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THIS IS A REPEAT Warning<\/strong><\/p>\n All right, maybe a bit over dramatic, but it is important. <\/p>\n Joe Zeff suggests that this link https:\/\/www.grc.com\/x\/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2<\/a> leads directly to Gibson\u2019s Shields UP and may be more stable. For those who might be a bit concerned about letting an outsider test your defenses, I can say that I have known Steve Gibson for decades and so have a great number of people I know including many you have heard of, and I know of no one who has ever questioned Gibson\u2019s competence or integrity. <\/p>\n We Do Not Hate Teachers<\/p>\n John Stossel recently aired a video column (column? Report?) called Stupid in America. You can see it all on U-tube<\/a>, unless someone has taken it down. Stossel looks into a number of case histories on what\u2019s wrong with the American system of education. He doesn\u2019t quote Seaborg on the American system of education being indistinguishable from an act of war against us, but he might as well.<\/p>\n One segment of his broadcast shows the head of the Washington DC teacher\u2019s union giving his reasoned defense of the teachers union position that no teacher should ever be fired. His main reason is that being fired would have a negative effect on the fired teacher\u2019s quality of life, and no, I am not making that up; watch the video<\/a> and you can see him yourself. <\/p>\n His remedy is to keep the bad teachers and make good teachers of them with retraining and more practice and correction and — again, no I am not making this up.<\/p>\n The union official does not address the negative effects on the lives of the students who are required to endure the bad teacher during this transformation. He was not asked whether he would allow his children to be in that teacher\u2019s classroom, but like many teachers\u2019 union officials he did not attend public schools, so it is possible that his own are not in the DC public school system. Ms. Rhee, the DC Chancellor who went in to reform the system and was pretty good at it until the DC Teachers Union got a change through political action against the mayor, using intellectual arguments such as \u201cOne Two Three Four, Show Michelle Rhee the door\u201d and other profundities chanted in unison. At least those doing the chanting were carrying teacher union signs and represented the teachers although from their appearance some in those marchers were probably not teachers.<\/p>\n No one has asked the teachers who demanded that Ms. Rhee be fired for her anti-bad-teacher (and pro-student) activities whether they would be willing to let their children be taught by the teachers Ms. Rhee fired. I have heard much discussion of the entitlement of teachers to their job, but little on the obligation of students to endure bad teachers. It does not seem to be a subject that attracts human rights lawyers. In California a teacher who had \u2013 as seen on videos \u2013 given students cookies frosted with his own semen was not fired, but allowed to retire with full benefits before being terminated. He faces criminal charges, but not administrative charges. There are other bizarre cases in California and in some the teachers in question remain in classrooms; others occupy \u2018rubber rooms\u2019 where they sit out the day doing no productive work, but are not allowed to return to classrooms. They can\u2019t be fired, and their pensions accumulate. I gather this happens in other states. The position of the teachers unions is that no one should be fired, presumably because it would lower their quality of life.<\/p>\n http:\/\/laist.com\/2012\/11\/28\/lausds_rubber_room_population_has_d.php<\/a><\/p>\n There are three million teachers in America. Most all of them are hard working and many are underpaid. Unfortunately hard working does not guarantee competence because some of what they learned \u2013 were required to learn \u2013 in colleges of education is dead wrong, and some is ludicrous. Go to any college campus and ask the first fifty people you see to tell you which is the easiest major on campus. Certainly a majority and possibly 90% of them will tell you education. Of course easy doesn\u2019t mean that good people won\u2019t become teachers. Educating the young is a rewarding experience and many bright and competent people want to do it.<\/p>\n But one does wonder why the three million teachers allow themselves to be represented by someone who says that you can\u2019t fire teachers because that would have a negative effect on the quality of that teacher\u2019s life. I understand that education is subject to Pournelle\u2019s Iron Law of Bureaucracy<\/a>. But at some point the competent and conscientious teachers need to take a hand in the governing of their profession. They cannot continue to leave it in the hands of those who don\u2019t want to teach but do want to be teachers\u2019 representatives. At some point self government requires that people who don\u2019t want the leadership jobs take their turn in the barrel \u2013 even if it requires choosing them by lot, which would almost certainly work better than the present system.<\/p>\n There is good news in the education sector. We\u2019ve talked about this before. Bill Gates is supporting Salman Khan. If you don\u2019t know about Khan and the Khan Institute use Google to find out, and go visit Khan\u2019s site. It is almost certain that there will be a lecture on a subject you want to know more about, and the probability is very high that it will be the most instructive lecture you have ever experienced. The only lecturer I have ever experienced who is as good as Khan was Phillip Morrison who gave the best single lecture I have ever heard in my life one early morning at a Boston AAAS meeting. If you\u2019re rusty on calculus, look up Khan. If you have kids in school make sure they\u2019re aware of Khan. It is possible to get a pretty good education without bothering with the schools just from the Internet; once good teachers learn more on this, the combination of a good teacher \u2013 who can learn much about the subject matter from the Khan Academy, then let the students go through the lecture and have conversations about it \u2013 education will change. It already has in many places. We\u2019ll have more on that another time.<\/p>\n But most states spend much of their huge state budgets on education, and the results are awful. It is possible to do much better for a lot less money, and the means are developing at Moore\u2019s Law rates. At some point all the parents who care will find this out. Meanwhile, a great number of our children are subjected to bad teachers who are inflicted on them by the solidarity of the rest of the teachers \u2013 and no one ever discusses what those kids did to deserve that.<\/p>\n Mad Scientist Projects: Bring Back the Neanderthals<\/p>\n Every now and then someone comes up with a piece about using DNA and clone technology to re-create the Neanderthal species of humanity. Leaving the inevitable religious questions to some Jesuit \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t doubt that several are studying the matter now \u2013 the best commentary I have seen on this comes from my old friend Greg Cochran, who has been upsetting the evolutionary history applecart for some time now. <\/p>\n You can find that at Thawing Out the Neanderthals<\/a>, and it\u2019s worth your while. He also points out that since we can do it \u2013 or will be able to rather soon \u2013 it\u2019s probably inevitable, and while his suggestions are mostly made in ironic mode, there will arise quite real questions that someone will have to answer.<\/p>\n Pluto has two tiny moons which have not yet been named. There is now a contest for names. See Help Astronomers Name Pluto\u2019s Tiniest Moons. http:\/\/www.wired.com\/wiredscience\/2013\/02\/name-plutos-tiniest-moons\/<\/a> <\/p>\n A final note for the day on education. There are several purposes to education but one of the most important is to prepare the bright kids to learn how to function in a high tech society. For a great number of those kids the existence of great lectures like those of Khan (and for the brightest Richard Feynman) will be enough once the equipment for watching them is widespread and those who need to know about them find out. Yes, someone needs to find the bright kids and make them understand that just getting through isn\u2019t enough. Assume the rest of the motivational argument. The point is that those who want to learn can even if that requires that they play hooky so they can watch Dick Feynman on physics. Over time ambitious parents will realize just what\u2019s out there.<\/p>\n The other requirement for education is to teach those who aren\u2019t able to learn high science and technology how to be useful. After all, half the population is below average, which pretty well by definition means they ought not waste their time in college \u2013 they ought to learn how to be useful without all the high cost of \u2018higher education.\u2019 We used to understand this. And a Republic which has nothing important for half its citizens to do will not endure. It can\u2019t.<\/p>\n Now this doesn\u2019t mean neglecting to teach everyone what they can learn, which for well over 90% of the population means reading, and for a large number means being able to read for enjoyment as well as enlightenment, (Clearly I have a vested interest in equipping as many as possible with the ability and desire to read my books\u2026)<\/p>\n This second half of education, making good citizens of those who aren\u2019t going on to University, is sadly neglected in our colleges of education, yet it consumes enormous amounts of money and resources. And until that part of our education system is reformed, we will be in big trouble.<\/p>\n Thanks to all those who have responded to the pledge drive. The response has been large and generous. The drive continues all week. This place operates on the Public Radio model. It is free to anyone who wants it, but it exists because of the support of readers like you. If you have not subscribed this would be a good time to do it. And if you have not renewed your subscription in a while, this would be a great time to do that. Paying for this place.<\/a><\/p>\n Wednesday at dawn I board a United flight to Boston. The airport seem to be working. I\u2019ll be at Boskone for the weekend, so there won\u2019t be much more this week. I will try to do a couple of updates while I am there, but we\u2019ll see about time. The pledge drive continues, so I\u2019ll see if I can\u2019t at least bug you about subscribing, which means I have to say something other than send me money. I expect there will be snow, snow, snow\u2026<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t subscribed, this would be a great time to do it. And if you subscribed but haven\u2019t renewed in a while, this is a good time to renew\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n View 762 Monday, February 11, 2013 THIS IS A REPEAT Warning ALERT ALERT All right, maybe a bit over dramatic, but it is important. There is a deadly new vulnerability that relies on features of some routers. The router is your first line of defense, the firewall, and \u2026 Continue reading <\/a> ALERT <\/a> ALERT<\/p>\n<\/a>There is a deadly new vulnerability that relies on features of some routers. The router is your first line of defense, the firewall, and if a hacker gets past that it\u2019s a lot easier. I won\u2019t explain the vulnerability, but I will recommend that you immediately go to GRC https:\/\/www.grc.com<\/a> , go to the Shields Up page, and do the test he indicates. If your router is vulnerable it will tell you, and you should immediately take action. If you have never done the Shields Up vulnerability test, it\u2019s always worth doing once in a while, but just now there is a new vulnerability out there, and bad guys are just exploiting it. This is a time sensitive alert. <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"