Texas base teacher salary for a starting teacher is $27,320. See... http://www.tea.state.tx.us/school.finance/salary/s al07exp.html/ You need to check you figures. On top of the base salary, individual districts can add to the base salary from local funds. A base salary of $38 to $40K for an entry level position would only be acheived at a wealthy district or a district with crime/social problems.
I already covered this in a separate post, but...45% of teachers in Texas (almost half) work in districts that have starting pay of $40K or higher. This is all the big cities and the suburbs - the same places science majors would likely find jobs. See: http://www.texasisd.com/artman/exec/view.cgi/28/51 779
Maybe it could have been phrased differently, but 3 months vacation a year is an important factor in comparing salaries.
Many occupations require unpaid overtime and cert classes. This is Slashdot, where a lot people are programmers or work in the IT industry, and are required to put in long hours and to be available at all hours.
I think it is interesting that there is a shortage of science teachers when I know several people with science degrees who make less. Most of these would be fairly good teachers, but they were kind of proud of their science degree and would rather do something science related even if the pay wasn't as good.
I personally could not handle dealing with the teenagers who had no interest in learning. I probably could not even deal with college students. I went back and took a college class a while back and they were surfing, texting, reading novels, etc... in the middle of class - not a big auditorium, but a normal classroom with 20 people. I guess I'm just old.
Biology majors will drag down the average quite a bit. I'm in the DFW area and I knew a few biology majors with good grades making $10-$12/hour. I know people in the environmental testing industry where BS chemists tend to CAP OUT around $40K. All the physics people I knew were going to grad school. Geology is doing well lately because of oil, but I knew geology majors ten years ago or so who were in the similar boat as biology majors. I know an actuary that makes about $125K without bonus, sometimes $150K with bonus, but he travels alot.
>>I'd be shocked to see a first-year Texas schoolteacher making $40K.
Teachers in the suburbs around the bigger cities (where most science jobs would be) pretty much get $40K. 45% of the teachers work in these districts. Here is a quote from TexasISD.com:
Starting Pay
The average starting salary for a new teacher is $32,266, a 10-percent increase from the 2005-06 average of $29,354. This year's average starting salary is 18 percent higher than the state minimum starting salary of $27,320. The average starting salary in districts with more than 10,000 students is $39,457, an 8.5-percent increase from last year.
Seventy-three responding districts (10 percent) have an entry-level salary of $40,000 or greater. Forty-five percent of teachers (130,644) in the sample work in these districts.
The average starting salary in districts with more than 50,000 students is $41,025.
Eighty-seven districts (12 percent) pay teachers on the state minimum teacher salary schedule. These districts employ only 1.5 percent of teachers (4,313) in the sample. Highest Salaries The average highest salary paid in districts to 10-month teachers with a bachelor's degree is $51,349. The average highest salary paid in districts with more than 10,000 students is $62,551. Districts with more than 50,000 students have the highest top salaries paid at $65,875 on average.
I don't know if they were saying teachers should be paid less. It is interesting that there are apparently a lot of science grads who make less than teachers, but there is still a shortage of science teachers. I personally would not want to put up with teenagers either. I have known several people with biology degrees who could only find work at temp jobs doing QC for the food industry. They only got paid like $10-$12/hour. They had GPA's well over 3.0.
Most people I know have never heard of linux. In fact, the only people were IT people.
I think the average person is also entrenched in the windows paradigm. They really don't want to know how things work, but they have built up a certain level of knowledge in windows and might not be too inclined to start over again. Most windows users know how to load a new driver for example - you download it, then you double-click it (they are usually in executables that do all the work.) There are a lot of little things like that are big "achievements" for the average user, and he doesn't want too feel stupid all over again learning a new system unless he's REALLY been sold on the advantages.
If someone is violating your legimate patents, you want it to have a chilling effect. In fact, you want them to stop or pay up. At minimum, you want them to stop stealing your customers. The arguments get shaded because Microsoft is involved, it is arguable how significant their patents really are, and because they might have their own patent infringement problems. But they probably do have some valid patents at the moment, and FUD is not necessarily "tortuous interference."
In your analogy, Mazda is an actual for-profit company being target by a competitor. If Toyota's claims are false, then they could sue for libel and recover lost profits. If Toyota does have legitimate patents, then things would be a lot more difficult. IANAL (obviously), but I think in these cases libel would be the overriding issue.
To be competitive in business you have to "interfere" with your competition. "Tortuous Interference" is a specific legal term and we would probably need real lawyer to explain. My previous employer was sued for it once along with some other stuff, and her lawyer acted like it was just fluff.
I don't think it would be interpreted as interference for Microsoft to anounce their intent to protect their patent rights. They probably do have some applicable patents, which may or may not stand up to scrutiny, but they are valid right now. If they really had nothing, and they were making up these claims it could be interference, but their patent portfolio is probably extensive enough that nobody could really say their patent claims are blatantly false. So far they have not actually tried directly threatened specific companies. It is all just FUD.
Maybe I was just a stupid tourist, but I had heard that an early criticism of the cameras was that they just shifted crime away from the cameras to areas without cameras. So I figured if I was in front of a camera, there was less chance of crime occuring. Some of the stairways and corridors leading to the surface seemed like a good spot to get mugged if not for the cameras.
We actually did have to get off the train at an earlier stop once while we were there because someone ended up beneath a train ahead of us. I don't know if he was pushed or what. I guess if he was pushed, the cameras didn't really work for him.
We also had another interesting occurence that might or might not had anything to do with cameras. We were walking down the street and we saw an altercation start up outside a pub. Mainly just yelling, but maybe some shoving too. A police car with its lights on came speeding down the street within 15 seconds. It showed up so fast we just assumed it was going someplace else, and we were pretty surprised it stopped and broke up the incident. I don't know if it had anything to do with cameras, and maybe they responded that fast just because it was a tourist area, but it was impressive.
I have heard that it is still pretty rough compared to Word. The one killer I have heard is that documents do not always format 100% identical when opened with the other application. I would be leary to use it for important business correspondance or a resume for example.
Another important issue is that the average consumer does not think in terms of document formats, they think in terms of programs. If something "needs to be in Word", then that means using Word the program to them.
I think most consumers who use Office do so because that is what they use at work.
I think businesses would always be skeptical of how exact a clone an exact clone really is. I think a fair amount of businesses use Word and Excel especially as application platforms to a degree, and if their applications won't transfer then it is not really a clone or really compatible.
I could imagine citizen upon citzen videotaping taking off on the streets and highways as an extension/reply to road rage. Everybody starts taping the "other guy" driving poorly and reporting them to the police. It might turn out for the good, or it could make things even worse.
I actually think it would be cool to record my entire day with video and audio. Hook it up to my glasses so it sees everything I see. Total recall.
There would be a lot more privacy issues though if this were to ever come about. What if you were near a traffic accident or a crime? Does the government get a warrant to view your video that includes both public and private stuff on it? How do you separate what is private and what is public? What if you are having sex, and look out the window and see a car wreck?
The police have even learnt a good trick to assault you based on these cameras. I had one WPC ask me what was going on after a disturbance that I was not part of. I explained. She said 'pardon?'. So, naturally, I lean in a bit closer so she can hear. Wham ! She lays into me. On camera, it looks like I'm about to attack her by leaning in. *sigh*.
I saw something similar on the TV show COPS. The cop asked to shake the guy's hand or something, and the moment the guy extended his hand, the cop acted like he was being attacked and throws the guy down. It was pretty funny how poorly performed this maneuver was by the cop. It was blatantly obvious what he did, and I was kind of surprised that the tape ended up on the air.
I was in London a while back, and the cameras in the underground stations did make me feel safer. Other than that, I did not really notice the cameras. There is nothing I really do out in public that I care whether I am being filmed or not. But if somebody tries to mug me, breaks into my car, causes an auto accident, etc..., then the cameras would come in handy.
I know a lot of slashdotters seem paranoid about this kind of stuff, but the truth is if the government/police/"the man" wants to screw you over, he doesn't need an elaborate camera system. It is a lot easier just to fabricate charges or plant evidence or whatever. If the powers that be want to screw you, then you are pretty much screwed.
That is interesting. What about something like open-wound bacterial infections? I thought those were pretty common through out the animal kingdom (other than something like vultures). Do different bacteria affect different animals in these situations?
I though I read something once where it freaked people (other scientists even) out when someone did decide to send a signal out. They were not sure they wanted "them" to know where we are.
I have wondered how well we could adapt to even an Earth like planet in terms of infectious agents like bacteria and viruses. Would we just have to accept higher mortality rates until our immune systems adapted over time?
The medical science and technology might the easy part compared to interstellar travel though.
>>My wife and I share a 1.5Mbps DSL connection with 256k up. I've never had to wish it were faster.
I have the same setup, and I generally don't need anything faster. But occasionally I have big download, like the Lord of the Rings Online, and I definately wish for more bandwidth at those times.
I do think, however, that more interesting applications will become available with the higher bandwidth. In particular, I would like to be able to download HD movies and play them on the big screen TV.
I saw a TV show once where they duplicated this. The put a guy in a perch at the right height and angle, and they pulled a similar car at the correct speed. The marksman fired a very similar if not the same model of rifle. If I remember correctly, he got the shots off in time in the majority of test runs and with very good accuracy.
Slashdot Mirror
I already covered this in a separate post, but...45% of teachers in Texas (almost half) work in districts that have starting pay of $40K or higher. This is all the big cities and the suburbs - the same places science majors would likely find jobs. See: http://www.texasisd.com/artman/exec/view.cgi/28/51 779
Summer break + spring break + Christmas break = 3 months vacation.
Maybe it could have been phrased differently, but 3 months vacation a year is an important factor in comparing salaries.
Many occupations require unpaid overtime and cert classes. This is Slashdot, where a lot people are programmers or work in the IT industry, and are required to put in long hours and to be available at all hours.
I think it is interesting that there is a shortage of science teachers when I know several people with science degrees who make less. Most of these would be fairly good teachers, but they were kind of proud of their science degree and would rather do something science related even if the pay wasn't as good.
I personally could not handle dealing with the teenagers who had no interest in learning. I probably could not even deal with college students. I went back and took a college class a while back and they were surfing, texting, reading novels, etc... in the middle of class - not a big auditorium, but a normal classroom with 20 people. I guess I'm just old.
Biology majors will drag down the average quite a bit. I'm in the DFW area and I knew a few biology majors with good grades making $10-$12/hour. I know people in the environmental testing industry where BS chemists tend to CAP OUT around $40K. All the physics people I knew were going to grad school. Geology is doing well lately because of oil, but I knew geology majors ten years ago or so who were in the similar boat as biology majors. I know an actuary that makes about $125K without bonus, sometimes $150K with bonus, but he travels alot.
>>I'd be shocked to see a first-year Texas schoolteacher making $40K.
1 779
Teachers in the suburbs around the bigger cities (where most science jobs would be) pretty much get $40K. 45% of the teachers work in these districts. Here is a quote from TexasISD.com:
Starting Pay
The average starting salary for a new teacher is $32,266, a 10-percent increase from the 2005-06 average of $29,354. This year's average starting salary is 18 percent higher than the state minimum starting salary of $27,320. The average starting salary in districts with more than 10,000 students is $39,457, an 8.5-percent increase from last year.
Seventy-three responding districts (10 percent) have an entry-level salary of $40,000 or greater. Forty-five percent of teachers (130,644) in the sample work in these districts.
The average starting salary in districts with more than 50,000 students is $41,025.
Eighty-seven districts (12 percent) pay teachers on the state minimum teacher salary schedule. These districts employ only 1.5 percent of teachers (4,313) in the sample. Highest Salaries The average highest salary paid in districts to 10-month teachers with a bachelor's degree is $51,349. The average highest salary paid in districts with more than 10,000 students is $62,551. Districts with more than 50,000 students have the highest top salaries paid at $65,875 on average.
From: http://www.texasisd.com/artman/exec/view.cgi/28/5
I don't know if they were saying teachers should be paid less. It is interesting that there are apparently a lot of science grads who make less than teachers, but there is still a shortage of science teachers. I personally would not want to put up with teenagers either. I have known several people with biology degrees who could only find work at temp jobs doing QC for the food industry. They only got paid like $10-$12/hour. They had GPA's well over 3.0.
Most people I know have never heard of linux. In fact, the only people were IT people.
I think the average person is also entrenched in the windows paradigm. They really don't want to know how things work, but they have built up a certain level of knowledge in windows and might not be too inclined to start over again. Most windows users know how to load a new driver for example - you download it, then you double-click it (they are usually in executables that do all the work.) There are a lot of little things like that are big "achievements" for the average user, and he doesn't want too feel stupid all over again learning a new system unless he's REALLY been sold on the advantages.
It seems like the industry would say screw you Sony and Disney and try and help HD DVD win the format war.
I thought Sony said there would be absolutely no porn on Blu-Ray. Did I hear this wrong?
If someone is violating your legimate patents, you want it to have a chilling effect. In fact, you want them to stop or pay up. At minimum, you want them to stop stealing your customers. The arguments get shaded because Microsoft is involved, it is arguable how significant their patents really are, and because they might have their own patent infringement problems. But they probably do have some valid patents at the moment, and FUD is not necessarily "tortuous interference."
In your analogy, Mazda is an actual for-profit company being target by a competitor. If Toyota's claims are false, then they could sue for libel and recover lost profits. If Toyota does have legitimate patents, then things would be a lot more difficult. IANAL (obviously), but I think in these cases libel would be the overriding issue.
To be competitive in business you have to "interfere" with your competition. "Tortuous Interference" is a specific legal term and we would probably need real lawyer to explain. My previous employer was sued for it once along with some other stuff, and her lawyer acted like it was just fluff.
I don't think it would be interpreted as interference for Microsoft to anounce their intent to protect their patent rights. They probably do have some applicable patents, which may or may not stand up to scrutiny, but they are valid right now. If they really had nothing, and they were making up these claims it could be interference, but their patent portfolio is probably extensive enough that nobody could really say their patent claims are blatantly false. So far they have not actually tried directly threatened specific companies. It is all just FUD.
What if you are doing an ugly fat chick, and you don't want anyone to know about it.
Maybe I was just a stupid tourist, but I had heard that an early criticism of the cameras was that they just shifted crime away from the cameras to areas without cameras. So I figured if I was in front of a camera, there was less chance of crime occuring. Some of the stairways and corridors leading to the surface seemed like a good spot to get mugged if not for the cameras.
We actually did have to get off the train at an earlier stop once while we were there because someone ended up beneath a train ahead of us. I don't know if he was pushed or what. I guess if he was pushed, the cameras didn't really work for him.
We also had another interesting occurence that might or might not had anything to do with cameras. We were walking down the street and we saw an altercation start up outside a pub. Mainly just yelling, but maybe some shoving too. A police car with its lights on came speeding down the street within 15 seconds. It showed up so fast we just assumed it was going someplace else, and we were pretty surprised it stopped and broke up the incident. I don't know if it had anything to do with cameras, and maybe they responded that fast just because it was a tourist area, but it was impressive.
I have heard that it is still pretty rough compared to Word. The one killer I have heard is that documents do not always format 100% identical when opened with the other application. I would be leary to use it for important business correspondance or a resume for example.
Another important issue is that the average consumer does not think in terms of document formats, they think in terms of programs. If something "needs to be in Word", then that means using Word the program to them.
I think most consumers who use Office do so because that is what they use at work.
I think businesses would always be skeptical of how exact a clone an exact clone really is. I think a fair amount of businesses use Word and Excel especially as application platforms to a degree, and if their applications won't transfer then it is not really a clone or really compatible.
I could imagine citizen upon citzen videotaping taking off on the streets and highways as an extension/reply to road rage. Everybody starts taping the "other guy" driving poorly and reporting them to the police. It might turn out for the good, or it could make things even worse.
I actually think it would be cool to record my entire day with video and audio. Hook it up to my glasses so it sees everything I see. Total recall.
There would be a lot more privacy issues though if this were to ever come about. What if you were near a traffic accident or a crime? Does the government get a warrant to view your video that includes both public and private stuff on it? How do you separate what is private and what is public? What if you are having sex, and look out the window and see a car wreck?
The GP is correct about a new world coming.
I saw something similar on the TV show COPS. The cop asked to shake the guy's hand or something, and the moment the guy extended his hand, the cop acted like he was being attacked and throws the guy down. It was pretty funny how poorly performed this maneuver was by the cop. It was blatantly obvious what he did, and I was kind of surprised that the tape ended up on the air.
I was in London a while back, and the cameras in the underground stations did make me feel safer. Other than that, I did not really notice the cameras. There is nothing I really do out in public that I care whether I am being filmed or not. But if somebody tries to mug me, breaks into my car, causes an auto accident, etc..., then the cameras would come in handy.
I know a lot of slashdotters seem paranoid about this kind of stuff, but the truth is if the government/police/"the man" wants to screw you over, he doesn't need an elaborate camera system. It is a lot easier just to fabricate charges or plant evidence or whatever. If the powers that be want to screw you, then you are pretty much screwed.
That is interesting. What about something like open-wound bacterial infections? I thought those were pretty common through out the animal kingdom (other than something like vultures). Do different bacteria affect different animals in these situations?
I though I read something once where it freaked people (other scientists even) out when someone did decide to send a signal out. They were not sure they wanted "them" to know where we are.
I have wondered how well we could adapt to even an Earth like planet in terms of infectious agents like bacteria and viruses. Would we just have to accept higher mortality rates until our immune systems adapted over time?
The medical science and technology might the easy part compared to interstellar travel though.
>>My wife and I share a 1.5Mbps DSL connection with 256k up. I've never had to wish it were faster.
I have the same setup, and I generally don't need anything faster. But occasionally I have big download, like the Lord of the Rings Online, and I definately wish for more bandwidth at those times.
I do think, however, that more interesting applications will become available with the higher bandwidth. In particular, I would like to be able to download HD movies and play them on the big screen TV.
I saw a TV show once where they duplicated this. The put a guy in a perch at the right height and angle, and they pulled a similar car at the correct speed. The marksman fired a very similar if not the same model of rifle. If I remember correctly, he got the shots off in time in the majority of test runs and with very good accuracy.
The first time I was in Dealey Plaza I had the same reaction - it was much smaller and closed in than I expected.