OS/2 died because it didn't have a cool logo like a penguin or a window... ...and the nuns (remember the commercial for Warp?) just weren't as cute as Mr. Gates (which, indeed, is sad...)

Hey, I not only have the disk, but an old 5.25 drive I'm using as a door stop in my shed! (as well as a 10 *meg* Maxtor drive...)

Same story...wrote a game in Basic and Machine Language (yay Apple IIe!) but didn't get the 'A' because I had too many sub-routines that crashed the system ('you know you can't use more than 64K!' my science teacher would bellow...).

BUT, I also have an archive of all the news articles I wrote for a publications office (back when UPI was UPI) on 5.25.

God, are we that old? Don't they kill us off when we hit 40?

And, yes, my wife complains every time I unpack them...

aren't I being truthful?

Compute *that*. (shameless Star Trek reference)

Oh, and first post.

You taste it, silly.

Takes the bitter edge off. A clear example of how chemistry (as well as physics) amplify a cooks expertise!

This is why I picked Chemistry!

Want an example? Put a pinch of salt in your coffee tomorrow morning...

I *still* can't bake a decent cake from scratch!

I have been teaching over 10 years. Special Education. Behavior students. High School. 2nd Career.

And I'm about to quit.

Paying more money only perpetuates the bureaucracy that puts bad teachers in place. I am tired of working hard only to have more work (and restrictions) put on me because I am able to do it. I am tired of having to dodge lawsuits from parents because I can not prevent their 16 year old from failing or committing felonies. I am tired of other teachers telling me that I work too hard but that they could never do what I do.

And...I am tired of having to defend myself from people who have never spent more than an hour in a classroom telling me that I'm not smart/skilled/politically adept enough to function as a teacher. (I won't bore you with a resume proving I'm smart enough...the ACT score of 30 from 25 years ago should be sufficient).

I know who the bad teachers are. Unfortunately, they are also the most politically/socially adept. They are also the ones who are quick to remind administration that I'm not as good as they are (yet I put in 80 hour work weeks).

We are not rewarded for doing well. We are rewarded for not being a problem. Squeaky wheels get greater scrutiny as does classrooms with children whose parents threaten lawsuits. Those are the teachers who get disciplined.

Want to improve schools and/or teaching? Scrap the system and rebuild from the ground up.

Feel free to continue to blame bad teachers or nurture or poverty or whatever. Reality is that none of it will appreciably change unless enough people realize that the system that served them is no longer serving their children.

I've already asked my family and church to put me in a blender and drink me as a smoothie; add fruit and wheat germ...and viola'! ...I'm a big guy, so I could solve the Appalachian hunger problem for a day or two...

I (and my father) are named Rick Roll!

Oh, and Microsoft has deep pockets... ....oooooo....chaching!

Seriously, I am so tired of these meme. I still have students coming up to me, read my name tag, and ask..."is that really your name?" and giggle incessantly...

...that, if you send me $100, I will gladly keep track of your passwords for you.

If you should ever forget your password, you would only have to send me $10 for me to release your passwords back to you. ...You can trust me, I'm a prince.

Do you know how many necessary payments do NOT allow paying online?

Car Insurance
Water Bill
Local Hospital
      and this is just my personal list.

Not to mention signed contracts...I refinanced my house this past year...

Do I really live in podunk, USA, that I have to use over 40 stamps a year?

No wonder geeks are social pariahs.

Social Skill 101 -- do unto others what you want done unto you.

'nuff said.

Doctor, Timmy is getting in trouble in school.

How does he get in trouble?

The teacher says he is too active and might have ADHD.

Have you seen a counselor about this?

No, we can't afford one!

Well, let's try a round of Adderall...

This might seem oversimplistic, but I teach a high school 'behavior intervention' classroom and deal with parents all the time who have the same concerns/issues. More often than anyone will admit, many of the issues related to behavior have to do with cost/consequences...and parents who will not/can not engage the reality of their children's behavior (It's not their fault! They are just picking on Timmy!).

Often, the teachers are just as guilty making these recommendations as the doctors--it is illegal for a teacher to recommend/suggest that a child has to be medicated to attend school, but it happens. And many 'poor' parents do not have the background/education to question the recommendation. So, they go to the doctor and tell them that Timmy has to have medicine to attend school.

The fun part in all this is watching the merry-go-round of meds that a child will/will not take to modify their behavior. For some kids, it is necessary to function. For most, it is not.

By the time they get to high school, many are dependent on the meds to function.

Yea, well her English teacher father edited a little...but only a little.

I cut out the "y'know" 's and "like" 's.

1.Use an old literary device (time travel)

2.Tweak the canonized story *just enough* to justify plot twists later in the story

3.Hire buff/beautiful new actors (I miss Uhura's ample posterior...)

4.Recolor/streamline the visual pallet ...and viola! New franchise.

Keep the old viewers happy by giving cameos/plot twists to the old actors (I understand why they couldn't let Shatner in the movie...but he *will* need to make an appearance), keep the younger viewers happy with culturally signifcant drama (notice the similarities in the movie to plot devices in One Tree Hill and Smallville).

I hate to admit it, but I liked it.

My sixteen year-old daughter summed it up:

"That's the best movie I've seen in a long time, and it doesn't hurt that Kirk is easy on the eyes..."

Created a very efficient (and powerful!) ballista that almost shot my brother's eye out at 20 feet (I was aiming for his nose; missed by *that* much) while my father was watching a football game.

But don't tell him that, he still believes it was an accident...he still might not forgive me after 30 years...