World of Suck

So, a college student in Canada studying chemistry starts a help group on Facebook. He gets a 'B' in the class which is then changed to an 'F' when the teacher discovers the site. Why? Because the teacher (unnamed at this time) considers electronic sharing of thoughts and ideas as cheating. Here's the scoop:

TORONTO (AP) -- A Canadian university ruled Tuesday against expelling a first-year engineering student accused of cheating through an online study group on Facebook.

Chris Avenir's apparent exhortation to fellow Ryerson University engineering students to ''input solutions'' to assignment problems on the social networking site raised the ire of a professor.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old was told that while he wouldn't be expelled he would receive a zero on the assignment section of the chemistry course, which was worth 10 percent of his final grade. Despite that, Avenir still passed the course.

Hello old fashioned? I remember when calculators in math classes were considered "cheating" (slide rules probably weren't). This is a great example of how universities and their mouldering, doddering old teachers can't keep up and fear what they don't understand.

The site was never hidden, and all the content is available to *anyone*. Chris not only got slapped for creating the site, but also for 146 charges of "enabling misconduct". Awesome... Supposedly the university embraces the use of technology in learning, I'm guessing that applies only to abacuses and 5" floppies.

So in this crappy economy of wonderfulness, we have this lovely tidbit of information from Tampa:

TAMPA, Fla., March 18 (UPI) -- A woman is suing the city of Tampa, Fla., over a $299.58 loan her great-grandfather gave the city during the U.S. Civil War, and she is seeking $22.7 million.

Joan Kennedy Biddle, 77, said a promissory note given to her ancestor, Thomas Pugh Kennedy, on June 21, 1861, documents that Kennedy loaned the money to the city, but she and her family claim the debt was never repaid, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Tuesday.

"This thing has been in the family since the date on the note, and it has never been repaid," she said. "My daddy told me, and I certainly believe him."

The suit, which seeks the amount of the loan plus 8 percent annual interest, was filed in the Hillsborough Circuit Court.

Now, I'll admit I'm not a big history buff, but I believe that puts the timeframe of that note as during the Civil War. And being in the South, Florida would have most likely used Confederate money which today is worth less than nothing...

Yet somehow this 77 year old woman wants to cash in on it with real money? $22.7 million dollars worth? And they sat on it for over 140 years without so much as bringing it up to the government?

Mommy, my head hurts...make the stupidity stop...

Some might simply tell the man who lost his wife in 2005 to move on after Verizon lost a recording of her voice during an upgrade. However, Verizon dug through its archives and found the recording and restored it.

IRVINGTON, N.Y. — An 80-year-old man who thought he'd lost the only recording of his dead wife's voice can hear her again, any time he wants. When Verizon upgraded Charles Whiting's telephone service, his wife's voice, saying, "Catherine Whiting," disappeared from his voicemail system.

She had died in 2005 and Whiting said he listened to her voice every day for comfort. He blamed Verizon for the loss, saying, "Now they took her voice away."

But Verizon had archived all the old greetings and messages. Company spokesman John Bonomo said Tuesday that a contractor found the recording and restored it to the new voicemail system.

"I'm glad they rescued it," Whiting said. "I'm very happy."

Kudos to you Verizon for having a heart.

This just seemed so funny to me that I had to post it. This actually is a town not far from where I live.

CARMEL, Ind. -- A proposal to designate Carmel as a "family friendly city" failed in City Council Monday, despite pleas from several residents asking leaders to adopt it.

The defeated resolution stated that the City Council supports a "wholesome environment" for the city's children and families and encourages residents, businesses and groups within the city to maintain that environment.

By 5 to 2 vote, the Council voted it down, with co-sponsors Eric Seidensticker and John Accetturo supporting it and Rick Sharp, Kevin Rider, Luci Snyder, Joe Griffiths and Ron Carter voting against it.

"This was all about 'let's make Carmel a G-rated city,'" Seidensticker said. "It was an opinion of council it was non-binding."

Supporters such as Lori Baxter, a Carmel mother who spearheaded a campaign last fall to remove lingerie-clad models from Victoria's Secret windows at Clay Terrace Mall, said the resolution would be the beginning of a dialogue among businesses in the community about the proliferation of sexual images.

In a passionate speech, she said those images lead to the prevalence of sexually transmitted disease and increased sexual activity among teenagers.

But some opponents of the ban, who also showed up to speak at the meeting, said the resolution would sacrifice civil liberties and free speech and would set a bad precedent for the community.

First off...you've GOT to be kidding me. Some plastic mannequins with Victoria Secret bras are part of the reason that 1 in 4 kids have STDs now? DAMN! How could we have missed that!? I suppose next they're going to try to ban the local TV stations because of the "sexual" images that they air on their prime-time shows. Let's not even touch the cable networks. Banning things will NOT take the place of education and good parenting.

I can say with honesty that even in my adolescent years, a plastic female counterpart never did it for me. Regardless of what it was or was not wearing.

Some people's children (and mothers)...

Why is anyone surprised? I mean really - if nothing else our president is thoroughly consistent. Denial that there's any serious problem with the economy, after years of raping it silly, is in the same vein as telling everyone that the war was worth it.

The administration was elected, re-elected and has continuously operated on the principle that they are only answerable to god, and not the public that elected them. As a result, if lying, ignoring the facts, violating the agreed upon laws - both national and international - are useful in justifying their actions, then so be it.

Torture is necessary. Killing is necessary. It's always the same old bullshit "do what we say or the terrorists will get you", or, "following the laws is too complicated, just do what we say". Pollution laws enacted by states are "burdens" or "too confusing". And unemployment can be solved by "tax rebates". Evidence of how decisions are made, what people were consulted or what emails were sent are either "privileged" or "unimportant". On and on and on.

2009 can't come quickly enough. I don't care who wins this time, so long as they have education and a conscience. Anything has got to be better than this...

So I've started a new job. It's not a bad gig really...doing support and some web development for a mid-size physician group with a handful of offices scattered around town. I find it much better than my previous consulting gig due to the serious cutback on travel.

There are downsides though. When I took this job, I knew I wouldn't be at the "main office" where my boss spends his days. I'm in one of the larger satellite offices where most of the clerical work is done. "This won't be bad," I thought...

Turns out I'm in gossip central. My cubicle is in the scheduling department for the clinics and I'm SURROUNDED by people who would rather gossip all day than actually answer the phones. I have to listen to the phones ringing off the hook while someone leaves their cubicle to complain about how one of the doctors' assistants talked bad about them one day 2 weeks ago. Or how one of the doctors might be sleeping with his secretary. They also like to complain that we have them blocked from such sites as MySpace, Facebook and Sirius/XM. I know it's pure hell that they can't go and post pointless comments to their friends while their phones ring off the hook or listen to music instead of making appointments with people that pay both my salary and theirs.

I've just never understood what people get out of gossip and I most likely never will. Headphones are my friend right now. :)