Comments for The Blog at Yellow Dog http://writeswell.wordpress.com Outside the box? What box? Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:44:09 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on Literacy by » Literacy http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/literacy/#comment-388 » Literacy Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:44:09 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/?p=67#comment-388 [...] youngragingbull wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt According to an article in Converge, a report by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Meteiri Group entitled “enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age,” literacy, the basic ability to read, still counts, among other things.  I should hope so. I think that children today read a great deal more than we think they do: they are constantly in touch with each other, and have invented an entirely new version of short hand. Text messaging has it’s own ciphers and protocols. The ciphers are cross generational, the protocols probably aren’t. I’m not a big txt msgr. I do work with young children, and my own children text, blog, write, and read all the time. In order to use today’s techno tools, one really does have to have a strong reading base. It may even be a motivator for some children.  There are many blogs out there, and […] [...] [...] youngragingbull wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt According to an article in Converge, a report by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Meteiri Group entitled “enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age,” literacy, the basic ability to read, still counts, among other things.  I should hope so. I think that children today read a great deal more than we think they do: they are constantly in touch with each other, and have invented an entirely new version of short hand. Text messaging has it’s own ciphers and protocols. The ciphers are cross generational, the protocols probably aren’t. I’m not a big txt msgr. I do work with young children, and my own children text, blog, write, and read all the time. In order to use today’s techno tools, one really does have to have a strong reading base. It may even be a motivator for some children.  There are many blogs out there, and […] [...]

]]> Comment on Time for–what exactly? by Nathan http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/time-for-what-exactly/#comment-383 Nathan Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:03:37 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/?p=40#comment-383 Yes, save! Seems like all of the money that's been spent in the last decade on overpriced housing has to have come from somewhere. The $700B bailout must have come from somewhere. One would expect that all of it needs to be paid off eventually and it would be good to have some money when it all comes due, in one form or another. Yes, save! Seems like all of the money that’s been spent in the last decade on overpriced housing has to have come from somewhere. The $700B bailout must have come from somewhere. One would expect that all of it needs to be paid off eventually and it would be good to have some money when it all comes due, in one form or another.

]]> Comment on No lessons learned by Nathan http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/no-lessons-learned/#comment-381 Nathan Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:11:11 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/?p=36#comment-381 I read an interesting theory a while ago that the bottom would not come until it became a good business deal to buy a house and rent it out. Essentially, the rent you can make on a house has to jive with the cost of the house. At $345,000 we're still a long ways from the bottom. I'm sure, though, that there are a lot of people who bought those houses for over $400,000 and would really like this to be the bottom because it would limit how much they would stand to lose. I read an interesting theory a while ago that the bottom would not come until it became a good business deal to buy a house and rent it out. Essentially, the rent you can make on a house has to jive with the cost of the house. At $345,000 we’re still a long ways from the bottom. I’m sure, though, that there are a lot of people who bought those houses for over $400,000 and would really like this to be the bottom because it would limit how much they would stand to lose.

]]> Comment on economy and education by writeswell http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/economy-and-education/#comment-380 writeswell Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:00:35 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/?p=34#comment-380 I will take a look at the book and get back to you at edbooked. I will take a look at the book and get back to you at edbooked.

]]> Comment on economy and education by edbooked http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/economy-and-education/#comment-379 edbooked Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:13:59 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/?p=34#comment-379 If public education were properly funded the economy might not now be in the tank. You might want to discuss with your friends the novel, The Twilight's Last Gleaming On Public Education. This intriguing, socially relevant, and enlightening story possesses many of the elements commonly found in just about every school system throughout the United States. It discusses the potential, challenges, and obstacles that currently litter the public education landscape. It is available via online bookstores www.Xlibris.com, www.bn.com, www.borders.com, and www.amazon.com. Check it out for yourself. See if you can identify with the characters and situations presented. Do you agree with the proposed solutions? If public education were properly funded the economy might not now be in the tank. You might want to discuss with your friends the novel, The Twilight’s Last Gleaming On Public Education. This intriguing, socially relevant, and enlightening story possesses many of the elements commonly found in just about every school system throughout the United States. It discusses the potential, challenges, and obstacles that currently litter the public education landscape. It is available via online bookstores http://www.Xlibris.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.borders.com, and http://www.amazon.com. Check it out for yourself. See if you can identify with the characters and situations presented. Do you agree with the proposed solutions?

]]> Comment on All Day Kindergarten? by Jenn http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/all-day-kindergarten/#comment-285 Jenn Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:35:04 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/all-day-kindergarten/#comment-285 I agree with you. My daughter was at Pinewood Kindergarten last year. For her it was fine, but I did get to witness how tired and burnt out the kids were by the end of the day. I helped in the classroom in a weekly basis and I can see where this all day kindergarten is just too much for some children. My son starts kindergarten next year and I am very worried that his attention span just isn;t what it needs to be to spend that many hours at school. I am surprised to hear that the district thought that parents would move here for that. As much as I love it here, I can;t imagine moving here, paying the inflated home prices, and braving the snow, just for an all day kindergarten! I agree with you. My daughter was at Pinewood Kindergarten last year. For her it was fine, but I did get to witness how tired and burnt out the kids were by the end of the day. I helped in the classroom in a weekly basis and I can see where this all day kindergarten is just too much for some children.

My son starts kindergarten next year and I am very worried that his attention span just isn;t what it needs to be to spend that many hours at school.

I am surprised to hear that the district thought that parents would move here for that. As much as I love it here, I can;t imagine moving here, paying the inflated home prices, and braving the snow, just for an all day kindergarten!

]]> Comment on $10 million a day–how would you use it? by writeswell http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/10-million-a-day-how-would-you-use-it/#comment-62 writeswell Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:47:31 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/10-million-a-day-how-would-you-use-it/#comment-62 Considering that $10M per day is being spent, it isn't a great leap to figure out that other things are being short changed. It is amazing that so many people seem to not understand that the amount of debt that we are being sunk into will take a bit of time to pay back--and it does mean that many of the social needs and global needs just won't be funded, at least not by us. Our society will be paying for this mess into the foreseeable future, far, far into it. Isn't anyone concerned about this besides me? Considering that $10M per day is being spent, it isn’t a great leap to figure out that other things are being short changed. It is amazing that so many people seem to not understand that the amount of debt that we are being sunk into will take a bit of time to pay back–and it does mean that many of the social needs and global needs just won’t be funded, at least not by us. Our society will be paying for this mess into the foreseeable future, far, far into it. Isn’t anyone concerned about this besides me?

]]> Comment on Copyright:Anyone paying attention? by Nathan http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/copyrightanyone-paying-attention/#comment-57 Nathan Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:35:32 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/copyrightanyone-paying-attention/#comment-57 Copyscape looks like a pretty slick website. Have you ever found any copies of your work with it? Is it worth paying for their premium services? I would agree that technology has changed the way we protect technology. The barriers to copying someone else's work are now so low that we have only the law and other forms of social pressure to prevent people from copying unfairly. Given that many markets are now very global I would imagine that finding out that your work has been copied in another country would make the issue of knowing what your rights are even more complicated. Copyscape looks like a pretty slick website. Have you ever found any copies of your work with it? Is it worth paying for their premium services?

I would agree that technology has changed the way we protect technology. The barriers to copying someone else’s work are now so low that we have only the law and other forms of social pressure to prevent people from copying unfairly. Given that many markets are now very global I would imagine that finding out that your work has been copied in another country would make the issue of knowing what your rights are even more complicated.

]]> Comment on $10 million a day–how would you use it? by Nathan http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/10-million-a-day-how-would-you-use-it/#comment-55 Nathan Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:00:44 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/10-million-a-day-how-would-you-use-it/#comment-55 Actually, I heard recently that the cost is closer to 12 Billion per month. That leaves significantly more than $10M per day to play with. Link to the stories: http://www.daylife.com/story/01gT3NGfLb307 For that kind of money I think that I'd split the majority of it between healthcare and education Actually, I heard recently that the cost is closer to 12 Billion per month. That leaves significantly more than $10M per day to play with. Link to the stories: http://www.daylife.com/story/01gT3NGfLb307

For that kind of money I think that I’d split the majority of it between healthcare and education

]]> Comment on Copyright:Anyone paying attention? by cjwriter http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/copyrightanyone-paying-attention/#comment-54 cjwriter Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:31:25 +0000 http://writeswell.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/copyrightanyone-paying-attention/#comment-54 Well, my opinion of copyright is that it hasn't moved into the 21st century. People are using technologies that previously didn't exist to read, watch and listen to content; but the way that content is protected is still based on the old models. As long as that continues, copyright risks becoming irrelevant. Having said that, I'm not sure what the answer is myself, beyond creating a more adaptable version of copyright. Regarding my own work, I'm happy for people to use whatever I have on my site as long as they give me credit as the author and link back to me in some way. I don't put anything on my site that I expect to be published or paid for; I only post stories that I'm not going to send away or am republishing after their original run ended, and synopses of my longer works. I've had my work used without permission in the past but my objections were mostly ignored, so I'm not sure if there's really much anyone can do except to know their rights. You can use Google or other searches to look for your work. The trick is to identify keywords or phrases that are unique only to your work and search for them (a paragraph, sentence, etc). One service which does it well is http://www.copyscape.com/ . Well, my opinion of copyright is that it hasn’t moved into the 21st century. People are using technologies that previously didn’t exist to read, watch and listen to content; but the way that content is protected is still based on the old models. As long as that continues, copyright risks becoming irrelevant. Having said that, I’m not sure what the answer is myself, beyond creating a more adaptable version of copyright.

Regarding my own work, I’m happy for people to use whatever I have on my site as long as they give me credit as the author and link back to me in some way. I don’t put anything on my site that I expect to be published or paid for; I only post stories that I’m not going to send away or am republishing after their original run ended, and synopses of my longer works. I’ve had my work used without permission in the past but my objections were mostly ignored, so I’m not sure if there’s really much anyone can do except to know their rights.

You can use Google or other searches to look for your work. The trick is to identify keywords or phrases that are unique only to your work and search for them (a paragraph, sentence, etc). One service which does it well is http://www.copyscape.com/ .

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