Free Online Courses
October 27, 2011 - 1:14am
This thread is for listing free online courses and free educational stuff in general.
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Are there any babblers who DO NOT understand how to download movies and documentaries for free on the internet and view them on your DVD or Blueray player?
Torrents 101: How Torrent Downloading Works An Overview of Bittorrent P2P File Sharing (part 1 of 4)
Download uTorrent 2.0
And I've been using Freemake a free video converter to convert avi, matroska etc to DVD and even Blue ray and burning to disc. It's also pretty decent for joining english subtitles files in .srt format to the finished product.(For people who are deaf or hard of hearing and unilingual).
So there is no good reason why you haven't been able to watch good Hollywood and even foreign flics on TV, like Micmacs, The City of God, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz etc. Go for it it's free just buy some blank DVD's and away you go.
..txs fidel!
Freemake might be "free as in free beer", but it is not "free as in freedom". It is proprietary software. On top of that, it tries to install a toolbar/browser hijacker.
DON'T install this software!
"When you download the SweetIM Software, you will receive the following software features:
BY CLICKING ON THE "I ACCEPT" OR SUCH SIMILAR BUTTON OR LINK AS MAY BE DESIGNATED FOR PURPOSES OF INITIATING THE DOWNLOAD OF THE ACCOMPANYING SOFTWARE PRODUCT AND SERVICES (WHICH CONSIST OF THE "SweetIM" SOFTWARE AND ITS ASSOCIATED FEATURES) OR BY INSTALLING OR USING THE SOFTWARE, THE END USER ("YOU") AGREES TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THE SWEETIM COMBINED END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT/TERMS OF SERVICE/AND PRIVACY POLICY (THE "AGREEMENT").
IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT INSTALL OR USE THE SWEETIM SOFTWARE."
Also, do a search on "removing the Sweetim toolbar" and see how many hits you get.
If you are looking for some software that does the exact same thing as this does, that is "free as in free beer" and also "free as in freedom", I would recommend DeVeDe. I use this programme all the time and it's completely safe. DeVeDe is licensed under the GNU General Public License.
Just for "fun", I downloaded Freemake and began the install using "Wine" (Wine Is Not an Emulator), a programme that allows you to run Windows programmes on a GNU/Linux computer...but in a protected "separate" area. I was suspicious of this programme and only wanted to get as far as the "End User License Agreement" (EULA) and then I immediately cancelled the install. I don't "agree" with the software license.
Radiorahim, I was able to uninstall the toolbar crap without incident some time ago. No problems and it works fine. But thanks for the link to DeVeDe.
..i'm running linux mint and it came with devede. i just installed it. cool! i've been needing something like this.
Fidel, might you have been able to deal with the obvious malicious features of Freemake, but many, if not most non-technical Windows users are in the habit of clicking through a software installation and answering "yes" to everything.
If you do that with this software you end up with all kinds of crap on your machine.
DeVeDe does the job and respects it's users.
I've been using handbrake for some time to do kind of the reverse of what Fidel is talking about. Any opinions about it - or any alternatives? It's open source, but I don't know if it's "free" as in "freedom".
Handbrake is very good, too, I've used that one before. I end up using and then cleaning so much s/w off my machine that I rarely use anything specific for very long. I think I will try DeVeDe now that Radiorahim has mentioned it. I didn't realize Freemake is a WMD for my puter.
I've been using handbrake for some time to do kind of the reverse of what Fidel is talking about. Any opinions about it - or any alternatives? It's open source, but I don't know if it's "free" as in "freedom".
Handbrake is also licensed under the GNU General Public License and so is indeed "free as in freedom".
Most software that is "open source" is also "free as in freedom". It's just that "open source" is a development methodology with a focus on how this particular way of developing software is technically the best way to develop software...and also the cheapest way.
Those who speak of free software are more concerned with the politics of ensuring that people have control or at least the ability to have control of their computing environment.
So we're usually talking about the same kind of software, but just talk about it in a different way.
So for example I don't advocate the formation of unions because I think it's technically the best and most efficient way to organize workplaces. I advocate unionization because I believe that workers should have rights. :)
I know this lecture off by heart. ;)
(Did I mention that radiorahim and I went to see a speech by Richard Stallman in Iceland ON OUR HONEYMOON? Yes. We really did. Free as in freedom, baby!)
That's way too much information from an open source, Michelle.
I'll spare you the gory details, Unionist, no worries. :D
It was when we first arrived that rr found the ad for the lecture in the Reykjavik Grapevine for the Stallman lecture at a local university, I couldn't believe it. I'd have accused him of planning it that way, but we booked our trip five months beforehand.
He went to the local ham radio club meeting too, which also happened to be meeting that week! I know, I know. TMI.
Ham Radio club? That reminds me, I saw this in some google search or another: http://www.emergencyradio.ca/course/
Ha! What's cool is that the Reykjavik city council gave the local ham radio club a building that the municipal government wasn't using in exchange for the club running some programmes for young people. Nice view of the bay too!
Spectacular scene in that photo, radiorahim. Iceland sounds really cool. I'd like to visit there some day.
In another thread - I think? - someone mentioned Obama's new jobs strategy and how they want more kids to learn how to program computers and stuff. I guess capitalists thought they could just offshore s/w programming and be done with it. But it's not the general consensus anymore apparently. We still need programmers and if not, we at least need workers who can think logically and even algorithmically according to some experts. Don't ask me who the experts are, though.
Invent with Python Learn to program by making computer games
"Invent with Python" was written to be understandable by kids as young as 10 to 12 years old, although it is great for anyone of any age who has never programmed before.
This second edition has revised and expanded content, including a Pygame tutorial to make games with graphics, animation, and sound.
The book and the programs are open source, and are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license, meaning they are free to copy and distribute.
http://www.codecademy.com/
Stanford's free online Java class
The Joy of Code Java with Greenfoot
MOOCs: Instruction for Masses Knocks Down Campus Walls
20 kids don't need no education
Hey, KONY! Leave them kids alone
All in all you're just anotha brick in the wall
MIT initiative , MITx, will offer free selected MIT courses starting in Spring 2012 through an online interactive learning platform including online laboratories.
Fidel I've put my name in to learn Python some time ago, allegedly from MIT (or one of the top US schools) for free, and to date there has been zero communications to me about it.
I dunno, is it this one? Because that course runs during the month of January for four weeks. I think you should be able to watch video lectures and do the quizes and assignments, though. I don't think registration is required if you just want to work through the course on your own.
Stanford's free computer science courses do run on schedule and require registration. Not sure if they have an intro to python course or not. You won't receive a Stanford ceritificate of completion just an e-certificate with the Stanford professor's name and yours with the name of the course taken. To earn their certificates they require that you achieve at least 70% in the course overall.
Did you have a look at the free "Invent with Python" e-book mentioned in post #15?
I never checked out link 15 but I will Fidel. I just started learning Python by myself. I'll check out the ebook, thanks. I don't need their certificate - besides most of these places contract out their services now to private consulting companies or part time labour, so the name of the institution no longer holds any meaning for me.
I never checked out link 15 but I will Fidel. I just started learning Python by myself. I'll check out the ebook, thanks. I don't need their certificate - besides most of these places contract out their services now to private consulting companies or part time labour, so the name of the institution no longer holds any meaning for me.
And try not to pay too much attention to the self-described gurus who insist that you have to be a C++ programmer or you're nothing. Because a lot of the coders and software developers actually employed today are working with languages like python and C#(C sharp), java and so on. I worked for a while in telecom, and all I ever really used was proprietary off the wall C-like languages and straight C programming. Mind you, you probably don't want to go into telecom anyway.
And, did you know that Canada is the third largest producer of video games?
As well, the Ontario government still has a program running for Second Careers. If you qualified for EI at anytime between, I think, 2006 or so, they will pay tutition, books and living expenses for up to two years at a community college within the province. And apparently you can tap into funding for re-training every two years. Just so you know.
I never checked out link 15 but I will Fidel. I just started learning Python by myself. I'll check out the ebook, thanks. I don't need their certificate - besides most of these places contract out their services now to private consulting companies or part time labour, so the name of the institution no longer holds any meaning for me.
And try not to pay too much attention to the self-described gurus who insist that you have to be a C++ programmer or you're nothing. Because a lot of the coders and software developers actually employed today are working with languages like python and C#(C sharp), java and so on. I worked for a while in telecom, and all I ever really used was proprietary off the wall C-like languages and straight C programming. Mind you, you probably don't want to go into telecom anyway.
And, did you know that Canada is the third largest producer of video games?
As well, the Ontario government still has a program running for Second Careers. If you qualified for EI at anytime between, I think, 2006 or so, they will pay tutition, books and living expenses for up to two years at a community college within the province. And apparently you can tap into funding for re-training every two years. Just so you know.
I chose Python because it is powerful, free, and fits on a cell or desktop. I like the way it treats datatypes. It is a good tool.
Good choice and best of luck, Rabble_Incognito.
We offer high quality courses from the top universities, for free to everyone. We currently host courses from Princeton University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University of Pennsylvania. We are changing the face of education globally, and we invite you to join us.
The Free Technology Academy, a project of several European universities offers online courses in GNU/Linux and various free software topics.
The courses aren't free of charge but the materials are free to download, free to modify and free to share under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Thanks radiorahim. Their Open Networks pdf is a good intro to network protocols and architectures.
MIT and Harvard launch a ‘revolution in education' Online edX courses will open both universities' classrooms to the world while enhancing on-campus learning
Hockfield described edX as a "shared expedition to explore the frontiers of digital education." In launching some of the two institutions' classes into the world in a highly interactive way, she said, "What we will discover together will help us do what we do better - to more effectively, more creatively, increase the vitality of our campuses - and at the same time increase educational opportunities for learners and teachers across the planet."
Arduino -a popular open-source single board microcontroller, descendant of the open source Wiring platform. Designed to make the process of using electronics in multidiscipline projects more accessible. Simple open hardware design for the Arduino board with an Atmel AVR processor and on-board i/o support. S/w consists of standard language compiler and a boot loader that runs on the board.
Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language (syntax and libraries) resembling C++ with some slight simplifications and modifications, and a processing-based integrated development enviro.
Fritzing - free printed circuit board design software. Use with Arduino or perhaps even project boards with Raspberry Pi? Prototype to product.