ReadWriteWeb

In my post over the weekend about how you don't need a diploma to code, I was thinking about the multi-volume The Art of Computer Programming that was written by former Stanford CS prof Donald Knuth. Knuth tomorrow turns 74 and it is worth taking a look at various things that you can find online as a means of celebrating his rich and varied life.

Dan Boneh, professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford University is offering a free online cryptography class starting in January.

Students will get about two hours of video content per week, though broken up into chunks of about 12 minutes (or smaller). They'll also get quizzes from the videos and standalone quizzes, as well as programming assignments.

If you haven't yet enrolled in the Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class at Stanford University that we mentioned earlier this summer, you still have time to participate in what is being billed as the largest Google+ hangout tomorrow morning. At 8 am PT tomorrow, the two professors teaching the class, Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun, will hold "office hours" and answer the most popular questions from the class.

Since they have tens of thousands of followers, it "would be hard to fit everyone into their actual offices," says the intro video. It is an intriguing use of the Hangout feature. You don't have to be a Stanford student, or even enrolled in the class, or even know something about AI. All you have to do is add Norvig to your Google+ circle, ask your question on their YouTube channel now and tune in tomorrow.

There are two important concepts first articulated by Prof. John McCarthy of Stanford University, neither of which actually imply that computers will ever evolve to become intelligent, rational creatures. One is that electronic machines can learn functions and processes. Throughout the 56 years since this concept was introduced, it has been declared an undeniable fact numerous times, only for someone to subsequently reposition the qualifications bar for "learning."

The other is that artificial intelligence (AI) is implied by any process which, when done well and correctly, appears to have required human intelligence. In other words, like legislative gridlock, you don't have to see it yourself to know it exists.

Not too long ago we told you about how you can access the course materials for Stanford University's introduction to computer science course. If you're looking for something a bit more advanced, Stanford will offer its artificial intelligence class online for free this fall. It will run from Sept 26 - Dec 16. Online enrollment ends Sept 10.

The course will be taught by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. The course will include online lectures by the two, and according to the course website both professors will be available for online discussions. And according to the video embedded below, students in the online class will be graded on a curve just like regular Stanford students and receive a certificate of completion with their grade.

The website for Stanford University's Computer Science 101 contains lecture notes and interactive JavaScript exercises, and is available for free to the public. The exercises can be completed within the browser.

The technology used to create the in-browser exercises is discussed here.

Egypt's January revolution was not caused by tech but tech played a role, as a cursory glance at ReadWriteWeb's stories on the country show. Internally and externally, geeks came to the fore. Now that the country has rid itself of its former rulers, there is still a lot of work to do.

On May 14, a group of 75 Silicon Valley technologists, computer science students and others met at Stanford for a Cloud to Street hackathon designed to create tools Egyptian activists have requested.

Before today's Apple press event and all its announcements, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the opportunity at Apple's earnings call yesterday to quell rumors that a 7" iPad was on the way. What Jobs said was true: so why are some people still calling Jobs a liar?

Perhaps it's the usual mistrust people assign to corporate executives. Yet Jobs is no stranger to controversy around saying one thing - and then announcing another. As it turns out, two Stanford researchers have recently been studying the truthiness of CEOs and devised a formula for red-flagging deceptive CEO statements. Jobs seems to get a mixed score.

When film critic Roger Ebert posted on his blog that "Video Games Can Never Be Art," he seemed to incur the wrath of the gaming community, and the entry now has over 3,000 comments, many protesting Ebert's claims. Ebert wonders why the designation of art or not-art matters to those who play video games: "Do they require validation? In defending their gaming against parents, spouses, children, partners, co-workers or other critics, do they want to be able to look up from the screen and explain, "I'm studying a great form of art?" Then let them say it, if it makes them happy."

Last month the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab ran an event at the Stanford Business School, called The Internet of Things: Sensors Everywhere. The video of the event was recently put up on YouTube. We've embedded the entire hour-long video below, along with a 2-minute video snippet which we think budding entrepreneurs should take note of.

If you have time, the entire event is worth viewing. It delves into current successful use cases for Internet of Things. Panelists include representatives from HP's sensor networks division, a medical software company, and a company which provides sensor-enabled products for vending machines.