For my brother who refuses to upgrade. You're in luck...
Microsoft gives new life to Windows NT
The software giant prolongs some support for its Windows NT 4 operating system, giving the aging server product another year of life. [ZDNet] 

This one's for the birds...
Delano's bird problem nothing to crow about
When Delano grocery manager Curtis Capps drives into the empty Save-Mart parking lot every morning, there is a reason he doesn't park his car under any trees for shade.

It might be a different color when he gets off work.[Bakersfield Californian]

 

Not another mistake...
Dam plan sparks outcry
Santa Clara Valley Water District officials, trying to take the stink out of delta water imported from the Central Valley, have sparked a dam-vs.-park dispute in the mountain wilderness east of Gilroy.

Much as Hetch Hetchy Reservoir drowned a beautiful valley in Yosemite National Park, this controversy is brewing over the possibility of a new reservoir spreading into 86,000-acre Henry W. Coe State Park. [Bay Area.com]

 

While the trip to the cascading Yosemite Creek is awe-inspiring, the walk back to one of the park's most-congested parking lots is not. The area is a popular bathroom stop for visitors on their way out of Yosemite Valley. And idling buses spew diesel fumes into the air as they wait for passengers. [ModBee] 

Hot off the press...
Toddler found chained by neck
Officers searching a home for drugs and weapons found a 3-year-old boy chained by the neck to a bedpost, authorities said. [CNN]

 

Mine's slower than dirt right now...
Bandwidth Place, Speed Test: How fast is your connection? Mine's 676.1 kilobits per second. [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson] 

Using the ol' hat stand...
A Philisophical Inquiry for the Learned: If reolutionary war George Washington was brought forward in a time machine and spent the whole day in present day America, would he continue fighting or surrender to the British? 

Please send me...
Please send me a list of all programs contained on your hard drive. Please send me their serial numbers to prove you own them and they're not illegal copies. Also please send me a list of all the MP3's on your computer as well as proof of purchase. Please send me a list of all the video files on your computer, too.

Sound a little scary?

With the recent ruling forcing Verizon to release the name of their subscriber who has digital video and music files on his/her computer to RIAA, this will happen to you.

Think about it.

 

Hey Honey! Didja hear?...
350 titles available to public....

Bill Humphries:  "The University of California Press has placed 350 titles from their electronic catalog online." [jenett.radio]

 

Education...
Boys and Reading.

Study Says Boys Do Read, They Just Don't Read Books

"Teachers should allow boys to bring Pokémon trading cards into the classroom, let them go on Internet chat rooms and encourage them to relate school texts to television shows such as the Simpsons, the author of a new study on boys and literacy says.

Boys have traditionally performed more poorly than girls in reading and writing tests, but researchers who tracked boys in six elementary classrooms in Alberta over two years say such tests may not reflect the level of literacy boys reach through non-traditional means.

The problem may be that they are simply bored with the conventional curriculum, says the study, titled Morphing Literacy: Boys Reshaping Their Literacy.

The study found it is a myth that boys do not read.

While they are less interested in fiction or traditional literature than girls are, they read more on the Internet and memorize vast amounts of detailed material from games or stories they read in the newspaper, the research showed....

Teachers should not drop the traditional reading materials but should allow students to be exposed to more popular culture, she said....

They found boys spend large amounts of time on chat sites and Web sites to get tips on how to 'cheat' or compete at video games, read books about animals, sports and fantasy, and will pick up magazines and newspapers to read hockey scores, entertainment stories or news about things relevant to their lives, such as the death of Napster. One boy told the researchers: 'We have Napster on our computer, so that really got me.' " [The National Post, via LISNews]

I find this interesting because just last week, I was noting that Brent's main motivation for learning to read seems to be so he can read the screens of video and web games, as well as his Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I actually think he enjoys reading more than most of the other boys in his class (two librarians in the house, don't you know), but his popular culture is clearly the main catalyst for him.

[The Shifted Librarian]

After reading this I'm happy to report that my 7 3/4 month old son has taken an overwhelming interest in books. And not to eat either. He actually will sit there and thumb through a book.

Which brings me to the idea that maybe the environment the children are reared in is responsible for their lack of interest in reading longer material. If video games were not as readily available in the household, would the children show more of an interest in books?