Opus 2015-411: Spelling Google

Most word processing software has a built in spell check feature.  On basic stuff it does okay but has some serious limitations.  Often I am thrown on my own resources because my spell checker has marked a word and offers no suggestions to make it right.  The problem is that as fast and memory-blessed as the computer is, it is often too stupid to recognize specialized words that never occurred to the programers.  I am still forced to pick up my dead tree and find it myself.  Nothing will replace the ability to logically think through the possibilities and look at the options.

But most places I use my laptop a dictionary is not handy. So I use Google.

Using Google as a spell checker is easier than using a dictionary.  One great feature with the more advanced Google is that it will offer suggestions as you type in the search.

And don’t forget the times you have spelled a word in a way that matches something in the computer’s memory but is not the word you intended.  You are at the mercy of old fashioned proof reading at that point.

Computers are stupid;  Fast, with good memory, but stupid. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-410: On the Street: The End of Freewaydom

In California we always called them “freeways”.  Back east they are sometimes turnpikes. Now that the federal government is involved people are calling them “interstates”.

I think one reason we are moving away from calling them freeways is because the tax and spend elites are starting to put tolls on what has already been paid for by tax money.

We can’t even call them “freeways” any more in the sense of free movement without cross traffic and signals.  In California we now have signals on the transition ramps between major routes and signals at the on-ramps.  I was coming back from the airport before 6:00 AM recently and the traffic was light.  When I transitioned from the I-105 to the I-710 I was forced to come to a complete stop and wait for the signal to turn green.

The goal of the elites is to get us out of our cars and onto the buses and trains.  We are easier to control that way.  Inexpensive cars and gasoline are tools of liberty and freedom of choice.  Since liberty and freedom of choice are antithetical to the nanny state they must be taxed or coerced out of existence. 

The old anti-war folk song could be rewritten as,

“Where have all the old cars gone....”

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-409: Let’s Put Ticonderoga out of Business

Why?  Because we care about equality.

Ticonderoga is a brand name for pencils made by Dixon.  Ticonderoga pencils cost more.  Everyone cannot afford them.  This is unfair and discriminatory.  We need a government program to give everyone the right to own the best pencils instead of making do with inferior brands.  I hope you are onboard with this.  If you aren’t then you are a racist, sexist, bigot and possibly a right wing Christian too.

We can go one of two ways.  We could give pencil scholarships to the needy so that they can buy Ticonderoga pencils.  We could establish a Department of School Supplies and have a pencil czar.  Ticonderoga would love this but the other pencil makers would rebel and start sending political contributions to the other side.

It would be better to set a government price control on pencils.  That way no one would need to pay more.  All would be equal.  Of course this would put Ticonderoga out of business.  They could not make and market the high quality pencils at the government price, so hasta la vista, baby.  That’s okay.  It is what their arrogant pencil points deserve.  We must have all pencils equal.  In education we would label it multi-pencilism and have special study units on it in third grade.

Meanwhile, I am going to stock up on Ticonderoga pencils just like I did on light bulbs.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-408: Headlines: It Isn’t Your Fault

Having some extra moments I was checking out some sites I had not visited recently.  One of them was Instapundit.  It is a popular source of links with a different flavor than Drudge. 

One of the headlines that caught my eye had to do with being overweight.  I can identify with that.  I struggle with weight as do many of you.  What caught my attention was the hypothesis that it was “Easier to Be Skinny in the 80's”.

The basic data seems solid.  They state that with the same input and output young people today seem to be about 10% heavier than the previous generation.  Something has changed.

The author admits “Just what those other changes might be, though, are still a matter of hypothesis.”  That does not stop him from getting on the PC soapbox.  Guess what his first three conjectures are?  First is an increase in chemicals such as pesticides, you know, the evil chemical companies.  Second, increased prescription drugs because we know that the drug companies are blood suckers.  His final suggestion is against those evil meat eaters.  We all know that beef cattle are treated hormones and antibiotics that are changing our gut bacteria. 

He doesn’t go anywhere near the changes mandated by the government in food processing.  He doesn’t touch GMO foods.  He says nothing about the products coming from China with lead and such.  If I let my imagination go I can come up with all kinds of wild theories.  To his credit he says no one knows just before he plants ideas in our heads.

If you are young and overweight you might enjoy reading this for some light guilt reduction.  If you are older like me it is just light entertainment. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-407: Aim High and Don’t Forget to Flinch

We had another lesson in high standards and rigor this week.  It was public education with its biggest foot in its mouth.

The entire eighth grade for our school district was pulled out of class for half a day to go to a high school to have the different schools try to recruit them into what are called academies.  One school had a special academy that was geared toward engineering.  I am not an engineer and I may have missed something but I thought engineering involved a lot of boring math and science classes that form the foundation for the ability to create and design.  All I saw in the presentation in the gym and later in the main auditorium were kids assembling robot kits and talking about fun and friends.  Maybe my cynicism got in the way of the message. 

And you would have loved the opening remarks of the woman in charge.  Let me say that I do not know her or her name and I am sure she is a wonderful person.  She started off talking about her dream of being a pediatrician.  Good.  Dreams are all these kids have at this point.  Let’s get them setting their bar high.  Unfortunately the next words destroyed the future of these kids.  Her next sentence was something to the effect that when she got to college and realized she would need to take a lot of hard science courses she decided it wasn’t for her.  Instead I guess she ended up as an administrator in our school district.  Instead of challenging them to aim high, work hard and reach for their dream she reinforced what they already were quite willing to do:  “Take the easy road.”

So we are off to another year of trying to give kids the skills they need, in spite of the leadership.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-406: The Nanny State Comes to School

I was visited by the Nanny State recently.

I was trying to teach and the door to the class opened.  Two men walk in that I have never seen before and announce that it is a visit by the fire marshal.  I am thrilled.  I think that someone has finally turned in the school because I have 40 students crammed into a tiny room and it is unsafe.  When I ask I am informed that this room could have 50 students since it has two doors.  To my inquiry about not being able to walk around without tripping and being two crowded to get to the door all he could tell me was that it was the law.  So far, so good.  Then I made the mistake of saying that the law was stupid, or something to that effect.  At that point the smoke began to emerge from the ears of one of the guys and his eyes lit up.  He became that cop with an attitude that pulls you over because you are driving while black and is going to look for some reason to write you up.

He began to look around the room.  He missed the hole in the wall, covered by duct tape with exposed wires inside.  He never even looked at the fire extinguisher.  He said nothing about the microwave perched on top of a rolling stool.  His eyes lit up when he saw - extension cords.  He informed me that I was out of compliance and breaking the law.  I told him they were in a corner where no one went and were no danger.  He told me that we have fires all the time caused by the arrangement I was using. 

I carefully quizzed him on what I needed to do.  It seems all I needed to do was take the power strip, stretch it across my path and plug it into the wall instead of using the extension cords.  I did this as soon as he left and was in compliance.  It doesn’t matter that one of the cords was connected to something I rarely used and when I did no other cord was in use.  It didn’t matter that the other was one of those industrial grade cords that are used on construction sites.  It didn’t matter that there were no frayed, exposed wires.  The only high wattage object was the microwave and I already had it plugged into the wall.

He wrote me up complaining about my “many” extension cords.  Two.  Yes, two is now many.  He is a glorious example of the nanny state.  He went back to his office and sent the principal a note along with attachments of all the applicable laws and regulations at question.  The funny thing to me was I realized later that the one having apoplexy was not the fire marshall.  He was a school district bureaucrat.  The real fire marshall was pretty mellow and never said a word in support.

So I am in compliance.  The law, if it was the law, was stupid.  I am not sure it was the law, but you can’t argue with city hall or the nanny state.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-405: Headlines: Water on Mars!

A few days ago when I logged onto Drudge the headline of the day was something about water being discovered on Mars.  That has the drama of discovering fools in congress. 

I am always amazed at the level of ignorance found in the general population.  It is only exceeded by the gullibility.  Twenty years ago when I was teaching science, one of the quiz questions I asked was, “What is the one planet, other than earth, that is known to have water?”  The answer of course was Mars.  That is not the answer any more because water has been found to exist on other planets since that day.

If my seventh graders were supposed to know that Mars had water 20 year ago, then why is it news to the media today?  The next thing you know someone will discover that the Constitution says Americans have the right to own and carry guns.

homo unius libri