2010/11/25

Shcool Daze

It's been a while since I posted anything.  I've been busy trying to make sense of world events.  So, to get back in the groove, let's start with some humorous images on the education theme, then move on to more serious and (hopefully) useful material.  Click on any image to see it enlarged in higher definition.

In addition to "shcool" in the below image, you will note the capital "I's" are dotted.  Why?  Literate people often do this.  Why?  It's a mystery.




I'm not sure what topics are taught at the schools advertised below, but I'm certain the sign attracted many teenage scholars.  "But Mom, I've gone to Holy Immaculate all my life.  Don't you think I should diversify my education?"


According to this article, the above billboard was proofread by four members of the advertising agency staff. 


Moving on, below is an image with demonstrable proof of the efficacy of home schooling.  I presume this was at a campaign rally for current Texas Governor, Rick Perry.  Incidentally, 8 of the last 12 national spelling bee champions were Indian American (ancestors immigrated from India), not bad for an ethnic group comprising about 1% of the American population. Those who put an effort into their education from an early age tend to excel (just like sports); those who don't tend to complain about "foreigners stealing our jobs".


And, for the final pic, I'm guessing that Mom or Dad took the below image, and she or he was also home schooled.  This must be the "No Child Left Literate" programme that President Bush promoted.


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Here are 3 simple tools/tips to help you archive articles or images you come across on the internet.


1.  Microsoft Snipping Tool
Most people are aware that you can capture everything presently on your screen by using the Print Scrn button.


But some people are unaware that there is a useful utility in the last few versions of Microsoft Windows called the Snipping Tool.  With it you can capture all or part of your screen and save it as a .jpg image.  It's quite handy for grabbing still images, news article headlines, or an image from a stopped video.


To find this tool simply go to the Start icon in the lower left of your screen (presuming you are running Windows), select All Programs, select Accessories, and finally select Snipping Tool.  Here's how it works.




2.  TinEye
This is an excellent tool!


From the TinEye site, "TinEye is a reverse image search engine. You can submit an image to TinEye to find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions."


Have you ever found an image on the internet that you wanted, but it was only a thumbnail, or fuzzy, or perhaps someone had put text over the image and you wanted it without the text?  If only there was a way a person could find if there was a better version of the image somewhere on the web . . .  Then TinEye is for you.  This powerful image search engine was developed by the Canadian company Idée Inc.  It searches almost 2 billion images and lists all versions of the image you submitted, and does it in a few seconds!


Simply go to tineye.com and read the FAQ (found in the "about" menu) for more info.  You can do 50 image searches per day, or 150 per week for free.




3. Microsoft Word Pad
This is really basic, but I find this small word processor to be quite useful in organizing my thoughts or listing links to articles that I might want to review later.  The advantage over "full meal deal" word processors like Microsoft Word is that it is much smaller, uses less memory, and saves a smaller file.  


I keep links to interesting articles on one Word Pad file for a month, then start a new file.  Word Pad is found in the same Accessories folder as the Snipping Tool above.
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This final section on today's education theme is dedicated to a few blogs.  The first is an excellent Canadian blog, Financial Insights, by Ben Rabidoux.  Ben has a very readable style, and is skilled at presenting concepts with clarity.  I recommend all Canadians at least skim his material, and read it in depth if you care at all about money, jobs, housing, and the Canadian economy.


One of the reasons I like Ben's blog is that he deals with relevant Canadian themes.  He is intelligent, educated, and insightful, three features not necessarily found together in the same person.  In addition, he is very analytic, and somewhat of a skeptic of general statements made about the economy in our media (which endears him to me).  In a recent post he dissected the assertion often made by Vancouver residents that "rich Chinese" immigrants will keep house prices high.


I would suggest readers start with Ben's Primer series.  Scroll to the bottom and start with #1.


Ben's brother, Ethan, has made a YouTube video of some of the Primer material.  I find it well done, but you have to pay attention to catch all the images, which are both educational and entertaining.   Très beau!



The second blog I recommend in this basic education theme is Chris Matenson's site (mentioned in Ethan's video above).  Chris has created a series of videos to provide basic education on economics, called the Crash Course.  It is very well done, and presents the concepts with graphics and comparisons that are easily understood.  Chris deals with the themes of economy, energy, and environment and how they are interrelated.  The total time for the series is about 3-1/2 hours, but there is also a 45 minute overview.  I haven't watched the overview, and it's been about a year since I last viewed the Crash Course, so I need to review it soon.  I get more out of it every time viewed, especially in light of world events since the last viewing.


I will be referring to one of Chris' recent articles in a future post.



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