Welcome
For Recent Posts: See the Freshly Baked section in the Sidebar. For RSS please use the FeedBurner feed instead of the default WordPress one. Thanks and welcome.
I think that it’s extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don’t think we are. I think we’re responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun. Above all, I hope we don’t become missionaries. Don’t feel as if you’re Bible salesmen. The world has too many of those already. What you know about computing other people will learn. Don’t feel as if the key to successful computing is only in your hands. What’s in your hands, I think and hope, is intelligence: the ability to see the machine as more than when you were first led up to it, that you can make it more.”
The ByteBaker is an attempt to keep fun in computing while at the same time learning more about how computer technology can have a real impact in our daily lives. These pages are the collections of the ongoing experiences of a student in Computer Science and Engineering. Computers are many things to many people in todays world: tools, toys, infrastructure, so on and so forth. Fundamentally, they are devices for augmenting and enhancing our thoughts and communications and improving the lives we lead.
This site talks about technology and learning and how to best combine the two. It’s geared towards people who are interested in using computer technology not because they have to, but because they understand how it can make their lives better. Computers can be difficult and scary at times, but they can also be powerful allies. Just as baking or cooking requires a certain amount of care and dedication to produce good food, using computer technology requires a certain amount of patience and inquisitiveness to get the most of it.
Where to start?
As of June 2009 this website has over 200 articles relating to various aspects of computer technology. That’s enough to fill a small book, but don’t let that overwhelm you. The articles cover a good variety of computer related topics, though there are some themes that stand out more than others.
- Writing and communication: Everyone should start (and continue) a website or blog. Everyone has a story to tell and the Internet is a great place to project your personality, if you can do it right.
- Computer Programming: It’s hard to have a website computer technology without talking about how to program them. It’s something that combines passion with engineering rigor and good old scientific research.
- Education: No matter what field or topic is in question, education is very important. And it’s important to question what is being taught, how it’s being taught and whether it’s time for a change.
The Weblog section contains articles going back about 2 years and updated 2-3 times a week. The Wiki contains collections of thoughts, ideas and information in pre-article phase. Some of those collections will graduate into full fledged articles on the weblog and others won’t. Finally if you like what you see here drop by the About and Contact pages to say hello to author and leave requests and suggestions.
Keep fun in computing!
