but in some ways it is still at the start line.
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CNET – Sun Microsystems appears to have put its utility computing effort, Network.com, on ice until it gets an idea of how to resurrect it.
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The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) has filed eight new lawsuits against sellers of allegedly pirated software, for the first time targeting sellers on Amazon.com and iOffer.com.
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A New York-based startup has launched an ad-supported Linux-based unified communications offering for the SMB market.
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floydman writes “Apparently the Egyptian government is paranoid about its community using GPS devices, to the degree that it demanded Apple remove any GPS functionality from its iPhone 3G. They claim that ‘GPS functionality should be limited to military purposes.’ Egyptian blogger Ahmed Gabr brought this issue up in another article, and talks about how this does not make sense, since Google maps and the like can be used. I also happen to know for a fact that most of the modern cars in Egypt have built-in GPS systems.”
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PC World – A New York startup has launched an ad-supported Linux-based unified communications software suite aimed at competing with Microsoft and IBM in the small and mid-sized business market.
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Xiroth writes “In what could be the first step to backing down on the plans to censor the Australian Internet, Communication Minister Stephen Conroy has made it known that the live trials of the Government filter will not, in fact, be live, instead being downgraded to a closed network test. Given that this would provide no further information than what Government tests have already provided, this may prove to be a face-saving measure before the plan is quietly scrapped. Nonetheless, concerned Australians are encouraged to attend protests planned for this weekend to ensure that the Government gets the message.”
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AP – The worsening economy appears to be helping computer crooks with one of their toughest tasks: tricking people into opening their homes and bank accounts and becoming “mules” for laundering money or stolen goods.
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WASHINGTON—”Al Gore has prevailed—I hope he can see this nation through a catastrophic recession and an unending war in Iraq,” said George W. Bush.
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t3rmin4t0r writes “Google has announced its Google native client, which enables x86 native code to be run securely inside a browser. With Java applets already dead and buried, this could mean the end of the new war between browsers and the various JavaScript engines (V8, Squirrelfish, Tracemonkey). The only question remains whether it can be secured (ala ActiveX) and whether the advantages carry over onto non-x86 platforms. The package is available for download from its Google code site. Hopefully, I can finally write my web apps in asm.” Note: the Google code page description points out that this is not ready for production use: “We’ve released this project at an early, research stage to get feedback from the security and broader open-source communities.” Reader eldavojohn links to a technical paper linked from that Google code page [PDF] titled “Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted x86 Native Code,” and suggests this in-browser Quake demo, which requires the Native Code plug-in.
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AP – Even as technology threatens the survival of video rental stores, serial entrepreneur Stuart Skorman thinks there’s still a place for the movie-matchmaking advice of veteran video store clerks.
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Reuters – Yahoo Inc will tell 1,500 employees on Wednesday they are losing their jobs, after announcing in October that layoffs would occur by year’s end, a person familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
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m2pc writes “The US Postal Service is experiencing major server issues for its shipping API web services. After spending about an hour debugging my own eCommerce software for a client, I found the problem was with the USPS shipping servers being unavailable. Further research showed that message boards for OS Commerce and other e-Commerce packages are filling with posts from angry users who are experiencing crashing Web store applications and frustrated customers. Developers are scrambling to find interim solutions, from hard-coding fixed price shipping, to ‘rolling their own’ shipping calculation APIs based on the USPS Fixed Rate Zone Tables, to disabling the USPS option altogether. One user reported yesterday that a call to USPS yielded the response ‘we expect it to be down all day.’ As of 9:20 AM PST the service is still unavailable.”
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Cisco Systems will shift resources into new product areas next year, including making a major push into homes, Chairman and CEO John Chambers said Tuesday.
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CNET – Hewlett-Packard early next year will begin offering a new line of “Enviro” batteries for laptop users who want to upgrade to longer-lasting and more sustainably designed batteries.
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The Internet has changed the entertainment scenario and opened a world of information and knowledge. The latest developments in the Internet field have made life rather easy and smooth. With the Internet facility reaching a milestone, one can reap its maximum benefits and have the world falling in their laps.
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edmicman sends word of a Fox News report about a Michigan State University student who is facing suspension for bulk emailing a number of professors at the university about a proposed change to the school calendar — an e-mail that the university is labeling spam. The article contains links to a copy of the original email, the allegations against the student, and the university’s Email Acceptable Use Policy. The student, Kara Spencer, asked a Philadelphia rights organization, FIRE, to get involved. The article quotes the FIRE defense program director: “The fact that MSU is considering punishment of Spencer simply for exercising her right to contact selected faculty members by e-mail shows a disturbing disregard for students’ freedom of expression. … Threatening a member of the student government with suspension for sending relevant, timely e-mails to faculty members is outrageous.” Spencer is awaiting the school’s judgement after a hearing, and vows to take to the courts if suspended.
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J.K. Rowling’s first post–Harry Potter book, The Tales Of Beedle The Bard, has become another bestseller for the author. What do you…
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Dell Tuesday denied that it has boosted the price of what it charges customers for “downgrading” to Windows XP from Vista when they purchase new desktops and laptops in the company’s popular Inspiron consumer line.
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Smelly Jeffrey writes “According to a recent article, Indiana BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough states that applicants for a new or renewed operator’s license or state identification card will no longer be allowed to smile and say cheese. Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling. Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses, and hair that hangs down over the face. The article fails to mention, however, the legality of beards, mustaches, and bushy eyebrows.” Similar restrictions are in place for the Enhanced Driver License (which serves as a sort of limited passport) implemented by the state of Washington, among others.
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PC World – Michael “Monty” Widenius, original developer of the open-source database MySQL, put a damper on Sun Microsystems’ recent release of MySQL 5.1 with his now-infamous Nov. 29 blog post trashing the company’s decision to give the update a “generally available” designation.
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PC World – Verizon Wireless expects to begin deploying next-generation LTE (Long-Term Evolution) wireless broadband within a year, a top executive of the carrier said Tuesday.
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CNET – The Open Handset Alliance, which promotes the use of Google’s Android mobile operating system, added 14 new members this week, including Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile operator.
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jonbryce writes “The Internet Watch Foundation, guardians of the Great Firewall of Britain, have stopped censoring Wikipedia for hosting what they considered to be a child porn image. They had previously threatened to block Amazon for hosting the same image.” Here is the IWF’s statement, which credits the Streisand Effect for opening their eyes: “…in light of the length of time the image has existed and its wide availability, the decision has been taken to remove this webpage from our list. Any further reported instances of this image which are hosted abroad, will not be added to the list. … IWF’s overriding objective is to minimize the availability of indecent images of children on the internet, however, on this occasion our efforts have had the opposite effect.”
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FT. LAUDERDALE, FL—Jeremy McCormick, 14, confirmed Tuesday that he brought a tennis ball on his trip to Florida. “I figured I’d bring it…
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