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.
7/27/12
TechNews for the week: July 27; July 25; July 23;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Experts say Iran rapidly bolsters retaliation capability in gulf;
Heavy hitters strike at Stock Act employee provisions; Public vs. private-sector pay debate goes on;
The secret in Mitt Romney’s tax returns; Sheldon Adelson gave half of June donations to pro-Romney super PAC;
Romney tries to defuse controversy after comments on London’s readiness;
George W. Bush skipping Republican convention;
Math, science and technology:
Math and science
Little Evidence That Creating More Scientists Will Help Economy;
Web design issues
How to use the RGBa color model;
Save time with these three Chrome extensions;
How to delete Facebook activity using iPhone, Android app;
SC Politics
Leaders have no plan to cover any I-526 cost overruns;
Other news
Site is a one-stop shop for government information;
Education:
ACT Official Describes 'Next Generation' Tests;
New Warnings on Colleges' Finances From 2 Big Credit-Rating Agencies; Profits, Not Student Success, Drive Executive Pay at For-Profit Colleges;
Berkeley Joins ‘edX’ Effort to Offer Free Open Courses;
Penn State’s Insurer Seeks to Deny Coverage of Sandusky-Related Claims;
Florida Court Rules College Must Identify Student Who Complained About Professor;
Mountain State U. Could Close After Losing Its Accreditation;
Freeh Group Member Criticizes NCAA's Use of Investigative Report; Penn State dominates discussion at Big Ten Media Days;
Pennsylvania Auditor Says Penn State’s President Should Not Serve on Board;
7/20/12
TechNews for the week: July 20; July 18; July 16;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
In Afghan village, fears that government won't provide;
Syria conflict: Central Damascus hit by clashes; Bombing in Damascus kills top officials; Mideast ‘shadow war’s’ new phase;
China’s ZTE is probed for alleged sale of U.S. surveillance equipment to Iran;
N. Korea promotes leader to top military rank;
Mexico’s Congress presents the ‘unpresentable ones’;
Report: Military health-care costs could soar;
GSA chief curbs bonuses, freezes hiring after spending scandal; FDA lawyers authorized spying on agency’s scientists;
GOP turns on Roberts, Supreme Court after health care ruling; Republican Governors Drop Opposition to Online Sales Tax Effort;
Ariz. sheriff says Obama birth certificate is fake; Judges grill Texas’s attorney on whether voter ID law discriminates;
Why state Republican leaders are resisting Medicaid expansion; Judge rejects contraception suit filed by 7 states;
As DISCLOSE Act stalls, Super PAC reserves $6 million in ad time to support GOP candidates;
Mitt Romney's Signature Appears On Bain SEC Filings During Time He Said He Left Bain; Mitt Romney's Own 2002 Testimony Undermines Bain Departure Claim;
Romney slams Obama’s ‘dishonest’ attacks, rejects calls to release more tax returns; says Releasing past tax returns would give Obama more ammunition;
Tax issue divides Romney camp; Romney camp: 'Not true' he paid $0 in taxes; What's Romney Hiding in His Tax Returns?
Investigation: Leading Republican Money Man Sheldon Adelson;
An Economist Finds Herself in the Political Cross Hairs;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
July Crypto-Gram Newsletter, TSA, Virology Research, Failure of Anti-Virus Companies, and more;
MegaUpload judge quits case following comments U.S. government was "the enemy";
Remote Scanning Technology; Dropbox Investigating Possible Security Breach;
Math and science
Next 3-D Frontier: Printed Plane Parts;
New Planet Found, Smaller Than Earth, Orbiting Distant Star;
Web design issues
Five great open source productivity tools;
YouTube offers facial blurring for videos;
SC Politics
Loftis wants Investment Commission head to step aside;
Head of retirement systems to lead new SC agency for managing the state's retirement and health care systems;
Finance and Economics
'Daily Show,' 'Colbert Report' Cease Streaming Online Due To Viacom vs. DirecTV Battle;
Economist warns Upcoming Crash Will Be ‘Worse Than 2008’; Tax stalemate: How the Division on Taxes Adds Up;
HSBC money laundering case shows how hard it is to stop drug money;
Boom in Private Student Loans Mirrored Mortgage-Lending Frenzy;
Other news
Kathleen Parker: Get smart, America;
Boy Scouts reaffirm their intolerant ban on gays;
Education:
New Federal Data about Tuition, Enrollment, Degrees; College Degrees, Designed by the Numbers;
Leadership, the University Brand, Abuse, and Our Duty; Louis Freeh and University Governance;
Dickinson State U. Put ‘on Notice’ by Its Accreditor;
Cal State Ponders 2 Paths to Deal With Possibly $250-Million More in Cuts; U. of California Regents Reach Deal on Governor’s Tax Measure;
After Leadership Crisis Fueled by Distance-Ed Debate, UVa Will Put Free Classes Online;
Four Mistakes I Made When Assigning Podcasts;
NCAA Won't Rule Out 'Death Penalty' for Penn State; Why The Big Ten Should — But Likely Won’t — Kick Penn State Out;
Lawyer Says Big Ten Proposal Wouldn't Pass Muster; Penn State Board Accepts Blame and Pledges Change in Response to Freeh Report;
A Longstanding Dilemma: Weighing Teaching and Research;
NCAA Penalizes Caltech for Fielding Ineligible Athletes;
7/13/12
TechNews for the week: July 13; July 11; July 9;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Corruption in Afghanistan still a problem as international donors meet; Fury grows at Islamabad's NATO u-turn;
Syrian rebellion reaches deeper into heart of Damascus; Mysterious fatal crash provides rare glimpse of U.S. commandos in Mali ;
The Pentagon’s war on paper;
New details about Romney's wealth confirm F. Scott Fitzgerald's quip about the rich; Assets offshore raise Romney wealth questions;
Democrats cast GOP as ‘out of touch’ using Romney donor’s quote; Romney booed at NAACP convention;
Romney to raise campaign cash while overseas; New questions about when Romney officially left Bain Capital; Questions over Romney's Bain Capital tenure;
Obama’s two-part economic problem;
GOP offers health care repeal without alternative; GOP to the uninsured: Drop dead; Rick Perry vows he won't implement health care law in Texas;
Most Medicaid visits to hospital are for urgent issues;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
Sensible Comments about Terrorism; Cell carriers see dramatic increase in surveillance requests; Petition to Force the TSA to Follow the Law;
How to defeat a fence; Dropped USB Sticks in Parking Lot as Actual Attack Vector;
Obama signs order outlining emergency Internet control; Bill to Restrict Web Content in Russia Is Assailed;
Math and science
Big and Small - The amazing world in which we live;
Meet Batman’s Real Arch-Nemesis: Gravity;
How accurate is forensic analysis?
Early Computing's 'Deal With the Devil';
Web design issues
Five good mapping apps for various needs;
Embed custom fonts on your website with the @font-face property;
SC Politics
SC budget board seeks legal advice on pension fund;
Haley’s vetoes cripple two state agencies;
Finance and Economics
JPMorgan Chase confronts federal regulatory probes, other headaches; Facts about the financial meltdown: Part II ;
Why do half of all Americans pay no federal income taxes? The tax report; In 2009, Americans paid lowest tax rates in 30 years to federal government;
LIBOR Scandal: The Smoking Gun Showing The Authorities Knew; Frank calls Libor scandal ‘outrageous’;
Baltimore takes lead in suit against banks over alleged Libor manipulation;
States, Congress considering e-sales taxes;
The Spreading Scourge of Corporate Corruption; Wells Fargo agrees to settle with the Justice Department over allegations od lending discrimination;
US hospitals face financial problems;
Oil and the Persian Gulf: Whose oil is it anyway?
Other news
Senator Grassley Removes Hold On High-Skilled Immigration Legislation;
Many Americans Are Unhappy at Work;
Education:
PhD doesn’t always equal a J-O-B ; The College-Graduate Glut: Evidence From Labor Markets;
US Falls in Global Innovation Rankings; Computer Science Gaining Popularity On College Campuses;
College Planners Discuss How They Push for Change; Professors Put Textbooks Online to Reduce Costs;
Alabama Supreme Court to Reconsider Lawsuit Over Prepaid-Tuition Program;
Grade Changes in Mathematics Spark Dispute at Tennessee State U;
Western Association Rejects Ashford U.'s Initial Bid for New Accreditation; Mountain State U.'s Regional Accreditation Will Be Withdrawn;
For-Profit Start-Up Buys Nonprofit Patten U.;
Eastern Michigan U. Board to President: Control Your Drinking, or You’re Fired; Florida A&M U. President Resigns in Aftermath of Hazing Death;
U. of Hawaii Puts Athletic Director on Leave Over Botched Concert;
Ignorance and Low Priority of Clery Act Obligations May Extend Beyond Penn State;
NCAA's President Paid at Nearly $1.6-Million Per Year; A Powerful President Sought First to Protect His University's Reputation;
Freeh report finds Penn State failed to protect children; Independent Review Charges Penn State Officials With 'Total Disregard' for Safety;
7/6/12
TechNews for the week: July 6; July 2;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
U.S. nixes $300,000 office upgrade for Afghan defense minister; Problems hobble Afghan air force; Northern routes out of Afghanistan;
Muslim Brotherhood’s ascent in Egypt has profound significance for region;
Iraq transition raises thorny questions; Iranian exiles under U.S. scrutiny;
On way to military base realignment savings, plenty of overspending; The Influence Industry: Presidential fundraising down; congressional soars;
Two years after earmark ban, House GOP want local tariff breaks back;
After health-care ruling doubts states meet health-law deadlines; Louisiana Gov. Jindal refuses to implement Obamacare despite Supreme Court ruling;
Romney ad uses 2008 Clinton campaign to attack Obama; Romney reverses position, calls individual mandate a tax;
Romney backers fight calls for shake-up; Wall Street Journal editorial slams Romney campaign;
In four key swing states, voters are anxious, divided and debating big questions;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
U.S. drone 'hijackings' raise security concerns; Stuxnet cyberattack by US a 'destabilizing and dangerous' course of action;
Web users beware: DNSChanger victims lose Web access July 9; What the ‘Internet doomsday’ virus is and how to fix it;
The dark side of QR codes; Android Botnet Seen Spewing Spam; Google denies Android botnet claim;
Judge Orders Twitter to Disclose User Data related to Occupy Wallstreet Protest;
Homeland Security Says Infrastructure Attacks Rising; How the Border Patrol uses tech to combat smugglers;
ACLU app lets Android users secretly tape the police;
Math and science
Willfull Ignorance about Statistics by a Congressman; Surveys: Filtering Out the Fibbers; OnPoint: Why We Lie;
CERN scientists discover new subatomic particle; Understanding the Higgs boson;
Mystery of Bending Mountains May Be Solved; Less Sleep Equals More Oil: Science Equations at Sea;
Commercial Espionage Virus;
Unknown Copy of Map That Gave America Its Name Turns Up at U. of Munich;
Web design issues
Google Redefines Browser As Platform; Reorder the Google navigation bar in Chrome;
How to set up and use Google Docs offline; Five plugins that add essential WordPress features;
The best way to store your photos online; Publish your own e-book using Microsoft Word;
How to change your Facebook vanity URL;
SC Politics
Haley issues budget vetoes; Retirement bill to save billions, end shortfall;
Finance and Economics
U.S. economy adds 80,000 jobs in June; unemployment rate remains unchanged at 8.2 percent; Outsourcing: Counting jobs is only part of the answer;
Health-care ruling raises thorny questions about practical, financial ramifications; Curbing the cost of health care;
Health-care law’s Medicaid provision too good to pass up; More states may opt out of Medicaid expansion;
Countrywide used a special VIP loan program to influence lawmakers;
Keystone XL pipeline expansion driven by oil-rich tar sands in Alberta;
Europe Rejects Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement; Court in London Rules for HTC in Apple Patent Case;
Verizon Says FCC Rules ‘Control’ Broadband Access; Is Verizon 'shaking down' customers with family plan?
Other news
Want to have better meetings - Ditch PowerPoint;
Google, French Group Settle ‘Jew’ Search Complaint;
MegaUpload and the White House: A case of curious timing;
Sexual misconduct in the military;
Education:
Survey: Americans Split On Value Of College Degree; Stanford University's Top Major Is Now Computer Science;
Judge Strikes Down Several Provisions of ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule; The ‘Gainful Employment’ Ruling in Perspective;
ACT Plans ‘Next Generation’ Testing System; College leaders keep demanding more out of their technology;
FAMU Divides The College Of Arts & Sciences;
Former Purdue Dean, Upset Over Daniels as President, Removes $1-Million Gift; U. Illinois Will Pay Ex-President’s Former Aide $175,000 to Resign;
Big-Time Football Success Yields Improvements Among Students;
Records Suggest Penn State Officials Knew Sexual Nature of Sandusky Encounter; Paterno E-Mail Shows Coach's Influence on Disciplinary Matters;