LosOjos

Yeah I'm really disappointed with the case, it's the first BitFenix I've had but I've heard nothing but good things about them. I'm going to keep an eye on the temps and may end up replacing it. Oh, one thing I didn't mention, the dimensions published for the case are wrong. I know this because I had specifically looked at cases that would fit in to my TV unit. They say it's 330mm tall - it's actually tapered, from 325mm at the back to 350mm at the highest point. It doesn't fit where it was intended to.

Now that it's all built just want to advise other EduGeeks - avoid the BitFenix Colossus mAtx/ITX cases, they're awful. No tool-less components apart from the expansion slots, which are too loose. Case IO cables are so short that once connected, the slightest slip and they get ripped back out of the mobo. On my case the pins were bent. HDD caddy in a ridiculous spot meaning it needs removing (4 screws, not tool-less) every time you need to get in to the case, which happened to me twice due to aforementioned short case IO leads needing reconnecting. PSU will only fit with the fan pressed against the front of the case which is half covered, massively restricting air flow. Front door's hinges are loose and rickety. The plastic clip to hold in place the ODD slot's face plate snapped off in my hand, even though I only applied just enough pressure to remove the face plate. Light bar doesn't light up all the way around, one side is clearly much dimmer than the rest. Plus the light needs turning on manually every time you turn the PC on (as if I'm going to be bothered with that!) Apart from a couple of loops near the mobo there's very little you can do to properly route cables. All in all, a really badly designed case and poor quality for the price. I did post a review on overclockers but they've not published it.

There is loads besides programming listed in the Key Stage summary page: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study That's just picking out the parts that have nothing to do with programming.

I only got DayZ installed this week so I'll be going on soon (I have the mod version) @nikaso - thanks for the tips

I totally agree but I am under the impression that the former is what will become the computing lessons, with the latter being absorbed in to other subjects so across the curriculum students do get to learn all these things, it's just that they're not going to try to teach it all in an hour a week! One of the major problems with this whole proposal is Gove - just like every other issue he sticks his nose in to, it's unclear, changes like the weather and nobody (himself included) seems to know what the hell he's getting at. I hope that those actually responsible for designing the curriculum, however, are going to do things properly.

Actually, the intro course to the degree I'm studying would make for an excellent KS4 curriculum I think: TU100 - My digital life - Open University Course BTW - Sense is a modified version of Scratch which adds functions for interacting with the SenseBoard, a simple Arduino-esque board with various sensors attached. It's also possible to interact with the board via serial *shameless-self-promotion* http://www.geekjosh.co.uk/blog/senseboard-raspberry-pi-making-talk-python/

It uses all of those things

Yes, but not everyone instinctively has those problem solving skills. Techies, by our very nature, do tend to have these skills. I know coding isn't the be all and end all, but you have to pick something, you can't teach everything, and coding is broad enough to be used in many different areas of IT, not just network management, plus it's the simplest way (IMO) to teach said problem solving and logic. Look at Scratch - not what many would call "coding" per se but it allows you to quickly demonstrate how logic can control the flow of a program.

I think some people are too focused on coding as a job and are missing the fundamental logic and problem solving skills it can teach which will feed in to all areas of life. Even if a child never writes another line of code in their life once they finish state education, the ability to work through a problem logically will be invaluable to them for the rest of their life.

Errr... wrong thread?

I completely agree with the premise of your post, but strongly disagree that "coding" is synonymous with "software development" - as I'm currently doing a degree in software development I can tell you without shadow of a doubt that at least two thirds of the process don't involve a single line of code!

Haha yeah I know if you're playing a sim you want it to be as realistic as possible, just made me chuckle, I can just imagine telling a real lorry driver you weren't happy with how little traffic there was on the M6 so you installed a mod to add more

"There's not enough traffic on these roads" said nobody, ever.

I think it's an excellent idea to teach children to code. I very much doubt that they're going to stick 5 years olds in front of a Python shell and tell them to get on with it, but if they start to teach them computational thinking and problem solving at that age (which they can do with age appropriate tools such as BeeBot and Daisy) then it will stand them in good stead when they get to some actual coding later on in their education. How many people here used LOGO at primary school? I did and it was life changing (seriously!) because for the first time it made me realise that computers don't "just work", somebody has to tell them how to do the things they do and I knew I immediately that I wanted to know how to do that. So imagine my disappointment when I found that my daughter had never even heard of it, nor anything similar. They do less programming now than they did 20 years ago! Needless to say, I got to work on her myself and she now happily taps away on Code Academy and is slowly learning to program Minecraft mods on the R-Pi using Python. She's 9. Nobody is claiming that every child will become an ace programmer capable of writing industry standard software by the time they leave school (nobody with any sense anyway) but one of the most important aspects of school life, in my opinion, is to expose children to as much of the world as possible, otherwise they may find their passion in life too late to make a viable career of it. Aside from the many other skills that children stand to pick up from learning to code (problem solving being a major one; I'm tired of kids seeing a problem and immediately giving up when just 5 minutes of thought and they could have solved it for themselves), it's about time we started showing children a wider range of options they have in life. On a related note, I volunteer for Young Rewired State over the summer holidays, it's a fantastic organisation who have set out to bring coding to the kids and when you see how many incredibly talented young people there are out there, who are almost all entirely self taught because their school's don't offer courses and who only get to meet other young coders at this event each year, you can see that change is already happening, whether Gove stands up and preaches buzz words or not. Check them out: https://youngrewiredstate.org/

DayZ mod is for ARMA 2 (you need the base game and Operation Arrowhead DLC installed)

Ah, I see the "rules don't apply if you throw money at them" attitude is starting young there! Another vote here for Minecraft. I'd also throw out Worms Armageddon as an option (newer Worms games won't allow LAN play). OK, it's violent, but in a cartoony way; the game is only rated PEGI 7

These sites will help you with that: Humble Bundle (they have the weekly bundle and a main bundle which usually has more well known games and updates about once per month, although at the moment it's audio books) Indie Game Bundles and PC Game Bundles - Bundle Stars (worth checking weekly, the bundles usually contain at least one very good game worth the price of the bundle on it's own) Both also have stores worth checking if you're after a particular game as they're quite often considerably cheaper than Steam. If you have a Paypal account I recommend using that to pay on Humble Bundle, seem to work out the best for exchange rates from USD to GBP (bank will charge an admin fee as does Google which often makes the bundle cost you more, Paypal's fees [surprisingly] are usually lower)

It's a trap!

Me I haven't been able to make it to a single BETT yet! Next year, I'm determined to make it...

Because Windows 8.

I wouldn't bank on it. Most indie and Valve titles on Steam work in Linux now but not a lot else. At the moment dual booting is a PITA. Hopefully they'll change this when it's out of beta but currently installing SteamOS completely formats your HDD, no dual boot option. You can dual boot, but you have to install SteamOS first then your other OS. I'm thinking it might be possible to disconnect your primary HDD, install SteamOS on to a blank HDD then reconnect the primary and use something like Grub to fix the boot table to see both but I haven't actually tried it. Personally, I'm just starting Steam in Big Picture mode on Windows 7.

Abuse their customers? Seriously though, UPlay was a nightmare last time I used it (Splinter Cell Conviction) but then again, Origin was at the time but the latter isn't too bad any more. If EA can learn perhaps Ubisoft can too

So they've made a PC that you can't upgrade? Smart. Real smart. On a related note, my budget Steam Box is now built, just working through the tweaks to make it more appliance-like

The problem with releasing a new console (in hindsight, I know I was calling for a new handheld only last week!) is that it takes significant R&D costs to develop not to mention logistics. Releasing their games on alternative digital platforms would cost relatively little in comparison and would generate a hell of a lot more profit per sale. It's also much lower risk; if you already own the console/platform the game is released on then you're more likely to buy the game than if it requires you purchasing yet another console.

At what point does a weapon become offensive? To that end, at what point does it become a weapon? Thinking their are a few UKIP/BNP councillors we could have arrested for carrying their offensive weapons around with them - their gobs!