Comment Re:Wise choice (Score 1) 204
I just hope they block overseas views so our taxes don't pay for that bandwidth. Just like the the BBC does with it's feeds.
You do realize that nearly four million Americans live overseas, don't you?
-Grey
Submission + - How Would You Improve Homework? 1
Wellington Grey writes: "A Penn State study on homework find that more homework is not helpful:
"Instead of improving educational achievement in countries around the world, increases in homework may actually undercut teaching effectiveness," says David P. Baker. "Most teachers are not making efficient use of homework, they assign homework mostly as drill, to improve memorization of material either in math, science or the humanities."
My school has a policy that recommends about six hours of homework a night. A lot of this work seems like busy work that is not always beneficial to the students. What do you think is the appropriate amount of homework? More importantly, what would you do to improve the quality of homework? What kind of activities should the students be engaging in that aren't just math-drills?"
"Instead of improving educational achievement in countries around the world, increases in homework may actually undercut teaching effectiveness," says David P. Baker. "Most teachers are not making efficient use of homework, they assign homework mostly as drill, to improve memorization of material either in math, science or the humanities."
My school has a policy that recommends about six hours of homework a night. A lot of this work seems like busy work that is not always beneficial to the students. What do you think is the appropriate amount of homework? More importantly, what would you do to improve the quality of homework? What kind of activities should the students be engaging in that aren't just math-drills?"
Comment Re:The 99% Solution (Score 1) 902
After an entire generation of all males I think the stigma against females will evaporate rather rapidly.
I think they'll just keep the stigma and develop sex bots instead.
Submission + - Which printer won't rip me off?
Wellington Grey writes: "My old inkjet printer died on me today, and after the number of stories we've had on Slashdot about the dirty tricks that printer companies pull — from misreporting ink levels to DRM and preventing refills — I wanted to know if slashdotters had any printers they can actually recommend. I don't do a lot of printing, perhaps 50 pages a week, but I don't want to support any companies that try and deceive their customers or sell products designed to fail."
Comment Well Damn it! (Score 2, Interesting) 449
New Zealand was on the top of my non-crazy countries to move to list (here - NSFW, maybe) in nine months. Any other suggestions out there?
Submission + - How Would You Divide Up North America? (wsj.com)
Wellington Grey writes: "A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by a russian professor predicts the break up of the United States into four separate regions. It strikes me as politically tone deaf, with predictions such as Utah aligning with California, or Tennessee and the Carolinas joining New England. So I ask my dear, fellow Americans: if you were in charge of dividing the USA into more manageable sections, how would you do it?"
Comment Re:Links (Score 1) 668
Comment Re:Let's have a closer look (Score 2, Interesting) 668
Orange user here -- your second link to the image was viewable earlier this morning but is now giving the same "Object not found" error as the wikipedia page itself. Someone is busy updating the lists...
-Grey
-Grey
Submission + - Geek Friendliest Countries to Live in?
Wellington Grey writes: "Several years ago, my wife and I left the United States and went to live in London. Now after being there for five years, we are again looking to move. I would like to ask slashdot: what countries are the most geek-friendly places to live? This would include (obviously) access to the Internet, IP laws and how up-to-date the government is (i.e. Estonia). But were also concerned about less obviously geeky things like how the culture accepts people who are different from the mainstream. Any advice would be helpful. (Also, national healthcare and a pony would be nice.)"
Submission + - Alternative solutions to daylight saving time?
Wellington Grey writes: "Daylight saving time is shortly upon us. The arguments about its possible benefits and drawbacks come up twice every year. Does it save energy or lives? Possibly but it does definitely cause a great deal of inconvenience. My ask slashdot question is this: what do you think would be the best possible system to replace DTS with? What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year and still foster coordination over disparate time zones?"
Submission + - What Will Apple Be Like Without Steve Jobs?
Wellington Grey writes: "Steve Jobs is normally a man who controls the spotlight, but at the most recent apple event announcing the new macs, he conspicuously gave a lot of stage time to the other top men of Apple. This has fueled a lot of rumors that the great man may be stepping down. There are few companies where the personality of the CEO is so infused in his products so the question is: what will apple be like without Steve Jobs?"
Submission + - Catholics seek legal status for embryos (reuters.com)
Wellington Grey writes: "France's Roman Catholic Church has called for embryos to be given a clear legal status following a court decision that let parents of miscarried fetuses enter them with a name in the official civil registry.
"The Church's position is that we must act as if the embryo were a person," he told the Rennes daily Ouest-France. "We protect endangered animals so we should protect people too.""
Submission + - The Boing Boing Baby (boingboing.net)
Wellington Grey writes: "Yesterday morning in London, one of the founders of Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow had a baby. The world welcomes Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow."
Submission + - Should we have the right to breed? 11
An anonymous reader writes: I just finished reading Garret Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons and I'm having a little trouble coming to grips with it. In the essay Hardin argues that in a world with finite resources we must stabilize the population at less than the carrying capacity in order to maintain quality of life. However, "Confronted with appeals to limit breeding, some people will undoubtedly respond to the plea more than others. Those who have more children will produce a larger fraction of the next generation than those with more susceptible consciences. The differences will be accentuated, generation by generation." Hardin therefore suggests that we must legally restrict freedom to breed.
However such restrictions would require a invasion of our privacy to a degree that strikes me as simply intolerable. But I'm curious, what do slashdot readers think? Is Hardin's logic sound? If it is, is controlling the population important enough that we should give up what we have long accepted as some of our most basic rights in order to achieve it?
However such restrictions would require a invasion of our privacy to a degree that strikes me as simply intolerable. But I'm curious, what do slashdot readers think? Is Hardin's logic sound? If it is, is controlling the population important enough that we should give up what we have long accepted as some of our most basic rights in order to achieve it?
Submission + - On Point On the New Anti-Americanism (onpointradio.org) 2
Wellington Grey writes: "On Point recently did a show on the new Anti-Americanism. While Anti-Americanism has existed since the country emerged as the world's only superpower, the program stresses the differences and dangers of the current situation.
Anti-Americanism could be brushed off in the past because it was a small, if vocal, group espousing the idea. The problem is now that Anti-American sentiment abroad is no longer countered by a general population with positive feelings toward the US. Positive thoughts, even in America's allies, are now difficult to find.
Take, for example, Turkey. Ten years ago it was one of the most pro-American countries in the world, with Turkish support of the US at over 90%. Currently, support for the US is less than 9%.
From the show's summary: You want to know about anti-Americanism in the world? Here's the unhappy conclusion of a big-time panel of Republican and Democratic heavyweights, out yesterday: "America's reputation, standing, and influence are at all-time lows, and possibly sinking further."
Never in our history, says the report, have we, as a nation, been so poorly regarded in the world. And that has consequences. When America tries to lead, who follows? And if America stands too much alone, can it possibly prosper? Can it ever be safe?"
Anti-Americanism could be brushed off in the past because it was a small, if vocal, group espousing the idea. The problem is now that Anti-American sentiment abroad is no longer countered by a general population with positive feelings toward the US. Positive thoughts, even in America's allies, are now difficult to find.
Take, for example, Turkey. Ten years ago it was one of the most pro-American countries in the world, with Turkish support of the US at over 90%. Currently, support for the US is less than 9%.
From the show's summary: You want to know about anti-Americanism in the world? Here's the unhappy conclusion of a big-time panel of Republican and Democratic heavyweights, out yesterday: "America's reputation, standing, and influence are at all-time lows, and possibly sinking further."
Never in our history, says the report, have we, as a nation, been so poorly regarded in the world. And that has consequences. When America tries to lead, who follows? And if America stands too much alone, can it possibly prosper? Can it ever be safe?"
