Month: December 2011

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Tar Him, Feather Him and Give Him a Box of Matches to Play With

Read:

When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids

and

Revealed: School board member who took standardized test

And get back with me. I’ll be playing the Jeopardy Theme…

Back now?

I got hold of a pdf of the “test” this moron with 2 masters degrees (in education, of course) took. His carping (from a summation by his interviewer), “The math section, he said, tests information that most people don’t need when they get out of school,” is typical. Of COURSE most people will never NEED to have at their fingertips the information that there are 360 degrees in a circle and that the hours of a clock face (obviously–duh: 360/12) divide those degrees up into 30-degree chunks. (see pic below) That’s just ONE way to get the correct answer, without guessing, to one of the easy-peasy questions on the maths test. But, as Lovely Daughter pointed out to me in email, such problems as that particular question posed ARE easily answered with very simple reasoning, no math needed.

*sigh*

And so it proved for the entire math test. Indeed, most of those questions that weren’t simple addition, subtraction, multiplication or division (4th grade stuff, at best) HAD THE FORMULAS PROVIDED TO SOLVE THEM! The rest? Any formulas or processes were blatantly obvious to anyone competent in sixth to eighth grade math.

All the unthinking test taker needed to do with such fare would be to plug the data into their (provided) calculator.

Simple, basic reasoning ability and the ability to read simple text and follow directions: that’s ALL the test measured.

His gripe about the math test is that no one he knows needs to know any of that information, so kids shouldn’t be tested on it? Well, they’re not. The test is a math test like a “driver’s test” at a kiddie bumper-car ride is Le Mans. The test is simply a test of whether those taking it can think their way out of a wet paper bag.

And the guy’s gripe about the reading test?

“On the FCAT, they are reading material they didn’t choose. They are given four possible answers and three out of the four are pretty good. One is the best answer but kids don’t get points for only a pretty good answer. They get zero points, the same for the absolute wrong answer…”

Well, duh. It’s a TEST, dumbass! Do employees choose all their reading material at work, or do they have to follow directions? Do people really WANT to read the directions for taking a prescription medication? Is “reading” but not comprehending such material really a Good Thing? OF COURSE reading COMPREHENSION is a survival and success attribute, but this guy thinks kids should only be quizzed on whatever they WANT to read, and that getting wrong answers is just as good as actually understanding the printed word and being able to use information thus transmitted to get correct answers.

This guy’s a perfect example of those things that are wrong with education in America. We’d all be better of if he and his ilk were placed on chain gangs making little rocks out of big ones. For life.

Note: while I am absolutely convinced that there is ample evidence to assert that “education departments” of colleges and universities are intellectual wastelands largely populated by the least intellectually gifted attending college or university, I also know a number of standout exceptions to that rule. There are good teachers who are bright, capable and hard-working. Unfortunately, I think the evidence is strong that those who combine those characteristics are not the norm in education.

My hat’s off to good teachers everywhere. Sadly, I don’t feel I need tip it all that often.

Continue reading “Tar Him, Feather Him and Give Him a Box of Matches to Play With”

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Holiday Decorating Suggestions

This year, instead of decorating a tree, why not string lights and tinsel on the work piled up on your desk, or spread holly and ivy over that sink full of dirty dishes or decorate the stack of laundry sitting in the laundry basket?

Win-win-win-win…

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How To Get Rid of Telemarketers

…or at least “fine” them for calling. While it might inconvenience some callers you might want to speak with, having your only phone forward to a 900 number (in your company’s name–“Telemarketers, Welcome!” or some such) that charges $5 or $10 a minute might–just maybe–hold down the number of telemarketing calls you would receive.

And you could always offer your mom a refund.

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I’ll Give You One Guess

But if your answer is “TEA Party Rally” I’ll recommend an Assisted Computing Facility (“Here, dearie, let me make that mouse click for you… “) for you to go live in.

(Found via a lower-rez offering on FB; have no idea where the source might be)

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Happy Hookers to All…

…and to all, a heartfelt shafting.

Well, it’s that time of year once again, when a national jewelry chain runs its ads with advice on how to please prostitutes. You know the ads,

“Every kiss begins with [an expensive gift of jewelery from said jewelery chain]”

So, just remember guys, if you have to pay for it–beginning with “every kiss”–you’re just a John being serviced by a whore. Just keep in mind what this jewelry chain says this season is really all about (and wait for February when it’ll remind you how to pay for Valentine’s Day “kisses”).

Don’t you just love public service minded companies like this one?

Continue reading “Happy Hookers to All…”

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Deconstructing “Zarkon”

…and other mildly compgeeky stuff.

Yes, Zarkon is the “desktop” (well, even though it’s a mini-tower, it’s on a desktop :-)) I refurbed recently with a new mobo and processor. I also decided that was the time to extract the very nice, older tech (IDE) DVDRW drive and put it in its own case, for use with certain applications on some computers lacking DVD drives. So, I ended up buying a Vantec NexStar DX enclosure from Newegg.

Like it. Nice heavy gauge aluminum, minimal plastic, very well designed. Installing the drive was “do-it-in-my-sleep” easy-peasy. Plugged the thing in, turned it on, plugged in the USB cable (to one of my 13 USB ports–*heh*), and it just worked. Next up will be installing some software to a netbook. Yeh, I know I could place the installation files on a flash drive and do it that way, but I just don’t want to, and now I don’t have to. I’ve been meaning to do something like this for quite some time, but just hadn’t. Inertia, I suppose. With streaming media and most of my installs of software (and music and videos) coming from downloads, I’ve used the drive less and less over time, so having it transmogrified into an external drive won’t impact my use of this computer much, if at all, and now I’ve actually gained functionality.

Win-win, IMO.

OTOH, so far, an attempt to turn an “old” netbook into a barebones HTPC has been unsuccessful. Failed at the point of video out to TV via a piece of equipment that should work, but doesn’t. On two different notebooks. Oh, well. At least this works like a champ–better, even, than the Hauppaugge card in Zarkon:

Funny thing (or not), the software that came with the tuner was unable to find any TV channels to tune, either OTA or via cable. The lack of tunable OTA channels was no surprise, since that’s why we have cable TV. *heh* WMC, however, found (and tuned in) all we can normally tune (the ones we pay for:-)) and six others (that we do not;-)). Of course we won’t watch the ones it’ll tune that we aren’t paying for.

Good lil tuner.

Update: the failure of the VGA-to-TV equipment was a documentation failure. Following the included instructions for setting a pair of DIP switches scrambled the signal to garbage. Since there are only two switches, the possible combinations were few (especially since I already knew that the setting the documentation mandated did not work *heh*), and I was able to effect a workable setting on my second try. Still not a decent HTPC solution, since the lil netbook’s wimpy processor and sparse memory caused WMC to be extremely slllloooooowwww. Still, all parts–including the WMC-enabled USB dongle and remote–work, for very sluggish values of “work”. 🙂 Now, I just need to assemble another, more capable box to use for an HTPC connected to that TV.

‘nother Update:

Ah feels muchly better now, Ah does. *heh* Zarkon’s new (faster, double-sized, better-matched to the processor) memory came in today. Popped it in ‘n’ booted him up. Sweetness. Happy campers have nothin’ on me.

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*sigh* eWeek Can’t Issue a Simple Warning About Malware Without Screwing Up the Lede

FBI Issues Warning about Phishing Attack. That’s a good thing to pass around, but eWeek’s Fahmida Y. Rashid needs to take some remedial English classes. Note the lede:

“FBI warned of a new spear-phishing campaign that tricks users into downloading Zeus malware and then looting their bank accounts.”

While one can infer that the author meant to say that the malware seeks to loot users’ bank accounts, that’s not what the sentence says. The lil “and” indicates the two linked phrases are equivalents referring to the phishing campaign” that “tricks users” into two actions: “downloading” and “looting”. While that’s obviously not what the author intended to say, it’d help promote literacy if the author would say what she means, viz.,

“FBI warned of a new spear-phishing campaign that tricks users into downloading Zeus malware which then attempts to loot their bank accounts.”

But, in terms of the warning, only very (very) stupid people will be fooled by this phishing malware attempt. Would YOU click on a link in a (SPAM!) message that purports to come from “the National Automated Clearing House Assocation (NACHA)” and tells you the link is to reset your banking credentials? If so, I have some great ocean front property in New Mexico I’d like to sell you and a bridge located in Brooklyn I just know would interest you.

Oh, and this absolutely stupid comment from another eWeek article by the same author really takes the cake:

It’s difficult for the savviest Internet user to identify some of the latest scams.

That was in the context of email inbox filtering to filter out dangerous attachments and other email. Really? It’s difficult for anyone with more active brain cells than a 10-year-old cracked crock of spoiled kimchi to identify some of the latest scams? Really? Ocean front property and a bridge in Brooklyn…

And the author follows that statement, in a paragraph “debunking” the idea that training users will enhance network security, with this:

While technology can be patched, the human brain can’t.

OK, I may have to give him that one. In fact, I’ll admit that he’s a good data point in support of the assertion.

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I Had An Affair With Herman Cain!

From 1986 to 1996, Herman Cain and I had an ongoing affair. Over many dozens of encounters, Herman made me pizzas, even bringing them to my home, a sure sign of his devotion.

Oh, wait. You say he was chairman of Godfather’s Pizza? Hmmm, perhaps our relationship wasn’t as close as I thought. And on second thought, the Domino’s guys who delivered didn’t really look all that much like Cain, either.

Darn. In the current Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind Cain bashing kerfuffle, “I coulda been a contenda.”

Oh, well. At least my claim is more believable than that from Cain’s latest accuser. As Ann Coulter put it,

Gennifer Flowers produced taped telephone calls with Clinton totaling thousands of words between them, with him counseling her on how to deny their affair: “If they ever hit you with it, just say no, and go on. There’s nothing they can do … But when they — if somebody contacts you, I need to know … All you got to do is deny it.”

Paula Jones had multiple same-day witnesses — including the state troopers who worked for Clinton and had already told the press about a “Paula” they brought to Clinton’s hotel room. And that was for a single incident.

Monica Lewinsky had lots of gifts from Clinton, including a hat pin, two brooches, a marble bear figurine, a T-shirt from Martha’s Vineyard and Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” all of which she mysteriously placed with Clinton’s secretary, Betty Currie, during the investigation, as well as a semen-stained dress, which Monica kept.

Ginger White claims she had a 13-year affair with Cain — and all she has are two books with inscriptions that could have been written to an auto mechanic who waited in line at a Cain book signing. Even her business partner during the alleged affair says White never mentioned Cain’s name.

These women are like triple-A ball players with the stats being: number of bankruptcies, smallest bank account, number of liens, most false claims, number of children out of wedlock, degrees of separation from David Axelrod, total trips to human resources and so on.

OK, Ann, no need to spike the ball.