For Profit Schools a bad deal for everyone

This expose on online education for-profit universities should make anyone think twice about attending University of Phoenix or other for profit universities.

When it comes to for-profit vs. non profit, note the average salary of University of Maryland University College (online, NON-profit) vs. Phoenix (online, FOR profit).  The difference is quite staggering.

The reason for lower quality education makes sense.  A for profit school is probably going to have a higher student/faculty ratio and less qualified instructors (they cost more).  State supported non profits, such as UMUC are basically normal universities that offer a lot of courses online.

The article also implies that for profit schools are ripping off the taxpayers.  This is a PR nightmare for Phoenix, Strayer, and their ilk.  Why go to a for profit school that costs more and provides less return?

Studios last ditch power grab

Warner Bros is forcing Netflix customers to wait 28 days before renting movies that the studio produces.  I think this is ridiculous, and it won't last for long.  People are not going to rush out and buy DVD's.

Very few people feel the need to own movies, with the exceptions for movies that are watched often.  In my case, this may be 3-5 total movies.  With music, people can listen to a song multiple times a day, so ownership makes sense.  But the public has made it pretty clear that they are content to rent movies, and Netflix has come out on top.

I predict that customers are going to complain big time to Netflix and possibly the studios.  With the only option to buy the movie (its not like you can walk into a Blockbuster anymore, with most of them closed) or wait 28 days, I'll wait 28 days.

Decade Wrap-Up

We stand at the end of the "naughts" or "double o's".  The 00's.  Whatever you want to call them, it is ending.  The period of 2000-2009 was much more turbulent for me than 1990-1999.  I think most would agree that this decade was especially unique.

2000 started with a United States election that many thought (and continue to think) was rigged.  Our new president in 2001 faced the largest terrorist attack ever only 9 months into his job and spend the rest of his administration over-reacting to that one day, 9/11/01.  That singular day may define the decade more than any other, because much of the United States' budget and standing within the world for the next decade will likely be affected by the reaction to September 11 (including Iraq, which was sold to the public as a reaction to 9/11).

On a more positive note, technology made leaps and bounds.  Broadband has become the standard way of connecting for the middle class, and I suspect, much of the lower class.  Smart phones continue to show tremendous growth, and I doubt that anyone will have a "dumb phone" in 2015.  Social networks have also taken off big, which allows us to stay in touch with others from our past.

And finally, only about 40 years after massive race riots hit the United States, we elected our first African American president: Barack Obama.

What will the teens bring?  Hopefully less war, better tech, and more money for all.

Duke Nukem

Great article on Duke Nukem Forever, the king of vaporware and any software developer's nightmare.

Only a few steps left for healthcare bill

The healthcare bill has passed an initial vote in the senate, and will likely be passed by the senate in full soon this week.  This bill is far from perfect, but would provide a large number of people with healthcare.  It would also limit pre-existing conditions (and eliminate them for children immediately).  It is definitely a step in the right direction.

Grad School Bubble?

Both of these articles make convincing arguments, that the high cost and modest rewards simply are not worth it for aspiring MBA's and JD's.  Is grad school, or education in general, the next bubble?

I think so, but I think that the rapid rise in online education will reign in costs to a point at which a decent quality education is attainable to anyone, not just the rich or those who want to be in debt up to their eyeballs.

MBA: http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742624&d=2010

Law: http://lawyerist.com/law-school-admissions-bubble/

More on Grass Fed Bison

Even though Wegmans provided a great response to my questions, I decided to ask the supplier, Great Range Bison, about what goes into their bison.  Here is their response.  It is interesting to note that they are audited by Whole Foods.  Bottom line: it is still probably the best red meat you can buy.

Our buffalo are fed grain as well as grass the last 120 days prior to butchering.  The buffalo are not fed the levels of grain that cattle are during typical cattle feed lot programs.  We do this to produce a premier, high quality, fresh product year round.  It would impossible to produce consistent product given variations in weather patterns, geographic areas, grass species, and seasonal changes that affect grass quality. 

 

By supplemental feeding we are referring to the natural grains and forages that we feed in order to supplement what the animal can't get from pasture feeding. We do not use any antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products on any of the bison. They are raised as naturally as possible. In order to produce a consistent product year round it is necessary that we feed additional forage and grain prior to slaughter - i.e. supplemental feeding.

 

The Bison Meat is still much leaner than beef!

 

All buffalo calves are born in pasture and spend most of their lives in a free range situation.  They are humanely raised on wide open ranches of the Western United States.  We DO NOT have animals in traditional feedlots!  We purchase our buffalo from several different areas; Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Mexico and Oklahoma are just a few of the places. 

 

All ranches and plants are audited by Whole Foods to ensure animal safety.

 

Thank you for your interest in our company and let us know if you have any other questions.

No Grass Fed Bison?

I'm a fan of bison meat.  If i'm going to eat something bovine in nature, its going to be a bison (not technically a buffalo, those are only found in Asia).  The meat itself tastes better and is much leaner.

However, when I was at Wegman's I looked up the supplier of their bison and read on their website that it is "grain fed".  I prefer grass fed meat when I eat it.  I asked Wegman's about their choice of suppliers.  Here is their response, supposedly from one of their buyers:

"There is really no such thing as grass fed meat in America. This is because there is no source for fresh grass in the winter. U.S. grass fed claims are false in that dried hay or dried grass is fed or worse they are left to forage through the snow for what little brush they can find. Bison are not put on feedlots they are given a ration that consists of 60% grain (corn, oats, milo, barley and wheat are all used depending on what is available to the particular ranch) and 40% grass only in the final 110 days or so of their 800-900 day lives. They do this to improve the eating quality of the meat and to give the consumer a consistent, high quality product year round. They do not get the levels of grain fed to beef and so do not get as fat. The animals spend far more of their lives"out" than "in". There is a huge difference between the nutrients in fresh grass and dried grass. Imagine if you went to a restaurant for a salad and they gave you dried lettuce. For truly grass fed beef that is leaner than bison and processed in state of the art facilities, we offer Organic grass fed Angus / Herford beef from Uruguay. We went 7,000 miles south to find a place that had fresh grass all year to substantiate our grass fed claim. The USDA allows hay fed animals to be called grass fed but this was in my opinion not correct to do." 

Review: Inglorious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds is a great movie, one that I would recommend to any fan of Quentin Tarantino, or of action/western type movies with great dialogue.  I don't want to give too much away, but the premise is a group of American Jewish soldiers who want to kill as many Nazis as possible during World War II.  Brad Pitt is their leader.  Need I say more?

I give it 5 stars.

Will fear reduce healthcare costs?

Several weeks ago, new guidelines came out calling for a reduced schedule for employing mammograms.  Many citizens groups condemned these decisions, even though it was supported by many doctors and medical groups.  

Today, it is being reported that giving a child a CT scan carries a 1/500 chance of them developing cancer, not a trivial number.  Mammograms carry much lower, but similar risks.  Additionally, 1/3 of CT's are characterized as "unnecessary" but many people are now so scared after the death of Natasha Richardson that they feel any bump on the head merits one.  Perhaps this will scare them the other way, and also reduce medical costs for everyone.

The Year Of The Gun?

That's what MSNBC is calling 2009.  Many states passed laws making it easier for individuals to carry guns.  I don't have any problem with this, since CCW holders tend to be the most law abiding citizens around.

Christmas Trees!

Yesterday I bought my first real Christmas Tree ever. When we moved, we dumped our artificial tree since it was in such bad shape. Decided to get a real one this time. Seems to be a better deal at $34 (at Home Depot) vs a fake tree for $150 or more for a decent one. And even the "decent" ones last for a couple years.

Regarding environmental impact, it is actually less for a natural tree. They are mostly carbon neutral, since they absorb a lot of carbon during their lives. They are also recycle after. On the other side, artificial trees are made from PVC and other plastics, which can be traced back to oil. While neither is especially green, given transport, a real tree seems the way to go.

Google Public DNS

I am a big proponent of not using your ISP's DNS services, since they are often much slower than alternative such as Open DNS. Well, Google has just launched a public DNS. Word is that it is very fast, but not as fast as Open DNS if you live in the US. It is also not nearly as configurable.

While I may use Open DNS, for most users (especially international users), Google's solution will likely be the best option. Here is the page for instructions on how to configure your computer or router.

Food, Inc.

I watched Food, Inc several weeks ago, and it has made a big difference in the types of food I have consumed since. I always have tried to eat natural foods when possible, and organic when it is a good deal but after watching this movie I realized it is very difficult to avoid certain things, like corn, especially high fructose corn syrup.

I'm happy to say that in the past two weeks, I have not consume any meat other than fish. I'm not against eating meat, I just don't want to eat corn fed industrial farmed meat. Which does leave me a lot of choices, most notably bison (sometimes called buffalo) a grass fed animal that is mostly carbon neutral.

It is especially disheartening to learn about the big push to silence critics of the food supply, as if this is some type of god we ought to deify, leaving aside the impacts to all of us.

One criticism I have of the "healthy food" movement is the reluctance (or outright opposition to) food irradiation. Food irradiation has the potential to make our food supply much safer and more efficient, whether it be killing salmonella or helping fruit stay fresh for much longer without preservatives, and thereby lowering costs for consumers.

I recommend that everyone watch this film, the trailer is below.

Swiss crackdown on minarets

This is practically an "oddly enough" news item: Swiss voters have banned minarets in a referendum.

Switzerland prouds itself as being a direct democracy, wherein the voters are the ultimate decision makers. In this case, they have voted to ban minarets which appear to be pointing tops on mosques. Though I think they may also be on churches. Not sure.

Here is a good article on the pros and cons.

I agree that it would have been easier to have local bans on buildings of certain heights instead of singling out minarets, but the Swiss are known to be somewhat xenophobic at times.