Your kids are not being taught New Math. It's called Common Core.

A portion (about two paragraphs) of this is taken from a Facebook status update I did today, but I thought it would be good material so I'm using it here as well.

Please stop circulating memes complaining about New Math. Unless your children  are in their mid fifties or early sixties they haven't been exposed to New Math in school. Kids in public school in much of the USA are being taught Common Core Math, not New Math which is actually quite old.

A lot of people are confusing Common Core Math with New Math. I see parents decrying New Math online when what they are actually talking about is Common Core. New Math was tried and failed in the 1960's. Anybody that attended school in the 1970's or later probably wasn't being subjected to New Math and our kids aren't being taught it now. You can't effect change in a program if you don't even know what it is called folks!

That said, Common Core Math is garbage and needs to be tossed. Most parents, even the ones that remember the needed math don't do well helping a child with Common Core, and it confuses the kids as well. Kids often get marked down even with the right answer because they didn't arrive at it using the obtuse methods being taught. Please do more than complain on Facebook about it! Read up a little on it, get your facts in order, and contact your teachers, principals, and school boards. Let them know how you feel and back your argument up with solid facts.

There are 42 states plus the District of Columbia using Common Core Math, The states of Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska, Indiana, and South Carolina have the good sense not to adopt this ridiculous method of teaching.

Speed up a computer running Microsoft Windows

People often complain that their Windows PC has gotten slower over time. These are some tips and tricks to help without arbitrarily formatting and reinstalling windows.

1) Use msconfig (taskmanager more recently) or ccleaner to turn off programs you don't need or use that start up with windows. After installing a lot of software over time a number of programs can be added to your system start up that you don't need. To much of this can have a significant impact on the start up time of your PC.

2) Remove malware. Malware can slow your PC incredibly. Malware can include Spyware, Adware, Rootkits, and less commonly viruses. Don't assume that intelligent computing or your antivirus software will prevent malware from being a problem on their own because they wont.

3) Clean up/delete unneeded files. Temp files, items in your recycle bin, cookies etc... can all build up over time. You can do this manually, use the Windows disk cleanup tool, or even use ccleaner. Mind you, freeing up disk space isn't really going to help your speed much unless your disk is very full to begin with.

4) Simply turn off windows features that you do not use. There is an entire list of these that I may cover in another article, but  I will mention  the Windows Indexing Service. It can consume a lot of resources attempting to keep files indexed. This speeds up searches but can slow the PC down. Just remember if you do a lot of searching it may be best to leave it on.

5) Completely uninstall any software you don't need or use on a regular basis.

6) If you can afford to and if your system supports it upgrade the amount of RAM in your computer and or install a faster CPU.

Contrary to popular opinion, some things are still dangerous, stupid, and unlawful.

A few days ago my wife noticed a car that reeked of pot when she walked by a man getting out of the car. There was also a woman and a small child in the vehicle. I'm guessing the man and the woman were the parents, but I do not know this for sure. All the windows in the car were rolled up, and the odor of the marijuana was noticeable because the man had opened the door to get out.

I didn't get up and say anything even though I should have and I don't feel very good about that decision to be honest. I have called 911 about the exact same thing before for a different occurrence and been made to feel like I was wasting their time. In the past confronting people that engage in this kind of behavior only results in profanity and exclamations of the supposed legality of marijuana use in my state. This isn't even the issue, but it is irritating nonetheless because it isn't true.

It isn't legal anywhere in the USA period. Federal law supersedes state and local law. A failure to enforce the law or choosing to ignore localities attempting to contradict it is not the same as it being legal. Various states have decided to exercise authority in the matter that they do not actually have. Changes in elected leaders or appointed personnel at the federal level could easily change federal response to the matter. Until marijuana is reclassified as something other than a schedule one substance it will continue to be unlawful to use or sell anywhere in the USA for any reason.

Anyway, back to the point. The problem was the fact that they were smoking a drug in a vehicle that they had been driving with a child in the car and all the windows rolled up. Ignore for a moment the quasi-legal status of marijuana use in Washington State, there are so many other things wrong with what they were doing without even getting to that piece of things that it is just crazy.

Smoking, of any type, in a car with children ought to be a crime. It is child abuse for the sake of convenience and is just wrong. Smoking a narcotic just makes the matter worse.

How about being under the influence while driving? That is illegal here. It's called DUI and the man driving deserved to be charged for it. It is bad enough that they were risking their lives and those of others on the road, but they were doing it with a child in their care.

In the past I have called authorities, I have confronted individuals, I have alerted business owners of it happening on their property. It usually didn't seem to result in anything good. I should have taken down the plate number and called 911 anyway and when something like this happens again I will. 

People have such a dismissive attitude towards marijuana in Washington state that they ignore all the problems relating to it out of hand. If that had been beer or crack cocaine I'm willing to bet that a call too the police would have carried more weight than one for marijuana. 

Stallman vs. Reality

The trouble with Richard Stallman's arguments they are based on ideals without accounting for the reality of how people need or even want to use software and information. Stallman has been at the same tired old argument of what he views to be freedom in regards to software for decades and still doesn't seem to understand that his ideals for free software do a lot to restrict the freedoms of users and developers.

The reason why Windows, OS X, and proprietary software titles are so popular because they enable most people to do the things they want to do. That's the end of the debate really, and that is why Stallman frequently finds himself tilting at windmills. Most people don't and wouldn't benefit from the kind of freedom he is defending.

Most people would be at a severe disadvantage if they migrated to a completely free operating system and completely free software for that system. They wouldn't be able to do much of what they want to do without learning to develop software themselves. At the very least they would be facing a substantial learning curve in using their computer in a different way then they are accustomed to.

This kind of freedom is Stallman preaches is meaningless when it's freedom people either don't need or are unlikely to take advantage of. Sure, to a hacker or developer that wants the right to alter and redistribute any part of a system they see fit it is great, but how many people really fall into that category?

The truth is that many developers don't even take advantage of that kind of freedom. Most people wont ever need or want access to alter almost all of an operating system or program. Most people just want it to work. How many computer users actually want or need the abiltiy to hack the entire system?

Stallman's complete freedom argument is  almost completely pointless when faced with the reality of people users that don't need or benefit from it.  People have had years and years to migrate to completely free GNU/Linux systems and overwhelmingly, they choose Winows, OS X, Android, Ubuntu, etc...

Stallman is an extremist defending principles which for most users are completely useless. They don't need to hack their systems and they don't want to and they shouldn't have to.  There is nothing wrong if people want to buy software and let professionals handle the details when need be. There is nothing wrong with free software and people that want to do it themselves either, but expecting all software to fall in the latter category is silly. Especially since all users don't.

Ubuntu isn't a solution to Windows 10 privacy concerns.

I realize that there are real privacy concerns and that some people have their own perfectly valid reasons for disabling search and advertising functions in software. This article isn't directed at them. I am speaking to the nut-jobs out there that believe in every software conspiracy they read online and mistakenly think living under a rock is possible let alone a good move. I have seen a lot of these types declare their intentions to jump ship over Windows 10 start using Linux.

If you have decided to wear a tin foil hat and succumb to all the FUD over Windows 10 you may be considering a jump to Ubuntu.

If you’re new to Linux or to Ubuntu,you may not realize that Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly on privacy concerns and that Linux isn't a magic cure all for your paranoia. You might be shocked to learn that just like Microsoft Windows, you have to actually lift a finger and make some changes if you are concerned.

If you are over the top paranoid about privacy and don't use any cloud services you may want to disable online search from the dash. Anything you type in the dash could be recorded and sent to Canonical for use by Canonical and its partners. Now obviously it is anonymous data used for improving services and or advertising, but those in the tin foil hat brigade will argue otherwise. There is nothing nefarious or evil about it and the practice is clearly spelled out in the licensing agreement, but per usual there are nutty bloggers out there that confuse a practice allowed by a licensing agreement with actual coded software behavior or actual practices of the company. There is a difference between a license provision that allows for data collection and a huge nefarious plot to watch your every move and tattle to authorities, but people write up whatever gets them advertising revenue, not what actually happens.

Canonical, in a purely evil attempt to actually bring in funding and OMG, support further development, added shopping suggestions for Amazon to the dash. If you are convinced that you are being forced to shop at Amazon.com every time you use the dash you may want to disable the feature. From a terminal, type: sudo apt-get remove unity-webapps-common.

What I have mentioned here are just the top two privacy concerns using Ubuntu. There is a list as long as what you can compile for Windows 10 and just like with Windows 10 it is all easily mitigated with a little bit of education and some simple configuration. There are many good reasons to use Linux, Windows 10 privacy concerns isn't one of them.

THE AD BLOCKING CONTROVERSY. IS IT DEFENSE OR PIRACY?

THE AD BLOCKING CONTROVERSY. IS IT DEFENSE OR PIRACY?

Originally published at Setuix.com 31 JULY, 2015 BY JOHN BEAULIEU

Edited and posted March 24th, 2016 to nytegeek.blog.com by John Beaulieu

Most legitimate web sites don’t use the types of ads that we all know and hate. Animated ads with loud sounds and distracting motions, Pop-ups/unders, and other sorts of intrusive advertising that interrupt people are the reason many have turned to ad blocking extensions. Ads that are so intrusive that they actually disrupt the intended use of a website don’t help anyone. Often the types of sites that use intrusive and or misleading ads of a questionable nature to begin with. Web sites that provide or aid in the ability to obtain copy righted material for free are often an example of the type of site that still resorts to this type of advertising. Anything from fake download buttons, pop-ups, misleading leaks, phising attempts, or even advertising links that if selected install malware. At any rate not running flash or java plugins would easily mitigate this without ad blocking in most cases.

But what about ad blocking on legitimate sites? What about sites that get most of their revenue with a few well placed banner ads that don’t disrupt the content or use of the site? Some will claim that since they never click on ads that the site doesn’t lose any money on them when they use an ad blocker. This isn’t necessarily true. Most sites are payed per view, not payed per click-through. If you block the ads from displaying you are effectively taking money out of the site owner’s pocket without even realizing it. The site still has to pay for the content, hardware, bandwidth, power, and an Internet connection. Delivering content to a reader is not cheap or free. If you block ads on a site the site doesn’t have that income to cover the cost of your use.

The piracy argument is that ad blocking allows the reader to obtain content for “free” without paying the price which is loading the ads. The difference between this and traditional piracy is that traditional piracy is using a software product or obtaining content that is meant to be paid for with money directly for free. Some people believe that viewing content on-line with an ad blocker is fine because it is “free” anyway. They don’t view the ads as a price for the content.

Regardless of how you see it there is an undeniable truth about the effect of ad blocking on legitimate sites. The sites are denied income needed to provide the content that people with ad blockers are reading or viewing. In some cases that means that site owners feel forced to create ways to squeeze more revenue out of ads and this can have a negative impact on people viewing the sites without an ad blocker.

On the other hand ad blockers may contribute to the site in other ways even if they are a net loss when it comes to viewing content and not viewing ads. They may post content like comments, links, and other content that can generate traffic to the site. They may share content on social networking sites and generate more traffic and content as a result. These are necessary for advertising to fund a site, so if any of the new traffic is from people that don’t block ads it is a plus.

The key to this dilemma may be in educating both site owners and site users. Site owners should learn about the types of advertising schemes that have fueled the ad blocking epidemic. They shouldn’t resort to intrusive, misleading, and or over the top methods of advertising to fund their sites. There are WordPress plug-ins that can be used to communicate with ad blockers. You can educate them about white-listing or ask them to turn their blockers off.  People probably aren’t going to turn their ad-blockers off, but if they can be persuaded to white-list non-offensive sites it would help.

Unfortunately there is not an easy fix for the situation. Ad blocking falls in an ethical and legal gray area without any clear answers. Ad blocking cant be defined as traditional piracy. It is still relatively new in the arena of socially acceptable practices and it hasn’t been tested under current law enough to be defined as a legal or as an unlawful practice. The only thing that is clear is that this issue will continue to become more important and divisive with time. There are many differing opinions on the matter and many of us are still on the fence about the whole mess.

For people that want to visit sites that use intrusive ads I understand the utility of an ad-blocker. I would suggest that these people take a few steps to make things better for everyone involved. First of all, learn how to white-list the sites that aren’t intrusive that you wish to visit instead of taking a shotgun block everything approach. Secondly, disable both Java and Flash in your browser. You likely do not need them and you will be a whole lot more secure when visiting sites that use intrusive advertising. Thirdly, practice “Intelligent Computing”. Don’t click on, download or run anything suspicious. My fourth and final bit of advice is to use a real time anti-virus suite if you are surfing from Windows. It is your last defense when “intelligent Computing” isn’t enough.

Windows 10 Battery Report

There a hidden feature in Windows 8 and in Windows 19 that allows you to generate a battery report This report will allow you to examine battery health, how capacity has decreased over time, and various stats like how many complete discharge and charge cycles you have used. You only get so many. It can range between 500 and 1000 depending on the manufacturer and the conditions the batter are exposed to like heat and usage.

To use this feature you need to use PowerCfg command line tool. PowerCfg can generate the “Energy Report,” for information on how to reduce your energy usage and  hopefully extend its battery life as well as a battery report. I will onlt be focusing on generating the battery report here.

The battery report you generate is a s simple web page file. It can be created with a single command. You just need to issue it from the command prompt.

Open the Command Prompt window. Right-click in the start button and select Command Prompt from the menu if you Windows 10. If you are in Windows 8 click bottom-left corner of the screen or press Windows Key + X, and then select Command Prompt.

From the Command Prompt window that appears just type this command and press the Enter Key:

powercfg /batteryreport

You have just saved a battery report to your user account folder C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\battery report.html. Use File Explorer to load the folder and double-click to launch the file in your default web browser.

The right way to serve steak

I have seen a lot of images on social media shaming those of us that enjoy well done meet so it is my turn to have some fun with it! Mine is a modified image much like theirs, except I have at least tried to provide credit to my source below.

For those of us that enjoy a lowered risk of live parasites and microbes in our beef, or just plan don't appreciate our steak mooing at as and running off. (credit for original image this was modified from to looloo Insights: Steak 101: 6 Tips On Eating The Perfect Steak)

You name it! Pick an operating system for me to review!

I'm considering setting aside a partition on my drive for testing other operating systems and then reviewing them here. I would also test and compare the operating systems in a virtual machine.

I am still deciding on what parameters and format both the testing and review will take.

Here is what I would love to hear from you in comments here or in messages on my google+ or Facebook wall:

1. What operating system would you like me to review? Anything that can be installed legally for free on my laptop or anything I have a valid software license for is okay. I can review every released copy of Microsoft Windows for example (American releases). FreeDOS, virtually any Linux, ReactOS, Haiku, you name it!
2. What are make or break features for you? What can you absolutely not live without in an OS?
3. What is your comfort level? Do you like a challenge, or would you like less of a learning curve?

Let me know what you think. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions! Let's have some fun with this! I plan to do several reviews so there are plenty of chances for your pick to get reviewed.

Wisdom in curiosity

We didn't have much in the way of snow this winter, but 3 or 4 days before it did snow Owen told me it was going to. I discounted it because the sky was clear, it was to warm for it to stick, and I had heard no mention of it on the weather report. Also, if I'm to be honest, he is only 4 and I assumed he just wanted it to snow. Owen was right though, we got some snow. Owen had probably caught a bit of a report I missed or heard something from his friends or teachers. At any rate he knew something I didn't and I discounted it because he is a kid.

When I was a child we were learning about resting heart rates from our PE teacher in elementary school. I don't remember what grade I was in or what my heart rate was before and after activity, I just remember it was the highest in the class. I told my father about it and instead of checking or showing concern he expressed frustration with my PE teacher and told me that my PE teacher wasn't a doctor and wasn't qualified to be teaching us about such things.

Now that I am an adult I know that you don't need to be a doctor or have a medical degree to understand such a basic indicator of our overall health. I suffer from tachycardia and from other heart related issues that are being treated properly, but the tachycardia that my father didn't want to hear about from a child or a teacher could have been addressed years ago.

Regardless of the topic, be it weather, health or anything in between we should at the very least try to listen to and understand our children without discounting what they say based solely on their age. Sometimes children are asking questions that need to be asked that adults don't consider. Children have a unique perspective that can be very useful in addressing a wide variety of issues.