b.cognosco
Where leaping to conclusions is my primary form of forward motion.
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We're From The Government. We're Here To Help.
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Monday, July 7, 2003
Vin Suprynowicz on Why Johnny Can't Read
Goes pretty well with the graphic below. Well worth reading.
In the Review-Journal's June 23 editorial, "The kids can't read," after summarizing Nevada's dismal, worst-in-the-nation eighth-grade reading scores, we stated: "Whatever Nevada's public school systems are doing in an attempt to teach our children to read is not working. Teaching kids to read English is a skill that was perfected by folks without college degrees, centuries ago. Hiring scores of folks with advanced degrees to glom up the system with trendy new methods of 'pedagogy' has not only been no help, it has been demonstrably counterproductive." [More...] [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
We're From The Government. We're Here To Help.
Over the weekend I watched a little bit of a CSPAN program that had Bill O'Reilly, Molly Ivins, and Al Franken on a panel. It was a rerun of some political meeting. I don't remember what.At one point O'Reilly and Ivins were arguing about taxes, government programs, etc. Franken, that font of economic knowledge and all-around supporter of spending other people's money, made the statement, "The idea that government programs don't help anybody is just BS!"
Of course, it's true. Government programs generally DO help someone, just usually not who they were designed to help, and not in the way they were supposed to help them. Here's a little graphic from the US Department of Education introduction to the "No Child Left Behind" program.
Here's the roll-over text for the graphic:
"Chart shows that since 1965, when Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), through 2003, the federal government has spent more than $242 billion to help educate disadvantaged children. Yet, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the average reading score for 9-year-olds across the nation in 1975 is not significantly different from the 1999 score. During those years, the annual appropriation for ESEA increased six-fold -- from $2.3 billion in 1975 to $13.8 billion in 1999 -- while the average reading score for 9-year-olds was 210 in 1975 and 212 in 1999. ESEA appropriations for 1966-1974 and for 2000-03 are provided in the chart, but average reading scores for 9-year-olds are not shown because they are not available for all of those years. The president's 2004 budget request of $22.5 billion for ESEA is shown."
"No Child Left Behind" may be a terrible program. Testing students to see if they can actually *do* anything at certain points in school may be a terrible idea. But it's also pretty clear that pouring billions into federal education programs is about as helpful as tits on a bull. If I were the Dept. of Education this is not a graphic I would display proudly. It is an indictment of every tax dollar spent on federal education mandates since 1965.
Saturday, July 5, 2003
TinyURL
I love this. I may be the last person on the planet to know about TinyURL, but this is exactly what's needed to make the integration of print and web materials more functional.
The network song. My title for this column was "Listening to my server" but InfoWorld's CEO Kevin McKean came up with a better one: "The network song." In his column, Kevin points out that InfoWorld.com is now using a TinyUrl-like scheme to compress URLs printed in the magazine. Excellent! Since moving my column from its online-only venue to its current position in the printed magazine and online, I've been frustrated by the need to curtail the amount of linking I do. This will help a lot. ... [Jon's Radio]
It's worth noting that Rajesh Jain of E M E R G I C.O R G asked about this very thing not long ago.
Friday, July 4, 2003
RSS Subscriptions Harmonizer
Dave Winer's RSS subscriptions harmonizer is an outstanding idea. I hope it sees some rapid support. As anyone who's ever played around with different aggregators knows, there is a considerable investment of time in getting all your subscriptions loaded and organized -- even if there is an import wizard. A harmonizing web service will be a major boon to RSS usage across both business and personal arenas.Now, can we do it without the tech community turning it into a goat rodeo?
subs harmonizer. I've been tracking Dave's work on his subscriptions harmonizer. I haven't delved into all the details yet, but It seems to me this is the perfect tool for weblogs in a place of business.If a group of people within a company synchronize their |RSS| subscriptions with a harmonizer, a single weblog page can be generated on the fly that represents the interests of the entire group. Powerful mojo. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
Government Information Awareness
This is totally kick-ass! GIA showed me more in 30 seconds about my local representatives that I could have found myself in a couple of hours of web searching. I'd love to see some of our state judges put in here. We've got a few loonies on the bench that need airing. Sunshine has a way of chasing out the rats.
Government Prying, the Good Kind. The government has endless ways of keeping tabs on Americans and what they're up to. Now the Government Information Awareness site turns the tables, letting you keep an eye on your government officials. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News]
Independence Day
Happy American Independence Day. This is still America and I am still happy to be here. I agree that it is the worst possible place to live -- except for all the others. And while I appreciate the offer, I'm not going to Canada. But you guys are welcome to come down here for a visit any time you can get past the Border Patrol.
Small World
Here's something kind of neat -- I live in a small exurb of Atlanta, GA called Conyers. It used to be a little rural community but has grown a lot in the nine years I've been here. It was made famous in the late '70s in the original Smokey and the Bandit movie when, in the opening scene, truck driver Cletus Snow tells Bandit he's "...going to Conyers to pickup a load of manure."Anyway, I was reading the little local community newspaper this morning and saw an article about myConyers.com, a community portal sponsored by local computer consultant Imijit!. Turns out these guys are blogging and building Open Source CMS systems (using PostNuke) right here under my nose.
I've seen Imijit! owner Scott Hartsell's business cards down at our local coffee house for a year or so, but never thought anything about it. (BTW, our coffee house is really cool, but Shelly absolutely refuses to put in WiFi. What a bummer.)
So it's a pretty small world when you find Open Source business bloggers right in your own neighborhood. Now that I've found them I'll have to get out and meet Mr. Hartsell for coffee one day. Maybe together we can get Shelly to see the WiFi light!
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