Is It Time For Hacker Scouts? 186
ptorrone writes "MAKE Magazine asks: is it 'Time For Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts 2.0?' What might the future of education be like if it were based on online & earned skill badges, and what could the future of traditional organizations for kids, like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, be like in a very modern, tech-savvy world? Social networks and the maker movement are the perfect intersection of where the kids of today are, but we don't see 'leaderboards' for skills yet; we only see them for video games. Is it time for Hacker Scouts?"
Badges (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Badges (Score:5, Funny)
Badges? We don't got no badges! We don't need no steenkin' badges!
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Badges? We don't got no badges! We don't need no steenkin' badges!
Of course not. We just need achievements [slashdot.org].
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We can't stop here, this is badge country.
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/=\ Help an Old Lady Across the Information Superhighway /=\
"No Gramma don't click the red button... No don't click Confirm, that warning is lying to you."
"No mom it's in the menu bar. The menu. At the top. Of the screen... Just let me remote in..."
"Left-click. With the mouse. What? How big is the button? No, use the button on the top of the mouse, not the side."
I would've earned every damn one of those badges. >_
Re:Badges (Score:4, Funny)
"No Gramma don't click the red button... No don't click Confirm, that warning is lying to you."
"No mom it's in the menu bar. The menu. At the top. Of the screen... Just let me remote in..."
"Left-click. With the mouse. What? How big is the button? No, use the button on the top of the mouse, not the side."
I used to do that, now that I am over 30 I just tell people they are too stupid to use computers.
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I used to do that, now that I am over 30 I just tell people they are too stupid to use computers.
When people demonstrate a lack of basic computer skills, like clicking on buttons, I put them into the self-guided tour that explains how to use the operating system, and walk away.
Obviously I don't do this when I'm paid to explain these things, but life is too short to teach people how to use a mouse for free.
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A Hacker is (Score:5, Funny)
untrustworthy, disloyal, surly,
angry, rude, mean,
obstinant, cranky, greedy,
anonymous, smelly, irreverent
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Is it time? (Score:5, Insightful)
But do NOT lose the outdoor aspect. Camping, etc. Far, far too many kids have no clue what the "big green room with the blue and white ceiling" looks and smells like.
Re:Is it time? (Score:5, Insightful)
The funny thing is, I remember computer camps being common in the 80s. Somehow as computers got more popular, computer camps got less so.
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They became appliances. Just like a TV, dishwasher, telephone. It's there in the house, it mostly works, everyone has one. Nothing special.
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We need more dishwasher camps too.
Re:Is it time? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, I've seen that kind of 'appliance' thinking in action.
That's why we have a weird schism. One generation which bankrupted us and couldn't fix a toaster to save their lives, another which could write a fair number of new OSs but is hamstrung on the financial issue, and another generation immediately thereafter which has acquired both generation's mistakes and understands neither finances nor technology. W00F!
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It does amaze me what people throw away.
The other day I saw one of those clothes drying racks dumped in the street - 3 sections that fold flat for storage, in use they form a Z shape. One of the little plastic hinges was broken.
My gran had one exactly the same. She'd replaced the broken hinge with a piece of cord braided back & forth so it was bendable but didn't slip. As a kid, I used to undo the braid. Then I learned
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His bark is worse than his byte.
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The funny thing is, I remember computer camps being common in the 80s. Somehow as computers got more popular, computer camps got less so.
That is because those camps were designed to get the geeks like us out of the picture for the summer. Now everyone is a geek.
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Ha! Only for values of geek near not. But I guess that was your point.
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What do you do for power, take a generator with you?
Nothing better than the thwubbathwubba sound & the and smell of oil when you're trying to commune with nature.
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But do NOT lose the outdoor aspect. Camping, etc. Far, far too many kids have no clue what the "big green room with the blue and white ceiling" looks and smells like.
Isn't that what the Occupy movement is for . . . ?
In the case of cities, especially the smell part.
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The Occupy movement, among other things, (and I will put this charitably) is decrying the lack of employment; their argument appears to be that it's not for lack of want that they are unemployed, but for lack of employment opportunities that they are so. Which arguably, when tied in with the whole 'Wall St. Bailout' thing kind of make sense, in an interpretation of capitalism (the more perfect version of) -> that is, the capital that was 'acquired' from the taxpayer would have, if it had followed the ini
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amen, the whole point of scouting is to get out and move and learn to build, fix and strengthen things. There's no way a video game should be part of a badge, unless the scout it writing one.
I was never a scout, but my son and daughters have been since they were old enough. I've been on many a campout with them, and as they get older, we'll go adventuring out in the big blue room together in canoes, with backpacks, rifles (though no firearms in scouts, so that'll be strictly civilian), sleep under the star
Coder Dojo (Score:2)
There is a coder Scouts, called Coder Dojo http://coderdojo.com/ [coderdojo.com]
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There is a coder Scouts, called Coder Dojo http://coderdojo.com/ [coderdojo.com]
Scouts have Explorers. When I was in High School I was in a computer technology/electronics Explorer post. It was rad. First taste of computers, programming and stuff. Not a new idea.
Re:Scouts have Explorers (Score:2)
Then they grew up, sans computer skills (some of them), and have Internet Explorer, drive Ford Explorer, and their kids watch rerun-DVD's of Dora the Explorer.
We already have an obesity problem (Score:2)
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Useful things... let's see, which one might it be in our time and age? How to make fire by rubbing a stick in a board only or how to make efficient SQL statements?
Don't get me wrong, I'm with you at the "childhood enrichment" part, but useful? Only if you believe the "end of the world at the end of the year" thing.
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I was raised on a small dairy farm, so we had to do a lot of our repairs, modifications and fabrication ourselves. Good old wire and bailing twine. :D
I'm now a science teacher and am constantly surprised when some city (thus, supposedly more advantaged) kids freeze up at the idea of designing their own experiments or equipment. It's anecdotal, but it seems that the kids that have outdoor lives as well as books and computers, a
Re:We already have an obesity problem (Score:5, Informative)
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heh yea, we recently went on a camping trip with some buddies, I was the only one able to figure out how to toss a rope over a branch and string a lantern over it, our site was the only one with a (sterno) stove and a light, everyone else was trying to heat beans in the dark 4 foot away from a piss poor fire
I'd like to direct your attention to... (Score:3)
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I get a nice even tan from my monitors, thank you very much.
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You can buy vitamin-D supplements in bulk at Costco, I hear...
Sounds a bit like "Carl and Jerry"... (Score:3)
A regular series from the old days of Popular Electronics magazine. Some of them are available online at:
http://www.copperwood.com/carlandjerry.htm [copperwood.com]
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Well, like that, except funny.
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Also, one of the first stories in the series involves the kids purchasing a WWII surplus miniature Japanese submarine, making it seaworthy in some way, and doing some kind of prank with it without particularly much in the way of adult supervision.
The number of government agencies, from municipal to federal, that would freak out completely at the first hint of such an activity in this day and age is amusing and sad to contemplate.
For further reading, Edward Abbey's "The Monkey-Wrench Gang" is like a sequel i
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I always thought the kids were more likely to grow up to be NSA or CIA analysts.
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Probably depends whether they tried booze or shrooms first.
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I'm mildly claustrophobic and a crap swimmer so if I did that I would be a tairst - against myself!
Fine as is (Score:4, Insightful)
I do not think it is necessary to reform all organizations to match some illusionary techno elite mold.
Scouts/Guides teach different skills, like what the sun looks like and how to get along with others, that are not well represented by the can't-lift-face-from-LCD crowd.
Badges are about basic skills and sense of accomplishment (little milestones met). Leaderboards are about competition. Each has their merit.
P.S. Get off my lawn
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> I loved Cup Scouts
Did your troop have two girls in it?
Merit badges already available... (Score:2)
No (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't the point of scouts is to get kids out of the basement to move and do something?
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I'd say there's a huge difference between pwning n00bz in WoW for 15 hours a day and intensive hands-on training in AI, robotics, e-commerce, cryptography, rocketry, etc.. We have more than enough kids trained in the former, and so precious few skilled in the latter.
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As a former Scout, I would like to remind you that we spent more than a fair bit of time in our school's gym tying knots, setting up tents, and having pine derby races. And let's not forget about arts and crafts - I still have my paper maché statue doing the Hadouken pose.
Not really (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, the core Scouting organizations could use online resources for organizational purposes or for some merit badges that could be done online.
However, most of the valuable experiences from scouting can only be gained in person - experiencing things in real life. Camping. Swimming. Hiking. Shooting. Meeting people in various fields and getting a real education about a topic (even if it is cursory), Etc.
However, online scouting would lose a lot of the value you get by interacting with live people who can share their experiences.
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Hacker scouting should be partly done in hackerspaces for just the reason you suggest. On the other hand, virtual collaboration is a useful skill, too.
Discrimination Issues (Score:4, Informative)
I just wanted to mention that the Boys and Girls scouts of America do not allow homosexuals into leadership positions, youth or adult.
Moreover they completely bar atheists and agnostics from membership of any kind.
Support them if you so desire but do so with full awareness of what you are supporting.
Re:Discrimination Issues (Score:5, Informative)
The Girl Scouts have nothing to do with each other and entirely different philosophies.
The Boy Scouts are basically structured to be the youth program for the mormon church.
The Girl Scouts are far more warm, friendly, and liberal.
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The Boy Scouts are basically structured to be the youth program for the mormon church.
Um, no - the Mormon units don't really interact with the rest of them. You should go work with a local Scout unit to see what they're about. Reading online complaints isn't the way to find out what acutally happens. Worst case, you've confirmed your fears and feel right about it. Best case, you learn something new.
Also, the way Scouting is run is very dependent on the local culture - you'll find varying views among a v
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Um, yes. I am an Asst. Scoutmaster, in a mormon troop. You are right that mormon units tend to associate with each other, and you are right that there can be differences in cultures, but the national BSA policies are exactly what the LDS church wants them to be.
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When they remove the emphasis on Jesus from the scouting materials and stop their homophobia then people might believe they're something other than a fascist religious organization.
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Actually, in Northeastern Illinois, the LDS church is the main organizer of the entire district. Most troops are not LDS affiliated, but all the main organizing events (council meetings, etc.) take place at the LDS church and they are definitely the prime movers.
I'm not LDS and I have no problem with them running things. In general, scouting here is probably a little more liberal than in many areas - I don't detect any LDS "agenda". The LDS church is just really into Boy Scouts and they have lots of people
Look at the national leadership (Score:2)
The top leadership of the BSA is now dominated by members of the LDS church. All the controversial national polices are in place because of this. The non-LDS local units are stuck with the no-win decision of either going along with this or having an unstated rule that scouts and leaders should lie about their sexual orientation and religious beliefs. This goes against the fundamental principles that scouting was founded on.
As an Eagle Scout I refuse to do either of those things, and thus can no longer assoc
Re:Discrimination Issues (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm posting anonymously because I could be "fired" as a Scout leader for the things I'm about to say.
The parent is incorrect in that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are different organizations. Girl Scouts do not bar membership for homosexuals or atheists. Boy Scouts ban both. I HATE the fact that Boy Scouts does this and makes it their official policy.
Why they do this is fairly straightforward. In addition to posthumously baptizing Jews who died in the holocaust, the Mormon church has Boy Scouts as its OFFICIAL youth organization for boys. They do not have Girl Scouts as the organization for their girls, for exactly the difference in stance noted above.
As such, I HATE the Mormon church. They are ruining an organization that I love very dearly.
My personal feeling is that Scouting should be about lots of things - having a moral code that asks you to treat others with kindness and respect, and helping them when you can. It should have NOTHING to do with sex, let alone sexual orientation, nor should it require a belief in God. Simply a "higher power" would suffice for me, and would be consistent with other groups such as AA.
I have struggled with this for many years. I have friends who have had to leave my troop because they are gay. One was a very close friend. His departure was a huge loss for our troop (but happily a gain for a more enlightened organization). I have almost sent my Eagle Scout award to Scouting for All, an organization working to change BSAs position on these two things. (I wish I could send it... I worked too hard for it to mail it away... I still struggle with this) Regardless it would do little good. BSA cannot afford to lose the Mormons. The organization would probably fold if it did, so the Mormons have BSA by the short hairs, and there isn't much that can be done.
On a brighter note, while there is no Hacking Merit Badge, there are merit badges for Computers, Electronics, Engineering, Geocaching, Inventing, and Robotics.
And there are troops out there that only pay lip service to the 2 principles discussed above. For example, in my troop, there is no requirement to profess a belief in God, so long as one does not publicly proclaim atheism. No Scout or leader has ever been dismissed for being a homosexual, so long as that information remains private. It is essentially a "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. As such, it is flawed and asks people to live a lie, and is still wrong. But its the best we can do under the circumstance, for if we left an openly homosexual leader in place, the National Council would revoke our Charter, and the entire troop would cease to exist.
Like I said, I struggle with this. I don't ask for pity or praise. I feel like a coward. Because I am a coward. I tell myself about the greater good, and put it out of my mind. But what hurts the most is that my position and actions basically controvert the exact principles on which Scouting was founded.
On my honor.... (do I have any?)
I will do my best... (am I?)
To do my duty to God and my Country... (what will God think of me not standing up for my friend?)
To obey the Scout Law... (how many of those words have I broken now?)
To help other people at all times... (unless they are an atheist or gay?)
To keep myself physically strong
Mentally awake... (I guess I still have this one)
And morally straight... ('nuff said)
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BTW, why not send in your certificate? You were awarded the Eagle; you earned it; you proved yourself. A principled resignation of your title does not dimin
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> I HATE the Mormon church.
I don't. I grew up in it, still belong to it I guess. It does good things. It does bad things. It's run by laypeople, many of whom are very sincere, many of whom are intelligent and reasonable, many of whom are genuinely Christ-like (turn-the-other-cheek as opposed to belligerent sanctimony).
But collectively it is a global corporation with hordes of lawyers, accountants, and a budget many nations could envy, and it has considerable political clout. They really have hijacke
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"I have almost sent my Eagle Scout award to Scouting for All, an organization working to change BSAs position on these two things. (I wish I could send it... I worked too hard for it to mail it away... I still struggle with this)"
The harder you've worked for it, the greater the symbolism of rejecting it becomes.
You could choose to start or join an organization with the same values, minus the discrimination.
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My personal feeling is that Scouting should be about lots of things - having a moral code that asks you to treat others with kindness and respect, and helping them when you can. It should have NOTHING to do with sex, let alone sexual orientation, nor should it require a belief in God.
But you have to pledge your belief in God to even join, so if you don't, and you join, you're a hypocrite by definition.
Simply a "higher power" would suffice for me, and would be consistent with other groups such as AA.
So if you don't believe in some psychic mystical hoo-ha, you're a bad person?
I have almost sent my Eagle Scout award to Scouting for All, an organization working to change BSAs position on these two things. (I wish I could send it... I worked too hard for it to mail it away... I still struggle with this)
You can send it, and you will if you have the courage of your convictions.
morally straight
Prove it.
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Sir, don't torture yourself any longer. The BSA has proven time and time again that they are completely unwilling to change their position on the issues of homosexuals and non-believers. Join an alternative scouting organization - or better yet, form a troop for one of them if you don't have one in your area - and do things the way the boy scouts should be doing them. Be accepting of everyone regardless of race, creed, orientation, etc. Teach the kids the same skills, the same life lessons.
My high school wa
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I feel your pain. I'm 45 and an Eagle Scout. It's one of my proudest achievements. My time in Scouts was invaluable. But, my time predated the BSA declaring itself to be a religious organization. I was (and am) agnostic, but my troop's leaders helped me define what "reverent" and "duty to God" can mean in that context. How I could uphold the spirit of those values if not the letter.
Jump-cut to my own son in Scouts. In his troop you could be any religion you wanted -- so long as it was of Judeo-Christian o
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I call BullShit of the first order on the parent post's reply to this grandparent post:
""Moreover they completely bar atheists and agnostics from membership of any kind."
false. not sure where you heard this. ... even if you take umbrage to that, and decide to forego that part of advancement, you can be a member of the group"
*as a former cub-scout atheist, now a Christian at age 36*, who refused to become a boy scout because of the required pledge to God during the bridge/arrow of light ceremony.
"
On
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*as a former cub-scout atheist, now a Christian at age 36*
I call shenanigans. What, pray tell, convinced you that 1) a God exists 2) there is exactly one, and 3) he's the one described in the Bible.
Also, it's well known that the BSA is a hate-group that is both anti-gay and anti-atheist.
My money is on "woman" (Score:2)
There are a couple of common reasons for people to convert to Christianity from atheism. Prison, serious illness and a sweet, really religious wife-candidate. I think these account for about 90% of the cases. #idonthavefactstobackthisup
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You forgot "wants to run for office"
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Or, in other words, the national organization tolerates (nay, tacitly encourages) discrimination, bigotry, intolerance, and bias by allowing local branches to enforce their faith on Scouts. So yes, as the grandparent says, you should know what you're getting into because the organization tolerates such things - all it takes is one bad apple, and in the case of the Boy Scouts there's a *lot* of bad apples. (In my area, it's practically a branch of the Mormon church.)
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Who would want online pedo charges? (Score:2)
The current boy scout handbook, before anything else, starts off with a dozen or so pages about sex abuse. There are very strict rules for troop leaders/helpers - always do things in pairs, etc. So who in their right mind would want to videochat or be a troop leader for a bunch of kids online - instant lawsuits.
Also yup, you have to be a believer. They are very lax on what qualifies as belief and accept almost any faith. They need a badge for 'technically following the letter of the rules' if someone is a p
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The current boy scout handbook, before anything else, starts off with a dozen or so pages about sex abuse. There are very strict rules for troop leaders/helpers - always do things in pairs, etc
Such things instantly light up warning lights in my head - why the hell start a boy scout handbook with such a topic? Does that mean that this is their most rampant problem they are coping with? Does that in turn mean that BSA is a wholly fucked up institution full of sexual predators?
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It's a recognition that such things happen, both in and out of scouting.
The intro booklet is not specifically about scouting. It's about protecting yourself from predators throughout your childhood, and is intended to be used by parent and child together.
Have the scouts had some problems? Sure. But I think it's a good thing to facilitate that talk between parent and child, because otherwise it probably isn't going to happen a lot of the time.
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When you walk into a building and see fire extinguishers & signs pointing to emergency exits do you assume "oh shit, this place is about to turn into an inferno"?
It looks like they're taking realistic steps to deal with a problem, actual or potential; the start point is always recognizing it. Moreover, prevention pwns cure.
You think the approach the catholic church takes is better?
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In the field, the requirement is that the boy acknowledge that there is a 'higher purpose' to life. I suppose that does exclude the nihilist boys, but those are pretty rare.
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parent post is BullShit as well, again, coming from a christian, who when he was an atheist cub-scout, having fulfilled all the requirements to become a boy scout (bridge/arrow of light ceremony), kept his honor by refusing to become a boy scout which required the following pledge-
"
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scout_Promise#United_States_of_America [wikipedia.org]
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I think it's pretty clear that he's a closet case who's into little boys. We've seen this kind of projection before in certain "anti"-gay elected officials...
'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Tradition (Score:2)
http://chronicle.com/article/Badges-Earned-Online-Pose/130241/ [chronicle.com]
don't limit it to kids only
This has definite hacker education potential. (Score:2)
There are a lot of comments on the Boy and Girl Scout associations, but not yet many on the use of online merit badges as an alternative educational model.
Imagine educational sites done easily in Drupal, in which users learned skills and knowledge sets about... well, anything. Skillsets disruptive to the status quo, for instance. Hacking. Encryption. True American Common Law. All manner of "disruptive" information. They could earn merit badges and level them up just as they do in an RPG, and display or li
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That sounds more like a model for $PARTY_YOUTH than anything else, because you're teaching a catechism (True American Common Law, whatever that is, and I bet you have more) rather than just skills. Even more frightening - you've included a method for encouraging proselytizing and recruiting *and* a method to subtly enforce remaining a member.
Kind of a combination of Amway and Scientology.
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True American Common Law, whatever that is
Glad you asked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States#American_common_law [wikipedia.org]
Alternatively, here is the Advanced Law Substitute [buildfreedom.com] they're using today.
If replacing fraudulent color of law [wikipedia.org] with the system We, the People actually established is going to be called a teaching a catechism, I'm probably guilty. Knowing what our political system and system of laws actually are is quite a basic skill to have, and ignorance of it has been enabling all manner of corruption. To me, that's what's scary, or at
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-- and there's no reason to believe they're not in "reality."
On what planet?
Have you seen what's left of the news lately? These are the people who elect and subsidize corrupt politicians, and then complain about them. Who idly tolerate 93 of 100 demonstrably treasonous Senators enacting legislation so unconstitutional, the military is now authorized to haul off U.S. citizens, decide whether or not the Constitution applies to them, hold them indefinitely, and torture a confession out of them. They're the people who, when they complain, complain instead about PIPA a
I was a "hacker" scout in 1994 (Score:4, Insightful)
That experience, and having a computer in my room at very young age, are probably the two biggest reasons why I ended up choosing a career in Engineering. I have often thought that if I ever get off my lazy butt to do something good for the community it would be a technology explorer post like the one I was lucky enough to get into.
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Interesting! (Score:2)
I think it's an awesome idea, but I disagree with the name "Hacker Scouts". I think "Hacker" is and has always been a misnomer for the hobbyist-level of Electrical Engineering, Structural Engineering, Computer Science, etc, with a real focus on repurposing everyday items.
If you call it "Engineering Corps" or something like that, I could get behind it. I find it hard to believe you will have much support from the largely-brainwashed general masses using the term 'hacker'. "Being a hacker is bad! They take do
Boy Scout Explorers (Score:3)
1978, we spent Tuesday evenings with full run of the computer ( IBM 370/158 ) at Exxon R&D. Occasional field trips to places like the Sarnoff Labs ( RCA ), and
Bell Labs. It was at Bell Labs I was introduced to C and Unix by Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan. Little did I realize that I was going to make a career out of that.
"...we don't see 'leaderboards' for skills yet..." (Score:2)
Acquiring skills is a positive-sum game. We don't need to know who is "winning".
Wait.... (Score:2)
"MAKE Magazine asks: is it 'Time For Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts 2.0?' What might the future of education be like if it were based on online & earned skill badges, and what could the future of traditional organizations for kids, like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, be like in a very modern, tech-savvy world?
Wasn't this answered decades ago when they came up with Explorers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_for_Life [wikipedia.org]
Typical Explorer posts include groups of teenagers specializing in a field such as law e
Would the uniforms (Score:2)
be T-shirts pre-stained with Cheetos?
i'd love to see "maker scouts" (Score:3)
The idea is not to expose kids to technology. They are surrounded by it already. They can't help but be "exposed."
The idea is to expose technology to the kids. Far too much of modern technology comes with the implied "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!", and not nearly enough "oh, you like the glowing green head projector? Here's how to make him have boobies on his head and a snidley whiplash mustache! And this button makes him sound like a chipmunk! Would you like your own big green glowing head projector? Awesome! Here's how I made mine!"
There is far too much compartmentalization in modern society, and due to that, there is a very large demographic that relies on children not being more savvy than them with tech. This is mostly in educational and political circles. This reliance makes a conflict of interest when it comes to tech; they teach just enough to use, but not enough to comprehend and adapt the tech. (They call this a wide variety of things, but the most common is "abuse" of the technology, or vandalism.)
Maker scouts would focus on kids that have already been exposed to the tech, and want to learn more. It would actively encourage novel applications of technology, and the creation of disruptive appliances. In short, it would be every technology teacher's nightmare come true, where the kids learn dangerous things like assembler, kernel hacking, lowlevel electronics and computer logic, and graduate from drawing penises on the lab computers, to creating network worms that do it for them.
I would really love to see something like this, but I realize that most people would consider this on par with having a terrorist training camp for cyber terrorists.
The idea is exactly the opposite though. Terror comes from ignorance, and learned helplessness more often than not. This would seek to break that trend. The kids that come out would know what real cyberwarfare is, and laugh at the antics paraded around on the news, like many of us do.
Huh? Did they stop? (Score:3)
My sole experience in Scouting was with an Explorer post at what was then the Oklahoma City Western Electric works where my mother worked. A group of us (I remember two sisters and their brother and myself) went there, I forget how many evenings a week, and learned FORTRAN on an IBM 1130 and FOCAL and PDP-8 assembly language (on a PDP-8, of course). That would be around 1973 or 1974.
We don't see 'leaderboards' for skills yet (Score:2)
"we don't see 'leaderboards' for skills yet"
No, I hope, will we ever do so. Leaderboards encourage finding ways to rank high on the leaderboards, not the retention and extension of skills.
As long as the badges aren't virtual (Score:2)
...when the idea tanks and the decision is made to shut down the servers... *poof*, all that achievement, gone.
Some still can't read a map (Score:2)
There have been a few rescues here in Arizona of boy scout troops who got lost or read their map wrong and only had two days of food and water for what turned out to be a four day hike.
A dozen merit badges easily (Score:2)
This could easily generate a dozen excellent merit badges, especially for Eagle Scouts. Hardware recycling projects or open source project creation would be wonderful. Preferably free software, but there are enough worthwhile Apache licensed projects to be worth doing. They could link conservation projects to hacking projects for tracking endangered species or park maintenance or scheduling urban renewal work.
Even simple tasks such as "build a server from scratch" could be awarded, and generate some early s
Volunteer (Score:2)
My opinion of the Boy Scouts is pretty low; my opinion of the Girl Scouts depends on which troop and local they are with, since there is a lot of variance in what each Troop Mom allows. But why should it be necessary to replace the entire organization just to teach electronics, computers, and hacking skills? Get off the ideological high horse, and go offer to teach some scouts. If you don't agree with the policies of the scouts in your area, find an existing organization that you can help. A YMCA Open Unive
paramilitary brainwashing club (Score:2)
As long as we leave out the militarism, paedophilia and everything else lord baden powell.
Re:As an Eagle Scout myself... (Score:4, Informative)
As an Eagle Scout myself, I know I learned many fundamentals of electronics, radio communication, metal working and even helped build a hero robot as a troop project. Really there is everything from wilderness survival (which is what pops into most peoples mind) and basket weaving, but in all if there is a topic, there is a badge where you can learn the basics as a child.
do I support the activities mentioned in the article? yes, but its amusing because its already there ...other than buy a 500 3d printer from us cause your kid needs to know something that will become a toaster in 20 years, but drafting and cad, which are useful skills are already a badge
http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges/mb-DRAF.aspx [scouting.org]
guess where I learned how to do it first?