Now blogging on a Windows lappie

I looked at the MSI Wind and Asus 1000 with every intention of installing OSX. But in the end, I decided to go for a full-size craptop and install Ubuntu Linux. But now... after running Vista for a few weeks... I am no longer interested in my Ubuntu partition! How did this happen???

It all started about a month ago. When my MacBook display had a high-speed collision with the living room floor. Now blackie is hooked up to life support (a 19" monitor for use at work).

Then the Walmart sold me a Compaq for $299. And Best Buy offered an identical HP G50(though upgraded with Intel core 2 duo) for $279. The last deal even included a free printer. Thanks Black Friday.

I customized the HP and used PING to restore everything onto the Compaq. Now I have a matched set for me and the missus. And a funny thing happened... I decided that I like Vista better than Ubuntu.

Occasionally, I get serious Unix withdrawals but the Vista UI is more polished and friendly than Ubuntu. Of course I still use Mozilla & Open Office software and that made the Vista transition easier. And I can't imagine what I'd do without Launchy and Rocketdock.

Movie clips too violent for school?

I have shown parts of R-rated films in class but have never ventured to show a full-length "R" movie.  Is that common sense or just a prudish overreaction to sex, foul-language, and violence?

/really hoping I'm not a prude

Elmbrook schools consider restrictions on R-rated films in classrooms - JSOnline

A Brookfield East High School history teacher's notice to parents that he might show clips or full lengths of those R-rated films - as well as "Glory" and "Mississippi Burning" - has drawn protests from two families who say R-rated movies have no place in school.

Teens getting dumber?

It's official - Teens are getting dumber - ParentDish

The study reviewed test scores of 800 thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds and compared them with similar tests of teens from 1976, a generation ago. The results? In one test, only one in ten of the current teens tested with top scores, down from one in four twenty years ago. In another, only one in twenty reached the top score compared to one in five from the 1976 batch. Professor Michael Shayer, who lead the study, believes the educational focus on testing (rather than learning) is at least partially to blame. Focusing on testing leaves little time for teaching development skills such as those required in the tests that were part of the study.

Primarily, however, Shayer believes that television and video games are responsible for the decline. Participating in these "non" activities leads to a lack of being involved in other things such as playing with gadgets and tools which develop higher level thinking. The UK education system has responded that measures were being taken to "ease the burden" of testing. According to the article in the Mail Online, the UK government had also scrapped the SATs for fourteen-year-olds.

Still need a majority to win...

Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's the Educated vs. People Easily Fooled by Propaganda | Media and Technology | AlterNet

Millions of Americans live in a non-reality-based belief system informed by childish clichés - they can barely differentiate between lies and truth.

Rhee on unions

New York Times: A School Chief Takes On Tenure, Stirring a Fight

Tenure is the holy grail of teacher unions,” she said, “but has no educational value for kids; it only benefits adults. If we can put veteran teachers who have tenure in a position where they don’t have it, that would help us to radically increase our teacher quality. And maybe other districts would try it, too.

Time for the U.S. to wage a unilateral war on world hunger

ecosalon :: the green gathering :: Could Just 4 of the Wall Street Bailout End World Hunger

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that it would only take $30 billion a year to launch the necessary agricultural programs to completely solve global food insecurity. (Severe hunger afflicts 862 million people annually.)

$30 billion sounds like a lot of money, but considering we've just bailed out Wall Street to the tune of nearly a trillion, it's trifling. After I did a little digging, all I could think was...really? $30 billion is all we need to end world hunger? That's it? I thought such a major goal would require some unreachable, vast sum. Here are six things I learned we're doing with that money instead.

Pregant? Put down the coffee and soda pop.

Even a little caffeine may harm fetus, study finds | Reuters

Women who drank one to two cups of coffee daily, or between 100-199 milligrams, had a 20 percent increased risk of having a baby of low birth weight, the study found. This was compared to women who consumed less than 100 milligrams daily.