Author: S!ick

Stanford is offering “ten courses from Stanford’s School of Engineering…including the three-course introductory sequence in Computer Science…free of charge.”

Introduction to Computer Science
Programming Methodology CS106A
Programming Abstractions CS106B
Programming Paradigms CS107

Artificial Intelligence
Introduction to Robotics CS223A
Natural Language Processing CS224N
Machine Learning CS229

Linear Systems and Optimization
The Fourier Transform and its Applications EE261
Introduction to Linear Dynamical Systems EE263
Convex Optimization I EE364A
Convex Optimization II EE364B

Artist Ben Walker has created a couple of pieces about services we use to communicate.

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The first one I noticed is the song “You’re No One If You’re Not On Twitter”:

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter
And if you aren’t there already you’ve missed it
If you haven’t been bookmarked, retweeted and blogged
You might as well not have existed

In the old days it was all about achievements
Collecting all your trophies in a shrine
Then everybody came across the internet
And suddenly you had to be online

A home page was all you really needed
To seem like a success but not a geek
As long as you updated semi-annually
And checked your email once or twice a week

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter…

Technology was moving rather quickly
And the next thing you needed was a blog
With intimate and detailed press releases
And now and then a photo of your dog

More recently the students brought us Facebook
And everybody has a hundred friends
The parties in the photos look amazing
They’re not so great but everyone pretends

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter…

Now you need to publish every movement
And every single thought to cross your mind
I’m told the Twitterverse is full of rubbish
But most of us are actually quite refined

We validate each other’s insecurities
And brag about the gadgets that we’ve bought
We laugh out loud at every hint of jolliness
And try to self-promote without being caught

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter…

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And, check out “The 12seconds Song”:

In twelve seconds you can tell them what you think about the world
You can show them all the toys you like to play with
You can premiere a witty animation of a dragon on a bike
You can keep in touch with people that you kinda really like
(But you wouldn’t ever want to spend the day with)

Kelly called our radio show and said he was unable to uninstall some software from Windows Vista.

Try to do it from Safe mode…

If that doesn’t work, you could consider using System Restore:
Turn back time on your PC
What is System Restore?
System Restore: frequently asked questions

Dave had a lightning strike that damaged his equipment. To prevent future trouble, we discussed some considerations…

To begin at the beginning, you can consider having the grid current checked to see if the baselines are correct.

Chris called in to suggest grounding the outside service panel properly with a grounding rod. (Consult your electric service provider for information about that…)

Damage can be done by static electricity…consider creating a place where you can discharge it from your body before you touch the computer.

To regulate overvoltage and undervoltage, use an uninterruptible power supply that offers line conditioning.

There are two basic types of UPSs:
(When there is a power outage) After a millisecond lag, the Standby UPS switches to a battery.
The Online UPS has no lag.

Some of these devices have lifetime warranties, and equipment replacement guarantees. In addition, you may want to consider having an insurance policy that covers equipment.