Thread: Book prices

  1. #91
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    I'm claiming it yes. And I'm also relaying the general feeling including people specialized in the matter. I really can't say anything much more about it without paying you a (first class?) trip and teaching you Portuguese so that you can follow the national debate. I really have nothing much more to say about this. It's useless.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  2. #92
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  3. #93
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    I'm claiming it yes. And I'm also relaying the general feeling including people specialized in the matter. I really can't say anything much more about it without paying you a (first class?) trip and teaching you Portuguese so that you can follow the national debate. I really have nothing much more to say about this. It's useless.
    Eu não preciso de um bilhete de primeira classe, ou instrução sobre como falar Português, mas as ligações reais para artigos de notícias seria bom.

  4. #94
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Damn! That was a nice surprise
    I'll try to feed you some news then.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  5. #95
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    I think I was clear to note that evidence seems to point to no value from this measure. Do read my posts again. Parents organizations and local news all mention the failure of this measure on a recurrent basis. Which is then furthered by the current data on school success rates and dropouts.
    I would say anyone who wants to jump in with the program just started, and cite statistics like those or anecdotal evidence or whatever, is CLEARLY AND OBVIOUSLY just playing naysayer in a political game. The money has been spent, you will not get it back, and there will be no real way to tell if it has been well spent for a long time. Giving someone a laptop will not increase their level of education over night.

    However, in an electoral democracy it is important to be able to slam your opponents as soon as they act, to begin generating as much negativity as you can around an issue ASAP. If you are wrong, it doesn't matter much, it wasn't your program and everyone will forget you didn't like it. I simply would not trust someone -- no matter who they are, PTA or whatever -- that believes what you are referring to is valid social science, since it could not be.

    I'm kind of neutral on the issue, since I am sure the money could have been better spent, and the main REAL reason this was accomplished was because it must have received wild support from the telecom and IT industry. Bonus points for them if it then is perceived as unsuccessful or wasteful, since they took the money, and it may help get the socialists out of power (which we all know, businesses don't like socialists!). Realpolitick to the max, no doubt.

    On the other hand, I doubt it will do any harm. I believe the internet is a better place than television for young minds, so even for a majority who will just use it as a toy will benefit. And there will surely be a significant minority who go further than that, to various degrees in various directions.

    I don't give much credence to mass opinion and media representations thereof anyway. The general population in Canada, where I am from, is very cynical politically. They very seldom if ever support ANY kind of public initiative, but they will complain about them at the drop of a hat. At the "people on the street" level, what they complain about changes from week to week and is quickly forgotten. I do not think they actually care that much about any given issue, just that is how they were brought up to behave. It is the "Canadian character", if you will: cynical and ignorant*. A lot of places are like that, possibly because these people really do not want to even have a nation together (there are a number of different separatist movements) so any kind of national initiative is pre-billed as a failure. And they are much better at being negative than constructive. So what?

    * thus there are a disproportionate number of big name Canadian comedians (Steve Martin, Jim Carrey, Dan Ackroyd, Mike Myers, etc) : they are parodying the norm. The "bumpkin" is really an ignorant person who rejects cynicism, thus appears foolish.
    Last edited by MK27; 09-27-2009 at 02:44 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  6. #96
    Unregistered User Yarin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    Damn! That was a nice surprise
    I'll try to feed you some news then.
    Not making an accusation, but keep in mind this little tool.

  7. #97
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Didn't know online translation tools were getting that good (if that is the case).

    ...

    Having trouble finding anything of any relevancy, Abachler. Most discussions took place between December last year and May this year on newspapers articles ( I read Público and Diário de Noticias), and over a series of TV debate shows (Prós & Contras, Pontos de Vista, Quadratura do Círculo). The first one, translated directly to Pros & Cons, is a wide audience show with 8 guests and lasts between 2 and 3 hours. The issue was debated twice on two separate programs when the government educational policies were being particularly criticized between January and April (for other reasons and which resulted in 2 giant strikes).

    I'm also having trouble finding anything on any relevance on newspapers because this is old(?) news, was mostly being discussed through articles of opinion by known figures of the educational system.

    So, if what you want is confirmation on what I'm saying, you'll have to take my word for it. If instead you want to know more about it, then I'm afraid I can't be of much help. It is possible the debate resurfaces during the next few months since school has begun 2 weeks ago. We had elections over here today. PS has won again, although this time not with a qualified majority.
    Last edited by Mario F.; 09-27-2009 at 08:09 PM.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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