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Comment Re:I see something like that as well (Score 1) 94

There is also a very easy way around it and one that is pedagogically sound: Give students generous time in exams. I do that routinely because I think the "time" angle in skills test (and IQ tests) is nonsense in mental tests. Somebody that can understand and use a thing is vastly superior to somebody that cannot do it. Whether they can do it fast or slow does really not matter much or at all. Hence what happens with my "more time" students is that they do not get any specific advantage, most do not even take the extra time on my exams. The ones with real issues are all fine with that and I guess these are the only ones I see here.

Of course, this requires exams that actually test insight and skills, not just memorization (which is mostly worthless anyways today) or training. And these take much more time to make and much more time to correct and (gasp!) the person making the exam actually has to have a real clue about their subject! It is surprising how often that is not the case in academic teaching.

The questionable definition of “disabled” today, reflects considerable coddling that likely isn’t justified for many given the hockey-stick shaped statistical chart tracking that. That is already a handicap for them in adulthood. Perhaps we not coddle them further and assume “slow and easy” is a speed their boss won’t use to replace them. Quickly.

Reality comes fast and hard the minute you step off that graduation stage. Are we helping or hurting with more college tolerance? What should have been left behind in high school? Anything at all? America moves at the speed of greed.

Timed tests have been around for a very long time. If they were that crippling, why would it have not have shown itself in society, long ago? And in the test results?

Comment Re:shame on you slashdot (Score 1) 94

>"If you don't want to put your name to what you say then you're not worth giving a shit about. The AC thing has run it's course. There's no point in having it anymore. All it does is allow fuckwits to unleash their most fuckwitttest version of themselves."

I don't even think it needs to be your "name". (Note, you don't use your name.... I actually do, but that was my choice). At least requiring a login so there is some "handle" to show previous activity and positions is useful. And there is still a reputation to protect, even if it is not a person's actual name/identity. So I agree with you on the "AC" stuff on Slashdot. It is abused as a way to just attack positions or people without any reference.

I say this but am FIERCELY against platforms requiring verified "ID" in order to post. Even if they allow a public-facing alias. For me, that is a bright red line. And we are already crossing that line very quickly in this backwards methodology of "saving the children" when the real problem are having access to unrestricted devices, not the platforms, themselves.

Comment Re:"disabled" (Score 1) 94

>professors "struggle to accommodate the many students with an official disability designation,"

Do they also get to bring their "emotional support animals" to the test?

>"At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent."

Why does that not surprise me.

If the kids are looking for the real surprise, it’s at the bottom of the box.

When “disabled” college students graduate and find out what “word” got added to the default rejection filter at LinkedIn.

Then they’ll find out the value of honesty and integrity.

Comment Have you met these Presidential candidates? (Score 2) 94

Yeah, they do have anxiety issues. The school will also provide doctors for the diagnosis. Maybe my sample is small, but the schools I've seen are all that way.... And yeah, sheltered Betty/Bob are going to have a rougher time because they had helicopter parents and can't wipe their own noses. I'm not competing with them in the workforce so let them pay tuition to help fund others.

Not competing? Citizens campaigning to run entire countries had to compete against what society turned a blind eye to. And lost.

America ended up with a DEI administration comprised of a man suffering from dementia (an actual disability) that was normalized and dismissed while labeling critics liars, and a wholly incompetent VP suffering from sobriety and word salad mouth that was normalized with random cackles, while labeling critics sexist.

Yeah. I’d say Average Joe is gonna be competing in the United States of Coddled.

Downmod the truth all you want. Doesn’t change it.

Comment How you fix it. (Score 0) 94

Undoubtably an incredible amount of, we’ll call it “consideration and accommodation” to be kind, has been going on all throughout early and latter educational years to allow this problem to grow to stress resources at the university level.

It would appear a LOT more now have some sort of qualifying disability to enable a benefit on timed tests and education in general. A disabled statistical increase not unlike the LGBTQ+ hockey stick chart that suggests all of Gen Beta will be gay, bi, or trans. Somehow.

If we suspect the new campus arrivals are perhaps not exactly disabled and are gaming the system, gently remind that grown-ass adult college freshman that in a Recession, the fastest way employers might filter out potential hires in the future without having to absorb this newfound university stress in their business, is to add one word to the rejection filter. I’m betting we’ll have a drastic reduction in the statistics. And those who are actually disabled can be properly recognized and provided for again.

Society already watered down “racist” to mean nothing, and make actual racism damn near invisible among the noise and bullshit. Do not punish “disabled” like that, because spoiled liars.

Comment "disabled" (Score 1) 94

>professors "struggle to accommodate the many students with an official disability designation,"

Do they also get to bring their "emotional support animals" to the test?

>"At Brown and Harvard, more than 20 percent of undergraduates are registered as disabled. At Amherst, that figure is 34 percent."

Why does that not surprise me.

Comment Fuck your Feelings. (Score 1) 51

Is Ruby still a 'serious' programming language?

As opposed to what? A ‘funny’ language?

Is Ruby still an optimum language or valid choice, is the correct way to frame that question.

The fucking compiler is only worried about how ‘serious’ you are when you feed it a joke of a coding session after assuming those two bong hits would give your mind Redbull “wings” at 2AM.

Stop with the emotional association already. Coddling shit like this will get you sued by AI for ‘emotional distress’ when you ask the wrong question.

Comment Re:"highly creative hypochondriac" (Score 1) 52

>"But I would say that insurance should pay if the scan turns up anything requiring medical attention - early detection saves money."

I would say it is very unlikely any insurance will retroactively pay for a non-medically-indicated (non-physician-ordered and with justification) scan. Even if it picks up something that is a valid concern. However, they should cover further investigation/treatment of something discovered. Including further scans to clarify and follow-up scans.

Comment Re:Before and After (Score 1) 52

It would be insane to not get a copy of any imaging. You can't rely on some health system storing your stuff for more than X years and it will get silently deleted. And if you need an old image for a baseline comparison, you will be out of luck. Plus, if you wait until later, you might forget to get it, or not remember where you had it taken, or the company might have gone belly-up or sold and systems changed.

Comment Re:Before and After (Score 1) 52

>"I've always wondered if there might be a benefit to a full body scan along these lines not for its own sake, but for what it could tell me later in life when something actually is wrong. Does having a "before" image help to weed out things"

I came to point out this exact case. There is probably a good reason to have a body scan sometime in mid-life as a "baseline" so you have something to compare back to. I believe this will probably become routine at some point. Maybe at age 45 or something. But for now, a full-body MRI it is very slow and expensive. A CT scan would be much faster and cheaper, but not as good.

Of course, when comparing back, it might still not be ideal because the resolution might have been too low, or would have needed some special contrast, or different exposure, or needed to be a PET, or something else.

Comment Re:Not going to happen anytime soon (Score 1) 101

For the same reason fax machines are still standard equipment for much of the government, law firms and many other places. They could use email but they don't.

It's too easy and they refuse to change.

Uh, too easy?

I’m picturing the lowly employee forced to drive into an office to physically retrieve a dead-tree hours-old fax off ‘ol Faxy McFaxface, who was unfortunately struck and killed by a street sweeper upon exiting the ass end of an outdated office policy that had the balls to send an untimely death notice via email.

You know, email. That newfangled dial-up era tech that now alerts you immediately upon receiving. From the comfort of your own shitter. At 5AM. And not a street sweeper in sight.

Too easy my ass.

Comment Still useful. (Score 1) 101

Are they still a thing? Yes, for people over 80 and some businesses.

Start paying closer attention to all of your credit/debit processing fees.

Found my local water company charging almost $4 for processing my debit card. Looked on their website and found the local office. Found they accepted payment there. Started paying by check via the mail. Stamp is a lot cheaper. Never once had an issue.

Book of 100 checks is probably ten bucks. You can also get a sheet of three checks printed at your bank, often for free.

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