"This website is here to guide you through the process of developing very basic operating systems on the Raspberry Pi! This website is aimed at people aged 16 and upwards, although younger readers may still find some of it accessible, particularly with assistance. More lessons may be added to this course in time." From the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, one of the institutions behind the Raspberry Pi. Amazing resource.
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Member since:2005-06-29
I've gotten a strong sense from the writings of the folks involved with the Raspberry Pi project that they perceive the current generation of students to be nearly a lost cause. They feel that kids today couldn't care less about programming and circuit design, as long as their shiny iDevices can get a wireless signal.
I seriously hope that isn't true, but unfortunately my (admittedly limited) experience with children today bears it out. Instead of playing a real guitar or drums, kids are playing with Rock Band controllers. Instead of building their own kit computers or learning to program with BASIC or JavaScript, they are struggling to understand Legos and improving their score in FPS games on the Xbox.
That isn't to say that such activities are a bad thing; rather, it's that the raw desire to learn seems to be diminished by the immediate availability of mass media. Our children have become easily bored consumers with little drive to understand what makes their toys tick. I know that some may consider that a gross generalization but in many ways it rings true.
That's one of the things I like about the Raspberry Pi project; its original intent was as a learning tool for anyone of any age, but especially accessible to youths of today. I really wish groups like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts would seize the opportunity to use it as a bridge into the modern world of hobby computing.
Member since:2005-12-18
To be fair with the current generation, i would say that it worked always that way.
Only a very, very, really small segment of the total population ever bothered themselves to understand how anything works unless obliged by their professions after they come to age, regardless of the generation.
The difference today is that, as a kid, you have more "off the shelf" fun, as long our parents has the money. I kind of envy the current gen of kids, because even as adult, i want to play with some of their "toys".
Member since:2011-01-28
Morgan,
+1
I learned so much myself because we had friends that ran a computer business. I worked there (albeit unpaid) while I was in high school. I was able to build my own machines from parts because of that experience.
I wonder how many families there are today who don't have a user programmable computer in the house at all? Modern tablets and xboxes aren't anywhere near as good at teaching technology, they are far cry from the likes of one laptop per child, which encouraged software tinkering rather than prohibiting it.
Member since:2010-03-11
That's great for you, but the vast majority aren't in your shoes. Being personally familiar with it, the American school system fails completely at teaching anything even slightly complicated. For example, even though I was put on a "fast track" for math I was never presented with the math to do 3D work. My highschool didn't even offer linear algebra! I probably could have done the electronics courses in high school to learn to design circuits, but that option certainly wasn't available before that, meaning at best the school system started offering this kind of stuff at 14 or 15 (at 8 they were still trying to teach multiplication!)
Member since:2005-08-09
You're asking too much from education system. If you want to learn something, nobody can stop you (except religion issues). At 16 a lot of my friends were fluent asm coders.
For example, even though I was put on a "fast track" for math I was never presented with the math to do 3D work.
The base "math to do 3D work" could be learned in a several days.
Why didn't you tried to open a book at least?
Edited 2012-10-28 15:44 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Member since:
2006-03-27
I could grasp this stuff when I was 8 or 9. At 16 I was on the way to design digital and analog electronic boards, and knew enough math to develop a 3D engine. Come on!