Random Thoughts

[Spun Lepton]

I swear this is true.

Today, on the bus, a white, smelly hippy dude got on with what I have now defined as a Drullet. Long, stinky dreadlocks in the back, short and spikey on top. He looked fucking retarded. :lol::lol::lol:

[DavidSeven]

The former, of course. The idea is to cut down costs, so they won't give the kids anything.

I think the positive side effect is also forcing kids to be computer literate, especially in poor urban areas. If they encourage using computers in class and kids going to the library to use computers they don't own and wouldn't otherwise bother with, it'd be for the better.

I don't know if I like the idea of forcing kids to read text on a computer screen in large chapters at a time. But most kids and teachers will probably end up printing the text out at the school's or their own expense anyway.

[DavidSeven]

Are you guys familiar with the trademark fish tossing at Pike Place Market in Seattle?

PETA doesn't like it. And they're targeting Vets of all people.

Members of PETA plan to protest a fish-throwing demonstration from the employees of Pike Place Fish at the opening ceremony of The American Veterinary Medical Association's annual convention...

. . . .

PETA objected to the use of "their corpses used as toys" in a statement about the fish, and offered to send rubber replacements to the convention. Newkirk says PETA will "identify every vet who participates and carry the objection back to his/her hometown practice."

[Qrazy]

I think the bigger goal is reducing the cost of purchasing physical books. The "we want to give the kids more updated information" is just political posturing.

I wonder, though, if they will force kids to do their reading online or if they will provide an electronic reading device to all the students (like Kindle).

I guess saving paper and money will be good but I do wonder what the difference will be in energy loss with electricity cost anyway. Plus I think there's something to be said for hard copy. Reading novels online sucks.

edit: read your last post about printing it out so yeah doesn't seem like it will save that much cost/energy really. Well I guess it does save the school cost but then it puts it on the kids. Or if the school is paying for the paper than back on the school... but I guess the paper is cheaper than the textbook.

[number8]

Plus I think there's something to be said for hard copy.

They're rigid, outdated and antiquated?

[Sycophant]

I will never really understand the rich.

[DavidSeven]

Reading novels online sucks.

Well, this is why I wondered whether CA would provide portable ebook readers like Amazon's Kindle or the Plastic Logic reader because they can simulate the experience of reading text on hard paper. Expecting a child to read their 20 page textbook assignment with laptop lights bouncing off their eyes seems pretty unrealistic.

[Sycophant]

Expecting a child to read their 20 page textbook assignment with laptop lights bouncing off their eyes seems pretty unrealistic.

And mean.

[megladon8]

I guess we'll have to have an entire generation of people who are nearly blind by the age of 25 before we realize that books on paper are pretty good.

Maybe the government is in cahoots with eye-glasses companies!

[Ezee E]

The next stage of evolution will begin with eyes that look like those fish that are deep below the sea. The scary looking ones.

[number8]

:crazy:

I don't think you guys really know what kids are used to these days.

[megladon8]

:crazy:

I don't think you guys really know what kids are used to these days.

I do. I have a younger sister.

Doesn't mean I agree with it.

[Sycophant]

Yeah, but we're not going blind over this shit.

Didn't really occur to me that kids that grow up with computers from year one probably don't have the same distinct preference of paper over monitor for extended reading.

[number8]

This is silly. The average young people get their news online. We read way more than 20 web pages every day. Why would that be an impairment on students? They're already relying on computers for research and typing. What, exactly, about online textbooks that would suddenly destroy their eyesight?

[Spun Lepton]

This is silly. The average young people get their news online. We read way more than 20 web pages every day. Why would that be an impairment on students? They're already relying on computers for research and typing. What, exactly, about online textbooks that would suddenly destroy their eyesight?

THINK OF THE CHILDREN, NUMBER 8!!!

(*runs around hysterically*)

[DavidSeven]

This is silly. The average young people get their news online. We read way more than 20 web pages every day. Why would that be an impairment on students? They're already relying on computers for research and typing. What, exactly, about online textbooks that would suddenly destroy their eyesight?

Not saying it would destroy their sight. I've just worked with people who have complained of migraines after staring at their monitor for a continuous and uninterrupted period of time. While many of us spend much of our time on a computer, I would be surprised if anyone actually stares directly into their screen for more than several minutes at a time. You might not even realize it, but people are always glancing away from their monitor. People rarely do things on a computer that requires the same level of optical intensity as reading scholarly text. Don't think it will cause vision issues, but at the very least, it would seem unpleasant.

[number8]

To that, I ask, how old are they, and how long have they been using computers?

Growing up with technology make you more used to it and less prone to negative reactions. Kids who grow up with video games, for example, have faster visual perception and hand-eye coordination than adults who grew up with television, who have better perception than people who grew up with only literature, who have better perception than people thousands of years ago. Humans are evolving beings, that's what's so great about it. I don't have any doubts that future generations won't have the slightest problem in reading and processing bulk electronic data at a time.

[Skitch]

I don't know that reading their stuff online will impact their health or learning ability, but I need hardcopy. When given something to read that a friend has written, I have to be flipping pages or I skim and lose interest. Just a personal thing.

[Skitch]

"Hey...Bill Gates! Hey, could you help me program my Zune? Haha just kidding, I have an Ipod, like everyone else on the planet."

:lol:

[MadMan]

When it comes to reading books, I still prefer paper back and hard cover. But that's just me, I guess.

[[ETM]]

Electronic readers will be huge pretty soon. They are already close to the breakthroughs needed. No one can convince me reading from an e-ink screen is, in terms of health issues, any different than a paper hard copy.

[Derek]

Electronic readers will be huge pretty soon. They are already close to the breakthroughs needed. No one can convince me reading from an e-ink screen is, in terms of health issues, any different than a paper hard copy.

I won't try to convince you of that if you don't try to convince me that holding a Kindle and flipping a page by pressing a button or sliding my finger across a screen satisfactorily replicates the experience of reading an actual book. If people enjoy reading e-books, that's great though as long as I can still buy paperbacks.

[megladon8]

I'm trying to find a ringtone of the "Batman: The Animated Series" theme song.

Anyone help me out?

[Ivan Drago]

Thanks for the advice, DaMU and Mara. It really helped a lot.

[lovejuice]

Growing up with technology make you more used to it and less prone to negative reactions. Kids who grow up with video games, for example, have faster visual perception and hand-eye coordination than adults who grew up with television, who have better perception than people who grew up with only literature, who have better perception than people thousands of years ago.

i'm actually on your side until this post. are you saying video game is a better development tool than television which is better than book? because i just can't endorse this idea.