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| 2005/4/28 [Computer/HW/Drives] UID:37389 Activity:kinda low |
4/28 Almighty MOTD: I have a FreeBSD 5.3-R box running on an Adaptec 2810
raid controller--the setup consists of one big raid-5 setup using 4
disks on an 8-port controller. Can I just add another 4 drives to
this controller into the same raid-5 array? Can FreeBSD figure out
the larger array? -John
\_ Yes, just add in the disks, reconfigure the controller, and reformat
from the OS.
\_ Ergh, what if this is my boot partition? -John
\_ Why the fuck did you make your RAID the boot partition??
If it is, you're hozed. You'll need to reinstall the system
from scratch in order to add disks instead of doing a backup
of your RAID before upgrading.
\_ #l |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:37390 Activity:high |
4/28 http://csua.org/u/bw0 Dubya asks networks and cable to show prime-time 8:30 EDT news conference, the first prime-time conference since last year. The topic last year: Iraq. The topic this year: Social Security. Yes, reporters will probably ask about the Duelfer report, and I predict Dubya will say "Removing Saddam was the right thing to do. The world is safer without Saddam Hussein. The people of Iraq no longer suffer under the rule of a ruthless dictator." If reporters persist, Dubya will say, "By removing Saddam, we have given the people of Iraq a taste of freedom. Freedom is on the march. Freedom has spread to the Ukraine ... to the people of Lebanon ... and Libya saw the example we made out of Saddam and gave up their nukular program." If asked specifically about the lack of WMDs, Dubya will say, "I always supported reforms to our intelligence services, and I have informed members of Congress to take the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission seriously, so that the events of that day will never replay again." "Was it worth it? Sure it was worth it. Ask the person who got his hands cut off because he opposed Saddam. Ask the Kurds who were gassed to death because they wanted freedom. Of course it was worth it, and if I had to do it all over again, I would." I'm sure you can think of more. \_ What is your fucking point. Yes he'll say things that you predicted. And that is the appeal to an average American-- a President who sticks to his guns, a President who is repetitive, a President with whom he can relate more to [than an intellect]. The fact of the matter is, most academics think he sucks, but the average Joe doesn't think so. The average Joe selects the President, and the average Joe prefers George W Bush, not some uncharming intellectual dweeb. \_ You haven't seen any polls in the last three months. This president being popular is a myth. \_ So where are the Vietnam-like protestors? Where are the tomato throwers? Bush may not be popular but he is a lot more popular than say, Nixon. \_ There have been tons of protestors. If you haven't seen them, you're watching too much tv news and not enough newspapers. Also, the protestors in vietnam-era were probably a similar proportion of the population. Minds are changing. Majorities don't build in protest. They build alongside them. \_ whoah there, nellie. Here comes the "at least we're not as bad as Saddam" argument again. \_ The whole reason we have Dubya is "at least he's not as bad as Kerry" although a lot of people are having second thoughts \_ The average Joe still thinks there were WMDs in Iraq. \_ The average Joe probably couldn't point to Iraq on a fucking map or tell you what the difference between Iran and Iraq is aside from a letter of the alphabet. \_ Wait, there's a difference? \_ Keep laughing. The Average Joe selects our Idiot In Chief, and will continue to do so until you stop making fun of his low intelligence and until you DO something about it, like education and awareness. \_ You think I'm laughing? Once again, the Average Joe still thinks there were WMDs in Iraq. That Dubya hasn't been loud and clear on the facts of the primary reason we went to Iraq is the greatest tragedy of his presidency. \_ None of the reporters asked about the lack of WMDs. Why didn't some brave reporter ask: "Mr. President, you are known as a plainspoken man, who prides directness and honesty over long-winded explanations. From what your intelligence people are telling you now, did Saddam have weapons of mass destruction or not? Please don't give me a long-winded explanation: Please answer with a Yes or No. If the intelligence folks are not sure, please tell me which they think is more likely. In a Washington Post / ABC News poll take March 13 this year, 56% of Americans say they think Saddam did have WMDs." -op \_ According to Tenet it was a "slam dunk" so there you go. |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Domestic] UID:37392 Activity:nil 72%like:37387 |
4/27 Meet your ideal Southern Belle today!
[link that might lead to further Republican breeding removed]
And for Queer Republicans: http://dallas.logcabin.org |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Japan, Politics/Foreign/Asia/China] UID:37393 Activity:kinda low |
4/28 "In FY04 the U. S. Government spent $322 Billion of your money on
interest payments* to the holders of the National Debt. Compare that
to NASA at $15 Billion, Education at $61 Billion, and Department of
Transportation at $56 Billion."
So who are the "holders of the National Debt."? Bankers?
http://www.federalbudget.com
\_ Central banks of other countries (Japan, China, ...)?
\_ What is the interest rate? I mean, it sounds to me like it's
worth investing your money at banks that lend to U.S.
\_ Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money!
\_ Not very high interest. I think new T-bills are around 4.3%.
\_ one of the lowest you can get. but sure it is a lot safer
to finance the US govt. as opposed that of some other country
like Argentina..
\_ And how much more was borrowed, leading to larger interest payments
the next year? Isn't borrowing to pay for your interest a sign
that you're on the verge of bankruptcy?
\_ no.
\_ Heh, the US should declare bankruptcy and be absolved of all debt.
\_ Read "Interface" by Neal Stephenson
\_ Well by a pen name. And that book really feels like it is missing
about 100 pages in the middle. |
| 2005/4/28 [Uncategorized] UID:37394 Activity:nil |
4/28 Don't like your employee? Feed him to the lion:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/28/eaten.by.lions.reut |
| 2005/4/28 [Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD] UID:37395 Activity:nil |
4/28 Company bought me a port switcher such that I can use one
setup to switch between a FreeBSD and Windows machine. Switcher works
perfectly for windows but I am having problems with it under
FreeBSD.Problem seems to be related to the fact that I need to
us a usb-ps2 converter to hook my mouse up to the converter.
FreeBSD seems to have problems identiying the mouse.
I see the same behavior when I just plug it into the ps2 port
directly. Is this a linux kernel issue perhaps?
Wish the company had spent the extra $50 to get a switcher
that was usb instead of ps2. -- lonely linux geek in a windoze realm
\_ Do you mean FreeBSD kernel?
-- Yes. FreeBSD 5.3. |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Domestic/Abortion, Politics/Domestic/Gay] UID:37396 Activity:nil |
4/28 Want to date hot big boob nice face great body Southern Republican
Belles and maybe even convert them to liberals? Now it's easier than
ever! http://www.google.com/search?q=dating+republican
Click on top 2 sponsored links (Conservative Match), or links to the
right (Conservative Singles, Republican Meet People). Check them
out, some of them are REALLY HOT (unlike our studios, mal-nutrient,
non-blond Berkeley women). No wonder they are out-reproducing
us evil moralless vegan gay/les-loving liberals.
\_ Is Conservative Singles (http://www.OtherSingles.com really for
conservatives? Looking at the way those women post, they don't look
like conservatives.
\_ Conservative Match requires membership.
\_ I wouldn't mind. But how much do they donate to the GOP?
\_ Salon/Nerve girls are much cuter. |
| 2005/4/28 [Uncategorized] UID:37397 Activity:nil |
4/29 Has anyone bought stuff from Amazon China (joyo.com) before? How
much do they charge for shipping? Thx. |
| 2005/4/28 [Uncategorized] UID:37398 Activity:nil |
4/29 incests are illegal on the motd.
\_ Is that what yermom said when she told you to withdraw? |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Health/Sleeping] UID:37399 Activity:kinda low |
4/28 Woman convicted of rape for giving sleeping man a blowjob:
http://csua.org/u/bw2
\_ how fat was she?
\_ This is ignorant, but yet oddly intelligent. He got paid $6,355
for getting head, does it get any better?
\_ Yeah, but you have to go down in history (no pun intended)
as the wierdo who called the police for getting a blowjob.
\_ a Norwegian friend tells me he'd actually have to have reported her
for the police to do anything. This doesn't sound like a good way
to encourage more in the future from anyone.
\_ Nine months of jail time is equality? If it were a man raping a
woman, would it be nine months only?
\_ for just going down on her instead of penetrating?
\_ if a man gave a woman oral while she was sleeping and claimed
that she consented, that doesn't sound too outrageous.
\_ Who knows, we don't know what the standard sentences are in
Norway, do we? Usually in Europe, sentences are much lighter
than in the US.
\_ Gee. I thought sentences in the US are already too light.
\_ Which is why our prison population continues to increase
as crime rates go down.
\_ You mean, as we put criminals in jail, the crime
rate goes down? holy crap!
\_ Soylent Green...Soylent Green is *people*!!!! |
| 2005/4/28 [Uncategorized] UID:37400 Activity:nil 54%like:39329 |
4/29 What's the difference between alt.stories.incest and
alt.sex.stories.incest? Thx. |
| 2005/4/28 [Finance/Banking, Finance] UID:37401 Activity:high |
4/28 http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/faq.html Look at the purple "National Debt Corrected for Inflation", and look at how it skyrocketted after mid 80s. What happened? \_ Reagan. \_ But he's such a charming and honest looking guy! \_ But he won the Cold War (by outspending the Soviets)! \_ But he won the Cold War! In a race with the Soviets on "who could spend the most on the biggest nuclear stockpile / conventional arms", the U.S. won! \_ And because of that there's little threat of MAD. But do you care? No. Because it did not happen. \_ Reagan did not end the cold war. The Russian people ended the cold war. They got sick of it and their lameass government before we did, that is all. \_ The Red Sox didn't win the World Series. The Cardinals just didn't feel like scoring enough runs, that is all. \_ If the Cardinals had risen up, overthrown their coach and owner and declared a forfeit, your analogy might hold. But they did not. \_ Yet another data that proves that Ronald Reagan is one of the most charming criminals in the world. DEATH TO RONALD REAGAN!!! |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Academia/GradSchool] UID:37402 Activity:insanely high |
4/28 Why is there so much opposition from liberals to a high school exit
exam? Supposedly, 83% of kids have passed it. I know it is bad for
self-esteem when a kid is a fuckup, but maybe failing the exam
will help that lower fifth realize they need to work harder. The
funniest comment I heard was the exit exams will hurt graduation
rates. Yeah, I guess they will. If a kid can't pass an easy exam
they have been preparing 3 years for then maybe they shouldn't
graduate until they do. Why are these people teaching our children?!
\_ Uhm, why would you need an exit exam in the first place?
Instead of making kids pass an exit exam before graduation, we
should just make the classes harder. We don't need an
exit exam to get a degree from Berkeley, we just need to
pass all of our classes. -moderate
\_ Lots of universities do have exit exams.
\_ Interesting, which ones? What do they test on?
\_ Well, for example, UC Santa Cruz. It's a
department-level requirement rather than a university
one. The exam covers general knowledge, but a list of
study materials is provided ahead of time.
\_ How do you enforce that all classes meet a certain threshold of
quality and grading levels are meaningful across schools? Hell,
forget K-12. How do you do that at the college level, so that
graduates of 'fraud with a A- GPA knows as much as a Cal grad?
\_ Uhm, give more money to schools so that they can hire better
people to A) Administrate them and B) Teach the courses in
the K-12 level? As for the college level, in order to pass
a compsci class you need to at least know how to program to
a minimal level of proficiency to pass, at least at Cal. As
for other schools, well, the ones that don't matter and have
easy classes have bad reps and nobody cares about them. The
ones that have easy classes (like Stanford and Harvard) have
a built-in selection mechanism to ensure only bright people
get in or their parents have enough money to ensure that their
kids have a minimal threshold of education to start off with,
so society takes care of them. Anyway, if you want better
HS graduates what you need to do is change the culture and
the curriculum. I don't get how a standardized test achieves
either. In a sense, we already have a standardized exit exams
for college bound high school students, the SAT, so an
additional test of that sort would be redundant. If you want
better schools you first need to get better administrators
and second you need to get better teachers and third you need
to get better infrastructure. All of the above require lots
of money, which is why prep schools and other private
institutions blow public schools out of the water in general.
Also, if you take a look at school districts that are part
self funding like the one in Contra Costa County you see
a world of difference. It's actually pretty simple, want
better schools? Increase school funding. The question is,
do you want to pay?
\_ The money arguement is provably bullshit. If you look
at the spending per student at different schools around
the state(which I just did for my home state), you'll
see shitty, crime-ridden inner city schools often spend
more money per student than the suburban schools, which
in my state gave the prep schools a run for their money
in terms of test scores and admission to top colleges.
\_ You're forgetting the amount of money that schools
raise on their own through fundraisers plus the
infrastructure that parents contribute to the schools
in suburban communities (i.e. the PTA in suburbs is
MUCH more active than in inner cities and a LOT more
people are privately funding things behind the
scenes). The reason why inner city schools get more
money is because they have to deal with a lot more
problems, i.e. security. A suburban public high school
in a decent neighborhood will equate to an inner city
prep school. You can't simply look at the raw numbers
that the state provides you. Kids in suburbs cost a
lot more to raise per capita than kids in inner cities.
Parents have the means and are willing to spend that
kind of money on kids in suburbs, but parents in inner
cities do not. Again, it's just a function of money. If
you want higher test scores and smarter kids, be willing
to spend the money to upgrade their environment. Again,
are you willing to pay?
\_ As usual, you miss the point. The point is that
*no* amount of money will solve the problem of
bad inner city schools. The kids in the public
school I went to got higher test scores because they
were in a culture that encouraged academic
performance. Most kids I knew were read to by their
parrents before they even got to school, which
gives us an advantage that no amount of spending
can make up for. I'm not proposing a solution,
I'm just saying that lack of money is simply not
the problem. Calling greater parental involvement
in schools "infrastructure", as though you can just
add that to a town budget is just plain stupid.
\_ Uhm, no, you miss the point of my previous post.
I never said that just adding in money will result
in better schools. I said that you need to change
the administration and the teachers and the
infrastructure of schools to get higher test
scores. In order to do that you have to pour in
resources into the schools, which basically
equates to money. Obviously pouring money into
an existing infrastructure that doesn't work
will not work. I'm saying you have to change
the system. Changing the system requires a lot
of money and a lot of political will power. The
question is, are you willing to spend time/money
on this problem? It's also naive of you to think
that good schools can't make a difference in
a young person's life. Ever see the move
Stand and Deliver? It's a true story. I actually
was close to the district that Garfield High was
in. Thinking that Latino or Black kids can't learn
Calculus was wrong and was racist. Give the schools
the right infrastructure, and you can turn out
inner city kids that can ace the AP Calc exam.
Case closed.
\_ I think the point here is that the inner
city schools receive about the same
funding, so why does their infrastructure
not work and yet in suburban schools it
does? Sometimes this happens at different
campuses in the same school district (e.g.
LA Unified).
\_ Grade inflation is rampant throughout higher ed, including
at Berkeley.
http://ls.berkeley.edu/undergrad/colloquia/04-11.html.
50% of Berkeley undergraduate grades are A's, 35% are
B's, and less than 5% are D's or F's. -tom
B's, and less than 5% were D's or F's. -tom
\_ The grade distribution never looked like this for
the classes I took (mostly math). Didn't the
Physics Dept. mandate a bell curve with 50% at C+?
If you scored the mean on a test you didn't usually
get an A (or even B+). That might be different in,
say, anthropology or classics where I got A's
without really trying.
\_ They note that there are differences across
disciplines. -tom
\_ Indeed. They do mention that in Physics just
15-20% of students earn A's. "The Physics
department began monitoring lower division
GPAs at one point when it was discovered that
instructors were giving mostly B's."
\_ Robert Holub hosted the event. Any relationship to tom?
\_ No. -tom
\_ Definitely good news for people who had a hard time
graduating, like t** and p**
\_ "A significant increase in the GPA occurred during the
Vietnam War when students received a draft deferment
if they remained in good academic standing."
Who says draft is a bad thing now? :)
\_ The SAT is for entrance to college, not graduation
from high school. The idea behind an exit exam is that
it gives more value to a HS diploma and is also a
metric that schools/teachers can use to see how well
the students are doing at all levels, not just
college-bound students.
\_ So my question to you is, why not just make the SAT
a metric that employers can utilize to gauge students?
If you are so concerned about gauging the metric
of the average H.S. grad, make them take an existing
standardized test. Why should the state take up the
burden of creating another standardized test? Anyway,
companies like UPS already utilize standardized testing
to screen applicants, making the whole point moot.
\_ It's not for the employers to 'screen', but a
metric for the schools. They could use the SAT,
but they have no control over it.
\_ Exactly... you say bad colleges get bad reputations.
That doesn't work at the high school level. They are
providing public services and need to be held to some
minimum standard. They can never be equal but there's
no way to enforce "making classes harder" other than
having harder standardized tests.
\_ How do you know if schools are getting better or worse
without testing? What metric do you propose? How does
that metric compare to direct testing of the output?
\_ Perhaps you should give your examples of "liberal opposition".
The progressive take on this is not necessarily that exit exams
are bad, but that standardization with negative reinforcement is
not the way to help an ailing school district.
\_ I gave my examples. Bad for self-esteem and lower graduation
rates. Obviously not all liberals feel this way, but all of
the opposition is indeed liberal.
\_ I meant examples of liberal opposition. Not the factors to
which you say they object. How 'bout an article or two?
Transcript to a news show?
\_ Find them yourself. It's easy enough. It's in the
headlines right now.
\_ It's your argument, man. If you can't support your
own assertions with evidence, or show how you reached
your conclusion aside from faulty logic or opinion,
then you're in serious danger of being labelled
(quite justifiably) a troll. If you can't even
support your own argument with evidence, why the fuck
should anyone else?
\_ I am assuming I am debating with informed
individuals. If you are not informed then it is
easy to become so. Use Google. Otherwise, I don't
have time to search for and post links. This is
in the headlines. It's like asking for a link to
who Schiavo is. Read the Chronicle, which said:
"Leaders of the teachers unions are adamantly
opposed to the exam, as are groups representing
the minority students with the lowest pass rates."
I'm not a frickin' newspaper. Read one once in a
while.
\_ why do conservatives support stealing money
from public schools to give to rich families?
\_ Because public schools apparently aren't
worth shit according to the standardized
tests. However, most wealthy conservatives
not only put their kids in private schools,
but contribute to public schools as well.
\_ So you're saying conservatives don't care
about the non-wealthy (which is most of
them) conservatives?
\_ They probably don't, however which part
of "contribute to public schools as
well" did you miss? Whether they care
or not, they are helping anyway.
\_ If by "liberals" you mean "teachers", then I can tell
you it's because they look at education as a continuing
process, while those who implement std'ized tests look
at it as a race with an endpoint. In a perfect world,
they would have small enough class sizes that they could
give the necessary attention to each student. In their
world, the number of students who passed whatever test
was set in front of them would be much higher than
83%. As it is, it's a deadline put upon a system with
limited resources. When budget cuts are linked to
poor performance on these tests, it creates an incentive
to "teach to the test", to the detriment of actual
education.
\_ This is a load of shit. So "teach to the test"
then. At least we're sure they are teaching
something, as opposed to now where kids get by
w/o learning shit.
\_ Dim, you're a load of shit, as you make clear
any time you post here. Talk to a teacher about
this sometime. Pick one you respect. You'll be
surprised how much you don't understand.
\_ I've talked to a lot of teachers and I
think they are mostly afraid of facing the
reality of their situation. No one said
teaching is easy. I respect that. However,
standardized testing is not supposed to be a
panacea or a way for kids to learn more.
It's just a metric. If you want to propose
something akin to a thesis to graduate high
school I am all for that, but personally a
simple test seems a lot easier for the
teachers if less accurate.
\_ So you've talked to the teachers and
dismissed what they've said out of hand.
Grow up.
\_ Yes, it is a sign of immaturity that
I do not take what teachers say at
face value. Heck, my sister-in-law
is a teacher. I find their arguments
lacking. Most of it is touchy-feely
bullshit about catering to the
lowest common denominator. These are
the same people who don't want to be
paid for their performance. I can't
even imagine having a job where my
performance wasn't tied to my
raises. Why would I want to make the
same as someone who does less than I
do? For teachers somehow this is OK.
\_ Yes, not everyone in the world has
the exact same worldview as you.
That does not mean that they are
"wrong" and you are "right."
\_ I have the freedom to label
them 'stupid'. Many of them
are booksmart, but have no
clue how anything works. It
comes from being around 8 year
olds all day. Not wanting a
raise for performance & not wanting
the underperforming teacher in the
next room replaced is idiotic
in every worldview but theirs.
If schools were run by
businesspeople instead of
'educators' more shit would
get done. In fact, this is
closer to how private schools
work.
\_ I'm amused that you think you
have a clue about how things
work.
\_ I get a feeling you are
easily amused. I'm
saddened that you think
I don't have a clue.
\_ This is a load of shit. How is 'teaching to the
test' equivalent to an education in any
rational sense? Memorizing a set of answers
without any context or any ability to apply
that knowledge isn't education.
\_ Our education system, including college,
is the best in the world. We must be
doing something right.
\_ Nah - I think our collegiate educational
system is the best in the world, but our
lower level educational system(s) are
desperately in need of attention.
\_ Your claim that high school graduates
are the worst in the world is hard
to reconcile with the fact that our
college graduates are the best.
\_ Uhm, ehr? I never made the claim
that our HS grads are the worst in
world. You should reread my previous
post, dude.
the world. You should reread my
previous post, dude.
\_ Maybe most of our college grads
are foreigners (this is certainly
true in the postgraduate level).
\_ Really basic math skills, history recital,
and English language ability should be
easily testable. And yes, a lot of kids would
fail that. And if they do then they aren't
ready to graduate. Obviously we expect that
an education should have been provided along
the way, but a basic test can at least stop
blindly pushing kids through a system without
even meeting the most basic of educations.
Ideally basic tests should be given in earlier
grades to catch problems earlier. Kids in a
certain grade should be expected to have a
certain skill level. Smaller class sizes are
good to a point, but only the kid and his
parents really have the ability to make sure
a kid learns actual skills, and not sit around
in no-pressure environments where everything
is the right answer.
\_ Err, I'm not taking a stand for or against
the notion of an exit exam. Reread, please.
I'm objecting to the fuck-stupid notion
that teachers prepping students to pass one
very basic test is in any way meaningful.
\_ The problem here is that kids aren't
passing the tests EVEN WHEN the
teachers teach to the test. This
implies that when they are not
teaching to the test the results are
about as dismal. So teach to the
test and get 98% of the kids to pass
and then worry about if it is meaningful.
\_ And yet our fully contextual students get
clobbered annually in achievement tests by
students in countries big on memorization.
And we lament when our colleges and grad schools
couldn't import more of those memorization
drones. Amazing.
\_ 'Fully contextual'? Are you nuts? The
problem has more to do with crappy quality
of education and (depending on who you
speak with) a bloated administration that
soaks up any money thrown at it. If you
think that memorizing answers for one test
is going to magically fix everything,
you are so deluded or ignorant it makes my
teeth ache.
\_ college admissions use mostly GPA and SAT
to select students. even the private ones
who are free of government garbage. so
the free market thinks standardized tests
are a good indicator of academic prowess
for their student body that they want to
be the best possible to generate good
alumni etc.
\_ 'The free market'? LOL. Thanks.
That actually made my day.
\_ Do they make the tests available ahead of
time? Or the questions? If not, how do
you memorize the answers? Or do they
make a study guide available? Go ahead,
memorizing that would be a good start.
\_ Yes, actually they do make the tests
available ahead of time. That's
a rather large part of the origin of
this debate. That's why you need
tests that can't be taught to.
\_ URL please. Giving out tests early
seems stupid enough to require
substantiation. If all they give
out is a study guide, then teaching
to that seems quite reasonable. It
would be even better if they called
it a "study guide" but it's really
a "text book".
\_ That rocks.
\_ In fact, that seems to be exactly
the case. "Teaching to the test"
means teaching the subjects known
to be in the test, rather than
teaching the questions (or
answers as you claimed). See
http://csua.org/u/bwm for example. I'm
still awaiting proof of your
claim that tests are given out
early.
\_ Find them yourself. It's easy
enough. You know *nudge,nudge*
google? Yahoo?
\_ I can't find any. Of course,
it's impossible for me to
prove that it doesn't exists,
prove that it doesn't exist,
hence my plea of a positive
instance where the test was
given out early, since you
made the claim. You can't
find one either, huh?
\_ "The abscence of evidence,
\_ "The absence of evidence,
is not the evidence of
abscence."
absence."
\_ One would think that
you made the claim
with a particular
example in mind...
Otherwise why would
you make the claim in
the first place? So
you're saying you made
the original claim of
tests being handed out
early to students
*without* any basis at
all?
\_ No, I was just
making fun of
Rumsfeld for
saying that during
the WMD debate.
\_ So where is the
reference to
tests being
given out early?
Again, one
assumes you
have made the
claim with some
basis in fact.
\_ I am not the
same guy who
made that
claim. I am
some other
jackass.
\_ Your assumption that he
ever looked may be
somewhat specious.
\_ I listened to an interview on KCBS radio. Teaching
to the test is big. The interviewer asked, "Is
that because the teachers are teaching to the
test?" The researcher said, "No, we use an
adaptive test that cannot be taught to."
Interviewer: "How about this other measurement
that declined? Could that show teaching to the
test?" Researcher: "No, it's impossible to teach
to our test. Our data don't show why that other
measure declined." 3 questions later, the
interviewer asked: "Does this show the teachers
are teaching to the test?" Researcher: "We don't
know yet. You can say that if you want, but we
haven't done the analysis yet." End of interview,
interviewer: "Apparently teaching to the test is
causing an improvement in test scores."
\_ I'm a liberal and support HS Exit Exams.
\_ I'm a liberal, and I'd support them if they reflected the results
of some sort of organized curriculum of basic material.
\_ I'm a liberal and I support gays, lesbians, and welfare.
\_ You would understand the opposition if you looked at the
composition of the 17% who fail the test.
\_ Yes! I forgot this argument. It's racist! Tests are racist
plots invented to keep minorities down! Oh, except Asians
\_ Standardized tests are culturally biased in favor of those
cultures that value education.
\_ Have you actually considered the possibily that standardized
tests have cultural bias? Nah, probably not. You sound
too smug and arrogant to ever consider the possibility
that your assumptions might be incorrect.
\_ This arguement is laughable, and makes me ashamed to call
myself a "liberal", since it seems to be only liberals
who actually believe it. Maybe you can explain what
Irish, Jewish, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Scottish
immigrants have in common that somehow makes tests biased
in favor of all of them. I'm pretty sure that if the
tests were somehow geared towards people who were raised
in, say, a Japanese household I would have failed. And
if they had a "jewish" bias, I'm sure the same would be
true of most asians who also kick ass on the tests. I'll
say it again: standardized tests are culturally biased
for exactly one cultural trait: valuing education.
This is why affirmative action for higher education makes
sense.
\_ Are you the same guy who mocked the the notion that
there was bias in the tests? You are talking out of
both sides of your mouth, if you are. And yes, I can
explain how it might be so, but I will not bother
wasting my time with someone who is mind is so
obviously already made up.
\_ Fucktards like you are the reason we keep losing
elections. Maybe you should take your giant brain
over to the republican party.
\_ Old jungle saying: You can lead a girl to Vassar but
you can't make her think.
\_ Apparently they're culturally biased for Asians.
\_ Is that what you think? Perhaps they are simply
biased toward the wealthy:
http://www.america-tomorrow.com/ati/gb80211.htm
\_ Asians (Jews, too) didn't always have it so
good. I am not sure it's genetics, but it
certainly is cultural. They are wealthy because
they worked hard and studied hard. You have your
cause and effect mixed up.
\_ At least you are thinking, unlike Mr. Your
Argument Is Laughable fellow above. There
is probably some kind of virtuous cycle that
is taking place. Whether you want to call
this evidence of bias or not is up to do.
Here is a great paper by a Harvard researcher
talking about cultural and language bias:
http://gseweb.harvard.edu/hepg/freedle.html |
| 2005/4/28 [Uncategorized] UID:37403 Activity:low |
4/28 If anyone wants a job in San Francisco testing software for a
new storage system at Sun, have a look at
/csua/pub/blowjobs/SunMicrosystemsTestEngineerInSF
Send any questions to srgordon. Thanks. |
| 2005/4/28 [Recreation/Food] UID:37404 Activity:moderate |
4/28 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1392766/posts Watch freeper posters go crazy over new Denny's discrimination lawsuit "In case you haven't figured it out, you're not welcome in this country anymore. Get out, and take your friends and relatives with you." \_ I don't blame the manager. I mean, come on, those guys have the following names: Osama, Arafat, and Hussein. Had I been the manager I'd personally give Ashcroft a call. \_ Mmm.. dumbassitude reigns supreme. \_ I was surprised that a bunch of the "should we go back to not letting in black folks" comments were not censored by the freeper Gestapo -- downright progressive by their standards. \_ We didn't let in the black folks. We kidnapped them from Mother Africa and shipped them here! \_ maybe you guys have been over-spoiled by the high level of tolerance in the Bay Area, and think that the rest of America is in fact like Bay Area, when it fact, it is not. Far from it. \_ Maybe you're not as intelligent or as cosmopolitan as you think you are. Train harder, grasshopper. \_ Just for fun, why don't we post EXTREME right stuff on the freeper, like "Damn those Muslims! Let's nuke them NOW! Use tactical nuke on Iran and then Korea! Then assassinate the Muslim head, and then blow up Haj and Mecca. KILL THEM ALL! And in fact, deport all immigrants, and ship those damn Negros back to Africa." Let's see if that gets censored, and see how far you can go. It'll be an interesting experiment. \_ You obviously haven't read enough freerepublic. You don't need experiment. Just archaeology. |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Domestic/Gay] UID:37405 Activity:nil |
4/28 Liberal clothing store: http://www.outspokenclothing.com/catalog.php \_ Ha ha I was a gay hooker at the White House and all I got was this lousy press pass -- that's pretty good. |
| 2005/4/28 [Politics/Domestic/California, Finance/Investment] UID:37406 Activity:nil |
4/28 I have a lot of stocks and I get to vote for amendments. I see the
following A LOT: "Approval of amendment and extension of the executive
officer incentive plan" or "Amendment of bonuses and options to
officers." I always vote no, yet, I always see them getting approved.
What the fuck?
\_ Unless you own or control 51% it doesn't matter what you vote for.
\_ You don't have a lot of stock. get 100,000 shares and then you
still don't have a lot of stock in terms of moving those votes.
\_ You know how you always read shit like "And the board of directors
awarded the C*O with 14,000,000 shares of stock" -- That's money AND
more votes for themselves. |
| 2005/4/28 [Finance/Investment] UID:37407 Activity:nil |
4/28 On my Etrade Investment Account statement, I see something called
E TRADE FUNDS GOVERNMENT MONEY MKT FD, $-144.79. What the hell is that?
\_ A money market is like a mutual fund that generally invests only in
highly liquid short term low-risks interest-bearing investments,
in this case government bonds. My broker put all my spare cash into
a money-market which charges high fees and barely makes money at
the moment. It's slightly better than plain old cash, but I think
it's mainly so the broker can make more money on the plain cash its
clients keep on hand. |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Recreation/Dating, Science/Physics] UID:37408 Activity:nil |
4/28 I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Husband and Wife physics
professors fillibuster Frist: http://mcdfa.org/?q=frist2
I recognize that Griffiths book from Physics h7a!
\- Do you know who Ed Witten is? |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Politics/Domestic/California/Arnold] UID:37409 Activity:nil |
4/28 Ah-nold's approval ratings have been termimated.
http://csua.org/u/bwt (sacbee.com)
\_ user/password: bugmenot/bugmenot
\_ more on Arnie: http://csua.org/u/bww (washingtonmonthly)
\_ Like it matters. It didn't matter for Bush. Anyway, who are
they going to get to run against Ah-nold?
\_ Rob Reiner has stated his interest. I for one welcome our new
meathead governor. |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Science/Physics, Computer/Theory] UID:37415 Activity:nil |
04/28 Quantum Crypto for Video Conferencing:
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050425/full/050425-9.html
\_ I think you don't need to crack every frame to steal secrets. If
you can crack the audio stream and you can crack one video frame per
two or three seconds, that's good enough. |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:37416 Activity:nil |
4/28 Can you sue people in another country? I didn't think you could,
but I just read about some texan men who are suing Pope Benedict
over some sex abuse cover-up.
\_ you can sue anyone for anything. Whether it actually gets rejected
is a whole different story. Like, I'd love to sue Sadam Hussein and
GWB for making me sleepless at night, and I can in fact file suit
but the chance of it going through is nil.
\_ Assuming that this is a civil action and they are not suing the Pope
under a Fed statute (such as a human rights statute), 28 USC Sec 1332
(a)(2) allows fed cts to hear a dispute between US citizens and
citizens of a foreign state (provided that the damages alleged are
more than $75K). The practical problem here will be enforcement. While
some foreign cts are willing to enforce US judgments, most are not. |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Uncategorized] UID:37417 Activity:nil |
04/28 Own your own x-wing:
http://tinyurl.com/8ntv5 (ebay.com)
\_ Stupid img src ref on page launches you into password hell |
| 2005/4/28-30 [Computer/SW/Unix] UID:37418 Activity:nil |
4/28 emacs question. In tcsh, I can type a few characters, and press ESC-P
to complete it, based on history. Is it possible to do the same in
emacs, short of having to type "history" and then !<number>? I mean,
!! is cool, but having this tcsh feature in emacs would be cooler.
\_ Oh you can just type !<few charecters> God, I need more sleep
\_ M-/ (dabbrev-expand). |
| 8/10 |