Hurlshort

So I gather she is a maths teacher as well? In theory, seems like it's a simple approach of "too low marks = somethign wrong with the teaching = flush staff." Hrm... No, she's a PE teacher. That's what I'm trying to say, the system doesn't make any logical sense at all. Even getting rid of the math teachers is a bad idea overall, because all you are doing is hiring a new group that makes no gaurantees of being better. Anyways, I've ranted and pulled this off topic enough

Added, I'm hurlshot. Which I suppose is obvious.

Hey! Me and Krook are in the club too!

Dear Mr. theslug, Earlier you said "Graduating high school just means that you deal with an extended amount of useless BS for 4 years." I agree with this. I said earlier that the academic requirement is rather low. The real test of high school is following something through to completion. It's a skill that will serve you well in real life. I change a lot of diapers right now. It's not a hard task, but it's a necessary one. I'm not going to just give up on it. It may seem to be a bit of a stretch, but finishing High School helped me develop the skill of changing diapers. Seriously, I love teaching and wouldn't trade it for any job. But it's not for everyone and that's nice, because it means I've got job security. Standardized testing is forced upon teachers by the government. We have no control over it, but if our students do badly we can face all sorts of consequences. I work in a great community with active parents. My wife works in a more difficult school. I think she's a better teacher, I know she works harder, yet her job is in constant jeopardy due to test scores. She's also a PE teacher, but if the students at her school don't pull up math scores, the government may come in and release every teacher from their jobs. It's a messy and ineffective system. State standards that force teachers to address certain curriculum can actually be a positive. It ensures that students are covering the same content no matter which school they attend. There is a lot of leeway within the standards to introduce neat material. I teach the Renaissance in 7th grade, and I get to introduce students to Machiavelli and Dante. I shouldn't be trying to teach Karl Marx on top of that. It focuses teachers. Standardized tests will eventually become less important in education, but right now it's the government's cure-all for our national academic woes. From what the 35-year veteran teachers say in the lunch room, this stuff is cyclical.

Geez, I don't even remember posting this. I wonder if the service has been financially successful for Microsoft? I haven't checked to see if the prices have gone down at all.

I...uh...have been playing WoW again. I thought I had it kicked.

Wow, got a few negative nellies here. I'm sorry if graduation wasn't special for you. High School isn't an easy experience. It's a four year obstacle course. People should be proud to get through it and feel a sense if accomplishment. I've also said it before on these boards, education is what you make of it. Every student is going to have a unique experience as they struggle with the growing responsibilities of impending adulthood. Sure, the academic requirements for graduation aren't very high, but that's not the real obstacle. We aren't automatons, we all face a unique road. My wife works in a High School in a rough part of town, and she faces teen pregnancy, gang pressures, drug problems, etc. Many of these kids are being reaised by kids themselves. Graduating from High School is proving that they can start something and stick with it over a long period. That's the most important skill you will learn in school. So lighten up and be happy for these people.

Aww, but I think I know what will cheer you up! Oddly enough, that DOES cheer me up every time I see it! It's so hypnotic.

I could be way off, since I have a Netgear router, but your generic WEP key might be located on your actual router. I think I remember that being the case when I hooked into my buddie's Lynksys network.

I'm excited about NCAA 08 Football, now that I read the recruiting system is way more detailed. Sometimes I think I play these sports games just for the fun of taking a bad team and making them good through creative drafting and recruiting. The football is like a secondary game.

All this arguing over whether the Fallout 3 intro is worse than 1 and 2 seems like arguing over whether a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich is better with grape or strawberry jelly. It's still PB&J, just eat the sandwich and shut up.

What did you think of the beta? I played a few rounds, but after getting slaughtered repeatedly, I decided to retire from fast paced FPS's.

Green threw for 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons before this last one. This might be a very good pickup for Miami. Sure, it's tough because he's 36, but one bad season doesn't necessarilly mean he's out to pasture.

Actually, that's almost true. If something happens in a class that I don't like, I'm not going to single out a few students who MIGHT have been involved and let everyone else off. I'll punish the whole class. I don't agree with the administrators on the whole issue. Graduation is a time of celebration, not petty discipline matters.

I disagree tremendously. When it was first released, it was way ahead of any other games I remember playing at the time. The cut scenes were also very solid.

Trevor Linden is active?

What? The game isn't out yet. It's pretty hard to judge a game before it's in our hands.

Bethesda is a high quality developer that continues to thrive in a genre that is struggling tremendously. They release RPG's that are easily marketable and they do so in a very intelligent manner. Bioware and Bethesda are the only developers that are keeping the RPG genre relevant to consumers. Personally, I didn't enjoy Oblivion all that much, but that doesn't keep me from seeing the reality of how important RPG blockbusters like this are to my favorite game genre. The whole Fallout thing isn't a glass half full/half empty issue. Without Bethesda we wouldn't have a Fallout 3. I appreciate that they are tackling a great frachise and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I read reviews.

Hannibal Rising. Interesting backstory on Hannibal Lecter. Not bad, but not near the other three films. Of course, no Anthony Hopkins will do that to a film. It was odd not having a hero to play opposite Hannibal, and it was hard for me to put Hannibal in the do-gooder role.

w00t! Kiss your last full nights sleep goodbye for about 6 months. 6 months? More like 6 years. Seriously, most babies don't start sleeping more than 4 hours at a time for the first few years.

Well, I was a bit cynical about the Ducks at first, but I was happy to watch them win. They definitely deserved it and have shown what a good playoff team they are over the last few years. I can't be too hard on Pronger and Selanne, either. It's no conicidence that Pronger's been to the finals the alst two years. Giguerre has also shown that he wasn't just a flash in the pan a few years back. It's pretty exciting to see a Californian team win the Cup. It will hopefully be a boost for hockey in the state. So...anyone else surprised by Niedemeyer getting the MVP? It was awesome to watch him with his brother, though.

Do people consider Oblivion a FPS? It's also a teaser, it's not surprising there is no gameplay. I'd imagine we will know more this time next year.

I'm not quite as dumb as the administors, at least.

Yay, Serenity and Firefly are on top where they belong.

Yikes, I'm an idiot.