Apr
20
George Zimmerman has been a hot topic on the news as of late due to his fatal shooting of a young black man named Trayvon Martin. It’s hard to take Zimmerman’s side without being labeled as a racist or a supporter of one. The story (as far as I know) is not entirely known as we only know that Zimmerman called the police and reported someone suspicious in the neighborhood. At some point Zimmerman ended up shooting Martin even though Martin ended up being unarmed. Most of what is not known is what happened between when he called the police and when the shooting took place.
The reason why this is a hot topic is because people are trying to argue that what went down was racially motivated. I tend to disagree, because if it was a hate crime, Zimmerman probably wouldn’t have got the police involved prior to the shooting. Furthermore, when someone is threatened by another person they may feel driven to do something radical in order to protect themselves. We don’t know the specifics of what happened when Zimmerman and Martin confronted one another, but we cannot conclude that because Martin was black that his skin color was also the reason he was shot.
The shooting was clearly a poor choice, and unless Zimmerman feared for his life, he shouldn’t have shot the young man. And honestly, even if he did felt it was necessary to shoot him, he should have at least attempted to make it a shoulder wound or something else that wouldn’t end up killing him. So in that regard, perhaps he should receive some punishment. It does seem like Zimmerman could be facing some very severe punishments however, especially with his lawyers bailing on him and publicly calling him for not staying in contact with him. Hopefully for his sake he’s now using a professional criminal defense attorney such as Robert M. Phillips to represent him in court.
Feb
27
I recently read an article recently that suggests the following:
Imagine if schools were judged not by how well students achieved while they were in school, but in how well they achieved once they left. If schools saw their worth not in how many kids got accepted to college, but in how many kids went on to live meaningful and engaged lives and who would point back to their school years as the point of relevancy that was the foundation of it all.
These measurements for the most part are just impossible though. First the metrics couldn’t be collected till many years after the person had left the school institution. Next, there’s no level or gauge for a meaningful engaged life. What some people would consider a complete and utter failure others are perfectly content. Are you going to put contentment into a statistical metric? I seriously doubt it.
I think the underlying issue is the flaws with the school system. I also don’t think there’s any easy or quick fix answer. Looking back on my days at school I can only say what I wish would have been handled and done better. I remember growing up learning the same materials in math through 2nd grade all the way to 7th. This turned something I actually enjoyed into something extremely boring. It’s the same with many areas of English, history & science where you “re-learn” the same material year to year. I’m sure many people feel the same way about a wide variety of subjects.
Most individuals will go on to do something in a specialized field. I understand its rather useful to have some core skills in a variety of areas but I think its taken to a ridiculous level sometimes. If someone doesn’t excel at a subject say math…why make them take it over and over again? Does the general majority of the population that reside in this country need to use Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry & Calculus? Think about how often you use these skills in the real world day to day. Why not have a core curriculum taught in elementary school then in middle school proceed to a more specialized analysis based upon what you’re good at and what you enjoy. High school serves as mostly a training grounds for achieving the knowledge you need to succeed in the fields you choose.
Moving on to core skills that I wish were included into the curriculum. I don’t understand why public speaking wasn’t some type of required class to graduate in high school. I remember growing up I never placed much emphasis on presentation. How you present something can have drastic effects on the outcome. I remember completely failing at one job interview project we had to do in 10th grade simply because I was too shy to interact with the interviewer properly. I think because of this learning experience I was able to react much better the next time I had to do a major interview to get into college. (Side note: Yes, I didn’t really work in high school mainly because I always found different entrepreneurial ways of making my own money.)
For the most part there’s probably about a one day to a one week period of actual real world experience in school. Maybe you shadow someone you want to be like when you grow up for a day. Maybe you prepare for a job interview which you don’t know if it’s mock or real. Spending more time in a work place which may be similar to what you want to do for the rest of your life seems like it would be a much better use of time than going over the same “core” materials over and over.
Will school stay relevant? How can we improve the public school system? I am interested to hear your thoughts. Unfortunately, this blog cannot be open for comments due to spam. But email us at:
and I’ll try to post / address your comment.
This post by John Hoang an internet marketing specialist created using Dragon speech recognition technology. For more information check out the dragon naturally speaking review.
Feb
26
At a Consumer Electronic Show in January this eagerly anticipated tablet the OLPC XO 3.0 was unveiled. The design is by Yves Behar the visionary behind such items as: Jawbone Jambox sound system, Herman Miller’s Sayl chairs, Swarovski chandeliers. The OLPC XO 3.0 tablet is designed to be durable and inexpensive at a price point of $100.
This new tablet is designed to be an educational device for students in the developing world where both electricity and internet access is often scarce. The initiative is one laptop to every child. The battery life lasts approximately 8 to 10 hours and can be recharged with both a hand crank or solar panel that doubles as the tablet’s cover. The OLPC XO 3.0 actually has two covers one of which containers a four-watt solar panel that can be placed in the sun to recharge and then reconnected in order to provide power to the tablet.
There’s a lot of interest and excitement in the development of these low-cost tablets for many reasons. A few months ago the $35 Aakash tablet was released and according to the New York Times received around 1.4 million orders. The company was unprepared to meet the demand. It has since stop taking orders and may be struggling to meet the orders already made. The reviews of this tablet have not been overwhelmingly good. The poor battery life of just one hour or two, the slugglishly slow software & “sticky” touchscreen seem to be the main areas of criticism.
But the OLPC project has had a fair share of struggles itself. The inability to meet production deadlines, some performance issues with the laptops(The first attempts were aimed at providing laptops to children in 3rd world countries) & concerns that the device will not be able to meet the promised $100 price point. According to the OLPC organization the But the OLPC project has had its own fair share of struggles — the inability to meet production deadlines, performance problems with the laptops(Previous OLPC versions were delivered as laptops.), as well as concerns that the devices would not be able to meet that promised $100 price point.
This table is also thicker than most tablets on the market. The specifications are 1 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM & 4 GB of storage. The OLPC XO 3.0 also containers a USB port, a Micro USB port, headphone/microphone jacks & a power jack. The power jack can be used for a regular AC adapter as well as for a hand crank. The tablet has two 8 inch display options: LCD Versions & PixelQi version. The PixelQI is meant to make it easier to read outside. Another issue of concern is the tablet’s touchscreen seems extremely responsive but the software appears to be holding it back / slowing it down. The XO 3.0 has two software options: Android or a Linux operating system. Here’s a little more on the delay from someone who actually got to play around with it for a bit:
“The delay between tapping the browser icon and it opening was noticeable. The second problem is that the software doesn’t seem to be optimized for touch. When I tried to scroll in the Wikipedia program, it highlighted text; I had to select the scroll bar to get to the bottom of the page. OLPC says it is working on this and that it does work in some applications. Speaking of applications, many of the apps for this tablet are built by countries that buy the tablets or laptops, so while there are native browser, camera, word processing programs, the others have to come from the open source community.”
Another concern still is the cell phone penetration in the developing world which has reached around 80%. One has to ask the question if tablets are the right device? Or when we think of putting one computing device into the hands of every child, should we be thinking about a mobile phone instead?
This post by John Hoang an internet marketing specialist created using Dragon speech recognition technology. For more information check out the dragon naturally speaking review.
Feb
5
This is a review for the TurboTax Deluxe Federal + E-File + State 2011.
(disclaimer: I am not an account or CPA you should consult them before making any tax related decisions.)
It’s tax season again and it’s time to file your taxes for the year 2011. If you’ve bought TurboTax in the past you would know it is the most used tax preparation software available. If you haven’t used TurboTax before and you want to do your taxes yourself this is your best option. You will save money on your taxes and get the job done quickly.
There are two versions of TurboTax blocks essentially the same product but one is downloadable the other is the actual box they’re both the same price $45.98. So if you want the product immediately you can gain access by purchasing the downloadable product:
Downloadable Version
If you’d rather have the box you will have to wait a few days but it comes with free shipping. This is the cheapest available deal for TurboTax Deluxe from a reliable vendor:
Turbo Tax Deluxe Mailed to you.
Here are some of the benefits of using TurboTax Deluxe Federal + E-File + State 2011
- Guaranteed accurate calculations: Should you incur any IRS or state penalty due to a TurboTax calculation error TurboTax will pay both the penalty and interest.
- Guides you step by step through your tax return. Through some simple questions it searches for more than 350 different deductions and credits
- Handles big life changes that might be complex such as: job change, marriage, bought a home, had a baby
- Full service respresentation by tax professional; you’ll never have to meet the IRS if you don’t want to.
- Transfer last year’s tax info no retyping necessary
- Easily import PDF from prior years
- Import financial data from software such as Quicken QuickBooks 2007 higher and Microsoft Money
- Free one-on-one expert tax advice live by phone or chat. Plus you’ll have instant access to answers to commonly asked tax questions on every screen
Here are some of the potential draw-backs:
- Costs an additional $19.95 file the return with the state which is sort of hidden/unmentioned.
- Pushes the more premier version for those with investment income but you don’t need in a much situation is rather complex.
- Some issues with the mac version with both updates and password protection.
- Customer service can take a bit of time(often over half an hour to reach someone with the possibility of being disconnected.
- It probably doesn’t work well if you have the operating system Microsoft XP 64-bit
Do you have some comments, additions, opinions or questions you feel should be included in this review? Drop us an email at:
Jan
28
Recently MegaUpload.com, one of the world’s biggest (if not the biggest) file sharing websites, was taken down by the FBI. Due to it’s extensive use as a means of distributing software, music, videos, etc. illegally, it became a target for the government in an attempt to crackdown online piracy. MegaUpload wasn’t necessarily designed specifically for piracy reasons, it was just a way to share any file with anyone online. The government tried to argue that the reason they cracked down on MegaUpload was because copyright claims were being ignored when artists would ask MegaUpload to remove the illegal content.
Now, when users attempt to go to MegaUpload.com, they are greeted with the standard FBI warning:
The owner of MegaUpload had an estimated 50 million USD in assets seized by the FBI (which is strange to me seeing how he’s located in New Zealand). He was believed to have been making over 40 million USD a year in revenue from MegaUpload alone. There are pictures floating around online showing his cars (with license plates like MAFIA, POLICE, etc.) being hauled off, as well as pictures of his very large state which even has giraffes roaming the property.
In terms of file sharing websites, there are many alternatives to MegaUpload available, and new ones will probably emerge now that MegaUpload has bitten the dust.
What I’m concerned about is if the crackdown on these types of websites will continue. That isn’t to say I spend my time online searching for copyrighted content to steal, but one of my most frequently visited websites is Grooveshark.com, which I have written about before. Grooveshark is a fantastic website where you can find high quality versions of almost all music and stream it free of charge. I’m not entirely sure how they are able to financially compensate the artists or if they are even trying to, but the latter could end up making Grooveshark a target for the FBI in the future if they aren’t.
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