Back when I was teaching English in Japan, I stayed up late hacking on Game Boy code to keep that part of my brain active. It was during that time that I really realized that I wanted to work in software, or at least something with some creative output.
As I understand CS, it deals a lot with Data structure construction and management.
In my school, we began with high-level functional languages and it's only after 3 years of programming than we discovered low level programming and could write a Kernel.
Can you explain how a RISC assembly language can help you learn CS ?
I'm not sure if I define CS that narrowly, but anyway I was working with the C compiler, not the asm code. It was a good learning tool for me because of the simple output and the slow processor, which meant that I didn't need to worry much about the graphics and that poorly performing code was immediately, painfully noticeable. There were plenty of data structures to work with sprites, characters, screens, etc.
My CS course (in the late 90s) kind of went the other way. One of the earliest courses was one that taught how a cpu operates -- what a register is, what the accumulator is, etc. There was no actually programming, just working through the steps of what the computer does to perform a given operation. After that there were a number of directions to go in.
I return the "how are you?" question with equivalent replies in shops all the time and if recipients were annoyed by it, I don't recall noticing. Being pleasant frequently helps me feel more pleasant. And anyway, I actually do hope they have a great day. I hope everyone has a great day.
"I ran away from home at the age of 11 after my father beat me for stealing a kitchen appliance," said Samir who works in a sweatshop.
[snip]
"I have saved 4,000 rupees (70 US$) in the last seven months. It's a good feeling to have some money. I will buy a shirt and a watch for my father and send it to him to seek his apology."
"He might forgive me and ask me to be with him at home."
For me it is heartbreaking that this child was beaten and still feels that he owes his abuser an apology.
He stole a kitchen appliance and his dad punished him for it. He seems genuinely sorry and is working hard to make amends in the process growing as a person both socially and financially. This is not abuse, it's a right way to raise a responsible human that takes responsibility for his actions. I think it's heartbreaking that you ignored the relative good in the story and chose to hone in on the "spanking" that a rebellious child may need a few times in his life.
Yes, I would have rather reported him to the police for stealing and put him in a juvie where he could master the art of thieving. <- this is the western solution isn't it?
Abuser? my foot! Western society is good transferring responsibility to the society at large.
If you're a a bad parent, particularly in a poor inner city family, that's the western solution. If you're a good parent the solution is to teach your kids moral lessons without using violence.
Beatings are not a good way to raise a child. However, it's not really abuse -- or it might not have been by the standards of U.S. law and I can almost guarantee it wasn't by the standards of local culture.
Also, he did steal an appliance. It's not like his father was just beating on him.
In India it is common to discipline kids by beating. This is practised not only by parents but also in schools. It is getting rarer in middle and upper class but predominant among poorer families.
It is very difficult to keep your composure when you are living on a day-to-day wage basis. While you can argue that beating kids is no way to behave. I believe that thinking stems from one's upbringing and social standing.
I think one isolated incident is not a good ground to call someone an abuser.
KRAMER: I'm completely changing the configuration of the apartment. You're not gonna believe it when you see it. A whole new lifestyle.
JERRY: What are you doing?
KRAMER: Levels.
JERRY: Levels?
KRAMER: Yeah, I'm getting rid of all my furniture. All of it. And I'm going to build these different levels, with steps, and it'll all be carpeted with a lot of pillows. You know, like ancient Egypt.
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I didn't use any of this though, I found a Japanese book on the GBDK C compiler. It's still available here: http://gbdk.sourceforge.net/ and there are more resources here: http://devrs.com/gb/software.php#assemble
I've thought since then that working on a simple machine like that is a great way to learn the fundamentals of computer science.