These pages are a modest attempt to provide up-to-date news that is relevant to the areas of mathematics, education, computer science or information technology. Reader should keep in mind that old links often disappear.
5/27/11
TechNews for the week: May 27; May 25; May 23;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Yemen’s Saleh refuses to sign deal to quit; U.S., allies weigh Yemen options; Bahrain races to restore normality;
Iraq's political circus; Iraq militia to march for US troop withdrawal; Syria Cracking Down on Social Media by Protesters;
Libya sovereign fund suffers big losses; Libyan premier says he's ready to talk with rebels;
West guardian for the counter-revolution club;
How American folly could destroy Pakistan; Splits in Pakistan's Military Over New Agreement to Cooperate with US; Pakistan turns to China for naval base;
Egypt to open border crossing for Palestinians, easing Gaza blockade; Protest objects to AIPAC influence over US foreign policy;
Serbia arrests Ratko Mladic on war crimes charges;
Talk is cheap in south Thailand; China faces worst drought in 50 years;
GOP freshmen and earmark foes take care of home districts in defense bill; Democrat wins N.Y. special House election;
Justice Department, SEC investigations often rely on companies’ internal probes;
US senator investigates hedge fund trades; US derivative regulators claim laws will hand trade to Europe;
Congress approves extension of Patriot Act provisions;
Judge Rejects Wisconsin Law Curtailing Union Powers, but Battle Is Not Over;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
The Normalization of Security; Dropbox Security; Coming soon:Black Box Records in Automobiles;
The Hidden Costs of Extra Airport Security; Bill Exempts Wireless Companies from Data Logging;
New Siemens SCADA Vulnerabilities Kept Secret; Blackhole Exploit Kit available free;
Math and science
Study shows Proposed 4G network interferes with GPS signals; Army Wants To Launch Swarms Of Satellites as Orbital Spies;
Science Friday: Are Math Skills Built In To The Human Brain? Stupid Politician Tricks; aka Averages Unfairly Biased;
Scientists claim they've found farthest-ever explosion more than 13 billion light years away;
Web design issues
WebP, Google's answer to JPEG, gets better quality;
Five Essential HTML5 Editors;
Other news
Hit-and-run sparks Mongolian protest against China;
Finance and Economics
Investors protect against US default; Weak US data fuel fears of slowing recovery;
Euro contagion fears hit Spain and Italy; Markets poised for kill as Spain fights for future; Greek assets could go to ‘fund of experts’;
Corporate finance: Rivers of riches; Tax cheats among recipients of stimulus money;
More banks targeted in New York probe of mortgage practices;
Baby Boomers fear outliving retirement savings;
Hign crop prices don't benefit family farmers; Chinese rare earth metals prices soar;
Education:
Report tracks earnings among the majors; What's a degree worth in graphic form; Advantages of studying hard science;
Experts Voice Concern Over High STEM Dropout Rate; 6 Reasons to End (Almost) All Timed Exams;
Pace U. Researchers Work on New Way to Stop Online Cheating; Why Are So Many Online Students Still Failing;
Private colleges and universities discount tuition at unprecedented levels; Thiel Fellowship Pays 24 Talented Students $100,000 Not to Attend College;
Trouble Ahead on Student Loan Defaults; Senator: Insurers Dodging Student Health Plan Reform;
Higher Education Sucks, But My College is Great!
'Seduction of the Leader'; New Scrutiny on President's Expense Accounts; IRS Opens Investigation Into College Retirement Plans;
Teaching Loads and Affordability: The University of Texas Data; Texas A&M Regents Hear Faculty Concerns About a Push Toward a 'For-Profit Mentality';
Report: Growth in College Staffing Levels Slows, Relative to Enrollment;
Florida State Will Review Deal With Koch Foundation; California Universities Drop Opposition to Donor-Transparency Bill;
Dept Educ report documents Swift Rise of For-Profit Colleges; Consolidation of College Boards Trendy in the States;
Tea Party affect on Community Colleges; AAUP Report Denounces Suspension of Idaho State U. Faculty Senate;
Literacy in the Digital Age: Part IV and Part V; Tablets, Yes; E-Texts, Maybe;
Publishers Criticize Federal Investment in Open Educational Resources; iTunes textbooks, but Buying by Chapters Might Not Save Students Money;
NCAA Upholds Penalties Against Southern Cal; Penalizes 103 Teams for Missing Academic-Progress Mark;
Ex-Buckeye says he sold memorabilia, some players don't 'think about' rules;
5/20/11
TechNews for the week: May 20; May 18; May 16;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Afghan government’s delays hinder recruitment of Taliban defectors; U.S. speeds up direct talks with Taliban; Osama as an Afghan exit strategy;
U.S. to impose sanctions on Syrian president for human rights abuses;
Obama embraces security for Israel, Palestinian state based on 1967 borders as starting point;
Fox to post political donations after flap over contribution related to Ohio governor;
Supreme Court sides with Police on warrantless search;
The Geopolitics of Food;
Who are "sovereign citizens"?
Opinion: Republican States are Welfare-queen states;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
May Crypto-Gram Newsletter, status report on Schneier's new book, the Coreflood Botnet, a new robbery tactic and more;
The problem with software as evidence;
Inner Workings of an FBI Surveillance Device; Fingerprint Scanner that works from 6 feet away;
WikiLeaks Cable documents Chinese Hacking of U.S. Networks; Navy calling on gamers to help with security;
Dropbox Accused Of Misleading Customers On Security; Bill Updates Electronic Communications Privacy Act to add Smartphones;
Researchers Warn of Android Vulnerability; One in 14 Internet downloads is Windows malware; Apple to support reps: "Do not attempt to remove malware";
How bin Laden emailed without being detected by US;
Math and science
Book: 'Loving and Hating Mathematics'; TED talk: Creativity and computers in math;
'Exciting' find: Possible planets without orbits;
"Hockey Stick" refutation withdrawn -- sort of;
Web design issues
Top 10 Sites for Creating a Wiki;
Creating Keyboard Shortcuts for Anything;
Using an iPad for notetaking; Businesses embrace iPads, but don't know why;
Other news
Stephen Hawking's surprising view of death;
Protests Target Internet Filtering in Turkey; Google says China Interfering with Gmail;
We don’t need a PowerPoint president;
Finance and Economics
Trustees say Medicare, Social Security finances have worsened; Fed seeks annual US bank stress tests; Feds to states: Drop dead;
The misses debt lesson; Federal worker pensions become target; California State tax revenue grows as rich get richer;
SEC probes electronic platform failures;
Voracious stink bugs hits mid-Atlantic crops, spreads across US;
Education:
Public Holds Mixed Views of Higher Ed; Higher Education: a Crisis of Confidence ; Colleges, Employers Investing More In Soft Skills Development;
Most College Presidents Prefer No Tenure for Majority of Faculty; Presidents Divided on Best Ways to Measure Quality;
College Grads' Unemployment Up, Starting Salaries Down; Default Rate on Federal Student Loans Jumps to 8.9%, a Nearly 2-Point Rise;
In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants Can Be a Plus for Both States and Students; U.S. Eases Immigration Rules for Foreign STEM Graduates;
The Life and Work of a Professor; The ‘Productivity’ Slippery Slope; Grading patterns of Republican and Democratic graders;
After Resolving Not to Micromanage, U. Texas Regent Seeks Faculty-Productivity Data; Texas Governor Skirts Process, Selects Tea-Party Activist as Student Regent;
Controversial Auburn U. Trustee Won't Seek Another Term; Is Florida State University Ethically Challenged?
Massachusetts Attorney General Is Latest to Probe For-Profit Colleges;
Report says ‘Western Civ’ Courses Have Declined Since 1964; Survey: More Distance-Education Students Means More Off-Site Instructors;
Spot Checks Find Crime-Reporting Violations at 3 Universities;
Literacy in the Digital Age: "It Only Takes a Generation"; Part II; and Part III; New U Chicago Library retrieval;
Study: Gender-Based Math Associations Are Formed Young;
Students survive finals with sex;
A Quarter of College Presidents Say Athletics Has Positive Financial Impact;
NCAA: Recognizes Teams with Top Academic Performance; Says It Has ‘No Role to Play’ in Bowl System; (Lightly) Punishes East Carolina for Academic Fraud;
2-Year Colleges Set Limits on Foreign Athletes;
Debate Over Offer of Baseball Scholarship to a Woman;
5/13/11
TechNews for the week: May 13; May 11; May 9;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Bin Laden death sparks new talk over Patriot Act; Trail to bin Laden compound began with a call; US broke deal with Osama hit;
US training and fighting alongside Afghan special ops forces; Push for a new Afghan strategy; Taliban attack northern village that planned to join gov't-backed local police;
Syrians stage widespread protests; Syrian President Assad blows his reformist credentials;
After weeks of deadlock, heavy fighting in Libya's rebel-held east;
Qatar withdraws from effort to mediate end to Yemen crisis, blames president for impasse; Reversals challenge hope of Arab Spring ;
Boehner demands ‘trillions’ in spending cuts in exchange for lifting debt ceiling; McConnell makes demands for debt limit hike;
Report: Up to 44m more uninsured under GOP budget; Census: Growing age gap among US regions, sharpening divides over Medicare and immigration;
Ariz. taking immigration law to US Supreme Court;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
FBI use of national security letters doubled last year; New FBI Documents Provide Details on Government’s Surveillance Spyware;
Resilience of the Internet Interconnection Ecosystem; the full report; White House proposes cybersecurity legislation;
The era of "Steal Everything";
Math and science
Proof That Einstein Got It Right; An explanation of dark matter;
U-Md. team aims to be first in human copter flight;
Web design issues
Run everything in your house from your iPad;
Free Windows utility lowers your printing costs;
Other news
Hillary Clinton edited out of iconic photo;
India's new Internet laws go against fundamental right to freedom of speech; Survey Finds Millions of Minors Using Facebook;
Assisted Living Regulations Fall Short In Florida;
Finance and Economics
Investment fraud isn’t relegated to Wall Street: Beware the Ponzi schemer next door;
IMF says strengthening Europe’s shaky banks key to turning page on crisis, preventing new one;
Amazon May Cut More Affiliates in Tax Dispute;
Education:
Texas launches lesson plan database; Panel Will Review Proposed Changes at State Universities; U. Texas Faculty Fret That Released Salary Data Is Misleading;
Too quick to implement Governor's plan? Retirement or Ouster at Texas A&M? Conservative Group's Influence on Texas Higher-Education Policy Takes Center Stage;
Faculty at For-Profits Allege Constant Pressure to Keep Students Enrolled; For-Profits Claim They are better for Students and Taxpayers by redefining costs and benefits;
US Colleges Struggle With Mounting Budget Woes; Hundreds of Jobs in Jeopardy in Connecticut State U. System; U Washington Budget Cuts and Tuition Increases;
Mayor of Providence, R.I., Proposes Payments by Tax-Exempt Colleges and Hospitals; Academic professionals say reclassifying U Illinois jobs as Civil Service a bad idea;
U. Wisconsin-Green Bay Faculty Votes to Unionize; Bill That Threatened College Employees’ Unions Dies in Florida Legislature;
Florida State Professors Question Deal That Gives Donor a Role in Hiring Decisions; Who controls a gift?
U. California Debates Differential Tuition Rates; Universities benefit by becoming service providers;
Judge Allows U. Illinois to Withhold Student Records, for Now; Professor Punished for Poll on New Mother;
Analyses by Research Advocates Say Federal Spending on Science Pays Off; Want to Know What Grads Made? Ask the IRS;
Economist Warns Online Courses Should Always Include Proctored Finals; Study: Postdocs Can Be Trained to Be More Effective Than Senior Instructors;
Special Report: Digital Campus; Students’ views about how technology is used on campus; Finding Sources with "The Full Wiki";
How I Trick Myself Into Clearing Grading Backlogs;
NCAA Looks to Debunk Myths About Enforcement Investigations;
5/6/11
TechNews for the week: May 6; May 4; May 2;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Osama bin Laden killed; al-Qaeda succession process is already in place; Bin Laden was unarmed when SEALs stormed room; Osama a casualty of the Arab revolt;
U.S. ally in hot seat after bin Laden found in Pakistani army town; U.S. presses Pakistan for information on compound; CIA had secret outpost in Abbottabad;
Pentagon reports ‘tangible progress’ in Afghanistan; Taliban announce start of spring military offensive; US-led coalition says insurgency weakened;
Afghan police say NATO troops clash with convoy security;
An opening to end the Afghan war; The great Afghan carve-up; South Waziristan region of Pakistan and the Taliban;
CIA believes Gadhafi survived NATO strike on his house, though unseen in public; Gaddafi's youngest son killed in bombing;
Fatigue shows in Libya; U.S. wants to use Gaddafi's frozen assets to aid Libyans;
Bahrain authorities arrest 2 former Shiite lawmakers as part of crackdown on opposition;
Fatah, Hamas proclaim landmark reconciliation pact;
U.S. freezes Syrian intelligence assets; Syrian butchery casts dark shadow; Al-Jazeera: Syrian authorities confirm they have detained missing reporter;
After WikiLeaks: The military and mental health; Ashcroft joining security company once known as Blackwater;
Republican leaders seeking compromise in deficit talks;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
TED talk: The security mirage;
Decline in Cursive Writing Leads to Increase in Forgery Risk? Unintended Security Consequences of the New Pyrex Recipe;
A new development in rootkits: Forged Memory; Stolen Camera Finder;
Homeland Security Sends Takedown Notice to Mozilla add-on 'MafiaaFire';
How did U.S. confirm the body was bin Laden's?
Math and science
TED talk: Math class needs a makeover; High-Speed Video Shows How Hummingbirds Really Drink;
Japan spreads rare earth risk;
Intel's New 3D Transistors; Why Intel's 3-D Transistors Matters;
Health Buzz: Coffee, Sex Increase Aneurysm Risk;
Web design issues
How to Create Accessible Documents; Use Readability to Make Sites Zotero-Friendly; and Zotero vs. EndNote
10 cool add-ins for Office 2007 and 2010; Scrible: A New Tool for Web Annotation; One Way to Analyze Your Web Traffic;
4 Reasons Why Local Meetings Should Be Conducted with Web Meeting Tools; Using Google Docs Forms to Run a Peer-Review Writing Workshop;
Leo Laporte Talks Video, Radio, and Jerry Todd;
Other news
Wireless carriers move to restrict phone use; Lawsuit: Furniture rental company spies on PC users;
Navy vets fundraiser gave to top GOP candidates;
Court Upholds Firing of Teacher Who Viewed Porn;
Finance and Economics
Economy added 244K jobs in April; unemployment rate rises to 9%; How the U.S., on the road to surplus, detoured to massive debt;
Medicare dropped from GOP budget proposal; Dollar diplomacy: Public policy calls for ‘strong’ currency, but strategy may not;
Arab Pipelineistan's high stakes ;
Amazon-Texas Tax Spat Attracts SEC’s Attention; Wall Street traders mine tweets to gain a trading edge;
Tech Companies Accused of Fixing Employees’ Pay;
Education:
Report: High-School Seniors’ Civics Knowledge Has Dropped; National Governors report: Degrees for What Jobs?
Report: Inmates' Access to College Education is Limited; Law School Bait and Switch; Semester switch will bring 'major' changes to Ohio State;
U. of Texas Regents Publish Data on Faculty 'Productivity'; release Roils U. Texas;
U. Nebraska-Lincoln Is Voted Out of Assn. of American Universities; Syracuse U., also under review, Says It Will Withdraw;
U. of Texas Board Chair Calls for Bigger, Cheaper Flagship; Chair's Idea causes Furor; Prominent Texas A&M Alumni Oppose Governor;
Under Fire From a State Senator, Regent Steps Down From Tennessee Board; Incumbents on Montana Board Hold Off Surprise Challengers;
Arizona bars anti-bias rules Getting Around the Federal Courts; Charleston Faculty Condemn Reversal of Tenure Denial;
Balance Your Budget by Cleaning House; Amazon Sues College Stores Over Book Pricing Ads;
Educational Sites Provide Ample Fodder for Plagiarism; YouTube Teams Up With Film Schools to Offer Video Boot Camps;
Reprieve for 4 Teams at Brown U;
Justice Dept. Seeks NCAA Comments on the Bowl Championship Series and a Football Playoff; Judge Says NCAA Athlete-Likeness Lawsuit Will Proceed;
Pac-10 Is Poised to Announce $3-Billion Deals With ESPN and Fox; Details of Its New TV Network;