My boyfriend is a high-school teacher... and there's no lack of dedicated teachers out there. What they really need is:
- Parents who place a priority on studying and homework. - Parents who don't come in and berate the teacher if their child did poorly, arguing over every lost mark on the child's behalf, leaving with a huff that it's the teacher's fault the child left all those answers on the test blank. - Drop the no child left behind policy. Being almost unable to fail a student even if he/she does jack-all, is hurting morale of the hard-working students and putting out unqualified graduates who are unprepared for college. - Parents who give a crap. - The ability to dish out punishments like detentions or extra homework without going through miles of red tape and backlash from parents and principals. - Go back to letter grades. This 1 to 4 and R thing we have here is BS. An 'F' doesn't damage the child's psyche for crying out loud, and an A+ is more encouraging than a '1'.
I'm curious how avoiding patents, and open sourcing his product would protect this guy from a big company, that say... has a good partnership with Best Buy, making a copy of this product and due to it's bigger marketing power and retailer deal, taking all the potential profits away from the guy? Would his open source license protect against this? I'm not being rhetorical- I really don't know.
Considering that much of your hard drive consists of non-private data, like the operating system, program install files, and spurious user junk, why bother encrypting the whole disk? Why does anyone bother? Just have an encrypted directory, partition, or even a second small hard drive and save all super-top-secret files in there.
Not sure if this would apply, but I can have my Palm TX booted and open a Word document for editing in under 6 seconds. If you store your documents on an SD card, you can pop that in the Palm, or into a USB adapter to edit on your computer.
As someone who was excited for spore for years, I have to say, the negative things I've been reading about secuROM has kind of killed my enthusiasm. While I fully planned to pay for it from a store, I'm concerned about what it will do to my computer. So.... here's one person who's not rushing out to buy it. Here's hoping it comes out for my new Xbox360.
But, my point is, that if you put the word out to people that the DRM that comes with a game/song/movie is potentially harmful, at least some people will take that to heart.
I have a bunch of sheets of blank white label (sticker) stock. Each time I get a new charger thingy or other non-standard wire, I just cut out a little piece of sticker, stick it on the charger and write what device it's for. That's also good for going through your drawer of chargers and seeing- oh! I haven't had that XYZ for years! So this charger can get tossed.
Because there's a small percentage of people who will simply buy a whole new gadget if the charger gets lost or broken (my friend who works at Best Buy gets at least one person a week who gives this as a reason for buying a new X).
Hell, I'm sure this is the reason why the charger for my Palm TX has the flimsy-est connector I've ever seen. Two little 1x1mm arms physically go into the device. Ug. I treat it like it's made out of tissue paper.
Here's another 'one thing'. Social security is a government run way of forcing people to build a nest egg for their future. Instead of just letting people handle that on their own through their own investments and savings- we let the government handle it so that 'no one gets left behind'. I have no problem with that... but, I want the option to opt out. Since I have a good knowledge of finance and investing, and I'm smart enough to live on LESS than my paycheque and invest the rest, I should be allowed to opt out and take care of my own retirement investing. Because we all know how well the government is managing the system and our money.
They charge what people are willing to pay. Period. Of course they cost way less to manufacture, but how many companies do you honestly think will lower their prices 'just to be nice'? Please, Lego are popular and fly off the shelves even at their inflated price. More power to 'em. That's how the market economy works.
So.. you're saying the rich should pay more? Why exactly?
With a sales tax, the rich tend to buy more non-necessities, and more expensive ones like cars and homes. So they naturally would pay more in sales tax than a lower income family.
True, they would only pay a smaller percent of their income if they tend to save and invest that income. Rather than spend it. But how many rich people do you know who don't go out and buy fancy cars and big homes?
Progressive taxes (income tax which increases in percent as the principal increases) are nonsense. Why should someone who works harder, innovates, starts their own business, or pursues a higher-wage career be penalized? It is not 'unfair' that some people have higher salaries than others.
I find it interesting that this 'necessary delay' is happening right at the same time that Bush is pushing for oil development in more ecologically sensitive areas like Alaska. Is he hoping the delay will make oil exploration more necessary, or that the public will get the impression that there are big enviro concerns regarding solar power? When people read that the gov has halted something to 'investigate environmental concerns', they assume that there must be some concerns in the first place.
I'm not saying there aren't enviro considerations with solar- but why wasn't this done years ago? And why not study solar projects already up and running? The timing is interesting is all I'm saying. And two years!? Give me a break.
Except... if you lack clean drinking water and basic necessities... you typically can't read or write. Though as far as connecting people in developing countries with those who can help them... try looking into various microfinance type website like kiva.org. They are already doing something like this.
I know several teachers here in Canada, and we have our own version of the 'No Child Left Behind' idea in my province. And the concensus among the teachers is that it translates to a nobody fails policy. So basically, no matter how lazy you are, or how few assignments you hand in... it's nearly impossible for you to fail. If you only hand in one assignment all year, your grade is weighted onto that assignment. If you refuse to do any work, or you skip the exam... the teachers practically gift-wrap extra credit work for you to do instead.
One girl was flagged as 'special needs' in that her only obvious special problem was that she refused to study for anything. As a result, the school decided they would help her with her problem by letting her bring her notes to every exam, even going so far as to allow her to type her exam on an Internet connect computer while the teachers turned a blind eye if she happend to open a web browser.
The result of this is that laziness or attitude has not concequences. Children with true disabilities or difficulties are just ushered through like cattle rather than given real help. And the students who could actually do great things- get discouraged by the sight of their peers getting free rides. They aren't pushed to do their best.
It's an utterly failed concept, bringing everyone down, and turning schools into a joke. But, god forbid you speak out against it... because then... *gasp* you must WANT children to be left behind! *sigh*
This comes in light of a recent special edition of National Geographic that I read all about China- where school and studying hard is almost a religion over there. We're all going to be out-educated by miles in the next generation.
My office recently hung up about 12 Apple Think Different posters of famous people like Thomas Edison, Einstein, Jane Goodall, Ghandi, etc... and they give me something to think about each time I walk by. They're tasteful black and white. Say what you will about Apple, it's a nice series of posters.
I'm not trying to say this is a trend or anything, but in my office of maybe 30 developers... I do tend to see the women (myself included) are a little more apt to write comments and be concerned about documentation, while a few of the guys do tend to be sort of code-cowboys with doing it the most complex 'fancy' way possible. There are plenty of exceptions all around, and bad coders on both sides... but I have kind of seen this trend.
From my own perspective... over the years I have been finding coding to be a rather lonely and less fulfilling task as I get into my late twenties. So, thinking about other programmers and those who will see my code later, is kind of a way to add a social aspect to what I'm doing. I'm also conscious of the fact that I don't want to code for the rest of my life - hope to go into management... so I'm aware that I won't always be around to interpret cryptic code.
Holy crap. Your post just clued me in to why all my friends have stopped checking their email, and now use Facebook 'mail' almost exclusively. Can't believe I didn't credit spam at least partly for this annoying transition.
Oh I totally agree, but that isn't the reality. You'd be hard pressed to find a company that deals in b2b sales, that doesn't have a fax and use it regularly. I know a marketing company that deals with companies from a variety of sectors, and they fax proofs, samples and work orders to them daily.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm trying to share a google docs document by just sending the link, and no, it requires you to log in with a google account.
My boyfriend is a high-school teacher... and there's no lack of dedicated teachers out there. What they really need is:
- Parents who place a priority on studying and homework.
- Parents who don't come in and berate the teacher if their child did poorly, arguing over every lost mark on the child's behalf, leaving with a huff that it's the teacher's fault the child left all those answers on the test blank.
- Drop the no child left behind policy. Being almost unable to fail a student even if he/she does jack-all, is hurting morale of the hard-working students and putting out unqualified graduates who are unprepared for college.
- Parents who give a crap.
- The ability to dish out punishments like detentions or extra homework without going through miles of red tape and backlash from parents and principals.
- Go back to letter grades. This 1 to 4 and R thing we have here is BS. An 'F' doesn't damage the child's psyche for crying out loud, and an A+ is more encouraging than a '1'.
I'm curious how avoiding patents, and open sourcing his product would protect this guy from a big company, that say... has a good partnership with Best Buy, making a copy of this product and due to it's bigger marketing power and retailer deal, taking all the potential profits away from the guy? Would his open source license protect against this? I'm not being rhetorical- I really don't know.
Considering that much of your hard drive consists of non-private data, like the operating system, program install files, and spurious user junk, why bother encrypting the whole disk? Why does anyone bother? Just have an encrypted directory, partition, or even a second small hard drive and save all super-top-secret files in there.
Canada just got it's own do not call list- it started on Sept 30 / 2008.
https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/index-eng
Not sure if this would apply, but I can have my Palm TX booted and open a Word document for editing in under 6 seconds. If you store your documents on an SD card, you can pop that in the Palm, or into a USB adapter to edit on your computer.
As someone who was excited for spore for years, I have to say, the negative things I've been reading about secuROM has kind of killed my enthusiasm. While I fully planned to pay for it from a store, I'm concerned about what it will do to my computer. So.... here's one person who's not rushing out to buy it. Here's hoping it comes out for my new Xbox360.
But, my point is, that if you put the word out to people that the DRM that comes with a game/song/movie is potentially harmful, at least some people will take that to heart.
I have a bunch of sheets of blank white label (sticker) stock. Each time I get a new charger thingy or other non-standard wire, I just cut out a little piece of sticker, stick it on the charger and write what device it's for. That's also good for going through your drawer of chargers and seeing- oh! I haven't had that XYZ for years! So this charger can get tossed.
Because there's a small percentage of people who will simply buy a whole new gadget if the charger gets lost or broken (my friend who works at Best Buy gets at least one person a week who gives this as a reason for buying a new X).
Hell, I'm sure this is the reason why the charger for my Palm TX has the flimsy-est connector I've ever seen. Two little 1x1mm arms physically go into the device. Ug. I treat it like it's made out of tissue paper.
Here's another 'one thing'. Social security is a government run way of forcing people to build a nest egg for their future. Instead of just letting people handle that on their own through their own investments and savings- we let the government handle it so that 'no one gets left behind'. I have no problem with that... but, I want the option to opt out. Since I have a good knowledge of finance and investing, and I'm smart enough to live on LESS than my paycheque and invest the rest, I should be allowed to opt out and take care of my own retirement investing. Because we all know how well the government is managing the system and our money.
They charge what people are willing to pay. Period. Of course they cost way less to manufacture, but how many companies do you honestly think will lower their prices 'just to be nice'? Please, Lego are popular and fly off the shelves even at their inflated price. More power to 'em. That's how the market economy works.
Mod parent up. Exactly!
So.. you're saying the rich should pay more? Why exactly?
With a sales tax, the rich tend to buy more non-necessities, and more expensive ones like cars and homes. So they naturally would pay more in sales tax than a lower income family.
True, they would only pay a smaller percent of their income if they tend to save and invest that income. Rather than spend it. But how many rich people do you know who don't go out and buy fancy cars and big homes?
Progressive taxes (income tax which increases in percent as the principal increases) are nonsense. Why should someone who works harder, innovates, starts their own business, or pursues a higher-wage career be penalized? It is not 'unfair' that some people have higher salaries than others.
I find it interesting that this 'necessary delay' is happening right at the same time that Bush is pushing for oil development in more ecologically sensitive areas like Alaska. Is he hoping the delay will make oil exploration more necessary, or that the public will get the impression that there are big enviro concerns regarding solar power? When people read that the gov has halted something to 'investigate environmental concerns', they assume that there must be some concerns in the first place.
I'm not saying there aren't enviro considerations with solar- but why wasn't this done years ago? And why not study solar projects already up and running? The timing is interesting is all I'm saying. And two years!? Give me a break.
There's just so much wrong with the actions of the government... but this just drives me nuts:
"...saying the new lawâ(TM)s approach was preferable and climate change required global, not regional, solutions"
It's this bogus "it's not our problem, it's everyone's problem" crap that keeps us all stagnant.
Except... if you lack clean drinking water and basic necessities... you typically can't read or write. Though as far as connecting people in developing countries with those who can help them... try looking into various microfinance type website like kiva.org. They are already doing something like this.
I know several teachers here in Canada, and we have our own version of the 'No Child Left Behind' idea in my province. And the concensus among the teachers is that it translates to a nobody fails policy. So basically, no matter how lazy you are, or how few assignments you hand in... it's nearly impossible for you to fail. If you only hand in one assignment all year, your grade is weighted onto that assignment. If you refuse to do any work, or you skip the exam... the teachers practically gift-wrap extra credit work for you to do instead.
One girl was flagged as 'special needs' in that her only obvious special problem was that she refused to study for anything. As a result, the school decided they would help her with her problem by letting her bring her notes to every exam, even going so far as to allow her to type her exam on an Internet connect computer while the teachers turned a blind eye if she happend to open a web browser.
The result of this is that laziness or attitude has not concequences. Children with true disabilities or difficulties are just ushered through like cattle rather than given real help. And the students who could actually do great things- get discouraged by the sight of their peers getting free rides. They aren't pushed to do their best.
It's an utterly failed concept, bringing everyone down, and turning schools into a joke. But, god forbid you speak out against it... because then... *gasp* you must WANT children to be left behind!
*sigh*
This comes in light of a recent special edition of National Geographic that I read all about China- where school and studying hard is almost a religion over there. We're all going to be out-educated by miles in the next generation.
My office recently hung up about 12 Apple Think Different posters of famous people like Thomas Edison, Einstein, Jane Goodall, Ghandi, etc... and they give me something to think about each time I walk by. They're tasteful black and white. Say what you will about Apple, it's a nice series of posters.
I'm not trying to say this is a trend or anything, but in my office of maybe 30 developers... I do tend to see the women (myself included) are a little more apt to write comments and be concerned about documentation, while a few of the guys do tend to be sort of code-cowboys with doing it the most complex 'fancy' way possible. There are plenty of exceptions all around, and bad coders on both sides... but I have kind of seen this trend.
From my own perspective... over the years I have been finding coding to be a rather lonely and less fulfilling task as I get into my late twenties. So, thinking about other programmers and those who will see my code later, is kind of a way to add a social aspect to what I'm doing. I'm also conscious of the fact that I don't want to code for the rest of my life - hope to go into management... so I'm aware that I won't always be around to interpret cryptic code.
Holy crap. Your post just clued me in to why all my friends have stopped checking their email, and now use Facebook 'mail' almost exclusively. Can't believe I didn't credit spam at least partly for this annoying transition.
Thank you! My app is a CMS so I think I'm good.
Edit... typo: I meant "what about this same use with a GPL3 library"
ADODB is LGPL... so, my other question, what about this same use with an LGPL library (ie... if adodb was GPL3 instead), could I use it this way then?
(note- nothing in the adodb library is being modified by me).
I've read the GPL as well as several articles about it, and I still don't know the answer to my simple question:
If my PHP application is using the open source database layer ADODB, can I close-source my entire application (except the ADODB directory) ?
If anyone could answer that for me, they'd be this girl's hero.
The GPL wording needs some serious work IMHO.
Oh I totally agree, but that isn't the reality. You'd be hard pressed to find a company that deals in b2b sales, that doesn't have a fax and use it regularly. I know a marketing company that deals with companies from a variety of sectors, and they fax proofs, samples and work orders to them daily.