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.
4/30/10
TechNews for the week: April 30; April 28; April 26;
War Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
Afghans burn NATO trucks in response to killing of civilians; U.S. seeks to bolster Kandahar governor, upend power balance;
Allawi's Iraqiya bloc seeks caretaker to safeguard election results;
Goldman made profits betting against housing market; bolsters its ranks of lobbyists ; Report: U.S. starts criminal probe into Goldman trading;
Two-thirds of Americans back stricter reform; GOP allows financial regulation debate to move ahead;
Presidential commission to address rising national debt;
Debt crises spreads across Europe; Greek debt downgraded to junk;
Massey officials worried about violations at mine before explosion;
Oil from massive Gulf spill reaching Louisiana coast; First offshore wind farm in U.S. is approved after long fight;
Immigration enforcement is working, we need to look at what isn't;
OP Ed Sue Lowden: A chicken in every doctor's pot;
Information technology:
Design issues
Installing and Setting Up a Free Discussion Forum--SMF;
Baking Social Interfaces Into Your Design;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
Copyright issues
A short history of Apple's aggressive legal tactics;
First Amendment, Free Speech
Supreme Court to decide if states can regulate video games;
Privacy issues
Facebook does not erase user-deleted content;
Other News
Boy Scouts ordered to pay $18.5M in sex abuse case;
Group Says Net Neutrality Rules Would Hurt Jobs;
Report: H-1B Visas Don't Threaten U.S. Workers;
How to Run a Better Meeting;
Education:
Earmarks for colleges and universities; College leaders ask federal government to leave internships to them;
College Leaders Debate the Value of Higher Education's Business Model; Study: Top Students From Rural America Shun Elite Colleges;
National Council on Teacher Quality finds major problems in Texas teacher education programs;
Black Graduates Owe More Debt Than White, Asian, or Hispanic Graduates; Students Can Get Merit Aid in Many States Without Being Ready for College;
Study: Academics Can Be Led Astray by College Rankings;
Study: College Students Addicted to Electronic Media; Why Don't Students Study Anymore?;
More colleges, professors shutting down laptops and other digital distractions; 11 Reasons Advanced Technology Classrooms Fail;
Nothern Arizona U installs electronic system to measure student attendance; Oregon makes Google Apps for Education available statewide;
U. of Oregon Ousts Its Top Lawyer, Following Athletic Director's Buyout;
Proposed Changes To Brown's Tenure System Draws Strong Opposition;
More Veggies = Higher Math Scores;
PowerlessPoint and the NY Times article;
4/23/10
TechNews for the week: April 23; April 21; April 19;
War Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
With U.S. on way out, Sectarian violence, mistrust plague civilians and security forces in Iraq; Kandahar's power woes illuminate U.S. divide;
SEC Inspector General says SEC knew of Stanford's Ponzi scheme 12 years earlier;
GOP changes tone on financial bill; Hope rises for real financial reform;
Supreme Court to weigh anti-discrimination rules against religious freedom ;
Health insurers reclassify expenses to get ahead of reform;
Armed and angry, and demonstrating on the capital's edge ;
Greece moves closer to default situation;
Information technology:
Security issues
Defective McAfee update causes worldwide meltdown of XP PCs; admits "inadequate" quality control;
Booby-trapping PDF files;
Design issues
Web development: How to Speed Up Your Website; How to Upload Images Using PHP; Buying and Setting Up a Domain Name;
WordPress: How To Write Your Own Plugins; Facebook adds Social Tools To Broader Web;
Other news
Google kills Google kills 'http' URLs;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
Patent issues
Apple Files Patent Countersuit Against Kodak;
White House Supports Patent Reform Compromise;
First Amendment, Free Speech
Supreme Court voids law aimed at banning animal cruelty videos ;
Privacy issues
Supreme Court Hears Case on E-mail Privacy at Work;
Homeland Security
U.S., China Remain Top Origins for Cyberattacks;
The Effectiveness of Political Assassinations;
Education:
New generation of college hopefuls apply to many schools;
Alternative Teacher-Certification Programs Will Offer Their Own Master's Degrees in New York;
New act would help Space Workers Become Teachers;
U.S. Labor Department Releases New Rules for 'Educational' Internships;
Historians Protest Texas Board's Proposed Social-Studies Revisions;
New York State Gives Trump U. a Failing Grade; Kentucky Supreme Court Upholds Ruling to Deny State Funds to Religious College;
What a college president Learned From YouTube;
Make Math a Gateway, Not a Gatekeeper;
Ning eliminates free accounts for Educators; Is it a blessing? how to handle the fallout;
Universities imposing ban on iPad from campuses over security issues;
Sallie Mae to Lay Off 2,500;
College Conferences Ponder Expansion and Their Extinction; NCAA reaches new TV deal, proposes tournament expansion;
Participation in NCAA sports continues to climb; In Recruiting, It’s Buyer Beware—for the Athletes;
Should colleges crack down on athletes who misbehave;
Education Department Nixes Bush-Era Policy on Title IX Compliance;
4/16/10
TechNews for the week: April 16; April 14; April 12;
War Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
U.S. forces leave Afghanistan's Korengal Valley; After 5 years, U.S. leaves Afghan valley, recognizing blunder;
In Turkey, military's power over secular democracy slips;
Military Suicides Up Among Soldiers in Repeat Army Tours;
Report: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld kept detainees in Gitmo whom they knew to be innocent, for political advantage;
Former Backwater president indited on weapons charges;
Okla. tea parties and lawmakers would like to create a new militia; The 'No' party - No celebration of the 50th filibuster;
Geithner: How to prevent America's next financial crisis; Senate GOP blast financial regulation bill; Top bankers balk at wide mortgage relief efforts;
SEC accuses Goldman Sachs of civil fraud;
Obama: A pragmatic moderate faces the 'socialist' smear;
Mines avoid crackdowns by fighting citations ;
Information technology:
Security issues
Crypto-Gram April Newsletter, Privacy and Control, subway bombings, outsourcing code development;
Fraud: Copyright violation alert ransomware;
Terrorist Attacks and Comparable Risks Part 1 and Part 2;
Design issues
Web Form Design: Part 2;
Other news
Video: Google spreadsheet gets rewrite; How 5 rival to iTunes match up;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
Other News
The new polymath;
How to Deal with a Bad Boss;
Education:
Report: As Federal Stimulus Money Runs Out, Colleges Must Retool Budgets; Salaries For Full-Time Faculty See Lowest Increase In 50 Years;
Skills Gap A Growing Problem Worldwide;
Florida legislation would end tenure for public school teachers; Missouri State U. Faculty Members Can Now Be Reassigned Without Their Consent;
Michigan State Ends Retiree Health Benefits for New Hires; Report: UC-Berkeley could Save $75-Million by Cutting Inefficiencies;
U. of South Carolina Scraps Bids so Donor Can Choose New School's Designer; California Will Investigate Campus Foundation's Dealings Related to Palin Speech;
Ed Tech Leadership Revisited; Why a new Ed Tech paradigm absolutely matters;
'Career Ready' vs. 'College Ready';
Jaime Escalante, East L.A. math teacher, dies at 79; Mediocre Performance by Future Math Teachers;
New ways to use Google Earth In The Science Classroom;
Has push to improve athletics' academics lead to increased academic fraud; For Mid-Majors, Rising Tuition cost athletic scholarships;
NCAA Adopts Requirement for Sickle-Cell Testing of Athletes;
4/9/10
TechNews for the week: April 9; April 7; April 5;
War Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
Karzai's speech befuddles Afghan officials; threatens to join Taliban; defiant stance concerns U.S., Afghan officials; Afghan poppies still growing strong ;
India's eager courtship of Afghanistan comes at a steep price; Pakistani army Human rights abuses threatens aid;
Protests plunge Kyrgyzstan into chaos; U.S. air base future uncertain;
Leaked video shows civilian killings in Iraq;
U.S., Russia sign sweeping arms reduction treaty;
Debt burden is ballooning into a global crisis;
SEC faces setbacks, skepticism in trying to reform its enforcement image; Obama administration vows to defend financial reform provisions in bill;
General Motors posts $4.3B loss;
Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax;
Members of Congress facing escalation in number of threats; FBI warns letters to governors could stir violence;
Mine avoided harsh penalties despite violations;
Information technology:
Security issues
10 obscure antivirus tools;
Design issues
Web development: Embedding a Flash player in Your Web Site; Flash Tutorial: Save/Load Info Using Cookies; Web Form Design Part 1;
Excel Ctrl-key tricks;
Other news
Making the real-time Web relevant; Google trying anew for a 3D Web;
Changing printer font can save money;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
First Amendment, Free Speech
Federal judges say FCC has no power to regulate Net neutrality; Comcast ruling raises questions on FCC regulation;
Privacy issues
A good essay on privacy;
Other News
How to Argue Effectively; What IT, Business Really Think of Each Other;
Teen files harassment Charges against Mom for Shutting Facebook Account;
Education:
Education Dept. Data: Rise in Enrollment and Student Aid but Flat Graduation Rates; College grads to make less money this year;
As Colleges Switch to Online Course Evaluations, Students Stop Filling Them Out;
Most Public University Regents appointed by Governor in Texas Gave to Gov. Rick Perry's Campaigns;
Outsourcing Grading; Ethics? Let's Outsource Them!; Test of Fund Raising Ethics;
Old Testament scholar loses job over video that endorsed evolution;
College Yanks Employee Survey Results From Web Site after negative comments;
Microsoft Plugin Connects Office to Moodle;
The cost of Duke's championship; Duke Celebration Violated Agreement; Kentucky coach says his job is to prepare players for NBA;
Cleaning up Oregon's athletic department;
Using black football recruits: a controversial political game;
Why NCAA might blow up a college basketball system that has worked for 25 years;
4/2/10
TechNews for the week: April 2; March 31; March 29;
War Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
Allawi reaches out after Iraq election win;
For the U.S., Afghan corruption is an elusive target; sets sights on Taliban bastion ; In Swat, military's footprint endures;
Afghan parliament rejects Karzai election proposals; campaign to reform Kandahar is rife with pitfalls; Karzai accuses West of engineering voter fraud;
Ex-TSA pick Harding's firm got Army deal after certifying he was a "service disabled veteran";
Federal judge rules NSA eavesdropping was illegal;
U.S. to make $8 billion if it sells its Citi stake to settle cost of bailout; Firms not following Treasury's pay advice;
New health insurance requirement was GOP idea before Democrats adopted it;
Feds: Christian militia needed to be 'taken down';
Supreme Court sticks with longtime stand on fees for mutual funds; High court restricts whistleblower lawsuits;
The Republican crackup;
March Jobless rate stays same; 162,000 new jobs added;
Lawmakers revisit derivatives regulation;
Information technology:
Security issues
TSA Wants To Track Your Phone's Movements;
China Source of Most Malware Attacks;
What is the value of Security Guards;
Design issues
Web Developer: Getting Your Video On The Web and Embedding Video into Your Web Site;
Using HTML and CSS to Change Text Color; CSS 3.0: What's Coming;
Other news
YouTube's big redesign goes live to everyone;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
Trademark, domain names
Apple Acquires “iPad” Trademark from Fujitsu;
First Amendment, Free Speech
U.S. Companies Quiet in Google-China Spat over internet freedom;
Privacy issues
When is an employer allowed to read your email?;
Homeland Security
FBI System Modernization Faulted; U.S. changing the way air travelers are screened;
Education:
Research shows Leaders Make Better Liars;
Some Presidents quietly get raises; Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges Updates Statement on Trustee Responsibilities;
Academic programs dropped or under consideration for elimination; UNLV Removes Dean Who Criticized Plans to Cut Programs;
Tech policy and the law; High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame;
State Budget Slide Appears to Be Coming to an End;
Texas rejects federal education initiatives; A California Law School Will Raise All Students' Grades;
Two California Districts Grapple With Pervasive Errors In Elementary Math Textbooks; Our Math Class Was Never Like This;
On men's basketball tournament expansion, the NCAA talks a big game; Recommending a Title IX Loophole;
What's Behind the Big Pay Raises for Coaches?; Schools raising fees to keep up with cost of college sports; Professors Dig In Against Athletics Subsidies;
NCAA Sanctions Indiana-Purdue U Indianapolis for Eligibility Errors in 14 Sports Over 4 Years; College Football Player Dies of Spring Practice Injury;