Why can't I buy a device that has freakin' everything? I'm serious, too.
I want it to be a phone first, PDA second, and all the extras right after that. I want MP3s, FM radio, a decent camera (not a 5MP Nikon, but certainly not the crappy one I have now), bluetooth, WiFi, VoIP, and Windows Mobile 5.
I wholehardedly agree that most infractions are harmless, but they're still infractions and should be dealt with accordingly -- regardless of how they're reported or investigated.
Besides, remember that when an infraction escalates into a serious crime it's then too late to do anything about it. Especially if that crime is a drunk-driving accident.
I think people want both. My homepage is set to my.yahoo.com so that I can immediately log in and get the RSS feeds and other modules that I've set up. I tried Google's and MSN's and frankly they sucked in comparision.
When I search, I always use Google, but Yahoo has the portal down.
> Even investigating and reporting to police isn't their job -- they should refer the original reporter to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
You need to refer to your employee hand book again.
Faculty is *required* to report illegal activity to law enforcement. Required! It's not a suggestion, and they certainly don't tell the original reporter to tell law enforcement. They are required to do so.
Teachers and other staff are frequently reminded that it is part of their duty to report any kind of suspected drug abuse, sexual molest or other child abuse, excessive violence, etc.
Sorry dude, but the PCs you bought are not "business class".
Dell specifically tells you on their comparison chart that the Dimensions and Inspirons are lower-grade, cheaper alternatives to the Optiplexes and Lattitudes. Even if they have the same specs, they're not business class. They use different, better components, have higher support and warranties, and like I said earlier, no junk software.
Um no. It's been a long-standing policy that if a student is found to be doing drugs, they are often expelled, removed from activities, or at the very least subjected to counceling. And that's just the school's punishment, the police could likely be worse.
It doesn't matter if said drugs were consumed on campus or not.
The only thing that's different here is that MySpace is collaborating the story from reports of teachers or students.
I still think we're missing the big picture here... cleaning up our schools. Can you honestly tell me that if you had a child attending a public school, you would be satisfied if another student with a known record of drug abuse, drug sales, or drunk driving, was going to the same school?
If we want our schools to be safer, we need to enable them to accomplish that. Reading a public webpage is not a violation of privacy, and punishing someone for talking openly about illegal activities should be expected.. both at the police level and the school's.
Should a student get punished for complaining about his teacher? Of course not. But do you really think that's the only thing that got this kid noticed?
Schools have an appeals process to challenge wrongful claims, just like the court system does.
But really, if you've got a photo of a kid smoking pot (or drinking beer) along with admission of him doing it, and reports from other students witnessing it, do we really need "due process" before kicking him out of the school?
I really hate pre-loaded software, which is one of the reasons I recommend to people they purchase the "business class" brand of whatever PC they get... such as the Lattitude Dell Laptops instead of the Inspirons, or the Optiplexes instead of the Dimensions.
The business lines never come with pre-loaded software, aside from the rather-slick Dell wireless LAN utility and other similar hardware driver/utilities.
Yes. Fact is that if a child is doing something illegal, it's still illegal wherever it happens to be.
And if that activity is further endangering the lives of others (drunk driving, selling drugs, violence, etc) it's absolutely their responsibility to curb it.
Levy a sentence? Overstepping their bounds? They are not putting people in jail, they are restricting them from extracirricular activities or suspending them for illegal activites. Then they're reporting them to the police.
How is this bad?
If a student was accused of drug use in the 1980s, we would expect the faculty to do what they can to find out the truth. They'd ask other students, they'd search the lockers, they'd talk to parents.
Now, checking a student's PUBLIC blog is another way to find out the potential truth of what the student is really up to.
And if that ultimately means less drugs/violence in our public school system, then I'm all for it.
I admit I didn't RTFA, but I'm wondering if we're only getting one side of the story here.
The student says he was bullied by the faculty. Now I realize some teachers have a power trip, but usually there is something that triggers it in the first place. What did this kid do, or write on his website, that got him targeted initially?
He already admits to drinking excessively, doing drugs, and who knows what else. If a staff member saw that, I would *hope* that they would try to intervene through counciling and corrective discipline. He may very well percieve that as "bullying" or "blocking his free speech".
It sounds to me like he is just trying to retailiate or call more attention to himself, or get people to feel sorry for him and his underage alcoholism.
I just want to point out that the menus (file, edit, view, etc) were not *replaced* by the new Ribbon.
The old menus still exist, they are just turned off by default with the Ribbon enabled. For die-hard people who don't want to give the ribbon a try, the old interface can easily be brought back.
I also want to point out that there was once a time when people thought WYSIWYG and icons were Bad Things. I see the Ribbon as a possible next step in the evolution of a GUI. Task Panes in 2003 were a great step forward and this might be too.
I know this isn't the popular opinion, but I'm actually in favor of this.
I've been very frustrated when the tickets I want are only available by "professional scalpers" on eBay. These people join fan clubs, get in line at 10am, and do whatever else they can to purchase tons of tickets just to resell them.
The end result is that for me to get decent seats I have to pay the scalper. I would much rather have the artist get that money, even if it means TicketMaster keeps half.
Am I upset about all the crazy fees TicketMaster gets for "convinience"? Sure. But that's nothing compared to the markup a scalper gets.
Maybe that's because you're only reading the Apple section of Slashdot.
I read the front page headlines only, and I can promise you that every little exploit that affects IE or Windows makes it to the headlines here. Slashdot effectively goes out of its way to point out these exploits.
On the other hand, of the 40-some patches that were just released according to today's article, I had no idea about. Maybe 2 or 3 of them made it to headlines, the rest were very quiet.
Having just come from a demonstration where students (3rd and 4th grades) are creating and sharing PodCasts, MP3s, and all sorts of iLife-related projects, this is disappointing.
MySpace may not be fostering the best communication, but what happens there is no less detrimental to our socity than what happens in DC.
On a somewhat related note, TiVo now supports the automatic download of a number of popular podcasts, or I can add a URL of my choice. As a result, what turned into the occasional viewing of Rocketboom is now a part of my daily routine.
I doubt it will ever come to this, but thinking seriously about the DIY concept, there is some potential there.
What if upgrading and installing computer components were as easy as sticking a catridge into your Game Boy? Need a DVD+R... shove it in and that's it. No screws, no power cables, no drivers. Need more RAM? Install it. Doesn't matter if it's ECC or DDR or XYX.
You're absolutely right, and that's exactly what I meant. Not downloading a movie and burning it to a DVD, or having your computer hooked up to a screen.... but actually hooking either your TiVo, TV, or DVD player directly up to the internet to download the video and play it.
Cable companies and TiVo-like devices have a huge advantage here because they already have the hardware in the home. The "concept" is there. And yeah, some cable companies offer Video-on-Demand, but it's not quite there yet. I think they will win though, if they do it quickly.
Slashdot Mirror
New Vista TV Commercial:
"Hi! I'm a Mac. And I'm stuck in an elevator."
Why can't I buy a device that has freakin' everything? I'm serious, too.
I want it to be a phone first, PDA second, and all the extras right after that. I want MP3s, FM radio, a decent camera (not a 5MP Nikon, but certainly not the crappy one I have now), bluetooth, WiFi, VoIP, and Windows Mobile 5.
Is that too much to ask?
I wholehardedly agree that most infractions are harmless, but they're still infractions and should be dealt with accordingly -- regardless of how they're reported or investigated.
Besides, remember that when an infraction escalates into a serious crime it's then too late to do anything about it. Especially if that crime is a drunk-driving accident.
I think people want both. My homepage is set to my.yahoo.com so that I can immediately log in and get the RSS feeds and other modules that I've set up. I tried Google's and MSN's and frankly they sucked in comparision.
When I search, I always use Google, but Yahoo has the portal down.
> Even investigating and reporting to police isn't their job -- they should refer the original reporter to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
You need to refer to your employee hand book again.
Faculty is *required* to report illegal activity to law enforcement. Required! It's not a suggestion, and they certainly don't tell the original reporter to tell law enforcement. They are required to do so.
Teachers and other staff are frequently reminded that it is part of their duty to report any kind of suspected drug abuse, sexual molest or other child abuse, excessive violence, etc.
Sorry dude, but the PCs you bought are not "business class".
Dell specifically tells you on their comparison chart that the Dimensions and Inspirons are lower-grade, cheaper alternatives to the Optiplexes and Lattitudes. Even if they have the same specs, they're not business class. They use different, better components, have higher support and warranties, and like I said earlier, no junk software.
> No, it's not. If it's not on school property...
Um no. It's been a long-standing policy that if a student is found to be doing drugs, they are often expelled, removed from activities, or at the very least subjected to counceling. And that's just the school's punishment, the police could likely be worse.
It doesn't matter if said drugs were consumed on campus or not.
The only thing that's different here is that MySpace is collaborating the story from reports of teachers or students.
I still think we're missing the big picture here... cleaning up our schools. Can you honestly tell me that if you had a child attending a public school, you would be satisfied if another student with a known record of drug abuse, drug sales, or drunk driving, was going to the same school?
If we want our schools to be safer, we need to enable them to accomplish that. Reading a public webpage is not a violation of privacy, and punishing someone for talking openly about illegal activities should be expected.. both at the police level and the school's.
Should a student get punished for complaining about his teacher? Of course not. But do you really think that's the only thing that got this kid noticed?
Schools have an appeals process to challenge wrongful claims, just like the court system does.
But really, if you've got a photo of a kid smoking pot (or drinking beer) along with admission of him doing it, and reports from other students witnessing it, do we really need "due process" before kicking him out of the school?
My friends and I have an appt to play it nearly every week. Of course, sometimes real life gets in the way, but we try to be consistent.
And battle.net is still full of people playing it. So what if the game is nearly 10 years old?
I really hate pre-loaded software, which is one of the reasons I recommend to people they purchase the "business class" brand of whatever PC they get... such as the Lattitude Dell Laptops instead of the Inspirons, or the Optiplexes instead of the Dimensions.
The business lines never come with pre-loaded software, aside from the rather-slick Dell wireless LAN utility and other similar hardware driver/utilities.
Not even a desktop shortcut to AOL!
Yes. Fact is that if a child is doing something illegal, it's still illegal wherever it happens to be.
And if that activity is further endangering the lives of others (drunk driving, selling drugs, violence, etc) it's absolutely their responsibility to curb it.
I would be MUCH more concerned if the enemy had an Observer or Overlord.
Levy a sentence? Overstepping their bounds? They are not putting people in jail, they are restricting them from extracirricular activities or suspending them for illegal activites. Then they're reporting them to the police.
How is this bad?
If a student was accused of drug use in the 1980s, we would expect the faculty to do what they can to find out the truth. They'd ask other students, they'd search the lockers, they'd talk to parents.
Now, checking a student's PUBLIC blog is another way to find out the potential truth of what the student is really up to.
And if that ultimately means less drugs/violence in our public school system, then I'm all for it.
I don't recall Microsoft demanding anyone pay royalties on their FAT patent. Can you please direct me to that article?
I admit I didn't RTFA, but I'm wondering if we're only getting one side of the story here.
The student says he was bullied by the faculty. Now I realize some teachers have a power trip, but usually there is something that triggers it in the first place. What did this kid do, or write on his website, that got him targeted initially?
He already admits to drinking excessively, doing drugs, and who knows what else. If a staff member saw that, I would *hope* that they would try to intervene through counciling and corrective discipline. He may very well percieve that as "bullying" or "blocking his free speech".
It sounds to me like he is just trying to retailiate or call more attention to himself, or get people to feel sorry for him and his underage alcoholism.
I just want to point out that the menus (file, edit, view, etc) were not *replaced* by the new Ribbon.
The old menus still exist, they are just turned off by default with the Ribbon enabled. For die-hard people who don't want to give the ribbon a try, the old interface can easily be brought back.
I also want to point out that there was once a time when people thought WYSIWYG and icons were Bad Things. I see the Ribbon as a possible next step in the evolution of a GUI. Task Panes in 2003 were a great step forward and this might be too.
I know this isn't the popular opinion, but I'm actually in favor of this.
I've been very frustrated when the tickets I want are only available by "professional scalpers" on eBay. These people join fan clubs, get in line at 10am, and do whatever else they can to purchase tons of tickets just to resell them.
The end result is that for me to get decent seats I have to pay the scalper. I would much rather have the artist get that money, even if it means TicketMaster keeps half.
Am I upset about all the crazy fees TicketMaster gets for "convinience"? Sure. But that's nothing compared to the markup a scalper gets.
I think that happened around the same time people started to pay $80-100/mo for their cable/satellite TV service... yet squirm at a $30/mo DSL bill.
Maybe that's because you're only reading the Apple section of Slashdot.
I read the front page headlines only, and I can promise you that every little exploit that affects IE or Windows makes it to the headlines here. Slashdot effectively goes out of its way to point out these exploits.
On the other hand, of the 40-some patches that were just released according to today's article, I had no idea about. Maybe 2 or 3 of them made it to headlines, the rest were very quiet.
Having just come from a demonstration where students (3rd and 4th grades) are creating and sharing PodCasts, MP3s, and all sorts of iLife-related projects, this is disappointing.
MySpace may not be fostering the best communication, but what happens there is no less detrimental to our socity than what happens in DC.
On a somewhat related note, TiVo now supports the automatic download of a number of popular podcasts, or I can add a URL of my choice. As a result, what turned into the occasional viewing of Rocketboom is now a part of my daily routine.
But will it have friggin' sharks?
That version will be released in a special 9-disc set sometime around 2011.
I doubt it will ever come to this, but thinking seriously about the DIY concept, there is some potential there.
What if upgrading and installing computer components were as easy as sticking a catridge into your Game Boy? Need a DVD+R... shove it in and that's it. No screws, no power cables, no drivers. Need more RAM? Install it. Doesn't matter if it's ECC or DDR or XYX.
If anyone can pull it off, it's Wal*Mart.
You're absolutely right, and that's exactly what I meant. Not downloading a movie and burning it to a DVD, or having your computer hooked up to a screen.... but actually hooking either your TiVo, TV, or DVD player directly up to the internet to download the video and play it.
Cable companies and TiVo-like devices have a huge advantage here because they already have the hardware in the home. The "concept" is there. And yeah, some cable companies offer Video-on-Demand, but it's not quite there yet. I think they will win though, if they do it quickly.
I'm sure TiVo and others are hot on their heels.