I've been enjoying the format and how it threads for over a decade. I find the articles and comments (even the funny and abusive) useful. I hope you leave well enough alone. As for Beta, for a phone it is barely useful, but loses something I find best qualities. Yes lots of phones out here, but once you go below 13" Slashdot gets too fussy. Stick to this unless there is a genuine reason for change. As one suggested, could possibly make one for phones & wee tablets? I don't know what is involved, but people who use phones and tablets are more inclined to suffer from ads and dumb designs. .

Hard to know what's charity if the agenda is produce more of the same. And the number one reason they do this stuff is for the tax deductions they get and PR, plus pick the schools who will teach them to be good little Associates and later, impoverished greeters or Box dwellers, down by the river.

We're not into that. Children are considered 'property' and as such repeat the ills of the parents. Good to great teachers may dent that, but they'll lose to home schooling as it is not the real world where we all need to cooperate and get along. Parents have tons of prejudices and some desire to live again through the kids. In some respects the old fashioned schools where the older helped the younger and cooperation was king. Alas that's gone except for some sports, but even there, winning at any cost, prevails.

American's prefer to 'own' their children. Thus we have few gains (evolution) and continue to harbor prejudice and promote greed. Tis how we beat (mostly killed) the Indians and others out of their lands and stuff, lives. We're Christians and God Help you! Many schools or perhaps most dwell on competition and not cooperation. It often gets worse in college depending on the path you're on. You've heard the motto: "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Besides Wolves are too much like Dolphins, only not on the menu, as yet.