The problem is that to ensure the school continues to receiving Federal and State funding it needs to meet certain guidelines. These guidelines are measured in the form of standardized tests. The better the test scores are for the school in question, the better funding it receives.
It therefore becomes paramount for the schools that their students get good grades on the test. Therefore it is no longer important that the student understand the answer, only that they get the answer correct. To ensure that the student gets the answer correct, they are forced to memorize the answer to the problems they are given, which are based on problems that will be seen on the exam.
Students that live in our neighborhood are regularly getting Ds on their report cards because they are no longer interested in school. They do the minimum necessary to get by because they are not challenged, in fact they are not even expected to think for themselves. This article is just one example of the result of our current education system.
If you expect your children to be properly educated in our society, it is now your responsibility to do so. Private education, tutoring, home schooling, virtual (computer based) schooling and other atypical forms of education may now be your children's best chance at a decent education. But fundamentally it is now the parents' responsibility, more than ever.
I've had not one but two terrible math teachers in my schooling history. Consequently, even though my SAT scores showed a higher math aptitude, I never took calculus and basically avoided math for the remainder of my schooling, including college where I went for a degree in metalsmithing, even though the one class I showed real aptitude in was computer graphics programming. Hindsight is telling me I should have switched majors and found a tutor to overcome my lack of training.
A bad teacher should never be tolerated, and certainly not encouraged. I'd like to see Zenna Atkins theory applied to her medical practitioner, and see what sort of life lessons she gains there. But then, perhaps she has her point of view because she fits the bad teacher mold herself. Anyone know?
a) these devices are owned by the customer and have a hard drive with moving parts running Windows XP Home
b) the company wants to offer one-shot cleanups that they can run from a usb drive
If this is true, you definitely want to check this out: http://www.ubcd4win.com/ - this tool is designed to create bootable optical disks and also bootable USB flash drives, both to run a BartPE based Windows XP-like environment. The tool includes several virus and malware scanning utilities. It used to support Clamwin but does not currently include it, however I believe that can be added if needed. Hope that helps.
Seems to me in this case the Fed ought to get the last word in based on the longterm impact this may have on the entire country as compared to the economic impact this may have on Louisiana. However, because Louisiana still operates under Napoleanic law unlike the rest of the country, I suspect things are going to get very interesting very shortly.
I agree, I thought the title of this submission was skewed - especially after reading the rest of the article. Microsoft does not appear to be "refusing to patch rootkit infected computers".
A more accurate title would be something along the lines of: Microsoft attempts to prevent inadvertently bricking XP systems with Windows Updates
Bear in mind I'm terrible at coming up with titles. Also bear in mind I'm not a big fan of Windows.
Who can blame him? After all, it is Windows we are talking about here.
So why bother freaking out about secure passwords when we all know the average user downloads pirated movies and MP3s using Limewire, accesses porn sites regularly, syncs their infected iPods with their work desktops and engages in other similar insecure behavior.
There is no way a "secure" password is going to protect any user from their own foolishness. These people need their LOLcatz, and they're not gonna worry about whether they have working antivirus before they click OK on the pop-up banners asking them if it's alright to install yet another toolbar on their browser before granting them access.
I gave up after telling people not to use Limewire, only to have them ask me where else they could get free MP3s and movies to download.
So yeah - they should stop using secure passwords - in fact they might as well post their social security numbers and credit card information on their Facebook profile to save the ID thieves some time and effort and get it over with (I wouldn't be much surprised if this is already happening).
And no, I'm not gonna recommend a Mac or LINUX either. I gave up on trying to convince people to switch to either of those alternatives long ago. It's either too expensive or too much reading/learning. And it doesn't matter what kind of computer you use - if you're you're easily duped by drive-by downloads, you'll be equally easy to dupe using phishing and other social hacking techniques. It's not all viruses & spyware these days.
(goes back to his quiet, clean, & relatively safe corner of the 'net)
Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, since I practically no medical schooling, but there have been suggestions by certain medical professionals (names elude me at the moment) that cancer cells could be the body's final (and potentially fatal) attempt to correct other, seemingly unrelated health issues. This would also explain why cancer can return after it has gone into remission.
If so, while this technique would stop the cancer cells from spreading, it may not address the cause of the cancer. I suppose we'll find out if/once the treatment becomes mainstream.
Same here - I never thought I'd say that I trust a Microsoft security product on my personal systems but I've steadily been making the switch across my network and I am satisfied. I've also found it capable of detecting malware that was missed by AVG during a cleanup of a friend's computer.
Maybe I'm a bit sensitive with four young daughters of my own, but I rather dislike the title "Accidental Wii Suicide" for this article. I don't suppose it could be changed to something more appropriate? I also strongly disagree with the Darwin tag. The subject is the death of a toddler, not the death of someone who should be removed from the gene pool.
I sincerely hope I'm not alone by expecting better from Slashdot.
I was bored in 11th-12th grade, and I grew tired of watching my peers and their cliques and other silly antics. College was much better by far, although it wasn't perfect by any stretch. But yeah - why not reward students for their hard work with something that will actually benefit them in the long run, as opposed to just putting them in the honor roll.
To me, the additional power consumption & additional heat, not to mention the additional complexity making troubleshooting more difficult should something go wrong all contribute to my waiting for the prices to drop on the high-end cards. As we all know, it only takes about 6 months or so for something new to be released, resulting in a price drop of everything older.
I have never had more than one video card in any of my machines, and I have yet to find a need for more than one. If anything, I'm eagerly awaiting the integration of the GPU into the CPU.
The great thing about fiction is that it is a safe medium to use if you want to deliver some kernels of truth. That way, you don't have to worry about getting in trouble for giving away too much information to the general public, because most people aren't going to believe it anyway (since it's "just fiction").
I never said that I Am Legend should be taken as gospel. I do believe, however, that some scientists tend to do things because they can, but forget to ask themselves if they should.
If it made you more sick or created serious side-effects that would allow for additional medical treatment ($$$) the FDA would approve it immediately without any trials.
I'm not entirely sure I believe the "research team at Symantec" - to me this sounds like a great opportunity for the Symantec corporation (which SELLS ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-SPYWARE software) to shatter the confidence of Mac users and convince them to purchase security software...from who else but Symantec.
Of course, I'm not much of a fan of Symantec's products in the first place - seems like they charge an awful lot for something that rarely works. As a former computer repair technician with about a decade of experience, I'm not just making this up out of the blue - Norton security software was great up until about 2002 - but the product has been steadily going downhill at a rapid pace ever since.
Windows 7 is to Windows Vista as Windows 98 SE is to Windows 98.
Microsoft is good at selling a repaired version of the original software at full price. I don't know any other business that can successfully release a broken product and then charge their customers full price for what essentially amounts to a product upgrade. Only lawyers get more money for less.
Have you ever watched one of those movies where everyone is doomed, they're all gonna die, but they're okay with that because they've got a good leader they can depend on?
That's pretty much how I feel this morning. Not that we're all gonna die...duh...but the planet is changing, the world is changing, the seasons are changing, the economy is borked, catastrophes are occuring with greater frequency, more evil is committed by our brothers and sisters each day and chaos is descending upon the world.
I feel better knowing we will be lead by someone who will not depend on the use of fear to keep order. I feel comforted by the fact that the ant hill will not get stirred from up above. I am finally looking forward to the great changes that are upon us, whatever they may bring.
I'm nerdy enough to be running LINUX on my Nintendo DS Lite, if you need a level of nerd-ness indicator.
My wife and I conceived the first time we had intercourse. Bear in mind we were using contraception (a condom) and she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and had been told by her doctor she would never be able to conceive without surgical intervention.
I find this study highly convincing based on personal experience.
For starters - ever since college, while on the Internet I've operated under an alias. As Beef Curtains pointed out, however, it is still possible that people will figure out who you are (and I'm still suffering due to backlash from my wife's side of the family after some foolish venting on my blog).
There came a point where I was sick of depending on "free" services such as Yahoo! and Google, and as a result I established my own Drupal web and Squirrel e-mail server (and I'm getting ready to embed chat into my main website to take care of that little nuisance). So...I've somewhat weened myself off the system.
That being said, I still have accounts on LiveJournal and MySpace (though I am resisting Facebook), I have a Gmail, a Yahoo! Mail and a Hotmail account - and all of this was set up so that I could keep in touch with friends via IM and also as a way to divert spam from my real e-mail account. I've been trying to ween myself off of these "free" services while simultaneously inviting my friends and family to come on board my own equivalent packages with some success, but not as much as I had hoped.
Wish I had a better answer for you, but I'm still trying to figure it out for myself. One of these days I'll probably snap and delete every account on services that I don't own.
Make sure you use an alias tho, that does make a big difference.
I'm a computer repair technician - if you're in this business you know that Foxconn is a low-cost sub-quality motherboard manufacturer, and their product is unreliable at best.
Regardless of what operating system you prefer to use, don't buy Foxconn, unless you like throwing your hard earned money away on something that will probably fail in roughly two years.
Now that I said that I'm sure there is going to be someone who thinks that Foxconn is great because they've never had a problem with their one Foxconn product. That's great if you've had success - but I've seen more systems fail with their products than other brands.
Slashdot Mirror
Am I the only one who misses the Voodoo cards?
The problem is that to ensure the school continues to receiving Federal and State funding it needs to meet certain guidelines. These guidelines are measured in the form of standardized tests. The better the test scores are for the school in question, the better funding it receives.
It therefore becomes paramount for the schools that their students get good grades on the test. Therefore it is no longer important that the student understand the answer, only that they get the answer correct. To ensure that the student gets the answer correct, they are forced to memorize the answer to the problems they are given, which are based on problems that will be seen on the exam.
Students that live in our neighborhood are regularly getting Ds on their report cards because they are no longer interested in school. They do the minimum necessary to get by because they are not challenged, in fact they are not even expected to think for themselves. This article is just one example of the result of our current education system.
If you expect your children to be properly educated in our society, it is now your responsibility to do so. Private education, tutoring, home schooling, virtual (computer based) schooling and other atypical forms of education may now be your children's best chance at a decent education. But fundamentally it is now the parents' responsibility, more than ever.
Am I the only one thinking this is like Princess Mononoke?
I've had not one but two terrible math teachers in my schooling history. Consequently, even though my SAT scores showed a higher math aptitude, I never took calculus and basically avoided math for the remainder of my schooling, including college where I went for a degree in metalsmithing, even though the one class I showed real aptitude in was computer graphics programming. Hindsight is telling me I should have switched majors and found a tutor to overcome my lack of training.
A bad teacher should never be tolerated, and certainly not encouraged. I'd like to see Zenna Atkins theory applied to her medical practitioner, and see what sort of life lessons she gains there. But then, perhaps she has her point of view because she fits the bad teacher mold herself. Anyone know?
From what I understand the article states:
a) these devices are owned by the customer and have a hard drive with moving parts running Windows XP Home
b) the company wants to offer one-shot cleanups that they can run from a usb drive
If this is true, you definitely want to check this out: http://www.ubcd4win.com/ - this tool is designed to create bootable optical disks and also bootable USB flash drives, both to run a BartPE based Windows XP-like environment. The tool includes several virus and malware scanning utilities. It used to support Clamwin but does not currently include it, however I believe that can be added if needed. Hope that helps.
Seems to me in this case the Fed ought to get the last word in based on the longterm impact this may have on the entire country as compared to the economic impact this may have on Louisiana. However, because Louisiana still operates under Napoleanic law unlike the rest of the country, I suspect things are going to get very interesting very shortly.
I agree, I thought the title of this submission was skewed - especially after reading the rest of the article. Microsoft does not appear to be "refusing to patch rootkit infected computers".
A more accurate title would be something along the lines of: Microsoft attempts to prevent inadvertently bricking XP systems with Windows Updates
Bear in mind I'm terrible at coming up with titles. Also bear in mind I'm not a big fan of Windows.
Who can blame him? After all, it is Windows we are talking about here.
So why bother freaking out about secure passwords when we all know the average user downloads pirated movies and MP3s using Limewire, accesses porn sites regularly, syncs their infected iPods with their work desktops and engages in other similar insecure behavior.
There is no way a "secure" password is going to protect any user from their own foolishness. These people need their LOLcatz, and they're not gonna worry about whether they have working antivirus before they click OK on the pop-up banners asking them if it's alright to install yet another toolbar on their browser before granting them access.
I gave up after telling people not to use Limewire, only to have them ask me where else they could get free MP3s and movies to download.
So yeah - they should stop using secure passwords - in fact they might as well post their social security numbers and credit card information on their Facebook profile to save the ID thieves some time and effort and get it over with (I wouldn't be much surprised if this is already happening).
And no, I'm not gonna recommend a Mac or LINUX either. I gave up on trying to convince people to switch to either of those alternatives long ago. It's either too expensive or too much reading/learning. And it doesn't matter what kind of computer you use - if you're you're easily duped by drive-by downloads, you'll be equally easy to dupe using phishing and other social hacking techniques. It's not all viruses & spyware these days.
(goes back to his quiet, clean, & relatively safe corner of the 'net)
Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, since I practically no medical schooling, but there have been suggestions by certain medical professionals (names elude me at the moment) that cancer cells could be the body's final (and potentially fatal) attempt to correct other, seemingly unrelated health issues. This would also explain why cancer can return after it has gone into remission.
If so, while this technique would stop the cancer cells from spreading, it may not address the cause of the cancer. I suppose we'll find out if/once the treatment becomes mainstream.
Same here - I never thought I'd say that I trust a Microsoft security product on my personal systems but I've steadily been making the switch across my network and I am satisfied. I've also found it capable of detecting malware that was missed by AVG during a cleanup of a friend's computer.
Maybe I'm a bit sensitive with four young daughters of my own, but I rather dislike the title "Accidental Wii Suicide" for this article. I don't suppose it could be changed to something more appropriate? I also strongly disagree with the Darwin tag. The subject is the death of a toddler, not the death of someone who should be removed from the gene pool.
I sincerely hope I'm not alone by expecting better from Slashdot.
Although due to the fact that "Arr" has been trademarked, I must now instead say "Ess"
I was bored in 11th-12th grade, and I grew tired of watching my peers and their cliques and other silly antics. College was much better by far, although it wasn't perfect by any stretch. But yeah - why not reward students for their hard work with something that will actually benefit them in the long run, as opposed to just putting them in the honor roll.
http://xkcd.com/519/ I think this pretty much sums it up for me.
Isn't this the same company that just recently claimed to have detected a bot-net running from infected Apple OSX systems?
Don't they also have a product for smart phones?
I'm waiting for them to recommend Norton Antivirus for LINUX.
This will be followed by Norton Antivirus for shoes.
To me, the additional power consumption & additional heat, not to mention the additional complexity making troubleshooting more difficult should something go wrong all contribute to my waiting for the prices to drop on the high-end cards. As we all know, it only takes about 6 months or so for something new to be released, resulting in a price drop of everything older.
I have never had more than one video card in any of my machines, and I have yet to find a need for more than one. If anything, I'm eagerly awaiting the integration of the GPU into the CPU.
The great thing about fiction is that it is a safe medium to use if you want to deliver some kernels of truth. That way, you don't have to worry about getting in trouble for giving away too much information to the general public, because most people aren't going to believe it anyway (since it's "just fiction").
I never said that I Am Legend should be taken as gospel. I do believe, however, that some scientists tend to do things because they can, but forget to ask themselves if they should.
Presumably these scientists have never heard of "I Am Legend"...
If it made you more sick or created serious side-effects that would allow for additional medical treatment ($$$) the FDA would approve it immediately without any trials.
I'm not entirely sure I believe the "research team at Symantec" - to me this sounds like a great opportunity for the Symantec corporation (which SELLS ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-SPYWARE software) to shatter the confidence of Mac users and convince them to purchase security software...from who else but Symantec.
Of course, I'm not much of a fan of Symantec's products in the first place - seems like they charge an awful lot for something that rarely works. As a former computer repair technician with about a decade of experience, I'm not just making this up out of the blue - Norton security software was great up until about 2002 - but the product has been steadily going downhill at a rapid pace ever since.
Windows 7 is to Windows Vista as Windows 98 SE is to Windows 98.
Microsoft is good at selling a repaired version of the original software at full price. I don't know any other business that can successfully release a broken product and then charge their customers full price for what essentially amounts to a product upgrade. Only lawyers get more money for less.
Have you ever watched one of those movies where everyone is doomed, they're all gonna die, but they're okay with that because they've got a good leader they can depend on?
That's pretty much how I feel this morning. Not that we're all gonna die...duh...but the planet is changing, the world is changing, the seasons are changing, the economy is borked, catastrophes are occuring with greater frequency, more evil is committed by our brothers and sisters each day and chaos is descending upon the world.
I feel better knowing we will be lead by someone who will not depend on the use of fear to keep order. I feel comforted by the fact that the ant hill will not get stirred from up above. I am finally looking forward to the great changes that are upon us, whatever they may bring.
This morning, I am at peace in my mind.
I'm nerdy enough to be running LINUX on my Nintendo DS Lite, if you need a level of nerd-ness indicator.
My wife and I conceived the first time we had intercourse. Bear in mind we were using contraception (a condom) and she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and had been told by her doctor she would never be able to conceive without surgical intervention.
I find this study highly convincing based on personal experience.
For starters - ever since college, while on the Internet I've operated under an alias. As Beef Curtains pointed out, however, it is still possible that people will figure out who you are (and I'm still suffering due to backlash from my wife's side of the family after some foolish venting on my blog).
There came a point where I was sick of depending on "free" services such as Yahoo! and Google, and as a result I established my own Drupal web and Squirrel e-mail server (and I'm getting ready to embed chat into my main website to take care of that little nuisance). So...I've somewhat weened myself off the system.
That being said, I still have accounts on LiveJournal and MySpace (though I am resisting Facebook), I have a Gmail, a Yahoo! Mail and a Hotmail account - and all of this was set up so that I could keep in touch with friends via IM and also as a way to divert spam from my real e-mail account. I've been trying to ween myself off of these "free" services while simultaneously inviting my friends and family to come on board my own equivalent packages with some success, but not as much as I had hoped.
Wish I had a better answer for you, but I'm still trying to figure it out for myself. One of these days I'll probably snap and delete every account on services that I don't own.
Make sure you use an alias tho, that does make a big difference.
I'm a computer repair technician - if you're in this business you know that Foxconn is a low-cost sub-quality motherboard manufacturer, and their product is unreliable at best. Regardless of what operating system you prefer to use, don't buy Foxconn, unless you like throwing your hard earned money away on something that will probably fail in roughly two years. Now that I said that I'm sure there is going to be someone who thinks that Foxconn is great because they've never had a problem with their one Foxconn product. That's great if you've had success - but I've seen more systems fail with their products than other brands.