Jeff's random thought of the day # 2.

[MtGun44]

Glen is right.

I had a friend that was working on an "Artificial Intelligence" project. I warned him to beware
of the side effects. He asked "What side effects?"

I said,"Well by the law of Conservation of Stupidity, for every unit of Artificial Intelligence
created, an equal quantity of Artificial Stupidity would be created, and this could lead to
local buildups of stupidity, which could be very unpleasant."

Perhaps someone near the airport is working on Artificial Intelligence.

Bill

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

here is a movie I just loved to hate...or is that hated to love.
it seems more true than satirical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy

[missionary5155]

Good morning
When I got to my first real tank platoon in the pickle suit Army my platoon sargent was "orientating" me to his platoon. During the course of the intruduction to "Daddy Popes" Army he kindly let me know I should never be far from my own personal coffee cup and except for the company area & motor pool my spoon was to be proudly displayed in the left pocket hole ready for service. "Never pass up any bite of hot chow or the drinking of liquids in my Army"... fine admonishings from a long time treadhead.
Mike in Peru

[Rockydog]

Guess I've got to be the odd man out. Yup there are a few kids out there that just don't get it and never will. I grew up with kids just like them 50 years ago. There are also a ton of good kids out there. I know several young couples in their late twenties that are raising nice families. Parents have manners, kids have manners, kids are taught the basics at a young age and know how to count and read far younger than we did. Most of them will be alright in the long run. My wife is in banking and has high school aged part time tellers that have far better instincts than some of the full time 40 year olds she works with. They can smell a bad check etc. as the people are coming through the door to cash them. There's a lot of hope out there. We tend to overlook the good ones as we only remember the pain of the bad ones.

BTW I do a little Prairie Doggin' and Antelope hunting in South Dakota. Don't know why but kids out there in restaurants count your change back to you "backwards" like we were taught to do. When I commented on it to one of them she said that she thought everybody counted change back that way. RD

[SWIAFB]

So Jeff, what color was her eyes ?

[Reg]

And then try to tell them a quarter is two bits--- just look deep into their eyes and you see question marks running off into forever !!!
Was at the bank a week ago , had a handfull of small bills , gave them to one of the younger cashiers and asked for a "C" note--- there went those eyes again.
Am not even going to bring up the subject of what a sawbuck might be !!!!!!

[blackthorn]

Yes, well---Our slang i.e. "two bits, "C' note or sawbuck" to them is about the same as us trying to interpert one of those dumb text messages! To each generation it's own! Have a great day!

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

There are also a ton of good kids out there. I know several young couples in their late twenties that are raising nice families. Parents have manners, kids have manners, kids are taught the basics at a young age and know how to count and read far younger than we did. RD

We have a bunch of them here too, and every single one of them is HOME SCHOOLED

[MtGun44]

Great point about the good ones. It is much more memorable when someone is an idiot
than when someone does a normal good job because most do a good job.

Lots of good young people, for sure. But there still are some knuckleheads.

Bill

[jblee10]

I miss having my change counted back to me! Now if you use cash, the change usually just come squirting out of a machine. Or if it is handed to you, it is dumped into your hand in one bunch.

[wallenba]

Morning to ya Jeff. Flumoxed? Sounds like a word we need to introduce here.
I know how it is with the young kids and math. The are allowed to use calculators (or so I've heard) in school today. So, when it comes to the old fashioned way, they get a little flustered (flumoxed?). Case in point, a local Burger King (do you have them?) had a computer breakdown and the girl could not make change for me. I learned that the cash register did not even have digits but icons of the food items. Everything was done by the 'puter' she said.

[starmac]

I don't think kids are allowed to use a calculator in school, I think they are required to.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
THERE IS 1 MATH TEACHER WHO IS A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS.
Me .
And I get a lot of hate & discontent. They are giving the kids calculators in the 4th grade now.

[thx997303]

Y'all just remember how stupid they are next time you need help figuring out your computers and the like. (Said to those it applies to, if it's not you, ignore it.)

They aren't dumber, they just have placed emphasis on different sections of learning.

[AndyC]

No - they're definitely dumber

[Katya Mullethov]

I had a gaggle of teens in here last summer and as one would expect , half were texting . Looking for an icebreaker ,I asked the goofiest and gangliest one "you aint tweetin' are ya ?" , which he vehemently denied . In fact , he protested a bit too greatly .His buddies picked up on this moment of weakness and went to work on him ,questioning his sexuality , lack of experience , etc . Typical guy stuff .

Having given them something to do I went to work selling the ringleader his sundries and upon closing and returning the correct amount of change he leans in with this big grin and says .

"Cool t shirt ......... Is that Yuri Gagarin ? "

"NO youesotericlittleSOB .....it's George PATTON..........yeaaaaah..I like you !" Pointing an accusatory finger at his nose and grinning right back . The rest of his crew were completely oblivious as to what had just transpired .

We got along famously. He's the atypical non-texter . Always fixing something .

[wallenba]

We will lean on technology too much and it will bite us in the **** someday.
The 'box' is selling us commercials now for our computers to do our typing and spelling (Dragon software). Next it will be it reading for us, then we will forget entirely. This stuff is great for the blind, but dulls our skills. I never used to have trouble with my multiplication tables, but I do now.

[oldgeezershooter]

Morning to ya Jeff. Flumoxed? Sounds like a word we need to introduce here.
I know how it is with the young kids and math. The are allowed to use calculators (or so I've heard) in school today. So, when it comes to the old fashioned way, they get a little flustered (flumoxed?). Case in point, a local Burger King (do you have them?) had a computer breakdown and the girl could not make change for me. I learned that the cash register did not even have digits but icons of the food items. Everything was done by the 'puter' she said.

I thought "Flumoxed" was what you did to your lead pot?

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

in today's America, teachers are afraid to damage children's self esteem by making them think very often or very hard...

Feeling good about yourself, whether there is any real reason to do so is the most important task teachers face.

Rich
even in Idaho

[JeffinNZ]

Well, they're getting worse.

Today I tested the water some more. Miserable failure is all I have report. As the coffee is $3.60 and I had a $5.00 note I took 3 x 20 cent pieces so I could tender $5.60 for a $2.00 coin change. Simple right. My work mate Vanessa told me I was courting disaster. Turns out 'Ness is a very astute young lady.

The noob on the kiosk first asks ME what cup size I have and what discount applies. She puts in the wrong cup size and tries to charge me $4.00. Stop, try again.

Cup size correct; check.
Discount correct; check.
Change; $2.10 for a $3.60 purchase from $5.60 tendered. Wrong.......

Coffee gets made. Hands me my cup with a Latte. I ordered a Flat white (no, that is not a KKK member run down by a truck.)

Cup goes back for correct coffee. Barista hands me a flat white; check......in a takeaway cup. Where is my refillable asks me?

Eventually I get me coffee and leave laughing. Laugh or cry.