I could get behind that

Friend of the blog JS sent this out via several area listservs last night:

In Durham WE HAVE a BIAS for ACTION when it comes to equal opportunity for our children, Teachers and their Schools:

We are a group asking for a $20 donation from 2,000 Durham citizens so every elementary school in Durham is able to have a garden classroom. We believe that all children deserve an equal opportunity to have a quality education and good health which will be enhanced by hands-on work and school programming related to their garden. We also believe that what one public school has, so should all the others.

Lets do it now, not talk about it for a year.

NEEM, a non-profit sustainable urban agriculture organization and a project of the Preservation Committee of the Neighborhood PRIDE Alliance, in partnership with Neighborhood Improvement Services, Duke University and our other partners have six school gardens scheduled and fully or partially funded. Funding is in place for Kitchen Garden Classroom Curriculum development along with membership at Bull City Forward, – a working space dedicated to helping high impact ideas get to scale. This is a call to action by us to you to fund the rest.

Donate here if you're so moved.

Continue reading I could get behind that

Ouch!

HS:

Durham public school system officials continued to struggle Wednesday with telecommunications problems that have plagued the district for nearly two weeks.

The district's digital phone, voice-mail and e-mail systems have been sporadically knocked out by a Conflickr computer virus. The virus causes havoc in part by compromising and using system administrator passwords.

At least three times since the initial attack, the district's information technology staff has thought the problem to be under control, only to suffer further flare-ups.

. . .

The district is working with a consultant to evaluate the cause of the virus attack -- which Muirhead attributed to antivirus software that was not up to date -- the district's response and future countermeasures that can be taken.

Muirhead praised the district's digital security contractor, Trend Micro, for working diligently to counter the attack. The school system pays Trend $70,000 annually, but Muirhead said it will have to consider a more expansive security contractor.

emphasis mine

Um, $70K per year for out of date anti-virus software? Hell, i'll provide out-of-date anti-virus software for half that. Where do i put in a bid?

But wait, there's more. An anonymous commenter at the HS asks: "I'm curious: how are the computer networks working at the North Carolina State Lottery offices?"


Top ten, baby!

Continue reading Ouch!