I don’t think that its very secretive, I have had a good look around the net and in a few books and I do actually believe that the only secrets are the grips/passwords and also the exact details of the degree ceremonies… as ‘pilgrim’ says on https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061222070217AAixmvb
you dont want to know how a movie ends before you see it
More details about secrets can be found here and here
(they aren’t terribly secretive, I have found out details about lodges before, I have also visited Freemasons’ Hall in London — and I saw no evidence of evil or satan-worshipping… or any of that anti-masonic rubbish you get on the net) (I did however see a few images of Oroborous, but that can be considered as a purely philosophical image and was even used by Christianity, see wikipedia for more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroborous)
Next question: Why not let women in?
I have no idea about this one…. could be just tradition. The wikipedia article on Women and Freemasonry goes into a bit of detail. There are some freemasons lodges that let just women in, and some that let both sexes in, and there are two groups that are kind of approved by the UGLE (the english freemason authority) that let women in.
I think that I would like to see all masonic lodges accept both males and females.
[EDIT date="20th April 2007" time="10:33am"]The HFAF is the regular Freemasonry organisation for women (recognised as a ‘regular’ masonic organisation by thew UGLE, with standard masonic rituals/ceremonie/etc), their website is https://www.hfaf.org/ )[/EDIT]
Final Note
Its annoying that when you search for things about freemasons on the net you get a load of anti-masonic things. I suspect that this is just because there are some secrets in masonry, even if they are just handshakes etc. I suppose the only way to properly find out what goes on behind those closed doors is to join them.
I have a new home that I can live in from the 19th May
Its a 15 to 20 minute walk away from the very centre of Oxford, in a place called Jericho. Its a nice area, and I will be renting a studio-type thing that is part of a converted Victorian house. So cool!
Thats it… all coursework finished for my undergraduate degree in Intelligent Systems and Software Engineering. All I have to worry about is two 2hr exams on the 18th May, and thats it totally finished!
Job starting on Tuesday, coursework over, things going well with Beki. I am very happy all round to be honest. (apart from an ache in my neck, from sleeping weirdly last night)
I might as well tell you, I now have a full time job at a cartography/GIS company in a village near Oxford. The company is called Lovell Johns, they are a lovely company from what I can remember from looking around during my interview and talking to my soon-to-be manager. I start on the 1st of May. The role I will be in is quite broad and involves:
A bit of Web Development
A bit of Software Development
A bit of Systems Administration
I am really looking forward to it, its going to be great!
Prof. Hong Zhu speaks out about the role of Delphi as a first year programming language at Oxford Brookes University:
Dear Daniel,
In response to your call for discussions, my personal view on this issue is
that:
First, we are teaching programming using Delphi environment and OO extended Pascal as the programming language for practical and lecturing purposes. A significant difference must be made between teaching a programming language and programming. Although I have made this clear in my lectures, this difference is often not being taken seriously by some students. Our main purpose of choosing the specific language/environment is to ease the learning curve for the students to understanding principles of programming and basic concept of programming languages underlying all specific languages, and to help with the students to develop good habits and skills of programming. It is not entirely for teaching a language that is just suitable for the current trend in the industrial practices, which tend to change from time to time, while the principles and fundamental concepts and skills last much longer. A good understanding of these principles and basic concepts will enable our students to adapt to any programming language without major difficulties and to learn new programming languages that maybe developed in the future in their whole career of lifetime.
Second, it is well understood that the importance of the first programming language(s) and the multiple criteria situation in the choice of the first language to be offered to the students. The selection of Delphi was the result of careful balancing among many factors according to the criteria. It involved almost all academic staffs in a research a few years ago on the issue and the selection was a collective decision. Since then, we are constantly reviewing our uses of programming language(s) taught and used in our modules in the programming subject group. Further development in this direction is under the way towards more choices for the students to select from using one of two possible languages as the first language in order to satisfy our students’ requirements. Here, I must point out that our students may well have different requirements than students of other universities in UK or more widely in the world. We are aware of the differences on the uses of programming languages in teaching between the universities around the world as our academic staffs are actively involved in the research on programming languages. For example, Mr. David Lightfoot is an internationally well-known expert in the area of programming languages.
Finally, I would like to say that I appreciate your efforts in initiating a discussion on this issue, which I believe will improve the communications between lecturers and students. In addition to the list of such information, I would like to suggest you and the Brookes Computing Society to gain more Information about the students’ specific requirements on the uses of the first programming languages. That will help us to make the right decisions. The above are my personal views, thus do not represent the opinions of other lecturers or the department.
Best wishes,
Hong
So they are his views. Hong is a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, he teaches modules about programming (using Delphi) and he also teaches about requirements capture, formal methods and software design.
His email came as a response to my list of first year programming languages at universities, which I blogged about here.
I would like to reiterate again, that it is my view that the theory and the ability to implement is more important than the language. However, it is very important for schools of computing to carefully think about which programming language and they should be able to justify a particular language.
Technorati Tags: oxfordbrookes, programming, languages
I was thinking about the previous blog post I made about first year undergrad programming languages (found here)
I shall express my opinion, feeling and experience about programming languages:
My first programming languages (before uni) were: QBASIC, VisualBASIC and C++. I found using Delphi very awkward when I came to uni, it was like walking into a straight jacket.
If you know C++, Objective-C, C# or Java then it is easy to move to any of the others in the same group.
I feel that one Object Oriented language (e.g. Java or C++… C++ is quite good because procedural programming can be covered with C too) and one functional language (e.g. Haskell) is the best set-up for the first year of undergraduate study. OO is a solid foundation for all modern software development, and Functional Programming is excellent for data structures and algorithmics.
If you know either Ruby or Python, then its easy to go to the other (although Ruby programmers may find Pythons whitespace quite restrictive). I have to admit, BASIC and Perl are not too far away from Ruby or Python either!
If your university doesn’t delve into logic programming or expert systems programming then have a go at some Prolog and some CLIPS in your own time. Both are very interesting languages which have benefits over the standard languages you currently hear on the job market (i.e. java and C#). Beware they are very different in philosophy, so you will have to adopt a different thinking methodology.
If you have to develop in Delphi, then explore some other forms of Pascal such as: Chrome Object-Pascal, Oberon and Zonnon.
Be aware of cross-platform ability. If you can make it cross-platform then do (have a look at the Mono Project.
Right, so I have told you about my experience. But seriously, if you are a prospective undergrad then do not base your choice of uni on the programming language(s) they teach, because it really is the theory that is important and not the exact syntax of a language.
(the aboves are just my current opinion, and you should try to form your own opinion on the subject… but it is useful to gather other peoples thoughts too)
I have started to construct a list of programming languages found in first year undergraduate computing/computer science/software engineering degrees. Please see this website for a list:
If you are a current student at a university and don’t see the first year languages of your university (or I have made a mistake)
Are a prospective student of a university not listed and would like me to find them out for you (or you have found them out)
If you are a prospective student then please do not judge an institution based on the programming language that they teach. A course is all about the theory that they teach, and its all about the ability to implement something and not in any particular programming language.
This list arose out of a discussion about whether or not a particular programming language should be required for courseworks which shouldn’t actually test whether you know a particular language but should test that you can implement it. (For example, an Agent Technology system should not really need the requirement of being in the Delphi programming language, as the student could develop an agent and its environment in any language he/she likes (e.g. java, ruby, C#, C++… anything really)).
Feel free to comment here if you would like to add to the list, alternatively feel free to skype or email me. My contact details are on my business page: https://www.vanirsystems.com/
Thanks,
Daniel
(this list has kind of evolved from thoughts within the Brookes Computing Society)
As discussed in my previous two postings about yoga (pt 2 and pt 1).
Beki and I went to Yoga last night, it was ashtanga yoga, which for those who don’t know, is a dynamic (and reasonably athletic) form of yoga where there is one posture per in breath and one per out breath.
Got back last night feeling a little puffed-out, which was to be expected as I haven’t done proper exercise for years to be honest! Didn’t really ache too much last night, also felt a little energised because of it (which was a weird sensation) and I had this burning feeling around my stomach (which was also a weird sensation)… could this be the Manipura Chakra being infused with fire as it says in my ashtanga yoga book?
Overall, I really enjoyed the yoga last night, even though I really ache today. We would both like to go again next week, twas fun.
