After reading that Cracked story about how the Eastern front was the main event in WW2 and how the Western front was just a side-show, my whole view of Europe and Russia is undergoing a radical shift. Again. The technique they are using here (spinning up a flywheel and then connecting the flywheel to the engine to start it) is very similar to the one used on the Russian Anotov AN-2 Biplane. I have never seen a machine that uses this technique, and I've seen a few. Must be something about Eastern Europe that warps minds.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Tiger by the Tail
After reading that Cracked story about how the Eastern front was the main event in WW2 and how the Western front was just a side-show, my whole view of Europe and Russia is undergoing a radical shift. Again. The technique they are using here (spinning up a flywheel and then connecting the flywheel to the engine to start it) is very similar to the one used on the Russian Anotov AN-2 Biplane. I have never seen a machine that uses this technique, and I've seen a few. Must be something about Eastern Europe that warps minds.
Quote of the Day
“Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 stuffed with CDs.” - Lyle in a comment on The View From North Central Idaho
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Programmer Escapes! Army Called In to Pick up the Slack!
Iowa Andy reports:
I was terminated this morning from my job, the owner came up from Florida to administer the coup de grace.
Saying he didn't realize how difficult the job was.
So he is coming up to organize the mess into a well oiled machine.
So they are going to have Retired Bob do the operations report, the guy who trained me so he could retire.
And use the contract programmers full time to make the programming changes
And use our systems contractors full time to support the infrastructure.
So I was replaced by 10 people.
And the owner will be in the office full time, much to the chagrin of my boss, whose stated primary job was to keep the owner out of the office and in Florida.
I of course, predict catastrophe, but wished them ...whatever....
none the less.
My coworkers were weepy, as I skipped out the door.
New Fangled
I've been using Google's Chrome browser for a while now and it works okay. Basically it works just like any other browser, slow when you want it to be fast, and fast when you don't care. Some of the controls are in slightly different spots, and there is no "home" button, but it's fine. There is one thing that is a little weird and that is when I am doing a lot of scrolling it seems to switch into some mode where it keeps scrolling. The cursor changes and this little four-arrowed floating icon appears. Click anywhere and it reverts back to normal mode, usually. I am not sure what it's for, or how it works exactly. All I know is that somehow it is not doing what I want it to do anymore, it's doing what it thinks is best. Perhaps someday I will try it out and see if it could possibly be useful, but for right now I cancel it as quick as I can. Do what I tell you, you stupid machine, not what you think I want you to do.
Volunteers encourage reading
Local Iowa paper remembers my mother-in-law.
The Friends of the Rockwell City Library have a long history of encouraging reading among patrons of all ages. Several years ago, they expressed a desire to support the reading of elementary aged students, a group with which they had previously not worked directly. Ever-passionate about helping children read, Audrey Gray took the lead in developing plans for such a program.
Through her volunteer work at the elementary school, Audrey knew that all students had independent reading goals that were set and monitored through a program called Accelerated Reader, or AR. She also knew that there were students who needed adult assistance or encouragement to meet their goals. In March, 2010, then, she launched a program called the All StARs, the “AR” a reference to the school's AR reading program.
The program has continued since, and still operates at the SCC Elementary. Adult volunteers, or “coaches,” are paired with individual students. They meet after school for 40 minutes, twice a week, for three to four weeks each session. Each pair reads together, choosing books that are of interest to the students and at his/her independent level. As they finish a book, the student takes a brief quiz on the computer to demonstrate comprehension. These quizzes translate into points that count toward a personal reading goal.
Audrey's passion, powers of persuasion, and winsome personality enabled her to recruit more than 40 adult volunteers over the years. Many of these were members of Friends of the Library, but she also called on others in the community. It's estimated that almost 100 children have participated and benefited. For some, participating in All StARs helped them meet their AR goals for the first time. For others, their “coaches” became mentors who took an interest in and encouraged their achievement.
It was because of the success of the program that Audrey continued to look for ways to involve and benefit more children. She found coaches who could come earlier to work with first graders during the school day. She worked out rides for students who needed them. She ran the program during the summer before the district offered summer school. And she dreamed of helping volunteers in other communities of the SCC district to start a program at their local libraries.
Today, Audrey's legacy continues, thanks to the efforts of other Friends of the Library including Marlene Stacey. Mary Voith, and the dedicated coaches who selfless give of their time help children succeed at (and love!) reading.
My wife sent me a scan of the actual newspaper clipping. I used a free online OCR service to translate it. It didn't work too well. I think it might have been easier to simply enter the text manually.
Volunteers provide one-on-one attention during a program sponsored by the Friends of the Rockwell City Library
The Friends of the Rockwell City Library have a long history of encouraging reading among patrons of all ages. Several years ago, they expressed a desire to support the reading of elementary aged students, a group with which they had previously not worked directly. Ever-passionate about helping children read, Audrey Gray took the lead in developing plans for such a program.
Through her volunteer work at the elementary school, Audrey knew that all students had independent reading goals that were set and monitored through a program called Accelerated Reader, or AR. She also knew that there were students who needed adult assistance or encouragement to meet their goals. In March, 2010, then, she launched a program called the All StARs, the “AR” a reference to the school's AR reading program.
The program has continued since, and still operates at the SCC Elementary. Adult volunteers, or “coaches,” are paired with individual students. They meet after school for 40 minutes, twice a week, for three to four weeks each session. Each pair reads together, choosing books that are of interest to the students and at his/her independent level. As they finish a book, the student takes a brief quiz on the computer to demonstrate comprehension. These quizzes translate into points that count toward a personal reading goal.
Audrey's passion, powers of persuasion, and winsome personality enabled her to recruit more than 40 adult volunteers over the years. Many of these were members of Friends of the Library, but she also called on others in the community. It's estimated that almost 100 children have participated and benefited. For some, participating in All StARs helped them meet their AR goals for the first time. For others, their “coaches” became mentors who took an interest in and encouraged their achievement.
It was because of the success of the program that Audrey continued to look for ways to involve and benefit more children. She found coaches who could come earlier to work with first graders during the school day. She worked out rides for students who needed them. She ran the program during the summer before the district offered summer school. And she dreamed of helping volunteers in other communities of the SCC district to start a program at their local libraries.
Today, Audrey's legacy continues, thanks to the efforts of other Friends of the Library including Marlene Stacey. Mary Voith, and the dedicated coaches who selfless give of their time help children succeed at (and love!) reading.
My wife sent me a scan of the actual newspaper clipping. I used a free online OCR service to translate it. It didn't work too well. I think it might have been easier to simply enter the text manually.
Monday Evening
I've been following Marcel on Monday Evening for a while now. He seems to be an intelligent, reasonable person, well, except for his hot buttons. Of course we all have a few of those, don't we?
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