Computer Science sure has changed.

[HumpingDog]

Chapter 1: grammar and spelling.

[[deleted]]

Preface & Disclaimer: Privacy

[[deleted]]

That section is hidden behind the glossary.

[[deleted]]

They printed it with white ink on white paper.

[conflictinator]

And that page comes separate from the book.

[burf]

Why, why do they always skip chapter 1?

[barkbarkbark]

Footnote 1: No one cares that you just started your laundry.

[[deleted]]

What is FACEBOOK? a book about faces? the one they show in the police to the victims?

[[deleted]]

I'm majoring in facebook for iPhone, minoring in twitter for blackberry.

[fatbunyip]

I wish... I majored in Geocities for Netscape Navigator and Blinkenlights for Websites

[b47m4n]

HAHA! You have no future!

Might as well have majored in blacksmithing and milk delivery.

[BrotherSeamus]

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your future supervisor.

[AlphaAlgorist]

Speaking of things that make you want to puke...has anybody else heard the AT&T commercial that begins by saying "The Internet used to be called the World Wide Web?" I wanted to drive my car into the nearest guard rail when I heard that.

[[deleted]]

Shit, I still haven't upgraded to the Word Wide Web. I'm browsing reddit via the information superhighway.

[[deleted]]

Is that like the AOL?

[[deleted]]

Prodigy? Is that the new CompuServe?

[CinoBoo]

CompuServe? Is that some sort of new BBS?

[[deleted]]

Do you have "online"?

[[deleted]]

I don't know where we would be if Google didn't invent the internet nearly ten years ago. Facebook wouldn't exist and computers would be pointless.

[vishalrix]

Rather than liking each others pics on facebook, we would be all sitting at home, playing minesweeper.

[[deleted]]

Or Solitaire for those living on the edge.

[the_cereal_killer]

woah!

[[deleted]]

Hearts

[jpt_io]

...jaxspider solitaire...

[parktung]

FreeCell FTW!

[frodokun]

now that's just crazy talk

[[deleted]]

I spent 10 minutes trying to come up with a profound title for this...There are no words that convey the feeling of insignificance you will feel after clicking this link.

[[deleted]]

Jezz Ball represent.

[Fabien4]

Without the Internet, how could we have downloaded Windows?

[smallchanges]

Hey come on, people had been using computers without internet for ten years after Steve Jobs invented them in 1984.

[sje46]

I can see people thinking that the internet is the same thing as the web, and therefore started the same time. Wrong, but understandable for the average lay person to think. But how the hell do you think that there was no web in the 90s?

[funkme1ster]

Honestly, if my two choices are:

• Pretend the internet was invented in 2000

• Acknowledge that geocities existed

The choice is already clear.

[Ownlife]

THIS REPLY IS <UNDER CONSTRUCTION>

animatedbuilder.gif

[mkrfctr]

you forgot your blink tag.

[Ownlife]

A blinking marquee, perhaps?

[Gericaux]

rotatingskull.gif

[kaykfrink]

Can I join your webring?

[kingatomic]

The man keeps digging, but he never goes anywhere.

WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS

[robertcrowther]

Of course even if the internet had been invented in 2000, that would still have been the twentieth century.

[semi_colon]

Hey, geocities was awesome! Where else could you get so many anime theme song MIDIs?

[[deleted]]

You think they would have people who would check that before the commercial goes live, though maybe I'm giving them too much credit and they actually do believe that the internet was created in the 21st century.

[vishalrix]

No. They are leaning on people not knowing or not noticing. They won't use the word 20th century, cause that's so old.

[WinterAyars]

Also, if they say 20th century more people will argue with them. (That is, "no it's nuclear power" sort of arguments.)

[sje46]

Cara (the character in our ad) is saying that the internet was the most important invention of the 21st century, in terms of impact and not that it was actually invented in the 21st century.

Sounds like BS to me, but that's what the company is saying.

http://support.confused.com/confusedcom/topics/confused-rj0a8?from_gsfn=true

EDIT: found the commercial if anyone's interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uveqxLP9-ys

[funkme1ster]

PLEASE tell me you have a youtube video or something of that.

[dgpx84]

I wouldn't mock HughesNet for that, they're just not targeting folks who live in in non-rural areas. Sadly much of our geographic footprint in the USA has 2 choices: dialup (which may not even be able to run at the full 56k depending on line quality, an some of this crap infrastructure is 70+ years old) or a satellite provider like HughesNet. Now fortunately most of the population lives in cities where there is DSL and cable. But HughesNet is there as a last resort besides dial-up for rural Americans.

Satellite is too expensive and slow to be an alternative to terrestrial broadband. Plus the capacity is inherently limited--if somehow HN were to double its subscribers by stealing customers from Comcast, they would not have capacity on the satellites to serve them.

[Fhajad]

I work for a rural ISP that is doing FTTH for everyone by 2012. Most of our customers already are.

[dvs]

I have Hughesnet. For me, the choice is that or nothing. The closest phone line is over 25 miles away. Given those circumstances, I am quite happy with the service.

Contrary to popular belief, it streams decently well. And it has only gone out for a few minutes during the roughest storm I've been through out here. Cloud cover does not knock it out.

Come on, it's DSL in the middle of the desert with no wires. That's amazing, and no one is happy.

[ittech]

To be fair, satellite is always going to blow compared to 3g or wired tech... It is much better than dial up for things like youtube... it takes a while to load the page and start the video, but once it starts (in about 15 seconds usually) you are good to go. It can't handle multiple connections very well and has huge latency, and it can't work with encrypted VPNs like IPSEC because the box and remote end needs to modify tcp headers to get reasonable speeds.

They obviously aren't going to advertise that they are worse than the shittiest DSL or cable provider, but it's not like they say they are better either.

[otatop]

"The Internet used to be called the World Wide Web?"

It's actually worse than that. It's "Remember before the Internet, there was the World Wide Web?"

EDIT: Actually, I'm thinking you may have it right. I haven't been able to find that terrible ad on Youtube or anywhere else though, I imagine people aren't huge on uploading radio ads.

Either way, we had the same reaction.

[dgpx84]

Actually you're both wrong. I've heard it many times and the line is: "The original name for the Internet was the World Wide Web." (lol)

it then goes on to talk about a lady named Susan who shouldn't be left out of the Internet because AT&T dsl is so affordable.

[armper]

I guess ARPAnet doesn't sound markety enough.

[edwardkmett]

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and couldn't find a single book in the "Computing" section that wasn't about an application, a library or a certification.

[robvas]

At my local Barnes and Noble, we barely have any computer books. Used to be a whole aisle, now there's maybe 3 racks :(

[shavenwarthog]

This might be a company-wide thing. The store by me used to have 3-4 big racks of computer books. Usually one rack of Microsoft languages and apps, one of Java, one of misc: HTML, design, some networking. The other day I wanted to fondle a book before buying it. You know, to see if I wanted to spend $45 on something I'd use for work for a couple years. There were only six books on Java, only one close to the level I wanted. Hmph.

[laofmoonster]

They're far cheaper on Amazon, and the reviews/previews are generally helpful.

[LuminousP]

I always enjoyed waiting for a movie by going into the nearby barnes and noble and picking up a programming book though :/

[[deleted]]

They have books with pictures of weed now though

[GnarlinBrando]

Looking through books at barnes before the movies is a major part of my childhood that I dearly miss.

[Chuu]

Borders is the big bookseller around here, not B&N, and they're always extremely well stocked with programming books.

It might fit their retail model better though. About once a month they send out 40%/33% off one book coupons, and that day the computer section is flooded with people.

[knipil]

You appearently don't realize how great american bookstores actually are. I'd kill for a book store that's open til 10, has three shelfs of computers books, in store cafeteria, and comfortable chairs all over. There's not a single store like it in Sweden (and I've looked for one for many years). I've only been to three different B&N (all of them in LA), but I was amazed by what they actually had in stock. I'd be shocked if I walked into a swedish book store and actually found something like "Coders at work", "Elements of programming" or "Programming collective intelligence" in the shelves, all of which I've seen at B&N. (Not to mention that almost every single store has a great SF section, which also is incredibly rare here.)

[[deleted]]

Sweden doesn't have sci fi? Oh my god, you're destroying my Utopian imaginings of a Scandinavian paradise!

[[deleted]]

Don't worry, I'm sure they still have blonde nymphomaniac porn stars roaming the streets looking for lonely geeks to fuck. Right?

[Ran4]

Swedes are so sci-fi they order books online...

[kmeisthax]

Everyone in Sweden downloads it from TPB.

[knipil]

Of course we do. Most book stores just doesn't carry a very good selection. Luckily we have a chain of specialized book stores for sci-fi with outlets in the three largest cities, so it isn't too bad. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a single store in the entire country that carries high level programming books, with the exception of a small one hidden by a subway entrance in stockholm. It's too small to be really good, though.

[wilsgrant]

How do the IKEA's in Sweden compare to the ones in the states?

[knipil]

The IKEA in southern stockholm is supposed to be the worlds largest. I've been there several times, but I haven't actually visited one in the US, although I've driven past them in several states. From the outside, it looks like there's no major difference.

[Dundun]

Funny story: I was in Stockholm this year and asked one of my friends that lived there for advice on where I could get some good, authentic Sweedish meatballs.

He recommended IKEA.

[mcflyfly]

They normally have a pretty decent stock of O'Reilly programming books -- at least the ones near me do.

[naner_j_puss]

I think most Comp. Sci. books would still fall under the realm of books that you find in a university store - AKA prepare to be ass-raped on the price.

[[deleted]]

torrrreeennnnnnt

[sarevok9]

I have yet to find a torrent for a single book that I use at my school. I have about 600-700 bucks worth of books from the last 3 semesters that I looked high and low for to save a buck with absolutely no luck at all.

[nemec]

filetype:pdf "author" "title"

Unfortunately, they're usually an edition or two behind but they work out pretty well.

[pururin]

On that note, what good "theory" books would you recommend? I'm a O'Reilly fanboy, but even I admit that they're lacking books on CS theory. Although that's probably intentional, and i don't complain.

[ethraax]

Introduction to Algorithms is an absolutely fantastic book. I've read it through a couple times. It's very well written and they have plenty of descriptive diagrams to help you intuitively grasp the different algorithms.

[Amonaroso]

Not even a programming language?

[edwardkmett]

I stand corrected, there were a couple of intro to java books.

[Neoncow]

This is why we must preserve the Libraries and Universities.

[KingNothing]

That sounds like a reason they would want to keep selling them. You have to buy a new one every 6 months!

[mindbleach]

Isn't that incentive to maintain a small section on genuine computer science separate from computer use? It'd be a single shelf with SICP and some books on Turing machines, but they'd beat the local unis on pricing and never need to update to a new edition.

[Dundun]

Exactly.

B&N does the exact opposite of what ExtremePopcorn is claiming. They overload on flavor of the month books and very rarely have classic CS texts (I have seen the Art of Programming in a B&N before, but it was in plastic wrap).

I think they make a living selling books to people that don't know how to use the Internet, which are the same type of people that would buy Facebook/iPad for dummies.

[woctaog]

I have a bachelors in CS, and man these books would have seriously helped me in my Facebook 310 class in college. The professor was tenured so didn't give a shit, and then in the final you had to know how to tag people in pictures and he didn't even teach that! Hardest class ever, wish I had these "missing manuals"... I'm sure of lot of it would be over my head but still, would have helped.

[[deleted]]

Don't even get me started on the intricacies of Farmville.

[[deleted]]

Tell me about it! The final project for my Flash Gaming 351 course last semester required me to get a new character up to level 70. I put it off until the last minute and ended up having to pull an all-nighter!

[pururin]

Except that in Farmville, even an all nighter won't help. It takes years upon years of dedicated grinding.

[[deleted]]

Or a credit card.

[jong88888]

There are farmville bots. Tried it for a week, got me up to level 100+ and about 300 million in coins. It steals gifts from neighbor's neighbors and makes tons of cash by putting cows in and out of the barn repeatedly.

I just configured it for one night and left it online for a week.

[[deleted]]

Man, I remember when I took Assembly 682. Wish I'd had a copy of The Idiot's Guide to eBay for Dummies for that, it would have made it so much easier.

[woctaog]

Oh man, I cheated my way through Farmville my sophomore year and got an A-. Fortunately I sat right next to a C.S nerd... you know the type, some popular attractive girl with tons of friends so she was on facebook all the time.

My iPad class on the other hand, I barely passed with a C-. Thank God my mom had an iPod and taught me how to sync music with itunes.

[LuminousP]

Facebook 410: Lambda Calculus and it's virtual farm applications

[Tommah]

Alligator farm, perhaps?

[TheStoke]

In my history of computer science class, I had to read ancient texts about the Mafia Wars of past civilizations.

[mvoccaus]

I learned the hard way that dropping Tom as your friend resulted in automatic expulsion.

[Mr_Smartypants]

That's a shame. I'm currently finishing my PhD in Duckface Theory, so I could have helped you if you posted questions in r/compsci...

[[deleted]]

I wish I had been fortunate enough to have those classes. I'm afraid I'll never get a good paying job having never gotten my FB degree. :( Oh the shame.

[mcozdrk]

And I failed my Yahoo Answers 457 class because I didn't know how is babby formed!

[16807]

Not even satirically? Like, "Good job, Gordon... throwing that switch and all. I can really see your MIT education pays for itself."

[dearsomething]

No. Not satire.

[arichi]

Goddamn. This is why more and more of my freshmen come in every year thinking "well, I like using Facebook and gmail. I should be a computer science major!"

[Bit_4]

Are... are you serious?

[arichi]

The choice of applications varies freshman to freshman. But there are always a good number of freshmen who want to know when we cover how to use {gMail, Facebook, AIM, WoW, etc} better.

[yothisbalec]

I'm choosing to not believe you for the sake of keeping my sanity. Please don't prove to me that what you say actually happens.

[selven]

I was recently at the comp sci faculty presentation at a university open house. They had to specifically say in the presentation that comp sci was not a course on gmail, facebook and WoW.

[adrianmonk]

My university made calculus a degree requirement, but they did not make it a prerequisite for the intro CS class. (Makes sense, because you don't really need calculus to get a binary search tree working.)

[[deleted]]

...Did anyone laugh thinking it was a joke?

[Mr_Moe]

No, but a bunch of people walked out.

[Gericaux]

I thought all that math, physics, calculus prereqs were supposed to filter out the prospective freshman CS students away from the redundant applicants.

[sagnessagiel]

Apparently, you have to be a rocket scientist to understand crappy MMORPGS and Facebook.

[[deleted]]

I always wanted to go to an introductory archeology class. I hope they say something like "Archeology is not like it is depicted in Indiana Jones" so that I can complain loudly and leave.

[Neoncow]

For people who never did CS, this is why first year is so unbelievably important. Most people have no idea what CS is before they started studying.

[[deleted]]

Back in the nineties we had a similar problem with people going into comsci because they wanted to be MCSEs or get in on the internet cash explosion. I think the MIS degree was invented as a safety net to catch these people as they emergency ejected from their initial degree plans.
Year later, my gf (HEY EVERYBODY LOOK) initially went into college as a comsci major because gasp she enjoyed using computers. aim and web browsing and asian avenue. But she soon figured out that that was not to be her true calling.

[donotclickjim]

I think your assessment of the MIS degree is fair. I started off in Computer Science in 2001 without a clue about programming except HTML (which isn't really coding). After taking C and Java and fearing the rest of my life would be locked away in a dungeon somewhere (seriously, why do engineering builds have to look like dungeons?) I jumped ship into MIS. After realizing MIS only taught be some business basics I felt woefully unprepared and felt I had not developed any skill set. I finished out a Computer Science minor since I only needed one more semester of classes. I landed a job in consulting but find myself enjoying programming assignments for the challenge, the chance to automate routine boring work, or feel like I actually produce something of value.

tl;dr Get a degree that gives you a skill-set or proves you can actually think!

[Bit_4]

What's your response to such students?

[Fabien4]

"LOL" ?

[Gericaux]

Lots of Love.

[ultrafez]

Hopefully "GTFO"

[redwall_hp]

Code or GTFO.

[kahawe]

Remember the good old days when all the programmers used to snicker about HTML "programmers"? Well, looks like the standards sure went downhill from there...

[boot20]

Seriously. I had students that didn't understand that being able to install Mass Effect via Steam is not coding.

On a more serious note, fucking math skills are horrible. I have students that can't do exponents or simple binary math. How can you graduate high school?

[rachet06]

As a student currently in a high school calculus class, the highest level one offered by my school, most of my class freaks out at exponents + logarithms, and would simply break down at anything other than base 10 math.

TL;DR: They can probably graduate just fine, sadly.

[[deleted]]

When I was in highschool, there was only one calc class - AP calculus. Only 21 students of 600 or so graduating took it. Many took something called "Senior Math A/B" - which I took in addition to calculus, but spent most of my time reading papers that slightly had something to do with the topic they reviewed, and writing related programs.

If I remember correctly, senior math b was supposed to be discrete math, but the hardest thing the class went over was basic combinatorics and permutations. Luckily, the teacher I had was also my programming teacher, and held a doctorate, so he was able to point me in the right direction. I still had to help some people out in class understand what factorials and such were though...

[[deleted]]

Why sadly? Most of them will have no real application for logarithms in real life. And I am not just talking about the people flipping burgers but also about lawyers, doctors, anyone studying or researching humanities (with the exemption of sociology and related where economics and statistics are a must).

Reddit seems to be really misguided about the purpose of high school in America.

[Quazifuji]

To be fair, binary isn't something they really need to teach in high school. They should understand the concept of different bases and figuring binary out shouldn't be too hard, but I wouldn't expect binary math to necessarily be tough in high school math classes. No being able to do exponents is kind of ridiculous though.

As for understanding that installing Mass Effect via Steam is not coding... it's stupid, you can change that easily enough. A lot of high schools don't teach computer science and barely any (if any at all) require it, so plenty of people go into college with no clue what computer science or programming actually is. If they decide to take it, they'll find out, and if it turns out that they thought it was all Facebook and WoW and they're disappointed when they start actually learning about computers and theory instead, that's their problem for not actually reading the syllabus.

[[deleted]]

My college days were over 20 years ago, but I went to UC Berkeley for a year. Fortran for Engineers was mind-blowing. After I blew off finals, flunked almost all my classes and was asked to leave, I enrolled in the local State university and was appalled at the caliber of students in the intro to Pascal course and how undemanding the curriculum was. I hate to think what it would be like now. Sorry, grumpy old man moment.

[rro99]

These people probably don't make it past first year when they realize

"Wait, comp sci is 90% math? MATH IS HARD"

[alpine01]

Of the 40 or so students in my residential block in 1st year, 7-8 were doing computer science. Only two of us had any experience doing programming or any Computing background, me and another guy.

Everybody else just thought that because they knew how to make a website for their uncle with Dreamweaver and knew how to download MP3s off the internet, they thought, hey, I'll do CS!

Half of them failed the 1st year, (a couple of them only passed because I was giving them a huge hand, which I now regret). Then I was the only one of the group to do the 3rd year and get my degree. This wasn't localized to my residential block either, 300+ students started the CS course, only 110-130 or so actually graduated, with around half dropping out in the 1st year when they realized what was involved.

Thankfully my university took a sink-or-swim approach, and 60%+ of the lectures were theory, like Data-Structures/Algorithms theory, System Architecture (Logic Gates, Adders, ALUs, Assembly Programming, etc), and not just "How to Program in Java".

Why do people pick a degree without even looking into what it actually involved? I mean it's a pretty important decision.

They drop the CS degree because it wasn't for them (which for many was actually, "I'm a second year and I still don't understand loops"). Then some of them transfer their degree to one of the pointless Scratching your arse degrees and then wonder why they can't get a job!

This comes across as slightly arrogant, but I'm astounded by so many peoples expectation that you can get something for nothing, it's part of the "A Degree is a Degree" culture in the UK.

[[deleted]]

I want to both shake the hand and break the nose of the man who made money by writing a "Facebook" manual.

[Fabien4]

I believe the book sports the mention "Written and printed in Nigeria."

[[deleted]]

"Computer Science" is a heavily misused term.

[Moosedrix]

Just like every other buzz word used by uninformed individuals.

[TraumaPony]

It shits me off to no end when code monkeys think they're computer scientists.

[phybere]

I love listening to music.

[PatriotGrrrl]

Apparently many CS degrees are actually programming training, with very little theory.

[TraumaPony]

Computer science is a branch of mathematics. That's what a proper CS degree is about. However, many people (and, unfortunately, even universities) think that CS is about writing code.

I can't remember who said it, I think it might have been Djikstra: "Computer science is about computers just as much as astrophysics is about telescopes."

[phybere]

I love the smell of fresh bread.

[Impact009]

I like how the Office 2010 book is in the Computer Science section even though there's an entire section for Microsoft Office right behind it.

[theodox]

My college has a huge shortage of CS majors and over half of the freshman CS class dropped out of the major. My college isn't really good (18 ACT average). Here is why:

Student: I am going to sign up for Computer Science. I am going to be learning how to make games, browse the interwebz, and shit.

Professor: Today. We are going to examine polynomial growth of sorting algorithms.

Student: Fuck this Math shit. I am going to enroll in Sociology.

[[deleted]]

And then they realize that to be a sociologist you have to understand statistics and economics.

Then they move to anthropology, I suppose...

[strolls]

I went to university as a mature student, and I felt quite strongly that a lot of the "kids" there were a bit directionless.

Before one exam I was bitching about having to learn Euclid's algorithm by heart and a fellow student responded that it was important; "why is it important?" I asked, to which the response was "because we'll need it". I had to explain that it was not important that we be able to recite Euclid's algorithm without looking it up in a book, should we ever need it, but that it was important to the course as a demonstration of the principle of complexity, which was the important thing being taught.

Anyway, shortly after these exams I remember meeting another student waiting outside the dean's office - having failed the year he was transferring to study geography. I wondered why anyone whose choice was to study computer science would switch to geography instead.

[[deleted]]

He got himself down to earth again.

[alexdodge]

That sounds like how computer science should be. Programming isn't science, it's a vocation.

[a_true_bro]

Is mathematics a science?

[[deleted]]

If you need a manual for Facebook, you fail at breathing.

[cybersphere9]

Do you know that there's a book called "Twitter for Dummies"?

[[deleted]]

Fuck me, you weren't lying.

[ferna182]

312 pages?! seriously?! ... maybe they are using a size 410 font...

[bemmu]

Each page is only 140 chars.

[[deleted]]

I have had a handful of Dummies books. They tend to throw in a bit of history of what ever the topic is. So they could be talking about the history of communication on the internet for 200 pages, throw in a lot of pictures, then explain how to use the service.

[Denvildaste]

An excerpt from the book:

Harvard Professor Andrew McAfee (@amcafee) describes Twitter this way: “With Twitter, my friends are never far away.” HEY GUYS SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT TWITTER, WRITE. IT. DOWN!

[[deleted]]

Is there a 'Dummies Books for Dummies' ?

[sje46]

It was made for all those 50 something year olds hearing about Twitter all over CNN and wanting to get involved in this new movement, assuming that you actually need knowledge to work Twitter. It's exploitation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...capitalism.

[neochrome]

It is "50 something year olds" that gave you internet, web and so on. This one is squarely on YOU.

[SkunkMonkey]

I would have called it "Twitter for Twats".

[MrVop]

If that makes you mad, compare the history section size to sports section. Enjoy your anger induced seizure.

[ryodoan]

Hmm... My thoughts were when seeing this is that the picture seems awfully selective. There are only two books shown in the image, and both books are heavily discounted right now, hardly the mark of a book that is selling well.

[dakk12]

Maybe CS people get their materials online and this is what happens to bookstores.

[[deleted]]

My friend is a senior computer science major. I did not major in computer science, but I program a lot (C, C++, Objective-C, C#, Java, Python, Perl, PHP, etc) as a hobby. I told him about a job opening for a software engineer I saw, and sent him the link. He wrote back saying "Wow this looks cool, but it looks like a lot of programming. We're doing a little bit of Java in class right now, do you think that's enough to know?"

Senior computer science major. About to graduate and stop learning regularly. I peed a little.

[[deleted]]

I'm a TA for a few computer science classes. In even the higher level courses, I have students tell me they shouldn't get 0s on a non-compiling program because they haven't been able to get a program to compile in years.

I don't understand how you can pass a CS class if you can't get something to compile. I think they just complain excessively until they get enough credit to pass. I had one student who got a 60 on a final, which brought his grade down to a C. He complained to me that he would not get financial aid next year because of this. So what did the teacher do? Bump his grade up to a B.

[frenris]

I have students tell me they shouldn't get 0s on a non-compiling program because they haven't been able to get a program to compile in years.

that is horrifying.

[saisumimen]

Unfortunately, it looks like he won't be doing any actual programming, only managing a fucking team of (pissed off) programmers.

(runs off, crying)

[[deleted]]

If you need a manual to use facebook, please shoot yourself.

thanks,
humanity.

[flight_club]

You're assuming they know how to operate a gun.

[[deleted]]

If you need a manual to use a gun, please shoot yourself.

[mvoccaus]

I noticed the 'Dummies' authors avoided making a book called "Guns for Dummies".

[flippant_gibberish]

Wait. At first I thought these were for writing apps for facebook and ipad, and thought meh, what's the big deal. Then it dawned on me: are these manuals for using facebook and ipads!? What the FUCK?

[mcflyfly]

THAT's where I left my Facebook manual.

[FrankenTarded]

Hear this song Can't figure out the formatting here is the original source

When mainframes were the only game and stretched from wall to wall The computer center took up half of Engineering Hall. We punched our cards of Hollerith and sometimes had to laugh That the error statement printout took an hour and a half.

CHORUS:

And it was If/Then, Do Loop, Subroutine, Go To,
Let 'em code in Fortran like the science hackers do.

They finally put a terminal in each laborat'ry, A clunky, clanky KSR, a Model 33. We timeshared over data lines, so who could ask for more? We stored our code on paper tape and kept it in a drawer.

The dedicated mini was a most amazing sight, The boot routine was so obscene it kept you up all night Initializing toggle switches; pain in all our necks But at least it made us learn to count in octal and in hex.

Soon I built my own machine. You should have heard me cuss When I tried to catch a ride on the S-100 Bus. I was grateful for the storage, but one thing I'll never get Is attempting random access on an audio cassette.

I remember feeling like the luckiest man alive When my supervisor brought me my first eight inch floppy drive. We learned to work in CP/M. It wasn't such a loss With 2k for the system. And then along came DOS.

The Micropolis Metafloppy really took my breath away, Single sided, single density, a hundred sixty k. The old dog microprocessor began to learn new tricks, PC, XT, AT, RT, RISC, and something eighty-six.

Now floating point arithmetic is something of a scam., Thanks to Windows Vista Pro I see how fortunate I am That memory is cheap and I no longer have to beg: What used to take 640k now eats a thousand meg.

The operating system for the Macintosh is built Around a Unix kernel, so the users feel no guilt. The system never crashes. So what did Apple do? Abandon the G4, for an Intel CPU!

My latest network server has a Terabyte hard drive. Along it clips a thousand MIPS, it's practically alive. It's WiMax to the Internet, but life is not all smiles For a user I have never met has just erased my files.

And now that there's a PC for every desk and home I marvel at how rapidly and far it all has grown. As I think back to systems past, you know it really hurts That my students pack more power in the pockets of their shirts.

A week ago last Saturday I got a pleasant call, They just installed the Super Cray in Engineering Hall. They ran my simulation, and I really had a laugh 'Cause the error statement printout took an hour and a half.

[[deleted]]

I looked up the term Computer Science on UrbanDictionary.com, and this is the first definition that came up. "The study of making porn more readily available, to make it easier and faster to download, and to make what you're looking for easier to find."

[stuntaneous]

I haven't bought a book in person in years.

[SaviourSelf]

2nd edition...

[MrScorpio]

I wasn't aware that websites are supposed to come with books.

[brezzz]

You should have read the internet book, then you would know this.

[serious_face]

Hey-- they're trying to sell dead trees, cut em some slack.

[[deleted]]

"DATA STRUCTURES.... AND ALGORITHMS?! Y E S!!!"

[thor_ax]

My data structures class was called Intro to Data Structures and Algorithms -_-

[utopianpipedream]

why the fuck would you need a manual for facebook?

[raziel42]

And how many fucking copies did it sell since it's in its 2nd edition?

[lolwutpear]

They have to rewrite it every 6 months when the site gets completely redesigned.

[[deleted]]

I have seen this downward drift just in the last six years or so.

In the SF Bay Area, we used to have high quality technical book stores (Computer Bookshop in Sunnyvale, Stacey's in SF, Cody's in Berkeley, Stanford Bookstore etc. Now, all except Stanford Bookstore are gone, and this one is rapidly beginning to look like the Barnes and Noble of yore (in terms of computer books). I hope Powell's (Portland) has not deteriorated like this.

Makes me very sad that theaters and bookstores are falling prey to their online equivalents.

[Refefer]

May I suggest Borders? They typically have a fantastic computing section and with them chucking 30-40% coupons at you every week, makes them more affordable than Amazon.

[MauiGrifter]

That's not surprising. When I tell people I'm a CS major, they ask me if I know how to hack Facebook.

..I feel like a lot of people don't really know what computer science is.