I'd love to see Discover the World (the 1987 version) for Apple II on here.   The internet archive recently posted it, and I can only get disk one to work.  

I really hope everyone in this thread really does go through a CPR class now!  Even if it's just a friends and family CPR and not a health care professional CPR certification, it will go a long way!

To those who worry they might screw up CPR, don't hesitate with compression only CPR:  Hard and fast on the center of the chest.  It's enough to extend life a few crucial minutes.  In fact, every four second delay in compressions has been associated with a seven percent reduction in survival rates. This four second window is so crucial we're even working on ways to do CPR through AED shocks.  It's not standard yet, but it's likely to drastically improve CPR. I work in my local ER and also  volunteer as an EMT in my home town, and we're never on scene in less than 5 minutes- sometimes it's closer to 12.  Add that to the delay in dispatch times, and there is NO way we can do it on our own.  Just go hard and fast on the center of the chest and we'll be there to take over soon.

And if you do train, make sure to retrain. Practice makes perfect. Also, CPR guidelines are updated every five years or so.  The new guidelines in the US came out just this year!

As for other aspects of first aid,  sure, you can do some damage if you're not trained, but they even train boy scouts in handling limb immobilization and emergency transport.  You don't need a fancy commercial splint handy to make a successful transport. A nursing student like MoblinGardens sounds like the coolest hero/friend and is likely more than qualified to move someone with a compound fracture (as gross as they are...)  So, Kudos Moblin, and good luck with the nursing program!  I hope you're looking into ER!

-Andrew

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Zlingx on this one.  Every generation thinks the next generation is making society go to hell in a handbasket.  I read a great article one complaining about how all these teens with their magazines and their telephones were going to ruin the world.  In fact, telephones were initially just a business tool and telephone companies didn't want to be associated with idle jibber jabber.  Today, people complain about teens, smart phones, and how much jibber jabber goes on in our even more connected world.  Nothing has changed.

I was born in 1987, so I'm one of the standard bearers of the beginning of the millennial wave. I think we're doing just fine.  I love being part of the first generation that can ubiquitously manipulate the internet and electronics for betterment of our world and society.  Think of all the good we've been able to accomplish with a more interconnected world.  I love being a part of a generation so informed by scientific progress. We know smoking can kill us, so we don't smoke as much as previous generations. We know binge drinking isn't good, so we don't drink as much. We know much more about our environment and do a much better job of taking care of it. Sure, we can't all drive stick or write in cursive, but we're redefining transportation and communications.  We're more likely to use public transportation and go paperless.  We're far more likely to have graduated high school and far more likely to have participated in every other level of education.  I love being part of that.

Yes, I see the original post's point about the difficulty in getting a job, but I know our generation will find it's own way with a solution to that problem, too.  We're constantly coming up with new industries and new services.  As soon as we stop latching on to the old and embrace the new, we'll have it figured out.

So don't let your self-esteem dip.  You're part of what will make our world ours.

I heard somewhere that the price of a big mac would have to go from something like $3.89 to $5.99 to support a fifteen dollar minimum at MacDonald's.  I don't generally buy MacDonald's, but that seems prohibitively expensive for people currently making in the 15-25 dollar wage range.  If the same thing happened across the board with the CPI, I don't know if I could afford it.

Since the last minimum wage increase in 2009, minimum wage workers have enjoyed the some of the highest consumer price index adjusted wages since the early 80s. Workers in 2012 (the most recent data I can find on the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site) enjoyed a higher inflation-adjusted wage than in 33 of the previous 74 years.  In fact, the average CPI adjusted minimum wage since the minimum wage was instituted has been 7.09.  The CPI adjusted wage rate has never come close to 15 dollars. 

Raising a minimum wage also, in a way, hurts lower income workers with few skills.  A business owner can certainly afford to hire an unskilled worker at 7.25 per hour, but must be very selective in choosing a worker at a 15 dollar per hour rate.  The business owner must select someone who can maximize productivity at a 15/hour rate and make capital investments in equipment that helps increase that one worker's productivity at the expense of someone else's job.  We already see entry level jobs going to college graduates.  At 15 dollars an hour, you'd better be hiring college graduates and good luck to anyone else.



 

I've been on a few missions, including the one when I was 16 and really accepted Christ in my heart.  While I never was an atheist, I was for a long time the kind of Christian who accepted Jesus with my mind, but didn't yet have a transformative experience where I knew Christ in my heart. I didn't even know that sort of level with Christ existed before the trip, and it is still the most important and best part of my life. 

So, as for your atheist friend going along on the trip- perhaps this will be a mission for them to find their place with Christ.  They totally wouldn't have signed up if they didn't have something in them pushing them in this direction.  If that something is Christ, keep an eye out on them!  They'll be glad to have a friend with them for the experience!

We used to do it with pencils back in elementary school.  Yes- we were stupid back in elementary school!

In the late 80s or early 90s, I was playing Discover the World, an Apple IIgs game by Entrex.  For a save name, I mashed the keyboard and got gsfd (I'm left handed). It ended up being a really good game, and I liked the ring of the letter combination.  I used it at school for save files all the time.  My classmates even took to calling me "Good, smart, friendly dude," after the letters. Years later, I was signing up for a bulletin board similar to this one, and gsfd was taken.  Dfsg seemed the next best choice!  It's been with me since. I guess that makes me the "Dude who is friendly, smart, and good."  Not as good of a ring, but I'll take it!

-Andrew

I love the idea of technical schools.  I also really love the idea of community colleges, as mentioned above.  Our local community college costs 1/5 the tuition and fees of our largest state school and 1/25 the most expensive institution in the state.  The best part?  A lot of professors from those larger institutions moonlight at the community college.  You can really get a grade-A education if you go local.  It's like buying the brand or the generic- you're still getting what you want, why pay for the fancy name that's attached?

So, especially in the realm of Community College, if you aren't sure about what you want to do, or want to just give college a try, it's much more worth it to start at community!  The second best part?  If you complete an associates degree, every four year state school has to accept 100% of the transferred credits here in my home state of New Jersey.  Then, you get the fancy name diploma, but for the first two years, you got an 80% discount!

Can't complain about the Community College option!

-Andrew

I very rarely did.  I was forced to go to football games while in band.  My gym grade was threatened if I didn't go to the basketball games (which I had to pay for). 

Once I got to college, my tuition was hiked to pay for a $170,000,000 expansion on the football stadium, but the income from the stadium did not go back to the students.  Out of principle, I ignored the football games.  Plus, when there were Friday games, they diverted all the buses to transporting people to the game. My school had tens of thousands of people coming to games.  It was impossible to get a bus to my class on Fridays when I was paying the transportation fees that kept the bus system running.  And my school spanned two towns. It was a 45 minute walk from end to end.  It also took about 45 minutes to find a free bus on game days.

So....  No, I really didn't enjoy school athletic events!

-Andrew

College is a whole different arena than a high school, where such a thing would draw TV cameras, lawyers, and concerned parents.  I imagine your TA is near about your age.  If this is true, then there's really no scandal here.  I guess there's not even much scandal if they are a bit older.  You're both adults, and you can live your lives the way you want to. I've dated a number of teachers throughout the years, but never a College professor, so I guess I don't have the greatest perspective.  I would say, however, if I did date a college professor, I'd be delighted to take her class, and I think she'd be delighted, or even honored, to have me in class.  Sure, you might get some sideways glances from other students about it being "unfair", but in reality, she'll probably be harder on you than anyone else.

If your parents are on board, and you're on board, and she's on board, go for it!

The one place to be careful with is if there is a college policy about their teachers dating students.  This might exist.  Check it out.  If it's an issue, definitely wait until Grad school, or at least keep out of her class so you aren't her student!

And yes- I was a TA myself.  Never dated a student though. In my school, however, it wouldn't have been an issue if I did.

-Andrew

Certainly ignorance is bliss, but living in bliss leaves you without any encouragement to grow and become better than you ever were.

Knowledge is one of the many parts to a well rounded powerful individual.  I think you could equally say "Hard work is power," and "happiness is power," and "Ingenuity is power."  It all matters. 

I tried a beard for a year, and it just doesn't look that good.

Since, I've had jobs that frown on crazy facial hair, so I shave 3-4 times per week. 

I hear ya on the wavy hair, too!  My hair is wavy, and it's just not worth growing out.  I like to keep it pretty short.  I'd be interested to try a fauxhawk like you, though.  That sounds pretty neat!  What do you use to keep it hawked up?

-Andrew

mario102 : That's an awesome insiders viewpoint on the testing!  What a tremendous waste of time .

And yeah- that Mario is totally Super fly!

Tacos are messy. Burritos all the way.  Gotta love me some Qdoba or Chpotle.  Or I just make my own.

But even better than Burritos:  Chimichangas!

How do I take my coffee?  In copious amounts!  I usually start the day with a cup, then pick up the large at McDonalds, have another cup from the pantry at work when I get there, drink a cup at the half way point at work, and then one two hours before leaving.  Gotta love my coffee.

As for what I put in it, usually just the lightest touch of milk and one packet of Splenda or two of sugar per 12 ounces of coffee.  I never understood the coffee that's really just coffee flavored milk! 

I would probably move on in to Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII. Prior to VII, it's all too medieval or the worlds just aren't dynamic enough to see me living there.  IX seems too dangerous with all the mist.  X and you might just get killed by sin.  (I haven't played past X-2)

If anything, VIII seems the most "normal" to earth, but it's still kinda interesting enough to maybe enjoy living there.

-Andrew

If sleep is an issue, then students should just keep their same sleep/wake schedule during break.

I love the idea of year round school.  Admittedly, I would have personally hated it while a student, but it does make much more sense.  The amount of retention over the summer is abysmal.  I remember each and every year going over the same topics again and again and thinking "Didn't we already do this?"  My classmates more often than not had completely forgotten the topic.  While this made school extremely easy for me (my memory is impeccable), it also made it boring.  Had we used a year-round model, there would be much less time wasted repeating things.

As for whether it would disrupt the normal "summer" activities- most year-round programs I have seen have a three week summer break.  That's plenty of time for family vacations or participating in other summer activities.

The one place where I can see it not working is with summer jobs.  The summer job is a mainstay of teaching responsibility and money management.  You can't really do that with a year-round model.

-Andrew

xxxbluewolf : It's definitely great to see things working out the way you have them planned out!  If nothing else, having a good, detailed plan will help dictate your next best steps.

I see a lot of people go into college without planning it out, and they end up in the wrong major, or end up just not enjoying college at all.  It's a shame.  My best friend wanted to work in theater.  While still in high school he got some production manager jobs off Broadway.  He had some people looking at him for Broadway work.  But, since he wanted to go to college to get a degree in Theater/directing, he went off to a school in Wisconsin.  Of course, it was a private out of state school.  In his senior year, he had a lecturer say "Your degree will do nothing for you in this business".  Years later, and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, he realized if he had just worked up in Broadway all along, he'd probably be in a better place today.

 He had no plan- he never really investigated what he should do.

Of course, the same could be said for someone who wants to work in a field that doesn't require degrees for the entry level jobs, but does require college for any advancement- had you not planned out how you would handle college, you have similarly erred.

So- to answer the question posed as the topic for this post:  "Maybe, what has your research told you?"

-Andrew

While I'm not a teacher and I've only been a TA in the past, my Mom and Sister are teachers, so ranting about what's wrong with the school system is really all I hear around family dinners. 

The big thing right now is the PARCC test.  Last month, the schools took two weeks (yes, two weeks) for testing, and every kid had to take it on a computer.  Schools that didn't have enough computers were just out of luck- they had to divert funds from other projects so they could buy the computers for the kids to take the PARCC.  My friend James, who teaches music, had his already cramped music room converted into a computer lounge.  So no band for two weeks.  No art.  No anything else, really. 

Coupled with that, the test is apparently riddled with errors and misleading information.  The private company who owns the test has been encouraging principles to take strict disciplinary action against students divulging any information from the test- so there's no clear way for parents to really know anything about what's going on.  I did laugh, however, just now when I  logged on to the PARCC's website to see what states have the PARCC- their website lists Washington DC as a state.  Good grief!  If they can't get it right on their website, I can't imagine what's on the test.

So, after all the fun of two weeks of no instruction, teachers have to make improvements based on the outcome of the testing.  And some schools have as little as three weeks to make that improvement- because now there's round two of testing.  One more week of testing to see if those teachers made improvements over the previous 3 weeks.  3 weeks- that's all they get.  And there's so little instruction time in the first place, because the students spend 11% of their time in standardized testing.  This is all letting alone the teachers need to have their own personal testing. 

My sister had her evaluation about a month ago.  The evaluator commented "that was a great lesson plan- you could even turn that into a week long classroom debate, and the kids would get a lot out of the topic!"  Great comment, but with all the testing out there, that administrator is completely out of touch if they think a teacher can sacrifice a week on a creative project anymore.

So, that's the end of rant number one.  Everyone says they support teachers, but if they really did, they'd stop dictating standards and standardized testing and allow teachers to be creative again.

-Andrew

^^ I absolutely agree with Sonic and Knuckles.  I probably only have about a half dozen sonic games, and that one is great.  It beat the graphics difficulties the earlier games in the series had, improved the soundtrack, and really smoothed out the visuals.  I actually was interested enough to beat it, too.

It's a million times better than Sonic 3-D Blast and Sonic Spinball, and slightly better than 1 & 2.  I never played 3 or Sonic Adventure 2- it seems that has a lot of love on this threat, too!