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Students Banned From Bringing Pencils To School 426

mernilio writes "According to UPI: 'A Massachusetts school district superintendent said a memo banning sixth graders from carrying pencils was written without district approval. North Brookfield School District interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy said Wendy Scott, one of two sixth-grade teachers at North Brookfield Elementary School, did not get approval from administrators before sending the memo to all sixth-grade parents, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday. The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'"

Comment Re:Why even appeal a marriage annulment? (Score 1) 315

Divorce is not illegal in the Philippines.
Divorce is almost always illegal, but there are cases where it is legal.
Under certain circumstances where both parties are Muslim, or the husband is Muslim there are options for divorce.
Source: Presidential Decree 1083
http://www.chanrobles.com/presidentialdecreeno1083.htm

Comment Re:Why even appeal a marriage annulment? (Score 1) 315

The issue as I understand it is that to procure an annulment in the Philippines one has to have a party that is at fault. (There is no divorce allowed by law in the Philippines, except for Muslims under certain circumstances). Whether both people want to be apart or not (which is not always the case in these annulments) these cases are long and complicated. (I had a friend who went through this process).
The Almighty Buck

EVE Player Loses $1,200 Worth of Game Time In-Game 620

An anonymous reader writes "Massively.com has reported that an EVE Online player recently lost over $1,200 worth of in-game items during a pirate attack. The player in question was carrying 74 PLEX in their ship's cargo hold — in-game 'Pilot's License Extensions' that award 30 days of EVE Online time when used on your account. When the ship was blown up by another player, all 74 PLEX were destroyed in the resulting blast, costing $1,200 worth of damage, or over 6 years of EVE subscription time, however you prefer to count it. Ow."

Comment Actually, they *might* be correct with their #'s (Score 1) 569

As much as I hate to say this, (and not having read TFA) they might be very close with their numbers if (and this is a big if) they're looking at worldwide usage, and not just first world utilization.

Having lived in South America, Africa and Asia (currently residing in the US) I can say that without a doubt that the majority of software (probably around 90% in my opinion) in most of those regions is pirated. I've had to fight, tooth and nail to get my employers to even consider licensing software when needed, that is, when a free alternative wouldn't work.

The main reason for this is simply cost... Take the Philippines for example (because I've lived there more recently)-for a person with a "average" job, above the poverty line (which many people aren't) they'll take home about $300US a month. A legal copy of Windows Vista Home Basic costs $100US ( http://www.villman.com/Category/Software - that's a well known computer store there). A "pirated" version costs at the most $2US, whatever version you want. If you compare that to the person who makes $12US an hour, and takes home $20kUS a year that would be the equivalent of paying around $500US for your copy of Windows. Never mind buying MS Office, or Photoshop. Even if you disregard home use, of all the businesses, schools, internet cafe's, etc. that I've seen I'd still say that over 90% used pirated software-they would likely go under otherwise, as the cost is exorbitant for their market. The only other option besides "piracy" is free software, but that's an entirely separate struggle.
Social Networks

Where Does a Geek Find a Social Life? 1354

JustShootMe writes "I have a question for my fellow Slashdotters, and yes, I realize I am entering the lion's den covered in tasty meat-flavored sauce. I have never been a very social person, preferring to throw myself into technology; therefore, I've been spectacularly unsuccessful in developing any meaningful interpersonal relationships. Lately I have begun to feel that this situation is not tenable, and I would like to fix it. But I really don't know how and haven't the faintest idea where to start. I know that I am in the minority and that there are many different kinds of Slashdot readers, most of whom have more experience in this realm than I do. So please tell me: how, and more importantly, where do you meet fellow geeks — preferably including some of the opposite gender — in meatspace?"

Comment Actual cost of Changing (Score 1) 380

People always talk about the cost of switching from Windows to Linux. Yes, switching does cost a lot for a company (here the Vietnamese government is just the part of a large company). What people usually miss is that outside of the first world those costs are usually much, much lower. This is because of the disparity between wages and license fees for software. For example, in the US if you were to lose 2 weeks of work from an employee for retraining them you're looking at several thousand dollars in cost-so saving the couple hundred in license fees is all lost. It is not cost effective for most companies in the US to switch from Windows to Linux on the basis of license fees alone. Simple. Overseas it's a different story. I do not know the particulars for Vietnam, but I have spent several years in the Philippines, and some time in Thailand and Bangladesh. That couple hundred dollar license fee-it covers a persons monthly salary or more. Yes, you have to hire some extra people to handle the change, the retraining, etc. But you can pay for them all that first year with what you would have spent in license fees, the next year you're saving. When you add to that all the security benefits, the uptime, stability, etc. It's really a wonder more countries don't take this approach.

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