online
Observations of online classes
12/June/2008 18:12 Filed in: School
Well, this is the end of my second week of online
classes. Thus far things seem to be going well, I
enjoy the forum interactions with my classmates, but
not having that face to face contact, sometimes I get
the sense that some of my classmates are a-holes.
They probably aren’t, but when you just read text,
you tend to read into things, and often your mood at
the time you are reading what they wrote colors your
perception of what is written. If for example you are
tired, and therefore irritable, chances are that you
will have a more negative view of what is written
compared to when you are rested.
The one thing that I don’t like as much with online classes is that the class materials are released one week at a time, which means that I don’t have the opportunity to do what I normally do: front load the semester with all the reading, and most of the assignments, and then cruise through the last quarter of the semester with just maintenance work.
The one thing that I don’t like as much with online classes is that the class materials are released one week at a time, which means that I don’t have the opportunity to do what I normally do: front load the semester with all the reading, and most of the assignments, and then cruise through the last quarter of the semester with just maintenance work.
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Classes started
29/May/2008 21:10 Filed in: School
Hulu’s got it right!
07/April/2008 21:54 Filed in: Entertainment
Recently I have started watching shows on hulu.com,
and all I can say is “I wish there were more shows!”
Hulu has really gotten it right when it comes to
presenting streaming content with commercials.
1. I can pause the show, even overnight, and come back the next day and pick up without any hiccups. Fox and ABC’s players are almost the same in terms of the pause-quality of their streaming content, but CBS is by far the worst.
2. The commercials are timed just right, and shows just continue! Show-commercial-show, no need to click on anything. On CBS and the CW you are thrown out of full screen view to see the commercial and then you need to click again to get back to full screen. On ABC the commercials are not timed right, so the commercial might be over, but you are still waiting so that you can hit the “back to show” button – really annoying.
3. The audio levels of the commercials are on par with the audio levels of the show. This means that when you cut to commercial you are not BLASTED with audio. CBS and the CW are the worst offenders in this category, ABC, FOX and NBC are a mixed bag.
4. The video quality and audio quality of the shows is at least broadcast quality, if not better.
The only advantage of ABC.com has is that they offer shows in HD.
1. I can pause the show, even overnight, and come back the next day and pick up without any hiccups. Fox and ABC’s players are almost the same in terms of the pause-quality of their streaming content, but CBS is by far the worst.
2. The commercials are timed just right, and shows just continue! Show-commercial-show, no need to click on anything. On CBS and the CW you are thrown out of full screen view to see the commercial and then you need to click again to get back to full screen. On ABC the commercials are not timed right, so the commercial might be over, but you are still waiting so that you can hit the “back to show” button – really annoying.
3. The audio levels of the commercials are on par with the audio levels of the show. This means that when you cut to commercial you are not BLASTED with audio. CBS and the CW are the worst offenders in this category, ABC, FOX and NBC are a mixed bag.
4. The video quality and audio quality of the shows is at least broadcast quality, if not better.
The only advantage of ABC.com has is that they offer shows in HD.
Textbook thieves!
13/May/2007 17:54 Filed in: WTF?!
...also known as the publishing houses.
I've been a college student for almost ten years now - yeah, I know, I am a perpetual student - nothing wrong with that! Anyway, I have gone through almost three degrees now, and one thing is constant: textbooks are expensive! When I was an undergrad, I was young and stupid and bough everything at the college bookstore (and paid premium for it!). Now I do my homework beforehand, and I get my books online. The college bookstore (effollet.com) does not provide me with an ISBN number, because obviously people can go elsewhere if they know the ISBN! Here is a comparison for a book (for a class that I am not taking, but I took in the past)
Book: Operations Management
ISBN: 0131-69739-0
Authors: Larry P. Ritzman, Manoj K. Malhotra, Lee J. Krajewski
Prices on effollet (and in the college bookstore:
New: $162.00
Used: 121.50
Holly mother!!!
OK... now lets look on amazon, just in case we get a better deal:
New: $125.01
"New & Used": $68
OK better...but let's look on addall.com
Lowest Price: $30
but since it's only one, there are a couple that cost $50.
All I can say is WTF?!?!?! Why do college students accept this horrible gouging?
If someone can sell the book used for $50-68, why would you buy it used at the college book store for essentially double the price?
Why would you pay three times the price to get it new at list price? The textbook industry is despicable. We should be promoting knowledge, not inhibiting it by pricing textbooks so high!
I've been a college student for almost ten years now - yeah, I know, I am a perpetual student - nothing wrong with that! Anyway, I have gone through almost three degrees now, and one thing is constant: textbooks are expensive! When I was an undergrad, I was young and stupid and bough everything at the college bookstore (and paid premium for it!). Now I do my homework beforehand, and I get my books online. The college bookstore (effollet.com) does not provide me with an ISBN number, because obviously people can go elsewhere if they know the ISBN! Here is a comparison for a book (for a class that I am not taking, but I took in the past)
Book: Operations Management
ISBN: 0131-69739-0
Authors: Larry P. Ritzman, Manoj K. Malhotra, Lee J. Krajewski
Prices on effollet (and in the college bookstore:
New: $162.00
Used: 121.50
Holly mother!!!
OK... now lets look on amazon, just in case we get a better deal:
New: $125.01
"New & Used": $68
OK better...but let's look on addall.com
Lowest Price: $30
but since it's only one, there are a couple that cost $50.
All I can say is WTF?!?!?! Why do college students accept this horrible gouging?
If someone can sell the book used for $50-68, why would you buy it used at the college book store for essentially double the price?
Why would you pay three times the price to get it new at list price? The textbook industry is despicable. We should be promoting knowledge, not inhibiting it by pricing textbooks so high!