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Er, but what are we going to do with all the people who just don't "have" the brains? They get a free ride?

That seems to be the way it's been working so far.

As the first poster indicates, we are already there... or it's already here. But what does it mean?

New tech has certainly lost its luster and people are certainly realizing that new doesn't always mean better. But this cannot be the whole reason can it? Is this yet another sign of economic down-turn? Maybe, but for many, this started happening before the downturn really started having affect. I think it's the consumer pushing back and demanding value in larger and larger numbers. With every "new thing" that replaces old things that work just fine, we are seeing more and more "needless" advancement or changes that aren't really advancements at all.

We see this especially in things like Windows where resistance to moving away from "Just Fine" Windows XP to the newer, shinier "Aero" interfaced versions is surprisingly strong... well, surprising for Microsoft I am sure, and surprising when you see how abrupt this movement has been. After all, people had been discussing the new Windows for years with excitement only to be disappointed with all the most significant features removed. We see this in the shrinking numbers of "Hummer" vehicles on the road as well, though we might argue that has more to do with fuel costs than anything else, but from where I sit, Hummers are nothing more than oversized pickup trucks as they only bear slight resemblance to the HumVee which is what really excited people about "Hummer" in the first place, but "Looks like a HumVee" doesn't sell Hummers the way it did at first. People soon realized that there should be more to expensive cars than what it looks like and the price tag.

I think what the "push back" is all about it a crying out for "substance" in our new stuff. What all the new stuff we see these days really lacks is substance. I'm not saying that turds are not useful, but we want turds that are more than just polished... otherwise, our old turds are "just fine."

http://www.funlol.com/11912/Original_homeland_security.html

He's hot! I'd tap that ass.

It is right up there with the Bender Computer.

http://www.funlol.com/pictures/bender-computer.htm l

There has been some interesting research on learning done in Dr. Pepperberg's lab. The odd aspect of it is that they are tackeling the learning issue by studing how African Grey Parrots learn. The Home Page is a place to start looking for information and think about teaching. Another example of how well these particular birds can hear and respond is here, and finally, there was an article in the SF Chronicle that discussed how intelligent the birds might be here. While I am tooting the horn for birds, we should also consider how they learn, because it is different that "normal" human patterns. This could be quite useful for learning disabilities when the normal avenues do not work.

Newton Week's no big deal. It's really no different than being born on Feb 29th.

What would suck is a Monday Birthday! Just like the parent said!

Newton Week's no big deal. It's really no different than being born on Feb 29th.

What would suck is a Monday Birthday! Just like the parent said!