Tag Archive for data

How to Tell if that Gas Pump Has a Skimmer

September 7, 2018 Comments Off on How to Tell if that Gas Pump Has a Skimmer

This is information all drivers should have. We can protect ourselves from the bad guys who install credit card skimmers in gas pumps to collect credit card data from us so they can sell it to other bad guys who then use it, knowing that the bill will come to us, not to them. I was surprised at how simple this is–just takes a second to glance up and be safe. And it’s yet another reason to find ways to use less gasoline.

(Be sure to wait for the video to load, then right-click to unmute to get sound.)

 

https://www.facebook.com/DeniseWhitakerKOMO/videos/595471964183943/

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How to Add $513 Billion to Our Economy

April 4, 2017 Comments Off on How to Add $513 Billion to Our Economy

$513 B could flow into our economy if women earned as much pay as men, says the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.  That’s a number that should stick in the minds even of CEOs who hire women because, as one of them (Evan Thornley, multimillionaire and co-founder of online advertising company LookSmart) says, “Women [are] like men, only cheaper.”

Today is Equal Pay Day.  True, the actual day is a projected guess, since it’s based on averages from the census data, which isn’t available soon enough to set a specific real date.  Also true, the amount is based on average earnings of all full-time workers, not comparing specific  job to specific job.  So it isn’t perfect statistically.

However, it’s a symbol that points up a problem in our economy: women overall earn less than men.  If CEOs paid their women workers the same as they do men for the same job, if women didn’t get only 79.6 cents for every dollar a man makes, if working mothers weren’t limited in their hiring possibilities because of employer fears of their taking off too much time for family, if men didn’t dominate corporate Boards, if, if, if….

The answer to those “ifs” is less poverty among women and children and a more vibrant economy for us all.

By the way, if you support  equal pay, the American Association of University Women asks you to wear red today.

 

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Protect Your Kids from Cyber Space

March 1, 2017 Comments Off on Protect Your Kids from Cyber Space

This is good for everyone, but I worry more about our kids.  They see the power draining out of their phone or tablet, spot a public charging station, and say “why not?”

The reason “why not” is that hackers are getting into those stations and waiting for someone to use them.  At that point, they hack into the phone or tablet and install malware or suck up all the data contained on it.  Despite what we’d like, kids store pictures nobody else should see, personal data that can be used to open a credit account, family information that could make it easy for buglers to visit our home while we’re on vacation, passwords and security codes, even show a pattern of behavior that gives potential evil-doers more opportunities to abduct our child.

Using any charging station should be safe IF the phone is turned off while charging.  That’s a big IF with kids, though, who don’t want to miss a single tweet.  Consider protecting your kids (and your family) with an inexpensive USB cord that allows charging but not data-transfer, and make sure they carry it with them and leave their other cord home.

Yes, parenting is getting harder and harder.  Our kids are sure worth the effort, though, aren’t they?

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Time to Teach? Wow!

July 8, 2015 Comments Off on Time to Teach? Wow!

President Obama wants to revamp “No Child Left Behind” in part by limiting time spent on standardized testing.  As a teacher who spent untold hours administering those tests, I cry “Hallelujah!”

As new fads and regulations fall upon classrooms, teachers have more and more special-interest slants to add to their curriculum.  Not that most of them aren’t important.  In fact, they often pull in segments of our population that have been ignored or underrepresented in what kids are learning.  But they take time to teach.  The standardized tests steal time from the actual teaching/learning process.

The value of the tests lies in cold, hard numbers that bureaucrats can see on paper, report to the world, and use for decision-making.

However, I question that value.  I remember my students asking, “Will this count on our grade?”  Because the answer was “No,” a portion of the kids didn’t bother trying.  Another portion included those who simply were not good at taking objective tests or who, as immigrants, handled spoken English fine but written English, not so much.  Or they had trouble understanding because their growing-up experiences didn’t match those described on the test. In other words, a significant number of kids had learned a lot more than their standardized test results showed.  Is that valuable data?

Go for it, Prez.  Let’s allow time for teachers to teach and kids to learn.

 

 

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