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.
8/27/10
TechNews for the week: August 27; August 25; August 23;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Karzai admits intervening on behalf of aide; Afghan officials challenge U.S. on aid contract abuses; CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration;
Analysis of US military reports show limited al-Qaeda role in Afghan war; CIA sees increased threat from al-Qaeda in Yemen;
U.S. aid buys little goodwill;
Supreme Court Ruling sets up IRS as overseer of groups' gifts to campaigns; Groups want Fox News pulled from front row over GOP donation;
Lessons from oil agency's cozy ties with industry; BP tells U.S. panel Halliburton should have warned of well hazard;
MSHA says Appalachian Coal Mines Continue To Violate Safety Laws; Egg producer at center of recall has record of health and safety violations;
GOP pushes fear mongering and punishes cooperation; Why won't the GOP say 'no' to extremism?
Campaign spending in 2010; Conservative Group Accused of Abusing Tax_Exempt Status;
Former RNC chairman and Bush campaign manager reveals he's gay ;
Five myths about mosques in America;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
Defense official discloses cyberattack the largest breach ever;
Wright State researchers developing skeletal scans to recognize terrorists; Full-Body Scan Technology Deployed In Street-Roving Vans;
Attack Code Exploits Flaw Microsoft Can’t Patch;
Terrorists, FBI can't sink Blogetery;
Math and science
Solar system with Earth-size planet found;
Policy Professor Questions Value of Science Degrees;
Web design issues
Wed design: Configuring Your Domain Email; Ten sites for file conversion;
Other news
The telecoms and Google Android; Google makes it official: Phone calls now in Gmail; Making real estate look good in Google's 3D world;
Facebook Sues Teachbook for Trademark Infringement;
One letter on a plane ticket says a lot about you;
Finance and Economics
CEOs don't trust American consumers to spend in coming years; The Hindenburg Omen and fundamentals explained;
Going paperless can stop fees from banks; Final phase of federal law restricting credit card fees, interest rates begins;
Are state's taxes low in Alabama? Not for all;
Making $100,000 a year on YouTube?
EarthLink Files Opposition to Comcast-NBC Merger; RIAA Says “DMCA Isn’t Working for Content People”;
Education:
Education Department Releases New Data on College Pricing; Cutting Administrative Costs;
Opinion: Fixing Higher Ed; College Dropout Factories;
Retroactive degrees, for students who had credits; Class sizes are getting bigger, but does it really matter?;
Laptops Playing An Increasingly Key Role In The Classroom.; Virginia State U. Business School Buys E-Textbooks for Students;
2 For-Profits Dump Basic-Skills Test Over Concerns About Loan Defaults; Credit card reform has companies treading lightly on campus;
Connecticut Sues Former Investment Chief of Wesleyan U; New Jersey Governor fires Education Chief;
Cal State Accused of Inappropriate Mixing of Public and Private Funds;
UNC investigating possible academic violations; Farmers and football;
Media Bans from Football Practice Only Rankle the Fans;
8/20/10
TechNews for the week: August 20; August 18; August 16;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Afghans blame civilian deaths on U.S.; Afghans rebuff security contractors; Afghan officials say Karzai aide part of wider investigation;
Petraeus: War strategy ‘fundamentally sound’; U.S., Afghans seek to curb exodus of cash; Pakistan to clamp down on Islamist militant charities;
Operation Iraqi Freedom ends as last combat soldiers leave Baghdad;
Army analyst linked to WikiLeaks hailed as antiwar hero; Pentagon Tells WikiLeaks It Won't Help 'Sanitize' Documents;
Advocates see trouble for misdiagnosed PTSD soldiers; Terrorist tapes found under CIA desk;
CBO says Keeping tax cuts beneficial in short term, harmful over long term;
Candidate Registers Opponent’s Name as Domain Name; Do Republicans lack good taste?
Exercising new ability to spend on campaigns, Target faces public backlash;
Poll shows more Americans (fasely) think Obama is a Muslim;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
August Crypto-Gram Newsletter, social networking, WikiLeaks, and more; Security theater is a "fear tax";
The Browser As Attack Vector ; Network Solutions-Hosted Sites Served Malware; Firefox Flaw Facilitates Deception;
Six seconds to Break into a Garage;
Math and science
4 Young Mathematicians Win Prestigious Fields Medals;
Web design issues
Questions You Shouldn't Ask During User Research ;
Web development: Setting Up Your Domains; The .htaccess File, and What To Do With It; password Protecting Directories and Files;
Other news
Google Denies Selling Out Network Neutrality with Verizon; RIM to give India partial BlackBerry access;
Lightscribe note taking; Microsoft Office Add-ins;
Finance and Economics
Big chunk of economic stimulus yet to be spent by state, local governments; How fight over tax breaks affects your bottom line;
Major banks gird for 'Volcker rule';
Phone Companies Oppose USF Fee for VoIP; Small cable providers object to Comcast-NBC deal;
Democrats revive specter of GOP threat to Social Security;
Education:
Commentary: Where are the prudent-investors?
Eliminating 3 Vice-President Positions Will Save Washington State U. Over $700,000; Universities undergoing reorganization; Saving Stimulus;
Growth in Administrators Outstrips Growth in Faculty Members; Cuts Mean South Carolina May Not Qualify for Stimulus Money;
Opinion:Colleges come up short on what students need to know; What Your Frosh Don't Know;
Enrollment in Army ROTC Down in Past 2 School Years;
Nebraska Court Approves Pay Raises for Public-College Faculty Members; At Lewis and Clark Retired and Rehired;
Harvard regains top spot in new U.S. News rankings; The 'U.S. News' Seal of Approval Isn't Free;
California Assembly Approves Bill to Require More Disclosure From University Foundations;
Damaging Data on Loan Repayment;
N.C. Court Limits Powers of Davidson College's Police Officers;
As Athletic Departments Struggle, Universities Shell Out Larger Subsidies the NCAA revenue report;
College football at U washington;
Universities turn to Wii Fit as way of examining concussions;
8/13/10
TechNews for the week: August 13; August 11; August 9;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
Kandahar mayor's claim to shopkeeper-occupied land dividing residents; U.S. base in Kyrgyzstan remains on track despite tensions;
US commander says Iraqis ready to handle security; Costs skyrocket as State Dept. faces expanded mission in Iraq;
Pentagon to cut thousands of jobs; Pentagon top brass not happy with plan to phase them out;
Plaintiff who challenged FBI's national security letters reveals concerns;
USA Today analysis: Federal workers earning double their private counterparts; Census to cost $1.6 billion less than budgeted;
Study looks at Effect of Tax Cut Lapse for Rich; Fed to buy government debt; Report: U.S. bailouts benefited foreign firms;
Gulf accident reports paint an image of confusion, stress and danger on rigs;
Longshot US Senate candidate from SC indicted;
Information technology:
Security issues
Touchscreen Smudges Pose Security Risk;
Project Vigilant--the Wikileaks leak;
Design issues
Google's Code PlayGround;
Using JavaScript To Copy Text From One Field To Another;
Other news
Google Earth Gets Real-Time Weather Layer;
Bullets are dead. Long live PowerPoint;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
Copyright issues
Viacom Plans to Appeal YouTube Copyright Decision;
Privacy issues
India Threatens to Block BlackBerry Service;
Homeland Security
U.S. Army pushes agile software development;
Other News
U.S. tax code encourages companies to rack up huge debt; Many shun bank accounts over fees but pay more for financial services;
Forced to retire, some take Social Security early;
China’s car-straddling bus — and its creativity in clean tech; China developing 600 mph airless maglev high-speed train;
Claim that P not equal NP;
20 Moves Proven Enough to Solve Any Rubik's Cube Position;
Education:
Reports Highlight Disparities in Graduation Rates Among White and Minority Students;
Report: Student-Loan Debt Surpasses Credit-Card Debt;
GAO: Colleges' Data-Collection Burdens Are Higher Than Official Estimates;
Colleges Dip Into 'Underwater' Endowments; Inexperienced Companies Chase U.S. School Funds;
Questions on Economics of Higher Ed; Colleges Get Reprieve as Congress Approves Aid to States;
150 Nonprofit Colleges Fail Education Department's Test of Financial Strength; Moody's Warns Nonprofit Colleges They Could Be Next;
Salary for Interim Commissioner Raises Eyebrows in Louisiana; Louisiana Legislators Reject Interim Commissioner's Pay as Excessive;
Lawsuit, unrest mar Cooper's tenure at S.C. State; Birmingham-Southern's President Resigns over College's Financial Meltdown;
Mass Video Courses May Free Up Professors for More Personalized Teaching;
AP Eliminates Guessing Penalty; Canada Opposes Fingerprinting of MCAT Takers;
Research shows Online Tools Don't Help Students' Study Skills; College web sites Re(design) ;
Lewis and Clark College fined for 4 Decades of Draining Pool Water Into Creek;
Flooding Won't Delay Classes -- or Football -- at Iowa State; UNC-Charlotte Makes Way for Football;
Cost of U. of Oregon's New Center for Athletes Draws New Debate Over Priorities;
Can a college coach work for a professional sports team;
8/6/10
TechNews for the week: August 6; August 4; August 2;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Free Speech and Homeland Security)
Karzai seeks probe of U.S.-backed anti-corruption unit attempt to control corruption probes worries U.S.;
Dutch troops end mission in Afghanistan; Afghans march to protest civilian deaths; Counterinsurgency strategy has shown little success;
Political impasse in Iraq; Mullen says US has Iran strike plan, just in case;
Army suicides linked to risky behavior, lax discipline; Pentagon demands that WikiLeaks give back leaked reports;
Honor restored for general blamed after Nixon denied authorizing Vietnam bombing;
Documents indicate heavy use of dispersants in gulf oil spill; New numbers reveal oil well spilled out 4.9 million barrels;
Fannie Mae second quarter losses shrank dramatically, reducing need for taxpayer money;
Employers add 71,000 jobs in July; unemployment rate unchanged 9.5 percent;
Information technology:
Security issues
As attacks escalate, Microsoft ships emergency Windows patch; DOE: Common security holes leave energy grid vulnerable;
WikiLeaks Posts ‘Insurance’ File;
Other news
More on the Mathematica widgets;
Google pulls plug on Wave development ;
Net politics:
Good sources include Politechbot.com and Greplaw (cyberlaw forum at Harvard Law School);
First Amendment, Free Speech
Judge Won’t Force Newspaper to Identify Online Commenters;
Homeland Security
Army Plans Private Cloud ;
Brain scans to Detect Future Terrorists;
Other News
Some concern over scope of cutting-edge changes in the DC voting process;
Banks Wants Consumers to Help with Online Security; AT&T, Verizon to turn phones into credit cards;
Report: Google, Verizon reach Net neutrality deal; FCC Cancels Industry Meetings on Net Neutrality;
Five myths about the Bush tax cuts;
Education:
Report: Declining Study Time Signals Falling Standards; Many College Students Lack Understanding Of What Plagiarism Means;
A new web database tracks College Spending;
More Colleges See Bonds Downgraded; Higher education funding and Governors' Races;
New York Times Questions Value of College Leaders' Service on Corporate Boards; Corporate Funds Aid Centers Tied to Lawmakers;
Stevens Institute of Technology improves reputation under N.J.-imposed financial oversight;
How College Recruiters Misled Undercover Investigators; GAO Investigation Of For-Profit Colleges Reveals Widespread Fraud;
Kaplan Suspends Enrollment Where Federal Investigators Found Recruiting Abuses;
Training Programs Could Be Culprit In Mismatch Between Jobs, Workforce; Report: Southern States Urgently Need to Enroll More Adults in College;
American Bar Association blasts 'U.S. News' for Rankings;
Holding Coaches Accountable for Athletes' Grades; the Head Coach APR database;
U. of Miami President Halted at Israeli Airport;
Lawmakers Hear Arguments for and Against Open Access to Research;
Back to school with wikis;