That is absurd. What about the Crusades? The Inquisition? Or if you want more recent examples just look at attacks on doctors and family planning clinics.

Why would you cringe? Your suggestion is still a way to make it fun, just a different way. I think if it actually gets students interested it is the opposite of a gimmick. Sure sometimes you can look at practical applications, but whats wrong with talking about a zombie apocalypse to get students more interested in exponential modeling for example? Or having Darth Vader teach them the Pythagorean Theorem?

That isn't a misconception. Maybe the point of the exercise was to have students figure out the midpoint formula on their own, without rote instruction. A situation analogous to the FCAT one would be multiple choice answers like: 3/2, 1.5 and 1 1/2 which are all numerically equivalent. Math classes leave things out, but I find that we don't lie quite as much. I was tutoring once and heard someone explaining to an elementary school student that basically gravity and magnetism are the same thing - I flipped out a little bit.

I hope not, considering the bizarre number of people that what Penny and Sheldon to be together. Penny with Sheldon makes even less sense than Penny with Leonard.

Everything changes. Some changes are slower, some are almost instant. If you want to be a university professor because you want to get paid to do research, then become a great researcher and it is very likely that you will be able to find a place in academia. If you want to teach, things MIGHT be different. Ten years is a long time, but large structures like the university system can be slow to change. Even if Khan style teaching takes off, it will take a significant amount of time to get enough lectures for everything together. I am a math teacher, so I think about these kinds of things too. However, instead of thinking about how I might lose my job, I'm trying to think about how to most effectively help the largest number of students. To find a way to reach students that others can't reach. To think of a way to better engage students. To make learning math more fun, or faster or more effective. I love teaching, and I will continue to do it, though I realize the way I do it WILL change.

I think he is just trolling - I mean he did say that Enterprise was the best of the ST bunch.

I actually thought Jains didn't consume dairy - but apparently many do. Thanks for pointing that out. I agree about militant vegans, that kind of attitude is why many people are uncomfortable around vegetarians/vegans and partially why I don't typically make a big deal about my own eating habits to other people. Some people are just standing up for what they believe in, which is a good thing, but I don't think the aggressive "militant" stance is very helpful. Other people just want to point out how different they are and get attention.

Maybe I'm in the minority but after about 8 years, I would still love to have some bacon. Or beef jerky. I would say sausage, but the fake stuff is actually really good. Even if I didn't eat the meat product myself, I would be happy to see others eat it.

Well, the Jains of India don't use animal products. Heck, I think they even avoid root vegetables because they want fewer insects harmed.
I've been mostly* a vegan for about 8 years - and I'm not remotely careful with balancing my diet. I'm not saying that's a good thing - maybe it's just lucky I haven't developed rickets or something, but my anecdotal evidence is just as good as yours.
I'm not going to argue that being vegan is the healthiest way to live, I don't think it is. It is interesting to note though that both Dr. Mcdougall and Dr. Ornish both encourage diets with reduced or eliminated animal content for the reduction and reversal of heart disease. I think veganism/vegetarianism is typically more a political choice based on moral or ethical values.

* I say mostly because I have had some eggs (less than a couple of dozen) from one of my wife's relatives who has chickens and I don't have a problem with honey, plus when I eat out I can't check the ingredients on everything so I don't worry to much about the possibility of eggs or dairy.

Right, so don't use it for shows that you can save on your DVR. Use it for movies, or shows you don't have access too.
I have a basic cable package that is practically just a replacment for an antennae and no DVR. I'm used to waiting a year for the season box set of a tv show to come out so I can watch it in a few sittings. So 15 days (while slow), is certainly less than I'm willing to wait. Sure hulu offers stuff sooner, but it doesn't offer nearly the same selection as netflix.
Yeah, if you have access to the material quicker through a different venue - use it. For people like me, Netflix is pretty great.

You just said your internet connection is kind of marginal. Don't you think that is the problem? I can't use netflix on my computer because of running linux (and not wanting to find a crazy workaround) but it seems to work find on my wife's old slow laptop and it runs great on our tv while streaming through the Wii.

Well, a download would still be better quality, but I agree with you. Netflix streaming is extremely consistent and rarely buffers in the middle of a showing. In fact, they routinely send me emails asking about the quality - so not only is the service already excellent, but they seem to actually care about keeping it at an acceptable level.

Agreed. It's the only modern cartoon I've see that compares to the sweet 80s animations of my childhood.

I'm pretty sure two hours is way lower than actual. From what I can find it was often 5 hours per day for hunter/gatherers (and maybe less than 1) but has gone up from there. You're right about the US being overworked - at least compared to European countries. I certainly wish I had more vacation time, and fewer hours worked per week. Three months! That would be fantastic.

Or of course Spock's Brain.