Author: max

  • Math Careers: What’s the “Real World” Like?

    A discussion with recent grads about employment Godfather’s Pizza, back room, 6:15pm, November 15, 2004 Pizza and soft drinks will be served This event is for juniors and seniors interested in careers that make use of mathematics, with the exception of teaching and computing careers. Math majors who graduated over the last handful of years…

  • New general education CS course

    This spring we will start offering a new general education course in computer science, MCS 170: The Nature of Computer Science. This course presents a general introduction to the concepts and issues of computer science and is designed for those students who do not plan to take MCS 177 (Computer Science I), but still have…

  • Computing Careers: What’s the “Real World” Like?

    A discussion with recent grads about employment Godfather’s Pizza, back room, 6:15pm, November 18, 2004 Pizza and soft drinks will be served This event is for juniors and seniors interested in computing careers, whether they are majoring in computer science or in math. MCS majors who graduated over the last handful of years will come…

  • Grokster case: predictions

    I haven’t posted a commentary in so long, I’m going to do a bonus one in which I give myself two opportunities to be wrong in one commentary. Last week the recording industry, movie industry, and an assortment of songwriters and publishers asked the Supreme Court of the US to review the Grokster case. I’ll…

  • Problem solving contest

    The MCS Club has a cool new problem solving contest, with problems contributed by David Molnar. Every two weeks he will post both a theoretical problem and an experimental one.

  • MCS-253 (DiffEQ) changing

    At its September 22 meeting, the Curriculum Committee approved the department’s proposal to change the focus of MCS-253 (Differential Equations), effective starting in spring of 2005. The course will now have a prerequisite of either MCS-221 (Linear Algebra) or PHY-230 (Applied Mathematics for Physics and Engineering). This first year, students having difficulty adjusting their plans…

  • Trip to Federated Insurance

    Students interested in mathematics, computer science, and related careers are invited to go along on the first CSEMS trip of the year, to visit with alumni and alumnae at Federated Insurance in Owatonna and learn about career possibilities. This trip is intented for students of all years, not just for those actively seeking jobs. Our…

  • New face for a new year

    The big change in MCS Department personnel this year is the addition of David Molnar as a visiting instructor. David is an expert in problem solving, including the preparation of students for the Putnam competition. He’ll be doing that at Gustavus this fall, in addition to teaching other courses throughout the year. Molnar received his…

  • Grokster opinion adds fuel to IICA blaze

    Media attention is focusing on the 9th Circuit’s opinion in the Grokster case, saying that P2P software providers can breathe another sigh of relief. But this isn’t reallly where the action is. The real action is some extremely fast-track behind the scenes work being done to revise S. 2560, the Inducing Infringements of Copyright Act…

  • Information Technology and the Cultural Peep Show

    Back in April, I was one of the speakers at the inaugural symposium for Gustavus’s president, Jim Peterson. My remarks on Information Technology and the Cultural Peep Show briefly explained the signficance of the trend towards what is often called “pay per view” — though I don’t like that name, since payment isn’t what concerns…