Student "edition" found at {thoughts dot com slash typed no space out no space loud slash blog}.

Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Of course when I was talking about discussing the movie "Contact" in detail, I meant not just the scientific aspect but also in terms of literary and film-making merits.

What's funny is that there is also a part where I enter into the realm of religion. This could be the most multifaceted lecture that I would have so far, crossing technical boundaries.

Maybe, if I do give this story as a course, we would tackle not just the book as well, but also the life of the author.

If that's the case, maybe I should also have a session on Michael Crichton, but what book of his do I focus on?

I'd certainly go for his biographical book, but there should also be at least one work of fiction.

"Sphere"? The similarities to "The Abyss" would be interesting. "Congo"? The classic Tarzan movie lost treasures and civilization parallel is good. "Jurassic Park"? It would be too commercial, especially if we focus on the movie and not the book.

"Disclosure"? That's classic Crichton mystery, even if not so much with his other novels.

"Rising Sun"? There are similarities and differences to "Disclosure" but I like both better than "Airframe".

Okay, this post has gone on long enough on a speculative subject that may not be realized in the first place.

@@ Another interesting kind of subject to have would be a programming class where the students are only allowed to work on their program during the class time.

This may be during the three hour lab period, and it would also be possible for the students to write out or print out their work outside, but the important thing is that they encode it during the class.

Of course it would be required that the tasks assigned to each student would be different, so they don't just copy from one another, although consulting with another student, probably one who could program in his or her sleep, during the class, would not be disallowed.

@@ On to another subject: the temptation to just deal with a few people absolutely, because of the power of holding the purse strings, instead of having "clients" who could withdraw their stake.

There's a certain attraction to not having to deal anymore with people who give orders.

The same is true with knowing that the decisions to be made, no matter how inconsistent, are final.

Session 2757 is getting monopoly syndrome. Class dismissed.