Mickey's Blog On Computers, Music, Politics, And Religion

FixNet

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:59:00 +0000

@ECHO OFF
BREAK OFF
COLOR 0F
SET PATH=%PATH%;%CD%
%SystemDrive%
CD "%SystemRoot%\system32"
CLS

ROUTE -F
IPCONFIG /RELEASE
IPCONFIG /RENEW
ARP -D *
NBTSTAT -R
IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS
NBTSTAT -RR
IPCONFIG /REGISTERDNS

NETSH INTERFACE IP RESET %SystemDrive%\ResetIP.txt
NETSH INTERFACE IPV4 RESET %SystemDrive%\ResetIPv4.txt
NETSH INTERFACE IPV6 RESET %SystemDrive%\ResetIPv6.txt
NETSH WINSOCK RESET CATALOG
NETSH WINHTTP RESET PROXY
NETSH INTERFACE IP SET ADDRESS NAME="Local Area Connection" SOURCE=DHCP
NETSH INTERFACE IP SET DNS NAME="Local Area Connection" SOURCE=DHCP

IF EXIST "%SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\Etc" CD "%SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\Etc"
IF EXIST Hosts ATTRIB -R -S -H Hosts
IF EXIST Hosts COPY /A /V /Y Hosts Hosts.Bak
IF EXIST Hosts ECHO 127.0.0.1 LocalHost > Hosts
IF EXIST Hosts ATTRIB +R +S +H Hosts

SHUTDOWN /R /T:1 /F
EXIT

Ultibuntu

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Ultimate Ubuntu

There are about as many Linux distros (distributions) as free software programs for Linux. I personally prefer Ubuntu because it’s so customizable and updated frequently. But there are many different flavors of Ubuntu, so I created this script (batch) file to automatically download and install many different desktops and common/popular software programs for both new and seasoned Ubuntu users to learn and try much of what Ubuntu has to offer. It’s intended to run on a central, main desktop computer than can be used as a powerful gaming/multimedia center. Installation may take at least a few hours, depending upon your computer and Internet speed! Most of the installation is fully automated, but some software programs may require user input before proceeding. Please watch installation occasionally. Download the script file at http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/Ultibuntu.sh

I'll include instructions of how to make this script file executable soon!

Requirements:
At least 20GB of free HDD (hard drive) space on Ubuntu partition(s)
Broadband (high speed) Internet connection

Recommendations:
Dual-core CPU (processor) or better
2GB of system memory (RAM) or better
Non-integrated video card (ATI or NVIDIA)
Ubuntu installed on its own HDD (hard disk drive) partition(s)

Current List Of Ubuntu Additions:
Google, Medibuntu, and Mozilla Repositories
DKMS and Build Essentials

Desktops and Restricted Extras:
Ubuntu, including Gnome, Gnome Themes, and Restricted Extras
Edubuntu, including Edubuntu for KDE
Kubuntu, including KDE and Restricted Extras
Lubuntu, including LXDE and Restricted Extras
Mythbuntu and MythTV Documentation
Ubuntu Studio, including Studio Controls
Xubuntu, including XFCE4 and Restricted Extras

Compatibility and Emulators:
Wine, including add-ons
Samba, including System Configuration
DosBox
PlayOnLinux
ScummVM, including games

Software Programs and Add-Ons:
7zip, including add-ons and other compression tools
Adobe Acrobat Reader and Flash plug-ins
Audacity
Bleachbit
Childsplay
Chromium Browser, including codecs and plug-ins
Clementine
Compiz Config Settings Manager, including plug-ins
DeVeDe
Diagram Editor
E17 (Enlightenment)
F-Spot
Filezilla
Firefox, including extensions
Foobillard
Gimp, including add-ons
Glest
Gnome-Do
Gnome Tweak Tool
GnuCash
GParted, including add-ons
HedgeWars
Kino, including add-ons
Kompozer
LibreOffice, including add-ons
DropBox
Mail Notification, including add-ons
MPlayer, SMPlayer, and other add-ons
NeverBall and NeverPutt
Nexuiz, including add-ons
Not-Free Codecs
OpenArena
OpenJDK 7
OpenTTD, including add-ons
Periodic Table
Pitivi
Planner (Project Management)
Plymouth Themes
PokerTH
PowerPoint Viewer
Scribus, including additional templates
Scorched 3D
Skype
Start-Up Manager (will be replaced with Grub Customizer when available)
Storage Device Manager
SuperTux and SuperTuxKart
Synaptic, including add-ons
Thunderbird, including extensions
VLC, including plug-ins
Warzone 2100
Wesnoth

Download Link:
http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/Ultibuntu.sh

Gallon Of Sweet Tea

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0000

How To Make A Gallon Of Good Southern Sweet Tea

What you will need:

Regular size (12 cup) coffee maker
Gallon pitcher
4 family size tea bags, preferably Lipton or Luzianne
2 cups of sugar or equivalent artificial sweetener (adjust to taste)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (optional, adjust to taste)
Coffee filter (optional)

How to make it:

Step #1:
Thoroughly wash your coffee pot and filter basket, to remove any coffee residue, or the tea will have a bad taste.

Step #2:
Place 4 family size tea bags in the coffee maker along with a coffee filter (optional). The coffee filter helps keep any loose tea grains from dripping into the coffee pot.

Step #3:
Fill coffee maker with 12 cups of water. Most regular size 12 cup coffee pots is equal to about 1/2 (one-half) gallon.

Step #4:
Turn on coffee maker and brew. Please wait until tea has finished brewing before continuing to next step.

Step #5:
Turn off coffee maker and pour tea into a gallon pitcher. A full 12-cup coffee pot should fill a gallon pitcher about half-way.

Step #6:
Fill coffee pot with another 12 cups of water, turn on coffee maker, and brew more tea, while still using the same tea bags.

Step #7:
While second pot of tea is brewing, add 2 cups of sugar or equivalent artificial sweetener (adjust to taste), and stir.

Step #8 (Optional):
Add two caps of lemon juice (optional, adjust to taste), and stir.

Step #9:
Once the second pot of tea has finished brewing, pour into gallon pitcher and stir. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 8+ hours. Enjoy!

BCPS Voting

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

If you have our BCPS (Burke County Public Schools) best interests at heart for either your kids, grand kids, nieces, or nephews, I've made a list of whom to vote for:

Please Vote For:

Randy Burns
Dom Hemstreet
R.L. Icard
Edna B. Weller

Mickey's Website

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

I have added and changed a few of my webpages. First, I modified my home page to make it a little more "visually appealing". I also created a United States Holiday Calendar using Google Calendar...

Home - http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/index.htm

U.S. Holiday Calendar - http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/HolidayCalendar.htm

There's plenty of websites that link to other kid-friendly, educational, and fun websites on the internet; but most of them are bland, no pictures, and just plain text. Most kids are very visual, and don't like wordy websites. So, I created, changed, and updated a bookmark/favorites page for kids that also include thumbnails (screenshots) of these websites, and currently links to about 60 kid websites at the time of this writing. So far, my kids have really liked it, and I hope yours will, too. It makes a great home page for the web browser your kids use. If there's a few FREE, popular websites you think I should add, please let me know by e-mail at junkmail3612@gmail.com...

Kids Bookmark/Favorites - http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/Kids.htm

There's not very much on the internet that helps kids learn how date and time works. I found plenty of pages aiding parents and teachers to teach kids how to read a calendar and tell time on a clock, but not much out there for kids themselves. So, I decided to try to make a couple of pages that may help...

Kids Calendar - http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/KidsCalendar.htm

Kids Clock - http://webpages.charter.net/drkstlkr/KidsClock.htm

I tried making my three kids web pages listed above as visual as possible, but due to my limited web space and lack of knowledge about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, these web pages still aren't as fun-looking as I'd like. I'm always open for CONSTRUCTIVE criticism by fellow web designers. Please keep in mind that I "hand-write" all of my web pages because I despise all of the extra codes and tags many web design software programs often insert. I attempt to keep my web pages "clean, fast, and sleek" (efficient and optimized).

New Posts On The Burke County Forums

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0000

I have posted a few articles on the Burke County Forums at http://bcps.forumotion.org/ in hopes of sparking a little more interest...

House GOP Leaders Press NC Gay Marriage Amendment

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t45-house-gop-leaders-press-nc-gay-marriage-amendment

Are Members Of Congress Paid Enough?

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t46-are-members-of-congress-paid-enough

CSM Saves $0 From Closing Schools In First Year

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t47-cms-saves-0-from-closing-schools-in-first-year

Burke County Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I expanded my currently dead BCPS (Burke County Public Schools) Forum to just the Burke County Forum, so that anyone can ask questions or discuss ANY topic related to Burke County, North Carolina. This could include local politics, events, and, of course, our schools, as well. I'm hoping this may spark some interest in what's going on in our county, our state, and even in our country that affects us citizens here in Burke County. I encourage anyone and everyone to take an interest and participate! Forums are only as helpful and useful by the contributions (posts) made by its members.

http://bcps.forumotion.org/

Sweepstakes Scam

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Below is a sweepstakes scam mailed to me, along with a check for $3,990. I wanted to post this letter online hoping that if anyone else receives something similar in their mailbox to know that this is a sweepstakes scam! DO NOT CALL THE PHONE NUMBER OR CASH/DEPOSIT THE CHECK!!! If you have received a letter in the mail like this one, please report it immediately to:

Consumer Fraud Reporting at http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php

G.T. Express Financial Services Inc

From The Consumer Protection Department

648 Coventry Road Central, NY 11786

Tel: 1-347-218-0667

August 5th, 2011

Claim Number: GT 00246/SP

Final Notice

CONGRATULATIONS!
You have been announced one of the lucky winners in the "CONSUMER PROMOTION SWEEPSTAKES DRAWING" organized for all customers of the participating retail stores in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Wal-Mart, Kroger, Sears, Harvest food, Home depot, Dillard's, JC Penny's, Best buy, Office depot, Staples, Safeway, K-Mart, Target .
One of your receipts from the store, with serial number 0508-8523 attached to your name drew the lucky winning numbers 14-04-92-24-76-39.

You are therefore entitled to the sum of US $170,000.00 ( One Hundred And Seventy Thousand Dollars) payable to you by CERTIFIED CHECK, and will be delivered to you by our designated special courier service. You are advised to contact your assigned claims agent,

ERICK MORGAN TEL; 1-347-218-0667

Monday through Saturday....7am....To....6pm (Eastern Standard Time) for further instructions on how to claim your big winnings.

Enclosed here is a check of US $3,990.00 which will go towards the applicable Government Service Tax (GST), payable to the Revenue Department through your assigned tax agent as stated below:

TAX AGENT: RONY RICHARDSON.

TAX AMOUNT: $2,600 (two thousand six hundred dollars)

PAYMENT METHOD: Western Union.

CALL YOUR CLAIMS AGENT, ERICK MORGAN, Who will advise you on the modalities of claiming your winning, OR EMAIL erickmorgan71@yahoo.co.uk

RALF L. FERGUSON (Promotions Manager)
APPROVED FINAL NOTICE

Is it a right or a privilege?

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Is it a right or a privilege?

http://www.volconvo.com/forums/society-rights/36881-right-privilege.html#post827961

Volconvo

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Volconvo Debate Forums - Political, religious and news-based topics

http://www.volconvo.com/

A Debate Forum featuring political, news, religious and other relevant debate forum topics.

Advertisement/Poster

Volconvo: A combination of the words "volcano" and "conversation" meant to imply heated discussion.

Forum Rules

Yard Sale!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Yard Sale on Priscilla Drive, Connellys Springs, NC (North Carolina)! Lots of kids clothes, girls and boys. Lots of toys, some brand new!!! Books, computer stuff, software, and lots of odds and ends! Come check it out!!! Tomorrow (June 17th, 2011) and Saturday (June 18th, 2011) starting at 7am!!!

View Larger Map

Click here for directions

Please Sign This If You Support Our NC Teachers!

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:54:00 +0000

Please sign this below if you support our North Carolina teachers!

http://signon.org/sign/tell-the-party-of-five.fb3?source=s.fb&r_by=289449

Consultant warns of hidden costs in consolidation

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:00:00 +0000

During the Burke County Board of Education meeting May 17, consultant Hank Hurd from Rives & Associates LLC said the savings from consolidating schools aren't nearly as good as you'd expect due to hidden costs. I would like to point out that he mentioned he had been involved with five to six previous school consolidations; thus he has previous experience.In fact, the Charlotte Observer has a May 14 article on www.CharlotteObserver.com about additional costs to renovate Charlotte-Mecklenburg consolidated schools. The costs were much higher than projected, about a million dollars higher, which is "eating into projected CMS savings."I believe the hidden costs in Burke County weren't fully accounted for in Superintendent Art Stellar's consolidation report. Yes, Finance Officer Keith Lawson's numbers were accurate, but the "savings" from consolidating schools were not. Since we have already consolidated Hillcrest and Mountain View schools, we should carefully observe all savings and costs - especially hidden costs, such as transportation - for at least a year before shutting down six schools at once.
Most "savings" are not from closing a building, but from losing staff positions. I heard maintenance and utilities savings from shutting a school are roughly $80,000 per year, which is about 16 percent of the estimated $500,000 "savings" per consolidated school. Much of the "savings" we will not see for at least a year or two, since we are required by law to pay for health insurance and unemployment for many of these laid-off employees.
Hank Hurd also supported the school board's decisions not to consolidate six schools, and said that more research needs to be done.
When we incur deficits within our personal budgets, giving up our homes is usually the last resort and not the first. We make sacrifices by reducing our debts, and increase our revenue and efficiencies. Why aren't we doing the same with our Burke County Public Schools?
One way for us to increase our revenue is for the county commissioners to fully fund our public schools according to state recommendations. We cannot afford to lose our children's schools, or over 230 faculty and staff positions. Not only would our children suffer academically, but our local economy would suffer as well. People would move away to find jobs elsewhere, reducing local income, thus affecting the current businesses we have, and deterring other businesses from coming here.
There is a plaque hanging in the county commissioners' board room that says, "The public school is the greatest discovery made by man." That seems hypocritical considering how little we actually fund our Burke County Public Schools versus other counties and states. If our children's' education is actually important to us, then it's time we start putting our money into it!
Citizens of Burke County, we are in a financial crisis. The only way we will be able to work through this is to work together instead of against each other. If we are going to fix the deficit we are in, we cannot be divided, but stand united. I encourage everyone to get involved by attending both board of education and county commissioners' meetings, offering suggestions instead of criticism and asking them what you can do to help. If you are unable to attend the board of education meetings, then please watch them at http://www.ustream.tv/user/angieblalock/videos. Be a part of the solution!

Original Article - http://www2.morganton.com/news/2011/may/25/buchanan-consultant-warns-hidden-costs-consolidati-ar-1121524/

How long can Burke schools last without support?

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:00:00 +0000

How long can Burke schools last without support?

By Bill Satterwhite
Published: April 20, 2011

Rutherford College, NC --

I’ve been around long enough to remember when R.L. Patton was superintendent of schools, and I remember the battles over building Freedom and East Burke high schools. You know what we were fighting about then? Could children be properly taught in a round building and how would square lockers fit up against a curved wall.

For more than 40 years our Burke County boards of education, county commissioners and superintendents have been picking at one another. For 40 years, career-driven superintendents, controlling commissioners, and weak or agenda-driven school boards have messed over our vulnerable children. For 40 years partisanship has compromised our school system.

It’s time to put a stop to this school-yard fighting.

The Vision Statement on the Burke County Public Schools’ website says, “Burke County Public Schools, a world-class model of exemplary education, inspires students to be lifelong learners who can compete successfully on the global stage while contributing to their community as productive citizens.”

Who are we kidding?

Are our so-called leaders not ashamed that the State of North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally in per-pupil funding?

Are our county commissioners not embarrassed that Burke County is among the lowest of the districts in the state in funding our schools?

Is the school board not humiliated that Burke County spends less per student than any of our neighboring districts?

Doesn’t anyone care that we don’t have enough textbooks or supplies in our classrooms? Why aren’t our citizens furious at the travesty we call a “global,” “world-class” model? Where is the outrage?

It’s time for us to step up to bring our schools into the 21 st Century. I urge — beg — our superintendent, our school board, the commissioners, business leaders, religious and civic groups, parents and fellow citizens to defend our children, their teachers and our schools. Be bold. Be courageous. All our futures depend on it.

Original Article - http://www2.morganton.com/news/2011/apr/20/satterwhite-how-long-can-burke-schools-last-withou-ar-964347/

BCPS Workshop Results

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Ok, so here's the results of the BCPS (Burke County Public Schools) Workshop 2 Results...

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t38-budget-workshop-results

Unfortunately, I can't post my real feelings on the forum or elsewhere on the internet, so I'll do it here on my personal blog instead.

As mentioned in my previous blog post (http://junkmail3612.blogspot.com/2011/04/bcps-workshop-2.html), I was extremely disappointed in the parent/teacher ratio at this workshop. It seemed as if this was done intentionally, but no one has any actual proof of this. But some of the results that came from this budget workshop definitely came from many of the misled, uninformed teachers who is only taking Dr. Stellar's numbers into account and haven't done any research of their own, in which I'll point out here...

School Consolidations

First, school consolidation was mentioned several times, which can't be done until next year because it's too late to do so because this feat couldn't be done before school starts back in the fall, so even bringing up school consolidation to impact THIS YEAR'S budget is a complete waste of time.

And while I'm on the topic of school consolidation, I also noticed RCES (Rutherford College Elementary School) was singled out twice in these results. So what these teachers are saying is to consolidate the HIGHEST performing school in Burke County into a lesser performing school. Rutherford College and Forest Hill Elementary Schools help bring up the average test scores for the ENTIRE COUNTY, so let's consolidate the schools that attract families here to Burke County. That makes a heck of a lot of sense.

Also, what these misled, uninformed teachers don't understand is that even if we were to consolidate, the BCPS BOE (Board Of Education) has mentioned more than once that several teachers would still have to be cut, and they would evaluate teachers based upon their performance, and NOT on their tenure (how many years they've been teaching in a BCPS). If that's the case, then many teachers would be replaced by a teacher from either Rutherford College or Forest Hill Elementary, since those are the HIGHEST PERFORMING SCHOOLS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTY. I'll recap just in case I didn't make myself clear the first time.... THE HIGHEST PERFORMING SCHOOL IN ENTIRE BURKE COUNTY. Better hope your class' average grade scores are high, or you might be replaced my one of my daughters' teachers! By the way, my oldest daughter, who's in first grade, reads at a fourth grade reading level mostly because of the dedication of her teachers. Our RCES teachers are PHENOMENAL. Better hope you are if consolidation were to ever happen.

I also noticed that someone wrote "$3,000,000" if six schools were to be consolidated. Once again, a misled and uninformed statement by the misled and uninformed. That's going strictly by Dr. Stellar's numbers, if each school were to save the county $500,000 each, but even the BOE have stated they doubt this number is even realistic. All it takes is about 15 to 30 minutes of research on this search engine called "Google" to find out how bloated these numbers are. In reality, the county might save somewhere between $100,000 to $250,000 per school, which brings the actual total amount saved down to somewhere between $600,000 to $1,500,000 (about HALF of what's "projected", at best).
Lastly, before I jump off of this school consolidation bandwagon and onto my next point, I keep hearing the reasons for consolidating our elementary schools are due to both "efficiency" and declining student enrollment. First of all, our Burke County Public High Schools aren't operating at the recommended efficiencies either, so let's consolidate our high schools and cut some high school teachers there! And our declining student enrollment is happening mostly in our Burke County Public Middle Schools and NOT in our elementary schools, so how about consolidating some middle schools and cutting teachers there, too? Heck, let's just combine all of our Burke County Public Schools into one big freakin' high-rise and have just a dozen of teachers to teach them all, and let's put almost all of the teachers on the chopping block. All of the teachers except for the exceptional teachers who go above and beyond for our kids and the quality of their education, such as those at RCES.

School Administrators and Teachers Supplements

Something else I heard thrown around is that many of the teachers who attended the second BCPS Workshop voiced their opinion that they didn't want to lose their supplements, and even went as far as throwing other teachers under the bus (lay-off some teachers) so that they could keep their supplements. HOW FREAKIN' SELFISH!!! Let me tell you a story about a little corporation that I work for called Best Buy who owns over 1,000 stores worldwide in several countries and employees far more people than residents who live in Burke County...

About a few years ago or so, Best Buy had to "consolidate" some positions when the economy started going down the toilet and looking really scary. But instead of firing a ton of employees and keeping everyone else at the "status quo", many had to take lesser paying positions, starting top-down from the corporate level down into the store level. Many employees in the store, district, regional, territorial, and even corporate positions were placed in lower positions and took pay cuts (many district managers became store managers, and many supervisors and seniors became regular full-time employees). A lot of people were unhappy about this, but almost all of us still had a job, and very few people actually lost theirs completely. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the benefit of the whole.

And because of the economy, most of us who works for a private business or corporation hasn't had a "bonus" in many years. In fact, it seems that the only people in the corporate world who has gotten any bonuses in the last several years are the CEO's and board members of corporations who received a government handout (also known as corporate welfare) back when the crap originally hit the fan. And if the economy has affected our government much like the way it has affected most businesses (as it obviously has since Burke County has a $12 million deficit), then NO government employee (anyone's position who's paid via tax payers' dollars), whether you're a teacher at a public school or the President of the United State, should receive ANY bonuses or supplements, period! I'm not attacking school administrators and teachers, but NO ONE in the government should be getting bonuses and supplements unless you're operating in the black and NOT in the red! If these complaining teachers had been working for a private business or corporation, then they wouldn't have received a supplement (or a "bonus") for the last several years. Even one of our own BOE members mentioned that they had previously been a teacher for 15 years and never once received any supplements! People receive bonuses when their company thrives, and don't when the company doesn't. That's how the rest of the real world operates, and I wouldn't call running a $12 million deficit "thriving".

BCPS Workshop 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t14-budget-workshop-2

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the second BCPS's (Burke County Public School's) workshop due to my conflicting work schedule, but I heard there were mixed feelings of how the budget workshop went. My wife says that the group she was in wasn't very productive because many people in her group were uninformed teachers who were misled by Dr. Stellar's numbers. However, some other groups were other somewhat more productive, and a few teachers were enlightened by some ideas outside from only what they had been told. However, the majority of the workshop was overrun by misled and uninformed teachers with lack of support from the rest of the Burke County community, which brings me to my second point...

Although I wasn't able to attend this particular workshop, I have attended other meetings since after the Public Hearing on March 28th, and I've been EXTREMELY disappointed at Burke County's community involvement afterwards. Where are the parents and grandparents who attended the Public Hearing at?! Just because the BOE (Board Of Education) voted against consolidation at this present moment doesn't mean that consolidation will never be brought up ever again. When it does (and not "if"), I doubt the BOE will listen a second time due to the lack of involvement from the community after the first public hearing. Everyone wanted to speak out against consolidating schools, but hardly anyone wants to contribute to finding solutions to Burke County's deficit problems. You can only "cry wolf" so many times before people stop listening. If you're not willing to contribute, research, and work to solving Burke County's deficit issues and keeping our schools open, then sit down and shut up, or go home.

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t14-budget-workshop-2

Burke County Public Schools Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:00:00 +0000

I've created a forum for anyone who's interested in our Burke County Public Schools in North Carolina at...

http://bcps.forumotion.org/

Please read the forum's information and rules at...

http://bcps.forumotion.org/t1-forum-information-and-rules

Thank you for your interest in our Burke County Public Schools!

Proposals to Save Burke County Schools & Teachers Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Here are two proposals made by two citizens of our Burke County community of how we can save both our schools and a majority of our teachers' jobs...

Proposal #1:
What it will take to fix this is
1) Teachers giving up their supplements for a year or two (saves $3 million per year)
2) Increase sales tax 1/2 of a cent (that means for every $100 you spend you will pay an extra 50 cents (generates a little over $2 million per year)
3) Make the county commissioners fully fund the school system and the state will kick in an extra $750,000 (county has underfunded $3 million per Stellar's own words so there's an addition $3.75 million)
4) Look at operating expenses at every school and find ways to cut where possible (RCES did this and found $200,000 in cuts to save, if all of the schools did only half as well we would save $2.4 million.
So let's see we have $3m for supplements and $2m for sales tax and $3.75m for fully finding the schools and possible $2.4 m in operating cuts county wide and you have just closed that budget gap $11.15 million dollars. By doing all of those things and maybe a little more we can save every school and just about every job.

Proposal #2:
Wilkes County is participating in what is called a “hybrid school” calendar with 162 days in class. It saved nearly $900,000.00 and avoided laying off certified teachers. They added 45 minutes to each school day to provide the required 1,000 hours of school in a year. They begin the day 15 minutes early and add 30 minutes to the end of the day. Breaks are given throughout the year that last from 1-2 weeks. They Begin August 16th and end the year May 21st. Wilkes is a smaller school system than Burke County and therefore, Burke could realize larger savings which would keep at least two schools open with teachers employed. You may view this at the following website: www.journalpatriot.com – searching the following article: “Shortfalls Mark 2010 for County”.
In Gaston County, they we able to raise $4 million for Smart Boards for every classroom by knocking on doors of churches, businesses, civic organizations and individuals for donations and funding. Our Stake holders in Burke county could except the same challenge, given the chance.
I have found these findings in just a short time. I believe if given the chance, we as a community, as Stake Holders of Burke County, we could come up with a lot more ideas and SOLUTIONS for our money problems within our school system and it wouldn’t involve the County Commissioners help. Please make a decision you can live with tonight for years to come. Please save our schools from this decision, HELP US HELP YOU COME UP WITH A WAY TO SAVE OUR SCHOOLS!!!!

Does Consolidating Schools Really Save Money?

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Does Consolidating Schools Really Save Money?

Here's a list of reports from different parts of the country who has done the research:

I'll add more links as I find more information, but here are my current conslusions...

Administration
Most consolidation plans state that by reducing the amount of administrators reduce costs. However, according to the above research, most administrators that kept their jobs during consolidation are likely to receive pay increases due to consolidating two or more administrators into one. Many also had to hire assistants to help delegate their expanded responsibilities, creating larger bureaucracies, thus minimizing actual cost reductions and efficiency. Smaller schools managed on a smaller scale often have better resource management.

Buildings And Transportation
Even if a school does not have to expand their current buildings for consolidating with another school, the added costs in student transportation often negate most cost reductions.

Food
Most consolidation plans often state that by purchasing food in larger bulk will save money in combined school districts; however, two more more school districts could effectively accomplish the same cost reductions by simply combining their food orders.

Staff
Most schools are required by most state and local laws to adhere to equal pay for all staff. If staff members from a smaller, lesser funded district are consolidated into a larger, higher funded disctrict, then their pay must also equal the current staff, thus minimizing cost reduction.

Quality of Education
It has been proven in many studies that smaller classrooms in smaller schools tend to offer better education, especially in early primary grades. Drop-out rates are usually lower, test scores are usually higher, and more are more likely to attend college. The only pros for larger schools is that they tend to offer more programs.

It's interesting to point out that many counties and states only cut teachers' jobs and consolidate schools as a LAST resort instead of a FIRST resort, and look into other alternatives and options first.

In whom should we invest?

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 04:00:00 +0000

North Carolina will spend $27,134 this year to keep one inmate in prison, but only $5,655 for a student. In whom should we invest?

The Impact of Budget Cuts in Education from WNDR News on Vimeo.

Attention: Burke County, North Carolina Parents

There is a vast amount of misleading information infiltrating the schools and many parents think that school closings are a done deal. The board of education has NOT voted on closing ANY schools to date. It is their decision, not the superintendent. Please come to the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, March 24th to Patton High School at 5:30 PM. Come prepared to offer the board options or proposals to keep the schools open. The board members have publicly expressed they will listen to the voices of the stakeholders. They stressed how important it is for everyone in all the communities come to this meeting and voice their concerns. They NEED to hear from the community on how consolidations will effect their children and communities. Please let your voice be heard on Thursday, March 24th at 5:30 PM. Come early to ensure yourself a seat. Be a proactive parent and citizen of this community and come let your voice be heard. If you prefer not to speak, just your presence will speak volumes in standing strong for our school, children, and communities.

Thursday, March 24th, 2011
(Thu, 3/24/11 )

Patton High School - 5:30 PM

701 Enola Road, Morganton, NC

View Larger Map

Innovative Ink is selling T-shirts with the slogan "SAVE OUR SCHOOLS" on the front. On the back, the shirt says, "Say NO to consolidation, Say YES to community!" The shirts are $5.00 and all proceeds will be donated to a non-profit group dedicated to saving Burke County schools.
E-Mail: james@innovativeink.net
Phone: (828) 874-7183

Save Rutherford College Elementary

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Burke County officials are considering shutting down Rutherford College Elementary School because of budget cuts. It is one of the oldest and smallest elementary schools, yet the highest performing elementary in the county, if not the state. The school is very dear to me because I am the third out of four generations who has attended there. My grandmother (my mother's mother), my mother, along with myself and my sister attended there, and now our children go to school there.

Because it is a small community elementary school, our children have more undivided attention from teachers than most other elementary schools have. My oldest daughter currently reads at a fourth grade reading level, and she's only in FIRST GRADE. My other daughter, Kori, struggled during her first couple of months in Kindergarten, but because of the devoted teachers at Rutherford College Elementary working with her and with us, she enjoys reading at her grade level. Teachers and other faculty at Rutherford College Elementary are more concerned about our children's education more so than their pay and benefits. My wife and I have always had positive experiences interacting and working with the faculty at Rutherford College Elementary.

Directly from the Visit Burke County website (http://www.visitburkecounty.com/education.htm):

Rutherford College Elementary School received two national awards in 2005. The school was named a Title I Distinguished School and a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. It is one of only 10 schools in the state to receive the Blue Ribbon distinction.

Rutherford College Elementary is also an Honor School of Excellence, rated #1 elementary school in Burke County since 2000, and even has high reviews from national websites:

GreatSchools.org - http://www.greatschools.org/north-carolina/rutherford-college/362-Rutherford-College-Elementary-School/
PSK12.com - http://www.psk12.com/rating/USindivphp/SchID_300213_year_2007.html

It is rated a 10 out of 10 by GreatSchools.org. Out of a 570 total rating, it was rated 564 in 2007 and 570 in both 2003 and 2005 by PSK12.com.

Shutting down such a high performing school would effect our children's education and many aspects of our lives. Not only would they have to attend a lesser performing school, but would add another 280 students to the surrounding local elementary schools, and thus adding more workloads for other teachers in already bloated classrooms. Students would receive even less undivided attention from their teachers, have more distractions, and grades would drop. Shutting down Rutherford College Elementary would tear apart friendships... relationships between students, teachers, and parents. It would greatly affect our community, and even our property values. Many parents feel so strongly about Rutherford College Elementary, that we would pay higher property taxes just to help keep the doors open.

If you or any of your children have ever attended Rutherford College Elementary, please share this blog and show your support by writing to our local Burke County officials at:

http://www.burkecountynd.com/government.htm

Rutherford College Elementary School Website: http://www.burke.k12.nc.us/schools/rces/Pages/Home.aspx

Attention: Burke County, North Carolina Parents

Thursday, March 24th, 2011
(Thu, 3/24/11 )

Patton High School - 5:30 PM

701 Enola Road, Morganton, NC

Runescape Botting

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Runescape Botting

I remember when I first started playing Runescape many years ago, I would get tired of all of the mindless hours of grinding you'd have to do just to earn skill experience and/or make some game money. Once I had learned about botting, now I don't have to sit at my computer the entire time, wasting hours of my life away so I can do other things (such as going to school, work, sleep, and spending time with my family) while the bot grinds for me. If you are interested in botting, I must first throw out this disclaimer...

"AUTOING" (BOTTING) IN RUNESCAPE IS AGAINST JAGEX'S RULES, AND YOU CAN GET PERMINENTLY IP BANNED FROM PLAYING!!! I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IF YOU GET CAUGHT!!! In other words, you don't want to get caught running a bot in Runescape! Jagex has gone to great lengths to prevent people from running bots. Between randoms, having mods patrolling every world, and observing everything being said and done, even in private messages, you take great risks botting. If that doesn't scare you away, then please continue reading...

There's at least two mistakes people make botting. The first mistake is botting for days on end. Jagex is gonna think something's strange if someone has been playing Runescape for 30 hours straight. I haven't met anyone who can, not saying that no one can, but who would want to?! The second mistake is running bots that don't have any "anti-bans" or fail-safes, meaning that they do the exact same replicated clicks and movements without any random variations. Once again, I don't know anyone who can click on the exact same spots with the exact same mouse movement and speed for hours on end, and Jagex watches for this stuff. So, if you're worried about getting caught, don't run a bot for more than about 8 hours per day, and make sure it makes random clicks and movements.
There are two free bots you can download and use, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The first bot that has been around the longest is RSBot that can be downloaded from http://www.powerbot.org/. The second bot is called RSBuddy, and can be downloaded from http://rsbuddy.com/. I'll explain the differences below...

RSBot at http://www.powerbot.org/
Pros

Been around the longest.
Has more bot scripts to select from.
Can view bot scripts for account stealing code before running.
Easily create and edit scripts if you learn Java.

Cons

Initial setup isn't easy, especially if you're running x64-bit Windows, and you have to make a lot of adjustments and tweaks just to get the bot or scripts to work.
You have to compile bot scripts before you can use them.
Most of the bot scripts aren't extremely detailed or professional.
Website is down a lot (some say Jagex and/or RSBuddy DoS attacks their server).

RSBuddy at http://rsbuddy.com/
Pros

Very easy to use.
You don't have to compile bot scripts. Just simply click to add and they're ready to run!
Although it has fewer bot scripts to select from, the bot scripts it does have are far more advanced

Cons

Has a very "shady" history.
Can't view the original source code before running script, so you're unsure if it will steal your Runescape account login/bank pin.

Which one should you use? I use them both, depending upon the script I'm wanting to run.

AMD and ATI versus Intel and nvidia

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Here's my dilemma...

For many years, I've always been an Intel and nvidia fan. They're known for their performance, reliability, and stability. They tend to run cooler than their AMD/ATI counterparts, and nvidia's Geforce software tend to cause fewer issues than ATI's Catalyst software. Intel's chipsets and processors tend to have fewer compatibility issues with memory, operating systems, etc. than AMD's do. However, I'm in the market for upgrading my computer, and debating what I should buy. Unfortunately, after doing much research on http://www.newegg.com/, I'm trying "to get the most bang for my buck." So I don't have to repeat myself, please read my original post on AMD forums at...

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=146163&enterthread=y

Keeping my original post above in mind, an Intel CPU with an nvidia video card comparable in price are:

CPU:

Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540

MOBO:

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM (same as in my original post above):

Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGD38G1600ELK

VIDEO CARD:

EVGA 01G-P3-1145-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

The total of these above parts, which are about $500 total without shipping/handling and rebates, are about $40 more than the comparable AMD/ATI parts in my AMD forums post. I found this article that discusses these two chips among several others they benchmarked and tested against each other at...

http://www.hardcoreware.net/amd-vs-intel-100-150-dollar-cpu/

So, according to this article, dollar-for-dollar, it appears the AMD outperforms Intel chips on most benchmark tests, and they're generally less expensive. So, should I go for the AMD quad-core processor versus the Intel dual-core precessor? Can anyone give me any good reasons to stick with Intel versus AMD? I'm all ears, because I'm slowly finding myself swaying towards buying AMD/ATI! And please stay away from vague expressions such as, "you get what you pay for." If I didn't know this, then I wouldn't have needed to post this in the first place! ;-)

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 05:00:00 +0000

I just wanted to wish everyone a...

Happy (and safe) New Year!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mickey Buchanan) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0000

I just wanted to wish everyone a...

Merry (and safe) Christmas!!!