Friday Minutia!

It's Friday, so I'm going to do another one of those "Summary of interesting things I stumbled upon this week that don't deserve their own post" posts. So here are some more fun links for you to check out:

• Failure is not an Option. Schools are trying to lower their student failure rates with ridiculous measures like ignoring abscences and doing away with deadlines. This is something that really brings my inner-crotchety old man out to say that the world is going to hell in a handbasket- Especially when I see quotes like this:
  
  "It's good because it doesn't confuse your work habits with your knowledge," says the Grade 12 student at North Toronto Collegiate. "School isn't there to teach you all life's lessons."
  
  School is there to teach you work habits! If all that matters is what you know, we should just pass out crib sheets instead of attending class. If you think you can go through life without anyone caring about your work habits, you've got another thing coming, junior. Actually, I probably could make a whole post out of this.



• Speaking of which, how about homework bans? I'm conflicted about this, because on one hand, we are being too soft on kids. But on the other, I swear there were days in high school when I had had more work than I could handle. If we complained about it, the teachers would say "You're supposed to have an hour of homework a night." I think they all thought they were only ones giving it to us.
  
  Both of those articles deal with schools in Canada, but I'm sure the phenomenon has already crossed the border like so much frigid air.



• A New Zealand couple wants to name their baby "4real." With a number. This is a collision of how much I hate numbers being used as letters or words (are you listening, Numb3rs?), and how I hate, hate stupid made-up names for kids. Think about it: his initials would have a number! Ugh.



• Go Teal or Go Home! Between 1988 and 1997 the major sports leagues added 15 new teams, and 12 of them started with teal or purple as their main color (presumably trying to be "different" and those were the only colors not taken by an established team- I wonder why?). This is a phenomenon I have noticed and discussed, but I've never seen it summed up as well as this article does it.



• Purdue gets a shout-out in USA Today for World Trade Center research. It's worth mentioning.



• Man files $3 million lawsuit over red light cameras. Here's an idea: Stop running red lights, jerkwad!



• Check out how movie roles may have been cast differently. I've heard all about how Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix. Don't get me wrong- I like the Fresh Prince, but that would have been a disaster! Be sure to check out the horribly photoshopped slideshow- seriously, did they let a kindergartener do this?



• This is just funny (courtesy of The Onion):

Have a great weekend!