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Are We Cutting Costs and Cutting Learning?

Webmaster — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:29:01 +0000

As this Yahoo! news article reports, many districts are going to a four day school week to cut costs.

In one district, going to a four day week will save $65,000 on bus fuel alone.

Is this economic crunch a crisis; or, are we teaching our kids a valuable lesson?

“I’ve got two teenage boys and they like brand names. They can’t expect that this year.”

Crisis or opportunity? We can take this opportunity to get back to the “nose to the grindstone” attitude that makes this country great.

Kids will now have to walk to school. Uphill. Both ways!

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Large Science and Tech Bill Gets by House

Webmaster — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:41:57 +0000

A multibillion-dollar bill has passed the US House. The bill - America Competes Act (short for the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act) - will increase the available grants of many education related agencies. Some of the agencies affected are: National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s science programs and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

This bill has a wide berth - not only does it cover basic technology in schools, but it has provisions for “obsticles to development of new energy technologies” and a government funded summit to “examine the health and direction of the United States’ science and technology enterprises.”

Intel Releases New Chip with 820M Transistors

Webmaster — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:07:35 +0000

Intel’s new processor chips now have 40% more transistors. It sounds like a commercial for Cheerios: “New Cheerios with 40% more nuts!” But, unlike Cheerios, Intel’s new processor chips will do a few billion computations a second.

Also, not only will these new chips be faster, but they will also be more efficient. As the circuitry in the chips ges smaller and smaller more electricity is lost resulting in more power needed to power the chip’s trillions of transactions. With these new chips, less energy will be lost resulting in longer battery life for notebooks and smaller power consumption in desktops and servers.

These new chips will be from 2 GHz - 3.2 GHz in quad-core processors and up to 3.4 GHz in dual-core models.

Student Need 21st Century Skills to Compete in Today’s Global Marketplace

Webmaster — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:24:42 +0000

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is working with many states to upgrade their curriculum to incorporate 21st century skills such as:

Flexibility & Adaptability
Initiative & Self-Direction
Social & Cross-Cultural Skills
Productivity & Accountability
Leadership & Responsibility

High Schoolers Expand Vocabulary and Compete for Tuition Cash

Webmaster — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:48:09 +0000

GSN is holding its 2nd annual “National Vocabulary Championship.” High school students compete via a qualifying exam either online or at a participating school nation wide. Thanks to USA Today, American Heritage Dictionary, Sony, VAIO, Mead, Chipotle, JetBlue and others students will be competing to win $100,000 in tuition money.

Mexico’s Department of Education Teaching US History to US Students?

Webmaster — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:00:06 +0000

“Some Oregon high schools are adopting Mexico’s public school curriculum to help educate Spanish-speaking students with textbooks, an online Web site, DVDs and CDs provided free by Mexico to teach math, science and even U.S. history. ”

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American Flag - Too Controversial?

Webmaster — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:56:36 +0000

Add a new T-shirt to the “banned list.” Anything with the American Flag.

”Under a new school rule, students at Hobbton High School are not allowed to wear items with flags, from any country, including the United States.”

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A Little More Research Can Go a Long Way to Lift the College Finance Pressure

Webmaster — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:10:51 +0000

In the era of college tuition prices skyrocketing it pays to hit the books and hit the college financing research center.

“Parents are building up their college bankrolls by turbocharging savings. And while Congress reshapes college lending in response to this year’s scandals, students and parents are figuring out new ways to find and negotiate the best loan terms.”

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Frivolous Lawsuits to a Higher Calling

Webmaster — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:26:20 +0000

State Senator Ernie Chambers of Nebraska has taken the fight against frivolous lawsuits to a “higher” court.

Senator Chambers has filed a lawsuit against God.

“Chambers lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.

The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is omnipresent.

In the lawsuit, Chambers said he’s tried to contact God numerous times.”

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Viewsonic 20.1 Inch LCD with Speakers only $297!

Webmaster — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:32:56 +0000

High style and performance.

ViewSonic’s 20.1″ VX2035wm sets new standards in style and performance. The 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio immerses you in games, videos and Internet content like never before. The large screen size is perfect for working in two documents or applications simultaneously with no toggling. And when it’s time for games, you’ll see more of the action and your scores will soar. The FAST 5MS VIDEO RESPONSE time delivers blur-free, full-motion video and scrolling text. OptiSync® digital and analog inputs let you connect multiple components and the INTEGRATED STEREO SPEAKERS AND AMP complete the desktop entertainment. The latest OSD and power lock prevent accidental changes to your monitor settings, while the Kensington® security port offers theft deterrence. The VX2035wm is the fast, fun desktop display with a difference.

Buy Now for Only $297

LCD Panel	Type	20.1″ Wide Color TFT Active Matrix LCD
	Display Area	17.1″ horizontal x 10.7″ vertical; 20.1″ diagonal
	Optimum Resolution	1680×1050
	Contrast Ratio	800:1 (typ)
	Viewing Angle	160° horizontal, 160° vertical @ contrast ratio > 10:1
	Response Time	5ms white-black-white (typ); 8ms gray-to-gray (avg)
	Brightness	300 cd/m2 (typ)
	Light Source	Long life, 40,000 hrs. (typ)
	Panel Surface	Anti-glare
Consumption	43W (typ)
Mac®*	Power Mac” G3/G4/G5 up to 1680×1050
Power	3-pin AC plug (CEE22)
OnView®	Auto image adjust, brightness, contrast, input select (analog, digital), Audio adjust (volume mute), ViewMatch® color adjust (sRGB, 9300K, 6500K-default, 5400K, user color - RGB), information (resolution, H. frequency, V. frequency, pixel clock, model number, serial number), manual image adjust (H. size, H. position, V. position, fine tune, sharpness, setup menu, language, resolution notice, OSD position, OSD timeout, OSD background), memory recall
Physical (in.)	19.3″ x 18″ x 9.6″ (with stand)19.3″ x 14.3″ x 2.8″ (without stand)
Humidity	20-90% (non-condensing)
Net without stand	12.8 lb. (5.8 kg)
Gross with stand	18.9 lb. (8.6 kg)
Frequency	Fh: 30~82kHz, Fv: 50~85Hz
Sync	H/V separated (TTL), composite, sync-on-green

Buy Now for Only $297