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POPSParents blame kids’ failing test scores on Wikipedia Another case of misuse of a wonderful resource and giving the resource a bad name! One comment at the site says this: "My university docks marks if you quote or reference Wikipedia. The nice thing about it is that it usually presents the “facts” in a general and easy to read manner, but provides references for more in depth study. Wikipedia should be an aid to study, but not used as a study resource exclusively. That’s what peer reviewed journals and books are for. In my high school days there was a similar problem with Encarta."
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POPS15 Questions 14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be? 15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)
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POPSWhen I Consider How My Light Is Spent - Milton's sonnet My favorite sonnet - wonderfully taught by 10th class (1969-70) English teacher and principal of my school - St Thomas' (SPG) High School - Mr. Ignatius Jagannathan. The line "And that one talent which is death to hide" has inspired me to bring out the latent talent in a few of my friends, students and work colleagues.
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POPSSteal my content, please!
I completely agree with Scoble on this one, although I can understand why people who make their living directly from their creations have a hard time letting go of the fear of giving away at least some of the rights to their content. Cory Doctorow began releasing all of his literary work under creative commons licenses years ago, allowing people to freely download and distribute his work under some light provisos. I downloaded and read "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" on my palm pilot, freely and legally, and was hooked. Because of that, I've read a huge amount of his writing, become a mammoth fan, and will likely purchase every book he publishes. I've also published everything I've written, shot, and produced under a similar license. While that certainly hasn't brought me traditional commercial success, it has definitely accelerated serendipity countless times for me, and if you trace out the effects of those 'lucky' events, it's helped shape both my career and life.
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POPS15 Quotes by Famous Atheists Bertrand Russell: “You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.”
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POPSThey did not give up R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York City caught on. When Bell telephone was struggling to get started, its owners offered all their rights to Western Union for $100,000. The offer was disdainfully rejected with the pronouncement, "What use could this company make of an electrical toy." Rocket scientist Robert Goddard found his ideas bitterly rejected by his scientific peers on the grounds that rocket propulsion would not work An expert said of Vince Lombardi: "He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation." Michael Jordan and Bob Cousy were each cut from their high school basketball teams. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After Fred Astaire's first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." When Lucille Ball began studying to be actress, she was to"Try any other profes