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User: ryanov

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  1. Re:WTF, Slashdot? on Ron Paul Wants To End the Federal Student Loan Program · · Score: 1

    Bullshit. Plenty of people make more than I do. However, I think cutting public services in an era because we can't afford them where US-based corporations are making BILLIONS in tax-free profits is wrong.

    It's easy to post snarky nonsense, but it's more rewarding to have an actual debate -- unless you are merely not capable.

  2. Re:http://www.system76.com/ on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    They've been around since before I got my previous laptop (2006). I believe they were selling repackaged Dell hardware back then (maybe also other brands). Now they appear to have their own builder.

  3. Re:Not a troll but.... on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    Many many floppies? The installs of DOS I remember were less than like 5 disks.

  4. Re:WTF, Slashdot? on Ron Paul Wants To End the Federal Student Loan Program · · Score: 1

    * Citation needed.

  5. Re:Not a troll but.... on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    Assuming he means comparable HW coverage.

  6. Re:Not a troll but.... on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    I don't know anyone who hasn't had their HD fail in their Mac, and generally well before they were considering replacing the machine. I got through my previous laptop's entire lifetime without replacing the disk, and I know plenty of others do too. I don't know what's up with Mac HD's.

  7. Re:Not a troll but.... on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    Dell does supply a customized version of Ubuntu with the appropriate drivers and config and it works pretty well (I'm running their version of 10.10 -- no clue whether it will be updated soon). You can get it from ftp://ftp.dell.com/pub/OS if my memory serves. Don't know how easy it is to buy with no OS license as my employer purchased it and they don't have any interest in that sort of thing.

  8. Re:Not a troll but.... on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    I'm curious, since I have a genuine employee here possibly: how does the 14" laptop work with the Intel 3000 graphics? I bought a Dell E6420 with an nVidia card this time because of abysmal Intel graphics performance. My understanding was that this did not improve between my previous laptop (a D620) and now.

  9. Re:California pays teachers the most on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 1

    So what?

  10. Re:A teacher's work yields results much later on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 1

    Which is part of the problem with the whole system, actually. My city (Newark) has a lot of problems with crime and poverty. They affect the school systems, meaning people here likely get a poor education or at least do not succeed... and poor areas seem to have even more children because they are not generally taught to be as careful or have parents that can't or won't supervise them as much.

    The solution to most of this is improved education... but if you were to tell someone "I'm going to fix this city: we need to figure out how to get these kids a good education," your results will not appear for a decade or more -- long after the political cycle is over and much longer than most attention spans.

  11. Re:Apples and Oranges on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 1

    He spoke at the AFT convention about a year ago and that's not what he was saying then (he was talking much more about test scores). So, either he got religion or something doesn't add up here.

  12. Re:Apples and Oranges on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 1

    The states with the least union intervention tend to also have the worst educational systems.

  13. Re:Apples and Oranges on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 1

    Poor folks also have much less time to deal with their kids' education as they're often times at work well more than full time trying to keep the lights on. Further, if the parents don't succeed at at least that much, that becomes another reason why poor kids do poorly.

  14. Re:Apples and Oranges on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 1

    No one said it was causation (though I suspect that they absolutely do have something to do with the success). What people are arguing is that "we can't have great schools with good teachers because of unions" is complete horseshit, and those countries ARE proof of that.

  15. Re:Poor Schools actually get the MOST money on Bill Gates On What Business Can Teach Schools · · Score: 0

    The "documentary" the Cartel is NOT a citation -- it is a piece of work that NEEDS a citation.

  16. WTF, Slashdot? on Ron Paul Wants To End the Federal Student Loan Program · · Score: 0

    I know I'm likely to get a "you must be new here," but when did the majority of people on Slashdot become uneducated morons who are little better than those pull-string dolls that can only say "Keep your government hands off my "? Perhaps people are already not going to college and lack critical thinking skills?

  17. Re:Union Featherbedding, Meh on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    You have described why tenure came about in the first place.

  18. Re:Union Featherbedding, Meh on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    And picking the students. Believe me, I already know.

  19. Re:Union Featherbedding, Meh on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    No, it doesn't. It's bullshit. Look up ANYTHING that talks about economically depressed areas and education, assuming you can read.

  20. Re:Union Featherbedding, Meh on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    If they fail, students suffer also... this isn't a science experiment, it's education, and it's important that students be protected.

    The Center for Union Facts is a very slanted bullshit organization. For example, the statement "I've defended teachers who shouldn't even be pumping gas." Of course they have. You HAVE to defend someone's rights when they are violated. Murderers are entitled to a defense too. There is no prosecution without a defense. Do they win? Who knows... but the burden of proof is on the employer. If the employer can't prove that such a person shouldn't be working there, you blame the union?

    You also continue to link things that have nothing to do with one another. 47 out of 100,000 are fired. No information about why, yet you draw a conclusion. Graduation statistics are poor in Newark. Therefore the teachers are bad? No, plenty of other reasons that these things can happen. Seriously, you don't know what you're talking about and then you trust an anti-union shill organization to tell you.

    Legal issues cost money. What's your solution, no due process? C'mon.

  21. Re:Libertarian Alarmists on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    Mod moron parent down.

  22. Re:Libertarian Alarmists on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    Most efficient known system according to... whom? You?

    Good luck with your crazypants religion.

  23. Re:Libertarian Alarmists on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    Occam's razor, I'm afraid, would lead me to believe that you simply don't know any spelling or grammar and that would be the more accurate description. I am not interested in schooling from an idiot.

  24. Re:its not 'unions'. on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    Standardized tests are simply not a good measure, and neither are any other student achievements (because while teachers and their abilities matter, if a kid's home life is screwed... we already talked about this). The question then becomes what is the metric? I don't have the answer -- I don't work in education. Peer review maybe?

    The biggest thing teachers need to be protected from in my mind is vindictive parents and children. "My kid can't possibly be the problem" and then having the administration go after the teacher is one of the reasons tenure -- which is a right to due process, not a job for life -- exists. The trouble is however in most cases -- and this happens at my workplace too -- management is often lazy and does not document problems. Then they go and fire someone, and they get their hand slapped because the employee had no documented complaints on file. The union comes off as "protecting a bad employee" but honestly what is the union supposed to do? Union leadership in many cases does not work with the employee... all one can do is enforce the rules that theoretically both sides agreed on.

  25. Re:its not 'unions'. on Teacher Union Tries To Block Online Courses · · Score: 1

    The rubber room issue is oversimplified too. Those teachers in there are the ones that have been charged with something but there has not been a hearing, unless I'm mistaken. If so, what else can they do with those people? If cases were heard more quickly, that would be one thing... but what if the results of the hearing are that the teacher was in the clear?