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September, 2004

Indulge in Open Courseware
by Larry Gilbert

A successful businessman went to a Zen master and announced he had come to learn all about Zen. The master invited the man to sit down and have tea. As the master poured the tea, it overflowed. The businessman shouted, "It's spilling, it's spilling!" To which the master replied, "Precisely - you came with a full cup. Your cup is already spilling over, so how can I give you anything? Unless you come with emptiness, I can give you nothing.

It’s true, I run into it all the time. Okay, wait, can I vent for a moment…

Nothing is more frustrating for a service technician That Cares than the following telephone conversation…

Client: I have “X” wrong with my computer, can you help me?

Larry: Certainly! Hmmmm, if you try “Y” and “Z”, does “X” still happen? Or does Z…<interrupted by client>

Client: Oh no, it can’t possibly be that, “Y” and “Z” have nothing to do with “X”.

So now that logic is out the window, my only recourse is to burn incense, sacrifice small animals, or call upon my psychic powers to help resolve the problem via divine intervention.

We have had this discussion before. If you think you know everything, it is unlikely you will be accepting of new information. If you have preconceived notions on the “nature” or “truth” of a certain situation, it will be difficult to properly ascertain the Real Truth of a given situation. The more rigid you are, the more you are comfortable sitting in one spot with one view, the more difficult it will be to exist in an environment that involves constantly changing conditions. These things are important if you wish to be a good technician, exist in the world of computing, or exist in the world, as we know it I suppose.

I didn’t figure this out myself, I had good advice given to me over time.

My Mother and Father as I grew up: “Keep an open mind to the possibilities. Always keep learning something.”

Mr. Mo Schaeffer (Ex-Boxer, African Evangelist, and very interesting / unconventional slide guitar player): “It is far more important to listen than talk.”

Mr. Gene Humphrey (a true modern Samurai, wise with a broad range of experiences): “No matter how hard you consider events, they will never happen they way you think they will. “ This last one helped me a lot. Thanks Gene! Keep that BMW tire side down!

My point being is that there is a ton of interesting stuff to learn literally waiting at our fingertips. No dusty camel rides over burning sands to the library in Alexandria or Cordoba, only to find they’ve been recently burned down. No secondary reference books or years of study so you can translate Greek to your origin language. Nope. Just keep that bill for DSL, Cable Modem or Dial-up paid up and you’re golden!

Now there are a number of Universities that offer online access and classes in exchange for tuition fees. There is the same show with technical training resources. But what about free stuff that still offers some meat and potatoes. Well, I thought I might impart with you some of the more interesting ones I have found. So crack those knuckles like Lerch in the Adams Family, and lets get typing.

So first off, when you think of intellectual prestige, what university first pops into mind. Yeah yeah, other than Cambridge, Stanford, etc.

I’m talking about MIT – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MIT is currently offering online “free open courseware” at…

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/index.htm

Topics include: Aeronautics and Astronautics, Anthropology, Architecture, Biology and Biological Engineering, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Comparative Media Studies, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, holy cow the list goes on forever. All of these courses are also translated into Spanish if that is your preference.

MIT’s statement about this site:

"With the publication of 500 courses, MIT is delivering on the promise of Open Courseware that we made in 2001. We are thrilled that educators, students, and self-learners from all parts of the globe tell us that MIT OCW is having an impact on education and learning. We hope that in sharing MIT’s course materials, and our experience thus far with MIT OCW, we will inspire other institutions to openly share their course materials, creating a worldwide web of knowledge that will benefit mankind."
- Charles M. Vest, President of MIT

Okay, but what if you do if it’s 10:00 PM at night, and you are in the middle of MIT’s course on Linguistics and Philosophy or Literature and they make a reference to “The Discourses of Epictetus”. Epi-who-us?

Well you totter over to your computer and go to…

http://www.gutenberg.net/catalog/world/search

This is the Project Gutenberg search site. Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and still diligently pursues the creation of free eBooks and related technologies. The project was named after the Gutenberg press, which is a great example of appropriating off-the-shelf technologies in a unique way to create a world-changing device.

Info on the Gutenberg press can be found at http://communication.ucsd.edu/bjones/Books/printech.html

So back at the Gutenberg.net search engine type in under “Author” “Epictetus”, hit search and you will get…

Epictetus, circa 55-135 AD, books available:

“A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus with the Encheiridion” or “The Golden Sayings of Epictetus”. (My good friend Bob has “The Discourses of Epictetus”, and has sent me several passages; an excellent and relevant book! Thanks Bob!)

Click on one of the book titles, and you will have a variety of choices of how it is to be downloaded. Voila, book on your computer for free!

Now I know what you’re thinking… “Is the RIAA going to show up, throw my computer in a wheel barrow, and me in the back of a van?” Nope! This is perfectly legit and legal. All the books listed are ones that have no current copyright. Keep in mind that means mostly books pre-1923, so no Stephen King to be found here. But say you wanted to read some Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) or Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs), download away.

You also have the opportunity to search by Title and Subject if you prefer.

And speaking of Epictetus and Greeks. If you have kids, and are interested in Greek Mythology, you Have to check out this site…

http://www.wingedsandals.com/

Hopefully you have a “flash” capable computer, because this is a beautiful and fun website, even for adults. Developed by The University of Melbourne's Centre for Classics and Archaeology, it is an imaginative site filled with “Easter eggs” and surprises.

This is just scratching the surface of what you will find if you follow the muse of your curiosity. So turn off that Chat software for a while, and learn a little Nuclear Engineering in your spare time. Let the bulb over your head shine brightly!

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