Rant

as an aside my feet really stink today. i mean proper stink!

I'm sorry but I just had to use this thread to get this off my chest.

I just went to Sainsbury's to get some lunch, felt like a no fuss lunch so plumped for the vegetable curry. I know it's never going to be the best curry but it's passable. I get back to my desk and after some trouble getting the lid off I start to eat. Then the unbelievable happens. A grain of rice fell off my fork and in between the number 1 & 2 on my number pad of my keyboard. I don't know who to blame more right now, Sainsbury's or the keyboard manufacturer. I'm too angry to think right now. It's the audacity of it all that get me!

Thanks for listening.

People are fucking goofy!!!!

People are fucking goofy!!!!

yeah, there's a lot goes on at Disney land that old Walt never knew about..

showbiz folk are funny sometimes..

talking of pointless fucking threads

https://www.londonfgss.com/thread20498.html

I feel for you Tommy.
Why not try drizzling some dressing on a bit of letuce and using the sticky end of the lettuce to coax the rice out.
the other option is to finish your lunch, crack on with your trifle for desert then coffee and biscuits - all eated in a similar manner over your keyboard.
then just swap it with someone else. never fails!

My feet still really stink. i am starting to get worried. does gangrene have an odour?

do both feet smell the same?

My feet still really stink. i am starting to get worried. does gangrene have an odour?

Dirty feet is a bit stilton smell, gangrene is more of a blue vinny crossed with stinking Bishop.

Left a touch more pokey. but close enough to cause concern

Being as it's St Georges day you could get an immigrant to lick your feet clean and if it appears you do have gangrene they are legally obliged to give you theirs.

I meant 9:42 of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrBVabH6Xl4&feature=related

PEOPLE ARE FUCKING GOOFY!!

'Little Fixations, Gripes, and Serious Sorrow' thread?

Fucking, thieving little cunts stole the chris king headset my boyfriends sister had sent over for me from USA for my new build. Broke into the cardboard tube and robbed it, they did however kindly leave the sugino red chain ring bolts i had also in there - which was nice. UTTER UTTER COCKING CUNTS.

that is all.

that sucks. bad luck clefty.

Fuckin scousers!

I don't know where to begin with my rant so I'll carry on sipping the cheeky little Tempranillo I've been making a (serious) dent in for the last hour... goes off to read some Gonzo (RIP) for perspective
And bad luck, Claire... I'm up for starting a souths posse tho'! raises eyebrows (not Henry) eagerly

I'm over it, have just ordered another one from a UK source (that was the only reason I bought in the states - I couldnt get one at the time)
going for a pint
..and breathe...

Now come on what is it with education these days?

We constantly read reports that the whole schools system is cracking around the edges, teachers are more stressed than ever, kids are more badly behaved than ever and some people seem to come out of school illiterate and unable to add up. All of this and yet exam results have improved year on year, every year for 20 years... something doesn’t quite add up here.

I am of the belief that the issue is not a superficial one; the problem is deep rooted in the way the educational system works and the way in which it treats learners.

When we first enter school we are taught the basic systems of numbers and words, at this stage the role of the school is as much about supporting personal development as it is the teaching of specific knowledge. Even at this stage there is testing, aged 7 children are expected to sit their first SATS exam and although it is emphasised that the function is mostly diagnostic of the system the exams don’t stop from this point onwards.

Upon moving onto secondary school there is another ramp up in the level of testing and I believe that this means that emphasis on personal development is lost. While we are busy cramming for exams and tests the appreciation of a subject is lost. Teachers of subjects are trying hard to pass on their enthusiasm for the subject that they love but they are constrained by the system which demands objective assessment at all stages. Some way has been made towards resolving this issue with the scrapping of the Key Stage 3 Sats exams which it was concluded had little or no benefit to education and were a bureaucratic nightmare.

Moving on to study A-Level does change things slightly, the reduction in the number of subjects studied means that more time is spent on each so there is a greater scope for exploring the subject in a more interesting level of detail. However the pressure on students is no less intense if not more so, you are now studying subjects that you are interested in so there is no time for wasting. Whereas in secondary school you can go easy in Art and Music there is little of this respite at A-Level.

The other problem is that of the modular nature of most A-Level courses. Now I am not attempting to cast aspersions on the modular system as it does have numerous advantages over the linear style courses. If you have a bad day on the exam then you are not ultimately punished, also coursework broadens the scope of the subject, increasing the skill base of the qualification and meaning that the emphasis is not entirely on exam technique on the day. However the disadvantage is that there are formal exams every 6 months for 2 years. Having just recovered from GCSE's pupils are thrown straight into AS Level module exams, less than 6 months later. The pressure is constantly on to achieve and to pass.

Now this modular nature may increase the pass rates for the exams but at what cost? For a start, less emphasis is placed on the retaining of knowledge, students seem to be encouraged to cram for an exam and then forget the knowledge and move onto the next module. Also there is the constant pressure of having to repeatedly sit exams, this can result in people getting fed up with exams towards the end of their second year and suffering a major decrease in performance as a result. This sort of experience will also reduce people's interest in a subject and would certainly diminish their enthusiasm for studying the subject at a further level.

So why does the education system place such an emphasis on continual assessment? Well to an extent assessment is necessary, as it is in all areas of life, to ascertain a persons current level of knowledge and determine whether or not the work done has had a significant impact on their amount of knowledge. Assessment is very useful to determine whether or not teaching methods and techniques are effective, and the information collected can allow a teacher to improve their teaching methods in order to better deliver their knowledge.

I think however that a certain amount of the testing is driven by the current popularity of league tables. Schools are ranked on their performance in the exams and are subsequently rewarded for doing well. In our performance related culture, we naturally want to send our children to the school with the best results, to give them the best foothold in the world. We see a school as less suitable if its results are not as good as the school across the road. Although the exam results do reflect in part on the overall performance of the school, these are not the only things to take into consideration. The league tables do not measure the personal development of the children or extracurricular activities or pastoral support.

This pressure on the school to achieve the best possible exam results then filters down to the teachers, who know that the security of their jobs is dependant upon their pupils achieving good results. This leads to exam based teaching methods, teaching the children only what they need to know to pass the exam. Since no account is made for encouraging interest or excitement in a subject, the pupils just feel that they are being pushed through a boring system that does not benefit them. Since the pupils are not interested they are less inclined to work hard, subsequently exam results will be poorer than they could be. This leads to the pressure on the school increasing and we have the increasing pressure cycle.

At the end of their academic careers, young people come out with some arbitrary qualifications and find themselves under prepared for the world of work. All those years of hastily cramming for an exam and then forgetting the knowledge afterwards seem somewhat wasted, although the time spent was under fulfilled and more could potentially have been achieved

The worst thing is that the majority of teachers feel the same as the children. They want to teach a subject that they enjoy and pass on that enjoyment to their pupils, however they are entirely restricted to what is on the exam syllabus and are often unable to find any time to teach anything else.

Had too much time to think about this... about 13 years to be exact :p

http://www.steve-olson.com/how-the-public-school-system-crushes-souls/

another person, similar rant. (not me btw) , i think is interesting

In todays's Times they had a 20-question history test: the idea was that parents did it and compared their scores with that of their children.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6289190.ece

We did it in the pub, I got 19/20; the best the 20-something barkeeps scored was 13/20. He is a History graduate too, FFS...

maybe your just like, you know, ye, like, really really intelligent ?

In todays's Times they had a 20-question history test: the idea was that parents did it and compared their scores with that of their children.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6289190.ece

We did it in the pub, I got 19/20; the best the 20-something barkeeps scored was 13/20. He is a History graduate too, FFS...

That's probably because you experienced much of it first hand.

You asked for that ;)

That's probably because you experienced much of it first hand.

You asked for that ;)

Arf. I did, didn't I?
;-/

Wow Dylan, thanks for that, was a really good read. I dont think that here in the UK it's quite as bad as in the US but there were certainly things in there that stood out for me.

The top students learn the system. If they are free thinkers, they hide it, because they’re after top grades and independent thinking is too risky and unpredictable.

I think this is definately true, potential for develpment is being wasted as kids just try to conform to the norm. Inteligent kids should be encourged to be proud that they are different and work to their strengths rather than having to work to cover up their differences.

The most valuable skill you can possess is the ability to acquire useful knowledge and apply it to solve real problems. Once you own this skill, you have all the education you’ll ever need.

This is another really good point. Why do you have to learn the dates of all the Kings and Queens of Britain? It would be much more useful to teach people how to find this information as you would do in real life. Although I dont do History I find the same thing in Maths, why should I be forced to remember all these formulas that I will just be able to look up in real life.

Also I see alot of people with no ability to find information for themselves. So many things can be found just by sticking them into google or Wikipeida and spending a couple of minutes looking. We now have instant access to more information than we have ever previously had with the rise of the internet and it seems such a shame to me that people are unable to use this great resource.

Anther article that guy links to is http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html which struck a chord with me. When you are in school intelectualism is actively discouraged by extreme peer pressure from all the other kids. What Paul says is that Nerds are just thinking at a higher age level and as such dont have the time to deal with the mental burden of social conformism as well. When you get to a certian age then it all evens out a bit so the distinction dissapears.

I am very glad now that I am reaching an age where being a bit smart is less of a social handicap and I guess I am starting to be a bit proud of who I am rather than covering up. It has been a damn long journey through education though and it seems a shame that it should have to be that way. I certainly dont have any answers but I know that change will be needed at some point.