Also, see her in a news story by ABC 7 Chicago. And you can click on the "Watch the Video" link on that page to see her being interviewed on ABC 7 in Chicago.
And finally, an autographed picture of her, just for me ;)
David Letterman, "Late Show with David Letterman": "New York City is in the middle of a transit strike, and more bad news - they're sending in FEMA."
Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show": "It's affecting Christmas in New York, too. Now, the miracle on 34th Street is getting a cab."
Conan O'Brien, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," on the rule that only cars with at least four people are being allowed into the city: "As a result, Donald Trump had to come to work today with three chauffeurs."
Comedy writer Alan Ray: "Sunnis in Iraq are complaining of fraud in last week's election. Some say the ballots were confusing and that many accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan."
Leno on popular holiday gifts: "I found this cell phone that has caller ID, call waiting, text messaging and a flashing button that lets you know when President Bush is eavesdropping on your calls."
Comedy writer Rob Bates: "Bob Dylan has signed a deal to launch a new weekly music show on XM satellite radio in March, where he will play music, talk and do interviews. As part of the deal, the show will be simulcast in English."
Comedy writer Jim Barach: "Prince William has begun his military training. He received a note from President Bush saying, 'If your dad can't get you out, mine can.'"
"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is white, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the US of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named Bush, Dick and Colon."
I know a lot of you (i.e. my friends and those who visit my website) use Dell laptops, so I thought I'd post this:
DECEMBER 16, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - Dell Inc. and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a recall of about 35,000 notebook batteries that could potentially pose a fire risk.
No injuries have been reported from the faulty batteries. Dell has received three reports of damage to tabletops and desks as a result of the problem, it said in a joint news release today with the commission. About 22,000 of the batteries were sold in the U.S.
The recall affects certain Dell notebooks sold between Oct. 5, 2004, and Oct. 13, 2005. Customers who purchased the following models are advised to visit the Dell battery program Web site to check whether they need a new battery: Latitude models D410, D505, D510, D600, D610, D800 and D810; Inspiron models 510M, 600M, 6000, 8600, 9200, 9300 and the XPS Generation 2 notebook; and Precision M20 and M70 mobile workstations. The batteries were also sold individually and provided as part of service replacements, Dell said.
Customers can also call (866) 342-0011 toll free to determine whether their notebooks have the affected batteries. Users should have the identification number stamped on the back of the battery written down before they call or visit Dell's site, the company said.
Dell will replace all the affected batteries for free, it said.
Start by using the right and left arrow keys to turn and the up arrow key to accelerate. Then move on to using the following keys to do funny stuff: W, E, P, S, H, B, M, and N. Finally, if you're going fast, and you turn (using the left or right arrow key), and then brake using the space bar, it's pretty funny also!
I've recently updated the Road Trip USA - 2003 Web Site. You can now leave comments on each page that details one leg of our trip. I'll be updating the full photos section soon (it's currently being hosted on Yahoo! Photos) by moving it to a new hosting site where you can leave comments for each photo! Also, if you want to get to the Road Trip USA - 2003 Web Site, you can use either of the following links: - http://roadtrip.marcbressman.com - http://www.marcbressman.com/roadtrip
Tina Fey, "Saturday Night Live": "While speaking in North Carolina this week, President Bush said, 'The economy is strong and the best days are yet to come,' adding, 'also the war's going great, we don't torture people, I'm 11-feet tall, and if you don't believe me, you can ask my unicorn.'"
Michael Feldman, public radio's "Whad'Ya Know?": "In other news, Dick Cheney will personally greet troops returning from Iraq - as if they haven't been through enough."
Comedy writer Jake Novak: "Ninety-two-year-old former President Gerald Ford has been admitted to a California hospital for some tests. The first test they're going to run is to determine if he was really the president."
Fey on the 106th Army-Navy football game: "Army lost, but only because [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld advised them to use just five players, three of whom were not given equipment."
Comedy writer Alan Ray: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Biblical scholars explain why the wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Apparently, the stores were out of the Xbox 360."
Novak on construction workers in lower Manhattan unearthing parts of a 240-year-old stone wall: "They know the wall came from the 1760s because all of the graffiti was done in calligraphy."
David Letterman, "Late Show with David Letterman," on the opening of the movie "King Kong": "As a result, the terror alert was raised to 'banana.'"
Well, I finally got around to updating my site with a new design and interface. It is still a "Blogger" site, but it hardly looks like one anymore. I hope you all like the new way it looks and works! Feel free to look around and check it out. Also, if you find anything that doesn't work or is broken, please let me know.
And feel free to post some comments in the comments box below this post on what you think of the new site design and layout.
Printable View - Each post now has a link on the individual post page to open a new specially formatted printable view page of that post
Expand/Collapse Posts - Each post can now be collapsed or expanded as necessary to make viewing the page easier (on monthly archive pages, all posts are automatically collapsed to make viewing the numerous posts within that month easier)
E-Mail Contact Form - For contacting me (instead of posting my email address which would then be harvested by spammers)
E-Mail Posts - Each post now has a link on the bottom of the post that allows you to send the contents of the post to others via an email form provided by Blogger.com
Scrolling List of Posts - On the left hand column, there is now a scrolling list of either previous posts (if you are on an individual post page or the main home page) or that month's posts (if you are on a monthly archive page); there are also controls that allow you to stop the scrolling list, start it up again, increase or decrease the speed of the scroll, and reverse the direction of the scroll (these controls will work on recent Internet Explorer browsers, but older IE browsers or other browsers might not work correctly)
Clock - On the right hand column there is now an analog clock that shows you the current time
Guestbook - There is now a guestbook that visitors can sign and/or view
Search My Site - On the right hand column there is now a search box that allows you to search posts in my blog or you can select to search Yahoo! or Google; due to limitations with Blogger.com Blog Search beta (which powers the search of my site), some older posts might not be indexed and therefore will not be searchable; Blogger.com is looking for a way to remedy this
(The comments for this particular post are actually the guestbook entries. The number of comments listed below is actually the total number of individual entries in the guestbook. Please do not leave a comment for this post, as you will actually be signing the guestbook for the entire site. Thank you.)
So, at my urging, my mother is finally ready to come into the 21st century in her classroom. She applied for and received a grant to purchase a digital projector (I think she is going to purchase the Epson Powerlite S3 on my recommendation - let me know if anyone has any strong opinions about this projector or any other one), but the problem is that a lot of her teaching is done using different technologies, such as an overhead projector, a TI-calcular television conversion kit (for showing the TI display on a television in her classroom), and resource CD's that come with textbooks and offer additional learning and curriculum tools. It would be nice if she could do everything using just one device in conjunction with the new digital projector. My recommendation to her was to somehow get a Tablet PC, and I'm now helping her seek grants for a Tablet PC from a number of companies. The companies that we've contacted so far, listed below, either manufacturer Tablet PC's or sell them (or in the case of Microsoft, provide the operating system):
Acer
Averatec
Electrovaya
Fujitsu
Gateway
HP (Hewlett Packard)
Itronix
Lenovo (formerly IBM)
MEDION
Motion Computing
Panasonic
Toshiba
ViewSonic
WalkAbout
Xplore Technologies
Best Buy
Circuit City
CompUSA
OfficeDepot
OfficeMax
Staples
Microsoft
However, as I'm sure you're all aware, our chances are probably pretty slim of succeeding. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of how we might get a Tablet PC (either via a grant or donation (best case scenario) or for very cheap (worst case scenario)). I'm attaching some further information below that my mother put together regarding her grant proposal:
Brief Description of Program: I am trying to put together a pilot program for my classroom that pulls together different technologies to improve academic achievement. At present, I am using a multimedia projector to display web sites along with CD-Rom resources provided by publishers. I am also using a graphing calculator with the associated television conversion kit. However, with a Tablet PC, I could integrate all of these technologies with added benefits. I would be able to use a virtual graphing calculator program with the multimedia projector that would allow greater functionality. I would also be able to use the Tablet PC to put together class lectures that I could then annotate, add to, and change on the fly. Additionally, I could use the Tablet PC's capabilities to annotate and highlight important portions of web sites and CD-Rom resources. With blackboards and overhead projectors, there is no easy way to preserve and share daily lessons. An added value of the Tablet PC's use in the classroom would be the capability to save all of my class notes (including annotations) for absent students. I would even be able to share my lessons, as presented in class, with my colleagues. As I've demonstrated, obtaining a Tablet PC would be a great advantage for me and my students.
Brief Description of Goals & Objectives: I teach in a district that embraces innovation and has recently completed a technology upgrade project that has outfitted a 100-year old school building with current capabilities, such as internet access in every classroom. Now that this upgrade project is complete, we're ready to start exploring different ways to use our newfound capabilities to increase student achievement. One of these applications in which I am extremely interested is the use of Tablet PC's as core components in instruction. When paired with a multimedia projector (which we have thanks to another grant) the Tablet PC could offer enormous benefits in not only assisting the teaching staff, but in dramatically improving the way students learn.
Background: My mother has been teaching high school mathematics since 1974
Brief Description of Reciprocation for Company/Organization Offering Grant: In exchange for your generosity, I would be happy to provide public recognition of this grant and provide access to those who wish to observe my use of this technology. I plan to contact my professional organizations (National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM), Association of Math Teachers of New Jersey (AMTNJ), New Jersey Educational Association (NJEA), and the National Education Association (NEA)) and local press about our partnership. In addition, I’d be anxious to work with your company to publicize the positive uses of this product in the classroom environment. I foresee this as a win-win situation for my students, my school district and your company.
Comedy writer Alan Ray: "Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day. Back in 1941 the U.S. wasn't ready for an attack by a foreign invader. The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart": "Today Saddam Hussein stood up in his trial and shouted, 'I am not afraid of execution!' Until his lawyer explained to him that actually it was him [they were going to execute], and he wasn't going to get to execute anybody. At which point he said in Arabic, 'My bad.'"
Comedy writer Rob Bates: "Hillary Clinton has said that President Bush 'misled' her about the war in Iraq. She added, 'I haven't had a president lie so much to me since my husband.'"
Tina Fey, "Saturday Night Live": "A new study suggests that middle-aged adults who go on periodic drinking binges may face a heightened sense of dementia later in life. The study is entitled, 'National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.'"
Comedy writer Jim Barach: "The FBI says it used a fake candidate for state office in West Virginia to uncover corruption and vote buying. Do they really need to use fake candidates for that?"
Fey on Boston's changing the name of the spruce tree in the common from Christmas tree to "Holiday tree": "Also, the city's Nativity scene will now be referred to as 'the Holiday Homeless Family.'"
On their way to get married, a young couple are involved in a fatal car accident. The couple find themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into Heaven.
While waiting, they begin to wonder: Could they possibly get married in Heaven? When St. Peter shows up, they asked him. St. Peter says, "I don't know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out," and he leaves.
The couple sat and waited for an answer. . . . for a couple of months. While they waited, they discussed that IF they were allowed to get married in Heaven, SHOULD they get married, what with the eternal aspect of it all.
"What if it doesn't work?" they wondered, "Are we stuck together FOREVER?"
After yet another month, St. Peter finally returns, looking somewhat bedraggled. "Yes," he informs the couple, "you CAN get married in Heaven."
"Great!" said the couple, "But we were just wondering, what if things don't work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?"
St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slams his clipboard to the ground.
"What's wrong?" asked the frightened couple.
"OH, COME ON!!" St. Peter shouts, "It took me three months to find a priest up here! Do you have ANY idea how long it'll take me to find a lawyer?"
Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show": "Do you know how they pick the turkey that gets the presidential pardon? It's the one that gave the most money to Tom DeLay."
Comedy writer Alan Ray: "The Christmas shopping season kicks off tomorrow. Millions will crowd the malls in search of that hard-to- find treasure - customer service."
Comedy writer Jake Novak: "The Bush administration is scoffing at a British newspaper report that the president once considered bombing the Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera. The White House insists that such an act would've been pointless, since the real enemy is CBS."
Comedy writer Rob Bates: "CNN has received criticism after it briefly ran an 'X' over Vice President Cheney's face. The network simply said it was having technical problems, since Cheney's face does not always appear on film."
Amy Poehler, "Saturday Night Live": "The federal government began investigating allegations of fraud against the Coalition Provisional Authority, a U.S. contractor accused in a bid-rigging operation involving millions of dollars. Asked to comment, a spokesperson for Halliburton said, 'Millions - with an "M"? That is adorable.'"
Conan O'Brien, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien": "After 25 years on the air, Ted Koppel hosted his final episode of 'Nightline.' Immediately after the show, Koppel drove upstate and released his hair into the wild."
Ok...everyone should go check out http://www.falconcc.com. This is the homepage for my new computer consulting business. And...if anyone visiting this site needs any computer help, or knows of anyone who needs any computer assistance, please contact me or at least pass along my website address (www.falconcc.com) to those who need the help. Thanks!!
