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Pertinent Columns Washington Post staff writer Theola Labbe tells the success story of Henry E. Lackey High School in Renovated Buildings, Upgraded Image: Academics Improving At Close-Knit School. In For Student Commuters, A Long Road To Learning, Post staff writer Christina A. Samuels tells of students rather cheerfully choosing up to 2 hour bus rides so they can attend magnet schools. In the same "feel-good" story mode, Michael Bernick tells how an administrator giving a little something extra produced big changes for one autistic student in Educator's compassion takes on experts' statistics on autism. Despite concerns over the state's economy, Governor Angus King's program to supply iBooks to all Maine seventh graders next year (and in the next 3 years thereafter) is going forward. Maine's plan for laptops goes forward tells about the implementation plans for what will be the largest school computer giveaway yet. An interesting item in CNN story is that while the $37.2 million contract for computers, wireless networks, technical support and maintenance is with Apple Computer, "a separate $1 million grant from the Bill Gates Foundation will be used to train teachers." More Site Fees It would appear the announcement of a subscription fee to access archives by MacFixIt last week may open the flood gates to other sites requesting subscription fees. Saturday (1/26/02), the following note from Editor-in-Chief Phil Pearson appeared just under the MacSurfer logo:
From Phil's note, it would appear that for now the only change in MacSurfer access is the subscription-based ad-free page. As a writer, I'm glad to see that the MacSurfer archives weren't included in the fee-based solution to the financial woes currently being experienced by many web sites. Of the eleven sites earning the Best of the Mac Web Award in Dan Knight's most recent (11/2001) Best of the Mac Web Survey, three of the top four rated sites have now developed some form of subscription service to increase their revenues. While number one rated As the Apple Turns continues to use banner ads and T-shirt sales for support, second ranked Version Tracker has long had their TechTrackerPro update application and fee-based web page. Third ranked MacFixIt, with their announced MacFixIt Pro subscription, is the only recipient of the Best of the Mac Web Award to limit content to readers based on fee payment. Fourth ranked MacSurfer's Headline News, of course, now has their ad-free page offer. Interestingly, as one moves on down through the remainder of the top sites earning the Best of the Mac Web Award, none charges for or restricts content. They don't even have a log-in page, often a collector of email addresses to sell to spammers. (You do have a "throw-away" email address to use for such sites, don't you?)
Gene Steinberg recently commented on MacFixIt Pro on his 43rd ranked Mac Night Owl, "But does this signal the death-knell of the free Internet we've grown to love? Not necessarily. Some sites, such as The Mac Night Owl, will continue to operate on shoestring budgets to avoid the need to charge for content." Here, on our unranked Educators' News site (we don't qualify as a Mac-only site), I'm wondering where all of this is going. If I had deep pockets, I'd have gladly shelled out $19.95 (earlybird signup bonus price) for MacFixIt Pro, and again I'd willingly support MacSurfer at $30. But, being a public educator, I don't have deep pockets and mentally am tallying up $24.95 (regular MacFixIt Pro subscription price) plus $30 (MacSurfer) and keep coming up with $54.95 for just two sites. I'm not sure where all of this subscription-based stuff is going to go. I suspect that sites hiding much content on the Mac web are going to pay for it dearly in the long run. One of the major attractions of the internet is its free content. When sites must resort to hiding content under a subscription-based model, especially sites in a niche area such as the Macintosh platform, I believe they've doomed themselves to extinction. Of course, maybe Mac users are such an affluent bunch that they can throw $20-30 at each of a bunch of sites. New Mac OS X Site A new Mac site that doesn't charge for anything opened for business January 7. I thought I'd mentioned it previously here, but can't find it in the archives. Scott Sheppard's OSXFAQ features "Technical News and Support for Mac OS X." It has an interesting, but certainly not educationally related column, by Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus, Who Is Bob LeVitus and What Is He Doing Here? I liked the parts about being "swallowed up" by Macworld magazine. Bob's lost his job at least three times via Macworld buying out his employer and letting him get away in the process (Can Macworld say, "Major mistake?"). Anyway, Scott's new site is an attractively designed headline site for the latest OS X releases and news. Good luck to Scott & Company! New and Updated Software Wow! I really hate it when this area is empty! Maybe on Wednesday... If you have suggestions, news ideas, etc., please . Apple Computer announced speed increases for its G4 tower series computers. The new offerings are available in 800 MHz, 933 MHz, and Dual 1-GHz models in addition to the education-only entry level 733 MHz model. The three top end towers will ship with the new NVIDIA GeForce4 MX graphics card. I've updated the Educators' News Special Report for Educators: Macintosh Pricing to reflect the new introductions. SchwabLearning.org New items this week from the SchwabLearning.org include:
Computerworld reports Kenneth Starr, Robert Bork, Edwin Meese, and others have filed comments on the proposed Department of Justice-Microsoft settlement. "Big guns" weigh in on Microsoft case tells of various big names that filed comments on the case that is now before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. An appeal to educators appeared in the January 29 edition of The Christian Science Monitor. Ending the "Reading Wars" is that publication's suggestion to educator. In part, it says:
While the column sounds quite reasonable, I wonder how folks forced from a phonics based approach to whole language and vice versa might feel. Of course, somewhere in the middle, as the column advocates, probably strikes just the right balance. Low End Mac today joined the parade of Mac sites offering some type of subscription-based service to increase site revenues. Low End chose to go the ad-free route, offering ad-free content for a $24.95 annual fee. Low End publisher Dan Knight states, "Unlike many sites, we're not offering premium content only for subscribers, nor are we blocking access to any existing content from non-subscribers." Unfortunately, in the very next paragraph Knight also hints at the very thing he decried in the previous paragraph, "We may also offer a special subscriber-only home page with preview articles and special deals on LEM merchandise in the future." MyMac Online columnist Bob McCormick gives his spin on the current spate of web fees on Mac sites in Is the Mac Web Selling Its Soul? Virus Alerts and Updates If you haven't done so as yet, it's time again to download those monthly virus definition updates. General links to the major antivirus providers are:
Pertinent Columns The Los Angeles Unified School District is beginning a massive plan to close its separate special education facilities and integrate special needs students into regular schools and classes. In L.A. to Integrate Disabled Pupils, Los Angeles Times staff writers Erika Hayasaki and Solomon Moore report that as a result of a 1996 lawsuit, separate special education facilities will be phased out over a four year period. "Under the integration plan, most Los Angeles district schools, including 16 current special education centers, would have a disabled student population of no less than 7% and no more than 17% of their enrollments." If you're a special educator who suffers from low blood pressure, USA Today has a collection of cheap shots at special educators and education in Disparities go beyond bias that is sure to push up the pressure a few points. Philadelphia takeover wannabe Edison Schools, Inc. is back in the news again with reports from Baltimore, Edison fails to improve two schools, and Philadelphia, Street criticizes Edison Schools. The Associated Press reports President Bush Seeks Sex Abstinence Funding, Poverty Helps Drive High U.S. Teen Pregnancy Rate, and Bush to Propose Job Training Cuts. AppleWorks 6.2.2 As I write this text, I'm downloading the 14.4 MB AppleWorks 6.2.2 updater. The AppleCare Knowledge Base article says, "This update is intended for users of AppleWorks on Mac OS X 10.1." Thanks to Bryan Chaffin & Co. over at The Mac Observer for putting me onto it. Setting Up an Old Mac for a Three-year-old Today's posting of rather negative education posts, virus definition update sites, and just one software update would be a total bust if it weren't for Adam Engst of Tidbits fame telling of setting up an older Mac for use by his three-year-old son, Tristan, in Being a Mac Pack Rat. Hooray for happy news! Have a great weekend! Pertinent Columns Los Angeles Times staff writers Erika Hayasaki and Solomon Moore continue their coverage of the planned integration of special education students in the Los Angeles Unified School District into regular schools. In The Challenge of Special Education, Hayasaki and Moore take a look at what such an integration involves. On the lighter side, CNN Education/AP report that Prune burgers may be coming to school cafeterias! Some new products that the Agriculture Department may offer to schools in the near future were student-tested recently at Van Ness Elementary in Washington, D.C.. New items tested included hamburgers made of a blend of beef and prune puree, a raisin-tomato barbecue dip for chicken nuggets, sweet potato pancakes, and turkey-prune hot dogs. USDA official John Lund spoke to the obvious concern of any experienced teacher for prune burgers saying that there wasn't enough prune content in the burgers to have any laxative effect. I sure hope Mr. Lund is right. Apple Sued over Lack of G3 Support under OS X MacCentral's Peter Cohen reported Thursday evening (after I'd put up the EdNews Friday posting:-( that the law firm of King & Ferlauto has filed a class action lawsuit in California against Apple Computer. Apparently, the suit alleges that Apple promised support for G3 model Macs, but has not supplied G3 graphics acceleration under OS X. In Apple sued over G3 support in OS X, Cohen notes that attorney Thomas Ferlauto is a Mac user who told MacCentral, "I love the company and I love their products. My next computer will probably be another Mac." Like the good folks over at As the Apple Turns, I hope the whole thing ends up with Apple reversing its ill-considered lack of support for the still viable G3 series under OS X and produces some ATI graphics drivers.
Site Content I've been mulling about a few thoughts lately about the selection process for software mention or mini-review on Educators' News. While writing some of the content today, my Mac was occupied as well downloading a 7.5 MB Windows "freeware" file for evaluation and possible inclusion in today's posting. I'd previously downloaded MacRaffle's Top Site 1.0.1 and found that it did what the author said with no tricks or come-ons for future purchases. While VersionTracker and WindowsTracker do a great job of disseminating software releases and updates, they don't really police the use of the term freeware on their sites very well at all. I long ago learned that anything posted as freeware should be regarded only as a possible freeware until downloaded and evaluated. It might turn out to be a demo, an unusable, defanged lite version, or as today's experience proved, a come-on to join the vendor's site at $12 annually to obtain necessary files for future or expanded use. A week or so ago, I spent a good deal of time downloading both the Classic and OS X versions of another freeware for evaluation, only to find that despite the author's quick 1.0.1 updates and my best efforts to prevent it, the freeware locked up under both operating systems! That's not much of a positive advertisement for the $19.95 shareware that headlines their site. I didn't waste my time trying to track down the problem, nor did I even write the author. I just omitted any mention of the freeware and a subsequent update of their shareware from this site.
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