self-repair YouTubes are amazing

I am back to trying to fix my laptop. What I learned before fixed one problem, but I actually had two problems.

I know a guy who taught himself trigonometry with YouTube instructional videos, and I also new a guy who did a lot of home repairs via YouTube instructions. I am impressed by people who are that resourceful.

The first problem I had was that the laptop screen was fooled into thinking it was closed and therefore dimmed the light to save power, becoming impractical to work on. The direct cause was that a little knob was gummed up and always pressed down into shut-off mode. i had to work it loose, and have to every week or so when the problem reappears.

My new problem is not darkening, or dimming, or blinking per se, but rather a color static of a sort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPsi6DGkrIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzPe8nhkNag

I am going to try the advice in video #2. Just like he said in the video, I have been told about the inverter, but don't think that is the problem.

problems in American child education

I am not an expert by any means, but I just got through a troubling tutoring session and I feel the need to post this while the subject is fresh in my mind.

Just to be clear, the troubling part was mostly not the student (my 4th grade cousin), but rather his academic (and thus mental, and physical) suffering due to a public education and popular culture that has failed him.

I have three (3) observations in the matter:

1) His education being public is at the whim of politics, so I cannot quite hold the public educators themselves responsible for this debacle. I have long heard the phrase "No Child Left Behind" has turned into "Every Child Left Behind" and I am beginning to think they are correct in saying that.

It has become clearer and clearer to me that his teachers aren't teaching him what he needs to know (and more particularly aren't giving proper explainations). I am making a broad generalization here assuming that his experience is commonplace and widespread. I may be wrong about that.

2) Low standards are the rule of the game, sad to say. When I was in college (yes, college) my half-baked efforts on some assignments still garnered an "A" grade, even while I myself knew I deserved a "C". Except for certain "hard" classes, where I felt I was more honestly tested. I actually had to work for a good grade.

In high school, I had the same experience.

Now this was at a public university. My above observations have been true in my experience in all public schools, but are quite possibly not universally true.

Part of this is due to popular culture, partly due to political correctness. Which is also popular culture, in a fashion.

But I think it is a tragedy, simply put.

3) Popular culture (in America, at least) has convinced children that learning stops when the school bell sounds. This is one area that I feel qualified to speak in. A precious minority of children (and their families) do not beleive that particular lie, and populate extracurricular academics.

Academic obesity, if you will.

I'm not sure that a child's laziness is really a culprit.

This is an even worse tragedy, as I see it.

College isn't designed to find jobs

I'm one of the lucky ones. I saw through college long before most other people I know. But, even though in my head I knew college wasn't the answer to my chronic job-dissatisfaction, in my heart I always hoped I was wrong (kinda like I hope I am wrong about WWIII).

I guess I am in a sour mood. Chronic unemployment is my excuse, fair or otherwise.
I have deep-seated frustration/anger at anything to do with the Ivory Tower of academia, and really it isn't completely justified. But not completely unjustified, either. University education was falsely advertised to me (and many thousands of others) as a direct means to emploment. That, in turn, was mostly a response to the popular (and equally false) misunderstanding of colleges. Colleges were never quite intended to do anything more that self-actualization, and any employment benefits derived are a matter of personal talent.

There are a few exceptions, I suppose. But for the most part, if college prepares someone for the employment arena, that is because a student prepares him or herself. In my case, university education gave me tools, tools I used to make myself quite prepared...but it didn't help. Much.

The interesting point here (to me, anyway) is that except for the marketing people (and their masters) we (meaning: I) should hold no grudge against academia. It's not at all their fault they teach self-actualization. That's what they've been doing since the time of Chaucer. It's largely society that has placed foolish faith in them. But it's also a failure on their part to modernize and cater to the actual needs of students, rather than simply lip-service to job-preparedness.

hahahaha I needed a good laugh after Perry

Reposted from: http://jenanistonsite.blogspot.com/2011/08/ben-stiller-promises-naked-jennifer.html

www.seejenniferanistonnakedfoundation.com/

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/see-jennifer-aniston-naked-foundation-launched

tutoring and Robin Hood

I have taken it upon myself to try and encourage my young 2nd grade nephew/cousin. I found a young reader of Robin Hood stories. I think it's a great beginning. We read the first chapter yesterday. The first chapter was about 8 pages long. And actually, since this was his last week of school (and he whined that "summer means fun, not schoolwork"), I talked him into me reading to him and then quizzing him on reading comprehension. Later, I'll have him read to me.

He's behind where his potential lies, and I can see it. He's smart, but unpracticed. At his age, I read books on an 8th grade level, like Swiss Family Robinson and Robison Crusoe and Lord of the Rings. Granted, I was too young to fully apprecaiate many things in those books, but still I did. And here he was complaining that this childish reader was above his level.

He knows practically nothing of medieval Europe and castles and knights. At least he knew what a bow and arrows were. He hadn't heard of England before.

Well, he hasn't seen the old Disney Robin Hood (he's sadly deprived like that) and I don't want to introduce him to it until he's finished the book.

Robin Hood and Little John, walking through the forest...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx_4C1cyUZA


Intro credits "The Story of what really happened..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GouLP2GE1M8