channel agnostic

[James A. Landau <JJJRLandau@netscape.com>]

A term I have not met before:

"a team dedicated to the management, development and support of channel agnostic middleware services"

As best as I can figure out, it means software that doesn't care what other software it has to communicate with.

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An imaginative use of "ladder":  from my high school senior year when we seniors made gag "bequests" to the next classes: "To [an obnoxious junior, name mercifully forgotten]: my supply of one-rung ladders for social climbing"

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The first time I noticed the use of "retard" as a noun was in watching a class of middle-school students who were segregated (I can't think of a better term) because they couldn't handle regular classes.  These students were calling each other "retards".  Should one object to this usage of the "R-word"?

Incidentally, I got the impression that most of these particular students were not mentally challenged but instead were having social or adjustment problems.

When a student was, well, promoted from this special class to regular classes, s/he was said to be "mainstreamed".  One student asked the teacher, "Mrs. xxx, if we all get mainstreamed, will you still have a job?"

    - Jim Landau



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