Ice Cavern Studios

It would appear that the bookstore loosely affiliated with my Alma Mater has decided to release e-books locked with DRM that expires in 5 months. One of my old professors has a

blog post about it.

There isn’t much I can add beyond what Professor Felten has already said. I think it’s a stupid idea and most students, if given the choice, will simply choose the Òdead treeÓ version. I personally wouldn’t take a version of any of my textbooks in electronic format. Especially anything for Math/Science/Engineering related fields that I’ll want to use (or burn) later.

I will say that, having been a student, the Screw-Store is just out to increase profits. I’m not sure on the financials of this, but I doubt this is for the good of the student body. Especially given their ÒmonopolyÓ on books in the area. (I know there is Macabre but in four years, I only had to get books there once.)

Oh well, it will definitely be fun to see how long it takes the student body to crack the DRM, or at least reject this crap outright.

Digital Copyright

I just had a talk with Ryan about teaching people to program, and I was finally able to pin down one of my big opinions on the subject. After months of trying to put a finger on it, I was able to realize just why it is that I like C++ as a teaching language over C# (which I prefer to program in).

What it comes down to is that C++, in my opinion, is an easier language for the teacher to work with. Because it is easy to write programs in C++ that make no use of pointers, OOP, or windowed interfaces, C++ allows a teacher to begin teaching without having to worry about having to go too in depth on a topic every time Òwhy do _____.Ó Ultimately, every other reason I’ve ever given for not liking C# (or Java for that matter) comes down to the ÒWhys.Ó

Take a look at Hello World in C++ and then C#:



#include <iostream.h>

main()

{

cout << \"Hello World!\";

return 0;

}



And now for C#:



using System;

public class Hello2

{

public static void Main()

{

Console.WriteLine(\"Hello, World!\");

}

}



On first look they look pretty even. Pretty simple. But when you actually start going through the code, C# forces you to explain classes (on some level). There is also having to worry about public/private and static/instanced. Now while you may not plan to cover those topics right away, people tend to start asking ÒWhy do I need to include that?Ó Once they do, it’s very hard not to start spiraling.

In both cases there is hand waiving and the yelling of Òignore the man behind the curtain,Ó but at least with C++ it’s a bit easier to push stuff off to a later date. And this doesn’t stop. It just builds. As you move on into variables, functions, and loops the nuances of C# press more and more extraneous issues, where as C++ can remain pretty on course.

Mind you, once you get past the basics and start getting into pointers and such, I will admit that C# is probably easier. Since it’s much harder to get oneself into trouble than in C++. At the same time, you don’t really know what’s going on with the memory at the level of C# so it’s definitely a trade off, but I will go into that later.

Programming

So I currently own a Audiovox SMT5600 smartphone, which, after this weekend I am totally impressed with. Mainly because it lives up to it\’s codename of Typhoon.

So Friday there was a moral event for all of MScom that took park at a local lake. Part of the event involved the riding of jet skis (which is awesome and everyone should try it). Unfortunately, on my last run out, I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket; so when I jumped off the jet ski, my phone was completely submerged in water. D\’oh.

When I pulled the device out of my pocket, it seemed completely dead. I couldn\’t turn it on or anything. After letting it dry for a bit, I tried once again to turn it on. Still nothing happened. One of my house mates, who works in the Windows CE group told me to just let it dry out all the way. Figuring he knew what he was talking about, I followed his advice.

And after 24 hours of drying, my phone operates as if nothing had happened. It\’s actually pretty remarkable. I was already impressed with the mobile Internet; the ability to sync up with my work email, and all of the cool little features offered by the platform. But the ability for the phone to survive having been entirely submerged in water is awesome.

The crazy part is, this isn\’t the first time it\’s been subjected to heavy water. While at Reunions back in Princeton, my phone was thoroughly drenched during the P-Rade monsoon. And it worked flawlessly still.

I guess they really knew what they were talking about when they dubbed it the Typhoon.

Gadgets

So this weekend was pretty good. I managed to get outside a good deal. I was active, and I even got stuff down around the house.

The first thing I did was go to the Microsoft Flag Football League's “Free Agent” day. Basically, all the people who are new to the league sign up and come to this day so that the captains can see everyone. It's like an NFL scouting camp in a way. For the twenty of us that showed up, we were treating to some passing drills, springs, and scrimmaging; all of which was supposed to allow the captains to see how we matched up. I'm not sure how well they could see my talent (or anyone else's for that matter) from what we did, but it was a chance to get out and play some football and I had a really good time.

After that I cam home, and after a little bit of resting, I mowed the lawn and got some yard work done. I haven't mowed a lawn in years, but I found it to be very relaxing and I actually enjoyed it. Maybe because I have my own house, but I just enjoyed maintaining our lawn. Unfortunately we've done a poor job of maintaining stuff, so it's going to be some work getting everything to look good again, but I figure it will be worth it. I also purchases sprinklers for the yard and figured out where to place them for maximum coverage.

The rest of Saturday was spent being a bum with Justin (one of my housemates). We went to Fry's for a bit and then came back and played a lot of video-games. A LOT. As in up till 2 in the morning.

Today was pretty chill. I woke up late. Dragged myself to Safeway to get groceries. And then bummed around here some more. Around 3:45 H and I left to go play 9 holes of golf. Now I haven't swung a club in about 3 weeks, so I was doing pretty poorly. I need to hit the range again. I was swinging so much better just a few weeks ago, I'm pretty miffed. Thankfully, H was a good partner to hit the links with, so I left having had a good time.

After golf, I came back to the house and continued to bum. Around 11:00 I decided to crack open my copy of Microsoft Money and I got myself mostly set up. I don't know why I thought 11:00 PM was a good time for this, but for some reason it seemed like a good idea. *shrugs* I think tomorrow I'll go back and make sure I didn't do anything too stupid.

But yeah, it was a good weekend. And now, I'm going to sleep for I'm looking to have a good week this week. Word.

Life and Times

I haven't been getting to bed at a reasonable hour, recently. Been going to bed late and fighting it in the morning. For some reason, I just haven't been tired. Till today. Now I'm not having that problem. Nope. Working out has definitely fixed me of that.

After a crazy month (which I will try to get to talking about later) I'm desperately trying to get back into my old routine. Both at work and out. So far, I've managed to get back to the gym and I'm slowly getting up earlier. Tomorrow it's back to the rock gym; which I am really looking forward to.

It's not to say I haven't had an awesome month, I have. I saw my family. Moved. Spent an incredible week with Nicole. I've been to Ohio, New York, and South Carolina. It's just been hell on trying to stay in a rhythm. So it's going to be nice just getting back into the flow.

So now I'm going to get to sleep. It's going to be great. And tomorrow, I'll hopefully wake up and have a nice walk to work. Word.

Life and Times