To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee...Challenged in the Normal, ILL Community High Schools sophomore literature class (2003) as being degrading to African Americans."
I read this book in high school, and I came away from it with a new appreciation for the horrors of racism and injustice. How the hell is it degrading? By showing just how fucked-up the law was in regards to nonwhites?
Some black parents in my school district recently tried to have Mockingbird removed from the curiculum (but not from the library) and my first reaction was similar to yours. The media reports made it sound like their whole objection was that the book uses The 'N' Word and discussing it in class was offensive to them. When I went to the meeting however, I quickly discovered the issue was more complex. The main problem is that mostly white teachers choose this 46-year-old book by a white author to teach students about racism. 46 years ago, a novel by a white author was about the only way such a message could reach a wide audience, but in 2006 there have got to be better ways. Any black author knows far more about racism than Harper Lee (despite Mr. Lee's best intentions), and it's time for the curiculum to reflect that.
Some scientists were very concerned the first atomic bomb would produce so much heat it would ignite the atmosphere and burn the entire surface of the earth. Fortunately it didn't happen. But it's good that people bring up these ideas so we challenge assumptions and try to be safe while still advancing science.
Yes we wouldn't want to be unsafe while we develop the technology to vaporize a city. We don't want to destroy the whole earth, just the 'bad' people.
While I initially was thinking the same thing and questioning the wisdom of building a computer into a monitor stand, is it really any different than owning a laptop? If you break the display or CPU, the other is essentially useless unless you get it repaired (which is likely to be less cost effective than buying a new one).
There is one thing that can be done; peer review. I am not talking about college proffesors in tweed jackets (but I am sure they would be welcome).
Peer review is how Wikipedia has always worked, though in Wikipedia everyone is a peer. I assume what you are suggesting is some way of ranking peers, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Sure, a professor of astronomy from UCLA is the peer of a professor of astronomy from Harvard, but what about an experienced amateur astronomer or a high school science teacher? Are they peers with the profs? Are they peers with each other? If the article is about economics rather than astronomy, does that change the peer relationships? Are they all trumped by a first year economics student? And how exactly do you prove your credentials on-line, especially if they are not academic credentials (work experience, hobbyist, enthusiast, etc)?
Islam actually had its golden age (from a scientifical, cultural and economical point of view) precisely during Europe's dark ages. At that time, Europe (Christendom, to be more precise) was the backwards one, precisely because of religious dogma.
Actually, the whole concept of the "dark" ages as a backward period has been discredited by modern historians who no longer use the term.
I assume that next Apple will sue Lego for its X-Pod line of building toys.
Then they could go back in time to a year before the first iPod was released and sue the makers of the ePods handheld computer. Too bad they're not in business anymore or they could sue Apple, since the ePod was a WinCE device capable of playing MP3s (among other things).
..or maybe the Scroll Lock key (do any of you even know what it's used for?
The only modern program I know of that makes good use of the Scroll Lock key is Microsoft Excel. Normally the arrow keys move the selected cell up/down/left/right. With the Scroll Lock on, the arrow keys scroll the spreadsheet up/down/left/right without changing the selected cell. Very useful for those five Excel users who do not own a mouse.
That's certainly a better option than getting rid of it altogether. The reason for the current location of the caps lock key actually has nothing to do with usability but rather was for compatibility with old typewriters. The caps lock key on typewriteers (actually a 'shift lock' key which affected the numbers and punctuation as well) had to be directly above the shift key since it was a mechanical latch that physically kept the shift key held down.
Lindows had to change its name to Linspire after being sued by MicroSoft, it's the same distro (though several versions older). The paid version (Linspire) has customer support and a few other things that the unpaid version (Freespire) doesn't.
Where I work, backups are run at night over the network, as are software/OS upgrades, etc. Leaving the computer on is company policy (turning off the monitor though is OK and is encouraged).
Information does want to be free, but only if the information is free in both directions. If Tony Blair can see what I had for lunch, I should be able to see what he had for lunch.
Since Michael Piller died last year I doubt he is involved. Piller was actually a decent producer and was not involved with Enterprise or Nemesis and only had minimal involvement in Voyager. I think the Rick Berman co-conspirator you're thinking of is Branon Braga.
What user would ever plug a 3rd party redundant wireless card into their computer?
Maybe to get 802.11a backward compatiblity? Or to upgrade to 802.11n when it becomes available? I realize upgrading the hardware is a foreign concept to most Mac users but there must be some out there do it instead of throwing away their old Mac and buying a new one.
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I read this book in high school, and I came away from it with a new appreciation for the horrors of racism and injustice. How the hell is it degrading? By showing just how fucked-up the law was in regards to nonwhites?
Some black parents in my school district recently tried to have Mockingbird removed from the curiculum (but not from the library) and my first reaction was similar to yours. The media reports made it sound like their whole objection was that the book uses The 'N' Word and discussing it in class was offensive to them. When I went to the meeting however, I quickly discovered the issue was more complex. The main problem is that mostly white teachers choose this 46-year-old book by a white author to teach students about racism. 46 years ago, a novel by a white author was about the only way such a message could reach a wide audience, but in 2006 there have got to be better ways. Any black author knows far more about racism than Harper Lee (despite Mr. Lee's best intentions), and it's time for the curiculum to reflect that.
Yes we wouldn't want to be unsafe while we develop the technology to vaporize a city. We don't want to destroy the whole earth, just the 'bad' people.
That sound you just heard was a joke going over your head.
While I initially was thinking the same thing and questioning the wisdom of building a computer into a monitor stand, is it really any different than owning a laptop? If you break the display or CPU, the other is essentially useless unless you get it repaired (which is likely to be less cost effective than buying a new one).
Good luck entering a search term into a microfiche machine.
Peer review is how Wikipedia has always worked, though in Wikipedia everyone is a peer. I assume what you are suggesting is some way of ranking peers, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Sure, a professor of astronomy from UCLA is the peer of a professor of astronomy from Harvard, but what about an experienced amateur astronomer or a high school science teacher? Are they peers with the profs? Are they peers with each other? If the article is about economics rather than astronomy, does that change the peer relationships? Are they all trumped by a first year economics student? And how exactly do you prove your credentials on-line, especially if they are not academic credentials (work experience, hobbyist, enthusiast, etc)?
Actually, the whole concept of the "dark" ages as a backward period has been discredited by modern historians who no longer use the term.
Hopefully it was trouble from your English teacher, since 'furthist' is not a word (try farthest).
All your space station are belong to IBM!
You missed some, let me help you:
I for one welcome our new Space-Station-owning overlords.
Does ISS run Linux?
Imagine a Beowolf cluster of space stations.
1. Sell Thinkpad to Lenovo
2. Buy International Space Station.
3. ????
4. Profit!!
No, but it's only a couple hours drive from some of the best skiing in North America.
If I had mod points today, I'd mod you funny to try and offset all the morons who modded you interesting and obviously didn't get the joke.
Wow, President, Sunday school teacher, peanut farmer, Habitat for Humanity homebuilder AND nuclear engineer! Is there anything Jimmy can't do?
Then they could go back in time to a year before the first iPod was released and sue the makers of the ePods handheld computer. Too bad they're not in business anymore or they could sue Apple, since the ePod was a WinCE device capable of playing MP3s (among other things).
The only modern program I know of that makes good use of the Scroll Lock key is Microsoft Excel. Normally the arrow keys move the selected cell up/down/left/right. With the Scroll Lock on, the arrow keys scroll the spreadsheet up/down/left/right without changing the selected cell. Very useful for those five Excel users who do not own a mouse.
That's certainly a better option than getting rid of it altogether. The reason for the current location of the caps lock key actually has nothing to do with usability but rather was for compatibility with old typewriters. The caps lock key on typewriteers (actually a 'shift lock' key which affected the numbers and punctuation as well) had to be directly above the shift key since it was a mechanical latch that physically kept the shift key held down.
That's just a Band-Aid solution.
Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
Freespire does not default to root login (and neither will Linspire in the next version).
Lindows had to change its name to Linspire after being sued by MicroSoft, it's the same distro (though several versions older). The paid version (Linspire) has customer support and a few other things that the unpaid version (Freespire) doesn't.
Where I work, backups are run at night over the network, as are software/OS upgrades, etc. Leaving the computer on is company policy (turning off the monitor though is OK and is encouraged).
Right. Because consoles like the Playstation2 and XBOX don't suffer from piracy at all.
Information does want to be free, but only if the information is free in both directions. If Tony Blair can see what I had for lunch, I should be able to see what he had for lunch.
Since Michael Piller died last year I doubt he is involved. Piller was actually a decent producer and was not involved with Enterprise or Nemesis and only had minimal involvement in Voyager. I think the Rick Berman co-conspirator you're thinking of is Branon Braga.
From the footage I saw, MTV owns the moon. Awesome flag dudes!
Maybe to get 802.11a backward compatiblity? Or to upgrade to 802.11n when it becomes available? I realize upgrading the hardware is a foreign concept to most Mac users but there must be some out there do it instead of throwing away their old Mac and buying a new one.