Visionaries

We all can't be smart all the time. Quotes from people whose brain took a holiday.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. "
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"640K ought to be enough for anybody. "
- Bill Gates (1955-), in 1981

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible. "
- A Yale University management professor in response to student Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
- H. M. Warner (1881-1958), founder of Warner Brothers, in 1927

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. "
- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

"Everything that can be invented has been invented. "
- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. "
- Thomas Watson (1874-1956), Chairman of IBM, 1943

Board Games Vs Video Games

A previous post noted the resurgence of board games. However video games seems to benefit everyone before surgery.

Surgeon:

Surgeons who play video games three hours a week have 37 percent fewer errors
and accomplish tasks 27 percent faster, he [James Rosser] says, basing his
observation on results of tests using the video game Super Monkey Ball.

Patient

Letting children play video games on a Game Boy in the operating room before
undergoing surgery can help relax them better than tranquilizers or holding
Mommy's hand, researchers say.

Answer To Christmas Riddle of 12/11

Sanjo, that clever little elf, knew he should take a ribbon from the drawer marked "Red and Green." If it is green it must contain all green ribbon (since all drawer labels are incorrect). Therefore, the drawer marked Red will contain red and green while the drawer marked Green will be red ribbon. If the ribbon is Red then the drawer marked Green will contain the Red and Green Ribos and the drawer marked Red will contain the Green ribbon.

Riddle :

Santa sent his special elf Sanjo down to the basement to fetch some green ribbons for bows. Sanjo discovered that the ambitious elf, Lanzro had switched the labels on the 3 ribbon drawers. They were labeled: 'Red,' 'Green' and 'Red and Green.' Since every drawer was incorrectly marked, how can Sanjo pick just one ribbon out of one drawer and know which drawer held which?

A Merry Christmas To One And All

Last Minute Gift Suggestions

The perfect gift for the middle school boy on your list. Also a good gift for someone that works in an office. Just because you get old doesn't mean you have to get mature.

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong officials are pulling "Fart Bomb" toys from the
shelves because the gag gift - a metallic bag that gives off a stench - produces
a dangerous chemical reaction, the government said. The sulfur-acid mixture produced by the toy can cause nausea, headaches and eye irritation, the government said in a statement Tuesday. Customs officers have seized 263 "Fart Bombs" and are urging parents to hand in their unused toys to a consumer protection bureau, it said. The toy includes a silver-colored bag containing sulfur compound powder and an inner plastic bag of diluted acid, the government said. When the inner bag is broken, the chemicals mix producing hydrogen sulfide and "giving off a disgusting smell," the statement said.

An Ideal whose Time Has Come

The ideal of returning to one room school houses is sweeping the country. Here is an example of the model used in West Virginia.

The Perfect Present For The Geek In Your Life

Amazing new technological breakthru from Sony.

Conventional Wisdom Aint

Newsweek April 28, 1975 "The Cooling World"

"There are ominous signs that the Earth's weather patterns have begun to change
dramatically.... The evidence has now begun to accumulate so massively
that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up.... Meteorologists are almost
unanimous [that] the resulting famines could be catastrophic.... A survey
completed last year reveals a drop in average ground temperatures in the
Northern Hemisphere.... The present decline has taken the planet about a
sixth of the way toward the Ice Age average.... Climatologists are
pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to
compensate, [like] melting the Arctic ice cap by covering it with black
soot.... The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality. "

Sptember 6, 2004 Newsweek:

"In early August 2004 the remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern
Alaska was gripped with unseasonably mild weather: 20-degree afternoons,
ravenous mosquitoes past prime insect season, and dry tundra in the typically
swampy lowlands of the coastal plain. These may be early signs of global
warming."

What would have happened if officials had rush in and put soot on the ice cap? Doesn't anybody ever get embrassed by these doomsday predictions. Anyway just wanted to point out that next year is going to be different then what we expect so try to make it a good one.

Now You Know The Rest Of The Story

When four of Santa's elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and
two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would
you like me to stick it?"

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Is Bigger Better?

Well maybe not when it comes to schools. According to research by Peter Gordon using www.census.gov sixty years ago there were over 100,000 school districts in the U.S. compared to around 13,500 today with twice the number of students. While this consolidation continues comparative performance of U.S. students continues to slip. Government consolidation may not be the cause but where is the improvement?

Maybe it is time to return to the fabled one room school house of yore. In Brandywine there are at most 700 students K-4. Instead of closing or remodeling elementary schools just sell Rockland and Longswamp. Buy 20-25 semi-mobile factory built school rooms. Scatter them at locations through out the district where ever there are 20- 30 children in that age group. As demographics change bus the school not the kids. If a developer wanted to build a subdivision they would have to set aside an acre or two and pay for a new "school house" providing safe means where it could be reached on foot.

In this arrangement each teacher would be in control and responsible for their own little fiefdom. Wouldn't be a need for three principals just one coordinator and an assistant. With modern technology the remote teacher could be linked with each other and with any central administration. Students through the internet can be linked with both their parents and the entire world. Children could easily progress based on their ability in different subjects not have their lessons dictated by their age. For math they may sit with the big kids and for reading back with their own age group. Full or half day kindergarten would not be an issue. If the child is ready for full day they could stay if not home is only a short distance away. Probably not practical but what we have now isn't working that well for anyone.

Panthers Tamed

Brandywine's Nick Yocco pins Schuylkill Valley's Kyle Maurer
Wednesday night in the 112-pound match at Topton.
Reading Eagle: Susan L. Angstadt

The bullets snatched victory from the clinch jaws of the Schuylkill Valley Panthers. Trailing by 14 points through the first 6 bouts they came on strong to win 40 -30. MORE

Old is New Again

According to USA TODAY a new fad is sweeping the country. Games that don't need batteries, expensive computers, broadband internet connections or other electronic devices. Seem the whole family can gather around the "board game" as it is called and play. Interesting concept but why would anyone want to interact with family members when they can sit in their own room and play games with perfect strangers on the other side of the world?

Trivial Pursuit, which has since spawned all kinds of specialized offspring, is still the top board game. Well, it's happening again, but now it's you! Game nights are all the rage in living rooms across America. Sales of adult board games are up 4.5% this year, even though total toy sales are down 3%, says David Riley of the NPD Group, a New York marketing research firm. Some retailers have reported that sales of board games were up as much as 10% even before the high-volume holiday season began. More

Sorry

I removed the goggle ad screen and gave up my 13 cent credit because some people were getting some very strange ads for some very strange products and services. Looks like Goggle matches what on the web page and where you have been in the past and finds some connection however remote to one of the companies that buys ad space from them. Not being judgmental on where you go on the web but from some of the ads you received shame, shame. Didn't really know you could do what some ads were suggesting. The way Goggle describes the ad space is that they spider the site and based the ads on key words. Didn't mention about also matching up user information. Now here is the real kicker before they will give you the keys to place the ads they first have to approve of the site.

But Did Have His Rabies Shots

local6.com - News - Central Florida Man Accused Of Biting His Dog: "GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A Gainesville man is charged with animal cruelty after authorities said he bit his Jack Russell terrier as punishment.
Mount Lee Lacy, 21, told officers he bit his dog, Lady, because she had defecated in the house and that he routinely bit her as punishment.
Police said the dog was cowering in the back of her crate when they found her. The dog had a bloody left front paw from the bite.
Authorities were called to Lacy's apartment on Saturday after receiving a concerned phone call from his girlfriend's mother.
Lacy is charged with felony animal cruelty and resisting arrest without violence. He is in jail with bond set at $25,000. "

Seems Florida is still in the running to be the top Jerry Springer Guest State. This really has nothing to do with the the web site focus. Found it amusing and using it as an expierment to see if Google will change the ads on the side bar. They are supposed to change when the content changes. Right now they are BORING!!. Want to see if a dog food commercial shows up.

Christmas Riddle

Santa sent his special elf Sanjo down to the basement to fetch some green ribbons for bows. Sanjo discovered that the ambitious elf, Lanzro had switched the labels on the 3 ribbon drawers. They were labeled: 'Red,' 'Green' and 'Red and Green.' Since every drawer was incorrectly marked, how can Sanjo pick just one ribbon out of one drawer and know which drawer held
which? [Answer On Christmas Eve]

Laptop Warnings

If you are a guy and your fondest dream is to one day become a Brandywine Parent becareful how you use your laptop computer. How the laptop for students program at Kutztown will reduce population growth remains to be seen.

Not What Bill Cosby Intended

Another example of how schools in this country interfere with parental values, the Christmas season and American Free Enterprise. Some poor little 4th grader gets busted by the man for bringing to school some Jello shots. Here in Pennsylvania there is a long history of transforming basic commodites to lower transportation cost and increase their perceived value (i.e. bootlegging).

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- An 8-year-old girl was suspended for nine days for bringing to school what appeared to be about 30 'Jell-O shots' -- though it was unclear whether they contained alcohol.

The girl told the principal that her mother, who works in a bar, makes alcoholic shots at home and sells them at work. The fourth-grader said her mother had instructed her to take the shots to school and sell them, three for $1, to make some money for Christmas

Planning Meeting

Wouldn't it be nice if for once over 100 residents in this area could gather to discuss a vital issue without the Reading Eagle describing it as ANGRY. The last few school board meetings have been very constructive with issues that trouble us all being discussed in a rational manner.

"About 100 angry residents packed the Longswamp Township building Wednesday to oppose a zoning change that could pave the way for construction of more than 750 homes on about 225 acres in the township.
Fiorino Grande, of Sinking Springs-based Grande Construction, requested approval of a change from industrial and low-density housing on the 225 acres to high-density housing.
Supervisors are scheduled to vote on the proposed change Dec. 28. If they approve the zoning amendment, Grande would still have to face several rounds of state and local approvals before construction could begin.
The zoning change is proposed for two parcels near the Brandywine Heights High School.
The first parcel, called the Tercha tract, contains 140 acres, 94 of which would be rezoned for about 300 townhouses and single-family homes if the zoning amendment is approved, according to representatives from Grande Construction.
The remaining acreage on the parcel will remain industrial.
The second parcel, called the Radcliffe tract, most of which is already zoned for low-density housing, could contain 66 single-family homes and 376 townhouses if the development goes forward.
The township's zoning commission recommended approval of the zoning changes, according to township engineer Jill L. Smith of Hanover Engineering.
But residents opposed the change Wednesday, saying runoff from the development would hurt local farms, loss of industrial land would erode the tax base, and additional school-age children in the district would overcrowd already strained schools in Brandywine Heights.
?If this goes through, it is a great tragedy for our community and our township,? said Robert J. Tercha, who said he is ashamed that his uncle sold the Tercha farmland to Grande for the development. ?More housing will increase our taxes.
?People like that (Grande) work and move on profit, not to do our community a favor,” Tercha said later.

“I know there's going to be change, but with change comes responsibility.” Article

Bleg For Drama

After the retirement of Mr. Sawyer, the drama club has been without anyone to help guide them. There have been several attempts to find a replacement but for various reasons none have thus far succeeded. If you have experience in the theatre and have some free time please contact the high school principal Mr. Hays for more deatails. It is a semi-voluntary positon. There is some money available but if you put in the time Mr. Sawyer did it, way below mininum wage.

Things To Ponder During The Spending Season

: Why do some stores have longer lines than others? Besides the oblivious of selling more high margin impulse items 6 other reasons are given such as customers can also be a pain, less likely to have difficult behaviour if the lines are long.

U.S. Students Fare Badly in International Survey of Math Skills

At least no child will be left behind on our race to the bottom.

"High school students in Hong Kong, Finland and South Korea do best in mathematics among those in 40 surveyed countries while students in the United States finished in the bottom half, according to a new international comparison of mathematical skills shown by 15-year-olds.

The United States was also cited as having the poorest outcomes per dollar spent on education. It ranked 28th of 40 countries in math and 18th in reading. " Article

BLEG

If you are shopping at Amazon this Christmas please use the link on the left to help the support this site. Tried to find a company that would pay for moans and groans but so far no success.

BLEG -verb. To use one's blog to beg for assistance (usually for information, occasionally for money). One who does so is a 'blegger'. Usually intended as humorous.

BLOG 1. noun. A contraction of weblog, a form of on-line writing characterised in format by a single column of text in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent content at the top) with the ability to link to individual articles.

Suzanne Fields: Tilting for the children

Suzanne Fields: Tilting for the children

White House Responds

Brandywine tax plea to Bush gets a brushoff, then an apology
A White House operator hangs up on a Mertztown woman. Two weeks later a staffer calls back and says the president will hear her concerns.
By Yvonne M. Wenger
Reading Eagle

People told Michele L. Schlegel it was silly to ask the White House for help in battling rising property taxes in the Brandywine Heights School District.

Schlegel recalled the comments she heard: “Don't waste your time writing to the president. He will never even see your letter. He doesn't care about you or your issue.”

But Schlegel, 50, and her husband, Elton J., 38, of Mertztown wrote the letter anyway, sending it out Nov. 14.

They recently heard back from Washington, although not from the president.

A White House spokesman contacted them, in part to apologize for an operator who had hung up on Schlegel when she called Nov. 16 to follow up on the letter.

“I was flabbergasted and I thought it was not true,” Schlegel said. “I didn't ask the man to identify himself, but he said he is in charge of the (White House) comment line.”

The White House could not be reached for comment about the call.

But Schlegel said she told the spokesman that she wanted to bring the concerns of the Taxpayers Association of Brandywine Heights to Bush's attention.

The Schlegels are members of the taxpayers group, which formed over the summer in response to increasing school district property taxes in Brandywine Heights and statewide.

Brandywine's property-tax rate of 26.15 mills is the highest among Berks County's 18 public school districts.

The Schlegels' letter asked the president to appoint someone to intercede on behalf of Brandywine taxpayers in regard to a new teachers' contract in the district.

The four-year pact, which increases the money available for teacher salaries by 4 percent each year, has since been approved.

But Schlegel said she still is interested in hearing from the White House about the broader issue of public school funding.

She tried to explain her position in the Nov. 16 call, but a White House operator cut her off, she said.

“I was pouring my heart out, and before I could finish my comment, the operator hung up,” she said.

The next day she faxed her complete message to the White House along with a detailed account of how the operator had abruptly ended the call.

Two weeks later Schlegel received the return call and apology from the White House spokesman along with a promise that the tax issue would be brought to the president's attention.

It's unknown whether that will happen, but Schlegel said she'll be waiting to hear more from Washington.

Contact reporter Yvonne M. Wenger at 610-371-5015 or ywenger@readingeagle.com.

Reading Eagle: Berks County News

What kind of a mother are you?

Take The Quiz

A Change Of Pace

Have you ever dreamed of being carried into the sky by a giant bouquet of colorful toy balloons? That's the idea behind cluster ballooning. The pilot wears a harness, to which a cluster of large, helium-filled balloons are attached. Control is achieved by releasing ballast to ascend, or by bursting balloons to descend.
The most famous cluster balloon flight took place in 1982. Larry Walters, with no prior ballooning experience, attached 42 helium weather balloons to a lawnchair, intending to go up a few hundred feet, but instead soaring to 16,000. Surprisingly, Walters survived his flight. However, both before and since Walters' adventure, experienced balloonists have experimented with helium balloon clusters, some rising to even greater heights. "

It Aint Just US

The Christian Science Monitor has a report on Property taxes rising nationwide . The money quote is

From Madison, Wis., to Bucks County, Pa., the local tax assessor is dipping deeper into homeowners' pockets as real estate prices rise and states share less of their tax revenue with local governments.

This also sounds familiar

Part of the problem lies in demographics and the rapid growth of exurban communities. Young couples who can't afford suburban homes have moved to 'edge' communities further from the cities. Those are filled with children, and to educate them the communities have to jack up property taxes to build new schools and hire teachers.

Some states are looking at the California model of capping property taxes so they rise only 2 percent a year. Others, such as Pennsylvania, are hoping to substitute the revenue from slot machines to hold down property taxes.

That not exactly true for anybody with any grasp of reality. Which apparently doesn't include the Governor who made the declaration yesterday that he wouldn't be running for President. Was that really a big concern for anyone?

Many citizens, especially those on a modest fixed income, clamor for relief. In Schwenksville, Pa., retiree Arthur Fairclough watched his property taxes rise 9.8 percent last year. "It will eventually eat up my total Social Security. We have enough income to cover it now but I'm worried about the future."

Paying To Learn

This has some interesting wrinkles to the cotrovesial issue of paying for grades. The company store is funded by denotations from parents, teacher and class funds.

Being paid for schoolwork is part of the third-grade curriculum at Beverly Elementary, in the Birmingham school district. Students earn "Beverly Bucks" for homework, tests and class work, with a bonus thrown in for good quality. At the end of the week, they can take a paycheck home for endorsement. Then the student can cash the check for Beverly Bucks and shop in the class store.

The paycheck curriculum is part economics, part math and a very big part incentive..

"Their work has really improved," Knoper said. "When I come to work, I get paid for it. We've really just likened it to the real world."

This is a good touch. Should add a progressive income tax but kids have too much common sense and sense of fair play to stand for that nonsense.

After the Christmas break, Knoper said the paycheck curriculum will be ramped up a notch when the kids start paying taxes on the hallways (a form of road tax) and playgrounds.
Students can lose money, too.

"If I accidentally hit somebody, I have to lose $4 or $5," said Shane Holmes, 8, suggesting that losing that much money was horrifying.

She does have a point but can most 8 year olds have any thoughts of the future beyond tomorrow.

Everyone needs motivation, said Patricia Edwards, a professor of language and literacy in Michigan State University's College of Education. But she sees a downside to the system.
"If people feel that in order for them to be intrinsically motivated, someone has to pay them to do something that should be in their value system -- that's bothersome to me," Edwards said. "To me, a kid should have an investment in their own education, to realize this is something they need to do. I think having kids in control of their money is a positive," Edwards said. "But I think there needs to be a lot of explanation."

They should do this for half the year and then the other half go to a communist form, lots of group work and nobody getting paid more then any other. Except for the biggest meanest kid who is "elected" President and becomes rich. More

Scoreboards Go High-Tech

Bruce Trimble, the athletic director at Clearfield High School in Salt Lake City, knew it was time to look around for a new gymnasium scoreboard when all that was holding the board controller together were duct tape and bailing wire.

Trimble thought about getting a scoreboard from a soft-drink company but decided to go in another direction—the future—when Universal Scoreboards, a startup near Salt Lake, offered to give the school two high-tech digital scoreboards that have audio capabilities and display animation, graphics and video. Scoreboards Go High-Tech

Be even better if they started using product placements in text books to lower their cost. If Joe is traveling west at 45 miles per hour constantly being bothered by engine ping because of inferior gasoline and Bill is traveling East carefree at 70 miles per hour using Exxon Premium with Techahyzine how far will Bill and Joe travel before meeting at the nearest Mc Donald's. They are coordinating their travel using Cingular Wireless FREE MINUTES.