Tuesday, April 12, 2005
KILLING WILD CATS
News from The Associated Press: "Residents in 72 counties were asked whether free-roaming cats - including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without a collar - should be listed as an unprotected species. If listed as so, the cats could be hunted.
La Crosse firefighter Mark Smith, 48, helped spearhead the cat-hunting proposal. He wants Wisconsin to declare free-roaming wild cats an unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers. Anyone with a small-game license could shoot the cats at will.
At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota and Minnesota, allow wild cats to be shot - and have for decades. Minnesota defines a wild, or feral, cat as one with no collar that does not show friendly behavior, said Kevin Kyle with that state's Department of Natural Resources.
Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding numbers, Smith's plan has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers."
La Crosse firefighter Mark Smith, 48, helped spearhead the cat-hunting proposal. He wants Wisconsin to declare free-roaming wild cats an unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers. Anyone with a small-game license could shoot the cats at will.
At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota and Minnesota, allow wild cats to be shot - and have for decades. Minnesota defines a wild, or feral, cat as one with no collar that does not show friendly behavior, said Kevin Kyle with that state's Department of Natural Resources.
Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding numbers, Smith's plan has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers."
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Hacker Highschool - www.hackerhighschool.org
Hacker Highschool - www.hackerhighschool.org: "The Hacker Highschool project is the development of license-free, security and privacy awareness teaching materials and back-end support for teachers of elementary, junior high, and high school students.
Today's kids and teens are in a world with major communication and productivity channels open to them and they don't have the knowledge to defend themselves against the fraud, identity theft, privacy leaks and other attacks made against them just for using the Internet. This is the reason for Hacker Highschool.
In HHS, you will find lessons on utilizing Internet resources safely such as web privacy, chat protection, viruses and trojans (malware), and the over-all focus on how to recognize security problems on your computer. All lessons work with a free 'live linux' CD which will boot off any PC with a CD-rom drive to perform the lessons. HHS is a great supplement to student course work or as part of after-school and club activities.
...or those looking for additional assistance, ISECOM is providing a Teacher Certification for its Hacker Highschool program in order to support teacher know-how for using HHS materials and accessing the Internet-based, test lab, built and maintained specifically for HH"
Today's kids and teens are in a world with major communication and productivity channels open to them and they don't have the knowledge to defend themselves against the fraud, identity theft, privacy leaks and other attacks made against them just for using the Internet. This is the reason for Hacker Highschool.
In HHS, you will find lessons on utilizing Internet resources safely such as web privacy, chat protection, viruses and trojans (malware), and the over-all focus on how to recognize security problems on your computer. All lessons work with a free 'live linux' CD which will boot off any PC with a CD-rom drive to perform the lessons. HHS is a great supplement to student course work or as part of after-school and club activities.
...or those looking for additional assistance, ISECOM is providing a Teacher Certification for its Hacker Highschool program in order to support teacher know-how for using HHS materials and accessing the Internet-based, test lab, built and maintained specifically for HH"
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Math help for U.S. kids may come from India
Math help for U.S. kids may come from India : "The failure of some American students to master math is adding up to big bucks for tutoring companies in India.
A little-known provision in the federal No Child Left Behind law allows federal taxpayer dollars to flow to online tutoring services thousands of miles and several times zones away in places like New Delhi and Calcutta. Those services typically contract with U.S. tutoring firms, which provide them the computer software and set the lesson plan.
Few would begrudge using public money to give struggling students extra help. During the last school year, more than 3,500 Ohio students who attend schools that failed to show adequate improvement took advantage of the chance to hire an outside tutor.
But some U.S. teachers decry the offering of instruction to Indian firms that pay full-time, college-educated tutors as little as $230 a month. They also complain that while the law requires teachers to be fully certified, private tutors have no such requirement."
A little-known provision in the federal No Child Left Behind law allows federal taxpayer dollars to flow to online tutoring services thousands of miles and several times zones away in places like New Delhi and Calcutta. Those services typically contract with U.S. tutoring firms, which provide them the computer software and set the lesson plan.
Few would begrudge using public money to give struggling students extra help. During the last school year, more than 3,500 Ohio students who attend schools that failed to show adequate improvement took advantage of the chance to hire an outside tutor.
But some U.S. teachers decry the offering of instruction to Indian firms that pay full-time, college-educated tutors as little as $230 a month. They also complain that while the law requires teachers to be fully certified, private tutors have no such requirement."
