Umm, because the cheapo drives often fail. We were going thorugh a lot of cheap drive enclosures at work, till we switched to the OWC drives--our failure rate dropped to near zero.
Having said that, it is still an ex$pensive drive--the larger OWC drives are a much better deal, and bulletproop to boot.
The iPod Hi-fi is nothing new. Now if they had included a CD player, and perhaps a handle to carry it with, and made it in space age silver, Now that would be cool. I'm guessing that such a product would be extremely popular with urban dwellers/street artists.
You should trademark "circle of give a shit" and "You run Windows--I'm getting things done." and sell them back to Apple. Seriously.
I'm in the same boat--After spending 20+years eating, sleeping and breathing computers, and acting as the reisident expert in my family/circle of friends/global village/whatever, I no longer support/advise/provide a shoulder to cry on for any one I know who uses a PC. I switched as many family members as possible over to iMacs, and so I now no longer get those late night calls (my screen is blue, what do I do?).
I now claim total ignorance of all things PC, so when someone asks me "is this $399 laptop from Costco a good computer?", I tell them to buy a Mac, 'cause it's all I know. I also tell them to make sure they buy an extended warranty , because they will Sure Need It.
I view the legions of unofficial Windows Support Staff--your Brother-in -law, neighbor, whoever--as part of the hidden cost of running crappy software.
Actually, it does work in sixes, but only if you use the pica as your unit of measure. A very common measure, BTW, in the printing and graphic design industry (which still uses the majority of all imperial sized paper manufacured each year). There are 6 picas per inch, which can be further subdivided into 12 points per pica. Simple, yet elegant. As a printer and graphic artist I used the pica measure exclueively for about 8 years, then had a hell of a time going back to inches when I changed jobs. I still occcasionally reach into my desk and use my pica rule out of habit.
And yes, the inch rule is not simple or convenient in the way the metric system is.
I tried switching my plan from Verizon to ATT. I was informed that I could NOT transfer my existing number--no reason was given (I tried this on their website). While I like the coverage area Verizon provides, their selection of phones sucks.
Sorry, but you cannot blame the loss of manufacturing jobs on the unions. True, the AFL-CIO was not the most flexible when dealing with Detroit, but there were other, larger pressures, such as competition from overseas mfg. and tax laws the encouraged US businesses to locate across the border. For a good read, see "America: What Went Wrong?" some of which is available online at:
As someone who is somewhat familliar with school financing, I have to say you are way off base.
School districts in CA (where I teach) are required by law to put forth a balanced budget every year. In most cases, they must put forth a budget for the upcoming year using "soft" numbers, usually determined by projected enrollment for the upcoming year (x# of students *x$ per student). In most cases, school districts do not have firm numbers to work with, and yet have to come up with a balanced budget that will carry them through the next year.
The STATE determines funding (at least in CA), not the school board/administration. Schools don't tell the State "yeah, we spent 2.2 mil last year, now we need 2.3 mil, yadda yadda yadda". Instead, the State says "here's the money we promised you, sorry it is less than last year, and oh, BTW, you have to carry out all these unfunded mandates that the legislature passed last year."
And don't get me started on Federal funding--that is an even worse nightmare.
In the fiction category, I nominate Thomas Pynchon, author of Gravity's Rainbow.
Also--She's only been gone a few years, but Gina Berriault wrote some of the best short stories around (next to Flannery O'Connor).
While he's not a fiction writer, Stephen Ambrose has turned out to be one of the more accessible/readable hsitorians of the past 20 years. Freshman history professors will still be assigning his stuff 50 years from now.
First of all, you need to find out what type/quantity of hardware and software you have available to you. Next, what grade/grades/ages will you be teaching? How long will your lab periods be? Will you have an aide, or can you get volunteers to help? And perhaps most importantly, what will your class size be? You need to know these things before you make ANY decisions about what you actually teach, as these factors will determine much of what you will be able to do.
I can share a lot more but am in the middle of report cards right now so time is short. I teach 4th grade (including computers 3x per week) at a public school in CA, if you have questions concerning curriculum or classroom management, please feel free to contact via e-mail.
"Tools like Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft FrontPage, Microsoft Visual Basic and others are very educational"
What exactly makes these products "educational?" Would you care to be more specific? While these products are useful applications, there is nothing intrinsically educational about them.
I'm not sure where to begin, so I'll just dive in . . .
First of all, the NRDC tends to, when making announcements, to err on the side of extreme alarmism. They mean well, but often make sensationalistic (sp) statements because, well, that's what it takes to get media attention.
Note that "The report said fewer than half of the drinking water utilities had completed all phases of Y2K preparations, including contingency planning and testing, as of June 1999, the date of the last industry survey." Is is possible that in the meantime many of the utilities have made significant progress towards this?
While many of the control systems in water treatement plands do require the use of embedded logic/controller chips (the exact name escapes me) they are NOT buried 30 feet underground. They are also not 20 to 30 years old. The treatment industry statndards are set by the feds (EPA) and get tougher every few years. To meet the tougher regs, plants switch to more advanced processes, which means new equipment. The last treatment plant I visited (Fairfield, CA) used a bank of pc's to control the processes at the entire plant. None of the treatment gear (with the exception of the sedimentation tanks) looked older than 10 years.
The water/wastewater industry is one of the most efficient and vigilant industries that I know of. The American Water Works Association as a professional oganization is honest to a fault. If they dispute the report, they must have a good reason.
Realistically, he most likely problem that MIGHT occur would be some sort of power failure (PGE&E in our parts is not guranteeing power) which would more than likely cause water supply pumps to stop pumping. This can create a loss of pressure and siphoning in the water lines, which can easily lead to contamination if your idiot neighbor decides to fill his dirty swimming pool on New Years Eve.
Does it make sense to have some water on hand just in case? Of course. Am I worried? No.
By the way, Some utilities are more than happy to give tours if you contact them in advance. Most people have no idea how involved the process actually is, and would benefit from a tour.
Most of my comments have been made in reference to water treatment, but can bea applied equally to wastewater treatment.
Yes, but most of the control systems--sytems that measure contaminant levels, set chlorination rates, etc.-- in your average plant are fairly accessible and are not buried 20 feet underground. There is nothing difficult about upgrading these systems, and there are plenty of companies that do it.
Now the embedded chips used in the petroleum industry, that's another story ...
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Umm, because the cheapo drives often fail. We were going thorugh a lot of cheap drive enclosures at work, till we switched to the OWC drives--our failure rate dropped to near zero.
Having said that, it is still an ex$pensive drive--the larger OWC drives are a much better deal, and bulletproop to boot.
The iPod Hi-fi is nothing new. Now if they had included a CD player, and perhaps a handle to carry it with, and made it in space age silver, Now that would be cool. I'm guessing that such a product would be extremely popular with urban dwellers/street artists.
Which explains all the OS9 boxes suddenly up for sale on eBay when Quark for OSX came out . . . .
Frankly I just hope there is someone out there clubbing you monkeys over the head with instructions on how to use a contraceptive.
Now if someone would just go back in time and club their parents . . . . .
Microsoft would buy out Disney . . . .
You should trademark "circle of give a shit" and "You run Windows--I'm getting things done." and sell them back to Apple. Seriously.
I'm in the same boat--After spending 20+years eating, sleeping and breathing computers, and acting as the reisident expert in my family/circle of friends/global village/whatever, I no longer support/advise/provide a shoulder to cry on for any one I know who uses a PC. I switched as many family members as possible over to iMacs, and so I now no longer get those late night calls (my screen is blue, what do I do?).
I now claim total ignorance of all things PC, so when someone asks me "is this $399 laptop from Costco a good computer?", I tell them to buy a Mac, 'cause it's all I know. I also tell them to make sure they buy an extended warranty , because they will Sure Need It.
I view the legions of unofficial Windows Support Staff--your Brother-in -law, neighbor, whoever--as part of the hidden cost of running crappy software.
They sold me--I can't wait to install it on my new MacBook . . . . .
Microsoft announces the creation of the first virtual Satan . . . . codenamed Longhorn.
That does it! I'm swiching back to Micorosoft Bob!
Half of the population are stark raving idiots.
Another plug for the standard normal distribution!
I like how you crafted a well reasoned arguement, and supported your position with compelling, relevant facts.
The only thing your argument proves is that the education system failed YOU.
You sir, should demand your money back!
With a #11 key.
Actually, it does work in sixes, but only if you use the pica as your unit of measure. A very common measure, BTW, in the printing and graphic design industry (which still uses the majority of all imperial sized paper manufacured each year). There are 6 picas per inch, which can be further subdivided into 12 points per pica. Simple, yet elegant. As a printer and graphic artist I used the pica measure exclueively for about 8 years, then had a hell of a time going back to inches when I changed jobs. I still occcasionally reach into my desk and use my pica rule out of habit.
And yes, the inch rule is not simple or convenient in the way the metric system is.
I tried switching my plan from Verizon to ATT. I was informed that I could NOT transfer my existing number--no reason was given (I tried this on their website). While I like the coverage area Verizon provides, their selection of phones sucks.
Sorry, but you cannot blame the loss of manufacturing jobs on the unions. True, the AFL-CIO was not the most flexible when dealing with Detroit, but there were other, larger pressures, such as competition from overseas mfg. and tax laws the encouraged US businesses to locate across the border. For a good read, see "America: What Went Wrong?" some of which is available online at:
http://www.politicalindex.com/wrong1.htm
As someone who is somewhat familliar with school financing, I have to say you are way off base.
School districts in CA (where I teach) are required by law to put forth a balanced budget every year. In most cases, they must put forth a budget for the upcoming year using "soft" numbers, usually determined by projected enrollment for the upcoming year (x# of students *x$ per student). In most cases, school districts do not have firm numbers to work with, and yet have to come up with a balanced budget that will carry them through the next year.
The STATE determines funding (at least in CA), not the school board/administration. Schools don't tell the State "yeah, we spent 2.2 mil last year, now we need 2.3 mil, yadda yadda yadda". Instead, the State says "here's the money we promised you, sorry it is less than last year, and oh, BTW, you have to carry out all these unfunded mandates that the legislature passed last year."
And don't get me started on Federal funding--that is an even worse nightmare.
SPUNK = Pr()n ads
for the blind.
Wouldn't really accurate voice recognition software make this sort of thing obsolete?
Have to agree--why is it the majority of authors posted are English/American?
I would add Thomas Mann to your list.
In the fiction category, I nominate Thomas Pynchon, author of Gravity's Rainbow.
Also--She's only been gone a few years, but Gina Berriault wrote some of the best short stories around (next to Flannery O'Connor).
While he's not a fiction writer, Stephen Ambrose has turned out to be one of the more accessible/readable hsitorians of the past 20 years. Freshman history professors will still be assigning his stuff 50 years from now.
First of all, you need to find out what type/quantity of hardware and software you have available to you. Next, what grade/grades/ages will you be teaching? How long will your lab periods be? Will you have an aide, or can you get volunteers to help? And perhaps most importantly, what will your class size be? You need to know these things before you make ANY decisions about what you actually teach, as these factors will determine much of what you will be able to do.
I can share a lot more but am in the middle of report cards right now so time is short. I teach 4th grade (including computers 3x per week) at a public school in CA, if you have questions concerning curriculum or classroom management, please feel free to contact via e-mail.
"Tools like Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft FrontPage, Microsoft Visual Basic and others are very educational"
What exactly makes these products "educational?" Would you care to be more specific? While these products are useful applications, there is nothing intrinsically educational about them.
I'm not sure where to begin, so I'll just dive in . . .
First of all, the NRDC tends to, when making announcements, to err on the side of extreme alarmism. They mean well, but often make sensationalistic (sp) statements because, well, that's what it takes to get media attention.
Note that "The report said fewer than half of the drinking water utilities had completed all phases of Y2K preparations, including contingency planning and testing, as of June 1999, the date of the last industry survey." Is is possible that in the meantime many of the utilities have made significant progress towards this?
While many of the control systems in water treatement plands do require the use of embedded logic/controller chips (the exact name escapes me) they are NOT buried 30 feet underground. They are also not 20 to 30 years old. The treatment industry statndards are set by the feds (EPA) and get tougher every few years. To meet the tougher regs, plants switch to more advanced processes, which means new equipment. The last treatment plant I visited (Fairfield, CA) used a bank of pc's to control the processes at the entire plant. None of the treatment gear (with the exception of the sedimentation tanks) looked older than 10 years.
The water/wastewater industry is one of the most efficient and vigilant industries that I know of. The American Water Works Association as a professional oganization is honest to a fault. If they dispute the report, they must have a good reason.
Realistically, he most likely problem that MIGHT occur would be some sort of power failure (PGE&E in our parts is not guranteeing power) which would more than likely cause water supply pumps to stop pumping. This can create a loss of pressure and siphoning in the water lines, which can easily lead to contamination if your idiot neighbor decides to fill his dirty swimming pool on New Years Eve.
Does it make sense to have some water on hand just in case? Of course. Am I worried? No.
By the way, Some utilities are more than happy to give tours if you contact them in advance. Most people have no idea how involved the process actually is, and would benefit from a tour.
Most of my comments have been made in reference to water treatment, but can bea applied equally to wastewater treatment.
Yes, but most of the control systems--sytems that measure contaminant levels, set chlorination rates, etc.-- in your average plant are fairly accessible and are not buried 20 feet underground. There is nothing difficult about upgrading these systems, and there are plenty of companies that do it.
..
Now the embedded chips used in the petroleum industry, that's another story .