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   comp.misc      General topics about computers not cover      21,759 messages   

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   Message 20,667 of 21,759   
   D to Salvador Mirzo   
   Re: Schneier, Data and Goliath: no hope    
   24 Feb 25 23:15:27   
   
   From: nospam@example.net   
      
   On Mon, 24 Feb 2025, Salvador Mirzo wrote:   
      
   > D  writes:   
   >   
   >> On Sun, 23 Feb 2025, Salvador Mirzo wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>> This is very interesting! What was it that the student thought was crazy   
   >>>> complicated compared with git?   
   >>>   
   >>> Not compared to git.  They did not get to see git.  They just hated   
   >>> fossil to the point of almost giving up on the whole course altogether.   
   >>> Very likely they knew that other courses would give them the same   
   >>> credits and they could try it afresh on the next semester.   
   >>   
   >> Ahh, got it! Yes, sadly this happens to me as well. At the slightest hint of   
   >> difficulty or effort, about 20% of the class riots, complains to the school   
   that   
   >> the teacher is evil, that the difficulty level should be lowered etc. They   
   do   
   >> not realize, that the only ones they are cheating by doing that are   
   themselves.   
   >> The sad thing is that business owners (including myself) have noted a   
   dramatic   
   >> drop in skill from graduates over the past 3-4 years. One reason is that the   
   >> government has changed the funding of the schools, rewarding schools that   
   pass   
   >> all students. So of course, the schools pass all students, since it means   
   more   
   >> money for them (they are paid by the government upon graduation) and you   
   get the   
   >> situation where awful students graduate, and now, where companies no longer   
   hire   
   >> them.   
   >>   
   >> Usually in order to buck the trend somewhat, I make my first course more   
   >> difficult in order to get rid of the unmotivated ones. If I don't have the   
   first   
   >> course of the semester, the following 1-2 are pure hell, since the bad ones   
   >> remain and complain about everything, but after 1-2 semesters they usually   
   quit.   
   >> It is just sad that I could not make them realize this after 3 weeks, and   
   >> instead they waste 1-2 semesters. But such is life.   
   >   
   > Such is life. :)   
   >   
   >>>> I have taught classes with git (basics) and at the end of the day,   
   >>>> regardless of if you use git or fossil, it just requires a few simple   
   >>>> commands to get started at the basic level (we were not discussing   
   >>>> rebasing and huge software projects).   
   >>>   
   >>> I think it boils down to a lot more because these are compouter users   
   >>> that even ``environment variable'' is a never-seen concept.  I watched   
   >>> them opening a c:\> prompt on their Windows system, slowlying typing up   
   >>> their very long path to their project, say, and then doing it again on   
   >>> the next class---paths with spaces and other complicated symbols.   
   >>   
   >> Haha, yes... I think I have to tell them about ls, cd, pwd etc. about 30-40   
   >> times before they finally start to remember what it is. ;)   
   >   
   > Oh, yes, memory is another thing I notice.  Not only students, but   
   > teachers, too; I'm known as having a superb memory or something.  Truth   
   > is, though, it's their memory that is not doing very well.   
      
   I think smartphones and google are a huge part of the problem. I do not   
   have a smartphone, so I have to remember things like codes, shopping   
   lists, directions, and I am convinced it helps my memory somewhat.   
      
   The young ones, just google everything, so they don't exercise their   
   memory.   
      
   For instance, one of the students the other day was amazed at how I could   
   live without google maps, and wondered how I do it.   
      
   My answer, I check where I want to go, before I leave home. Most of the   
   time I remember it. If I don't know exactly where to go, I ask someone in   
   the street, or ask a hotel. The hotels are nice, because often they give   
   you a map. For long trips I might print out the map on a piece of paper.   
   This has the advantage of having zero value, so I never have to worry   
   about dropping it, forgetting it or someone stealing it.   
      
   The students were chocked! ;)   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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