Up And Running, But For How Long?

I took the machine apart this morning, got rid of some dust, jiggled a few wires--and now it starts up.

First thing I'm going to do is get an external hard drive for backups. For a couple years I was pretty diligent about backing important files up to dvd-rw's, but it's a pain and I got lazy. Connecting a USB hard drive isn't such a pain.

I've been considering getting a new computer anyway; that bullet I just avoided might be what gets me over the hump.

But I'm still getting an external hard drive.

Friday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
A (westbound) 747.

The answer to yesterday's bonus question is:
It pours. Man, it pours.

And now the bad news. My desktop computer, which pretty much has my life as I currently know it stored on its hard drive, won't boot up. I shut it down after recording my weight this morning, and when I got home from work it wouldn't boot up. This is not good. And it means that, among other things, I can't get to the list of trivia questions I've written.

So trivia and other things will be suspended until I can somehow access that hard drive.

Thursday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
1962 (at the Marquee Club in London).

Today's question is:
In the 1972 hit It Never Rains In Southern California, on what type of aircraft did the singer fly to get to California?

Bonus question:
It never rains in California, but what does it do there?

Education Buzz

The latest edition is here and includes my post about California's jettisoning of good math standards in a failed attempt to get Race To The Top money.

Having His Pi And Eating It Too

Well done, sir:

Shigeru Kondo, a 55-year-old systems engineer for a food company based in northern Japan, easily surpassed the previous record of 2.7 trillion digits, set late last year by a French engineer.

The calculation of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter - usually abbreviated to 3.14 - took 90 days and seven hours, according to the Kyodo news agency...

Mr Kondo's computer cost Y1.5 million (£11,550) to build and has a hard-drive capacity of 32 terabytes. He plans to apply to the Guinness Book of Records for recognition of his achievement...

Mr Kondo's wife, Yukiko, 53, complained that the computer used up a lot of energy during the three-month project and increased the electricity bill to Y20,000 (£154) a month.

Hat tip to reader MikeAT.

Is It Too Much To Ask For A Journalist To Know The Smallest Amount Of Math?

I was enjoying this article about 200 year old champagne being recovered from the Baltic Sea, and then this ignorance just jumped out at me:

He said the cold sea water was a perfect way to store the vintage bubbly, with the temperature remaining a near-constant 4-5 degrees Celsius [around freezing temperature in Fahrenheit, or 32 degrees] and no light to expedite the spoiling process.

So, 4-5 degrees celsius is "around" freezing temperature, 32 degrees Fahrenheit? Really?

Is it so much to ask that a reporter know, or, God forbid, look up, that 0 degrees celsius would be 32 degrees Fahrenheit, so 4-5 degrees warmer than that would actually be closer to 40 degrees Fahrenheit? Could this reporter not make even the slightest effort to do some 7th grade math and be a bit more accurate?

It's A Very Lucky Number, Indeed

It's still almost 20 pounds too high, but this morning the scale read 188.8 lbs. If you know anything about Asian cultures, you'll know why I smiled when I saw that number.

I've been maintaining my morning routine of 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer, and tonight I'm going to my 2nd hot yoga class. I remain as committed to losing this weight, and to the regimen that will make it happen, as I was when I began just over a month ago.

Wednesday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Colombian.

Today's question is:
In what year did the Rolling Stones give their first performance?

Serious About Evaluating Teachers

I still think Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of the DC Public Schools, is the right person for the job. Take this statement of hers from last night's PBS Newshour, for example:

But when we took control of this school district in 2007, 8 percent of the eighth-graders were operating on grade level in mathematics, 8 percent. And if you would have looked at the performance evaluations of the adults in the system at the same time, you would have seen that 95 percent of them were being rated as doing a good job.

How can you possibly have a system where the vast majority of adults are running around thinking, "I'm doing an excellent job," when what we're producing for kids is 8 percent success?

She's stepped on a lot of toes, but since it's "for the children", I don't see how even the union acolytes can argue with her :-)

Stupid Should Hurt

Stupid should hurt, and you shouldn't be able to blame someone else when you do something stupid:

Kyle Dubois and his parents claim teacher Thomas Kelley did not warn Dubois and other students of the dangers of the electrical demonstration cords in their electrical trades class.

On March 11, Dubois attached an electrical clamp to one nipple while another student attached another clamp to the other. A third student plugged in the cord.

Dubois was critically injured.

The New Hampshire Union Leader says Dubois' suit contends he suffered permanent brain damage.

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here when I state that the brain damage was done long before the idiot connected an electrical clamp to his nipple.

Tuesday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Keith, Laurie, Danny, Tracie, and Chris.

Today's question is:
What nationality is performer/producer/philanthropist Shakira?

OK For Me, But Not For Thee

Can you imagine the hue and cry from the left and its friends in the media if Rod Paige or Margaret Spellings, or any other member of the Bush Administration, had done something like this?

President Obama's top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall. (boldface mine--Darren)

"ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the 'Reclaim the Dream' rally and march," began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.

Sharpton created the event after Glenn Beck announced a massive Tea Party "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial, where King spoke in 1963.

The Washington Examiner learned of the e-mail from a Department of Education employee who felt uncomfortable with Duncan's request.

Kudos to the Examiner for publishing this story. I notice that CNN doesn't have such a story as of the time I write this....

Go Home Freshmen

It's been customary, for all the years I've been at my current school, for the upperclasses to periodically shout "go home freshmen (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)" at rallies. We have a very mild school--no freshman hazing--and most seemed to think it good, harmless fun. At most, it was a relatively painless rite of passage.

This year, though, our 2nd-year principal has decided that our rallies, and indeed our entire school, will be places where everyone can feel welcome. Before last Friday's Back To School Rally, he got on the PA system and reminded students that such chants weren't going to happen. Students had already been told that if such chants occurred, he'd stop the rally immediately, and the remainder of the time might involve sitting in the bleachers listening to him explain why that behavior is inappropriate at our school.

The rally went off without a hitch.

Today, however, some of my students, especially sophomores, mentioned how upset they were that the principal was taking away one of their "traditions". Sensing a teaching moment, I momentarily indulged their discussion.

Then I explained that it's ok to disagree with the boss' decision, but he's the guy in charge, and it's his decision to make. And if you really don't like the decision, is this a situation over which you're willing to fall on your sword? If it's not, just move on and accept it. No one thought this was sword-falling territory, like a school uniform would be, so the conversation dwindled quickly and we got back to math.

One crisis down.

The Kids May Not Be All Right

This intro is a bit extreme, but it's not too far from the truth:

Our kids have become cannon fodder for two rival ideologies battling to control America’s future.

In one camp are conservative Christians and their champion, the Texas State Board of Education; in the other are politically radical multiculturalists and their de facto champion, President Barack Obama. The two competing visions couldn’t be more different. And the stakes couldn’t be higher. Unfortunately, whichever side wins — your kid ends up losing.

That’s because this war is for the power to dictate what our children are taught — and, by extension, how future generations of Americans will view the world. Long gone are the days when classrooms were for learning: now each side sees the public school system as a vast indoctrination camp in which future culture-warriors are trained. The problem is, two diametrically opposed philosophies are struggling for supremacy, and neither is willing to give an inch, so the end result is extremism, no matter which side temporarily comes out on top.

Both visions are grotesque and unacceptable — and yet they are currently the only two choices on the national menu. Which shall it be, sir: Brainwashing Fricassee, or a Fried Ignorance Sandwich?

Monday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Seals and Crofts.

Today's question is:
What were the names of the Partridge Family children?

Sunday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Me-262.

Today's question, the first in Music Week, is:
Who performed the 1972 soft rock hit Summer Breeze?

Soldiers Who Go To West Point

An interesting story about active duty soldiers who go to West Point:

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., is looking for a few good Soldiers.Soldier admissions officer Maj. Brian Easley has 85 slots for active-duty Soldiers and 85 slots for reserve-component Soldiers in every class. But he can't fill them-something he finds "heartbreaking," especially because he knows there are many young Soldiers who would excel at West Point and become great officers.

One of the hardest parts is convincing Soldiers, who must be single with no dependants and between 17 and 23 years old, that they might have a shot at getting in to a school that has educated presidents and four-star generals. Easley targets Soldiers who have high Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and General Technical test scores, reasoning they would also do well on the SAT or ACT.

"It's a very challenging academic environment, so we wouldn't want to set any Soldier up for failure," he explained. "The challenge for me is to find Soldiers who could come here and be successful.... What you see from this small minority group within the corps-they only represent about 10 percent of their class-is that they tend to bubble to the top. My own theory is it's because of their maturity, their prior experience in the military, some of their leadership."

There are also so personal details:

Her first reaction when arriving at the academy, however, was that she wanted to return to Iraq, as West Point is a shock academically and socially, the prior-service cadets all agreed. Although basic training at West Point is run by cadets who are usually years younger with no real experience, it's harder than one might expect, and also quite humbling.

"You go from being an E-5 to being basically a nobody and it's tough. You have to exercise humility. You have to have the goal in mind of graduation. You have to be focused on that and understand that you're going to have to pay your dues just like everyone else," said 2nd Lt. Tyler Gordy, class of 2010, adding that it took about four months for him to adjust...

But it was also difficult to deal with combat memories while at West Point, he (another cadet) continued. No one from his unit was there to understand why he might be sad on a particular day, and combat veterans have the usual reintegration challenges in addition to schoolwork. Cook agreed; she doesn't sleep well and, thanks to several mortars and improvised-explosive devices, doesn't like loud noises. She said the counselors at West Point are more equipped to deal with college-student anxiety than combat veterans and that many of her fellow cadets simply don't understand. They can't.

"Because they haven't been there, they don't really understand combat," Cook, who is involved with the prior-service club, said. "They don't understand it really can affect people.... PTSD is always a joke.... It's always about how weak these people are. I just wish they could see some of the things that I've seen, or go to the places that I've been and know the people I know, and understand it's not a joke."

It's a different army and a different West Point than those I knew over 20 years ago.

The End of South Vietnam

I was up late last night, thinking, and this is where my thoughts led me...

I used to volunteer at the Western Aerospace Museum, now the Oakland Aviation Museum. We had a room devoted to World Airways, which was based in Oakland, and periodically a tall man would come in and "inspect" the room just to see how it was being maintained. I've long since forgotten his name, but he was introduced to me as the son-in-law of Ed Daly, World's founder.

Among the many artifacts in the room, we also had two videos--raw, riveting videos that I watched many, many times when I wasn't needed to give tours. Both of them documented Daly's and World's actions near the end of the Vietnam War, as the communists advanced on Saigon.

I've found the first one archived at cbs.com. It's a report on The Last Flight Out of Da Nang, a flight that was supposed to rescue women and children but was stormed by terrified soldiers instead. This broadcast may very well represent the pinnacle of television news reporting. For those of you not old enough to remember, imagine for a minute what it was like then, to watch this on tv and wonder what kind of world you lived in. Watch Ed Daly on the back stairs of a DC-8, hitting people with a pistol to get them off the stairs so that the plane could take off. Look at the panic on the ground, marvel at the professionalism and valor of the flight crew. Remember that the terror that's so apparent in the report is the arrival of communists.

The second video was about a flight sent to Saigon to rescue orphans, mostly Amer-asian children who would not be accepted in Vietnamese culture. I cannot find the video, but have found the following on World Airways' web site:

A week later, Daly directed a daring rescue of 57 Vietnamese orphans aboard a World DC-8 cargo aircraft, carrying them from Saigon to Oakland. The arrival was greeted with a sea of media, and President Gerald Ford immediately implemented "Operation Babylift," which utilized charter, scheduled airline and military aircraft to bring approximately 3,000 Vietnamese orphans to safety in the United States.

In the World video people rushed that plane too, handing up children, one even tossing a baby to get it on the flight. It was a cargo plane so there were no seats, the children were packed on the floor while only a couple of flight attendants tried in herculean fashion to tend to them all--and did so much better than anyone could possibly expect. Imagine how scared the children must have been, all the crying, yet the flight attendants kept on, doing so much more than just their jobs, as the plane flew across the Pacific and finally landed in Oakland.

Anyone who can watch those videos without getting choked up has a stronger disposition than I have. I'll keep looking online for the second video.

Hot Yoga

Oh. My. God.

I don't know why I do stupid things, but instead of the 60 minute intro class (not so hot, not so long), I signed up for the full-on 90 minute class for my very first one.

Who would have thought that yoga could take so much out of you? I mean, come on, scrawny people do yoga! Even so, my muscles are tired like I just finished a gym workout.

I think I'll go back tomorrow, but only for the 60 minute intro class at 11am--if I can get out of bed in time to make it.

Saturday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
2 bottles=1 magnum
4 magnums=1 Methuselah
8 magnums=1 Balthazar
10 magnums=1 Nebuchadnezzar

Today's question is:
What was the designation of the 2-engine German jet that flew at the end of World War II?

Don't forget, tomorrow starts another Theme Week, again on the subject of popular music.