Ramping up the (1Ton)Ramp

[ILoveJellybeans]

I guess using the internet is harder when you have to actively avoid learning new things. For regular people, you could probably teach a five year old to use the internet in less time.

[Maxwell]

Where do they find the stupid people to take these courses? You can get the courses taught by Steve and Nathan at a community college that will be much cheaper and you would have college credit? Are people delusional enough to think you can take a Maxwell course and it will be recognized by the outside world? Do they consider themselves on the level of a real college or even a high school class? And the browser class is just sad. My advice? Just use google, it knows all and is free. I refuse to believe they have more than one or two students per class.

This is the Internet... stupid people are NOT hard to find. ;-)

[Maxwell]

It probably includes some clearing of browser history in case wife or children happen upon it, and possibly some profuse apologizing to the headship if the wife discovered it :lol:

And it probably will NOT mention the Incognito/Private Window feature... or how to change DNS... or browsing via a proxy... :o

[mango_fandango]

I guess using the internet is harder when you have to actively avoid learning new things. For regular people, you could probably teach a five year old to use the internet in less time.

Except five-year-olds are probably clever enough to figure out the Internet themselves. Kids even younger than that can figure out apps and stuff. Kids aren't stupid.

[RosyDaisy]

I never thought this would happen. A friend of mine actually considered signing up. I told her to come to my house with her laptop, and I would give her more information for free (I worked in IT).

[JesusPony]

Two WEEKS on how to browse the internet? Seriously? I mean, I know the Maxwells' target audience is assumed to be somewhat sheltered but TWO WEEKS? I love the bit about what to do if you mistype an address and end up somewhere you didn't want to be. Uh, proofread your typing before you hit return, maybe?

You have to remember - that ramp weighs a TON.

I'm trying to figure out how July 21-July 28 is two weeks. I mean, it will probably feel like 2 weeks...

[DowntownAbbey]

So looking around their FAQ (itonramp.com/faq/) and found some gems:

What is ITonRamp's vision?

To teach computer skills, foundational and beyond

To equip for immediate income generation

To develop life skills

To prepare for service

To accomplish this in a Christ-centered learning environment without having to ingest humanistic, ungodly information in pursuit of a career or diploma.

How will you accomplish these goals?

...By furnishing carefully chosen curriculum that is consistent with Christian ideals and is conducive to learning. If that means tearing pages out of a textbook or writing new curriculum, we have and will do it.

How is ITonRamp different from college?

ITonRamp is not accredited. Our credentials will be those we have helped.

...ITonRamp avoids the humanistic, evolutionistic, ungodly biases of most colleges.

ITonRamp is accomplished in a home-learning environment making it more convenient and cost effective than college. Plus students will avoid the negative influences inherently found on a college campus.

Would ITonRamp benefit a young woman or parents?

...It can be a struggle to productively stay busy as young women wait on the Lord for a marriage partner. It is not our goal to provide a career as such for young women, but to help them be productive with their time as the Lord Jesus directs. IT work can give excellent opportunities to earn significant self-employed income in a safe, non-corporate environment and have skills that will facilitate a future marriage, especially if the future husband is self-employed.

Do you have a payment plan?

Yes, but it's not what you're thinking. Break the course fee down into the size and quantity of payments you are comfortable with. Then, we would encourage you to take each payment, put it in an envelope and set it aside. When you have the tuition amount in your envelope, deposit it in your bank and register for the course online. You will have learned your first valuable lesson from your association with ITonRamp.

Isn't mentor just another name for teacher?

No, a mentor is vastly different from a teacher. In most cases the mentor is the instructor and will handle the technical instruction aspects of the course, but, the mentor goes beyond that. He seeks to encourage students vocationally, while living out Christ in his respective vocation.

What if I have concerns about a male mentor coaching my daughter, or a female mentor coaching my son?

The primary instruction occurs during the webinars, via email, and on the class forum. For the encouraging phone calls, a student signing up for a course taught by an opposite gender instructor may request a same-gender mentor. If your daughter is signing up for a course with a male mentor, you are free to request a lady as a mentor. Or, if your son is signing up for a course led by a female mentor, you are welcome to request a man as the mentor. This approach has worked very well for us because the phone calls are designed to check progress and encourage the student, not to cover technical material – which enables the alternate mentor to not require the same material knowledge as the primary mentor.

Stay classy, Maxwells. :roll:

[sparkles]

Would ITonRamp benefit a young woman or parents?

...It can be a struggle to productively stay busy as young women wait on the Lord for a marriage partner. It is not our goal to provide a career as such for young women, but to help them be productive with their time as the Lord Jesus directs. IT work can give excellent opportunities to earn significant self-employed income in a safe, non-corporate environment and have skills that will facilitate a future marriage, especially if the future husband is self-employed.

So they're basically admitting that, without a lot of make-work (or 1TonRamp), SAHDs are basically sitting around the house with nothing to do but read the bible and wait for Price Charming. FAIL!

You know, my daughter is a recent graduate of a 3-month coding bootcamp (career changed) and I don't think she ever once complained that she was getting subliminal messages about evolution or feminism or abortion from her instructors or fellow students. But then again, she's working (out-earning me with her very first job as a developer), living on her own and I know she'll never have to depend on someone else to keep body and mind together, so maybe Satan got his hooks in after all.

[BornFree]

My understanding is the Maxwell men must work with male clients only. Especially now they are using Skype. Oh my goodness, what if a female family member walked into the room and came into view on the screen! My question is, do clients have to declare they are Christian before a contract is agreed upon?

[DowntownAbbey]

My understanding is the Maxwell men must work with male clients only. Especially now they are using Skype. Oh my goodness, what if a female family member walked into the room and came into view on the screen! My question is, do clients have to declare they are Christian before a contract is agreed upon?

No, but in order to get the full impact of their IT courses you should be:

Must I be a born-again Christian to enroll in ITonRamp?

No, but you will likely appreciate the environment all the more if you are.

What, no salvation message, Maxwells?

[IReallyAmHopewell]

These look like memes or parodies made with stock photos. Incredible.

Power browsing...is sure a phrase.

The photos evoke memories of that Congressional scandal focusing on a "wide stance". These are "powerful" men. Men with a wide stance. They do "power browsing."

You can't make this stuff up.....

[Jezebel]

Sarah may have posted that promo, but she sure as shit didn't write it.

I'm going to guess that Steve wrote it, as it's not riddled with passive voice enough to be Teri's work.

[Jezebel]

Where do they find the stupid people to take these courses? You can get the courses taught by Steve and Nathan at a community college that will be much cheaper and you would have college credit?

Around here, they usually aren't even for-credit classes at community colleges; they're taught through Continuing Ed, which is open to anyone. You don't have to be formally enrolled as a student at the college to take them.

I haven't taken a Continuing Ed computer class in almost 20 years, but the one I did take way back when catered mostly to middle-aged or older people upgrading their skills for work, and none of the content or examples were remotely racy or controversial. We spent two evenings learning how to use whatever program it was--six hours total--and then we all went home. That was it. No wild parties, no orgies during the break period, no infant sacrifices--we scarcely even spoke to each other, because it was at the end of a long workday for most of us.

If taking a class like that is just too worldly an experience, I've got a ticket on the last train to Crazytown to sell you.

Are people delusional enough to think you can take a Maxwell course and it will be recognized by the outside world? Do they consider themselves on the level of a real college or even a high school class? And the browser class is just sad. My advice? Just use google, it knows all and is free. I refuse to believe they have more than one or two students per class.

Given that they're offering a class on internet searching/browsing, I suspect their audience has no idea how to google free tutorials, or else they're too afraid of being bombarded by worldly filth to do it.

And I doubt the sheltered, homeschooled students care if a 1TonRamp class "counts" for anything out in the world beyond their fundie bubble. If their students are mostly SAHDs looking to pick up useful computer skills to add to their hope chests, what the world thinks doesn't matter--and their parents will pay a premium to make sure they aren't exposed to any ungodly influences, or even have to leave the house.

[PearlKrabs]

Do you have a payment plan?

Yes, but it's not what you're thinking. Break the course fee down into the size and quantity of payments you are comfortable with. Then, we would encourage you to take each payment, put it in an envelope and set it aside. When you have the tuition amount in your envelope, deposit it in your bank and register for the course online. You will have learned your first valuable lesson from your association with ITonRamp.

That is some real passive aggressive shit right there that would turn me off as a potential buyer. If you're going to condescendingly tell the interested customer who had this question how you, personally, save money, say something about how it's not Christian to be in debt and you won't support that lifestyle. That way, the customer could see that this weird, asshole answer is coming from somewhere. Or better yet, just say 'No, we don't offer a payment plan.' like adults who respect other adults.

[Walking Cat Bed]

If these were free webinars, they'd get a bigger audience -- and could advertise more specific (paid) services.

But that would be LOGICAL.

[fundiefan]

Fleecing the flock how Christian of them

Nothing new for them. Since Steve left the real world, that's all they've done for money. Whether it's a dog & pony show or a poorly written, self published word salad - they fleece the flock as part of their daily lives. It's how they exists.

As for a two week browsing course,...I just can't. This is the year 2015. Few people under the age of 60 need browsing courses. And if they do, how are they going to get online to pay for a Maxwell class?

Whatever, Maxwells. Keep making money off willfully ignorant people. It's all you know how to do. But really, you can stop pretending you're actually providing any kind of service. You're simply taking advantage of gullible Christians who jump at anything offered by other Christians.

[SoybeanQueen]

I just finished a masters degree in instructional design. That means I'm qualified to state that they've missed some crucial parts of the design process. Audience analysis, anyone?

The photos are abysmal, too.

[Justme]

I started following the Maxwells in 1998. I was on a message brd. There was a sister brd for Mom's of large families. It was full on Maxwell leg humpers. They didn't have a blog and hadn't started traveling yet. They were humping the Organization post it note spreadsheet then and maybe a couple of the earlier homeschooling books. They had a few private message boards. (You had to have a super secret password from one of their books to join.) The Humpers would come over to my brd site to talk freely. Back then, the Maxwells would allow NO talk of any kind to suggest a woman earn money. Nope, you couldn't even talk about knitting stockings and selling them at a bazar. The husband was to be 100% responsible for the finances. Making even ONE PENNY meant you (the woman) was not trusting her husband (who in turn trusted God) to provide for the family. Even as an unmarried woman, you were not allowed to earn one penny. (Remember, at this time, Teri was writing books on top of being a wife and Mother of 8.

Fast forward 17 years. Now they the are SELLING classes, it's OK for a woman/girl to take them. Now that Stevie has 3 adult unmarried daughters (one well into her 30's), it's OK for a woman to earn money while working at home or with her family.

:cray-cray: :wtf: :disgust: :pull-hair:

[danvillebelle]

I just can't even with these morons. Power browsing? Really?

And I am very confused by the current heading on the main Tits2 page: "Every mom DESERVES a stress free life." I thought we all deserved nothing but death and hell for all eternity? Oh wait, if you sell your outdated book from 15+ years ago with that catchphrase you make money...never mind. :roll:

[kpmom]

That is some real passive aggressive shit right there that would turn me off as a potential buyer. If you're going to condescendingly tell the interested customer who had this question how you, personally, save money, say something about how it's not Christian to be in debt and you won't support that lifestyle. That way, the customer could see that this weird, asshole answer is coming from somewhere. Or better yet, just say 'No, we don't offer a payment plan.' like adults who respect other adults.

Agree 100%

You know Steve wrote that, it is so much like the terse, condescending, asshole answers he gives on the blog.

Even if I was a Fundy Christian interested in these classes that answer would turn me so completely off.

[Naga Viper]

Sign me up! All I want is to see the reaction when I ask, "So, Nathan—how do you deal with Rule 34?"

[johnhugh]

Poor Sarah wrote:

Have you accidentally mis-typed an address and ended up where you wish you hadn’t?

Yes tits2 :penguin-no:

[nelliebelle1197]

Poor Sarah wrote:

Have you accidentally mis-typed an address and ended up where you wish you hadn’t?

Yes tits2 :penguin-no:

Where have you been? I miss you.

[gustava]

Where have you been?WEmiss you.

[rosalitta]

I started following the Maxwells in 1998. I was on a message brd. There was a sister brd for Mom's of large families. It was full on Maxwell leg humpers. They didn't have a blog and hadn't started traveling yet. They were humping the Organization post it note spreadsheet then and maybe a couple of the earlier homeschooling books. They had a few private message boards. (You had to have a super secret password from one of their books to join.) The Humpers would come over to my brd site to talk freely. Back then, the Maxwells would allow NO talk of any kind to suggest a woman earn money. Nope, you couldn't even talk about knitting stockings and selling them at a bazar. The husband was to be 100% responsible for the finances. Making even ONE PENNY meant you (the woman) was not trusting her husband (who in turn trusted God) to provide for the family. Even as an unmarried woman, you were not allowed to earn one penny. (Remember, at this time, Teri was writing books on top of being a wife and Mother of 8.

Fast forward 17 years. Now they the are SELLING classes, it's OK for a woman/girl to take them. Now that Stevie has 3 adult unmarried daughters (one well into her 30's), it's OK for a woman to earn money while working at home or with her family.

:cray-cray: :wtf: :disgust: :pull-hair:

I love when fundies have rules that apply to everyone but them. It's great that the Maxwell's (relative) fame is based on a book written by the mother of the household. Shouldn't her headship have been doing all of the book writing? :naughty: