FOIL. How could I forget. I just recently finished what you are trying to do. I needed to take QBA, but I hadn't done real algebra in around 15 years. the problem I see with most of the posts, is that you said you struggled, yet they are directing you to university texts. And like the math teacher says, they do things for different reasons at the high school level. So it depends on what you need. Another thing is that if you have been out of school for a while, the curriculum at the K-12 is nothing like you remember. Intro to algebra is done at the 5th and 6th level sometimes. If you know any middle/high school kids, ask them to for copies of some of their worksheets. The math tutor is also a good idea, because they will be able to customize to your needs.
But here's what I really did: I went to a book store and picked up the kind of thin workbooks you pick up for kids. They have the grade levels right on them. I actually started with grades 4, 5 and 6. Yes, you should breeze through these. I did have to practice on some areas with grades 9-12. There are dozens to choose from so pick the ones that look like they are leaning toward what you need.
The focus I think is making sure the foundation is solid before going on. There are so many 'teach yourself math' books it is crazy. One little one I really like was called 'No Fear Algebra'. It's just a tiny thing with straightforward exercises. I wish they had them for other areas. There are a couple of typos in it though that drove me crazy! Good luck! I think I will brush up at least once a year now, so that never happens again.
For all of those here trying to figure out how farmers got wrapped up in this Monsanto patent mess, how many seeds are now extinct and how they bioengineered and somehow, 'unknowingly' cross pollinated with the farmers field then sued them, this film will explain it all. Most disturbing is the large number of names of top employees that used to work for Monsanto (whose seed is banned in many countries) are now employed by our own federal government EPA offices. Very disturbing.
What's worse is getting a project done on time and under budget and having nobody notice and nobody care and think it was just normal. But what is even worse, is doing this, then have the 'boss' change their mind and rip the whole thing out behind your back. I work for public schools and have it found it shocking how much this goes on. An example is a 25 computer lab I built in an old classroom that involved computers, tables, wiring, electrical, tables bolted to the floor, new AC, new paint, etc, etc. Just to have the super change their mind the next school year and rip the whole thing out and move it to a new building. The tables and computers got scattered (there was older stuff in the new location, so the software had to be installed again - more labor), the floor was left with holes. All new electrical outlets sat empty. The only thing fully salvagable was the software license that cost over 50K. many hours of workpower, planning and troubleshooting wasted, without a thought or a care.
We may have a long way to go, but it is worthwhile to take notes on this now, so when the FTC request for public comment regarding the DMCA happens again in 2009, we will be ready.
Musicland is another music brick/mortar chain that went under just last year. It is not the actual artists who are suffering just yet, but certainly the stores, the sales people, the corporate managers who cut the advertising deals with the artists who are all hitting the streets. The sad part is, the people you find in mall type music stores, are usually music lovers themselves, who are fairly knowledgeabe about the music you are looking for (Just ask any mom who is trying to find the hiphop for their kids birthday). They are not too involved with the dealings of the RIAA, who claims to be on their side. They just want to go to work the next day like anybody else. If they can't sell CD's, then they have no store. True, the Walmarts have hurt them, but those types of stores usually don't carry the variety a lot of buyers might be looking for.
So for all those who swear they will never purchase a CD again, think of you are really punishing. To get to the RIAA, you need to be political and know your legal rights. Anything less and you might just be kicking you best friend in the gutt.
Along with the Tickle Me Elmo rush, sneaks in a little gadget called 'Test Tube Aliens' which actually comes out of the UK. They are freaky little things that I haven't quite figured out, partly because they are all still in the package and I haven't had the chance to tear one apart yet.
They are a cross between those slimy grow things that you put in water, and a little robot, because there are sensors popping out of them (they are electronic). There is a little trick in how they respond to their own web site when you put them up to the monitor (they read a bar code). I laughed when I heard it from someone who swears his was 'talking' to the web site, but I still bought a bunch ($14.00 at KBToys and others) for my neices and nephews, and extra for me of course!
Web site is www.testtubealiens.com, but it doesn't have a good photo of the product.
The 'military' isn't just about Army and Navy enlisted. There are many thousands of engineers and scientists on board. If you've ever walked through the cubicles of Dept of Defense types, sometimes you will see what is called the 'I love me' wall. I once saw one with over 20 patent plaques on his wall. The Fed Gov gets all the patents, with a small percentage going to the inventor. How do you think all of those submarines, advanced weapons, space shuttles, stealth bombers, robots, and all of the other big, bad-ass pieces of military equipment got built?
Maybe you had to be there, but this was when Mosaic was fading away and the first Netscape was available. Web pages were fairly new and most were grainy and gray. You found your way around by browsing, as Yahoo was just starting out.
I can't even remember what we were looking for at the time, I only remember somehow ending up at a Korean car dealer, then ending up at the button.
My husband, a friend and I had been drinking, and to come across that site back then, was just hysterical. There weren't too many other fads -- nothing else to goof on. I think the infamous Coffee Pot and the Door were about it.
The site up above is not the same, just a copy as the original went down years ago, so it doesn't have the same flair. The guy got so many hits and responses he couldn't handle it!! If only he had grasped he could probably make money on it!
Ok my eyes got blurry about half way down. This kind of solution can only work for serious techies, and leaves the ordinary user like my parents in a state of confusion.
This is what I have everyone do that comes to me with a spam problem:
You know who has your address. You know where you shop. You know what lists you've signed up for, etc.
Make a new folder or two, filter all the people, lists, etc. you know so they automatically arrive in your new folder(s).
That leaves all the spam in the default Inbox - just delete it all.
Really, if you go to a meeting and meet someone new and swap addresses, you know to look for a new incoming. You find it, then add it to your 'white list'.
Everyone spends way to much time trying to filter out the bad stuff, when it is much easier to simply grab the mail you know you should be receiving.
I agree with this comment the most. This is a clear case of when outsourcing is required. You are both in the middle of a move and trying to upgrade the infrastructure at the same time? This is where managements ignorance of technology and the 'it's all magic out of the box' mentality is simply dangerous.
Turn this quickly into a positive by explaining that while you understand the company's situation (hiring a person for this is expensive and unreasonable for many small companies), the fact remains that you are a programmer and not a network administrator. The best scenario is that the move and upgrade are outsourced, with you as project manager overseeing the installation. Even at this level, you will spend much, much more than 1% of your time. After a few months when the project is complete and all of the small kinks have been worked out, your time maintaining the network should drop to a reasonable two hours a week.
It is also helpful to make clear if your duties will be 'network' or 'help desk'. For this to be done right your boss should pick someone else for that.
If the network company works well for you, you keep them on retainer. I do that at my location (4000 users, 30+ servers), and I only need to call in the big guns around 5 times a year, at an average of 75 to 150 an hour depending on the project.
Also, the 'buy a book' comment once again proves how pointy-haired some managers can be. Since the average network book is around 600 - 1200 pages, it would take you a minimum of two weeks just to get through it, assuming you understood what you were reading. A quickie course can cost anywhere from $1000 to $8000 depending on the content. Is your boss willing to spend that on your education? Or would he rather spend it on outsourcing this properly?
If Amazon can pull off a successful digital rights management for text, then I'm all for it. As long as it's the publics right being protected more than the copyright holder. I think that is the biggest glitch with DRM for entertainment media - no one can figure out how to do it so the public rights are not infringed upon. With music downloading, there is no real way to determine if you own a copy or not. I know some movie/music publishers have tried to include some sort of access code along with purchase, but it is all very cumbersome.
The thing is, a company as large and with such a dominating internet presence as Amazon, has the both the $$$ and the desire to invest in good old fashioned R&D, which is something the MPAA/RIAA has been to stubborn to do. They would rather pay lawyers and elected officials to do their bidding.
The bottom line is, if Amazon can pull this off, then they will have created a succesful model for others, which just doesn't exist right now.
I assure you- I was under the right story. I didn't even read this one and have no idea how it got here. I hit submit and it never showed up. Now I find my first try here?
I feel like one of those users who swear they didn't anything while sitting in front of a dead computer.
I don't know how this guy does it, who he knows, or how he keeps managing to BS his way into all of these things. Every bill he has attempted to pass has been so infantile in tech knowledge, so utterly chilling, and yet he just manages to do it again and again. And he doesn't even bother to learn, he just twists the words until they meet his agenda. He is like some scary Dilbert boss of the entertainment world, carelessly waving his laser pointer in everyone's eye. But for as much as he screws up (in the tech view anyway) he just keeps rising to the top!
This man is just exhausting already, and I wonder if that it the point. To take all of us who battle this now and just wear us out until we give up. As the years march by, it will simply become a way of life. Isn't there a word for that?
I don't know how this guy does it, who he knows, or how he keeps managing to BS his way into all of these things. Every bill he has attempted to pass has been so infantile in tech knowledge, so utterly chilling, and yet he just manages to do it again and again. And he doesn't even bother to learn, he just twists the words until they meet his agenda. He is like some scary Dilbert boss of the entertainment world, carelessly waving his laser pointer in everyone's eye. But for as much as he screws up (in the tech view anyway) he just keeps rising to the top!
This man is just exhausting already, and I wonder if that it the point. To take all of us who battle this now and just wear us out until we give up. As the years march by, it will simply become a way of life. Isn't there a word for that?
Weather monitoring station. Probably somewhere high up for the sensors, with a more convenient location for the display. Presumably, these will be LAN appliances some day, needing only ethernet.
Many already are. They attach to the roof and a cable runs down and connects to a digital weather display, which connects to the computer. If you run the server software, you can have the real-time weather stats updated on a web page. I don't know the residential cost for such a system, but it's almost free for education. If you are planning to build in a remote area, your local television weather station often grant funds the cost because it really helps them forcast the weather when they can get live information accross a grid. Check the schools in your area, many have been using equipment like this for years.
In many areas 'local' weather is actually reported from the next nearest city. For me that is around 30 miles away. But a school just 3 miles away has one, so I can get live wind speed (very helpful during a storm), rainfall, temp, etc that is more accurate for where I live.
This display is what you see both on your computer and on the published web page.
Am I the only one who sees this differently? It reads to me like the the guy is arguing against ever using logs. He is just describing all of the things that can go wrong if they begin doing so. He doesn't actualy claim that this is a practice they have been doing all along. More like a lot of 'what if' statements.
In public schools we are forced to keep things fairly open. We couldn't even install SP2 until recently, because most of our 3rd party software vendors said no. If we installed anyway, we could void our service agreement. There are also many security options available in group policy that we can't use, because we run some of the weirdest reading, typing, history, math applications ever. Also, we can't lock floppy or usb ports, because students need to be able to get their homework back and forth.
We have a wireless network setup, and it is fairly open. So is our DHCP server. Because as a school we are also a training center for parents and other school memeber. Our classrooms are rented at night to adult ed, and the gym or auditorium can be used by a number of renters. When people bring their laptops in we need to make sure they can plug in or turn on and get out the internet. Schools live in a constant balance between being secure and being easily accessed by all. After all - we are 'Public'.
Digital Media Wire digitalmediawire.com (dated Nov 5)
As I said, I don't always open this. I'm on a few lists that I just scan the headlines to see if anything is of interest to me. On Sunday the 14th I must have been going through old mail, cleaning things up when I spotted it. But I googled and used google news (and looked here) and nothing comes up for FTC comments. They put the call for comments out back in Oct. I did manage to get mine submitted, albiet a bit messy because I was so rushed.
"Briefly Noted: FTC - P2P public workshop, MSN Direct - movie listings, Destiny's Child album - release date, Mediaport - MusicATM, Jun Group - P2P TV show, DigitalContainers - Paperback Digital, Javien - micropayment aggregation engine, Silver Screen Studios - mobile movie distribution, Mforma - "Ducati Extreme," E-voting machines - more error reports"
"o Briefly Noted:
(Washington) The Federal Trade Commission plans to hold a public workshop entitled, "Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing Technology: Consumer Protection and Competition Issues" on Dec. 15 and 16. The free workshop will be open to the public, and will discuss the uses of file-sharing; its role in the economy; identifying associated risks; and its impact on copyright holders. The FTC is seeking public comments for the workshop, including studies, surveys, research, and other empirical data related to P2P file-sharing, which may be submitted electronically on its website.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/filesharing/index.htm
https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-p2pfilesharing
"
In the K12 environment, we are particularly caught up with this ping-pong match. Most of our software vendors don't support SP2, and claim it can nullify our service agreements. This has been going on for months. We run some curriculum packages that run over the web, and the pop-up blockers stop them cold. To put on SP2 means to go back and undo most of the defaults.
One interesting note is that Windows Movie Maker, always a separate install in the past, is now integrated into SP2 - you cannot install the new Movie Maker without installing SP2, but installing SP2 can inadvertently disable several of our weird reading, writing and math programs already installed on the computer.
On the home front - we have two IBM thinkpads, different years/models - one took SP2 fine, the other BSODed causing us to go back to Last Known Good, adding a few more service packs, then trying again.
I agree. I searched high and low on slashdot and was surprised that it wasn't already here. That's why I posted what I could, even though I knew it was late. I found out from an not-often-looked at tech list that I'm on. Maybe the FTC didn't advertise this one properly? Or maybe (conspiracy theory) the usual **AA helped keep it quiet? It seems wired or some other tech mag would have had notice.
I work in schools and whenever I have even two minutes, I push safety online and ethics. They know how to use computers, they see them in school, most at home, in libraries, at friends. I remind them even though they've heard the speech before about chatting with strangers, why don't they listen? Why do think they can go to the mall and meet a stranger without telling an adult? I let them know that just 3 years ago only around 400 kids world wide had been snatched by meeting someone online. That number is now in the thousands. Yes, I scare them, but I try to do it gently.
10 Year-old kids are very confused about 'copyright'. Is it illegal to download or not? How do they know? This is something teachers never bother to talk about with a 10 year-old, but if you ever really sat down with a few, these are the very questions they will ask you. They don't want to be bad. They don't want to break the law. They want to be cool and hip and know the score. If you have the chance, you tell them the score. Trust me - you will have their ear.
The last thing I would talk about (yes, all this in only 10 minutes!!!!) is understanding the game rating system. Real simple: Ask them, what kinds of games do you play? (watch the parents become all clueless) Gaurentee they will pop out a few "M" games, even GTA, etc. They will think they are soooooo cool and start looking at each other like - Well I played so and so, etc. My Dad lets me do this. I played at my Uncles, etc. Then you ask them - do your parents let you watch a movie that's rated "R"? Noooooo, they say. We would get in trouble for that. So you let them know that "M" is the same thing as "R" for movies, and watch how fast they change the subject. Watch how it goes from cool to, well, I only really looked at it, I didn't get very far. Again, 10 year-olds want to be cool, but they don't want to be bad. Can you do all this in 10 minutes? YES! Because you really only have about 2 minutes per topic - yes 2! That is the zone out time limit on kids, anything after that and they have tuned you out. So you spend around 2 minutes on each of these, just get your point accross. Then let them know that it is time to ask questions. Different kids will have been inspired by differnt topics - girls want to know how to be safe, boys want to know more about copyright They probably won't ask much more about games, they got the point the first time. but they may start asking if this game or that game is ok.
Enjoy
I'm in K12 ed, and if I had my way, I would have Macs in all the elem schools, Windows/MS in the middle schools, and Linux at the high schools. Sadly, such a proposition is far too expensive for school systems to acheive. It is bottom line rule-of-thumb, that it is exponentionally more expensive to run more than one OS infrastructure. From needing gateways to connect to dissimilar systems, extra training each time a staff switches from one school to another, extra admin, extra licenses, have to by software in every flavor, etc.(like buying a Math Blaster Cd for Windows, then having to buy it again for the Mac) It all adds up to a lot. Administration, in any and all buildings, must absolutely run on the same system, end of story on that one.
I've always been of the notion that if a school has a lot of macs, then gather them up and at least put all in one or two labs in one building. Makes maintaining and admin much easier if they are all in one spot.
Alas, standard K12 could never afford my vision. But I do think higher ed should be more responsible in making sure that students learn that there is more than one type of computer out there.
Slashdot Mirror
FOIL. How could I forget. I just recently finished what you are trying to do. I needed to take QBA, but I hadn't done real algebra in around 15 years. the problem I see with most of the posts, is that you said you struggled, yet they are directing you to university texts. And like the math teacher says, they do things for different reasons at the high school level. So it depends on what you need. Another thing is that if you have been out of school for a while, the curriculum at the K-12 is nothing like you remember. Intro to algebra is done at the 5th and 6th level sometimes. If you know any middle/high school kids, ask them to for copies of some of their worksheets. The math tutor is also a good idea, because they will be able to customize to your needs.
But here's what I really did: I went to a book store and picked up the kind of thin workbooks you pick up for kids. They have the grade levels right on them. I actually started with grades 4, 5 and 6. Yes, you should breeze through these. I did have to practice on some areas with grades 9-12. There are dozens to choose from so pick the ones that look like they are leaning toward what you need.
The focus I think is making sure the foundation is solid before going on. There are so many 'teach yourself math' books it is crazy. One little one I really like was called 'No Fear Algebra'. It's just a tiny thing with straightforward exercises. I wish they had them for other areas. There are a couple of typos in it though that drove me crazy! Good luck! I think I will brush up at least once a year now, so that never happens again.
The 'Future of Food' is a must see.
For all of those here trying to figure out how farmers got wrapped up in this Monsanto patent mess, how many seeds are now extinct and how they bioengineered and somehow, 'unknowingly' cross pollinated with the farmers field then sued them, this film will explain it all. Most disturbing is the large number of names of top employees that used to work for Monsanto (whose seed is banned in many countries) are now employed by our own federal government EPA offices. Very disturbing.
What's worse is getting a project done on time and under budget and having nobody notice and nobody care and think it was just normal. But what is even worse, is doing this, then have the 'boss' change their mind and rip the whole thing out behind your back. I work for public schools and have it found it shocking how much this goes on. An example is a 25 computer lab I built in an old classroom that involved computers, tables, wiring, electrical, tables bolted to the floor, new AC, new paint, etc, etc. Just to have the super change their mind the next school year and rip the whole thing out and move it to a new building. The tables and computers got scattered (there was older stuff in the new location, so the software had to be installed again - more labor), the floor was left with holes. All new electrical outlets sat empty. The only thing fully salvagable was the software license that cost over 50K. many hours of workpower, planning and troubleshooting wasted, without a thought or a care.
We may have a long way to go, but it is worthwhile to take notes on this now, so when the FTC request for public comment regarding the DMCA happens again in 2009, we will be ready.
Musicland is another music brick/mortar chain that went under just last year. It is not the actual artists who are suffering just yet, but certainly the stores, the sales people, the corporate managers who cut the advertising deals with the artists who are all hitting the streets. The sad part is, the people you find in mall type music stores, are usually music lovers themselves, who are fairly knowledgeabe about the music you are looking for (Just ask any mom who is trying to find the hiphop for their kids birthday). They are not too involved with the dealings of the RIAA, who claims to be on their side. They just want to go to work the next day like anybody else. If they can't sell CD's, then they have no store. True, the Walmarts have hurt them, but those types of stores usually don't carry the variety a lot of buyers might be looking for.
So for all those who swear they will never purchase a CD again, think of you are really punishing. To get to the RIAA, you need to be political and know your legal rights. Anything less and you might just be kicking you best friend in the gutt.
Along with the Tickle Me Elmo rush, sneaks in a little gadget called 'Test Tube Aliens' which actually comes out of the UK. They are freaky little things that I haven't quite figured out, partly because they are all still in the package and I haven't had the chance to tear one apart yet.
They are a cross between those slimy grow things that you put in water, and a little robot, because there are sensors popping out of them (they are electronic). There is a little trick in how they respond to their own web site when you put them up to the monitor (they read a bar code). I laughed when I heard it from someone who swears his was 'talking' to the web site, but I still bought a bunch ($14.00 at KBToys and others) for my neices and nephews, and extra for me of course!
Web site is www.testtubealiens.com, but it doesn't have a good photo of the product.
The 'military' isn't just about Army and Navy enlisted. There are many thousands of engineers and scientists on board. If you've ever walked through the cubicles of Dept of Defense types, sometimes you will see what is called the 'I love me' wall. I once saw one with over 20 patent plaques on his wall. The Fed Gov gets all the patents, with a small percentage going to the inventor. How do you think all of those submarines, advanced weapons, space shuttles, stealth bombers, robots, and all of the other big, bad-ass pieces of military equipment got built?
"That's what happens with a fucking chick in public office."
How truly pathetic to see such vicious sexism on slashdot. Is this 2005,or 1905?
'The Really Big Button That Doesn't Do Anything'.
Maybe you had to be there, but this was when Mosaic was fading away and the first Netscape was available. Web pages were fairly new and most were grainy and gray. You found your way around by browsing, as Yahoo was just starting out.
I can't even remember what we were looking for at the time, I only remember somehow ending up at a Korean car dealer, then ending up at the button.
My husband, a friend and I had been drinking, and to come across that site back then, was just hysterical. There weren't too many other fads -- nothing else to goof on. I think the infamous Coffee Pot and the Door were about it.
The site up above is not the same, just a copy as the original went down years ago, so it doesn't have the same flair. The guy got so many hits and responses he couldn't handle it!! If only he had grasped he could probably make money on it!
Ok my eyes got blurry about half way down. This kind of solution can only work for serious techies, and leaves the ordinary user like my parents in a state of confusion.
This is what I have everyone do that comes to me with a spam problem:
You know who has your address.
You know where you shop.
You know what lists you've signed up for, etc.
Make a new folder or two, filter all the people, lists, etc. you know so they automatically arrive in your new folder(s).
That leaves all the spam in the default Inbox - just delete it all.
Really, if you go to a meeting and meet someone new and swap addresses, you know to look for a new incoming. You find it, then add it to your 'white list'.
Everyone spends way to much time trying to filter out the bad stuff, when it is much easier to simply grab the mail you know you should be receiving.
I agree with this comment the most. This is a clear case of when outsourcing is required. You are both in the middle of a move and trying to upgrade the infrastructure at the same time? This is where managements ignorance of technology and the 'it's all magic out of the box' mentality is simply dangerous.
Turn this quickly into a positive by explaining that while you understand the company's situation (hiring a person for this is expensive and unreasonable for many small companies), the fact remains that you are a programmer and not a network administrator. The best scenario is that the move and upgrade are outsourced, with you as project manager overseeing the installation. Even at this level, you will spend much, much more than 1% of your time. After a few months when the project is complete and all of the small kinks have been worked out, your time maintaining the network should drop to a reasonable two hours a week.
It is also helpful to make clear if your duties will be 'network' or 'help desk'. For this to be done right your boss should pick someone else for that.
If the network company works well for you, you keep them on retainer. I do that at my location (4000 users, 30+ servers), and I only need to call in the big guns around 5 times a year, at an average of 75 to 150 an hour depending on the project.
Also, the 'buy a book' comment once again proves how pointy-haired some managers can be. Since the average network book is around 600 - 1200 pages, it would take you a minimum of two weeks just to get through it, assuming you understood what you were reading. A quickie course can cost anywhere from $1000 to $8000 depending on the content. Is your boss willing to spend that on your education? Or would he rather spend it on outsourcing this properly?
You would be surprised at how many high school lit courses use "1984".
If Amazon can pull off a successful digital rights management for text, then I'm all for it. As long as it's the publics right being protected more than the copyright holder. I think that is the biggest glitch with DRM for entertainment media - no one can figure out how to do it so the public rights are not infringed upon. With music downloading, there is no real way to determine if you own a copy or not. I know some movie/music publishers have tried to include some sort of access code along with purchase, but it is all very cumbersome.
The thing is, a company as large and with such a dominating internet presence as Amazon, has the both the $$$ and the desire to invest in good old fashioned R&D, which is something the MPAA/RIAA has been to stubborn to do. They would rather pay lawyers and elected officials to do their bidding.
The bottom line is, if Amazon can pull this off, then they will have created a succesful model for others, which just doesn't exist right now.
I assure you- I was under the right story. I didn't even read this one and have no idea how it got here. I hit submit and it never showed up. Now I find my first try here?
I feel like one of those users who swear they didn't anything while sitting in front of a dead computer.
I don't know how this guy does it, who he knows, or how he keeps managing to BS his way into all of these things. Every bill he has attempted to pass has been so infantile in tech knowledge, so utterly chilling, and yet he just manages to do it again and again. And he doesn't even bother to learn, he just twists the words until they meet his agenda. He is like some scary Dilbert boss of the entertainment world, carelessly waving his laser pointer in everyone's eye. But for as much as he screws up (in the tech view anyway) he just keeps rising to the top!
This man is just exhausting already, and I wonder if that it the point. To take all of us who battle this now and just wear us out until we give up. As the years march by, it will simply become a way of life. Isn't there a word for that?
I don't know how this guy does it, who he knows, or how he keeps managing to BS his way into all of these things. Every bill he has attempted to pass has been so infantile in tech knowledge, so utterly chilling, and yet he just manages to do it again and again. And he doesn't even bother to learn, he just twists the words until they meet his agenda. He is like some scary Dilbert boss of the entertainment world, carelessly waving his laser pointer in everyone's eye. But for as much as he screws up (in the tech view anyway) he just keeps rising to the top!
This man is just exhausting already, and I wonder if that it the point. To take all of us who battle this now and just wear us out until we give up. As the years march by, it will simply become a way of life. Isn't there a word for that?
Weather monitoring station. Probably somewhere high up for the sensors, with a more convenient location for the display. Presumably, these will be LAN appliances some day, needing only ethernet.
Many already are. They attach to the roof and a cable runs down and connects to a digital weather display, which connects to the computer. If you run the server software, you can have the real-time weather stats updated on a web page. I don't know the residential cost for such a system, but it's almost free for education. If you are planning to build in a remote area, your local television weather station often grant funds the cost because it really helps them forcast the weather when they can get live information accross a grid. Check the schools in your area, many have been using equipment like this for years.
In many areas 'local' weather is actually reported from the next nearest city. For me that is around 30 miles away. But a school just 3 miles away has one, so I can get live wind speed (very helpful during a storm), rainfall, temp, etc that is more accurate for where I live. This display is what you see both on your computer and on the published web page.
Am I the only one who sees this differently? It reads to me like the the guy is arguing against ever using logs. He is just describing all of the things that can go wrong if they begin doing so. He doesn't actualy claim that this is a practice they have been doing all along. More like a lot of 'what if' statements.
In public schools we are forced to keep things fairly open. We couldn't even install SP2 until recently, because most of our 3rd party software vendors said no. If we installed anyway, we could void our service agreement. There are also many security options available in group policy that we can't use, because we run some of the weirdest reading, typing, history, math applications ever. Also, we can't lock floppy or usb ports, because students need to be able to get their homework back and forth.
We have a wireless network setup, and it is fairly open. So is our DHCP server. Because as a school we are also a training center for parents and other school memeber. Our classrooms are rented at night to adult ed, and the gym or auditorium can be used by a number of renters. When people bring their laptops in we need to make sure they can plug in or turn on and get out the internet. Schools live in a constant balance between being secure and being easily accessed by all. After all - we are 'Public'.
Digital Media Wire digitalmediawire.com (dated Nov 5)
x .htm
https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-p2pfilesharing
"
As I said, I don't always open this. I'm on a few lists that I just scan the headlines to see if anything is of interest to me. On Sunday the 14th I must have been going through old mail, cleaning things up when I spotted it. But I googled and used google news (and looked here) and nothing comes up for FTC comments. They put the call for comments out back in Oct. I did manage to get mine submitted, albiet a bit messy because I was so rushed.
"Briefly Noted: FTC - P2P public workshop, MSN Direct - movie listings, Destiny's Child album - release date, Mediaport - MusicATM, Jun Group - P2P TV show, DigitalContainers - Paperback Digital, Javien - micropayment aggregation engine, Silver Screen Studios - mobile movie distribution, Mforma - "Ducati Extreme," E-voting machines - more error reports"
"o Briefly Noted: (Washington) The Federal Trade Commission plans to hold a public workshop entitled, "Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing Technology: Consumer Protection and Competition Issues" on Dec. 15 and 16. The free workshop will be open to the public, and will discuss the uses of file-sharing; its role in the economy; identifying associated risks; and its impact on copyright holders. The FTC is seeking public comments for the workshop, including studies, surveys, research, and other empirical data related to P2P file-sharing, which may be submitted electronically on its website. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/filesharing/inde
In the K12 environment, we are particularly caught up with this ping-pong match. Most of our software vendors don't support SP2, and claim it can nullify our service agreements. This has been going on for months. We run some curriculum packages that run over the web, and the pop-up blockers stop them cold. To put on SP2 means to go back and undo most of the defaults.
One interesting note is that Windows Movie Maker, always a separate install in the past, is now integrated into SP2 - you cannot install the new Movie Maker without installing SP2, but installing SP2 can inadvertently disable several of our weird reading, writing and math programs already installed on the computer.
On the home front - we have two IBM thinkpads, different years/models - one took SP2 fine, the other BSODed causing us to go back to Last Known Good, adding a few more service packs, then trying again.
I agree. I searched high and low on slashdot and was surprised that it wasn't already here. That's why I posted what I could, even though I knew it was late. I found out from an not-often-looked at tech list that I'm on. Maybe the FTC didn't advertise this one properly? Or maybe (conspiracy theory) the usual **AA helped keep it quiet? It seems wired or some other tech mag would have had notice.
Microsoft Easyball - we use them in spec ed classrooms all the time. Photo:
o /MicrosoftEasyball.html
http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/pcprot
I work in schools and whenever I have even two minutes, I push safety online and ethics. They know how to use computers, they see them in school, most at home, in libraries, at friends. I remind them even though they've heard the speech before about chatting with strangers, why don't they listen? Why do think they can go to the mall and meet a stranger without telling an adult? I let them know that just 3 years ago only around 400 kids world wide had been snatched by meeting someone online. That number is now in the thousands. Yes, I scare them, but I try to do it gently.
10 Year-old kids are very confused about 'copyright'. Is it illegal to download or not? How do they know? This is something teachers never bother to talk about with a 10 year-old, but if you ever really sat down with a few, these are the very questions they will ask you. They don't want to be bad. They don't want to break the law. They want to be cool and hip and know the score. If you have the chance, you tell them the score. Trust me - you will have their ear.
The last thing I would talk about (yes, all this in only 10 minutes!!!!) is understanding the game rating system. Real simple: Ask them, what kinds of games do you play? (watch the parents become all clueless) Gaurentee they will pop out a few "M" games, even GTA, etc. They will think they are soooooo cool and start looking at each other like - Well I played so and so, etc. My Dad lets me do this. I played at my Uncles, etc. Then you ask them - do your parents let you watch a movie that's rated "R"? Noooooo, they say. We would get in trouble for that. So you let them know that "M" is the same thing as "R" for movies, and watch how fast they change the subject. Watch how it goes from cool to, well, I only really looked at it, I didn't get very far. Again, 10 year-olds want to be cool, but they don't want to be bad. Can you do all this in 10 minutes? YES! Because you really only have about 2 minutes per topic - yes 2! That is the zone out time limit on kids, anything after that and they have tuned you out. So you spend around 2 minutes on each of these, just get your point accross. Then let them know that it is time to ask questions. Different kids will have been inspired by differnt topics - girls want to know how to be safe, boys want to know more about copyright They probably won't ask much more about games, they got the point the first time. but they may start asking if this game or that game is ok. Enjoy
I'm in K12 ed, and if I had my way, I would have Macs in all the elem schools, Windows/MS in the middle schools, and Linux at the high schools. Sadly, such a proposition is far too expensive for school systems to acheive. It is bottom line rule-of-thumb, that it is exponentionally more expensive to run more than one OS infrastructure. From needing gateways to connect to dissimilar systems, extra training each time a staff switches from one school to another, extra admin, extra licenses, have to by software in every flavor, etc.(like buying a Math Blaster Cd for Windows, then having to buy it again for the Mac) It all adds up to a lot. Administration, in any and all buildings, must absolutely run on the same system, end of story on that one.
I've always been of the notion that if a school has a lot of macs, then gather them up and at least put all in one or two labs in one building. Makes maintaining and admin much easier if they are all in one spot.
Alas, standard K12 could never afford my vision. But I do think higher ed should be more responsible in making sure that students learn that there is more than one type of computer out there.