Pinnacle, Online Grades, Skipping School and More

Ishkibble writes "The Matrin County School Board has a new way of post a student's grades online for a parent to check. Pinnacle is the name of the program, a simple java applet. Not only does Pinnacle log student's grades, but also attendance and conduct. The way grades are accessed are by inputting the first 6 digits of your social security number and the first 5 letters of your last name. With a logon system as simple as this, one has to question the security and privacy of the students. This has been making my life a living hell for the past 2 months, every night my parents go on and check to see if i have any homework and won't let me do anything till it's done"

So...

[Nipok Nek]

So, the only way your parents wouldn't be able to check up on you would be if, say, the site gets Slashdotted? :)

Nipok Nek

Living Hell?

[ShrikeDOA]

So you being expected to do what you're supposed to is a "living hell"? The real world is gonna eat you alive. :)

Oh is that soooo?

[cybermace5]

We'll take care of that little problem for you.

However, you should be doing all your homework without being forced! School is already too easy, and if you skip any of it you'll be the only one at McDonald's who can't make change! You should be asking your teachers for extra homework!

And a good thing too

[deaddrunk]

Damn kids always slacking. Why in my day we had to walk 6 miles in all weathers and got beaten every day whether we needed it or not. We didn't have these fancy-schmancy Nintendos we had to make our own entertainment blah blah bitch bitch ad nauseum

Maybe you need more homework.

[eugene ts wong]

The Matrin County School Board has a new way of post a student's grades online for a parent to check...This has been making my life a living hell for the past 2 months, every night my parents go on and check to see if i have any homework and won't let me do anything till it's done

Son, this is your father. We've gone over your Engish so many times, & here you are still saying, "...has a new way of post a student's grades...". "post"? Also, you didn't finish your last sentence with a period. Come, come, now. I think we need more homework. You do want to win that spelling bee, don't you?

Oh, by the way son, until today, I didn't know that you posted on /. as well. It's good to see you here. Maybe we could troll together, as father & son? What do you think?

Re:Be glad...

[Doug Loss]

Or as long as your parents find it entertaining...

Spelling and Grammer anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

"The Martin County School Board has a new way of post a student's grades online for a parent to check. Pinnacle is the name of the program(semicolon) a simple java applet. Not only does Pinnacle log student's grades, but also attendance and conduct. The way grades are accessed is by inputting the first 6 digits of your social security number and the first 5 letters of your last name. With a logon system as simple as this, one has to question the security and privacy of the students. This has been making my life a living hell for the past 2 months(period) Every night my parents go on and check to see if I have any homework and won't let me do anything till it's done"

I'd give you a D

I KNEW this would happen

[TerryAtWork]

It sucks more to be a kid everyday. (Except for the powerful cheap computers)

When *I* was a kid I was convinced my mother could hear the announcements made over the intercom everyday. Now it's closer to true than ever!

Re:And a good thing too

[eugene ts wong]

I hear you. We had to walk that much too. In fact, 1 day, we finally got a car. When we got to school, I said to my dad, "Father, may we ride in the car next time, instead of pushing?".

In a gruff voice, he said, "No! That wastes gas!".

Re:Oh is that soooo?

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a job offer before even starting my senior year and now make probably twice of what most of you make.

And yet you still don't have a /. userid.

Scary poll connection

[GQuon]

Slashdot Poll

My Crime... [slashdot.org]
Token Sucking
Car Jacking
Music Piracy
Scrapbookery
Speeding
Not doing homework
Lovin' too much, baby
Cow

puh-leaze!

[sleeve98]

"Waaaaaaahhhhhh! I can't get away with fucking off at school any more - waaaaaaahhhhhh! Next thing you know, they'll take my phone away so I can't sell drugs on campus! - Omigod! I'll actually have to stay awake and pay attention and do my homework ! Waaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Shut up, sit down, show some respect (whether it's genuine or not) and learn something, for god's sake, so you don't end up pushing a shopping cart containing all your worldly possessions and scrounging the sidewalks for change and cigarette butts...

quit complaining

[Anonymous Coward]

You should be doing that homework anyway.
Maybe if you did more of it, you would know how to put a route on your parents pc for the website that went nowhere.

WTF?

[paiute]

What kind of grades are these?

"i 0WNz0r All j00R 9R4De5, j00 w4nK1N9 PiMPL3 P3+r1e diShES!!!3LE+3 H@X0R "

I'm writing a stern note to the principal.

Voice of Experience?

[Myriad]

School is already too easy, and if you skip any of it you'll be the only one at McDonald's who can't make change! You should be asking your teachers for extra homework!

Help me find a job, win $1000! [macetech.com]

Would this happen to be the voice of experience speaking? :)

Blockwars [blockwars.com]: a real-time, multiplayer game similar to Tetris.

Re:Maybe you need more homework.

[Anonymous Coward]

We've gone over your Engish so many times....

Gotta love proper Engish!!!!!!

Re:Oh is that soooo?

[Anonym0us Cow Herd]

School is already too easy, and if you skip any of it you'll be the only one at McDonald's who can't make change!

Are you seriously trying to suggest that people at McDonalds can make change?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the One and Only

[mbd1475]

Mr. Ferris Beuler.

A Living Heck

[Anonymous Coward]

for having to do homework before playing?

my heart bleeds ...

Re:So...

[Ooblek]

Or if he did his farking homework instead of slacking for a while, they might be lulled into complacency and not bother to check his grades for a while. Ever see Cool-Hand Luke? He used a similar concept to escape a second time (or was it the first time?) Of course, if he isn't doing his homework, he probably isn't up to date on his classic movies.

Parents cluelessness level?

[pla]

I don't know if the original poster's parents would fall for it, but personally, I'd just run an identical looking site on my LAN, and add sbmc.org to the hosts file on their machine to point to your local web server (this could even work on a single machine, if necessary).

Obviously, you'd have to tell the truth within a reasonable degree (or they'll certainly hit the roof when your daily status says straight-A's and you get all C's at the end of the quarter), but the "small stuff" like homework and class conduct, they never need to see.

Hell, I never did homework myself, and for my "class conduct", I considered class a good time to sleep (why else would they possibly schedule them before noon, if they didn't mean for me to sleep there?). Complete waste of time, and the *only* classes it hurt my grade in consisted of those that actually graded the homework. What BS. I remember more than once getting into a classic circular argument about this... "Why do I need to do homework?" "Because you can't do well in this class without doing the homework" "But I've scored over 100% on every test you've given, and haven't done any of the homework so far" "Yes, but since the homework counts toward your grade, you only have a B average as a result". Repeat from step 1.

Easy solution...

[eth1]

1) Set up linux firewall
2) use iptables to redirect web traffic from gradegestapo.com to hotxxxpreteensex.com

Re:Probably Good and Bad

[JSmooth]

Correct me if I'm wrong on this but...

I am 32. My mother stopped checking my homework when I started junior high. After that she NEVER even asked about homework. The assumption being if I didn't do it I would fail and that was my problem. I did fairly well though I failed two unimportant courses in high school I still managed to get into a really good school (Emerson college, Boston, MA) and have made out ok in life.

So why, and I include my fiancee with her three teenage children, are parents so obessed with their kids grades? If they want to fail let them! There are only two types of jobs left in the US. FastFood/Mall and White Collar jobs. Someone has to work at the mall, why not your kids?

Re:HomeWork Sucks

[Eternal Cynic]

Please share which college gave you a 3.9 GPA with spelling and grammar like that. Perhaps a little more homework would have been helpful?

better yet

[stud9920]

Modify hosts file to point www.gradegestapo.com to 127.0.0.1 . Run a website with fake grades on said localhost.

Re:a few points

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, wait until you are 18, when a magic fairy comes at midnight and gives you the gift of responsibility.

Ass.

Re:OMIGOD

[praedictus]

Hard Code wrote:
>This is like SO UNFAIR! Parents know everything about me, EVEN WHAT I'M DOING AT SCHOOL! MY GOD my privacy is invaded, I should be able to do whatever I want because I'm an INDIVIDUAL not a mindless ROBOT! You should RESPECT ME. I'm emailing my Congressman!

I called my congressman and he said quote
"I'd like to help you son, but you're too young to vote."

Re:So...

[aonnix]

My high school had this system 4 years ago, luckily no one knew how to use it. And if your more computer savvy then your parents, which if your on slashdot there is a good chance you are, then there are ways to keep parents off the system.

Also depending on how smart your pinnacle administrator is, you may want to try your schools name for the admin password. :) Just be careful if you change anything, some advice change other people's records as well as your own. Then if anyone gets suspicious then it will be hard to determine who got into the system.