Freedom to lie

Should freedom of speech really allow you to lie (regularly and systematically) on (right wing) cable "news"?  Isn't there a problem with this?  How can we fix it? How can we get them off the air?

"You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts."  Daniel Patrick Moynihan

My minimum computer lab

A desktop PC running Windows (with printer, scanner, camera, and web access)

A MAC laptop

A netbook running Windows

A netbook running Linux

A tablet running Android (plus an external keyboard)

Pocket computer

(Network at least some of these.)

Programmable pocket calculators

Microcontroller

Digital powered breadboard and chip set

External harddrives, diskdrives, and CD ROM

Software including: Solaris OS, Office Suite, drawing/graphics package, statistics/plotting package, C++ development environment, JAVA development environment, BASIC development environment, PROLOG development environment

Media: CDs, floppies, USB drives, memory sticks, SD cards, etc.

Thorough documentation for all of the above.

Simple circuits versus practical circuits

Students need to be taught the distinction between "simple" circuits and "practical" circuits.  A simple circuit has the minimum number of components necessary to perform its function. It is used to explain how the device (oscillator, amplifier, logic gate, etc.) works.  If you build the simple circuit it may take some adjustment ("playing") in order to get the device to function and its performance may be poor.  A practical circuit will typically have far more component parts but will function reliably.  The practical circuit is the one you will use regularly out in the world.

Milestones

People who have difficulty in maintaining effort and finishing large or difficult projects may find it easier if the project can be devided into many smaller tasks/steps, each to be completed as a "milestone."

Discovering with Asa H 2.0

Asa H 2.0 (see www.robert-w-jones.com, Book, chapter 1) is based on a general theory of thought (see www.robert-w-jones.com, Philosopher, theory of thought and mind).  If this theory is complete Asa H should be creative.
A mobile robot controlled by the Asa H 2.0 algorithms (and fitted with a sensor array which includes external force sensors and internal accelerometers) has been able to discover an approximation to Newton's second law of motion (F=ma).
Asa H concludes that the robot's acceleration is related to the force that acts upon it.  When the robot is carrying a load (added mass) Asa H notes that the robot's acceleration is reduced. (Force sensors in the robot's undercarriage could weigh the robot and it's cargo and make this relationship quantitative.)
When two mobile robots are controlled by the same Asa H brain and one pushes on the other an exact version of Newton's third law of motion is discovered (Fa = -Fr).  The same law can be discovered when  the two arms (or fingers) of a single robot push on one another.

Portability of Asa H

Versions of Asa H 2.0 (see www.robert-w-jones.com, Book, chapter 1) have been run on Windows, MAC OS, and Linux machines.

Evidence for the existence of other spaces

We live in a 4space (length, width, depth, and duration) but there is evidence that other spaces exist too.
1. The success of quantum mechanics is evidence for a Hilbert space in which the wavefunction exists.
2. String (and other) theories suggest the possibility of compactified extra dimensions.
3. The Everett version of quantum theory argues for parallel worlds.
4. General relativity with multiple sheets.