KidsRuby is for underage programmers — from etechmag.com by Sara Williams
.
Excerpt:
Computer programming is very tough no doubt but it is very interesting when you see your work is appreciated on a big platform. If you’re a kid by yourself or have kids who want to be programmers but wondering from where to start this early career then Ruby is your answer.
.
.
.
Learn the Basics of Coding — from lifehacker.com
Greenfoot teaches object orientation with Java. Create ‘actors’ which live in ‘worlds’ to build games, simulations, and other graphical programs. Greenfoot is visual and interactive. Visualisation and interaction tools are built into the environment. The actors are programmed in standard textual Java code, providing a combination of programming experience in a traditional text-based language with visual execution.
Scott Hanselman’s 2011 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows
Best of the Web Blogs re: Programming
Marc Andreessen: Predictions for 2012 (and beyond) — from cnet.com by Paul Sloan
Excerpt:
Software has chewed up music and publishing. It’s eaten away at Madison Avenue. It’s swallowed up retail outlets like Tower Records. The list goes on.
No area is safe–and that’s why Andreessen sees so much opportunity.
Fueling his optimism: ubiquitous broadband, cloud computing, and, above all, the smartphone revolution. In the 1990s, the Internet led to crazy predictions that simply weren’t yet possible. Now they are.
The Application Island: Gaining Mobile Developer Mindshare — from readwriteweb.com by Dan Rowinski
IBM sends Watson supercomputer to business school – from wired.com by Eric Smalley
Excerpt:
There have been four waves of technological innovation that disrupted the labor market over the last two and a half centuries starting with the Industrial Revolution, and we’re beginning the fifth, said IBM Chief Economist Martin Fleming. “We’re now beginning to enter into, in my view, a period where the economy is beginning to open up opportunities for the deployment of very significant innovation … We’re going to see many new industries get created, radical new technologies being deployed, but being deployed in the context of new business models,” he said.
“This will have significant implications from an income and income distribution point of view.”
The MIT economists generally agree that we’re at the beginning of a technology-driven shift in the economy and ultimately the labor market will adjust. But no one had any good news for workers in the middle of economy during the transition. “The future is already here in many ways, in terms of what technology can do,” Brynjolfsson said. “But right now the benefits are not very evenly distributed.”
Lessons from a review of JavaScript code — from smashingmagazine.com by Addy Osmani
Excerpt:
Today we’ll look at where to get your code reviewed, how to structure your requests, and what reviewers look for. I was recently asked to review some code for a new JavaScript application, and thought I’d like to share some of my feedback, because it covers some JavaScript fundamentals that are always useful to bear in mind.
Unlikely state is tops in tech job hiring — from TechNewsDaily by Samantha Murphy
Excerpt:
A report by the TechAmerica Foundation revealed that Michigan added the most technology jobs last year, bringing in 2,700 high-tech jobs between 2009 and 2010, a nearly 2 percent increase from the year before. Michigan now boasts 155,100 technology employees.
Some items on this:
From DSC: Expectations, today, are getting hard to beat
Since Apple’s event yesterday, I’ve heard some conversations on the radio and reviewed several blog postings and articles about Apple’s announcements…many with a sense of let down (and some with the usual critical viewpoints by the backseat drivers out there who have never tried to invent anything, but who sure like to find fault with everyone else’s inventions and innovations).
It made me reflect on how high our expectations are becoming these days! It wasn’t enough that iCloud is coming on 10/12 (and who knows the directions that will take society in). It wasn’t enough to introduce some serious software-based innovations such as Siri (which bring some significant advancements in the world of artificial intelligence) or AirPlay for the iPhone. It wasn’t enough to enter into the multi-billion dollar card industry with their new Cards app for the iPhone. Wow…tough crowd.
What might these announcements — and expectations — mean for education?
Well…I can see intelligent tutoring, intelligent agents, machine-to-machine communications, the continued growth of mobile learning, learning from the living room, the initiation of programs/events caused by changes in one’s location, continued convergence of the television/computer/telephone, continued use of videoconferencing on handheld devices, cloud-based textbooks/apps, and more.
Originally saw this at Steve Knode’s newsletter, which stated:
With Watson, IBM Seeks to Sell Medical Knowledge – Watson is the supercomputing engine that beat the top two human competitors on the quiz show Jeopardy! this year, and Daniels is on the IBM team developing the software’s first commercial application as what could be a stunningly useful diagnostic assistant for doctors. If it works as envisioned, Watson could help doctors identify what is afflicting any patient and suggest a course of treatment.
Via: OnlineEducation.net
From DSC:
This graphic nicely illustrates how “textbooks” are morphing into “apps.”
