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.
