109 educators "face further scrutiny"?

You mean the investigation isn't over yet? This was just a pre-investigation investigation?

109 Atlanta educators suspected of test cheating | ajc.com

An investigative panel has recommended that 109 principals, assistant principals, school-based testing coordinators and teachers face further scrutiny or sanctions after it found evidence of suspected cheating at 58 Atlanta Public Schools.

Jolted into action by an audit that suggested irregularities on state standardized tests, the panel released its final report Monday after an exhaustive [really?] five-month inquiry. Among key findings:

• 78 of those city school employees worked at just 12 schools, emblematic of "schoolwide institutional issues" that warrant wholesale changes of those campuses, according to panel chairman Gary Price.
• 25 employees at another 13 schools appear to have acted individually.
• So did six employees at the remaining 33 schools investigated by the panel.

...[Superintendent Beverly] Hall was expected to comment on the findings at a press conference later Monday afternoon, when the names of the schools will also be made public.

For legal reasons, because individual investigations are active and ongoing, the panel is not publicly identifying the 109 employees it believes may have cheated.

It's a good thing classes haven't begun yet in Atlanta Public Schools, because it might demoralize the students to see teachers and administrators run screaming down the hallways.

At least it's a start, and about damn time.

I've heard it said that this can't possibly be a systemic flaw because we're only talking about 12 schools. However, although they haven't released a complete list, what they have released points overwhelmingly to one geographical zone within APS known as School Reform Team Two (SRT-2).

And I laugh at the suggestion that Superintendent Beverly Hall didn't know what was going on.

Is this the final-final deadline or just the final deadline?

Report due Monday on testing violations at Atlanta Public Schools | ajc.com

Almost five months to the day it started, an oft-delayed investigation of Atlanta Public Schools ends Monday with the release of a report expected to detail testing violations by as many as 100 educators.

With the report, an independent panel formed to investigate irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools has promised to draw a clear picture of what happened and how, from the inadvertent breaking of test security rules to the changing of students' scores. According to discussions and interviews over the past several months, they will:

• Name schools, including where scores may have been falsified.
• Make recommendations to halt problems and move forward.
• Identify individuals -- although, for legal reasons, not likely make them public -- who violated policy or ethics.

Testing violations may result in state sanctions ranging from a reprimand to a loss of teaching license.

The question here is not "what happened" -- I doubt there's a single employee at any of the affected schools who doesn't know exactly what happened and "who done it" -- but what, exactly, will the report SAY.

As always, props to reporter Kristina Torres and the AJC for keeping this story alive.

Seemed like a good idea at the time

Decatur students in trailers; administrators in school | ajc.com

Dozens of Decatur students will return to classes Monday in trailers while their administrators work from inside a half-empty school.

City Schools of Decatur officials say the trailers are temporary for one year while they finish building a new school.

But parents don’t understand why the 40 administrators who work out of the former Westchester Elementary School don’t spend the year in trailers instead.

Looks like a public relations disaster no matter what Decatur Schools does.

The problem is that the former Westchester and its cheery, colorful sign are right there on Scott Boulevard, THE primary eastside artery from Atlanta to Stone Mountain and points beyond. I don't want to guess how many thousands of drivers see the place twice a day and are reminded that there are no students in there.

Atlanta Schools' Job Lottery drags on

Panel readies Atlanta test cheating probe for release next Monday | ajc.com

With a week to go before it releases a report to the public, a panel overseeing an investigation into possible cheating at 58 Atlanta public schools on state tests spent nearly three hours behind closed doors Monday to talk about personnel issues related to the probe.

Members spent little time in public discussion.

That is to say, with a week to go before they are forced to release some kind of findings, the panel is doing its best Punxatawney Phil impression. If the committee sees its shadow, there may be six more weeks of closed deliberations.

Related story in the AJC:

Search Georgia CRCT Cheating Investigation Classroom Results -- Find out if your kid's class was flagged for investigation. No teachers or administrators are named.

What do children learn from this?

DeKalb probes sale of books | ajc.com

When DeKalb school official Ralph Simpson wrote a book about himself in 2007, he didn’t look far for a ready-made market to sell it.

He sold more than $12,560 worth of copies of the book — titled “From Remedial To Remarkable” — to five schools in the school district where he works, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. Two of the schools were under his direct supervision.

In the 70-page paperback, printed in large font generally reserved for children’s books, Simpson writes about his evolution from a high school student in remedial classes to an assistant superintendent with a doctorate degree.

Atlanta Public School may have DeKalb beat for dollar volume of corruption, but there's nothing in APS that beats this for sheer gall.

With school starting earlier, is summer lost? | ajc.com

With school starting earlier, is summer lost? | ajc.com

“As an unreconstructed Yankee, I hate the Georgia school schedule,” said Chris Murphy of southeast Atlanta, whose two daughters go back to school Aug. 9. “It’s hot outside! I’m just glad I’m not a teacher.”

A native of Binghamton, N.Y., Murphy spent his childhood summers canoeing and fishing. School didn’t start until after Labor Day.

Many schools in the Northeast and West Coast still hew to that calendar, which makes it “unfathomable” to Murphy that so many Georgians spend one of the hottest months inside the classroom.

Spend it outdoors, dude. You'll figure it out. It's no coincidence that the term "air conditioning" was coined by a man from North Carolina (no, really), even though the process itself was invented in New York. (Thank you, Mr. Carrier.)

“This [shorter summer] is an educational fad,” said Vivian Jackson, of Marietta, co-founder of Georgians Need Summers.

Today’s shorter summers are often thoroughly programmed, giving children less time to be bored, and, eventually, inventive. Summer ennui is important, said Tina Bruno, executive director of the San Antonio-based Coalition for a Traditional School Calendar. “You don’t appreciate the structure of school until you are bored at home.”

It's not enough that they go to school, they have to "appreciate the structure"?

Sounds like parents need summer more than the kids do. They're pining for an idyllic pause in the year that no longer exists. (And the original reason for school to be out of session for the summer--so the kids would be home to help Mom and Dad with the crops--went out with the Industrial Revolution.)

This should be entertaining

Atlanta test cheating panel to meet Monday | ajc.com

A panel overseeing an investigation of 58 Atlanta public schools for possible cheating on state tests will meet at 2 p.m. Monday, starting a week-long countdown to when they are expected to release their report on Aug. 2.

The panel formed in March to look into irregularities after the state flagged the city schools among 191 statewide that showed unusual patterns of erasures on 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.

Just in case you forgot why there's a "test cheating panel" in the first place. Have to give the AJC props for trying to keep this issue current. It is of vital importance, of course, but I don't doubt there's tremendous pressure to bury it.

If APS runs true to form, I would not expect this panel to return any result until it's too late to do anything about it.

Wheel reinvented: Educators puzzled

Atlanta to help students at schools under scrutiny | ajc.com

Students affected by an investigation of 58 Atlanta schools for possible cheating on state standardized tests will get extra academic attention when they head back to school Aug. 9.

Help will include an intensive tutoring program, frequent monitoring of their academic progress and a deliberate effort by school leaders to talk with parents and each other about what works.

Well, dogies. Hey, Ethel! They're gonna do some of the stuff they said they were doing all along! Imagine that.

I like how the educationists aren't actually promising to talk to each other, only make a deliberate effort to do so. But that's better than making a deliberate effort to avoid it, which is what they appear to have been doing.

Fa-Sol-La-Mi

Spivey Hall hosts shape-note singing school | Clayton News Daily

Just over a dozen “students,” some of whom are choir singers, and others, music teachers, spent Friday participating in a class on how to do Sacred Harp/shape-note singing, at Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall. Class instructor, Richard DeLong, the executive secretary of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company, which produces a book of shape-note songs, said the singing style is one of the oldest in the United States.

“The Southern people have been preserving this way of singing since the early 1800’s,” said DeLong. “Families have passed it down to their children, who in turn, passed it down to their children, and it’s lived on through the generations that way.”

I'm not sure why the scare-quotes around "students", unless it's to emphasize that some of these students are significantly older than the average Clayton State freshman. Oreta is quoted late in the article.

what is the true cosmic origin of the universe?

We are God talking to himself.

Ask me anything

We'll sing in the sunshine or we'll be on our way

Renovated Georgia Dome could feature retractable roof, would bathe modern gladiators in glorious sunlight | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

Georgia World Congress Center officials have a dilemma on their hands: How do they both host concerts and indoor events — which prefer to be protected from the elements — and satisfy the Atlanta Falcons, the cash cow football team that wants to stay downtown but play outdoors? Easy! You slap a retractable roof on the 18-year-old Georgia Dome, which by NFL standards is the same age as the Colosseum, and you watch the ameros roll in.

You know, they built the dome in the first place because the Falcons wanted a dome.

So where would the Falcons play while they're renovating the dome? Turner Field?

NOTE: It seems weird to me that the stodgy old Journal-Constitution has a "Share This" button on every story for easy blogging / tweeting / facebooking but the too-cool-to-care Creative Loafing does not.

In other news, Foxes Inc. wins the henhouse-guarding contract

Atlanta schools cheating probe faces scrutiny | ajc.com

The head of Atlanta Public Schools promised an impartial inquiry into reports of cheating on state achievement tests. Recusing herself, Superintendent Beverly Hall declared the investigation would be conducted by “a respected outside organization.”

Five months later, the investigation remains incomplete, and questions have emerged that challenge its independence.

The “blue-ribbon” commission appointed to oversee the investigation is populated with business executives and others who have done business with the school district or who have other civic or social ties to the district or to Hall.

One of the firms chosen to run the inquiry also is a school district vendor, having collected $1.7 million for other work performed as recently as 2008.

And, raising perhaps the most serious doubts, the district has been far more involved in investigating itself than originally suggested. Administrators from the district’s central office took part in questioning lower-level educators at all but a dozen of the 58 Atlanta schools under scrutiny. High-ranking district officials — described by a spokeswoman as “director-level” employees — took charge of conducting interviews at two dozen of the schools.

The district’s role in the investigation represents “a major conflict of interest,” said Barbara Payne, executive director of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation. “APS should not be involved in any of these reviews. APS should not be involved at all.”

I'm beginning to wonder if APS should be involved in education at all.

Deadline? What deadline?

Atlanta schools face sanctions if misses new report deadline | ajc.com

The state Board of Education turned impatient with Atlanta Public Schools, informing the district on Thursday it has an irrevocable Aug. 2 deadline to deliver its findings of possible cheating on last year's standardized testing or face sanctions.

If the Atlanta school system fails to comply, penalties could involve the loss of Adequate Yearly Progress status for 2009 and 2010, which tarnishes the district's academic reputation. Equally damaging if not more, federal funding could be withheld.

Ooooo-kay, now we're hitting them where they live. Surely now all this nonsense will finally be dealt with.

You don't know APS very well, do you?

"When we made the decision to go with an independent investigation, we lost that control because it's in the hands of a third party," said Keith Bromery, Atlanta school spokesman. "We didn't impose any deadlines, just that we wanted them to do it thoroughly and immediately -- and that's what they've been doing."

Oh, I know what you've been doing. We all know.

Suddenly education has become a hot beat

Having found itself deprived of any real means of punishing disruptive students, APS had adopted a procedure consisting of physical restraints and "seclusion" (call it solitary confinement). Not any more.

Georgia schools ban seclusion rooms -- AJC

The State Board of Education voted Thursday to ban the use of solitary confinement and limit the use of restraints against unruly students.

...The state board worked for about two years developing the policy, which was supported by the parents of Jonathan King, a 13-year-old Hall County boy who hanged himself in 2004.

Well, ok, I understand it wasn't working out. Educators aren't trained to be jailers, and it isn't fair to anyone to expect them to have to respond like jailers. I'm with you on that one. But what CAN they do? What SHOULD they do?

Running out the clock

CRCT scores analyzed after new cheating tips | ajc.com

Investigators reviewing 58 Atlanta schools for possible cheating on state tests said Tuesday they continue to pursue tips and information that are important to their inquiry. That work, coupled with ongoing analysis of students’ most recent test scores, is the reason a special investigative panel delayed completion of its probe.

Am I wrong to suggest, as I did last week, that now that they've had an opportunity to see how much graft there is in APS, they are waiting to see how large their check will be?

...That lack of specifics angered John Sherman, president of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation, who said he has collected more than 1,200 signatures on a petition seeking Hall’s resignation if the investigation confirms teachers cheated.

As someone opined a day or so ago, these "investigators" are trained in statistical analysis, not chain of evidence. There will be no such unambiguous conclusion--even though "everyone" knows what happened.

It's bigger than you think

100 Atlanta school employees implicated in test cheating scandal | ajc.com

An investigation of suspected cheating at Atlanta Public Schools has concluded that as many as 100 employees at 12 schools violated testing protocols, the chairman of a special investigative committee told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday.

Gary Price, chairman of the independent panel that was formed to investigate irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools, did not detail the violations, which could range from inadvertently violating test security rules to outright cheating. Price’s committee will release the key findings and recommendations from its exhaustive three-month inquiry on Tuesday.

Atlanta test cheating report delayed again | ajc.com

The special panel investigating Atlanta Public Schools called off Tuesday's release of its much-anticipated findings -- the second such delay -- and the committee's chairman said Monday it could be several more weeks before the investigation is complete.

Gary Price, chairman of the independent panel formed to look into irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools, said last week the committee would release major findings and recommendations Tuesday, although he said then that the full report would not be complete by today. But on Monday, a statement from Price indicated that even the summary isn't ready.

He did not offer a specific timeline for release of the investigation's results but said the group's investigators need more time to complete their work.

"We do not wish to sacrifice accuracy for speed by adhering to an arbitrary, self-imposed release date," said Price.

You know, if Mr Price has learned (as so many reformers before him have done) that there's plenty of under-the-table money to be collected from Atlanta Public Schools, this is exactly what I would expect him to say.

The dog ate my investigation

Atlanta test cheating report delayed by a week | ajc.com

A panel overseeing an investigation of 58 Atlanta schools for possible cheating on state tests announced it will delay by a week the release of its report. The decision came as investigators requested more time to finish their analysis.

A final report, expected Wednesday, will now be released June 22.

However, the investigators may be able to write a second report for extra credit.

"Low-income youth"

Camp supplies needed to help low-income youth | ajc.com

The Community Action Center needs a variety of items for children in its summer camp program.

CAC, which serves the Sandy Springs and Dunwoody area, will send more than 100 youth from low-income families to summer camps and also provide supplies and transportation as needed. Funding is also needed to support the camp project, said Kristen Ristino, CAC spokeswoman.

I guess there must be some low-income families in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, but I have to say it isn't the first place I'd look.

Nonetheless, water is still wet

CRCT failures rise at schools suspected of cheating | ajc.com

State test scores at metro schools suspected of the most widespread cheating last year dropped markedly this year, falling further in Atlanta than in other districts, preliminary data shows.

Steep declines in the number of Atlanta students who passed key subject tests threatened to reverse the upward climb that has helped bring longtime Superintendent Beverly Hall national acclaim.

...School districts should view stark score drops at severe schools as potential evidence of tampering, said Kathleen Mathers, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

“Generally, in schools where there proves to be a dramatic drop, we have concerns about what would cause that drop,” she said. “If it happens to be a school that had a high number of answers changed last year from wrong to right, that could be an indication that there had been intentional wrongdoing.”

...At Gideons Elementary, for instance, 92 percent of fifth-graders passed math in 2009. This year, just 39 percent did.

And at Dunbar Elementary, about 87 percent of fourth-graders passed math last year. But, this year, that number was 49 percent.

The article isn't quite clear on this point: They're comparing 2009's fourth-graders to 2010's fifth-graders. That is, this is the same group of kids that "improved" so dramatically last year, and can't seem to add 2+2 this year.

This could be the smoking gun.

On the other hand, black is white and we have always been at war with Eurasia

State CRCT results improved this year | ajc.com

Georgia students improved in almost all areas of the CRCT this year, with middle school students showing some of the biggest gains, according to statewide results released Wednesday by state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox.

For Cox, who soon heads to Washington to run a new national education nonprofit, the report offered a chance to leave on a high note.The scores represent the second consecutive year of solid gains for the state's elementary and middle-schoolers. Cox was quick to credit educators across the state, who beginning in 2004 faced a rolling implementation of a new, tougher state curriculum that in some cases caused scores to plummet.

"Just keep a lid on it until I'm out of town," Cox was heard to say as she ducked out of her office, ignoring all questions.

But there is still a chance water could be less wet than expected

Atlanta testing investigation in last stages | ajc.com

Investigators reviewing 58 Atlanta schools for possible cheating last year on state tests plan to incorporate this year's results into their analysis, potentially providing a blueprint about which students may need additional remediation because teachers changed their scores.

A final report will be released June 16, although work won't stop then.

The chairman of a community panel overseeing that work announced Monday that the ongoing investigation will likely result in the referral of employees from 12 Atlanta schools for possible testing violations. On Tuesday, chairman Gary Price said more than a dozen employees were involved, although he said "the numbers are changing as we speak."

Not unlike those on the test papers?

In other news, sky still blue, water still wet

Panel chairman: Atlanta school employees are likely to be referred for testing violations | ajc.com

Employees from 12 Atlanta schools will be referred for possible testing violations, according to the chairman of a community panel overseeing an investigation into possible cheating on state tests last year.

The announcement came as investigators wrap up their work, which included a review of 58 city schools. A final report will be issued next week, said Gary Price, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the panel's chairman, as he updated Atlanta school board members about the process.

Despite questions from board members seeking more details, Price declined -- because of the ongoing investigation -- to give an exact number of employees, the nature or severity of what they may have done or the schools where they worked. However, John Fremer, president of Caveon Test Security, one of two firms the panel hired to conduct the investigation, said there was a close correlation between the 12 schools where the employees worked and schools the state raised the most concerns about.

A close correlation. This is don't-blame-me-ese for "They're guilty as sin, it's obvious, and you should have seen it yourselves."

Getting down to bid-ness

Atlanta schools defy bid rules on wireless contracts | ajc.com

Atlanta’s public school district continues to violate federal rules aimed at preventing waste and abuse in technology projects, undeterred by a scandal that cost it millions of dollars and sent two former employees to prison.

Questions about favoritism surround two contracts for which the district is seeking reimbursement from the federal E-rate program, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows. The irregularities put Atlanta at risk of losing more than $30 million in E-rate requests and could invite other penalties from federal regulators.

A casual glance at APS' history with high-tech purchasing and operations implies the existence of dozens, if not hundreds, of laughing salesmen. They were more than happy to take the money and run, leaving APS with either the flat-out wrong stuff, or (best case) inadequate quantities of the right stuff. Penny wise and pound foolish, my dad used to call it.

Welcome to the planet Earth. We have much to teach you here.

Laid-off educators offered state help in finding new careers | ajc.com

Revonda McKnight will finish a degree in early childhood education next year and had looked forward to teaching.

She likes working with children, school hours and "having the summers off." But she's been thinking of going in a new direction since she was laid off from her job as a paraprofessional at Powder Springs Elementary School.

"I'm thinking I might want to do something else at this point," said McKnight, 42.

Well, yeah, being laid off from one job could be seen as a hint to look for something else.

So they're attending classes at Chattahoochee Tech. Well, that'll help keep THOSE teachers employed...

It takes a strong hit from the money machine

Georgia again files bid for feds' education cash | ajc.com

Georgia officials offered no dramatic changes Tuesday in their second attempt to qualify for the Obama administration's $4 billion Race to the Top schools fund.

It's an effort that could bring $400 million to Georgia.

In meeting a federal reapplication deadline for the fund, which rewards states that embrace education reform, state officials instead fleshed out ideas federal reviewers previously found vague.

[But control of local schools is in the hands of local authorities. Right.]

She failed the final

Atlanta honors student misses graduation as she awaits test waiver | ajc.com

Atlanta high school senior Brittany Hemphill worked 13 years for what turned out to be one of the lousiest days of her life.

With a waiver pending but still not approved Thursday evening that would have allowed her to participate, Hemphill could only watch as her classmates donned caps and gowns to collect their diplomas. It made her sad, she said. And angry.

News: Teachers say money good, budget cuts bad.

Q&A: Teachers discuss budget hardships | ajc.com

It’s been an especially challenging year for metro area teachers juggling the educational needs of their students with furlough days and other cuts. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked three teachers and the head of the Georgia Association of Educators to share their views on the changing landscape for teachers and other school personnel.

[APS / inner city schools are not represented. All of the teachers are from relatively prosperous suburban schools.]

We pay administrators how much?

AJC Special: School central offices costly | ajc.com

More than 1,000 public school administrators in metro Atlanta earn more than $100,000 a year, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of school salary data shows.
The review shows that Atlanta Public Schools, the smallest of the major school districts in the metro area, has the highest administrative costs. Cobb County, while having the second-largest student population in the state, has one of the smallest central-office staffs and some of the lowest costs. DeKalb schools have more people making $100,000-plus a year than any district.

Rulemaking Matters! Video Contest | US EPA

Almost every aspect of our lives is touched by federal regulations. Even before you leave the house in the morning, government regulations help set the price of the coffee you drink, the voltage of electricity your alarm clock uses, and the types of programming allowed on the morning news. But many Americans don't understand how rules are made or how they can get involved in the process.

via epa.gov

We know how rules are made: At random.
And we know how to get involved in the process: Either (a) Get elected, or (b) Be important enough to someone ELSE's election that they'll reward you with a nice cushy appointment to some lucrative regulatory agency.

Did I leave anything out?

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

TV Anchor Falls off Chair - CBS Cares

via cbsnews.com

Wherever a television presenter overbalances and falls off her chair, the Internet is there.

P.S. If you've ever wondered if those people who appear to be in the room behind the anchor are real, wonder no more.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Jessie’s Little Moment of Win

I just got off of a midnight flight home from a hectic weekend. When I opened my suitcase to unpack it, there was the little note saying that TSA had opened my luggage to inspect it. There was also a bite-size 3 Musketeers bar. IMMD.

via itmademyday.com

If they did that every time, nobody would mind.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Official "Leave the Damn Clock Alone" Day

A Moment In Time
Originally uploaded by rainbow11

Who benefits from Daylight Saving Time?

Quad-City Times | Get groggy when the clock changes? So do cows
"When you move it back, those cows are holding that milk for an extra hour, so you can run into some health problems," he said.

... Michael Downing, who detailed the history of daylight-saving time in a 2005 book [Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time], says the U.S. government has misled Americans on the economic benefits of the time switch. The biggest beneficiaries of the spring clock change aren’t consumers but retailers. People shop more when there’s more light at night.

Tonight's the night...

(Yes, this post is a rerun. And I'll keep saying it until we drop all this nonsense and Leave the Damn Clock Alone.))

It’s Not Her Spellcheck That’s Broken

via failbooking.com

Oh, please, have mercy... I'm laughing, I'm crying, I can't breathe, I'm dying here. "BOARD! Like I don't have anything to do." Bwah ha hah!

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Mo'Nique is 5th black woman to win acting Oscar - AP

via news.yahoo.com

Congratulations 'n' all, but when do we stop counting?

(I'm guessing sometime after the 2nd black woman to win the non-supporting category.)

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Aw, c'mon, you know "that guy"

I'll go out on a limb here and guess that most of the guys on this page didn't turn down a lot of roles.   They're not making $10 Million per film; these guys had to work to get paid.

via 460xvr.com

You know, the actors you've seen a hundred times? The ones that sometimes show up on every channel at the same time -- but you can't remember their names? You can look 'em up here.

(Now, where is the "that girl" page, or whatever courtesy and feminism requires us to call it, the page for female "character" actors?)

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Do you know who's watching your webcam?

School Accused Of Spying On Kids In Their Homes With Spyware That Secretly Activated Webcams

from the horrifying dept

A whole bunch of you are sending in this absolutely horrifying story of a school district outside of Philadelphia that apparently gave its students laptops that included hidden software that allowed district officials to secretly turn on the laptops' webcams and monitor student activities, no matter where they were. This all came to light when a student was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" with the evidence being a photo of the kid from his laptop webcam. The district is now being sued for this. It's rather stunning that anyone thought this was a good idea.

via techdirt.com

I have a webcam built-in to my laptop. I can't remove it. Maybe I need a piece of tape, or a band-aid, or something.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

"Worst Super Bowl party ever"

via youtube.com

How it was done.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

His master's voice

via japantrendshop.com

Ooh, I want, I want. Thanks, Japan.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Women and minorities hardest hit

via community.livejournal.com

And I thought those bears-in-the-woods commercials made me uncomfortable.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

The Star Wars Opening Crawl Finally Reaches Earth

via gizmodo.com

Oh, man. I mean, Oh, man!

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Another Bohemian Rhapsody

via youtube.com

This song seems to bring out the best in people.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Potential Disney Heroines

via avalanchesoftware.blogspot.com

As Sam Nielson alludes, The Hunchback of Notre Dame as written is not exactly fertile ground for growing Disney princesses (Esmeralda dies, Quasimodo kills Frollo, then starves to death at Esmeralda's graveside). (A strong second place for inappropriate cartoonification is Don Bluth's Anastasia.)

But if that worked... Perhaps the world is ready for Disney's Romeo and Juliet. Or Wuthering Heights. Or Frankenstein...

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Laugh track - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charley Douglass’s famous invention was properly tested in 1965 when producers were trying to launch Hogan's Heroes. CBS screened two versions of the same episode to measure audience reactions; one contained the laugh track, the other was silent. As Hogan's Heroes required cerebral viewing, the audience watching the silent version were left confused, and the episode failed miserably. The version with the canned laughter succeeded and CBS gave the show a green light. After this incident, no sitcom went on the air without a touch-up from Charley Douglass’s laff box.^[2]

via en.wikipedia.org

Wait. "As Hogan's Heroes required cerebral viewing..."? Say what?

How remarkable that this incident should be the "proper test" that has cursed nearly every comedy since with a canned audience. I'll certainly accept that the premise of Hogan's Heroes was such that, without the laughter, the audience might not understand the show was intended as a light comedy, which knowledge would certainly affect the reception the show received. But it doesn't seem a fair test of the need for "laffs".

Douglass captured many of his recorded "laffs" from the live audience of the Red Skelton Show during Red's weekly pantomime skit. How odd that a feature called the "Silent Spot" should contribute to the lack of silence on television for the following forty-five (and counting) years.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

We dilapidated purple things must stick together

via jsonline.com

...or not.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

"We've Got Some Work To Do Now"

via threadless.com

Oh, you need this tee shirt.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

9th Annual No Pants Metro Ride in Washington

via upi.com

It was started by Improv Everywhere in New York, but this gala 9th pantsless year was celebrated (if that's the word) in 43 cities in 16 countries. Among those cities was Atlanta, although you wouldn't know it by the media's reaction. I'm guessing the folks who braved the weather on Sunday morning probably had the MARTA car to themselves.

I considered it, but allowed myself to be frightened off by the temperatures. Maybe next year.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Another blast from the past

via thedw.us

No, wait. You mean this is real?

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

EXTERMIKNIT! Dalek knitting pattern

via entropyhouse.com

Awwwww!

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Remote-Control Model USS Enterprise | Gadget Lab

via wired.com

It flies? Well, no. But what it does, it does quite gracefully.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

And don't call me Shirley

via thedw.us

"We no longer enslave animals for food purposes." --Commander William T. Riker (Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Lonely Among Us")

What exactly is Who Hash, anyway?
"Soylent Green is Who!"
"What is Soylent Green?"
"No, Soylent Green is Who!"
"Who is Soylent Green?"
"Yes!"

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I never saw the John Denver / Muppets Christmas special...

via youtube.com

...from thirty years ago. I feel so old.

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It's not what you think

via flickr.com

You're thinking, yeah, yeah, seen it before. It isn't that hard to do. You select an area and desaturate the color in that area. It seems to be a lot of folks' favorite image editing trick. But that's not what's going on here.

If you follow the link back to her Flickr photostream, you'll see several other angles on the same people, including one taken for the San Francisco Chronicle. It's a gray Santa suit, a gray wig, gray body paint, and gray contact lenses. you have to get really close in to see the only color she couldn't cover, the pink corners of her eyes.

Awesome.

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A Christmas story...

via povonline.com

...about a singer-songwriter having lunch at the L.A. Farmer's Market, and four costumed Christmas carolers who had absolutely no idea who he was.

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"But the producer told me I sound better this way"

via failblog.org

He might be lipsyncing. Just a thought.

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The gauntlet has been thrown down

via youtube.com

Boston U does a one-take lipdub to the Jackson 5ive.

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"Air pressure! It's always air pressure!"

via thedw.us

Mark Ritts, dead at 63.

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What's cooler than seeing the ISS from Earth?

via wired.com

Why, catching an astronaut in mid-spacewalk working on it.

These shots were taken by Ralf Vandebergh in his backyard with a 10-inch telescope.

Remember when those removed introductory scenes from Star Wars got out? The scenes where Luke is casting his gaze skyward and watching the space battle in which Vader captures Leia? I remember criticism that the scene was unrealistic because Luke wouldn't be able to see the battle from the ground.

Really?

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Toll tunnel under east Atlanta?

A controversial concept to link Ga. 400 to I-675 by digging under east Atlanta has for a couple of years found its way onto some policymakers’ wish lists. But this month it found itself someplace better: Among the state Department of Transportation’s top toll projects pitched to private investors and road-building companies.

...“The tunnel is the one project that absolutely, head and shoulders above every other P3, moves the needle the most on congestion mitigation and mobility,” said David Doss, who chairs the state Transportation Board’s committee on such projects.

via ajc.com

However, I know I'm not going to live long enough to see this happen. For the last fifty years, Atlanta residents have been fighting with the GDOT to keep these roads from being built. The odd arrangement of the area interstates makes more sense when you know what the original plans were.

BLUE ROUTE: I-675 Of course Ga 400 and I-675 were meant to be one continuous route through Atlanta. They would both have connected to that stretch of I-20 that runs nearly north-south at Glenwood. But a lot of money lives at Druid Hills. A tunnel? Well, I wouldn't have thought the MARTA north line tunnel was feasible, so sure, I'll buy it.

RED ROUTE: I-420 Both ends of the existing Langford Parkway (nee Lakewood Freeway) make it obvious that the road was intended to go further. For all I care it still can: There's quite a bit along the proposed route that would benefit from being demolished.

GREEN ROUTE: I-475 The area's most notorious aborted road project is the one that was supposed to connect downtown Atlanta to Athens via Stone Mountain. Every time I drive Ponce de Leon, I weep at the traffic load it is forced to bear, and the skinny little parks alongside that represent the land GDOT had acquired for the project. Now, of course, it cannot be built without moving the Carter Center, which sits exactly where the I-475/675 junction was supposed to be. Damn hippies.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

I thought they already did

AMC Theater Chain Bans All Outside Snacks:

After reporting a loss in the 2nd quarter of this year, AMC is doing what it can to increase revenue. Since the business model of movie theaters is to give all the ticket sales to the studios and scrape out a living on concessions, that means forcing more patrons to buy snacks--so it's officially banning any outside food and drink.

(SmartSpending notes that Regal Entertainment already has a similar ban in place.)

Well, of course, since security scanners have been perfected at airports (and didn't that go over well?), this opens up a whole new market for them.

A Christmas collection from Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has at various times revolutionised folk, rock, country and gospel music. However, any Dylan fan who says he was not surprised that Bob has released an album of traditional Christmas songs is pulling your leg. Christmas In The Heart is another surprising move by an artist famous for surprises. Yet when you hear Dylan's direct and obviously sincere readings of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, ‘Little Town Of Bethlehem’ and ‘The First Noel’, this unlikely exercise seems of a piece with the rest of Dylan's work.

From the very first, this was an artist who made us look at the familiar with new eyes and ears. While some critics tie themselves into knots analyzing Dylan's motives, it has usually turned out that Bob Dylan means exactly what he says.

For the first half or so of this article, I had to think that Bob Dylan must be one of the world's worst interview subjects. Ultimately I realize that he is, but not for the reason I thought. You shouldn't have to explain what art is about. If you do, then either the art has failed, or the viewer/listener has. And at this late date, Dylan knows what he's doing and what he's capable of.

Your version of ‘The Christmas Song’ is right in the pocket. You slide into that song like you’ve been singing it all your life. You also sing the intro (“All through the year we waited…”) which most people leave out. I don’t think Nat King Cole used that intro – why did you bring it back?

Well, I figured the guy who wrote it put it in there deliberately.

Bwah hah. What a wild idea: Sing the song as written.

From The Big Issue in Scotland.

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Happy Thanksgiving

via youtube.com

Oh, the humanity.

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How Should SF Magazines Fight Off Extinction?

via io9.com

If you're going to put someone's name on the cover, why should it be some obscure SF writer's name? Like anybody's going to know or care who Harlan Asimov is?

ISS transits the Moon!

via blogs.discovermagazine.com

The more you learn about this image, the more flabbergasting it is.

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Man, 96, holds pre-emptive wake

BEAVERTON, Ore., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A 96-year-old photographer in Oregon said he decided to plan and hold his own wake prior to his death so he could attend the event.

Hugh Ackroyd, 96, said he held the wake for family and friends Sunday at the Beaverton home of friend Edda Sigurdar, The Oregonian reported Monday.

"Well, why not?" Ackroyd said of leading his own wake. "Why bother when (I'm) dead?"

Ackroyd, a father of two whose wife died about 12 years ago, sat in his padded wheelchair and greeted his friends as they arrived for the event. He said one of his favorite items at the wake was a wreath bearing a ribbon reading: "Eventually, Hugh, rest in peace."

"It's quite magnificent," Ackroyd said of his wake.

via upi.com

Now we can advertise the Bumpers Crossroads episode "Bradbury's Funeral Home" as being "ripped from tomorrow's headlines". Although, Ron, I have to say I'm sorry you didn't think of that wreath.

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Phrenotherapy on the go

via techeblog.com

Apparently they've chosen to go with the "happiness hat" instead of "electroyamulke" or "phrenobeanie".

Is this a joke? I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

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Best Ad Placement Ever

via thedw.us

Perhaps I shouldn't admit what time of day I found this...

PS. Hope it's real.

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We're not left, we're center, you must be ultra-con

via farleftside.com

But that IS what I hear when I turn on the TV...

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The Amazing Adventures of Lil' Cthulhu

via toplessrobot.com

I'm... speechless.

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I don't think that word means what you think it means

via azstarnet.com

On most levels, this cartoon works splendidly.

I can't know if this is the case nationwide, but here in Atlanta, our NPR affiliate is one of the few stations in town that doesn't overcompress its sound. That is, it presents a well-engineered dynamic range in which the loud passages are undistorted and the soft passages are actually pianissimo soft. It is actually possible to hear the odd moment of silence on NPR.

Every other station in town, I feel like I've been beaten with a blunt instrument after listening for a half hour. And that's the music stations: The talk stations are worse. Even when I agree with what's being said, I can't stand to listen to it for very long.

But "truth"? I find it hard to believe that even you, NPR, would describe your content that way.

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Noises Off II

via newsfromme.com

Last December, the above-referenced production of That Christmas Play went before the boards, although according to Mark Evanier it might have been better to have the boards go first and let the play follow as best it could.

Ya wanta know the topper? The same producer is trying to put it together again this year as a road show (as if the technical and mechanical problems will be easier to fix in a different venue every two or three performances), but two of the six planned cities have not booked yet, and a third just cancelled. 

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

Don't worry, be happy

A gorgeous fall here on the upper Mississippi, but among the old grumblers I drink cheap coffee with, the mood these days is dark, due to low interest rates and the advance of the glaciers, which is why I, sunny optimist that I am, seek out the company of the young and ebullient and drink $4 coffee, but sometimes you get stuck next to some old guy in a plaid shirt who gives you an earful about Wall Street bonuses and how the game is rigged in favor of the custom-tailored suits, and you must be polite and listen.

"Look at this. A person saves his money like he was brought up to do and he salts it away in a safe CD or Treasury note or municipal bond and it pays him a measly 2 percent interest. Why? Because the Fed has decreed we gotta have low interest to save the high-fliers and speculators who almost brought the roof crashing down a year ago, and they pour money into Goldman Sachs and these killer sharks walk away with a hundred billion in bonuses, and meanwhile guys are losing their shirts in the dairy business. What's the deal there?"

"There is a lot of human nature involved in economics, so if you are an idealist, you should take up astronomy," I tell him.

"I'm serious," he says. "You drive out west of here and you see headlights in the fields at midnight, guys putting in 16-hour days combining beans, and back east you've got people in offices with a phone in each hand, moving money around, not creating a damn thing, just playing a game, and the government can't do enough for them. Where's the fairness in that?"

"I saw your beautiful wife the other day and she looks 10 years younger," I say. "She said that you two can't keep your hands off each other. Good for you. And how about those Vikings and Brett Favre? Six and oh. Life is good. And how about those maple trees? Have you ever seen such colors?"

"This country is skidding toward disaster and the guy you elected president has his foot on the gas."

"You need to get out and walk more, Earl," I tell him, "and not sit and brood about interest rates. Life is too short to be unhappy."

via salon.com

Ah, I see. When Keillor talks about the "old grumblers I drink cheap coffee with", he means republicans. Just settle down, you old coots. We've got the ball now.

I hate holding a grudge, but it's hard to resist when I'm being condescended to. Are these the same people who were telling us recently that the highest form of patriotism is expressing dissent? Or was that Bush Derangement Syndrome at work?

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One day at the convenience store

via buzzfeed.com

You haven't been drunk until you've been this drunk.

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ARTC on PBA Atlanta

• This is Atlanta with Alicia Steele

Atlanta Radio Theatre Company

The popularity of radio theatre waned with the advent of television, but a group of actors, writers, and sound technicians in Atlanta is maintaining this largely forgotten art form.

The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company (or ARTC, pronounced “Art-see”) has entertained, amused, thrilled, and terrified audio drama enthusiasts since 1984. Although specializing in horror and science fiction, ARTC shows its mastery of the art and craft of audio drama in any number of genres. Bill Ritch, the group’s president, says the appeal of radio theatre lies in the storytelling tradition. ARTC is just spinning a spooky tale around the campfire, so to speak, but with sound effects!

ARTC shows have been featured on a number of radio stations in Atlanta, but currently the best way to experience them is via CD or podcast. Or, for the full-on ARTC experience, you can attend one of their live shows at Stage Door Players in Dunwoody. There, you can see just how they craft their sound effects and manipulate microphone placement to achieve their atmospheric audioscapes and create adventures in sound.

www.artc.org

artcpodcast.org

www.stagedoorplayers.net

Watch the video here »

via pba.org

Hey, Mom, I'm on TV!

Actually, these days, our live shows are at the Academy Theatre in Avondale Estates. In fact, there's one coming up this Saturday and Sunday, and you should drop everything and head over there. Right now. Hey, you want a good seat, right?

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Google Street View Guys

via youtube.com

Careful, it starts loud. Sorry.

"Aww, man, that was my mom!"

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It's always nice to know a second language

via thedw.us

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Welcome to the loyal opposition: Glad to have you

All I can say is: the president gave a speech he could have given at any point in the last three years. No one in that room could disagree with any of the things he said. I sure don't (with the exception of the hate crimes hooey). And he said it well and movingly. Like we didn't know he could do that.

But the point of electing a president who pledged to actually do things is to hold him to account, and to see if he is willing to take any risk of any kind to actually do something. I had a few prior tests of his seriousness or signs that he gets it, a few ways to judge if this speech had anything new or specific or clear. He failed every test.

via andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

It does not please me to see the President's support base question his ability to deliver on his promises, or his will to do so. I feel no victory, no compulsion to shout "I told you so".

God knows Obama has plenty on his plate. Around about the time the banks started failing, he must have looked at his campaign advisors and said, "Somebody remind me why I wanted this job." I would think that Gay Rights would be rather low on his priorities just now. But Andrew Sullivan is surely right to be disappointed that even Joe Solmonese (chair of the Human Rights Campaign) does not intend to hold the President's feet to the fire on the subject.

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Chock full of awesome

via youtube.com

Okay, here are the raw facts:
UQAM: University of Quebec at Montreal.
Soundtrack: Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling."
Cast: 172 communications majors.
Takes: ONE.

PLUS: Six more one-take wonders, including That Honda Commercial.

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G20 protest

via thedw.us

Anyone we know?

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"Don't trust anyone you meet online. You could regret it."

via wilwheaton.typepad.com

I'iaaa! Cthulu fatagn!

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Precision

via comics.com

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A letter to someone

Look, I'm just going to delete the Japanese / Korean / whatever-the-heck-they-are comments on old posts. If I can't tell they're not spam, out they go. And since I have comment approval enabled, no one but me will ever see them anyway. So just give up.

The lost city of Atlantis-- er, Atlanta

via facebook.com

I've been trying to place this intersection more precisely than "downtown connector", without success. Can anyone tell me where this is?

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So, it actually radiates darkness?

via tacit.livejournal.com

 

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Ziggy, September 18, 2009 — UCLICK GoComics.com

via gocomics.com

I'm sure all my ARTC friends know, but why would Ziggy expect his parrot to know?

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Harlan Ellison's Dramatic Reading of the Seussified "I Will Not Read Your F*g Script"

via blogs.villagevoice.com

 

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ARTC at DragonCon 2009, continued

via flickr.com

This is ARTC's Sunday night show at DragonCon 2009. This is "Rory Rammer: Enemies Within" and "Omnilingual", in the Hyatt Regency's Regency Ballroom. (No, I don't stutter.) Again, we did not FILL the ballroom, but the house wasn't much smaller than Saturday's show. We appreciate that even more, since due to a communications snafu many of our attendees were expecting "Call of Cthulhu".

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ARTC at DragonCon 2009

via flickr.com

This is a slightly color- and exposure-corrected shot of ARTC's Saturday night show at DragonCon 2009. This is "Call of Cthulhu", in the Marriott Marquis' Atrium Ballroom. We did not FILL the ballroom, but I'd estimate at least 500 in attendance, and we appreciate every one of them.

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Weddings are supposed to be joyful

via break.com

This is what nerves do to otherwise calm and confident people.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master