You should see my top 10 reasons why a dog is better than getting married:-)
As for people with psychological problems, some of them are genetic, and we really should be doing what we can to make sure those genes get weeded out. For those problems that are environmental/situational, on the other hand, it would be in our best interests as a society to invest in proper treatment and in prevention.
For example, we can go a long way towards preventing battered spouse syndrome by making it socially unacceptable for people to hit each other - and this applies also to hitting their own kids. It's not much of an extension from whacking a kid to beating up on another adult. There seems to be an "it's not so bad if its' in the family" attitude.
Same thing with post-traumatic stress disorder, or seasonally-affected depression. We lose billions in productivity every year, but instead of treating the problems, the publics' attitude is "snap out of it" or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." People don't seek help in part because of shame and internalized built, in part because of their fear of how others will perceive them, and in part because of the cost. Silly, but there it is. Spending some money to educate the general public is a good investment. Better, though, is to make it part of the curriculum, so that the next generation will know how to seek help.
Prevention where possible, treatment where practical (some things we just don't know how to treat yet), and cure when we can. The same rules as for physical problems.
So maybe I'll be able to find a store that actually has Wiis in stock by 2011, since they'll be obsolete by then?
Seriously, of the 3 - Playstation, XBox, Wii - only Nintendo hasn't made any price cuts, and they still can't keep them on the shelves for more than a day or two.
Most libraries have free classes in how to use the Internet, computers, etc. No books required. Libraries - it's not just dead trees any more:-)
Also, do you really believe that someone who, at this late stage in the game, doesn't know how to use a computer but has been on the workforce for 30 years, can (or even should) be "retrained" to do menial typing on a PC, as opposed to something else more in line with their skills? How, even after taking a few courses in Word and Windows, are they going to compete against people half their age that know that shit without even trying?
It's the same as all those "technical colleges" that say that after 1 year, you too can be a computer programmer or internet security expert. Frauds preying on desperate people.
You're arguing that schizophrenia somehow "protects" against other mental diseases. I don't buy it.
I've lost all patience with dealing with them, after seeing how much damage, up to and including death, schizophrenics can cause.
This turned out to be a "good thing" years later when one of my friends had a relative staying with her who refused to take his meds. He indulged in a lot of bizarre behaviour, including never flushing the toilet. I told her that's easy enough to fix. Next time he came out of the can (without flushing) I confronted him just outside the door to the toilet and told him to go back in and flush. He said he had. I shoved him in the can and pointed to the bowl he had just filled with disgusting turds. He then tried to claim it wasn't his. I shoved his face in it, and told him that if he EVER EVER didn't flush, I'd make him eat it.
From then on, he ALWAYS flushed, even though he was off his meds and doing all sorts of weird shit. And as long as he flushed the toilet, I treated him civilly enough. He might have been crazy but he was using it as a lever to engage n his own style of passive-aggressive bullshit.
What most people fail to realize is that, while you're not doing anyone a favour by enabling them to continue such behaviours, trying the "normal methods of communication" not only won't work - you become an enabler. You have to communicate the same way you would with an angry dog. Fearless, and in command. They have to KNOW, at the lowest level possible, bypassing all (ir)rationalization, that this is the way it is. No if, no else, no but. The behaviour modification has to be done at a bio-chemical, instinctive level, and this is one way to do it.
Of course, most people can't do it, because they lack confidence, same as they can't grab a snarling 120-pound dog that has just tried to attack another one by the face and shove their face into its', and say "You EVER do that again and I'll turn you into a fucking rug!" That dog went on to become the best-behaved dog anyone had ever seen, super-loyal and very happy, but everyone who had seen the original incident said he should be put down immediately, and nobody wanted to go near him for months after, even though his change in behaviour was immediate and permanent.
Sometimes all it takes is one act to permanently alter behaviour. But we're too "nice" to be "mean enough" to actually do it. Just like we want to maintain the illusion that we're too "humane" to cull destructive genes, when in actual fact we betray future generations by condemning them to suffer with diseases we can eliminate in a couple of generations.
There's no excuse for not sterilizing all schizophrenics and bi-polars as a public health and safety measure.
Nice stereotype of auto workers as dumb air-wrench monkeys who can't do anything as simple as send an email.
The people *I'm* insulting are the fools who believe that by paying a "Technical College" for some basic skills that they could get in 15 minutes for free at the local library - they have more money than brains, which, generally speaking, isn't saying much.
True technical colleges? Look to the European model, or Quebec's CEGEP system. Not these "take a few courses and in less than a year you too can have an exciting new career as a [insert whatever]".
I'm not worried about MY ultimate destination. I'm satisfied that the mathematics of the current universe preclude the possibility of the existence of your "god". The graininess of the universe is sufficient proof that god (an all-knowing being) cannot exist - no such encoding of all the information required is possible, in this or a higher set of dimensions.
I'm sure you believe in the "big bang" or some such nonsense as that. How did the objects that started the big bang get there? How did the universe just appear? It had to come from somewhere.
So, using your logic, god had to come from somewhere. "Where did god come from. After all, to use your own words, you believe in "god" or some such nonsense as that. How did god get there? How did god just appear? It had to come from somewhere."
Look, god is impossible, at least for this universe. Your religious beliefs, as you so clearly stated, are entirely based on faith, which means they have absolutely no basis in reality. The cold hard facts of the underlying structure of the universe trump your unfounded beliefs. God simply doesn't exist. This universe simply does not allow, never mind have, the "perfect knowledge" that "god" would require. And no, putting god in another universe doesn't work, because again, it doesn't change the fact that our universe doesn't allow "perfect knowledge"; A god such as you believe in could only interact with or "rule over" a universe where there is no such thing as the graininess of space, time, and probability.
Whether such a universe exists is irrelevant our universe, since such a god could never interface with ours.
it has nothing to do with the fact that they didn't do shots with their buddies last Friday.
Alcohol is a proven selective depressant. In reasonable doses, it depresses inhibitions. People are therefore easier-going, more likely to express themselves, and, as you say, less uptight, but this is entirely due to the effect of alcohol on the brain; in other words, the relief from stress, etc., is from the effect on the brain, not the social situation.
You get the same effect by having a night-cap alone.
Tee-totalers who choose to be "for religious or moral reasons" are just fucked up, as well as immorally judgmental, but what do you expect from people who believe in religious spooks and take their instructions from fat slugs who feed them a line of bullshit every weekend.
We know it wasn't in December. "Shepherds watched their flock by night." Definitely not the winter, and the most likely date was 6 B.C., which made all the people who went nuts about "the rapture will happen in 2000" really look stupid, since 1994 would have been the "real" date.
It wasn't until marketing got a hold of it in the early 20th century that Christmas even became the important Christian holiday.
. . . as opposed to that great holiday Hallowe'en, where people can party on in complete anonymity . . .
The "wanting to drinl someone's blood" is just another of the facets of christianity that point to its' beginnings as a syncretic religion - one composed of bits and pieces pulled from other religions (There really is nothing new under the sun...) Christmas festivities are a rip-off of the Roman feast of Saturnus, for exqmple
All too often looking in the news, I think we try to avoid painful realities like death because they aren't comfortable.
Death is painless... getting there, on the other hand...:-)
You can sleep in on Sunday without feeling guilty AND you can feel smug about it - after all, Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right:-)
You can drink knowing it's good for your health, will lower your blood pressure while raising fundies';
Sex. No guilt for being straight, bi, gay, lesbian. trans, genderfucked, whatever, or for having friends who are
No having your kids look down on you because you think they're "living in sin". No having your parents look down on you because you don't want to get married;
Much less cognitive dissonance. Not having to justify the genocide in the bible, or the sexism, the endorsing of slave-keeping, and a vengeful god;
Being able to show Jehovah's Witnesses your blood donor card - priceless;
Not having to dress funny on Sundays, then go to a building where some guy in a dress (he "says" it's a robe) goes on and on about gays going to hell; Sitting around the homestead in your underwear is SO much more edifying;
No guilt-induced obligatory tax on stupidity (tithing). Though if you can divert it to lottery tickets (another tax on stupidity) and get a better return on your investment, knowing that at least some of the profits help pay for things the community needs;
There's just no replacement for the word "fuck!" in some situations;
There's also no replacement for going up to your local holy roller when they get to be too much of a PITA, poking them in the belly and saying "I see you're still losing the struggle with that demon sin of gluttony. BTW if you really have mastered your battle against same-sex lust, I have a serious buyer for your porn collection"
And for the bonus:
it's more fun trolling them than either the Microsoft or Apple fanbois.
The worst part is that we've had several generations of misinformation about the "evils of drink" because of religious zealots who accepted the backing of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
We still see their effect today with churches that use grape juice instead of wine for communion:
Although many times the WCTU was very involved in religion in a positive manner, they did not agree that wine should be used in their ceremonies. They asked the Church to stop using wine in their ceremonies during an Episcopal convention, and to use un-fermented grape juice instead. Their direct resolution stated that they wanted the church to use grape juice because wine contained "the narcotic poison, alcohol, which cannot truly represent the blood of Christ."
We now know that the "alcohol kills nerve cells" is wrong in low doses. The "100,000 brain cells per drink" is a myth. As for the fatty buildup in the liver, that's also related only to *over-consumption*, so there's no downside to moderate consumption, and a definite set of benefits.
With the latest wrong-headed bailouts (Merrill Lynch) diverting even more capital to propping up bad investments and bad actors, inflating its' value away is inevitable.
The government should have allowed the failures, kept its' powder dry, then moved in after the market correction to help pick up the pieces. It would have been cheaper and more effective.
Hey, we come from all areas of life. I make my living doing a combination of c/c++ code (custom servers) and php/javascript/mysql stuff, but I've also owned and driven dump trucks and backhoes (Case 580/680/780 - one of each:-), etc. You'd be amazed at how many different skills you can pick up if you stay open to different opportunities.
I caught you in an outright lie. You said the word piss didn't occur in the bible. You were wrong, and like most "true belevers", you can't admit it.
Unlike you, my reference library included the KJV, NKJV, NASB, TLB, Greek-English and Hebrew-English interlinear, and another half-dozen versions. And again, unlike you, I actually spent several years studying it, which is why I can state that it is full of shit.
Don't worry though, you'll realize I'm right one day when you're burning in Hell. Have a nice life...because the next one won't be.
Never happen. First, hell is supposed to be the absence of god, and as an atheist I'm already there, and loving it. Much better than the alternative, which is to be an empty-headed bumpkin who believes imaginary fairy tales.
Actually, I could. I learned how to mill parts to within a thousandth of an inch when I was 17. It didn't take long to get the hang of it - the hardest part was grinding my own cutting carbide by hand to the right angle, and then mounting it so as to avoid chatter. Not all that complicated.
Same with arc and gas welding. Show me once, and I was able do it.
Same with sewer cuts. Watched one, then was able to do them myself, including the digging, plumbing, and backfilling.
I think the intention of this is for seniors or elderly people to learn how to use a computer. But even then shouldn't this class be taken at a physical location? How are you supposed to take an online class if you don't know how to use the internet?
That's their revenue model. Ultra-low support costs. "Send us an email." "I don't know how. I haven't taken that class yet." "Well, then we'll enroll you in the class." (time passes) "I can't take the class." "Send us an email." "I don't know how - I can't access the class." "Have you read the FAQ" "I can't get online" "Send us an email." "How?"... person gives up, "technical school" keeps money.
Where do you think failures at customer support go to work? "Technical schools."
Expecting someone to take a computer class online on how to use their computer adds new meaning to the term "lifting oneself up by their bootstraps."
People who can successfully get online and take the course don't need the course. People who need the course can't take the course.
And as many people pointed out, the first thing she should have done was called her ISP.
I'd hate to be the poor sucker who sells her a used car, and then she takes them to court to void the sale because the radio doesn't receive her favourite stations from back home 1,000 km away. Or "What do you mean, I have to check the oil once in a while?"
Sure it can. If China were to dump all of their US Treasuries on the market tomorrow, you'd see the effective interest rate jump up a couple points and they'd be sold out to other investors, likely within the same day if not within hours. There is always a demand for high-quality bonds.
You've obviously not kept up with events. For a year now, the US has been under attack over its' AAA credit rating. This was BEFORE the market meltdown, etc.
Moody's: U.S. rating could be pressured in long term
NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday the United States' "triple-A" government bond rating could come under pressure in the very long-term if the Medicare and Social Security programs are not reformed.
"These two programs are the largest threats to the long-term financial health of the United States and to the government's Aaa rating," Moody's analyst Steven Hess said in the agency's annual report on the United States.
The report is not a rating action.
Hess also said that risks from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis are not affecting the nation's credit rating.
However, the housing downturn and subprime crisis could result in "a period of slower growth in coming quarters, although further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve could help to maintain positive growth," he said.
John McCarthy, director of foreign exchange at ING Capital Markets in New York, noted that "some are saying comments about the possible downgrade of the U.S. long-term rating is hitting the dollar a bit."
The United States' "Aaa" foreign currency ceiling and "Aaa" bond ratings and stable outlook are supported by the nation's large and diverse economy and moderate level of debt, Moody's said.
Federal debt ratios relative to gross domestic product and to revenue appear "set to improve modestly in the next few years," the agency said. (Reporting by Neil Shah; additional reporting by Steven Johnson; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Since then, we've had a deficit that's ballooning, revenues dropping like a stone, unemployment going up up and away despite a fed rate of zero%, the sub-prime crisis now is calculated to affect at least 17% of ALL mortgages in the US,
Interest rates will have to go up a LOT to compensate for the inflationary effect of printing up all that new deficit spending. Do you really want to return to the days of 20% prime rate interest, like in April, 1981? Or 21.5% in December of 1980?
From October 14th, 1978 to May 20th, 1985, even the most credit-worthy couldn't get loans below 10%. How many people with prime mortgages can afford a 15% mortgage? How many businesses are viable if they have to pay 18% interest on their loans and bonds?
This is because some teachers of mickey-mouse courses know their classes are bullshit, and that the only way to justify their salary is to enforce attendance.
How does one justify "teaching people how to keyboard" for a full term, except by attendance. Otherwise, if they can't type 40wpm at the end of the class, you have to fail the "precious babies" and that will hurt their feelings, and you won't be able to suck any more money out of them for "Advanced Keyboarding."
I said it can be won a decent amount of times at random. True, the second player, playing perfectly, can always force a tie, but most humans don'\t play perfectly, and there's a big difference between forcing a tie and winning 100% of the time. I've written tic-tac-toe programs, and the best they could do was a tie, though if the other person made any mistake, it pretty much guaranteed a win.
My point was that random play is a valid winning strategy for many games. How do you find the hidden stuff in Doom, except by pushing at random places? Take away the random element, and you'll never win.
NONE of those classes are college-level, and it certainly doesn't take a full course to learn how to send an email. This is stuff that Dummies books were made for. Trying to stretch them out into a course, to make people feel good that they "earned credit" for a basic skill that most 10-year-olds could have taught them in 5 minutes is just reinforcing the "computers are so COMPLICATED" mindset.
Taking any of these courses would do more to hurt your chances of getting hired than just saying "I know Windows and Word, and can use email." You're showing, by admitting to these courses, that you're really out of the loop, and that you have no clue just how far out of the loop you are.
"Technical Schools" like this exist for one thing - to suck money from people by giving them the false impression that they're "acquiring marketable skills."
Slashdot Mirror
You should see my top 10 reasons why a dog is better than getting married :-)
As for people with psychological problems, some of them are genetic, and we really should be doing what we can to make sure those genes get weeded out. For those problems that are environmental/situational, on the other hand, it would be in our best interests as a society to invest in proper treatment and in prevention.
For example, we can go a long way towards preventing battered spouse syndrome by making it socially unacceptable for people to hit each other - and this applies also to hitting their own kids. It's not much of an extension from whacking a kid to beating up on another adult. There seems to be an "it's not so bad if its' in the family" attitude.
Same thing with post-traumatic stress disorder, or seasonally-affected depression. We lose billions in productivity every year, but instead of treating the problems, the publics' attitude is "snap out of it" or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." People don't seek help in part because of shame and internalized built, in part because of their fear of how others will perceive them, and in part because of the cost. Silly, but there it is. Spending some money to educate the general public is a good investment. Better, though, is to make it part of the curriculum, so that the next generation will know how to seek help.
Prevention where possible, treatment where practical (some things we just don't know how to treat yet), and cure when we can. The same rules as for physical problems.
So maybe I'll be able to find a store that actually has Wiis in stock by 2011, since they'll be obsolete by then?
Seriously, of the 3 - Playstation, XBox, Wii - only Nintendo hasn't made any price cuts, and they still can't keep them on the shelves for more than a day or two.
Most libraries have free classes in how to use the Internet, computers, etc. No books required. Libraries - it's not just dead trees any more :-)
Also, do you really believe that someone who, at this late stage in the game, doesn't know how to use a computer but has been on the workforce for 30 years, can (or even should) be "retrained" to do menial typing on a PC, as opposed to something else more in line with their skills? How, even after taking a few courses in Word and Windows, are they going to compete against people half their age that know that shit without even trying?
It's the same as all those "technical colleges" that say that after 1 year, you too can be a computer programmer or internet security expert. Frauds preying on desperate people.
You're arguing that schizophrenia somehow "protects" against other mental diseases. I don't buy it.
I've lost all patience with dealing with them, after seeing how much damage, up to and including death, schizophrenics can cause.
This turned out to be a "good thing" years later when one of my friends had a relative staying with her who refused to take his meds. He indulged in a lot of bizarre behaviour, including never flushing the toilet. I told her that's easy enough to fix. Next time he came out of the can (without flushing) I confronted him just outside the door to the toilet and told him to go back in and flush. He said he had. I shoved him in the can and pointed to the bowl he had just filled with disgusting turds. He then tried to claim it wasn't his. I shoved his face in it, and told him that if he EVER EVER didn't flush, I'd make him eat it.
From then on, he ALWAYS flushed, even though he was off his meds and doing all sorts of weird shit. And as long as he flushed the toilet, I treated him civilly enough. He might have been crazy but he was using it as a lever to engage n his own style of passive-aggressive bullshit.
What most people fail to realize is that, while you're not doing anyone a favour by enabling them to continue such behaviours, trying the "normal methods of communication" not only won't work - you become an enabler. You have to communicate the same way you would with an angry dog. Fearless, and in command. They have to KNOW, at the lowest level possible, bypassing all (ir)rationalization, that this is the way it is. No if, no else, no but. The behaviour modification has to be done at a bio-chemical, instinctive level, and this is one way to do it.
Of course, most people can't do it, because they lack confidence, same as they can't grab a snarling 120-pound dog that has just tried to attack another one by the face and shove their face into its', and say "You EVER do that again and I'll turn you into a fucking rug!" That dog went on to become the best-behaved dog anyone had ever seen, super-loyal and very happy, but everyone who had seen the original incident said he should be put down immediately, and nobody wanted to go near him for months after, even though his change in behaviour was immediate and permanent.
Sometimes all it takes is one act to permanently alter behaviour. But we're too "nice" to be "mean enough" to actually do it. Just like we want to maintain the illusion that we're too "humane" to cull destructive genes, when in actual fact we betray future generations by condemning them to suffer with diseases we can eliminate in a couple of generations.
There's no excuse for not sterilizing all schizophrenics and bi-polars as a public health and safety measure.
Nice stereotype of auto workers as dumb air-wrench monkeys who can't do anything as simple as send an email.
The people *I'm* insulting are the fools who believe that by paying a "Technical College" for some basic skills that they could get in 15 minutes for free at the local library - they have more money than brains, which, generally speaking, isn't saying much.
True technical colleges? Look to the European model, or Quebec's CEGEP system. Not these "take a few courses and in less than a year you too can have an exciting new career as a [insert whatever]".
I'm not worried about MY ultimate destination. I'm satisfied that the mathematics of the current universe preclude the possibility of the existence of your "god". The graininess of the universe is sufficient proof that god (an all-knowing being) cannot exist - no such encoding of all the information required is possible, in this or a higher set of dimensions.
So, using your logic, god had to come from somewhere. "Where did god come from. After all, to use your own words, you believe in "god" or some such nonsense as that. How did god get there? How did god just appear? It had to come from somewhere."
Look, god is impossible, at least for this universe. Your religious beliefs, as you so clearly stated, are entirely based on faith, which means they have absolutely no basis in reality. The cold hard facts of the underlying structure of the universe trump your unfounded beliefs. God simply doesn't exist. This universe simply does not allow, never mind have, the "perfect knowledge" that "god" would require. And no, putting god in another universe doesn't work, because again, it doesn't change the fact that our universe doesn't allow "perfect knowledge"; A god such as you believe in could only interact with or "rule over" a universe where there is no such thing as the graininess of space, time, and probability.
Whether such a universe exists is irrelevant our universe, since such a god could never interface with ours.
I prefer W.C. Fields' approach
"I keep a flask of whiskey with me in this box at all times, for my nerves, just in case I see a snake ... which I also keep in this box."
Alcohol is a proven selective depressant. In reasonable doses, it depresses inhibitions. People are therefore easier-going, more likely to express themselves, and, as you say, less uptight, but this is entirely due to the effect of alcohol on the brain; in other words, the relief from stress, etc., is from the effect on the brain, not the social situation.
You get the same effect by having a night-cap alone.
Tee-totalers who choose to be "for religious or moral reasons" are just fucked up, as well as immorally judgmental, but what do you expect from people who believe in religious spooks and take their instructions from fat slugs who feed them a line of bullshit every weekend.
Good thing you didn't dream you were on the toilet and decide it was a good time to lay some trans-oceanic cable.
We know it wasn't in December. "Shepherds watched their flock by night." Definitely not the winter, and the most likely date was 6 B.C., which made all the people who went nuts about "the rapture will happen in 2000" really look stupid, since 1994 would have been the "real" date.
. . . as opposed to that great holiday Hallowe'en, where people can party on in complete anonymity . . .
The "wanting to drinl someone's blood" is just another of the facets of christianity that point to its' beginnings as a syncretic religion - one composed of bits and pieces pulled from other religions (There really is nothing new under the sun ...) Christmas festivities are a rip-off of the Roman feast of Saturnus, for exqmple
Death is painless ... getting there, on the other hand ... :-)
That's why it's SO much better to be an atheist.
10 Reasons Why Being An Atheist Is Better
And for the bonus:
The worst part is that we've had several generations of misinformation about the "evils of drink" because of religious zealots who accepted the backing of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
We still see their effect today with churches that use grape juice instead of wine for communion:
We now know that the "alcohol kills nerve cells" is wrong in low doses. The "100,000 brain cells per drink" is a myth. As for the fatty buildup in the liver, that's also related only to *over-consumption*, so there's no downside to moderate consumption, and a definite set of benefits.
Idiot! You're supposed to take it out of the can first.
Actually, you're wrong. ANY alcohol, in moderation, has the same effect.
The flavinoids in grapes are also benefisial, but any alcohol "just works."
Teetotalers die younger than those who consume moderate amounts of alcohol.
With the latest wrong-headed bailouts (Merrill Lynch) diverting even more capital to propping up bad investments and bad actors, inflating its' value away is inevitable.
The government should have allowed the failures, kept its' powder dry, then moved in after the market correction to help pick up the pieces. It would have been cheaper and more effective.
Hey, we come from all areas of life. I make my living doing a combination of c/c++ code (custom servers) and php/javascript/mysql stuff, but I've also owned and driven dump trucks and backhoes (Case 580/680/780 - one of each :-), etc. You'd be amazed at how many different skills you can pick up if you stay open to different opportunities.
I caught you in an outright lie. You said the word piss didn't occur in the bible. You were wrong, and like most "true belevers", you can't admit it.
Unlike you, my reference library included the KJV, NKJV, NASB, TLB, Greek-English and Hebrew-English interlinear, and another half-dozen versions. And again, unlike you, I actually spent several years studying it, which is why I can state that it is full of shit.
Never happen. First, hell is supposed to be the absence of god, and as an atheist I'm already there, and loving it. Much better than the alternative, which is to be an empty-headed bumpkin who believes imaginary fairy tales.
Don't believe the bible is shit? Send an email to god and ask.
Actually, I could. I learned how to mill parts to within a thousandth of an inch when I was 17. It didn't take long to get the hang of it - the hardest part was grinding my own cutting carbide by hand to the right angle, and then mounting it so as to avoid chatter. Not all that complicated.
Same with arc and gas welding. Show me once, and I was able do it.
Same with sewer cuts. Watched one, then was able to do them myself, including the digging, plumbing, and backfilling.
That's their revenue model. Ultra-low support costs. "Send us an email." "I don't know how. I haven't taken that class yet." "Well, then we'll enroll you in the class." (time passes) "I can't take the class." "Send us an email." "I don't know how - I can't access the class." "Have you read the FAQ" "I can't get online" "Send us an email." "How?" ... person gives up, "technical school" keeps money.
Where do you think failures at customer support go to work? "Technical schools."
Expecting someone to take a computer class online on how to use their computer adds new meaning to the term "lifting oneself up by their bootstraps."
People who can successfully get online and take the course don't need the course. People who need the course can't take the course.
And as many people pointed out, the first thing she should have done was called her ISP.
I'd hate to be the poor sucker who sells her a used car, and then she takes them to court to void the sale because the radio doesn't receive her favourite stations from back home 1,000 km away. Or "What do you mean, I have to check the oil once in a while?"
You can't fix stupid.
You've obviously not kept up with events. For a year now, the US has been under attack over its' AAA credit rating. This was BEFORE the market meltdown, etc.
From January 10th, 2008: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1017237120080110
Since then, we've had a deficit that's ballooning, revenues dropping like a stone, unemployment going up up and away despite a fed rate of zero%, the sub-prime crisis now is calculated to affect at least 17% of ALL mortgages in the US,
Interest rates will have to go up a LOT to compensate for the inflationary effect of printing up all that new deficit spending. Do you really want to return to the days of 20% prime rate interest, like in April, 1981? Or 21.5% in December of 1980?
From October 14th, 1978 to May 20th, 1985, even the most credit-worthy couldn't get loans below 10%. How many people with prime mortgages can afford a 15% mortgage? How many businesses are viable if they have to pay 18% interest on their loans and bonds?
This is because some teachers of mickey-mouse courses know their classes are bullshit, and that the only way to justify their salary is to enforce attendance.
How does one justify "teaching people how to keyboard" for a full term, except by attendance. Otherwise, if they can't type 40wpm at the end of the class, you have to fail the "precious babies" and that will hurt their feelings, and you won't be able to suck any more money out of them for "Advanced Keyboarding."
I said it can be won a decent amount of times at random. True, the second player, playing perfectly, can always force a tie, but most humans don'\t play perfectly, and there's a big difference between forcing a tie and winning 100% of the time. I've written tic-tac-toe programs, and the best they could do was a tie, though if the other person made any mistake, it pretty much guaranteed a win.
My point was that random play is a valid winning strategy for many games. How do you find the hidden stuff in Doom, except by pushing at random places? Take away the random element, and you'll never win.
NONE of those classes are college-level, and it certainly doesn't take a full course to learn how to send an email. This is stuff that Dummies books were made for. Trying to stretch them out into a course, to make people feel good that they "earned credit" for a basic skill that most 10-year-olds could have taught them in 5 minutes is just reinforcing the "computers are so COMPLICATED" mindset.
Taking any of these courses would do more to hurt your chances of getting hired than just saying "I know Windows and Word, and can use email." You're showing, by admitting to these courses, that you're really out of the loop, and that you have no clue just how far out of the loop you are.
"Technical Schools" like this exist for one thing - to suck money from people by giving them the false impression that they're "acquiring marketable skills."