You come onto a website, filled with people, whose profession deals with exceptions on a daily basis, and want to complain that we should accept 'good enough for most people?' Would you build a 'fly-by-wire' aviation system that worked 'most of the time'? Would you allow a loved one to fly in a plane using it?
You are such a contrast with the people who originally framed the laws (at one time) governing this country; they took the approach of letting some of the (possibly) guilty go if it meant ensuring that no one who was innocent would suffer.
As for the law itself, it does more than 'set a standard for acceptable behavior'; it is a weapon, beholden to the wants and needs, however trivial, of those who wield it. Or have you not been following the actions of the ###th Congress? Come on now, tell us the bailouts were 'merely setting a standard for 'acceptable' behavior and keeping the people in line.' Go on. Tell us how this is all an exercise in ego-stroking.
Neither does a student need pen, pencil, nor paper, or the teacher a lesson planner, chalkboard, or books.
Still, the proper integration of those technologies, primitive as they appear to our eyes today, were once considered fundamental leaps forward in teaching students (or rather, in students learning).
Computers, as they exist today, offer a fair number of improvements. Who remembers "Math Blaster" and the various assortments of games that actually improved the learner's understanding of the subject material and were fun to play? How do you think kids who mastered those games compare against those who learned using only pen and paper?
Multi-fanged problem there. The educators were (in my day) and probably still are, Apple fans, which in today's environment, means the poor are screwed (with those hefty price premiums...a MacBook Air is even a stretch). That means either forcing the teachers to use Windows (or God-forbid, Linux), which could be described as somewhere between giving birth to a child and a root canal (for all involved).
And then there's the problem that most technologies in the Education realm are really, really lousy. They rank as annoying supplements, as opposed to substitutes. Like 'feel-busy' labs. Like 'we spent $7,000 on this projector / smartboard setup, no one is really trained how to use it, the teachers are faster with the chalkboard, and we need to justify this purchase, so use it.' As a Computer Scientist, if I ever had to teach a class with most of those technologies, I'd stage a fire the night before, just to get out of it; and yes, they are that terrible.
Lastly, from the student's stand point, the stuff has to be synchronizable. Local apps, that allow you to upload the results. Sure, it's a problem if you have a h@x0r in the group, but then, he could probably find his way into your servers anyway, so give the argument a rest. Nothing frustrates kids more than watching an hour's worth of work disappear because of a 'Connection Reset' error; and yes, clicking 40 multiple-choice questions can take some time, so none of the 'copy your work before hitting submit' nonsense. Finally, kids like to get homework DONE as quickly as possible, so they can do things that are considered normal for their age, like playing video games or tying up the phone line; as such, they try to get work done in bits and pieces, just to knock things out. Who can remember doing homework on the bus? Who wants to tether a phone to a laptop in order to get said work done?
Playing the part of the devil's advocate, there is always the public library (which many have free high-speed access) and the school itself. Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, McDonalds...
But yes, poor means poor, which typically means having neither the time, nor the money, necessary to take advantage of those free WiFi spots. There will always be one kid, out in the country, miles from anything but a gas station, whose both parents work 9-9 shifts, and take the commuter bus + walk 7 miles home.
The simplest solution I can think of is a school drive to ensure a fund that enables less fortunate students to get access to the technology. It's a gamble, but one that is palatable, and removes the LCD problem (lowest common denominator) of teaching. Have the invoices for the installation and service sent to a lock-safe accountant, who will administer the account (reviewed every 6 months by the local board, for audit purposes). Do not simply issue checks to the parents for the service; while many of them would, no doubt, make it to their intended destination, there are always a handful that won't. And try to play it off like you aren't punishing them for being poor.
Explain to those who care to know that the teachers do not want to have to make a decision between lessons that would greatly benefit a few, or lessons that would weakly benefit the many.
Precisely my point. You don't want your chain of hotels to become associated with 'receiving a more favorable internet connection via a pair of acoustic couplers.'
I agree, however, I must say that in general, libertarians aren't against laws.
Think of it this way: Libertarians are like those programmers who try to keep the cleanest, simplest, and smallest codebase possible. If you already have a law that covers a given scenario, why are you passing another?
The general rule is that the larger and larger a company / government gets, the more bloated it becomes. It's like a big flabby heart, instead of a smaller, but more efficient one.
When dealing with barriers to entry, the only thing that matters is whether or not they are artificial (someone not playing by the "rules'). Now, like all things, the bigger you are, the harder you push; as such, a fair number of companies / governments can get away with murder and thievery, but not indefinitely. The problem is, no one knows when Mr. Market is kill one of the larger companies / governments. I imagine it's kind of like being a made-man: roaming around town, you can screw with the populace, and get away with it, provided you don't screw with the other made-men; however, even if you don't screw with them, that doesn't mean someone won't put a hit out on you. And that's the lifecycle of most larger companies / governments: getting away with it until Mr. Market says "Die."
They can, but it's still quasi-illegal. There's some debate to that, with some judges saying 'give us the password, or you can die in prison' and the other judges saying '5th Amendment, if the defendant doesn't want to give up the password, he / she doesn't have to.'
And what exactly do you think the reaction would be from the local school HR pulling down more dossiers on the local populace than the CIA?
But for the life of me, I can't believe HR would actually jump on the opportunity to grab someone's password. It sets up a liability problem if anything, and I mean anything, is ever modified / posted on that account that the owner disclaims as being one of his / her action; the district will, of course, be out millions (emotional distress being expensive). Frankly, I'm surprised legal didn't put a knife into the practice before it was started, but I suppose you get what you pay for...
Well, apparently, the populace doesn't care for IT's rules and policies until they've been cited with a 'red cup' on one of their own accounts. Then they hide behind IT.
But yes, I see a power play going on here between IT and HR, and it's going to get ugly.
Depends on the entity (if Uncle Sam wants that password, he's going to get it 9/10 times).
But what these people are currently doing? Illegal. While there may be reason (in the Puritan sense of the word) not to employ someone who conflicts with your company / community / whatever, there isn't any reason to ask for a password to an account that has no relationship with said employer. Employ the person or not, asking for the password is grounds for a lawsuit.
A possibility, still it espouses a naivete not expected from a gaggle of scientists with PhDs. By that point, you'd expect they'd know the press is a bunch of irresponsible girls: this is a group of people who would hurt themselves if left alone for 5 minutes with some string. Nod your heads, you know it's true.
So yes, +100 points to them for checking their results, -1000 points for letting the press anywhere near it. I may be from a different school of thought, and feel free to tell me so below, but I thought that before publishing something (more than water-cooler talk) you locked that sh*t down tight. 'Tis not the sharing of results here that is the issue, it's the inappropriate forum for sharing them that is. Does no one else understand this? Has no one else been made the fool at the front of a science class, for miscalculating something, such that you accidentally overthrew the laws of thermodynamics? And after the class had a good laugh, you decided to get your friends to check that sh*t before it got anywhere near the professor's desk? Does no one else do this? Send a copy of your results to friends, with a note that outlines exactly how they will die if they share said results with anyone else, let alone the press, before they're declared 'I've got nothing that disagrees with these results?'
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps they should implement some level of port knocking to the nodes.
You come onto a website, filled with people, whose profession deals with exceptions on a daily basis, and want to complain that we should accept 'good enough for most people?' Would you build a 'fly-by-wire' aviation system that worked 'most of the time'? Would you allow a loved one to fly in a plane using it?
You are such a contrast with the people who originally framed the laws (at one time) governing this country; they took the approach of letting some of the (possibly) guilty go if it meant ensuring that no one who was innocent would suffer.
As for the law itself, it does more than 'set a standard for acceptable behavior'; it is a weapon, beholden to the wants and needs, however trivial, of those who wield it. Or have you not been following the actions of the ###th Congress? Come on now, tell us the bailouts were 'merely setting a standard for 'acceptable' behavior and keeping the people in line.' Go on. Tell us how this is all an exercise in ego-stroking.
Neither does a student need pen, pencil, nor paper, or the teacher a lesson planner, chalkboard, or books.
Still, the proper integration of those technologies, primitive as they appear to our eyes today, were once considered fundamental leaps forward in teaching students (or rather, in students learning).
Computers, as they exist today, offer a fair number of improvements. Who remembers "Math Blaster" and the various assortments of games that actually improved the learner's understanding of the subject material and were fun to play? How do you think kids who mastered those games compare against those who learned using only pen and paper?
Multi-fanged problem there. The educators were (in my day) and probably still are, Apple fans, which in today's environment, means the poor are screwed (with those hefty price premiums...a MacBook Air is even a stretch). That means either forcing the teachers to use Windows (or God-forbid, Linux), which could be described as somewhere between giving birth to a child and a root canal (for all involved).
And then there's the problem that most technologies in the Education realm are really, really lousy. They rank as annoying supplements, as opposed to substitutes. Like 'feel-busy' labs. Like 'we spent $7,000 on this projector / smartboard setup, no one is really trained how to use it, the teachers are faster with the chalkboard, and we need to justify this purchase, so use it.' As a Computer Scientist, if I ever had to teach a class with most of those technologies, I'd stage a fire the night before, just to get out of it; and yes, they are that terrible.
Lastly, from the student's stand point, the stuff has to be synchronizable. Local apps, that allow you to upload the results. Sure, it's a problem if you have a h@x0r in the group, but then, he could probably find his way into your servers anyway, so give the argument a rest. Nothing frustrates kids more than watching an hour's worth of work disappear because of a 'Connection Reset' error; and yes, clicking 40 multiple-choice questions can take some time, so none of the 'copy your work before hitting submit' nonsense. Finally, kids like to get homework DONE as quickly as possible, so they can do things that are considered normal for their age, like playing video games or tying up the phone line; as such, they try to get work done in bits and pieces, just to knock things out. Who can remember doing homework on the bus? Who wants to tether a phone to a laptop in order to get said work done?
Playing the part of the devil's advocate, there is always the public library (which many have free high-speed access) and the school itself. Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, McDonalds...
But yes, poor means poor, which typically means having neither the time, nor the money, necessary to take advantage of those free WiFi spots. There will always be one kid, out in the country, miles from anything but a gas station, whose both parents work 9-9 shifts, and take the commuter bus + walk 7 miles home.
Hmm. That is a problem.
The simplest solution I can think of is a school drive to ensure a fund that enables less fortunate students to get access to the technology. It's a gamble, but one that is palatable, and removes the LCD problem (lowest common denominator) of teaching. Have the invoices for the installation and service sent to a lock-safe accountant, who will administer the account (reviewed every 6 months by the local board, for audit purposes). Do not simply issue checks to the parents for the service; while many of them would, no doubt, make it to their intended destination, there are always a handful that won't. And try to play it off like you aren't punishing them for being poor.
Explain to those who care to know that the teachers do not want to have to make a decision between lessons that would greatly benefit a few, or lessons that would weakly benefit the many.
Precisely my point. You don't want your chain of hotels to become associated with 'receiving a more favorable internet connection via a pair of acoustic couplers.'
Oh, I got that on the first read. ;-)
Still, on the off-chance he was playing the fool to undermine the argument, I added a comment.
Alizee?
I agree, however, I must say that in general, libertarians aren't against laws.
Think of it this way: Libertarians are like those programmers who try to keep the cleanest, simplest, and smallest codebase possible. If you already have a law that covers a given scenario, why are you passing another?
The general rule is that the larger and larger a company / government gets, the more bloated it becomes. It's like a big flabby heart, instead of a smaller, but more efficient one.
When dealing with barriers to entry, the only thing that matters is whether or not they are artificial (someone not playing by the "rules'). Now, like all things, the bigger you are, the harder you push; as such, a fair number of companies / governments can get away with murder and thievery, but not indefinitely. The problem is, no one knows when Mr. Market is kill one of the larger companies / governments. I imagine it's kind of like being a made-man: roaming around town, you can screw with the populace, and get away with it, provided you don't screw with the other made-men; however, even if you don't screw with them, that doesn't mean someone won't put a hit out on you. And that's the lifecycle of most larger companies / governments: getting away with it until Mr. Market says "Die."
You have just the right attitude for law enforcement. Apply now, free donuts.
As opposed to the networking gear that comes from the US, that has a NSA-approved sticker attached to it.
Pot, this is the kettle. You're black.
They can, but it's still quasi-illegal. There's some debate to that, with some judges saying 'give us the password, or you can die in prison' and the other judges saying '5th Amendment, if the defendant doesn't want to give up the password, he / she doesn't have to.'
When we get a higher ruling, we'll know for sure.
And what exactly do you think the reaction would be from the local school HR pulling down more dossiers on the local populace than the CIA?
But for the life of me, I can't believe HR would actually jump on the opportunity to grab someone's password. It sets up a liability problem if anything, and I mean anything, is ever modified / posted on that account that the owner disclaims as being one of his / her action; the district will, of course, be out millions (emotional distress being expensive). Frankly, I'm surprised legal didn't put a knife into the practice before it was started, but I suppose you get what you pay for...
Can they take it from the school admins who fired her?
Well, apparently, the populace doesn't care for IT's rules and policies until they've been cited with a 'red cup' on one of their own accounts. Then they hide behind IT.
But yes, I see a power play going on here between IT and HR, and it's going to get ugly.
Depends on the entity (if Uncle Sam wants that password, he's going to get it 9/10 times).
But what these people are currently doing? Illegal. While there may be reason (in the Puritan sense of the word) not to employ someone who conflicts with your company / community / whatever, there isn't any reason to ask for a password to an account that has no relationship with said employer. Employ the person or not, asking for the password is grounds for a lawsuit.
A possibility, still it espouses a naivete not expected from a gaggle of scientists with PhDs. By that point, you'd expect they'd know the press is a bunch of irresponsible girls: this is a group of people who would hurt themselves if left alone for 5 minutes with some string. Nod your heads, you know it's true.
So yes, +100 points to them for checking their results, -1000 points for letting the press anywhere near it. I may be from a different school of thought, and feel free to tell me so below, but I thought that before publishing something (more than water-cooler talk) you locked that sh*t down tight. 'Tis not the sharing of results here that is the issue, it's the inappropriate forum for sharing them that is. Does no one else understand this? Has no one else been made the fool at the front of a science class, for miscalculating something, such that you accidentally overthrew the laws of thermodynamics? And after the class had a good laugh, you decided to get your friends to check that sh*t before it got anywhere near the professor's desk? Does no one else do this? Send a copy of your results to friends, with a note that outlines exactly how they will die if they share said results with anyone else, let alone the press, before they're declared 'I've got nothing that disagrees with these results?'
And blow up with explosions, even if there is nothing remotely explosive stored around or within them.
Yes, yes! Shun them, shun them all!
*Peels apple*
Why yes, those Southerners, they're all racist. Oh, except for one or two, here and there.
Call me when Hollywood removes that stereotype from its scripts.
Right, and we won't list the things you guys have cooked up that are detrimental to civil liberties.
V-chip anyone?
Bah. There is other technology than DS3s for high-speed internet, many of which are much cheaper.
If you can't get a 50mbps connection for your hotel, for less than the cable bill, than you are doing it wrong.
The last thing anyone wants, in this day and age, is some cheap ass hotel trying to serve over a hundred customers with an ADSL connection.
Agreed. Thirty lashes with a sonic screwdriver.