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User: stephathome

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Comments · 97

  1. Re:Not just telecommuting? on America's Cubicles Are Shrinking · · Score: 1

    Some offices have what they call a hoteling arrangement, and that's about what they do. My mother's office had people who worked mostly in the field, so they set up desks you could set up in as needed. Mobile filing cabinets, and employees all had laptops. This was about 10 years ago. They still had to have a lot of desk space for meeting days, when most employees would be in the office. It saved some space, but not quite as much as one might expect.

  2. Re:Less is more on America's Cubicles Are Shrinking · · Score: 1

    This is the kind of thing I was thinking too. A part of the shrinkage is due to workers needing less space to do their jobs. Paperless offices aren't a reality by a long shot, but we don't need to keep so much paper on our desks anymore. That doesn't mean companies shouldn't consider the needs of the particular job, of course. Some will need more space to work effectively.

  3. Triclosan is hard to avoid on Being Too Clean Can Make People Sick · · Score: 1

    This study doesn't surprise me, and I've been doing my best to avoid triclosan for years. It's not easy. Lots of hand soaps tout their antibacterial effects. Very few don't, so you have to pay close attention to what you buy. It's in some kinds of toothpaste as well. It's also used on some toys and cutting boards.

    My preference is to avoid anything claiming to be antibacterial that doesn't need to be. If normal washing will sufficiently remove the bacteria, that's good enough. Appropriate germ exposure is a good thing.

  4. Re:Wrong headline on Students Banned From Bringing Pencils To School · · Score: 1

    Don't forget to ban paintbrushes. They can cause real harm!

    Paintbrush injury pupil set to receive pay-out

  5. Re:Could work both ways there... on Students Banned From Bringing Pencils To School · · Score: 1

    That was my first thought too. Who ever heard of banning a "weapon" and then handing them out in class?

    Second thought was that there had to be more to the story.

  6. Re:Capsela on Thought-Provoking Gifts For Young Kids? · · Score: 1

    Used works. My mom got some she keeps at her house for my kids. They're one of her most popular toys with all the grandkids.

  7. Re:Weeding out the indifferent... on eJuror Will Lead To New List of Jury Duty Excuses · · Score: 1

    Very true about government employees. My husband works for the state, and they get paid just like normal for jury duty. We rather like that it makes jury duty an easy service for him rather than a financial issue. He's one of those people who gets it every two years, just about like clockwork. The one awkward time was when he got two summons about a week apart, one for Federal and one for Superior court, as I recall. Took a few calls to sort that one out, since you aren't supposed to do both so close together.

  8. Re:Not surprising on School Children Are Now Too Fat to Fit In Class Chairs · · Score: 1

    I don't know if the situation is the same as in the United States, but it could be a matter of accessibility. Not everyone has even a regular grocery store close enough to them. A convenience store may be it. That often means they have a very poor selection of healthy foods available, and it's cheaper to buy the unhealthy stuff. Just what are you supposed to do if you don't have a car, the bus doesn't pass near a grocery store, and it's too many miles to walk while carrying groceries home. I know that happens in inner cities in the United States. Not sure about Australia.

    That said, lots of kids could use to get outside more to just play.

  9. Re:Isn't this universal? on Information Rage Coming Soon To an Office Near You · · Score: 1

    Information frustration might be more like it, or we could just stick with good old information overload.

  10. Online Public School on What Tech Should Be In a Fifth-Grade Classroom? · · Score: 1

    My daughter is attending an online public school, a kind of charter school, for third grade. Part of the curriculum is online, but most of the actual work is still done with pencil and paper. So far we're loving it, but there are challenges. I found out after a couple of weeks that she regarded her online tests as seriously as she did playing a game on the computer. She hadn't realized it counted the same as any other test. I think we've fixed that misconception now.

    I love that all of the math is still done with paper and pencil. Concepts are taught on the computer, but there's no calculator for them to figure out problems on the computer, and the instructions tell us to work out problems on paper.

    The big advantage is that it allows her to learn more subjects than most regular public schools can handle anymore. She gets math, language arts, science, history, art, and then gets to choose between music, Latin, Spanish or French, and older kids may also choose to learn Chinese. This is much better than what my local public school offers at the third grade level, where they ignore science and history almost completely, never mind art, music or anything like that.

    I think the program we're in does a good job of using the computer as a tool, rather than something to teach shortcuts sooner than students need them. The work is very challenging.

    I don't know that this program would work well in a traditional classroom. It's great as an option for homeschooling, as far as I'm concerned.

    I wouldn't want a program that didn't have a lot of hands on work and work on paper. You don't learn things well enough that way, so far as I can tell.

  11. Re:all kinds of distractions on What Tech Should Be In a Fifth-Grade Classroom? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My oldest is just in elementary school, so I don't know how they do this in the higher grades, but her school does pay attention to truancy. More than 10 days missed in the entire school year results in a meeting with the parent, school admin and potentially someone from the sheriff's office. We came close to that with the flu and a couple days missed for colds. More than 10 days missed and you need a doctor's note for every one. I've heard from other parents of stricter rules elsewhere. I have to agree with you about class sizes. My mother was pointing out that when she was young classes were larger and discipline more strictly enforced. It worked. I think a big problem with modern education has a lot to do with parents being too willing to get their kids out of trouble with no consequences, and to complain about the teacher if their student isn't learning. It's not all about the teachers. They're a big part of it, but without family support kids don't learn very well. I saw a lot of that when helping in my daughter's kindergarten class a few years ago. You could really tell which kids were never read to by their parents.

  12. Re:A nice gesture of openness on Facebook Implements 'Download Your Profile' Option · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You have a lot of faith in users. I know too many people who wouldn't realize that the link is only sent on request and think it sounds interesting to download their account.

  13. Re:Yes, different in the USA on British Teen Jailed Over Encryption Password · · Score: 1

    Why are we repeating the same mistake in 2010?

    Because it's easier than thinking things through.

  14. Re:As an actual parent speaking... on Big Brother In the School Cafeteria? · · Score: 1

    I have to agree with you. The school we're at now doesn't have PINs, but the one we used to be at had the kids memorizing 6 digit numbers, and it really wasn't a big deal. So nice to just fund the account and not worry about finding money for school lunches. My daughter mostly preferred to bring lunch, but for those days she wanted to buy, the ability to just fund the account was great.

  15. Re:5 page paper? on Facebook Post Juror Gets Fined, Removed, Assigned Homework · · Score: 1

    I believe they also use driver's license records. My husband heard about that when he got summons for two different types of jury duty within a couple weeks of each other. He had to find out which one took precedence since you're not supposed to be required to serve too often. He's one of those "lucky" people who gets called up every two years.

  16. Re:Not all bloggers, just those that make money on Philly Requiring Bloggers To Pay $300 · · Score: 1

    I don't know how it varies by state, but where I am you have to be doing business a certain number of days in a particular location to count as a business that needs registration. They're not likely to notice a traveler anyhow, same reason as so many home businesses can get away without licensing.

    Licensing is usually by where you're physically doing the work, so I would expect you'd just need the SC license if they require one. I don't know for certain.

    I have heard that some states try to take income tax if you earn money working for businesses in them, even when you live elsewhere. Don't know much more about it than that but it strikes me as riduiulous, as the state you reside in also wants its share of tax. But for licensing I haven't heard of any cross-state requirements. IANAL, so others no doubt know more.

  17. Re:Not all bloggers, just those that make money on Philly Requiring Bloggers To Pay $300 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    She's doing business in Philadelphia by doing the work of blogging there. No matter where she's hosted, her physical presence while working on her blog counts for something.

  18. Re:hot soup? on The Sun's 'Quiet Period' Explained · · Score: 1

    Clearly Dr. Evil doesn't have much experience with preschoolers if he thinks they need laser beams on their heads to be destructive.

  19. Re:Predictable on 'Wi-Fi Illness' Spreads To Ontario Public Schools · · Score: 1

    The school my daughter used to go to had a computer for the teacher in each room, as well as one or two computers in the classroom for kindergarten or preschool. Older kids had to go to the computer lab. If you have computers in all classrooms, school-wide wifi makes sense.

  20. Re:Probably True (Re:This is pretty much what I've on Abandon Earth Or Die, Warns Hawking · · Score: 1

    For the really great view!

  21. Re:Bad summary on Churchill Accused of Sealing UFO Files, Fearing Public Panic · · Score: 1

    Thank you for that description of the History Channel. I noticed that a while back too, and it drives me nuts. I have no problem with the idea that there might be life elsewhere in the universe, but the idea that they come here just to play "now you see me, now you don't" I do have a problem with.

  22. Re:WTF? on Darth Vader Robs Long Island Bank · · Score: 1

    As someone who has been robbed at gunpoint, I would have found this hilarious... a few hours later. From my own experience, finding something to laugh at after was vital. There's may have been something of a hysterical edge to it, but mocking what the robber didn't take (jewelry store robbery), made things much easier to deal with. And a shot was fired into a case, so this wasn't an easy thing to deal with. If someone had died, then maybe you can complain that it would be a bad thing to laugh at. But if the tellers are reacting anything like my coworkers and I did, they're laughing too. They need it.