Technorati Profile
Rather than have Khatib get lost in the shuffle......I've started up a petition.
Thank-you,
The responses so far have encouraged me to set up a petition at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/Khatib/petition.html
SkiTheStars
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
For Man of the Year, let's pick Ismail Khatib
Technorati Profile
Hmmmn, so how or other the front of this post got scrambled. Basically I called for nominating the Family or "Family of the Year" and the Nobel Peace Prize. Good grief, did somebody hack my site ?
Slain Palestinian boy's organs donated
Father says child's spirit is alive in 'every Israeli'
Monday, November 7, 2005; Posted: 11:02 p.m. EST (04:02 GMT)
Ahmed Khatib's organs were donated to Jews, Arabs and a Druse girl.
A gift of life in the midst of death (1:48)
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- The father of a Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers said Monday he believes his son's spirit is alive in "every Israeli" after donating the boy's organs to Israelis waiting for transplants.
Ismail Khatib said he was extremely proud of his decision, even if some corners of Palestinian society might be upset with him.
"No one can tell me what to do," he said. "I feel very good that my son's organs are helping six Israelis. ... I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli."
Khatib's son Ahmed, 12, was shot Thursday while Israeli troops conducted a raid in Jenin. The soldiers said the boy was carrying a toy rifle and they mistook him for a militant.
Ahmed died of his wounds late Saturday at an Israeli hospital. On Sunday, his kidneys, liver, lungs and heart were transplanted into recipients ranging in age from a 7-month-old baby to a 58-year-old woman and including Jews, Arabs and a Druse girl.
Khatib said the decision to donate Ahmed's organs was rooted in his memories of his brother, who died at age 24 while waiting for a liver transplant, and in his family's desire to help others regardless of their nationality. He said he hoped the gesture would send a message of peace to Israelis and Palestinians.
"We're talking about young children. Their religion doesn't make a difference," he said.
Some Palestinians privately questioned the donation, especially in light of the circumstances of the boy's death. But Khatib, a car mechanic, said his fellow residents in the Jenin refugee camp offered him only praise.
Israel has a chronic shortage of donor organs that many medical officials attribute to Jewish religious taboos against such donations.
Riad Gadban, whose 12-year-old daughter Samah had been waiting five years for a heart, called the donation a "gesture of love." He said his daughter was weak Monday but had opened her eyes, was alert and speaking to relatives.
Gadban, whose family belongs to Israel's Arabic-speaking Druse community, said he spoke to an uncle of the boy Monday.
"I told him I'm very sorry and thanked the family from the depths of my heart," he said, adding that he invited Ahmed's family to visit him.
Khatib said the many phone calls he received included a conversation Sunday with Israel's acting finance minister, Ehud Olmert, one of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's closest confidants.
He said Olmert apologized for the boy's death and invited him to Jerusalem. Khatib said he had not yet decided whether to accept the offer.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Surely this man is more deserving of the honor than many of the creeps that have gotten it lately. If not "Man of the Year," then Nobel Peace Prize. I bow to his enormous humanitarian spirit. Send a Christmas card with a picture of him and/or his son, and their story, to tell the true meaning of Christmas.
The story was lifted from the CNN news site, Nov 7, 2005, so sue me.
SkiTheStars
Hmmmn, so how or other the front of this post got scrambled. Basically I called for nominating the Family or "Family of the Year" and the Nobel Peace Prize. Good grief, did somebody hack my site ?
Slain Palestinian boy's organs donated
Father says child's spirit is alive in 'every Israeli'
Monday, November 7, 2005; Posted: 11:02 p.m. EST (04:02 GMT)
Ahmed Khatib's organs were donated to Jews, Arabs and a Druse girl.
A gift of life in the midst of death (1:48)
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- The father of a Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers said Monday he believes his son's spirit is alive in "every Israeli" after donating the boy's organs to Israelis waiting for transplants.
Ismail Khatib said he was extremely proud of his decision, even if some corners of Palestinian society might be upset with him.
"No one can tell me what to do," he said. "I feel very good that my son's organs are helping six Israelis. ... I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli."
Khatib's son Ahmed, 12, was shot Thursday while Israeli troops conducted a raid in Jenin. The soldiers said the boy was carrying a toy rifle and they mistook him for a militant.
Ahmed died of his wounds late Saturday at an Israeli hospital. On Sunday, his kidneys, liver, lungs and heart were transplanted into recipients ranging in age from a 7-month-old baby to a 58-year-old woman and including Jews, Arabs and a Druse girl.
Khatib said the decision to donate Ahmed's organs was rooted in his memories of his brother, who died at age 24 while waiting for a liver transplant, and in his family's desire to help others regardless of their nationality. He said he hoped the gesture would send a message of peace to Israelis and Palestinians.
"We're talking about young children. Their religion doesn't make a difference," he said.
Some Palestinians privately questioned the donation, especially in light of the circumstances of the boy's death. But Khatib, a car mechanic, said his fellow residents in the Jenin refugee camp offered him only praise.
Israel has a chronic shortage of donor organs that many medical officials attribute to Jewish religious taboos against such donations.
Riad Gadban, whose 12-year-old daughter Samah had been waiting five years for a heart, called the donation a "gesture of love." He said his daughter was weak Monday but had opened her eyes, was alert and speaking to relatives.
Gadban, whose family belongs to Israel's Arabic-speaking Druse community, said he spoke to an uncle of the boy Monday.
"I told him I'm very sorry and thanked the family from the depths of my heart," he said, adding that he invited Ahmed's family to visit him.
Khatib said the many phone calls he received included a conversation Sunday with Israel's acting finance minister, Ehud Olmert, one of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's closest confidants.
He said Olmert apologized for the boy's death and invited him to Jerusalem. Khatib said he had not yet decided whether to accept the offer.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Surely this man is more deserving of the honor than many of the creeps that have gotten it lately. If not "Man of the Year," then Nobel Peace Prize. I bow to his enormous humanitarian spirit. Send a Christmas card with a picture of him and/or his son, and their story, to tell the true meaning of Christmas.
The story was lifted from the CNN news site, Nov 7, 2005, so sue me.
SkiTheStars
Ending High Speed Chases and Stopping the Carnage
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Ending High Speed Chases and Stopping the Carnage:
Now here's a simple solution to a deadly problem. I've called this into numerous talk shows, but to no avail. Probably another case of "not invented here."
Police, sheriff, CHP, state troopers are driving along and become aware of a baddie in a nearby car. They "light it up" (turn on the bubble gum or panel of lights on the top of the police vehicle) but the vehicle, instead of stopping, takes off at high speeds. This is very disrespectful of the police, and they take off after the baddies.
If this were done on a closed course, no problem, but it is often done on city streets at highway speeds, and is a totally unpredictable deadly menace to everybody, including the police and the baddie.
My solution:
Install a high powered paintball gun in the cruiser.
The ball contains a tennis ball sized glob of bright florescent paint of a special color reserved for law enforcement.
Have a special 911 style number, which only operates when there is a paintball released in the area.
People who see a vehicle with the large blob of special paint get to call in to the number and report the location of the vehicle.
3 of said callers will win prizes donated by the business community, or outright grants of say, 250 scratcher lottery tickets.
When the baddie hears a big splat on the rear of his or her vehicle, they know that everyone out there will be looking for a piece of the action.
Have a fine established of say $100 per 1/10th of each mile traveled beyond the point of the splat, to be billed to the car owner (assuming it is not stolen) or the baddie. The car is impounded and sold to pay the fine, if the car is not stolen, and the baddie cannot pay.
Hearing about a fellow baddie that just lost his/her new Lincoln Navigator, and still owes the car dealer $30,000, should cause most relatively sane baddies to slam on the brakes immediately.
Saw a great video clip today showing an aerial of a baddie trying to slip inbetween two 18 wheelers, with an empty lane between them. Just as the car gets up to the front of the pair, the one truck steers towards the other, and the car becomes a weggie !
Anyway, hope some day some where, one of my ideas helps one person.
Ending High Speed Chases and Stopping the Carnage:
Now here's a simple solution to a deadly problem. I've called this into numerous talk shows, but to no avail. Probably another case of "not invented here."
Police, sheriff, CHP, state troopers are driving along and become aware of a baddie in a nearby car. They "light it up" (turn on the bubble gum or panel of lights on the top of the police vehicle) but the vehicle, instead of stopping, takes off at high speeds. This is very disrespectful of the police, and they take off after the baddies.
If this were done on a closed course, no problem, but it is often done on city streets at highway speeds, and is a totally unpredictable deadly menace to everybody, including the police and the baddie.
My solution:
Install a high powered paintball gun in the cruiser.
The ball contains a tennis ball sized glob of bright florescent paint of a special color reserved for law enforcement.
Have a special 911 style number, which only operates when there is a paintball released in the area.
People who see a vehicle with the large blob of special paint get to call in to the number and report the location of the vehicle.
3 of said callers will win prizes donated by the business community, or outright grants of say, 250 scratcher lottery tickets.
When the baddie hears a big splat on the rear of his or her vehicle, they know that everyone out there will be looking for a piece of the action.
Have a fine established of say $100 per 1/10th of each mile traveled beyond the point of the splat, to be billed to the car owner (assuming it is not stolen) or the baddie. The car is impounded and sold to pay the fine, if the car is not stolen, and the baddie cannot pay.
Hearing about a fellow baddie that just lost his/her new Lincoln Navigator, and still owes the car dealer $30,000, should cause most relatively sane baddies to slam on the brakes immediately.
Saw a great video clip today showing an aerial of a baddie trying to slip inbetween two 18 wheelers, with an empty lane between them. Just as the car gets up to the front of the pair, the one truck steers towards the other, and the car becomes a weggie !
Anyway, hope some day some where, one of my ideas helps one person.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
So TV, the Media, and the Arts are Controled by.....
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..... a minority sector of the culture found predominantly in the humanities, i.e. the media, the arts, and education--the 'communicators' with the most power to influence a culture as a whole through language and images.
I don't think so.
Last time I looked, the content of most movies is determined by whatever those who have the money to have them produced.....think will make them even more money. The actors and the rest go along, it's a living. Most people who create art do not make a living at it, and most art is never seen. Again, that which is seen is that which put out for sale, and generally if it doesn't sell, it goes away, or at least people don't waste their time trying to sell it.
Van Gogh was not a millionaire. People do make make porn and call it art, but that's not why they make it. They make porn because they know they can sell it to willing buyers. The fact that there are willing buyers is simple testimony to the fact that this culture really doesn't have a very good way of dealing with that aspect of being a human being.
Culture is plainly a work in progress, with different ones succeeding in different areas. The cultural traditions of this country have always had a real problem with sexuality, and violence too. Everybody takes everything too darned seriously at the wrong times. This leads to tragedy, from domestic violence to road rage and worse.
As for teachers influencing a culture, they are more and more under the gun to quit, the risks of getting screwed around retirement time are increasing, as the rich in this country and the MEDIA they own and the ADS THEY PAY FOR through the COMPANIES THEY CONTROl sway elections, in a time of ever increasing greed, pandering just barely to whoever they think will help them, including various religious groups.
Anyone can look at the state standards and teach from either a left slant or a right slant. Those on the right wing tend to be either too stupid to become teachers (shy intellectual horse power or inclination) or too smart (it's a bad investment). If teaching were as lucrative at the right wing would like to present it, more right wingers would go into it.
Instead, the rich rich have learned to avoid traffic jams by going up to Tahoe on Thursday or Friday morning, and not coming back until Monday, except maybe for the breadwinner.
Soon they will have exactly what they want. Automated schools staffed by teachers scarecly older than their charges, who learn via computer based training and watch nationally syndicated teachers with ton of cash behind each performance. The cost of schools will drop, and real schooling (the new private school system) takes advantage of the new materials and presentations for the cheapo public video nurseries. The real schools are only for the rich rich, $35,000/year and up. The rich rich want vouchers, so that whatever they pay in taxes, they can get back for these super expensive private schools.
This all assumes that the rich rich do not soon find themselves in control of a country more impoverished and stupid than many third world nations, in danger of internal collapse, revolution, or an outright, straighforward, buyout by China, with all our Walmart/others dollars doing the destruction. Was it Lenin or Marx that said capitalists will sell you the rope you use to hang them ?
The Chinese woman on Mars in 2008 will be paid for with Walmart/HP/IBM dollars.
Americans will own a ton of breakable schlock for consolation prizes.
Farstars SkiTheStars ski the far stars
..... a minority sector of the culture found predominantly in the humanities, i.e. the media, the arts, and education--the 'communicators' with the most power to influence a culture as a whole through language and images.
I don't think so.
Last time I looked, the content of most movies is determined by whatever those who have the money to have them produced.....think will make them even more money. The actors and the rest go along, it's a living. Most people who create art do not make a living at it, and most art is never seen. Again, that which is seen is that which put out for sale, and generally if it doesn't sell, it goes away, or at least people don't waste their time trying to sell it.
Van Gogh was not a millionaire. People do make make porn and call it art, but that's not why they make it. They make porn because they know they can sell it to willing buyers. The fact that there are willing buyers is simple testimony to the fact that this culture really doesn't have a very good way of dealing with that aspect of being a human being.
Culture is plainly a work in progress, with different ones succeeding in different areas. The cultural traditions of this country have always had a real problem with sexuality, and violence too. Everybody takes everything too darned seriously at the wrong times. This leads to tragedy, from domestic violence to road rage and worse.
As for teachers influencing a culture, they are more and more under the gun to quit, the risks of getting screwed around retirement time are increasing, as the rich in this country and the MEDIA they own and the ADS THEY PAY FOR through the COMPANIES THEY CONTROl sway elections, in a time of ever increasing greed, pandering just barely to whoever they think will help them, including various religious groups.
Anyone can look at the state standards and teach from either a left slant or a right slant. Those on the right wing tend to be either too stupid to become teachers (shy intellectual horse power or inclination) or too smart (it's a bad investment). If teaching were as lucrative at the right wing would like to present it, more right wingers would go into it.
Instead, the rich rich have learned to avoid traffic jams by going up to Tahoe on Thursday or Friday morning, and not coming back until Monday, except maybe for the breadwinner.
Soon they will have exactly what they want. Automated schools staffed by teachers scarecly older than their charges, who learn via computer based training and watch nationally syndicated teachers with ton of cash behind each performance. The cost of schools will drop, and real schooling (the new private school system) takes advantage of the new materials and presentations for the cheapo public video nurseries. The real schools are only for the rich rich, $35,000/year and up. The rich rich want vouchers, so that whatever they pay in taxes, they can get back for these super expensive private schools.
This all assumes that the rich rich do not soon find themselves in control of a country more impoverished and stupid than many third world nations, in danger of internal collapse, revolution, or an outright, straighforward, buyout by China, with all our Walmart/others dollars doing the destruction. Was it Lenin or Marx that said capitalists will sell you the rope you use to hang them ?
The Chinese woman on Mars in 2008 will be paid for with Walmart/HP/IBM dollars.
Americans will own a ton of breakable schlock for consolation prizes.
Farstars SkiTheStars ski the far stars
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Jonathan Kozol's still got the Knack
This is from an article in Harper's about American schools being as unequal as ever.
Three years later, in third grade, these children are introduced to what are known as "high-stakes tests," which in many urban systems now determine whether students can or cannot be promoted. Children who have been in programs like those offered by the "Baby Ivies" since the age of two have, by now, received the benefits of six or seven years of education, nearly twice as many as the children who have been denied these opportunities; yet all are required to take, and will be measured by, the same examinations. Which of these children will receive the highest scores? The ones who spent the years from two to four in lovely little Montessori programs and in other pastel-painted settings in which tender and attentive and well-trained instructors read to them from beautiful storybooks and introduced them very gently for the first time to the world of numbers and the shapes of letters, and the sizes and varieties of solid objects, and perhaps taught them to sort things into groups or to arrange them in a sequence, or to do those many other interesting things that early childhood specialists refer to as prenumeracy skills? Or the ones who spent those years at home in front of a TV or sitting by the window of a slum apartment gazing down into the street? There is something deeply hypocritical about a society that holds an eight-year-old inner-city child "accountable" for her performance on a high-stakes standardized exam but does not hold the high officials of our government accountable for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years earlier.
Perhaps in order to deflect these recognitions, or to soften them somewhat, many people, even while they do nor doubt the benefit of making very large investments in the education of their own children, somehow—paradoxical as it may seem—appear to be attracted to the argument that money may not really matter that much at all. No matter with what regularity such doubts about the worth of spending money on a child's education are advanced, it is obvious that those who have the money, and who spend it lavishly to benefit their own kids, do not do it for no reason. Yet shockingly large numbers of well-educated and sophisticated people whom I talk with nowadays dismiss such challenges with a surprising ease. "Is the answer really to throw money into these dysfunctional and failing schools?" I'm often asked. "Don't we have some better ways to make them `work'?" The question is posed in a variety of forms. "Yes, of course, it's not a perfectly fair system as it stands. But money alone is surely not the sole response. The values of the parents and the kids themselves must have a role in this as well you know, housing, health conditions, social factors." "Other factors"—a term of overall reprieve one often hears—"have got to be considered, too." These latter points are obviously true but always seem to have the odd effect of substituting things we know we cannot change in the short run for obvious solutions like cutting class size and constructing new school buildings or providing universal preschool that we actually could put in place right now if we were so inclined.
Frequently these arguments are posed as questions that do not invite an answer because the answer seems to be decided in advance. "Can you really buy your way to better education for these children?" "Do we know enough to be quite sure that we will see an actual return on the investment that we make?" "Is it even clear that this is the right starting point to get to where we'd like to go? It doesn't always seem to work, as I am sure that you already know," or similar questions that somehow assume I will agree with those who ask them.
Some people who ask these questions, although they live in wealthy districts where the schools are funded at high levels, don't even send their children to these public schools but choose instead to send them to expensive private day schools. At some of the well-known private prep schools in the New York City area, tuition and associated costs are typically more than $20,000 a year. During their children's teenage years, they sometimes send them off to very fine New England schools like Andover or Exeter or Groton, where tuition, boarding, and additional expenses rise to more than $30,000. Often a family has two teenage children in these schools at the same time, so they may be spending more than $60,000 on their children's education every year. Yet here I am one night, a guest within their home, and dinner has been served and we are having coffee now; and this entirely likable, and generally sensible, and beautifully refined and thoughtful person looks me in the eyes and asks me whether you can really buy your way to better education for the children of the poor.
Technorati Profile
Three years later, in third grade, these children are introduced to what are known as "high-stakes tests," which in many urban systems now determine whether students can or cannot be promoted. Children who have been in programs like those offered by the "Baby Ivies" since the age of two have, by now, received the benefits of six or seven years of education, nearly twice as many as the children who have been denied these opportunities; yet all are required to take, and will be measured by, the same examinations. Which of these children will receive the highest scores? The ones who spent the years from two to four in lovely little Montessori programs and in other pastel-painted settings in which tender and attentive and well-trained instructors read to them from beautiful storybooks and introduced them very gently for the first time to the world of numbers and the shapes of letters, and the sizes and varieties of solid objects, and perhaps taught them to sort things into groups or to arrange them in a sequence, or to do those many other interesting things that early childhood specialists refer to as prenumeracy skills? Or the ones who spent those years at home in front of a TV or sitting by the window of a slum apartment gazing down into the street? There is something deeply hypocritical about a society that holds an eight-year-old inner-city child "accountable" for her performance on a high-stakes standardized exam but does not hold the high officials of our government accountable for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years earlier.
Perhaps in order to deflect these recognitions, or to soften them somewhat, many people, even while they do nor doubt the benefit of making very large investments in the education of their own children, somehow—paradoxical as it may seem—appear to be attracted to the argument that money may not really matter that much at all. No matter with what regularity such doubts about the worth of spending money on a child's education are advanced, it is obvious that those who have the money, and who spend it lavishly to benefit their own kids, do not do it for no reason. Yet shockingly large numbers of well-educated and sophisticated people whom I talk with nowadays dismiss such challenges with a surprising ease. "Is the answer really to throw money into these dysfunctional and failing schools?" I'm often asked. "Don't we have some better ways to make them `work'?" The question is posed in a variety of forms. "Yes, of course, it's not a perfectly fair system as it stands. But money alone is surely not the sole response. The values of the parents and the kids themselves must have a role in this as well you know, housing, health conditions, social factors." "Other factors"—a term of overall reprieve one often hears—"have got to be considered, too." These latter points are obviously true but always seem to have the odd effect of substituting things we know we cannot change in the short run for obvious solutions like cutting class size and constructing new school buildings or providing universal preschool that we actually could put in place right now if we were so inclined.
Frequently these arguments are posed as questions that do not invite an answer because the answer seems to be decided in advance. "Can you really buy your way to better education for these children?" "Do we know enough to be quite sure that we will see an actual return on the investment that we make?" "Is it even clear that this is the right starting point to get to where we'd like to go? It doesn't always seem to work, as I am sure that you already know," or similar questions that somehow assume I will agree with those who ask them.
Some people who ask these questions, although they live in wealthy districts where the schools are funded at high levels, don't even send their children to these public schools but choose instead to send them to expensive private day schools. At some of the well-known private prep schools in the New York City area, tuition and associated costs are typically more than $20,000 a year. During their children's teenage years, they sometimes send them off to very fine New England schools like Andover or Exeter or Groton, where tuition, boarding, and additional expenses rise to more than $30,000. Often a family has two teenage children in these schools at the same time, so they may be spending more than $60,000 on their children's education every year. Yet here I am one night, a guest within their home, and dinner has been served and we are having coffee now; and this entirely likable, and generally sensible, and beautifully refined and thoughtful person looks me in the eyes and asks me whether you can really buy your way to better education for the children of the poor.
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Spyware from the Washington Post
Declaration of Independence from Newspaper Spyware
Lately the papers I read on-line have been getting more and more obnoxious with ads and spyware. I am seriously thinking of setting up a, newspapers and others who are prone to this disease, computer. As soon as I am done reading the news on that machine, an older laptop for low energy consumption, I just put LavaSoft's Adware to work ( www.lavasoftusa.com } and let it sweep that machine while I go about my real email elsewhere on my main machine. That way when the goonsquads come back the next day, they learn nothing. In fact it would be great to put nonsensical cookie like objects on it for their software whores to pore through in puzzlement. The guilty parties include our local "The Union" and the "Sacramento Bee." So far these two merely clutter up the lines with tons of margin ads and banners, but are not trying to shove Avenue A onto my machine.
I sent the following this morning to the Washington Post:
"At one time, I used to get the ability to comfortably read the articles. Then you started trying to shove Avenue A down my computer's throat, and my ad blockers kept it out. Then it took several tries to get to the article. Now it does not work at all.
If you had a reasonable fee for AD FREE, SPYWARE FREE on-line news, like say $2 to $5 per month. I would pay it. As it is, I will either be forced to adopt a computer that does nothing but download obnoxious crap and then dispose of it daily, by using an email that is strickly for sites that insist on sending obnoxious crap, or I will drop my subscription altogether.
You want to put stuff in the margins, OK. But let's keep it to 1st party cookies only, no spyware, market trakers. Neither GOD nor the GOVERNMENT FORCE you to make your business decisions. YOU MAKE YOUR DECISIONS and you are annoying the heck out of an otherwise good reader. I will be making MY DECISION based on your response, and the speed at which it arrives.
It is very easy to simply re-subscribe with another email addy, and do it with every company that I am only slightly involved with. It is very easy to blog about this concept AND TO SPREAD IT ACROSS THE COUNTRY, so that EVERYONE is doing it and your aDVERTISING DOLLARS for this source go to hell in a handbasket. Please see www.farstars.blogspot.com for another copy of this.
If you don't like my CAPITALIZATIONS, then maybe you should think about how I think about YOUR SPYWARE.
Douglas Keachie
To the Washington Post and other Newspapers following their lead down the SPYWARE path. Sent October 25th, 2005
Technorati Profile
Lately the papers I read on-line have been getting more and more obnoxious with ads and spyware. I am seriously thinking of setting up a, newspapers and others who are prone to this disease, computer. As soon as I am done reading the news on that machine, an older laptop for low energy consumption, I just put LavaSoft's Adware to work ( www.lavasoftusa.com } and let it sweep that machine while I go about my real email elsewhere on my main machine. That way when the goonsquads come back the next day, they learn nothing. In fact it would be great to put nonsensical cookie like objects on it for their software whores to pore through in puzzlement. The guilty parties include our local "The Union" and the "Sacramento Bee." So far these two merely clutter up the lines with tons of margin ads and banners, but are not trying to shove Avenue A onto my machine.
I sent the following this morning to the Washington Post:
"At one time, I used to get the ability to comfortably read the articles. Then you started trying to shove Avenue A down my computer's throat, and my ad blockers kept it out. Then it took several tries to get to the article. Now it does not work at all.
If you had a reasonable fee for AD FREE, SPYWARE FREE on-line news, like say $2 to $5 per month. I would pay it. As it is, I will either be forced to adopt a computer that does nothing but download obnoxious crap and then dispose of it daily, by using an email that is strickly for sites that insist on sending obnoxious crap, or I will drop my subscription altogether.
You want to put stuff in the margins, OK. But let's keep it to 1st party cookies only, no spyware, market trakers. Neither GOD nor the GOVERNMENT FORCE you to make your business decisions. YOU MAKE YOUR DECISIONS and you are annoying the heck out of an otherwise good reader. I will be making MY DECISION based on your response, and the speed at which it arrives.
It is very easy to simply re-subscribe with another email addy, and do it with every company that I am only slightly involved with. It is very easy to blog about this concept AND TO SPREAD IT ACROSS THE COUNTRY, so that EVERYONE is doing it and your aDVERTISING DOLLARS for this source go to hell in a handbasket. Please see www.farstars.blogspot.com for another copy of this.
If you don't like my CAPITALIZATIONS, then maybe you should think about how I think about YOUR SPYWARE.
Douglas Keachie
To the Washington Post and other Newspapers following their lead down the SPYWARE path. Sent October 25th, 2005
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Monday, October 10, 2005
The Most Patriotic Flag in the U.S.A. is......
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...the one yet to be built.
Picture if you will, the canvas as the roof of ANYSCHOOL USA. Or any building, really.
Picture bars and stars made from solar panels, or at least the framing around them painted red white and blue, and you have the most patriotic flag this country can wave.
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } { } [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } { } [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
and etc. My original flag was much better. How do you force the retention of spaces on Blogger ?
Another patriotic mission. Bring back the S.S. United States, holder of the TransAtlantic Blue Ribbon, I think to this very day!
...the one yet to be built.
Picture if you will, the canvas as the roof of ANYSCHOOL USA. Or any building, really.
Picture bars and stars made from solar panels, or at least the framing around them painted red white and blue, and you have the most patriotic flag this country can wave.
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } { } [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } { } [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { } (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
and etc. My original flag was much better. How do you force the retention of spaces on Blogger ?
Another patriotic mission. Bring back the S.S. United States, holder of the TransAtlantic Blue Ribbon, I think to this very day!
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Gas Crisis: Solved!
Technorati Profile
Soon it will be hard to even get gas, so it behooves us all to put on our thinking caps, and realize that the world's about to get a lot cozier.
To wit: everybody loves the time alone while driving, and that, probably more than anything else, drives the one person/one car mentality. Unfortunately, it is a luxury (yes I know it's a necessity) that will probably die, except for those in hyper-efficient vehicles. It does give you time to think and listen to music and call friends.
The scarcity and cost of gasoline will soon demand the development of an on-line, real-time cross between EBay and the sex offenders registry.
As cel phones are now pretty ubiquitous, and the computer technology can handle it, it's time for, TAh DAh, "HomeLand AutoBay People-to-People Yes," or "HAPPY" for short. Each driver and would-be hitchhiker needs to be entered into the database. The data could include a security rating for each, personal characteristics like "loner," "gregarious," "golf fanatic," "non-smoker," "right wing," etc. Insurance companies could get in on the act and offer special policies in the event anything untoward happens.
A potential hitchhiker would dial into the database and indicate where he wants to go. Most phones already know where he is. Drivers could see or hear a running commentary about the hikers they are approaching who want to go to approximately the same destination as the driver, or at least to a point along the driver's route. The hiker could offer an amount to get to a given location, which would be paid when the GPS's on both the car and the hitchhiker's phone reached the destination, from PayPal or equivalent. Or, the government might offer a tax break to both individuals participating, based on milage.
It is unlikely that anything untoward would happen, as long as both follow the prime directive: "Shut Up!"
Each person could still be coocooned in their own little world, if need be, via all of our electronic gadgetry. However, I think that it might lead to a new bubble in the melting pot we call culture.
This was posted for the first time ever at www.farstars.blogspot.com. It is sponsered by "The Rolling GradeBook," an outstanding Excel template designed to make teachers' lives easier. See it at www.swland.org
Soon it will be hard to even get gas, so it behooves us all to put on our thinking caps, and realize that the world's about to get a lot cozier.
To wit: everybody loves the time alone while driving, and that, probably more than anything else, drives the one person/one car mentality. Unfortunately, it is a luxury (yes I know it's a necessity) that will probably die, except for those in hyper-efficient vehicles. It does give you time to think and listen to music and call friends.
The scarcity and cost of gasoline will soon demand the development of an on-line, real-time cross between EBay and the sex offenders registry.
As cel phones are now pretty ubiquitous, and the computer technology can handle it, it's time for, TAh DAh, "HomeLand AutoBay People-to-People Yes," or "HAPPY" for short. Each driver and would-be hitchhiker needs to be entered into the database. The data could include a security rating for each, personal characteristics like "loner," "gregarious," "golf fanatic," "non-smoker," "right wing," etc. Insurance companies could get in on the act and offer special policies in the event anything untoward happens.
A potential hitchhiker would dial into the database and indicate where he wants to go. Most phones already know where he is. Drivers could see or hear a running commentary about the hikers they are approaching who want to go to approximately the same destination as the driver, or at least to a point along the driver's route. The hiker could offer an amount to get to a given location, which would be paid when the GPS's on both the car and the hitchhiker's phone reached the destination, from PayPal or equivalent. Or, the government might offer a tax break to both individuals participating, based on milage.
It is unlikely that anything untoward would happen, as long as both follow the prime directive: "Shut Up!"
Each person could still be coocooned in their own little world, if need be, via all of our electronic gadgetry. However, I think that it might lead to a new bubble in the melting pot we call culture.
This was posted for the first time ever at www.farstars.blogspot.com. It is sponsered by "The Rolling GradeBook," an outstanding Excel template designed to make teachers' lives easier. See it at www.swland.org
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Marketing and Stupidity
Technorati Profile
I got a blackbery pie at the supermarket today.
At least that is what they called it.
Apparently these blackberries had some sort of accident on the way to the pie. There used to be an expression that dealt with the notion of getting what you've paid for, but I haven't heard it much lately; it goes like this, "The oats are much cheaper if they've been through the horse once already."
My observation for the day is that in an effort to make a given product cheaper, they keep reducing the qualtiy to a point where the item is no longer even recognizable for what it is supposed to be. Why is it that you have to buy premium this or premium that in order to get just plain old what you'd expect to get. Artificial should be in the biggest type used anywhere on a package that contain artificial anything other than a preservative. Juice drink should contain at least 50% juice, not 3%.
Marketing and Stupidity, my wife came up with the junctaposition of these two words this morning. I really do think they go together. When I buy parachute cord, I don't want to read anything less than 600 lbs test on the label.
I got a blackbery pie at the supermarket today.
At least that is what they called it.
Apparently these blackberries had some sort of accident on the way to the pie. There used to be an expression that dealt with the notion of getting what you've paid for, but I haven't heard it much lately; it goes like this, "The oats are much cheaper if they've been through the horse once already."
My observation for the day is that in an effort to make a given product cheaper, they keep reducing the qualtiy to a point where the item is no longer even recognizable for what it is supposed to be. Why is it that you have to buy premium this or premium that in order to get just plain old what you'd expect to get. Artificial should be in the biggest type used anywhere on a package that contain artificial anything other than a preservative. Juice drink should contain at least 50% juice, not 3%.
Marketing and Stupidity, my wife came up with the junctaposition of these two words this morning. I really do think they go together. When I buy parachute cord, I don't want to read anything less than 600 lbs test on the label.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Now that was MUch FAster
Technorati Profile
It picked up on RGB very quickly. I wonder if they scan for terms in common use faster than they scan for oddball things like Rolling GradeBook ?
It picked up on RGB very quickly. I wonder if they scan for terms in common use faster than they scan for oddball things like Rolling GradeBook ?
Fast, Cheap, Simple Evacuations
Technorati Profile
It seems to me that you could decrease the load on the highways if you were to use the railroads and a cheap version of an extra big commuter train.
Gondola cars are normally used to transport bulk goods, but, with a bit of plywood, 4 x 4's and plenty of mattresses they could be modified to carry people in an emergency. Simply divide up the area within the car such that in the event of a sudden stop or start, only one person would be thrown into the mattress in a given sector of a gondola car. The necessary supplies for the modification could be stockpiled near big railroad yards. The mattress could be ones otherwise headed for landfills.
This should speed up the evacuation process, as the cars can be prepped out of harm's way, and 100 cars each holding 100 people could move 10,000 people in 2 hours to at least 100 miles away from the disaster. This means 10,000 people every four hours for each train so set up. Ten such trains could evacuate a city of 1/2 million in less than 24 hours.
What do I have to do to call this concept to the attention of Homeland Security and FEMA ? Of course, since they didn't think of it first, and I'm, well, not a very good Republican, they'll probably reject it out of hand, as "not invented here."
It seems to me that you could decrease the load on the highways if you were to use the railroads and a cheap version of an extra big commuter train.
Gondola cars are normally used to transport bulk goods, but, with a bit of plywood, 4 x 4's and plenty of mattresses they could be modified to carry people in an emergency. Simply divide up the area within the car such that in the event of a sudden stop or start, only one person would be thrown into the mattress in a given sector of a gondola car. The necessary supplies for the modification could be stockpiled near big railroad yards. The mattress could be ones otherwise headed for landfills.
This should speed up the evacuation process, as the cars can be prepped out of harm's way, and 100 cars each holding 100 people could move 10,000 people in 2 hours to at least 100 miles away from the disaster. This means 10,000 people every four hours for each train so set up. Ten such trains could evacuate a city of 1/2 million in less than 24 hours.
What do I have to do to call this concept to the attention of Homeland Security and FEMA ? Of course, since they didn't think of it first, and I'm, well, not a very good Republican, they'll probably reject it out of hand, as "not invented here."
Barabara Schmidt Miller Celebration of Life Triathlon
Technorati Profile
I had a really good time at the 11th Barabara Schmidt Miller Celebration of Life Triathlon. I took pictures, photos, pixs, picts, from on the water on my windsurfer, and from in the water with an underwater housing. you can see them at www.swland.org, be sure to scroll down.
This event took place at Scott's Flat Lake, near Grass Valley and Nevada City California, 95949 and 95959, on Sunday, September 25, 2005. I also shot the runners and bicyclists, and a lot of money was raised to fight cancer, such a good cause! BTW, the reason for the redundancies in this listing are so that people searching using technorati or other search engines will be able to find it easily.
You are welcome to make copies of the images for non-commercial, personal use, but I would appreciate you dropping me a line at keachie (at@at) swland org. You fill in the dot and unscramble the "at" sign.
I had a really good time at the 11th Barabara Schmidt Miller Celebration of Life Triathlon. I took pictures, photos, pixs, picts, from on the water on my windsurfer, and from in the water with an underwater housing. you can see them at www.swland.org, be sure to scroll down.
This event took place at Scott's Flat Lake, near Grass Valley and Nevada City California, 95949 and 95959, on Sunday, September 25, 2005. I also shot the runners and bicyclists, and a lot of money was raised to fight cancer, such a good cause! BTW, the reason for the redundancies in this listing are so that people searching using technorati or other search engines will be able to find it easily.
You are welcome to make copies of the images for non-commercial, personal use, but I would appreciate you dropping me a line at keachie (at@at) swland org. You fill in the dot and unscramble the "at" sign.
Curiouser and couriouser....
Technorati Profile
Or however you spell it. I am still looking to see how technorati picks up on things. I will now post this, and put a fully written out RGB in a comment. I want to see if technorati just gets the main post, or if it can grab from a comment as well. So this post stays up for several days, to see if I can pick up on "RGB in a comment," and then I add in a comment with RGB written out, and see if it can pick up on RGB written out in a comment.
Thanks David, whoever you may be, for the feedback. It took at least 8 hours to work.
Or however you spell it. I am still looking to see how technorati picks up on things. I will now post this, and put a fully written out RGB in a comment. I want to see if technorati just gets the main post, or if it can grab from a comment as well. So this post stays up for several days, to see if I can pick up on "RGB in a comment," and then I add in a comment with RGB written out, and see if it can pick up on RGB written out in a comment.
Thanks David, whoever you may be, for the feedback. It took at least 8 hours to work.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Technorati Profile
Ah ha, the HTML from technorati does show up in every post. Ok kiddies, the "Rolling GradeBook" can be found at www.swland.org.
This post is formatted for fast reading, just like the program it describes. The formatting does not work for every posting situation.
It is a shameless promotion of a scheme to save teachers from going to Stress City when grades are due. It's my little bit to save the world, one classroom at a time. I wish I had this system waaaay back when!
I used to do classes in Excel for other teachers as a Mentor Teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. I have since upgraded the concept and am now producing, and still developing a grade book called, "The Rolling GradeBook," which is described in detail at www.swland.org.
One big difference between this one and all the rest is that it can be used by the person who knows no Excel, right out of the box, and yet it has every whiz-bang feature I can think of, and I keep adding to it, from those mentioned to me by teachers after they've used it. As time and inclination permit, the teacher can learn the magic (how Excel works) behind the scenes.
It's sort of like buying a car. With the Rolling GradeBook you can get in, turn on the key, and drive off. It can be used the night before grades are due, if necessary. Later on, if you wish, you can find out how the motor and the electric headlight wipers work.
Another big difference is that this system assumes that you'd rather walk around the classroom with a clipboard and a piece of paper with your current students neatly listed on it, with space for writing, than to be chained to a laptop or desktop, lugging a tablet PC, or trying to squint at a Palm Pilot.
A third difference between this and the rest, except others based on Excel, is the ability annotate in great detail any assignment, grade, or code for attendance or misbehavior, while it is still fresh in your mind. You get to use Excel's comment feature for this, and, if that is not enough room, or you wish to add photos or sound bites, you can simply add in another tabbed worksheet to your file, and use the comment to reference that tab. A missing work indicator instantly shows up in the classroom or Internet posts, even in the summary postings, so that the student cannot declare that they didn't know that anything was missing.
Each class and each grading period gets its own Excel file, which can be "saved as" incrementally during the report card period for maximum safety, security, and speed. Each class can thus have its own password, and the files are small enough to fit on a 1.44 floppy, and the program avoids all the hassles of database rebuilds, connecting to the Internet, slow connections and computers (this will run fast on pre-Pentium computers), and monthly or yearly fees. You cannot get "lost," as long as you can remember your file names, which can be as clear as, "Period_1__Monday_Day_1.xls," etc. The day of the period is clear identified inside each file, right above the data you are entering, along with the day of the week, and the date of the year.
You can still post as much information about grades and attendance as you like to the classroom wall or the Internet, with the student’s names anonymized, and the anonymization changeable daily if necessary. There is plenty of room for IEP's, etc., to be tucked safely away from casual eyes. You can also develop graphs from the data, and easily import and export data to your District administrators.
As I am slightly visually impaired, the program makes extensive use of the formatting and color coding capabilities of Excel. It is ideal for people with low vision.
And, "Yes Virginia," you do get to assign weighing factors to each and every assignment, but I recommend you do that for tests, quizzes, papers and projects only. Besides, handing back one of the above, graded 0 -100, and telling the class it has a factor of 5, gives them practice in multiplication. They can easily see the effect in the grade postings.
Cheers,
Retired and rolling on...
Doug
Ah ha, the HTML from technorati does show up in every post. Ok kiddies, the "Rolling GradeBook" can be found at www.swland.org.
This post is formatted for fast reading, just like the program it describes. The formatting does not work for every posting situation.
It is a shameless promotion of a scheme to save teachers from going to Stress City when grades are due. It's my little bit to save the world, one classroom at a time. I wish I had this system waaaay back when!
I used to do classes in Excel for other teachers as a Mentor Teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. I have since upgraded the concept and am now producing, and still developing a grade book called, "The Rolling GradeBook," which is described in detail at www.swland.org.
One big difference between this one and all the rest is that it can be used by the person who knows no Excel, right out of the box, and yet it has every whiz-bang feature I can think of, and I keep adding to it, from those mentioned to me by teachers after they've used it. As time and inclination permit, the teacher can learn the magic (how Excel works) behind the scenes.
It's sort of like buying a car. With the Rolling GradeBook you can get in, turn on the key, and drive off. It can be used the night before grades are due, if necessary. Later on, if you wish, you can find out how the motor and the electric headlight wipers work.
Another big difference is that this system assumes that you'd rather walk around the classroom with a clipboard and a piece of paper with your current students neatly listed on it, with space for writing, than to be chained to a laptop or desktop, lugging a tablet PC, or trying to squint at a Palm Pilot.
A third difference between this and the rest, except others based on Excel, is the ability annotate in great detail any assignment, grade, or code for attendance or misbehavior, while it is still fresh in your mind. You get to use Excel's comment feature for this, and, if that is not enough room, or you wish to add photos or sound bites, you can simply add in another tabbed worksheet to your file, and use the comment to reference that tab. A missing work indicator instantly shows up in the classroom or Internet posts, even in the summary postings, so that the student cannot declare that they didn't know that anything was missing.
Each class and each grading period gets its own Excel file, which can be "saved as" incrementally during the report card period for maximum safety, security, and speed. Each class can thus have its own password, and the files are small enough to fit on a 1.44 floppy, and the program avoids all the hassles of database rebuilds, connecting to the Internet, slow connections and computers (this will run fast on pre-Pentium computers), and monthly or yearly fees. You cannot get "lost," as long as you can remember your file names, which can be as clear as, "Period_1__Monday_Day_1.xls," etc. The day of the period is clear identified inside each file, right above the data you are entering, along with the day of the week, and the date of the year.
You can still post as much information about grades and attendance as you like to the classroom wall or the Internet, with the student’s names anonymized, and the anonymization changeable daily if necessary. There is plenty of room for IEP's, etc., to be tucked safely away from casual eyes. You can also develop graphs from the data, and easily import and export data to your District administrators.
As I am slightly visually impaired, the program makes extensive use of the formatting and color coding capabilities of Excel. It is ideal for people with low vision.
And, "Yes Virginia," you do get to assign weighing factors to each and every assignment, but I recommend you do that for tests, quizzes, papers and projects only. Besides, handing back one of the above, graded 0 -100, and telling the class it has a factor of 5, gives them practice in multiplication. They can easily see the effect in the grade postings.
Cheers,
Retired and rolling on...
Doug
Techno-Ratey Doesn't See Me
Apparently Technorati is unable to find me because nobody is linked to me, and vs versa.
I'm wondering if I have to leave the techrati htmkl code in every post from here on out to make it look.
I'm wondering if I have to leave the techrati htmkl code in every post from here on out to make it look.
More On Rolling GradeBook
If you will link to my blog, I will send you a copy for the cost of the postage and the disk.
This post is formatted for fast reading, just like the program it describes. The formatting does not work for every posting situation.
It is a shameless promotion of a scheme to save teachers from going to Stress City when grades are due. It's my little bit to save the world, one classroom at a time. I wish I had this system waaaay back when!
I used to do classes in Excel for other teachers as a Mentor Teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. I have since upgraded the concept and am now producing, and still developing a grade book called, "The Rolling GradeBook," which is described in detail at www.swland.org.
One big difference between this one and all the rest is that it can be used by the person who knows no Excel, right out of the box, and yet it has every whiz-bang feature I can think of, and I keep adding to it, from those mentioned to me by teachers after they've used it. As time and inclination permit, the teacher can learn the magic (how Excel works) behind the scenes.
It's sort of like buying a car. With the Rolling GradeBook you can get in, turn on the key, and drive off. It can be used the night before grades are due, if necessary. Later on, if you wish, you can find out how the motor and the electric headlight wipers work.
Another big difference is that this system assumes that you'd rather walk around the classroom with a clipboard and a piece of paper with your current students neatly listed on it, with space for writing, than to be chained to a laptop or desktop, lugging a tablet PC, or trying to squint at a Palm Pilot.
A third difference between this and the rest, except others based on Excel, is the ability annotate in great detail any assignment, grade, or code for attendance or misbehavior, while it is still fresh in your mind. You get to use Excel's comment feature for this, and, if that is not enough room, or you wish to add photos or sound bites, you can simply add in another tabbed worksheet to your file, and use the comment to reference that tab. A missing work indicator instantly shows up in the classroom or Internet posts, even in the summary postings, so that the student cannot declare that they didn't know that anything was missing.
Each class and each grading period gets its own Excel file, which can be "saved as" incrementally during the report card period for maximum safety, security, and speed. Each class can thus have its own password, and the files are small enough to fit on a 1.44 floppy, and the program avoids all the hassles of database rebuilds, connecting to the Internet, slow connections and computers (this will run fast on pre-Pentium computers), and monthly or yearly fees. You cannot get "lost," as long as you can remember your file names, which can be as clear as, "Period_1__Monday_Day_1.xls," etc. The day of the period is clear identified inside each file, right above the data you are entering, along with the day of the week, and the date of the year.
You can still post as much information about grades and attendance as you like to the classroom wall or the Internet, with the student’s names anonymized, and the anonymization changeable daily if necessary. There is plenty of room for IEP's, etc., to be tucked safely away from casual eyes. You can also develop graphs from the data, and easily import and export data to your District administrators.
As I am slightly visually impaired, the program makes extensive use of the formatting and color coding capabilities of Excel. It is ideal for people with low vision.
And, "Yes Virginia," you do get to assign weighing factors to each and every assignment, but I recommend you do that for tests, quizzes, papers and projects only. Besides, handing back one of the above, graded 0 -100, and telling the class it has a factor of 5, gives them practice in multiplication. They can easily see the effect in the grade postings.
Cheers,
Retired and rolling on...
Doug
This post is formatted for fast reading, just like the program it describes. The formatting does not work for every posting situation.
It is a shameless promotion of a scheme to save teachers from going to Stress City when grades are due. It's my little bit to save the world, one classroom at a time. I wish I had this system waaaay back when!
I used to do classes in Excel for other teachers as a Mentor Teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. I have since upgraded the concept and am now producing, and still developing a grade book called, "The Rolling GradeBook," which is described in detail at www.swland.org.
One big difference between this one and all the rest is that it can be used by the person who knows no Excel, right out of the box, and yet it has every whiz-bang feature I can think of, and I keep adding to it, from those mentioned to me by teachers after they've used it. As time and inclination permit, the teacher can learn the magic (how Excel works) behind the scenes.
It's sort of like buying a car. With the Rolling GradeBook you can get in, turn on the key, and drive off. It can be used the night before grades are due, if necessary. Later on, if you wish, you can find out how the motor and the electric headlight wipers work.
Another big difference is that this system assumes that you'd rather walk around the classroom with a clipboard and a piece of paper with your current students neatly listed on it, with space for writing, than to be chained to a laptop or desktop, lugging a tablet PC, or trying to squint at a Palm Pilot.
A third difference between this and the rest, except others based on Excel, is the ability annotate in great detail any assignment, grade, or code for attendance or misbehavior, while it is still fresh in your mind. You get to use Excel's comment feature for this, and, if that is not enough room, or you wish to add photos or sound bites, you can simply add in another tabbed worksheet to your file, and use the comment to reference that tab. A missing work indicator instantly shows up in the classroom or Internet posts, even in the summary postings, so that the student cannot declare that they didn't know that anything was missing.
Each class and each grading period gets its own Excel file, which can be "saved as" incrementally during the report card period for maximum safety, security, and speed. Each class can thus have its own password, and the files are small enough to fit on a 1.44 floppy, and the program avoids all the hassles of database rebuilds, connecting to the Internet, slow connections and computers (this will run fast on pre-Pentium computers), and monthly or yearly fees. You cannot get "lost," as long as you can remember your file names, which can be as clear as, "Period_1__Monday_Day_1.xls," etc. The day of the period is clear identified inside each file, right above the data you are entering, along with the day of the week, and the date of the year.
You can still post as much information about grades and attendance as you like to the classroom wall or the Internet, with the student’s names anonymized, and the anonymization changeable daily if necessary. There is plenty of room for IEP's, etc., to be tucked safely away from casual eyes. You can also develop graphs from the data, and easily import and export data to your District administrators.
As I am slightly visually impaired, the program makes extensive use of the formatting and color coding capabilities of Excel. It is ideal for people with low vision.
And, "Yes Virginia," you do get to assign weighing factors to each and every assignment, but I recommend you do that for tests, quizzes, papers and projects only. Besides, handing back one of the above, graded 0 -100, and telling the class it has a factor of 5, gives them practice in multiplication. They can easily see the effect in the grade postings.
Cheers,
Retired and rolling on...
Doug
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Rolling GradeBook
This is a really neat Excel template for teachers which covers just about all the bases needed for slick classroom management. Rolling GradeBook can be seen at www.swland.org.
In addition to the usual autocalc features, this grade book offers a striking visual realization of clarity in data entry. The various items are color coded, and each day is clearly delinated from the others. Every entry can have a comment which can be HUGE, but stays hidden until you mouse over the cell.
By making maximum use of Excel's tab features and drill through data capabilities, you can keep IEP's on separate pages, create quickie one time lists for fieldtrip checkoffs, textbook checkouts, and lab fees, etc.
Each class gets its own file, and thus each class can have its own password.
The data can be possed with easily changed code ID's to the classroom wall or to the internet. There is a system for visual alerts for missing work, space for the District ID numbers and codes, or even codes created by the teacher.
Try it, you like it. Soon to be available on EBay.
In addition to the usual autocalc features, this grade book offers a striking visual realization of clarity in data entry. The various items are color coded, and each day is clearly delinated from the others. Every entry can have a comment which can be HUGE, but stays hidden until you mouse over the cell.
By making maximum use of Excel's tab features and drill through data capabilities, you can keep IEP's on separate pages, create quickie one time lists for fieldtrip checkoffs, textbook checkouts, and lab fees, etc.
Each class gets its own file, and thus each class can have its own password.
The data can be possed with easily changed code ID's to the classroom wall or to the internet. There is a system for visual alerts for missing work, space for the District ID numbers and codes, or even codes created by the teacher.
Try it, you like it. Soon to be available on EBay.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Under God doesn't sound Good to me
When I was in second grade, we were suddenly told we had to add "under God" to the pledge that had worked so well through WWI and WWII, and earlier, without the phrase.
I was born partially deaf, and my parents were not particular religious, and religon was2abstract to pay attention to, except for when my grandmother was burned up in a fiery headon collison with a tanker truck, and I was told she gone to God, that God had called her, and a bunch of other things which may me question just who the heck was this Being who ran off with my best friend ?
We are now told that it is optional for the students to say, "under God."
As soon as it is "optional" for the teacher to lead it without being forced to say the Christian/Muslim/Jewish phrase, then maybe it is not a mixing of church and state. There should be a standard unit (grade appropriate versions) to be taught anytime a student has a question about the inclusing/exclusion of the phrase.
What the heck does "under God" mean ?
"With joyful support from God," I could understand, but still have objections.
"Under God," has sinister connotations.
I was born partially deaf, and my parents were not particular religious, and religon was2abstract to pay attention to, except for when my grandmother was burned up in a fiery headon collison with a tanker truck, and I was told she gone to God, that God had called her, and a bunch of other things which may me question just who the heck was this Being who ran off with my best friend ?
We are now told that it is optional for the students to say, "under God."
As soon as it is "optional" for the teacher to lead it without being forced to say the Christian/Muslim/Jewish phrase, then maybe it is not a mixing of church and state. There should be a standard unit (grade appropriate versions) to be taught anytime a student has a question about the inclusing/exclusion of the phrase.
What the heck does "under God" mean ?
"With joyful support from God," I could understand, but still have objections.
"Under God," has sinister connotations.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Vouchers, Smouchers!
Vouchers, Smouchers!
This was written in response to a post that public school teachers were bad for sending their kids to private schools, and that the public schools were failing the Blacks, and that voucher schools would do better for them. Private schools and voucher schools are NOT EQUAL. This is the false premise that blows the argument.
A public voucher school only gets the same amount of money from the state to operate that a regular public school gets. Charter schools are sometimes seen as voucher schools. They have smaller class sizes because the staff, for whatever reason, is willing to get by on less income.
Charter schools also have typically much more parental support, as parents are often the founders. Every adult body in a classroom affects the tone of the classroom, as does reducing class size. The smaller the class size (12 -18 is optimum, based on expensive private school experience) the greater the progress of the students. Extra hours in an over-crowded, unmanagable classroom can actually be detrimental to a child's education.
As for public school teachers sending their kids to private schools, you need to consider the following: Teachers so value education that they are willing to pay WAY MORE than what the state would offer as a voucher. Teachers want their kids to get the best education, not just a $5,000/year one. Good private schools typically run between $10,000 and $30,000/year. Are you in favor of doubling or six folding the portion of what you pay in taxes for public education ?
The "average" private school is a Catholic school, with low tuition. These are NOT the schools that teachers typically chose for their kids. There are many, many, Catholic schools, so the "average" cost of a private school education is lower than the numbers I cited. The Catholic church also had the foresight to buy up real estate and has long since paid for the buildings, so their costs are lower. And, Catholic schools (and all private schools) can KICK OUT the trouble makers, unlike public schools, such as voucher/charter schools. A new private/voucher/charter school must pay for the buildings and furnishings at the current fair market value, something even the regular public schools are able to avoid to some degree. A school district with a half a billion $$$ /year budget (60,000 students) can get discounts on lots of items not available to a new school, and has entire staffs looking for foundation and governmental freebies.
As far as the public schools failing the blacks, maybe you should go to a Hunter's Point school in San Francisco called Gloria R. Davis. It sits smack on the line between BigBlock and WestMob, the two main gangs which seem to do in 20 to 30 or so on each side each year. I was the librarian there for one year. There were effigy shrines to the dead, usually a tree dressed up like the deceased, complete with a "T" shirt with a bullet hole or two. These were decorated with balloons, "we miss you" messages, and , as a nice final touch, a circle of empty liquor bottles around the shoes....
The kids seemed to be divided into several groups, plus the minority Samoans, who just tried to stay out of sight, out of mind. About 30% were doing their best to get the heck out of there, the ghetto called Hunter's Point, by studying everything and anything, regardless of conditions. Another 20% were sort of following their lead. 25% were there to party, 10% were sullen and didn't care. 5% were seriously neurotic or borderline psycho, and about 10% were there to destroy anything and everything that anyone, adult or child, was trying to do.
That last 10% are ChrisRock/Terminator/Hanibal wannabees, and they are very good at it. Since most of their parents have gone through the system, the kids have top notch tutors who know how to scam the system very well. Thus, in each classroom of 30 kids, you've got 3 who are there to make your life miserable, day in and day out. At first I thought it was racism. No, the young, talented, black staff, male and female, had the same problems, as the young whites & Hispanics. One PE teacher and one music teacher, both older white females, did fairly well, as did an older Filipino woman, and one older black guy. But we all struggled.
I have no doubt that given a charter/voucher school, with lower salaries, you'd have exactly the same disaster scenario. But you'd be less likely to get talented staff in the first place. Why is it that more money gets and keeps the best superintendents (San Francisco's Ackerman gets over $300,000 year) but the same logic isn't supposed to work for teachers, who go a full year and 1/2 to college beyond a B.A. or B.S. ????????
So, try teaching in a ghetto school yourself, it's a real fun job. Please keep in mind that educating children is not like torquing bolts onto the wheels of tractors in a factory, at $ .50/bolt. Many people like to think it is, but it is not. Bolts are made from standardized grades of ore, producing uniform steels with uniform properties.
Children, however, come from very differing ores, with so many different characteristic that it is beyond valid statistical tracking, unless you do a lot of prohibitively expensive and time consuming testing for academics and psychological profiling, including home visits. Just what sort of home is it, BTW, when the parents themselves attended such a school, and wound up as parents, often before age 18 ? Typically the dad's incarcerated, the mom's on drugs and/or barely working, and grandma's finally gotten the hang of being the parent. Is it their fault, or society's, I'll leave that one for later.
The talented teacher is the one who can size up a child, and decide just how much "torquing" and at what rate will result in maximal learning, without our "bolt" either breaking, exploding, or being totally bored.
Measuring this ability to size up and teach accordingly is likewise nearly impossible, which is why teachers reject most forms of evaluation, and merit pay. Somebody's bound to get screwed unjustly, and teachers are conservative, and are willing to settle for less cash, and know in their hearts they've done their best, and that they are "professionals." BTW when society pays the public schools what teachers pay for their private schools, then teachers will put their kids back in public schools, but not until then. In the meantime, the typical double professional income household of a teacher will just have to pay the extra price, just like the Republicans who moan about, "high teachers' salaries," to send their kids to private schools.
Douglas Keachie
PS, teachers in a big enough system can make sure their kids are prepared, and follow procedures needed to get their kids into the very best public schools. This is what we did with my younger daughter, we moved to the "correct neighborhood" in San Francisco for her kindergarten, and now she's headed for medical school. There's always more than one way to skin a cat.
This was written in response to a post that public school teachers were bad for sending their kids to private schools, and that the public schools were failing the Blacks, and that voucher schools would do better for them. Private schools and voucher schools are NOT EQUAL. This is the false premise that blows the argument.
A public voucher school only gets the same amount of money from the state to operate that a regular public school gets. Charter schools are sometimes seen as voucher schools. They have smaller class sizes because the staff, for whatever reason, is willing to get by on less income.
Charter schools also have typically much more parental support, as parents are often the founders. Every adult body in a classroom affects the tone of the classroom, as does reducing class size. The smaller the class size (12 -18 is optimum, based on expensive private school experience) the greater the progress of the students. Extra hours in an over-crowded, unmanagable classroom can actually be detrimental to a child's education.
As for public school teachers sending their kids to private schools, you need to consider the following: Teachers so value education that they are willing to pay WAY MORE than what the state would offer as a voucher. Teachers want their kids to get the best education, not just a $5,000/year one. Good private schools typically run between $10,000 and $30,000/year. Are you in favor of doubling or six folding the portion of what you pay in taxes for public education ?
The "average" private school is a Catholic school, with low tuition. These are NOT the schools that teachers typically chose for their kids. There are many, many, Catholic schools, so the "average" cost of a private school education is lower than the numbers I cited. The Catholic church also had the foresight to buy up real estate and has long since paid for the buildings, so their costs are lower. And, Catholic schools (and all private schools) can KICK OUT the trouble makers, unlike public schools, such as voucher/charter schools. A new private/voucher/charter school must pay for the buildings and furnishings at the current fair market value, something even the regular public schools are able to avoid to some degree. A school district with a half a billion $$$ /year budget (60,000 students) can get discounts on lots of items not available to a new school, and has entire staffs looking for foundation and governmental freebies.
As far as the public schools failing the blacks, maybe you should go to a Hunter's Point school in San Francisco called Gloria R. Davis. It sits smack on the line between BigBlock and WestMob, the two main gangs which seem to do in 20 to 30 or so on each side each year. I was the librarian there for one year. There were effigy shrines to the dead, usually a tree dressed up like the deceased, complete with a "T" shirt with a bullet hole or two. These were decorated with balloons, "we miss you" messages, and , as a nice final touch, a circle of empty liquor bottles around the shoes....
The kids seemed to be divided into several groups, plus the minority Samoans, who just tried to stay out of sight, out of mind. About 30% were doing their best to get the heck out of there, the ghetto called Hunter's Point, by studying everything and anything, regardless of conditions. Another 20% were sort of following their lead. 25% were there to party, 10% were sullen and didn't care. 5% were seriously neurotic or borderline psycho, and about 10% were there to destroy anything and everything that anyone, adult or child, was trying to do.
That last 10% are ChrisRock/Terminator/Hanibal wannabees, and they are very good at it. Since most of their parents have gone through the system, the kids have top notch tutors who know how to scam the system very well. Thus, in each classroom of 30 kids, you've got 3 who are there to make your life miserable, day in and day out. At first I thought it was racism. No, the young, talented, black staff, male and female, had the same problems, as the young whites & Hispanics. One PE teacher and one music teacher, both older white females, did fairly well, as did an older Filipino woman, and one older black guy. But we all struggled.
I have no doubt that given a charter/voucher school, with lower salaries, you'd have exactly the same disaster scenario. But you'd be less likely to get talented staff in the first place. Why is it that more money gets and keeps the best superintendents (San Francisco's Ackerman gets over $300,000 year) but the same logic isn't supposed to work for teachers, who go a full year and 1/2 to college beyond a B.A. or B.S. ????????
So, try teaching in a ghetto school yourself, it's a real fun job. Please keep in mind that educating children is not like torquing bolts onto the wheels of tractors in a factory, at $ .50/bolt. Many people like to think it is, but it is not. Bolts are made from standardized grades of ore, producing uniform steels with uniform properties.
Children, however, come from very differing ores, with so many different characteristic that it is beyond valid statistical tracking, unless you do a lot of prohibitively expensive and time consuming testing for academics and psychological profiling, including home visits. Just what sort of home is it, BTW, when the parents themselves attended such a school, and wound up as parents, often before age 18 ? Typically the dad's incarcerated, the mom's on drugs and/or barely working, and grandma's finally gotten the hang of being the parent. Is it their fault, or society's, I'll leave that one for later.
The talented teacher is the one who can size up a child, and decide just how much "torquing" and at what rate will result in maximal learning, without our "bolt" either breaking, exploding, or being totally bored.
Measuring this ability to size up and teach accordingly is likewise nearly impossible, which is why teachers reject most forms of evaluation, and merit pay. Somebody's bound to get screwed unjustly, and teachers are conservative, and are willing to settle for less cash, and know in their hearts they've done their best, and that they are "professionals." BTW when society pays the public schools what teachers pay for their private schools, then teachers will put their kids back in public schools, but not until then. In the meantime, the typical double professional income household of a teacher will just have to pay the extra price, just like the Republicans who moan about, "high teachers' salaries," to send their kids to private schools.
Douglas Keachie
PS, teachers in a big enough system can make sure their kids are prepared, and follow procedures needed to get their kids into the very best public schools. This is what we did with my younger daughter, we moved to the "correct neighborhood" in San Francisco for her kindergarten, and now she's headed for medical school. There's always more than one way to skin a cat.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Council of 36
Well I've spent about 4 months tuning up. I now have 5 different blogs on 5 different services, most of which were experimental and will now go fallow. I think this is the one where I will post posting my "morning musings," ideas which I typically have after first waking up from a good night's sleep.
This morning I woke up with the following vision, for improving the expression of new ideas and old cultural values within our political social system.
The United States needs 36 people, chosen by popular vote, from the ideas they express through Atavars, and no other information.
Their role is to advise the President and Congress, and to be the stars of a nightly tv show, one night in 3 per person, wherein they also express their opinions. Their goal, to set forth new ideas, review current issues, and allow the populace to examine these people based on their ideas, rather than their worldly party & religious positions, as potential future politicians.
For all practical purposes, any individual wishing to join, will first become a blogging atavar. An atavar is a cyberspace person, typically a 3D character with movable parts built to be a visual image to interact in 3D cyberspace. In this case I am not interested in the visual aspects, but strictly the ability of a person to express their ideas using words, and to otherwise remain anonymous.
These 36 people will go on the air in groups of 12, in rotation, for one hour each night. Each atavar (person, member of the council) will have 5 minutes that is theirs, to do with as they please. They may wish to do a monologue. They may wish to present material from other sources. They may wish to combine their five minutes and debate with others. Each will have a salary and benefits and office and research expenses equivalent to what the average U.S. Senator gets. They have complete freeedom of speech, including hate speech and religious speech and porno speech. They may even choose to sell cars. They just are not allowed to accept outside renumeration for such activities, ever. They will remain anonymous to the public for as long as they please, but once selected, they may "go public, " if they so desire.
So every 3 days, each of the 36 will get to have their say, on whatever. They will appear on tv as their real self, or as an avatar with a faked voice.
The major channels will be required to carry their stuff, in rotation, one day of three, or lose their FCC licenses. Absolutely NO COMMERCIALS allowed. 60 minutes of information, no begging for money or commercial advertising allowed. Or you could do a CSPAN like channel. None of this is set in stone.
To become a member of the 36, six months before a presidential election, a person logs into a site, and publishes to an anonymized blog, that will follow them throughout their career as a potential member and member. They will be able to set up polls, add links, etc. Each and every interested voter will get a serving of 12 blogs the first night for review. They can mark them thumbs up, neutral, and dump. The next night they get the thumbs up ones, plus 12 more. And the process repeats.
In general, no statements are allowed at this time (before selection as a council member) which would enable people to identify a particular candidate. Potential candidates may make statements about their state, and region of the state, but no geographic indicators smaller than 100 square miles are allowed. No statements about running for election or office holding are allowed. General occupational statements are allowed. Statements about membership in fraternal or religious organizations are allowed, as long as the groups so listed are not so small as to allow for identification of the individual. Lying about facts, especially general identifiers, is not allowed, and discouraged via an investigative wing, which checks out all semi-finalists.
Weeding out the losers can be done by, dumping those who, after the first 10 days, are consistently dumped by 99.5% of the voters, after the second 10 days being rejected by 99%, and so on. From those still standing at the end of the 5 months, the highest rated 99 will become semi-finalists, along with 99 more, chosen at random, and all their blogs will be viewable by everyone, and chosable by everyone. Their ratings will not be visible. At the end of the 6th month, the 33 now highest rated will be chosen and announced. Three more will be drawn from all of those remaining at month 3, at random, just to spice things up. Each time a voter gets a new batch of 12, he/she will not have any idea of how each one is ranked so far. If one of their chosen ones is eliminated, they will be notified.
We will learn volumes about the American psyche this way, and what makes America tick.
This will require a Constitution Amendment to keep it free from Congressional or Executive branch meddling. The GAO should issue the funding for the machinery to make it all go.
The normal employer of each person chosen will be funded to find a replacement for the four years. The employer must hold open a job at the salary the employee would have risen to. The employer must offer back the employee's position at the end of four years. The employee does not have to take it. Self employed individuals will be funded to find their replacements too.
Here are a few more twists for the Council of 36:
Each year, six people are voted off, to be replaced by people at random from the 5th month's survivors. The first year the most popular of the three originally chosen at random is kept, so most likely his two "outsider, random 3rd month" types get voted off, along with four "blandies." The second year the 3 most popular randoms are kept. The third year the six most popular randoms have immunity. Those voted off now move to the 2 am time slot, again with 5 minutes every 3 rd day. By the fourth year, there are 24 people there, yakking it up in counter point to the main 36.
Also, by the 4th year, the Council of 36 becomes much more random, and less "blandy." 18 people will be there, chosen from the 5th month's randoms. This should result in some interesting confrontations, just in time for the next presidential election.
Yes, I did watch "Survivor" last night. Funny you should ask !
There would also have to be a ton of money to upgrade libraries and public buildings for wifi and freely accessable/handicap accessable, Internet terminals, open for much longer hours, if necessary via special "semi-outside" enclosed areas, served by busses to the local homeless shelters, to avoid conflicts of that nature.
As I think of other modifications, I'll add them. Suggestions welcomed !
Douglas Keachie
PS For those who really want to know what's being taught in our schools, please visit:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade12.asp
and tell me that a Republican teacher couldn't teach all they wanted to about the history of our country. I see, you don't believe the Federalist Papers have anything to do with the founding of this country ? Maybe the relationship between salary and the expectations of the employers have much more to do with the lack of Republican public school teachers than what they can teach. Oh yeah, the qualified college educated Republicans are all off in Iraq, fighting the good fight, and so are not available to teach, sure !
This morning I woke up with the following vision, for improving the expression of new ideas and old cultural values within our political social system.
The United States needs 36 people, chosen by popular vote, from the ideas they express through Atavars, and no other information.
Their role is to advise the President and Congress, and to be the stars of a nightly tv show, one night in 3 per person, wherein they also express their opinions. Their goal, to set forth new ideas, review current issues, and allow the populace to examine these people based on their ideas, rather than their worldly party & religious positions, as potential future politicians.
For all practical purposes, any individual wishing to join, will first become a blogging atavar. An atavar is a cyberspace person, typically a 3D character with movable parts built to be a visual image to interact in 3D cyberspace. In this case I am not interested in the visual aspects, but strictly the ability of a person to express their ideas using words, and to otherwise remain anonymous.
These 36 people will go on the air in groups of 12, in rotation, for one hour each night. Each atavar (person, member of the council) will have 5 minutes that is theirs, to do with as they please. They may wish to do a monologue. They may wish to present material from other sources. They may wish to combine their five minutes and debate with others. Each will have a salary and benefits and office and research expenses equivalent to what the average U.S. Senator gets. They have complete freeedom of speech, including hate speech and religious speech and porno speech. They may even choose to sell cars. They just are not allowed to accept outside renumeration for such activities, ever. They will remain anonymous to the public for as long as they please, but once selected, they may "go public, " if they so desire.
So every 3 days, each of the 36 will get to have their say, on whatever. They will appear on tv as their real self, or as an avatar with a faked voice.
The major channels will be required to carry their stuff, in rotation, one day of three, or lose their FCC licenses. Absolutely NO COMMERCIALS allowed. 60 minutes of information, no begging for money or commercial advertising allowed. Or you could do a CSPAN like channel. None of this is set in stone.
To become a member of the 36, six months before a presidential election, a person logs into a site, and publishes to an anonymized blog, that will follow them throughout their career as a potential member and member. They will be able to set up polls, add links, etc. Each and every interested voter will get a serving of 12 blogs the first night for review. They can mark them thumbs up, neutral, and dump. The next night they get the thumbs up ones, plus 12 more. And the process repeats.
In general, no statements are allowed at this time (before selection as a council member) which would enable people to identify a particular candidate. Potential candidates may make statements about their state, and region of the state, but no geographic indicators smaller than 100 square miles are allowed. No statements about running for election or office holding are allowed. General occupational statements are allowed. Statements about membership in fraternal or religious organizations are allowed, as long as the groups so listed are not so small as to allow for identification of the individual. Lying about facts, especially general identifiers, is not allowed, and discouraged via an investigative wing, which checks out all semi-finalists.
Weeding out the losers can be done by, dumping those who, after the first 10 days, are consistently dumped by 99.5% of the voters, after the second 10 days being rejected by 99%, and so on. From those still standing at the end of the 5 months, the highest rated 99 will become semi-finalists, along with 99 more, chosen at random, and all their blogs will be viewable by everyone, and chosable by everyone. Their ratings will not be visible. At the end of the 6th month, the 33 now highest rated will be chosen and announced. Three more will be drawn from all of those remaining at month 3, at random, just to spice things up. Each time a voter gets a new batch of 12, he/she will not have any idea of how each one is ranked so far. If one of their chosen ones is eliminated, they will be notified.
We will learn volumes about the American psyche this way, and what makes America tick.
This will require a Constitution Amendment to keep it free from Congressional or Executive branch meddling. The GAO should issue the funding for the machinery to make it all go.
The normal employer of each person chosen will be funded to find a replacement for the four years. The employer must hold open a job at the salary the employee would have risen to. The employer must offer back the employee's position at the end of four years. The employee does not have to take it. Self employed individuals will be funded to find their replacements too.
Here are a few more twists for the Council of 36:
Each year, six people are voted off, to be replaced by people at random from the 5th month's survivors. The first year the most popular of the three originally chosen at random is kept, so most likely his two "outsider, random 3rd month" types get voted off, along with four "blandies." The second year the 3 most popular randoms are kept. The third year the six most popular randoms have immunity. Those voted off now move to the 2 am time slot, again with 5 minutes every 3 rd day. By the fourth year, there are 24 people there, yakking it up in counter point to the main 36.
Also, by the 4th year, the Council of 36 becomes much more random, and less "blandy." 18 people will be there, chosen from the 5th month's randoms. This should result in some interesting confrontations, just in time for the next presidential election.
Yes, I did watch "Survivor" last night. Funny you should ask !
There would also have to be a ton of money to upgrade libraries and public buildings for wifi and freely accessable/handicap accessable, Internet terminals, open for much longer hours, if necessary via special "semi-outside" enclosed areas, served by busses to the local homeless shelters, to avoid conflicts of that nature.
As I think of other modifications, I'll add them. Suggestions welcomed !
Douglas Keachie
PS For those who really want to know what's being taught in our schools, please visit:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade12.asp
and tell me that a Republican teacher couldn't teach all they wanted to about the history of our country. I see, you don't believe the Federalist Papers have anything to do with the founding of this country ? Maybe the relationship between salary and the expectations of the employers have much more to do with the lack of Republican public school teachers than what they can teach. Oh yeah, the qualified college educated Republicans are all off in Iraq, fighting the good fight, and so are not available to teach, sure !
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Anyone for cool Singaphorean/Korean dialog ??
From a wandering surf hit:
"There is this staff conference and this particular colleague of mine practically sabo-ed me by shooting his mouth away about me. Saying that I have been doing personal things instead of doing my office work. Saying I am crude and rude to the rest. He ought to be shoot by the tribal cannibals...In return, I shooted him back in front of my superior that that bugger had been making personal calls to his maid from our office phone also. God knows what they are up to and they always speak in Malay. And that somebody also tried borrowing money from me not once but twice. I am rude to only people I dun like and who treated me like transparent.Our superior told us that she is aware of people in my office walking around and making phone calls. And leaving the office to attend to personal things like buying toto & 4D outside during office hours.Guess who is being burnt in the end ? Haha... I shall see who wins in the end... Maybe he might not live that long to fight it out with me !I also felt injustified by that bugger's claims and also told someone in the office, in that bugger's presence, loudly : I would not feel threatened by anyone's sabotage. I have something he dun have and that is youth. I can quit anytime I like and not like someone who cannot quit as and when he wants ! I may be down now but who knows, I may be more successful than someone in the future ! Not like someone who had a good life and now suffering without enuff money, still have to beg young girls for money by the hundreds. Period.Legend : KL = A Hokkein phrase "Kwai Lan" indicating a person who is very haughty and f**k-up
posted by wfy at 7:40 AM on Mar 18 2005
SkiTheStars said...
It's fascinating to see the culturals blending in your blog. I especially liked the phrase, "treated me like transparent." Very poetic English.
a random surfer on the other side of the planet..
2:37 PM
"There is this staff conference and this particular colleague of mine practically sabo-ed me by shooting his mouth away about me. Saying that I have been doing personal things instead of doing my office work. Saying I am crude and rude to the rest. He ought to be shoot by the tribal cannibals...In return, I shooted him back in front of my superior that that bugger had been making personal calls to his maid from our office phone also. God knows what they are up to and they always speak in Malay. And that somebody also tried borrowing money from me not once but twice. I am rude to only people I dun like and who treated me like transparent.Our superior told us that she is aware of people in my office walking around and making phone calls. And leaving the office to attend to personal things like buying toto & 4D outside during office hours.Guess who is being burnt in the end ? Haha... I shall see who wins in the end... Maybe he might not live that long to fight it out with me !I also felt injustified by that bugger's claims and also told someone in the office, in that bugger's presence, loudly : I would not feel threatened by anyone's sabotage. I have something he dun have and that is youth. I can quit anytime I like and not like someone who cannot quit as and when he wants ! I may be down now but who knows, I may be more successful than someone in the future ! Not like someone who had a good life and now suffering without enuff money, still have to beg young girls for money by the hundreds. Period.Legend : KL = A Hokkein phrase "Kwai Lan" indicating a person who is very haughty and f**k-up
posted by wfy at 7:40 AM on Mar 18 2005
SkiTheStars said...
It's fascinating to see the culturals blending in your blog. I especially liked the phrase, "treated me like transparent." Very poetic English.
a random surfer on the other side of the planet..
2:37 PM
Friday, March 04, 2005
Damn the Floaters ! Full Speed Ahead !
I need to know the best way to disable Flash/Shockwave on a temporary basis. I am visually handicapped and floaters are making it very difficult for me to concentrate on what I want to see, instead of what the advertizing smucks are trying to jam into my vision. I would hope by now that there would be an upgrade that gave on the right to choose every time such a download starts, I know such a thing can be built, but I guess Macromedia would rather make the cash from the advertisers than the endusers. Failing a temporary disable, I quess I will have to completely remove the programs. If enough consumers opt for this, maybe Macromedia will reconsider. I am posting this to my blog as well, as well as various consumer oriented blogs.
Carly's Wayward Ways at HP
According to an engineer in MIT's Technology Review, Carly Fiona gutted the research wing of HP Labs, by reducing the budget and forcing them to concentrate on short term gains. He feels this is and even bigger threat to the US economy than outsourcing, as the typical cycle from weird idea to marketable product is 5 to 10 years. Long term the payoffs are enormous, but the US will face a desert of new products for the near future, as Wall Street marketeers are directing the flow of cash overseas, where distant engineers will have time to think up new stuff outside of the contract we give them, and they will market first.
Zvonko, if that was you, my sympathies !
Zvonko, if that was you, my sympathies !
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