On Sunday 10 April 2005 14:51, Peter Kupfer wrote: >Gene Heskett wrote: >> I've found many more usable fonts on the internet, free for the >> grabbing, than I ever found on such a cd. Decent clip art seems >> to be somewhat better controlled, but usable stuff can be found if >> you look, and use the right search terms on google. > >The problem is that MANY people can't do that effectively. > Furthermore, there so many sites out there that claim to have free > clip art, fonts, etc... that are actually spy ware and add-ridden > that most people (my self included) find out hard to believe there > are altruistic sites anymore. When I learned about OOo I was > *SHOCKED!* I still find it hard to believe somedays. > >So, while you may think it is silly to buy a CD, for some people it > is all they know. It reminds me of a lady I saw at Wal-Mart who > brought in her digital camera memory stick and PAID Wal-Mart to put > those pictures on a CD. I couldn't believe it!
I've had a couple of beers, which tends to loosen my keyboard. When that happens, you get to see into how an old farts mind works. With all due respect to the lady in question (I mean we do have to understand the unfortunate environment she grew up in) there have been times when I've have been tempted to let the other guy do it too, just because he knows how and he also has to make a living. But I do (usually) know how (or are willing to learn if I can), so the ladies excuse seems to me like a bad attack of dumbass, a willingness to be led around, by the nose if you will, because she doesn't know any better. That is not the ladies fault as much as its a much more general condemnation of our educational system. At 70, I've had the pleasure of a slightly different educational system that existed before the end of WW-II. We were taught to think toward the answer as opposed to rote recitals as they do now. And methods of getting the answer weren't limited to the textbook example else you got a failing grade as is the case today, which I'm convinced penalizes the real thinkers among the students in todays schools to the point of killing any and all creative thinking that particular student may have the innate ability to do. One is reminded of Art Clarks comment that any sufficiently advanced technology is indestinguishable from magic. To her (the lady in question) its *all* magic because she is a product of todays educational system. And thats exactly the types that the marketroids at wall mart et all, take advantage of, sometimes to an extent I think really should be prosecutable. OTOH, I'd druther prosecute the federal drones that now days dictate the methods to be used in teaching that "mind thats such a terrible thing to waste" because they and their 'approved methods' guarantee it will be a waste of what was a very promising mind when that child was only 4 years old and had a hole in the top of its head for a funnel intended to be used to pour usable information into. I saw another sig the other day that said it another way, in that if you could tell it was magic, then it was insufficiently advanced. :-) At the ripe old age of 70, and coming from a background that includes quitting school at 14 and going off to make a living chasing electrons for a living, I can truthfully say that while I've seen a lot of stuff that was sold at the ticket booth as magic, but the actual delivered goods were always explainable by the physical laws of the universe we live in. No exceptions, ever. I've also had the pleasure of encountering a 4 year old or 10 that had every sign that they could be the next Einstein or Hawking, but our current educational system burnt it out of them by the time they were 6 or 7. I find that to be a very sad comment indeed on our times. If you've ever had the experience of dealing with a 4 year old whose IQ was easily in excess of 175, 30 points better than mine the last time I was tested 50 some years ago, only to re-assess that same child at the age of 7, and come away with an estimate of 115 tops, you'll understand what I'm talking about. To me, thats criminal, and the educational system that does that to that child should be prosecuted, not for civil damages but criminal non-performance first. You can do what you think is right, and make some progress over the weekend, or over the summer even, but the minute that child exhibits any out of the mainstream knowledge in the classroom on monday, he/she gets 'controlled' to stop that supposedly disruptive behaviour. Thats pure bs, and a prime example of a mind being wasted. Said another way, I've yet to see anything that I could honestly say was magic. Some of James Randi's illusions are odd, along the lines of Escher's stuff, but I've yet to see even him do anything I'd call 'magic' in the last 50 years he's been challenging spoon bender Uri Gellor for a showdown. Entertaining yes, sells tickets yes, but truely magic, no... Please, lets go back to teaching our begotten as much as each one can absorb in the time allocated to teaching, even working on it overtime if the attention span (and if they are interested, there literally is no limit to their attention span) can deal with it, with an emphasis on the fact that when they do graduate, its just another day, but the learning process goes on for as long as they draw a breath. I cannot count the ones I've run into that turned the 'learning' switch off on graduation day. But I have had to fire some of them when they weren't willing to 'turn that switch back on'. But those that did turn it back on and learned the job are still working, some of them for 20 years now. As always it seems, this has been 100% off topic, and a potential waste of bandwidth on the OOo list. No apologies are tendered though, as those that have read this tirade/tome thru to the end, now have (I hope) a little better idea of where I'm coming from. -- Cheers, Gene "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) 99.34% setiathome rank, not too shabby for a WV hillbilly Yahoo.com and AOL/TW attorneys please note, additions to the above message by Gene Heskett are: Copyright 2005 by Maurice Eugene Heskett, all rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
