Putting computers in a classroom doesn't do anything for the kids. I know, because I work for a school district in IT. To get computers to help kids, the teacher needs to be trained to use them for instruction, the software has to be chosen and lesson plans need to be updated to use them appropriately.
Putting kids in front of a screen while a story is read to them is NOT instructional, it is entertainment.
It would also be less consistent. CONFORMITY of results is the goal, not education of children to their potential.
That is why bad teachers are tolerated, good ones ignored (let alone not rewarded).
In order to get better results, one must be willing to risk 'worse' (as if that is possible), and reward success. Cue the hysterical rant of the union about fairness (code word for socialism) and what not.
As it is, I've been calling for a Open Source like initiative for generating and creating teaching materials for at least four years. Using the model of Open Source Software as an objective, why aren't there "open source" text books?
The pointy headed ministers of Education (religious institution if there ever was) dictates what texts are "approved" for the whole state (or even region), Why? They are furthest away from the students, furthest away from accountability and furthest away from reality.
I don't have a problem with iPads going into schools as a replacement to dead tree material. But I wish to hell that the texts we used were FREE, UPDATED, and peer reviewed material that was freely updated, corrected, enhanced and cooperative work of MANY MANY hands, licensed under some CC license.
How about we stop talking about things as "rights" which require "taking" from someone else something of value to give to someone else?
Health Care is NOT a right. Rights don't depend on other people, they are self evident (exist on their own).
IF you want to call it something, lets call it what it is, a privilege that is afforded us because we are wealthy, educated and technically advanced enough.
BTW, all three of those things are subject to change, and are changing even as we speak, because we have continued to make privileges into rights, and killing our ability to compete against countries that have no such illusions.
You can tax the wealthiest 1% at 100% of their income, it still won't solve any of the problems you think it will. Taxing production cut production. Taxes are negative reinforcement.
You want to change behavior, change how you tax something. Cigarettes are a great example. Taxes on a pack are sky high, and consumption has dropped dramatically. If you give subsidies, you increase that behavior.
Which is why charity should be one time grants, and taxes should be on things society wants to discourage. We have enough vices to pay for everything progressives want to fund, if we only had the will to do it.
And the only way to control costs is central planning, which is.... socialistic.
Health Care is a limited resource, which is why every universal health care program uses rationing and other "cost controls" which drives out doctors and other medical practicioners who leave the field because they are overworked, underpaid. Which leads to ever increasing rationing and other means of reducing demand (artificially).
Two steps to really want to fix health care system:
1) Get rid of Insurance for NORMAL costs by focusing on rare, but catastrophic health care problems. I'd rather have the $1200/mo insurance plan I have as cash going into a health saving account and having a high deductible (100K) policy for the odd case of disaster.
2) Require single price health care by providers. Everyone pays the exact same for the same service. No discounts for Insurance, no Premium Pricing for the uninsured.
IF you did those two things you would control all the costs by letting the individual shop. And to really control costs, one has to remove all the middlemen out of the picture. The cost of insurance is HUGE price on the cost of healthcare in the US. Remove Insurance except in the rarest of situations and the cost will go down.
Yes, I have relatives in Europe who complain endlessly about how crappy their health care system is. They wish they had the option to have a US style health care system.
Regular Keyboard, Mouse. Normal computer, just not your "top of the line gaming rig". I come from a philosophy that if they are old enough to use something, they are old enough to use the adult version, just under close supervision, and specific direction. If you just want them to be babysat by the computer, might as well put them in front of Elmo on Sesame street on the tv.
I guess you never heard of Alvin Greene (US Senate Candidate). Who won the Democratic Party because either he was 1) Black, 2) First on the ballot or 3) He was breathing.
And while the liberal elites love to make fun of people like Glenn Beck and people who like Mr Beck, they are left completely dumbfounded (pun intended) by the Primary win by Mr Greene, even going so far as to say it was a "right wing conspiracy".
In case you are wondering, Mr Greene *didn't run any sort of campaign, lives in his Basement (garnering the liberal/. vote), and is completely mentally deficient (well below average).
To me, it clearly shows who the (D) cater to (stupid, ignorant, apathetic) who can't be bothered researching who they are voting for. After all, anyone with a (D) after their name is better than anyone with a (R).
Google Voice (aka Grand Central), Google Chat, now with phone dialing (PC to PC, PC to Phone VOIP) Gizmo5 (Acquired last year)Voip Telephony Company Adroid Phone
Google has ALL the pieces needed to make a serious run at SKYPE, which is why SKYPE is running to Wall Street now looking for IPO or White Knight, IMHO. SKYPE ought to be scared, because they don't have the bulk and push Google does.
And Google doesn't have to sit on Gizmo5 much longer, if they are working towards integration of the four. The pieces are almost there for the first and complete VOIP end to end network, with Cell as backup.
According to Mythbusters (whatever you think of the show), getting a fingerprint is easy, and the scanners aren't that great at telling fakes from the real. You should watch that episode, it is quite revealing. The expensive scanner was worse than the one build into the laptop.
So, I wouldn't count on that to secure your Laptop/Phone.
In politics, it is called Horse Trading, and it is how things get done. I attach rider (A) to your Bill (1), you don't like (A) and I don't like (1) but we agree that our dislike for (A) or (1) is less than our desire for (1) or (A).Therefore we both can vote to block specifics of the bill ("I voted against the bill before I voted for the bill").
The Constitution specifically prohibits this, but that provision has been ignored for so long (like many other provisions) that it is meaningless.
Progressives. They are the "enlightened class", and everyone else is stupid. It is even in that particular title, they've "progressed" beyond everyone else.
Which is why I have maintained that municipalities should build out the infrastructure and then LEASE it back to private enterprise. THAT way, we're not tied to ONE vendor perpetual lockin. Give leases for 5 or 10 years, with SLA if they fail to meet that the contract is revocable.
We have, in my city, tons of dark fiber laying around, untouchable. It is a real shame that it is OWNED by private company rather than the city.
What I propose is that we start saying way it is, and call what some are proposing as "Packet Racism".
I wouldn't mind setting SLA for types of data lines, but everything on those lines should be treated the exact same. T-1s should have priority to the bigger pipe, say over DSL or wifi traffic (or whatever). I don't have a problem letting AT&T make those kinds of business decisions.
WHERE I have a problem is prioritizing packets based on packet types (UDP/TCP) and ports (80:web). What happens when you start prioritizing by protocol or ports is you end up routing around the problem by tunneling everything in TCP port 80, just as you are already are seeing.
Eventually though, once the packet is outside the host network, those arbitrary rules go away anyway. What I see for Net Neutrality is that it protects data packets on the wire from being dropped or delayed because they are of the wrong type.
The key issue here is the determination of which religious groups' members might qualify for this exemption, an issue that has not yet been decided (and probably won't be for some time to come).
It (the snopes piece) goes on further explaining that to be exempt that the group (religious) would have to get that definition from the IRS. Which is why I pointed out the Amendment 1 in the first place.
And finally, we ALL should want what the Amish FAQ states here....
Self sufficiency is the Amish community's answer to government aid programs.
Because the alternative is dependence on Government aid programs. Oh wait, we're there already. I see your point. Never mind
You mean like charging crack whores and meth freaks with child endangerment for doing drugs while pregnant? Yeah sure, I'm for that, I mean if you're asking for my opinion.
As for general miscarriages... well that is kind of tough to say. After all, my wife miscarried even though she wasn't doing drugs or alcohol.
The ethics of being a human would say that how we treat the smallest, weakest, most defenseless of our society is how we should be measured.
And if you're not vocal for the voice that cannot be heard, what does that say about you as a human?
As for slippery slopes go, being ethical is not slippery at all. It is the most solid ground one can stand on. Questioning not if we can do something but rather if we SHOULD do something is something that is lost in today's world. And the quote makes that point, from a movie that came from a book that is very much about ETHICS of science. You should read the book.
Would you rather me quote from a video game?;)
We do what we must because we can.
For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead.
"You're saying that they must be destroyed without science being done. Everyone else is saying do science and then destroy them."
That's not what I'm saying.
Ethics starts before we do stuff we're going to regret. Slippery slope is how we get to the places we regret.
In this case, how many divisions of the fertilized eggs is too many? What happens when we can create artificial wombs? When does an embryo become a human life?
Dr. Ian Malcolm: I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it.
Slashdot Mirror
Putting computers in a classroom doesn't do anything for the kids. I know, because I work for a school district in IT. To get computers to help kids, the teacher needs to be trained to use them for instruction, the software has to be chosen and lesson plans need to be updated to use them appropriately.
Putting kids in front of a screen while a story is read to them is NOT instructional, it is entertainment.
It would also be less consistent. CONFORMITY of results is the goal, not education of children to their potential.
That is why bad teachers are tolerated, good ones ignored (let alone not rewarded).
In order to get better results, one must be willing to risk 'worse' (as if that is possible), and reward success. Cue the hysterical rant of the union about fairness (code word for socialism) and what not.
As it is, I've been calling for a Open Source like initiative for generating and creating teaching materials for at least four years. Using the model of Open Source Software as an objective, why aren't there "open source" text books?
The pointy headed ministers of Education (religious institution if there ever was) dictates what texts are "approved" for the whole state (or even region), Why? They are furthest away from the students, furthest away from accountability and furthest away from reality.
I don't have a problem with iPads going into schools as a replacement to dead tree material. But I wish to hell that the texts we used were FREE, UPDATED, and peer reviewed material that was freely updated, corrected, enhanced and cooperative work of MANY MANY hands, licensed under some CC license.
Let's get moving people..
How about we stop talking about things as "rights" which require "taking" from someone else something of value to give to someone else?
Health Care is NOT a right. Rights don't depend on other people, they are self evident (exist on their own).
IF you want to call it something, lets call it what it is, a privilege that is afforded us because we are wealthy, educated and technically advanced enough.
BTW, all three of those things are subject to change, and are changing even as we speak, because we have continued to make privileges into rights, and killing our ability to compete against countries that have no such illusions.
You can tax the wealthiest 1% at 100% of their income, it still won't solve any of the problems you think it will. Taxing production cut production. Taxes are negative reinforcement.
You want to change behavior, change how you tax something. Cigarettes are a great example. Taxes on a pack are sky high, and consumption has dropped dramatically. If you give subsidies, you increase that behavior.
Which is why charity should be one time grants, and taxes should be on things society wants to discourage. We have enough vices to pay for everything progressives want to fund, if we only had the will to do it.
And the only way to control costs is central planning, which is .... socialistic.
Health Care is a limited resource, which is why every universal health care program uses rationing and other "cost controls" which drives out doctors and other medical practicioners who leave the field because they are overworked, underpaid. Which leads to ever increasing rationing and other means of reducing demand (artificially).
Two steps to really want to fix health care system:
1) Get rid of Insurance for NORMAL costs by focusing on rare, but catastrophic health care problems. I'd rather have the $1200/mo insurance plan I have as cash going into a health saving account and having a high deductible (100K) policy for the odd case of disaster.
2) Require single price health care by providers. Everyone pays the exact same for the same service. No discounts for Insurance, no Premium Pricing for the uninsured.
IF you did those two things you would control all the costs by letting the individual shop. And to really control costs, one has to remove all the middlemen out of the picture. The cost of insurance is HUGE price on the cost of healthcare in the US. Remove Insurance except in the rarest of situations and the cost will go down.
Yes, I have relatives in Europe who complain endlessly about how crappy their health care system is. They wish they had the option to have a US style health care system.
You can still buy a Snapper mower, but not at Walmart.
But then again, my $25 shoes last me a year, where the higher priced Nike Air Whatevers lasted three months.
Regular Keyboard, Mouse. Normal computer, just not your "top of the line gaming rig". I come from a philosophy that if they are old enough to use something, they are old enough to use the adult version, just under close supervision, and specific direction. If you just want them to be babysat by the computer, might as well put them in front of Elmo on Sesame street on the tv.
Perhaps if you want to keep it simple, iPad.
Read my sig.
People are stupid (the rest doesn't quite apply here ... yet).
Bots on IRC are indistinguishable from your average teenage girl on IRC.
Just sayin
Simple fix for the whole thing.
Patent #0000000000 (exp 09/01/10)
There is no ambiguity and gives all the info needed.
I guess you never heard of Alvin Greene (US Senate Candidate). Who won the Democratic Party because either he was 1) Black, 2) First on the ballot or 3) He was breathing.
And while the liberal elites love to make fun of people like Glenn Beck and people who like Mr Beck, they are left completely dumbfounded (pun intended) by the Primary win by Mr Greene, even going so far as to say it was a "right wing conspiracy".
In case you are wondering, Mr Greene *didn't run any sort of campaign, lives in his Basement (garnering the liberal /. vote), and is completely mentally deficient (well below average).
To me, it clearly shows who the (D) cater to (stupid, ignorant, apathetic) who can't be bothered researching who they are voting for. After all, anyone with a (D) after their name is better than anyone with a (R).
*Wikipedia makes Greene seem like a genius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntlp4fTell4
Plot sounds eerily like the end of Secret of My Success.
Google Voice (aka Grand Central),
Google Chat, now with phone dialing (PC to PC, PC to Phone VOIP)
Gizmo5 (Acquired last year)Voip Telephony Company
Adroid Phone
Google has ALL the pieces needed to make a serious run at SKYPE, which is why SKYPE is running to Wall Street now looking for IPO or White Knight, IMHO. SKYPE ought to be scared, because they don't have the bulk and push Google does.
And Google doesn't have to sit on Gizmo5 much longer, if they are working towards integration of the four. The pieces are almost there for the first and complete VOIP end to end network, with Cell as backup.
THAT is just how I see it.
According to Mythbusters (whatever you think of the show), getting a fingerprint is easy, and the scanners aren't that great at telling fakes from the real. You should watch that episode, it is quite revealing. The expensive scanner was worse than the one build into the laptop.
So, I wouldn't count on that to secure your Laptop/Phone.
In politics, it is called Horse Trading, and it is how things get done. I attach rider (A) to your Bill (1), you don't like (A) and I don't like (1) but we agree that our dislike for (A) or (1) is less than our desire for (1) or (A) .Therefore we both can vote to block specifics of the bill ("I voted against the bill before I voted for the bill").
The Constitution specifically prohibits this, but that provision has been ignored for so long (like many other provisions) that it is meaningless.
Progressives. They are the "enlightened class", and everyone else is stupid. It is even in that particular title, they've "progressed" beyond everyone else.
Which is why I have maintained that municipalities should build out the infrastructure and then LEASE it back to private enterprise. THAT way, we're not tied to ONE vendor perpetual lockin. Give leases for 5 or 10 years, with SLA if they fail to meet that the contract is revocable.
We have, in my city, tons of dark fiber laying around, untouchable. It is a real shame that it is OWNED by private company rather than the city.
What I propose is that we start saying way it is, and call what some are proposing as "Packet Racism".
I wouldn't mind setting SLA for types of data lines, but everything on those lines should be treated the exact same. T-1s should have priority to the bigger pipe, say over DSL or wifi traffic (or whatever). I don't have a problem letting AT&T make those kinds of business decisions.
WHERE I have a problem is prioritizing packets based on packet types (UDP/TCP) and ports (80:web). What happens when you start prioritizing by protocol or ports is you end up routing around the problem by tunneling everything in TCP port 80, just as you are already are seeing.
Eventually though, once the packet is outside the host network, those arbitrary rules go away anyway. What I see for Net Neutrality is that it protects data packets on the wire from being dropped or delayed because they are of the wrong type.
I found it rather insulting .... to pimples.
I'd love to see you drive down the highway in a prius with 15 people crammed into it.
from SNOPES
It (the snopes piece) goes on further explaining that to be exempt that the group (religious) would have to get that definition from the IRS. Which is why I pointed out the Amendment 1 in the first place.
And finally, we ALL should want what the Amish FAQ states here....
Because the alternative is dependence on Government aid programs. Oh wait, we're there already. I see your point. Never mind
You mean like charging crack whores and meth freaks with child endangerment for doing drugs while pregnant? Yeah sure, I'm for that, I mean if you're asking for my opinion.
As for general miscarriages ... well that is kind of tough to say. After all, my wife miscarried even though she wasn't doing drugs or alcohol.
The ethics of being a human would say that how we treat the smallest, weakest, most defenseless of our society is how we should be measured.
And if you're not vocal for the voice that cannot be heard, what does that say about you as a human?
As for slippery slopes go, being ethical is not slippery at all. It is the most solid ground one can stand on. Questioning not if we can do something but rather if we SHOULD do something is something that is lost in today's world. And the quote makes that point, from a movie that came from a book that is very much about ETHICS of science. You should read the book.
Would you rather me quote from a video game? ;)
Good for you. You figured it out. Unlike the next guy.
Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
"You're saying that they must be destroyed without science being done. Everyone else is saying do science and then destroy them."
That's not what I'm saying.
Ethics starts before we do stuff we're going to regret. Slippery slope is how we get to the places we regret.
In this case, how many divisions of the fertilized eggs is too many? What happens when we can create artificial wombs? When does an embryo become a human life?
There is no "unless".
If I say I'm Amish, who is the government to say otherwise?
See Amendment #1 for problems with government deciding who is a follower of a particular religious group.