A guilty person is never innocent. At best, he is presumed innocent by the court system. Anyone else, including the media, the neighbors, the potential employers, can presume him anything they want and treat him accordingly. And the can presume bad things about the truly innocent person, too. The presumed innocent thing only applies to the court itself and the jurors.
You're assuming here that the guy would have been found guilty. Which you would think is a big assumption, given that he in fact was innocent.
He's also assuming that the loyalty card was sufficient evidence to convict. That's a scary thought and another reason not to use loyalty cards. So many innocent items (fire starters, videos) can be used as evidence of crime or immoral character if the wrong person gives the info the wrong twist.
I'd stick it in an upper cabinet and let gravity protect it from spills. It would also be close to a screen mounted at eye level. I'd be careful with the keyboard and mouse, but if you do leave them out while getting messy, well, replacements are available.
I saw this, too, I'd recommend sticking a mac mini in a cabinet with bluetooth and airport for the "wiring". Buy the adaptor to hook it up to a TV for the display, drill a small hall for the video cable and you are set. If you can't keep your hands clean, put one of those plastic cases on the keyboard. And stow the keyboard/mouse when you aren't using them.
The public school has a hard time touching close to religion without appearing to endorse religion. But by ignoring religion they appear to be endorsing atheism. If any disclaimer is needed, it should state that the existence of God is irrelevent to the study of science. Science neither proves nor disproves the existence of God or any other supernatural being or force, even Karma.
IMO, the purpose of science is to understand the laws of nature. It doesn't matter whether God created the law or it just happened without purpose. What is true is that nature is not random, there is an order to it, and studying the laws of nature can be useful whether or not God exists.
God's lack of existence is as much of a wild guess as his existence. God can't be proven or disproven. That doesn't mean he doesn't exist, it simply means he exists outside of the domain of scientific study. Science is simply the discovery of the laws of nature. Why are there laws of nature and how did they come to exist? Is there a purpose for creation? This is not science and doesn't belong in a science text, but these are legitimate and popular questions that should be acknowledged by all educated people, even those who do not believe in the existance of things that can't be proven. It's a shame that the pubic schools can't figure out a good way to include philosophical and religous ideas without setting off either the fundamentalists or the atheists. Have you ever noticed that the mainstream doesn't mind? Mainstream Jews, Buddists, Christians, and Moslems never complain.
Of course since the school board only has dominion over the public schools, the only bibles that would need these stickers are the ones that the public schools issue as textbooks. Surely the taxpayers could afford that expense.
Since this is a biology course, they do spend a lot of time on evolution and dependent topics such as genetics. However, the physics text and the chemistry text don't come with warning labels.
Cobb is a huge county, 2006 parents is a drop in the bucket.
Cut and paste this into Google:
site:www.cobb.k12.ga.us cobb county schools
and you will see not only that:
The Cobb County School District is the second largest school system
in Georgia and among the 30 largest in the United States.
but that they have written something about the recent court case and related news:
For some time now, the Cobb County School District has been subject to scrutiny
and criticism as we have made decisions concerning science instruction....
Possibly the website has been/.ed, so if you don't take my word for it, try it again when the sysadmin gets back to work.
Suppose the science-literate majority insisted that stickers be placed on bibles stating that the concept of a diety or "god" was an unproven and unprovable theory
If Bibles were handed out as textbooks in the Public Schools, this might make sense. Any place else is outside of the jurisdiction of the Public School Board.
Personally, I think that nonreligous study of the Bible might make sense in the public school. It would be more like a philosophy course than a science course. I went to a private school, and it had a Religion and Philosophy Department, which was completely separate from the Science Department. In general, any course on critical thinking would be of benefit. This can be done without passing judgement on the correctness of the ideas being studied. But, somehow, public school doesn't seem to acknowledge the ability of teachers to teach or students to study ideas as concepts to be played with and not just as facts to be memorized and agreed with. This is indoctrination, not education, but it is what people expect of the public schools if you look past the labels and see what people really expect.
I don't mind any of them because I understand that the business model affects the editorial content. Sometimes, I want to read the stuff the advertisers will pay for me to read and sometimes I am willing to pay for something else. Sometimes the ads themselves are quite informative and interesting.
God wrote the laws of nature and God enforces the laws of nature. He rarely breaks the laws of nature.
So what happens if you try to defy the Law of Gravity? It depends. If you are on the ground and start flapping your wings, we will laugh at you, but if you are on an airplane without a parachute and leap into the void, you will die and burn in hell.
That is the facts that support my hypothesis that some day, all airplanes will burn in hell.
The School Board is a political entity. When hundreds of parents complain about a text book, the politicians who comprise the board must do something or they won't be reelected to this or a higher office. So they compromised. They sticker was supposed to make the creationists happy without giving the atheists a reason to complain. Obviously, since the judge took the entire history of the dispute into consideration, the purpose of the sticker was more relevent to him than the words themselves.
This morning, I found this insightful column by Andrew Cohen.
"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."
Specifically, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper found that the first sentence of that sticker had the effect of endorsing religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The school board had originally worded it this other way, but changed on the advice of their lawyers.
"This textbook contains material on evolution, a scientific theory, or explanation, for the nature and diversity of living things. Evolution is accepted by a majority of scientists, but questioned by some. All scientific theories should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
Mr. Cohen concludes with this:
So there you have it. Cobb County school officials tried to be progressive, had second thoughts when an organized group of parents chimed in, and will end up satisfying no one.
I think the people who wrote the sticker were actually quite clever. The purpose of the sticker was to pacify a couple hundred parents who complained about this textbook 2 years ago because it presented evolution as a proven fact. If you read the article, the sticker is quite well worded, IMO, but since it does specifically mention evolution, rather than focusing on the definition of theory, it was seen by the judge to be connected with the evolution/intelligent design debate.
The problem with the sticker is that it stated that a particular theory was not a fact. If they hadn't mentioned evolution, it wouldn't have been a "religious" issue.
I do think kids should learn the difference between a theory and a fact. It should be a normal part of the curriculum, when the word is first introduced, it should be properly defined with a good explanation of why scientists rely on some theories so much that they seem to be facts.
The word "theory" gets used too much as a synonym for hypothesis, fact, and wild speculation that I'm not surprised people get confused. Considering how much this word is used and misused, a proper lesson can be designed without any religous message that clarifies both religous and nonreligous discussions.
No, this is more like insider information. And that is only a problem if it is privately disclosed to a small number of people who use it to make stock trades. This guy posted it on a website for all the world to see. I'm not the expert, ask Martha if you need more details.
Okay, I'll invent the next iPod rumour - it's going to have full video capability, an 18 hour battery life and the top model will have a 220GB hard disk. You can connect up a digital camcorder to its Firewire port, or a camera to its USB port, and use it to store all your photos and video, for syncing into the next-generation iLife suite.
Wow, I was about to buy an Ipod, but I think I'll wait until this one comes out. I know, it might be a week, a month, maybe even a year, but I can keep my plastic in my pocket for however long it takes. Why would I buy the current Ipod with yours out their on the hozizon? Sure, it's just a rumor, but aren't these rumors usually true?
They should have a similar fee on all printers, copiers and scanners, since using one of those may also be practicing fair use. Not to mention CD and DVD players, televisions, and radios. Thos machines are also essential elements in fair use of purchased media
You forgot pens and pncils, and of course, plain, virgin paper. Countless illegal copies have been made using these. Plagery precedes computers by many years.
All that talent and they were absolutely crushed by a guy who is a college dropout (Bill Gates). Today Apple has about 2% marketshare as opposed to Microsoft's 97% share.
I don't think Jobs and company were ever trying to have the most market share. Maybe the best computer and enough customers to support it. but no, having the most market share requires sacrificing too many goals of good engineering design.
Most people want to buy a satisfactory computer - that's all. Once they find computers that promise to satisfy their needs, then they shop by price. They don't care if the disk drive dies in a year or if the fan sounds like a jet taking off. If you've ever noticed, those specs aren't mentioned in the advertised specs. If you buy a Macintosh, it will still be working quite well five years down the road. Whereas users in the Windows world are developing a throw away mentality, when it gets so clogged with viruses and spyware, they just toss it out and buy another Wal-Mart Price Point Special. Sure, you can buy 3 of those for the price of an Emac, but then, you will need at least 3 if you throw it out when it gets sluggish. Or you will need to learn a lot more about viruses and other products of the darkside than interests me.
In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people do watch and are influenced by Fox News. You would have to be a left coast liberal completely out of touch with reality to think that Fox is just a big joke.
I'm not trying to take sides, but whether or not you think Fox is news or propaganda, it is quite naive to discount its influence.
Maybe the BBC is sticking to an obsolete business model? Where is it written that foreign correspondents and news anchors must work for the same employer? Wire services have existed for decades. We don't read the Associated Press newspaper or watch the Associated Press newscast, so why should the wonderful web of BBC correspondents only appear on a TV network owned by their employer? They don't and the world has another interesting slant on the news, one that is different than that paid for by American advertisers (and confusing mix of taxpayers, sponsors, and members in the case of PBS).
I think that currently the US news industry is suffering from a shortsighted tendency to save money by cutting out extensive networks of trusted overseas news sources. They reply too much on the press releases of people and organizations looking for free publicity. Although most bloggers would make lousy journalists, I expect that as the internet matures, the expensive network of company owned reporters will be replaced by independent reporters who are actually from the same culture that they report on.
IBM did not invent the term PC. Both the TRS80 and the Apple ][ predate the IBM product. They were called PCs to distinguish them from the mainframes and other heavy metal that most peope thought of when they heard the word "computer". The IBM product was called the "IBM PC" , not the "PC". Also, the term PC referred specifically to the small computers that came complete with keyboard and screen, as opposed to the IMSAI's and Altairs "Hobby Computers" which relied on toggle switches and LEDs for communication with the useres.
Slashdot Mirror
A guilty person is never innocent. At best, he is presumed innocent by the court system. Anyone else, including the media, the neighbors, the potential employers, can presume him anything they want and treat him accordingly. And the can presume bad things about the truly innocent person, too. The presumed innocent thing only applies to the court itself and the jurors.
You're assuming here that the guy would have been found guilty. Which you would think is a big assumption, given that he in fact was innocent.
He's also assuming that the loyalty card was sufficient evidence to convict. That's a scary thought and another reason not to use loyalty cards. So many innocent items (fire starters, videos) can be used as evidence of crime or immoral character if the wrong person gives the info the wrong twist.
I can't believe how expensive that thing is. But, it does look kinda neat.
I'd stick it in an upper cabinet and let gravity protect it from spills. It would also be close to a screen mounted at eye level. I'd be careful with the keyboard and mouse, but if you do leave them out while getting messy, well, replacements are available.
I saw this, too, I'd recommend sticking a mac mini in a cabinet with bluetooth and airport for the "wiring". Buy the adaptor to hook it up to a TV for the display, drill a small hall for the video cable and you are set. If you can't keep your hands clean, put one of those plastic cases on the keyboard. And stow the keyboard/mouse when you aren't using them.
The public school has a hard time touching close to religion without appearing to endorse religion. But by ignoring religion they appear to be endorsing atheism. If any disclaimer is needed, it should state that the existence of God is irrelevent to the study of science. Science neither proves nor disproves the existence of God or any other supernatural being or force, even Karma.
IMO, the purpose of science is to understand the laws of nature. It doesn't matter whether God created the law or it just happened without purpose. What is true is that nature is not random, there is an order to it, and studying the laws of nature can be useful whether or not God exists.
God's lack of existence is as much of a wild guess as his existence. God can't be proven or disproven. That doesn't mean he doesn't exist, it simply means he exists outside of the domain of scientific study. Science is simply the discovery of the laws of nature. Why are there laws of nature and how did they come to exist? Is there a purpose for creation? This is not science and doesn't belong in a science text, but these are legitimate and popular questions that should be acknowledged by all educated people, even those who do not believe in the existance of things that can't be proven. It's a shame that the pubic schools can't figure out a good way to include philosophical and religous ideas without setting off either the fundamentalists or the atheists. Have you ever noticed that the mainstream doesn't mind? Mainstream Jews, Buddists, Christians, and Moslems never complain.
Of course since the school board only has dominion over the public schools, the only bibles that would need these stickers are the ones that the public schools issue as textbooks. Surely the taxpayers could afford that expense.
Since this is a biology course, they do spend a lot of time on evolution and dependent topics such as genetics. However, the physics text and the chemistry text don't come with warning labels.
FWIW, Here's the Cobb County Schools Homepagewhich indicates they will plan their future actions while continuing to provide a superior education and the syllabus for biology.
Cut and paste this into Google:
and you will see not only that:
but that they have written something about the recent court case and related news:
Possibly the website has been
Suppose the science-literate majority insisted that stickers be placed on bibles stating that the concept of a diety or "god" was an unproven and unprovable theory
If Bibles were handed out as textbooks in the Public Schools, this might make sense. Any place else is outside of the jurisdiction of the Public School Board.
Personally, I think that nonreligous study of the Bible might make sense in the public school. It would be more like a philosophy course than a science course. I went to a private school, and it had a Religion and Philosophy Department, which was completely separate from the Science Department. In general, any course on critical thinking would be of benefit. This can be done without passing judgement on the correctness of the ideas being studied. But, somehow, public school doesn't seem to acknowledge the ability of teachers to teach or students to study ideas as concepts to be played with and not just as facts to be memorized and agreed with. This is indoctrination, not education, but it is what people expect of the public schools if you look past the labels and see what people really expect.
There are 3 magazine business models:
1. The readers pay
2. the advertisers pay
3. hybrid of the first two
I don't mind any of them because I understand that the business model affects the editorial content. Sometimes, I want to read the stuff the advertisers will pay for me to read and sometimes I am willing to pay for something else. Sometimes the ads themselves are quite informative and interesting.
God wrote the laws of nature and God enforces the laws of nature. He rarely breaks the laws of nature.
So what happens if you try to defy the Law of Gravity? It depends. If you are on the ground and start flapping your wings, we will laugh at you, but if you are on an airplane without a parachute and leap into the void, you will die and burn in hell.
That is the facts that support my hypothesis that some day, all airplanes will burn in hell.
This morning, I found this insightful column by
Andrew Cohen.
The school board had originally worded it this other way, but changed on the advice of their lawyers.
Mr. Cohen concludes with this:
I think the people who wrote the sticker were actually quite clever. The purpose of the sticker was to pacify a couple hundred parents who complained about this textbook 2 years ago because it presented evolution as a proven fact. If you read the article, the sticker is quite well worded, IMO, but since it does specifically mention evolution, rather than focusing on the definition of theory, it was seen by the judge to be connected with the evolution/intelligent design debate.
The problem with the sticker is that it stated that a particular theory was not a fact. If they hadn't mentioned evolution, it wouldn't have been a "religious" issue.
I do think kids should learn the difference between a theory and a fact. It should be a normal part of the curriculum, when the word is first introduced, it should be properly defined with a good explanation of why scientists rely on some theories so much that they seem to be facts.
The word "theory" gets used too much as a synonym for hypothesis, fact, and wild speculation that I'm not surprised people get confused. Considering how much this word is used and misused, a proper lesson can be designed without any religous message that clarifies both religous and nonreligous discussions.
That's probably what's left of the Beagle ][ that melted or burned up on entry a year ago.
2 1/2252227&tid=160&tid=14 0 8/2340206&tid=160&tid=126&tid=14
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/
I don't think trade secrets applies here.
No, this is more like insider information. And that is only a problem if it is privately disclosed to a small number of people who use it to make stock trades. This guy posted it on a website for all the world to see. I'm not the expert, ask Martha if you need more details.
Okay, I'll invent the next iPod rumour - it's going to have full video capability, an 18 hour battery life and the top model will have a 220GB hard disk. You can connect up a digital camcorder to its Firewire port, or a camera to its USB port, and use it to store all your photos and video, for syncing into the next-generation iLife suite.
Wow, I was about to buy an Ipod, but I think I'll wait until this one comes out. I know, it might be a week, a month, maybe even a year, but I can keep my plastic in my pocket for however long it takes. Why would I buy the current Ipod with yours out their on the hozizon? Sure, it's just a rumor, but aren't these rumors usually true?
Do you know if I can plug a printer/scanner into the USB port? If I can do that, I won't need to buy a USB switch.
They should have a similar fee on all printers, copiers and scanners, since using one of those may also be practicing fair use. Not to mention CD and DVD players, televisions, and radios. Thos machines are also essential elements in fair use of purchased media
You forgot pens and pncils, and of course, plain, virgin paper. Countless illegal copies have been made using these. Plagery precedes computers by many years.
All that talent and they were absolutely crushed by a guy who is a college dropout (Bill Gates). Today Apple has about 2% marketshare as opposed to Microsoft's 97% share.
I don't think Jobs and company were ever trying to have the most market share. Maybe the best computer and enough customers to support it. but no, having the most market share requires sacrificing too many goals of good engineering design.
Most people want to buy a satisfactory computer - that's all. Once they find computers that promise to satisfy their needs, then they shop by price. They don't care if the disk drive dies in a year or if the fan sounds like a jet taking off. If you've ever noticed, those specs aren't mentioned in the advertised specs. If you buy a Macintosh, it will still be working quite well five years down the road. Whereas users in the Windows world are developing a throw away mentality, when it gets so clogged with viruses and spyware, they just toss it out and buy another Wal-Mart Price Point Special. Sure, you can buy 3 of those for the price of an Emac, but then, you will need at least 3 if you throw it out when it gets sluggish. Or you will need to learn a lot more about viruses and other products of the darkside than interests me.
In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people do watch and are influenced by Fox News. You would have to be a left coast liberal completely out of touch with reality to think that Fox is just a big joke.
I'm not trying to take sides, but whether or not you think Fox is news or propaganda, it is quite naive to discount its influence.
Maybe the BBC is sticking to an obsolete business model? Where is it written that foreign correspondents and news anchors must work for the same employer? Wire services have existed for decades. We don't read the Associated Press newspaper or watch the Associated Press newscast, so why should the wonderful web of BBC correspondents only appear on a TV network owned by their employer? They don't and the world has another interesting slant on the news, one that is different than that paid for by American advertisers (and confusing mix of taxpayers, sponsors, and members in the case of PBS).
I think that currently the US news industry is suffering from a shortsighted tendency to save money by cutting out extensive networks of trusted overseas news sources. They reply too much on the press releases of people and organizations looking for free publicity. Although most bloggers would make lousy journalists, I expect that as the internet matures, the expensive network of company owned reporters will be replaced by independent reporters who are actually from the same culture that they report on.
IBM did not invent the term PC. Both the TRS80 and the Apple ][ predate the IBM product. They were called PCs to distinguish them from the mainframes and other heavy metal that most peope thought of when they heard the word "computer". The IBM product was called the "IBM PC" , not the "PC". Also, the term PC referred specifically to the small computers that came complete with keyboard and screen, as opposed to the IMSAI's and Altairs "Hobby Computers" which relied on toggle switches and LEDs for communication with the useres.