In the CS department at UT, we have lots of servers we can log into to do our work. Each machine’s load is listed on a public website, so we can make sure we log into a machine with some capacity to spare. The routine is check the page, pick a machine, and ssh into it.
Checking a webpage when what I want to do is ssh into a server is kind of a bummer, so I wrote up a quick ruby script to grab that status page, nokogiri it up, sort the 32-bit servers, and then send me on my way. I assume that at some point the script will stop working and I’ll have to do a better job, but in the meantime I’ll enjoy not touching a browser when I do my school work.
…Thomas Friedman addressed a group of 4000 university administrators by telling them to ignore “concrete outcomes like grades and test scores”. Teachers should instead try to install passion and curiosity in students because “the job students will hold probably doesn’t even exist today”. How a student was supposed to learn passion from someone who devoted the first half of his adult life to getting lifetime job security is a question Friedman did not address. Nor did Friedman address how a student was supposed to learn curiosity from someone who stayed in the same narrow research area for his or her entire career.
The life of a teacher is so different from the common American experience that it becomes hard to imagine how teachers can impart much wisdom apart from their own particular expertise. Further, since the life and training of teacher is so particular, it also attracts a particular kind of person with a particular sensibility. When we ignore this, we think poorly about teaching and school.
