skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'm not worried about liberal arts education. I couldn't care less about that.

I'm just wondering how you think making an app would be the difficult part of teaching thermodynamics or fluid mechanics to people.
Well, not so fast. There is a certain quality to those who grew up with computers in their home of that era. We could call it being more "hardcore" or talk of The Little Coder's Predicament in today's era.

Take John Romero, who loved playing video games, but didn't have the endless quarters to play them in the arcade. So he started creating games by programming them, playing them and tweaking them endlessly. And that's where he learned game design (he was the designer of Doom and Quake).

This isn't to say that this is the "greatest generation" of technologists or something -- they were merely well-suited for what came afterwards, which was an exciting time anyway.

However, I will venture to say that those who come of age in the early years of a certain technology, art form or skill seem to have fewer limits on their creativity. When you have stood on the shoulders of giants your whole life, you are much less likely to have "ground-level" ideas. You want to program the next great MMORPG, not a game about mutant camels.

So maybe this is a poor technological environment on the average, but it could be argued that it could engender a rare sort of brilliance as well. Since it seems that there is certainly an eccentric streak at work (parenting as performance art?), that seems like a possibility.
Two things:

1. The OP did reach out to the teacher:

> I suggested that she talk to you. I offered to talk to you. I offered to come talk to the class. I offered to send one of my male friends, perhaps a well-known local programmer, to go talk to the class. Finally, my daughter decided to plow through, finish the class, and avoid all her classmates. I hate to think what less-confident girls would have done in the same situation.

2. Well, the issues were, in one way, "resolved" because the daughter passed the class (with an 'A') despite her apparent unhappiness. If you mean that the parent should wait till the issues are actually fixed before blogging...well, if the teacher doesn't respond, then I guess the parent should not blog at all?

edit: My bad, the sentence in context would indicate that OP offered to go talk to the teacher, but the daughter declined. Whether or not the OP should've gone ahead and met the teacher is a whole other issue.
I don't think so, it says Nokia in the bottom right, along with CartoDB: http://cartodb.com
Four years ago? Jesus...

Back in 10th grade (2007), I had the option of choosing a programming course, but I chose not to. But at least the class was teaching C++ and not VB6.
I'm surprised that more people don't wrap such acronyms (or abbreviations) in <ACRONYM> or <ABBR> tags (at least the first time it's used in a page or article).
Hmm...one symbol that points to both values and methods...maybe that could be the foundation upon which some types of useful abstractions could be built...nah, it would never be successful.
The difference is internal vs. external: if you use UTF-8 things simply work better any time you exchange data. If you had lots of high code points (>\U+8000) you would get better results in most cases using a full compression system rather than playing with 2-byte encoding hacks, which is really all you're talking about in both cases.
But that seems impossible. Most men I know that program have general social problems, not just relating to women. The field itself is of interest to the slightly colder, and more rational mindset.

I'm not saying we can't fix this problem. We can do that by hiring more well rounded people for programming positions. The same type of male techie who would mistreat a woman at the workplace, would mistreat a man too. I don't necessarily think being odd is wrong as long as you're not hurting someone.

Personally it's the tech industries fault in general, which continues to pander to the academic and elitist groupings to foster talent, which is in and of itself unequal. Add to the fact that these groupings contain their own patriarchal problems and the picture becomes even more complex. Personally I don't feel like we need 50% women in the tech industry. I feel like everyone should be given an equal chance at learning as many skills as possible in a fostering learning environment. The fact that schools, parents, etc don't accomplish this can't all be blamed on the industry itself. Many engineering subjects suffer from these larger societal problems that relate with entrenched social roles and patriarchal institutions.

Making the average Joe reading hacker news aware of these problems are important, but laying the blame on all men, or even a subset larger than a choice few who benefit from the systemic patriarchal tendencies in unfair however. The core issue is equality. And society isn't equal. This is more of an effect than a primary problem.
With regards to your third point:

Is there a modern (or better suited for introductory courses) language that has the kind of curriculums built around it that VB and Java do?

Codecademy and the like are awesome for independent learning and exploration, but it doesn't work for classroom instruction. There don't seem to be many curriculums designed around modern, web-focused languages like Ruby or Javascript that your average teacher can use for high school CS classes.
Ask HN: What's the best way to learn a new human language?
My company has fantastic support for remote working so I'm going to spend two months coding from Buenos Aires, Argentina starting in February. Given the five or so months I've got, what's the best way for met get as fluent as possible in Spanish?

Things I'm considering:

* babel.com
* the memory palace approach
* taking a language school class
* video conference-based tutoring lessons
* the approach advocated by Timothy Ferris

Note: I'm an English speaking American. I studied Japanese for 10 years, lived there for one, and speak/read Japanese at a decent level.
There was a good write up on HN a while back about this font, including a republished version called Nameless Amateur which fixes the positioning of the forward slash. See http://1overn.com/2011/02/02/tweaking-my-favorite-programmin...
Oh interesting, I did not interpret it that way but you may be right.
See definition of public good(economics):

In economics, a public good is a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous in that individuals cannot be effectively excluded from use and where use by one individual does not reduce availability to others.[1] Examples of public goods include fresh air, knowledge, lighthouses, national defense, flood control systems and street lighting. Public goods that are available everywhere are sometimes referred to as global public goods.
> While I was attending SC '12 in Salt Lake City last November, my daughter emailed to tell me that the boys in her class were harassing her. "They told me to get in the kitchen and make them sandwiches," she said.

Even if you think the parent is overstepping their bounds here, I would rather a parent be too concerned as oppose to not being concerned at all. Double so that he is in the tech sector while we are facing the huge gender issue. If the teacher is not doing their job stopping the harassment and thereby enforcing the stereotype, then perhaps is should be spelled out.
It used to be C++ for AP Computer Science, no? Anyhow. It used to be C++ for my high school and just a year or two before I was a freshman (that was 2006) it became Java.
These situations are always regrettable and awful. High school strikes me as the place to expect immaturity and shittiness the most, and because of that, I would expect teachers to be all the more committed to fighting that shitty, dumb sexism.

By not stopping the shitty, dumb sexism dead in its tracks, the teacher also did a huge disservice to the boys in the class.
They've now had a chance to learn that treating women in CS this way is okay. I hope that in the <5 years it takes them to get to the professional world, they have realized how damaging they were. More importantly, I hope the author's daughter finds the personal strength to pursue CS.
Why did it make the audience members feel uncomfortable?
A device useful for firing up small caliber pendants?
It sounds like the author offered these choices to the child and not to the teacher.
The author's main point is well-stated and deplorable.

As for the ancillary issue of the class material itself being crap: yeah, duh. And it's not just computer programming. You only notice how bad that class is because you have relevant expertise.

It's a safe bet that the other courses are similarly terrible. Send a biologist or physicist or mathematician or historian to observe a randomly selected high school class and they will find that their subjects too are being taught by people without the slightest appreciation or aptitude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5g3gSoWCSI&t=25m40s
McObject delivers port of eXtremeDB DBMS for iOS
It's like remembering the screeeeee-krrsssssh-bdang!bdang!bdang!-krrrssssh-click of a dialup modem. It fairly neatly bifurcates generations of nerds.

Rotary phones were quite elegant. As the dial returns to 0, it sends pulses down the line. The pulses actuate series of stepping switches to form the final phone circuit.
My Programming I class was taught by a math teacher (who was an excellent algebra instructor). Unfortunately he was only a chapter ahead of the class in computer programming. But that wasn't the worst part. For guidance, he turned to his brother-in-law, who was a manager of developers at Motorola. He stated as much the first day of class, boasting "You're going to have the rare treat of learning how programming is done in the real world!"

All the joy of programming was quickly sucked out as we had to meticulously document our code. Sub routines needed 2-3 paragraph plain-English explanations of what they were doing. Each variable's purpose needed to be stated. And before you could write a single line of code, you first had to write it out in a form of "pseudo code" which had its own syntax rules that we had to follow. Lots of emphasis was placed on the process of what we should be doing instead of the how and why. Students struggled.

I understand what he was trying to do: having us write everything out gave him a window into how our minds were breaking down the problem. But in the process, he turned what should have been a fun, exploratory class into a grind.

The notion that programming could be a fun activity, and not just mindless, process-driven office work was completely foreign to him, and I suspect the same is true for many teachers who are stuck teaching Programming classes in both public and private schools.

Edit:
And on the issue of gender, my class had 25 students, 11 of whom were girls. I remember being amazed at how a programming class could have a 50/50 ratio. I didn't notice anyone being bullied or teased. I imagine once women reach "critical mass" women won't be singled-out to the same degree. A few bad apples or even a sexist teacher can't "single out" 44% of their class. Why were there so girls enrolled? I don't know, but the class did have a reputation for being an easy A, so perhaps it was viewed as less intimidating.
Hello? Why would it not be ok to tell a teacher how to do their job when they're clearly failing at it? Who, exactly, is the customer here?

My only complaint about the article is that it did not name the teacher or the school. Public shaming can work wonders.
If students are being harassed and driven away from a subject by their peers I don't think the out of date curriculum is the most significant problem in that classroom.
I got a feeling that the OP was ranting due to her own hurt feelings rather than her daughter's. I failed to see anything out of the extraordinary that made the teacher deserve such harsh criticism. Yes she was harassed by some boys, I agree that sucks and the teacher should do something about it.

I have a baby daughter my self and can imagine the feelings if I heard she got harassed by her schoolmates, but then I would write a letter that focuses on THAT problem and not criticizing irrelevant points like the teacher's choice of programming language and overall teaching methods.

Also, if the girl truly has an interest in programming than years of encouragement is not even necessary, she will naturally be attracted by it and there is no parent who can stop her from it.
I totally agree that UTF-8 is pretty good at exchanging data because UTF8 is better than UCS-* and other UTF-* overall, and because everyone is (and should be) using it.

But you know, there are other cases besides exchanging. Like I said, if your text data is mainly latin you are good, but not so good if you are stuck with non-latin BMPs.
It's too bad the teacher was too weak to protect your daughter's honor, and ensure decency in the classroom. High school can be a cruel place. I hope she realizes those hurtful comments didn't represent her at all. It was just scared boys searching for some semblance of masculinity they may never find.
My favorite comment...a tad subtle:

> During the first semester of my daughter's junior/senior year, she took her first programming class. She knew I'd be thrilled, but she did it anyway.

Edit: before anyone harangues me, I don't mean to take away from the shitty circumstances surrounding the core message in the post, just got a chuckle out of the subtle dad/daughter humor inserted.
Simplenote for Android
offers what tcp/ip can't - webscale cloud
Yeah, that gets the text but unfortunately no pictures of the font :-(
your statement is an existence statement. Yes, public goods exist. In some cases government regulation of public goods against abuse is reasonable e.g. "clean air". But your statement doesn't give moral justification for government subsidy of public goods.

Let's put it in really stark terms. I want to build a lighthouse. Because it's a public good; it will keep ships in the ocean safe. Is it morally justified for me to hold a gun to your head and threaten to blow it off if you don't give ten dollars for the construction of the lighthouse? What about one dollar? Ten cents? Half a cent? Let's ratchet back a little bit. Maybe I don't threaten to blow your head off. I'll just build a cell and throw you in there. For ten years. Is it any better if it's six months? Six weeks? Does that make it any better? Does it make it any morally better if instead of taking the personal responsibility for detaining you, I delegate that responsibility to agents of a byzantine bureaucracy?
Female Astronauts Face Discrimination Over NASA's Space Radiation Concerns
> What's the best way to learn a new human language?

The best way is to be four years old, live in an environment that requires the target language, and have a lot of spare time.

The second best way is to live with a native speaker and have a need to communicate.

The third best way is to take a class with a native speaker.

The fourth and lesser choices are too painful and inefficient to consider.
Heat is absolutely a problem with the current Pixel. My suspicion is that the Pixel can probably cool itself well under loads you would expect in ChromeOS, but if you fall outside of that usage pattern it becomes problematic. (There probably aren't a lot of ways to peg the CPU at 100% for minutes on end in ChromeOS while not in dev-mode.)

> if there is one.

Yeah, that is a big if. I don't have any sort of sales figures for the current Pixel, but I haven't encountered many other people with one... I suspect it isn't selling well.
Kids say terrible things. This isn't the sign of a bad teacher or a worthy of a internet rant, it's an opportunity to prepare her kids (Not just the girls) for the real full-contact brutal reality known is the the real working world.
Indeed, it looks like Yahoo! uses Nokia "here" maps as a data source.

CartoDB is not a map provider, it's a web-based GIS suite that lets you import different base layers.
High school kids can be mean. Film at eleven.
Speaking as a teacher, I would love to get detailed feedback from a parent regarding their perception of my classroom environment.

Of course, if I had a parent suggest I needed to talk to a student and/or them about a classroom issue (the post was pretty explicit about it), I'd start there instead of waiting until the end of the semester and thereby provoking them into writing a bullet-pointed letter.
The page is dead. Does anyone have the updated link?
How does he get through the course certification? Shouldn't he has to demonstrate he has the qualification to teach CS class? Is this a high school from a small town? I'd imagine in NYC this could mean firing the school's principal if New York Daily finds out.
Nothing wrong with Pascal though, it's probably much better to learn with than say C++ or Java.
Unblocked: A Guide To Making Things People Love
One time in college, I went to a busy ice cream restaurant with some friends of mine (Fenton's in Emeryville).

After entering, we saw there was just one single open table, so we went and put our jackets down on it and then got into line. After getting our ice cream we went back to the table only to find our jackets gone and some fat people sitting there, eating ice cream with their fat kids.

When I asked where our jackets were, a man, presumably the father of the obese family, told us that there were "some jackets" on the table but that they had the security guard come and clear them. As we went to find our coats, he informed us that "putting your jacket on the table doesn't count" for reserving a table.

In reading your post I am reminded of the certitude with which this large, stupid man asserted the correctness of an arbitrary and stupid set of rules, completely of his own making.
My 2004 CS class was Visual Basic. The instructor didn't know anything, but its hard to hold that against a guy making ~$40k/yr at midcareer. Instead of a competent teacher, we had textbooks that we were expected to work through one chapter at a time. I suspect the OP's daughter was brought in for a similar type of education, and the textbooks just haven't been updated since the early 2000s. That's really the only logical explanation for teaching a class in VB in 2013.
Maybe it's an age thing, but is it just me or is this phenomenon really new? When I was a kid, geeks were inclusive. Weird and horny and therefore prone to awkward creepiness, but not hostile.

Was it always like this and I just need to "check my privilege" as a dude or has the 4chanification of geek culture invaded real life?

And as for the VB, VB.Net is actually an okay language if you expose them to modern features. I mean, the boolean algebra syntax is weird, as are the array sizing, and the "Dim" keyword is just dumb... but other than those legacy issues the rest of the language is just "C# with words and a smaller community". Not great, but not that bad - there's modern closures/lambdas and full OOP and generics and all that great stuff.
That's not the problem described in the article though - it's an entirely non-technical issue about harassment, sexism, and general acceptable classroom behaviour. It's not about the level of computing knowledge at all.
"how were you even able to make programming boring?"

Puts into words the question I've been trying to ask some of my teachers for so long, but haven't been able to.

I know programming isn't intrinsically interesting to everyone, but I think there is still magic to be found in seeing your instructions (in VB, Pascal, C, Logo, whatever) translated to something on the screen.
I don't disagree with you, strictly speaking, but I do understand how VB might not be the best way to get people interested in programming. While JavaScript is, in my very humble opinion, a rather poor "first language", I understand why so many people seem to want to use it as such, because it is easy to get "neat" results.

When I was a youngster, I thought the copy of VB 5 my dad got me was the coolest thing ever, because being able to create "real" computer programs like the ones I used every day was super-awesome-sweet. Today, kids are much more likely to interact with mobile apps and web sites. So teaching them to make those things is more likely to be exciting, the way Windows GUI apps were for me in the 90s.
Claiming it's a tent is one thing, convincing the fire marshal is another. Plumbing and electrical service probably won't weigh in one's favor.
We started out with one of those baby logger apps for iOS, and then things kinda went out of hand.
While I appreciate the sentiment all you have to do is look at the huge numbers of ripoffs in the world (Particularly prevalent in IOS / Android) to see that your artwork will be stolen no matter what you do.

As for the font stuff you may not be allowed to post it anyway as it would count as redistribution. You will need to check the licenses for those.

the next question is why do you want to open-source it? If it is for teaching purposes for others you could replace the fonts with free/libre ones and replace your art assets with low resolution versions.
> I got a feeling that the OP was ranting due to her own hurt feelings rather than her daughter's. I failed to see anything out of the extraordinary that made the teacher deserve such harsh criticism.

The classroom culture is the teacher's responsibility. If a student is being harassed and has a hostile environment in this classroom, the teacher has failed in a serious way. Doubly-so when the harassment is driven by bigotry.
When this child grows up, there will be no parent to write a blog post. My point being, we all have to learn to navigate this difficult world. Stern letters from mom eventually have to stop.
Also, is it common for 16 year olds to ask for a car in the US? I asked my mum to make my favourite food, and some money so i could go out with friends. Compared to "a car" or a Macbook Pro, it sounds like i had a deprived life.
My experience in the professional world is that its full of assertive, aggressive individuals men and women included. There are only so many slots at the top and the ones not occupied by the CEO's nephew belong to thick skinned individuals who have endured a careers worth of mental/emotional abuse. How many times have your heard someone utter the words "My boss/colleague/lead is an idiot." Is it a disservice to create these mushy teeball environments where everyone gets to be an astronaut?