“Computers”, BSA Merit Badge Series (1973)
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Here are the requirements, from https://archive.org/details/BoyScoutsComputers/page/n5/mode/... :
1. Do the following:
a. Give a short history of computers. Describe the major parts of a computer system. Give four different uses of computers.
b. Describe the differences between analog and digital computers. Tell the use of each.
c. Explain some differences between special- and general-purpose machines.
2. Do the following:
a. Tell what a program is and how it is developed.
b. Explain the difference between an assembler and a compiler. Tell where each might he used. Describe a source and an object program.
c. Use a flowchart diagram to show the steps needed to set up a camp.
3. Do one of the following:
a. Prepare flowcharts to find out the average attendance and dues paid at the last five troop meetings.
b. Prepare flowcharts to work out a simple arithmetic problem. Explain to your counselor how this program could be stored in a computer. Tell how it could be used again.
4. Do the following:
a. Name four input/ output devices for computers. Explain the use of two of them in a system.
b. Explain the Hollerith code. Show how your name and address would be punched on a card.
5. Tell the meaning of six of the following: a. memory b. bits c. on-line d. bytes e. microsecond f. address g. channel h. interrupt i. register j. console k. central processing unit
6. Tell the meaning and use of 12 of the following: a. business data processing b. information retrieval c. simulation d. scientific processing e. floating point f. truncation g. fixed point h. accuracy i. input j. record k. output l. file m. software n. instruction o. hardware p. indexing q. loop r. subroutine s. real time t. time sharing u. cybernetics
7. Visit a computer installation. Study how it works.
8. Do the following:
a. Explain what each of the following does: design engineer, analyst, customer engineer, operator, programmer, salesman
b. Read two pieces of information about computers. Describe what you read.
c. Describe jobs in the computer field.
> Name four input/ output devices for computers. Explain the use of two of them in a system.
> Tell the meaning of six of the following: a. memory b. bits c. on-line d. bytes e. microsecond f. address g. channel h. interrupt i. register j. console k. central processing unit
> Tell the meaning and use of 12 of the following: a. business data processing b. information retrieval c. simulation d. scientific processing e. floating point f. truncation g. fixed point h. accuracy i. input j. record k. output l. file m. software n. instruction o. hardware p. indexing q. loop r. subroutine s. real time t. time sharing u. cybernetics
I think I've interviewed senior software engineer candidates who would not do well with the above tasks.
You exaggerate. I'll give it a try:
Memory is what you need to pass a software engineering interview at a top company. Address is unimportant these days, as everything is on-line - employees can work wherever they like so long as it's in the Bay Area. Channel is how you market your SAAS software. Console is what you do to your colleagues after a round of layoffs. Interrupt is what your manager does.
I got my merit badge in the late 80s after visiting Evans & Sutherland with the troop. They made flight simulators for the government, among other things. At the time, it seemed like the coolest place ever to work, and I’m sure had a major impact on my deciding to study & work in computer graphics. They were still using huge “hard drive” platters like the one the guy is holding in the picture on page 37.
On-line as in online processing? I still hear this term from time to time (usually the longer versions, OLTP or OLAP, though).
“Where devices are told what to do by the central processing unit, they are on-line. If a computer system produced the answer on a set of punched cards (card deck), the programmer or user would have to take them to another machine to get a printing of the meaning of the holes in the cards. That second machine - not being under the control of the central processing unit - is off-line.” (p. 49)
An Assistant Scoutmaster worked with the computer at the local Bell Telephone office, and guided me through getting the badge, mostly by providing binders of training material for their GE-mark-something. Computers then were expensive and precious, so the Bell folk only let civilians look through a window into the room with the magic box. And computer time being costly, they only let me run one program--which printed HI MOM and added two numbers. I didn't even get to type it in. In those days, one filled out a coding form and handed it to the secretarial pool to get cards punched.
"c. Describe jobs in the computer field."
Well, we all fly our jet packs to the office...
The real value proposition of the BSA is to better serve your community and those around you by becoming well-rounded, and having contextual experience of teamwork dynamics.
Also one that fits your preferences, since style and personality varies a lot. I didn't really realize as a kid that you had a choice of which one to join, and just joined the one that met at my school. I only realized when I moved to a new city that there was such a big difference in personality. The two I was in were both pretty friendly and good in a general sense, but totally different in style. One was very "official" and put a lot of emphasis on the various ceremonies, oaths, ranks, uniforms, etc., while the other mostly de-emphasized that and was primarily oriented around monthly camping trips.
(In affluent areas there is also a style of troop I'd personally avoid that isn't quite "bad" in the sense of the really dysfunctional ones, but not super great for personal development: the one where everyone is there primarily because they want their kid to put Eagle Scout on their Ivy League college applications...)
https://books.google.com/books?id=xmYEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=fron...
I now help run FIRST Robotics Competition events as my way of paying it forward.
I did a similar badge in this org which I think was a little more basic, in the 80s. I haven't really thought about it since then, but we had to do some definitions, I think write instructions for some task as in this one, and what strikes me most now is we had some (simple) boolean logic exercises, or had to make examples, I think explained as switches, explaining AND, OR (I dont remember if others were there) as series and parallel and determining whether a light was on.
Sounds basic, but having taught intro to programming and intro to circuits many years later, still confusing for many
Many, but not all, Boy Scouts started off as Cub Scouts, rising up through the ranks to earn their Webelos before "graduating" into Boy Scouts around age 12.
Cub Scouts organize into "Packs" (analogous to a Troop in Boy Scouts), and break off into "Dens" (analogous to Patrols in Boy Scouts).
Scouting is an amazing youth experience, both in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Unfortunately not all Packs and Troops are created equal, although some "specialize" in certain activities (such as canoeing/kayaking, backpacking, etc). Finding a good Pack or Troop that fits your interests is key.
BSA brought back Lions a few years ago for 1st Graders. I'm not sure what the uptake has been.
From my fuzzy memory, this was more of an award than a proper rank, but could only be earned by someone of the Webelos rank. Or something along those lines.
Many of us had this plastic diamond thing attached to a button on our class A shirt, and the diamond had 4 slots, one per rank with Webelos being the bottom of the diamond. Arrow of Light was a special patch you sewed directly onto your uniform.
I didn't continue into Boy Scouts however.
I feel like the recognition of even eagle scout is not the same today. With lower participation rates, many people don't know what the process entails. To be honest, I don't know what the requirements were for the arrow of light, and that's something I earned (using tools, power tools, camping, etc, but not sure of the specifics).
I've even taken things like eagle scout and college club president (more demanding since you're unsupervised dealing with budgets, personnel, and grants) off my resume since nobody cares about or understands those, especially not in IT.
I don't know why I never got it, though my first access to a computer was in 1975. At one point I decided to get every merit badge, but lost interest before finishing.
In the early 1970s, the BSA underwent a major dumbing down, which contributed to my losing interest. For example, the WeBeLoS rank in Cub Scouts stood for "Wolf Bear Lion Scout". To a boy, that was pretty cool! But by the time I achieved Bear, they changed it to mean "We Will Be Loyal Scouts". Ugh. That just let all the air out of the balloon. What boy wants that rank?
The uniforms were changed from cotton that worked great outdoors, to cheap, itchy polyester. Perhaps coincidentally, the scouts stopped wearing the uniforms.
They revamped the Boy Scout manual, too, in a miserable way. I kept my old one. I had the 1969 Merit badge book because, you guessed it, they messed up the merit badges, too, to be more like Sesame Street.
It just wasn't for me anymore. Grumble, grumble.
It really opened my eyes to the beauty of the Arizona desert, which I grew to love very much.
The swimming and lifesaving merit badges also made me confident in the water, which I thank the BSA for giving me the impetus to do.
And, of course, the knots have served me well, and I can make fire with one match. I wish the Scouts had taught a lot more woodcraft. They didn't even teach building an emergency shelter.
This is now a requirement. I don't remember the exact merit badge, but one of them had me and a friend huddled up between two logs surrounded by pine boughs for a summer night somewhere in the sierras.
It was cold, but manageable. What got me was a bug of some sort fell into my ear and I spent the whole night alternating between trying to pick out out with my finger, shaking my head wildly in attempt to make it fall out, or just lying there listening to it scurry back and forth in my ear canal.
> Improvise a natural shelter. For the purpose of this demonstration, use techniques that have little negative impact on the environment. Spend a night in your shelter.
Though my issue was as much with the increasing top heaviness of the funding as anything else.
Kids today have more oversight and less freedom. God forbid you build a rope bridge because someone might fall off it and sue you to oblivion. Even playing unsupervised around the neighborhood is frowned upon and can result on the police showing up.
If I remember correctly, this one had an experiment to distill alcohol and another about creating chloroform.
https://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/column/2013/07/07/ba...
Kosmos really made amazing kits for teenagers who were fascinated with science and technology.
I scanned in one of their manuals (with their kind permission):
https://generalatomic.com/teil1/index.html
for the first in the Electronik-Labor series, so you can see for yourself!
What is/was easy and what is/was hard isn’t at all obvious, not even in retrospect.
The current requirements are somewhat funny:
> Why it is not permissible to accept a paid, copyrighted computer game or program from a friend unless the game or program is considered freeware or shareware. Explain the concepts of freeware and shareware.