149 karma · joined March 27, 2013
First, I can brainstorm many questions:
• Is this a physical game or a computer game?
• Is this a solo game or a group activity?
• Is it a competition (with a winner and a loser) or a puzzle?
• Are we playing at school or at home?
• What kind of math are we learning?
• How old are the kids?
...
At this point, it feels like there may be a huge solution space. So I think the next step is to step back and look for relationships between the questions:
• There's a relationship between age and the kind of math.
• There's a relationship between physical vs. computer, home vs. school, solo vs. group.
• There's a relationship between solo vs. group and puzzle vs. competition.
Based on this, I think maybe we can simplify a 6+ dimensional solution space down to 2-3 dimensions:
1. Let's call the x-axis "What grade level are we teaching?" From that, we can make solid guesses about both age and what kind of math.
2. Let's call the y-axis "How large of a group is the game for?" I think this is the essence of the questions about where the game is being played, whether it's a competition, whether it's a group activity, etc.
This gives us a framework to start mapping the solution space. Near the origin of our graph (low grade level, small group) maybe we have a puzzle to teach arithmetic. If we go up the y-axis (low grade level, large group), maybe we have some sort of "math bingo" where the teacher shares basic arithmetic clues and students mark the corresponding spot on their board. If we go out the x-axis instead (high grade level, small group), maybe we create a math-heavy card game to explore probabilities. If we go out to high grade level, large group, maybe we need some sort of math-based scavenger hunt.
I don't think these specific ideas are actually very good, but I think the process helps take a very open ended question and start to dissect it along a couple of key dimensions to help focus on a more tractable problem; designing one game that works for all of those scenarios would be hard.
Textualism involves interpreting words with the same meaning that they would have had at the time whey were written.
Originalism involves interpreting words in the same way they would have been intended at the time when they were written.
To express the crux of the difference, I've seen multiple sources use the example of "cruel and unusual punishment".
Textualism would look at the words: what did "cruel" and "unusual" mean in the 1790? Do those definitions describe a particular punishment?
Originalism would instead consider intent: would a particular punishment have been considered to be "cruel and unusual" in 1790?
Beyond the obvious, what they have in common is what they don't consider: purpose, history, or present meaning.
For fun:
Purposivism would consider the purpose of the clause: is a punishment the sort of thing the clause was written to protect against?
Doctrinalism would look at the way the clause has been interpreted by the court in the past: how does the punishment under consideration compare to punishments previously considered cruel and unusual?
Structuralism would examine the clause and its relationship to the rest of the document in which it was written: perhaps the fact that the clause follows "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed ..." offers guidance.
Judicial pragmatism would consider the context, apply inductive reasoning, and consider the future implications of a ruling. (I don't think I've summarized this one well https://www.iep.utm.edu/leglprag/#H2 may be useful.)
I learned when a friend dragged me to a "taster" class at a local social dance venue. It was fun, so I went the next week. At the beginning of the next month, I enrolled in a "progressive" series (lessons that built on one another, unlike the "taster" classes that start from scratch each time).
Under normal circumstances, I think that's be best way to learn: at a venue where people dance socially. It's really something that's best learned in person and a class at a social dance venue means you can immediately practice what you just learned, with other people who just learned it. (Versus, say, a class at a dance studio, where you may take a class and then just go home.) Unless you live in New Zealand, that's probably not an option right now though.
For many dances, there's good content online. I dance Lindy Hop, so that's what I'm most familiar with. If you enjoy (or, at least, don't hate) Jazz music, I think it's a great option to start with. ilindy.com has a free high-quality intro course, including (last I checked) material you can practice by yourself. I'm less familiar with it, but jaminjackson.com also has a free intro course that I've heard good things about.
(Slight aside: I started with Lindy Hop, which is typically danced to Jazz music. It has its roots in a variety of Black dances and grew out of the Savoy ballroom in Harlem starting in the late 20s. It's certainly not the only dance that teaches these skills, but I think it's a good choice.)
At the core, it's about communication and collaboration; communication and collaboration with the person you're dancing with is the essence of a partner dance. You want to make space in the dance for a balance your ideas and your partner's, and so whether you're leading (initiating movement) or following (responding), you want to share your ideas and listen to your partner's. Non-verbally. In real time. Over a lossy communication channel.
Beyond that, you're communicating and collaborating with other dancers sharing the floor. Unlike some dances, there's no macro-level choreography that keeps dancers from running into each other. You need to pay attention to your surroundings, understand how your movements are going to affect others, and adjust as the situation changes.
During classes or practice sessions, communication and collaboration with peers and instructors is also important. It's silly, but dance classes were the first time I ever really learned how to listen to and give constructive feedback in a kind and effective way.
All of that said: it's a bit like math. You'll start by counting (literally, perhaps), not with an understanding algebra or combinatorics. It won't feel revolutionary at first. You may not have any epiphanies until your instructors take of the "kid gloves" and at least reveal that "improper" fractions are just fractions and that it's a-okay to subtract a larger number from a smaller number. (And just like math, you can go as deep down any rabbit hole as you'd like. One day, after a few years of dancing and hundreds of hours of classes, I spent a full hour-long lesson exploring the complex topic of: walking forwards and backwards.)
As a simple example: in 2017, DeVos and Trump proposed "cutting $1.2 billion for after-school programs that serve 1.6 million children, most of whom are poor, and $2.1 billion for teacher training and class-size reduction" [1]. These cuts also affected efforts such as mentoring, recruitment, and retention [2].
In 2018, she proposed regulations that "require full hearings, cross examination of sexual assault victims, and raise the standard of evidence to hold a student accused of sexual assault accountable" [3], which experts have said "would allow schools and the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to ignore much of the sexual harassment that occurs in schools" [3].
I don't even know how to summarize this whole mess, so I'm just going to use the subtitle of the article: "The administration wants to keep schools safe by ditching rules meant to prevent racial bias in school discipline" [4].
More recently, she "illegally delayed an Obama-era rule that required states to address racial disparities in special education programs" [5].
[1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trumps-first-... [2]: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/Funding-the-Wall-vs-ESEA-Titl... [3]: https://www.thedp.com/article/2018/11/betsy-devos-education-... [4]: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/12/trumps... [5]: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/us/politics/betsy-devos-s...
Searching, I'm finding mixed results. It seems like some studies show that they have worked in specific situations, whereas others show that they have not worked on other specific situations. I wasn't able to find a comprehensive survey that drew overall conclusions. Are you aware of one?
I'm also finding little research on the impact of a charter school on students of the public schools which they would otherwise have attended.
Are these topics that the book addresses?
I resented much of the structure at the time (who wants to have a curfew during their first semester of college?), but looking back I think this was critical for addressing many of the things you experienced.
I would be very interested in research that contrasts institutionally-supported acceleration with more of a "self-service" approach to acceleration. I wonder if these differences are measurable.
This is a really interesting example. Naively, I'd expect the meaning of a word to matter.
Do you know if the person advocating for this understood the etymology?
Tech debt is like any other kind of debt: a way to increase leverage.
Some tech debt is like a mortgage. You get significant value, immediately, and can keep the payments manageable.
Some tech debt is like a payday loan. You get ahead by days, but behind by weeks.
Some tech debt is like margin trading. You make an educated bet about the future and if you're right, you've multiplied your success, but if you're wrong you've multiplied your failure.
There's a time and a place for each kind of debt, but taking on debt in a haphazard fashion can get you into a situation where you need to chose between putting an inordinate amount of effort into paying off the "interest", declaring bankruptcy, or risk having the "repo agent" come calling when you least expect it.
(And note that even "tech bankruptcy" isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you can do so in a way that limits the blast radius.)
Secondarily, I have a much better time assessing whether other attendees are following a conversation. If I'm feeling lost, but everyone else looks like they're following along, maybe it's just me — and I'll sit tight and try to catch up. If others look bewildered, I'll start asking questions.
For example: https://colornames.org/search/results/?query=+Safety+Orange+
Deciding what to call a color is going to require more than seeing which name for each color gets the most votes. For a set of names to be useful, they need to make sense when taken as a set.
Edit: nevermind, I misunderstood the definition of "Curative care (acute care) beds in hospitals".
It's easy to see what's blocked, but being able to identify blocking tasks that aren't yet in progress is important.
Q36. I own multiple units of one kind of virtual currency, some of which were acquired at different times and have different basis amounts. If I sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of some units of that virtual currency, can I choose which units are deemed sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of?
A36. Yes. You may choose which units of virtual currency are deemed to be sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of if you can specifically identify which unit or units of virtual currency are involved in the transaction and substantiate your basis in those units.
Q37. How do I identify a specific unit of virtual currency?
A37. You may identify a specific unit of virtual currency either by documenting the specific unit’s unique digital identifier such as a private key, public key, and address, or by records showing the transaction information for all units of a specific virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, held in a single account, wallet, or address. This information must show (1) the date and time each unit was acquired, (2) your basis and the fair market value of each unit at the time it was acquired, (3) the date and time each unit was sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of, and (4) the fair market value of each unit when sold, exchanged, or disposed of, and the amount of money or the value of property received for each unit.
Note, however, that they also clarify that this is not the default accounting method:
Q38. How do I account for a sale, exchange, or other disposition of units of virtual currency if I do not specifically identify the units?
A38. If you do not identify specific units of virtual currency, the units are deemed to have been sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of in chronological order beginning with the earliest unit of the virtual currency you purchased or acquired; that is, on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis.
Q27. I received cryptocurrency that does not have a published value in exchange for property or services. How do I determine the cryptocurrency’s fair market value?
A27. When you receive cryptocurrency in exchange for property or services, and that cryptocurrency is not traded on any cryptocurrency exchange and does not have a published value, then the fair market value of the cryptocurrency received is equal to the fair market value of the property or services exchanged for the cryptocurrency when the transaction occurs.
If there is not [yet] a published value at the time of the airdrop, A27 seems to suggest that "the fair market value of the cryptocurrency received is equal to the fair market value of the property or services exchanged for the cryptocurrency when the transaction occurs". If you received the cryptocurrency in exchange for nothing, I'd conclude that the fair market value was $0.
(IANAL, IANYL, YMMV, etc.)
Instead, you could just use a database of redirects which you append to when you make format changes. For some applications, the overhead of maintaining a redirect service is far lower than trying to maintain support for multiple formats. (And this redirect service may even be something you need/want for other reasons.)
I've met or worked with programmers with 3 years of experience who demonstrated competence, but never proficiency.
Some programmers have a strong natural intuition, and a competent programmer with a strong natural intuition may appear proficient. It's a tricky distinction, but important to recognize (especially for the programmers themselves and anyone mentoring them).
However, I think most people with 3 years of professional experience programming are advanced beginners reaching competence in a few specific areas.
Without establishing objective criteria with which to evaluate candidates, it's much easier to fall back on decision making processes that are prone to unconscious bias.
A manufactured question may seem impersonal, but that's the point.
1: https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours_...
We're going to continue to introduce technology to improve quality and enhance productivity. Will jobs continue to fall in industries that introduce technologies to enhance productivity? If so, education and wealth redistribution seem insufficient (albeit still necessary).
(I haven't checked the linked paper to see if this is answered.)