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.
4/26/13
TechNews for the week: April 26; April 24; April 22;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Syria and the law; U.S. weighs concerns about arming Syrian extremists; U.S. struggling to determine whether Syria has used chemical weapons;
900-year-old landmark destroyed in seconds;
Reduced security blamed for Taliban attack; U.S. military faulted because $5 million incinerators were inoperable;
Boston bombing suspects motivated by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Bipartisan Senate panel Drones cause ‘growing hatred of America’;
A look at North Korea's military capabilities;
The Pentagon's other money pot;
The suspects’ desperate attempt to escape in Boston: How it unfolded; Glenn Beck conspiracy theory: What's his evidence?
Michigan's Legislature Resists Governor's Call to Approve Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion; Lawmakers discussing how to deal with health-care law for Hill staffers;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
The Boston Marathon Bomber Manhunt; was lockdown necessary? Random Links on the Boston Terrorist Attack;
Securing Securing Members of Congress -- from Transparency;
Justice Dep’t OKs Some Internet Interceptions; Silicon Valley Firms Fighting Internet Privacy Bill;
Hackers favor authentication-based attacks;
Math and science
NASA has found 3 nice, habitable planets for us to choose from; Einstein's Gravity Theory Passes Toughest Test Yet;
Military Uses Big Data As Spy Tech;
Diagnostic errors are leading cause of successful malpractice claims; How a gun accident revolutionized medicine;
Students launch homemade rockets;
Boeing Engineer: Cause Of 787 Battery Fire May Never Be Known;
Web issues
Methods for Organizing Your Apps; 6 Skype Alternatives Worth Considering;
Programming Languages That Pay Big Bucks; Review: HTML Pad;
Finance and Economics
In first state-level jobs report since sequester, no signs of major change; Economists' Mistake That Made Austerity a Policy;
Who actually creates jobs: Start-ups, small businesses or big corporations? Brown-Vitter bill seeks to end ‘too big to fail’;
IRS paid billions of dollars in improper refunds last year; What Apple’s stock buyback shows about corporate tax games;
Wall Street’s technology means social media can tilt the markets; Investors, Companies Respond to Fake News Tweets;
An insider’s warning for the tech industry;
Boeing Plans To Cut 1,700 Engineer Jobs;
Other news
Social media as breaking-news feed: Worse information, faster;
Stephen Hawking: So here's how it all happened without God;
5 Unspoken Reasons Why Tech Projects Fail; Steps To Avoid IT Project Failures;
Education:
How to Assess the Real Payoff of a College Degree; Tech Training May Provide Fatter Paychecks Than 4-Year Degrees;
Helping Black Men Succeed as Students Is Focus of Community-College Meeting;
GED high school equivalency test to get major overhaul, become more difficult; Maryland Colleges Turning To Larger, "Flipped" Classes;
Study: Students Avoid ‘Difficult’ Online Courses; Behind the Webcam's Watchful Eye, Online Proctoring Takes Hold;
Social-Media Use Grows at Colleges, Despite Little Dedicated Staff; Colleges Face a Reality Check From Powerful New Tools in Applicants’ Hands;
Study: There May Not Be A Shortage Of US STEM Graduates;
Florida’s Governor Signs Sweeping Bill to Give Top Universities Special Status;
Colleges Cut Adjuncts' Hours to Skirt New Rules on Health-Insurance Eligibility; Adjuncts' Advocates Call for Fair Treatment on Work-Hour Calculations;
U. of Regina Drains Gift Account to Cover Overspending; Louisiana College’s President Is Accused of Misleading Board;
Northern Kentucky U. Says Fired AD Took Up to $150,000 for Personal Use; Eastern Connecticut State U. Suspends Baseball Coach Amid Abuse Investigation;
4/19/13
TechNews for the week: April 19; April 17; April 15;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
War on Korean Peninsula unlikely, despite strong words from both sides; U.S., China agree to cooperate on North Korea crisis;
Syrian troops widen offensive in border areas; Britain, France claim Syria used chemical weapons;
Venezuelan government defends vote, backtracks on recount pledge; Palestinian prime minister resigns;
Pentagon acknowledges e-mail mix-up among Guantanamo Bay lawyers;
Police say 2 dead, 22 injured in blasts at Boston Marathon; bombing speculation; Second suspect taken into custody;
Parcel sent to Obama contained suspicious substance, suspect arrested;
As Senate takes up guns debate, NRA-backed amendments may weaken bill ; Senate rejects gun amendment compromise that passed 54-46, but failed to get 60 votes;
Contractors spinning off divisions as Defense budget ax falls; Airlines, pilots sue government to stop furloughs;
GOP backs Obama proposal to trim Social Security;
Senators to release immigration plan, including a path to citizenship;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
April CRYPTO-GRAM Newsletter, Internet Surveillance, Oppression, Security and more; The lessons of Boston; Keep Calm and Carry On;
CISPA passes U.S. House: Death of the Fourth Amendment? Secrets of FBI Smartphone Surveillance Tool;
Microsoft pulls Patch Tuesday security fix; Microsoft Discovers Trojan That Erases Evidence Of Its Existence;
Symantec Says Spam Drops as Targeted Attacks Rise; DropSmack: Using Dropbox to steal files and deliver malware;
Anonymous again hacks into North Korean Web sites;
Staff undermine cyber security efforts;
FAA Dismisses Android App Airplane Takeover;
Google Glass Enables New Forms of Cheating;
Math and science
Construction of world's largest optical telescope approved; NASA Developing 3D Printing Technology For Use In Space;
IBM's Flash Storage Play: Inside Big Blue's Move; Big Data Fakers: 5 Warning Signs;
Supreme Court Considers Question of Patents for Human Genes;
Gallup Presidential Poll: How Did Brand-Name Firm Blow Election?
Web issues
10 tips for secure computer disposal;
Five small business replacements for QuickBooks;
Secret way to zoom in closer on Google Maps;
SC Politics
South Carolina among States that Tax You the Least;
Mark Sanford has serious issues; GOP abandons Mark Sanford;
Citadel VP selected as SC State's next president;
Finance and Economics
Doctor-owned hospitals prosper under health-care law; Report: Compounding pharmacies go untracked;
‘Chained CPI’ Could Hit Middle-Class Retirees Hardest; Gold down sharply as markets stumble;
Comcast says the free ride is over for basic cable;
Other news
Biblical Blame Shift;
High school students aim to build a better whirligig;
Ten Essential Leadership Qualities of a CIO;
Boy Scouts call for an end to their ban on homosexuals;
Education:
The Pros and Cons of Tuition Dependence for Public Colleges;
Education Dept. to Renew Efforts at Gainful-Employment and State-Authorization Rules; Competency-Based Education Advances With U.S. Approval of Program;
College of Saint Mary Releases Its Own Expanded Scorecard;
Do upper-level administrators have to take CYA classes? Extra-Credit Conundrum;
Western Oklahoma State College Is Put on Probation Over Quick-Credit Courses; DeVry Faces Investigations From Attorneys General in 2 States;
D.C. report: Teachers in 18 classrooms cheated on high-stakes test in 2012;
Rutgers Suspends Men’s Lacrosse Coach Amid Allegations of Verbal Abuse;
4/12/13
TechNews for the week: April 12; April 10; April 8;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
N. Korea warns foreigners in the South should make plans to evacuate;
Among rebels, growing schisms over ideology and the future of Syria; U.S. intelligence official: Sectarian strife will persist in post-Assad Syria;
Kerry presses Israel and Palestinians for concessions;
What’s the price of a life? an example of the cost of war;
Full text of Obama's 2014 budget proposal; his goal: Ending the debt standoff;
Report: Bailed-out banks haven’t met goals of small-biz lending program; Fannie Mae profit may swell Treasury coffers as debt limit looms;
Reid threatens to use the "nuclear option", had enough of Republican colleagues; McCain Blasts GOP Threat to Filibuster Gun Bill: "What are we afraid of?";
Senators strike deal on background checks for guns; Senate votes to allow gun-violence bill to move forward;
The new GOP immigration sell: Deficit reduction;
Senators press budget office nominee on meeting deadlines;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
Government Uses Hackers as an Object of Fear; House Committee Approves Cybersecurity Bill; IRS Says Warrant Not Needed to Read E-mail;
Security Externalities and DDOS Attacks; How big a risk do you run sticking with Windows XP;
How South Korea Traced Hacker To Pyongyang;
Thieves Use Video Camera to Stake Out Properties; Airplane Takeover Demonstrated Via Android App;
Smartphone Maps Banned In California While Driving;
Math and science
Baseball Meets Internet Of Things: Bye, Bad Umpires?
Canadian Engineering Students Build Car That Gets 3,587 MPG; Autonomous Vehicles About Five Years Away;
Five tricks for shooting eye-catching panoramas;
Web issues
10+ advanced formatting tips for Word users;
10 Tips to Create Effective HTML5 Layouts;
Sketch-up project: a Walk Through;
Finance and Economics
Vanishing American workforce weighs on growth;
Health-care law could backfire for thousands on Medicaid; Insurance providers debate whether federal workers should have more choices;
The real reason corporate tax reform is going nowhere fast; Banks barreling into the prepaid debit card market;
Former KPMG auditor charged in cash-for-stock-tips scheme;
Major networks promise a fight as Aereo threatens to alter TV landscape; PC Sales Fall In The Fourth Quarter;
Boeing Is Expanding In South Carolina;
Other news
Upper class response to disasters: Elite Panic;
Wild, unregulated bitcoin currency gains following;
Education:
Chinese Applications Fall at U.S. Graduate Schools; Business-School Accreditor Approves New, More-Flexible Standards;
Calls Mount for Changing How Interest Rates Are Set on Student Loans; Activists and Lawmakers at Odds over Proposed Student-Loan Reforms;
Coursera Takes a Nuanced View of MOOC Dropout Rates; 8 MOOCs Transforming Education; California State U. System Will Expand MOOC Experiment;
California Community Colleges Release Statewide 'Student Success Scorecard'; University Rankings Proliferate, Along With New Uses for the Data They Collect;
Bills in N.C. Legislature Could Affect How and Where Students Vote;
Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Verdict Against Professor Fired Because Of Limited English Skills; 22 Face Charges of Student-Aid Fraud in California;
NCAA Faces Continuing Opposition on Increasing Aid to Players;
Rutgers Crisis Illustrates Leadership Conundrum in Sports to Investigate Its Handling of Basketball Scandal; Faculty view;
Rutgers U. Lawyer Is Latest to Resign in Basketball Scandal’s Wake;
New Research Shows Effects of Verbally Aggressive Conduct in Coaching;
4/5/13
TechNews for the week: April 4; April 3; April 1;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
U.S. wary of N. Korea’s hostile rhetoric; North Korean secrecy on bomb test fuels speculation on nuclear advances; Anonymous Hits North Korea Via DDoS;
Syrian rebels enter strategic Aleppo neighborhood; U.S., Jordan stepping up training of Syrian opposition forces;
Death of Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody sparks protests;
U.N. adopts treaty regulating multibillion-dollar global arms trade; Cheap Drones Made in China Could Arm US Foes;
U.S. struggling to contain nuclear threats from North Korea, Iran;
Local health-insurance marketplaces struggle to get people enrolled; Business, labor are said to agree on terms of new guest-worker program;
Another Washington commission for a serious problem; U.S. to boost rather than cut payments to health insurers;
GAO study on political intelligence yields little insight;
Obama budget would cut entitlements in exchange for tax increases on rich; Polar opposites Hensarling, Waters clash on House Financial Services Committee;
Supreme Court: Fourth Amendment creates new fault lines;
What part of ‘no law respecting an establishment of religion’ does North Carolina not understand?
Federal agencies that rank best and worst on leadership;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
IT for Oppression; Google Challenges FBI’s Warrantless Data-Gathering;
Recent DDoS attacks; Banks Hit Downtime Milestone In DDoS Attacks;
China Upset with U.S. Cyber-Espionage Rules;
Math and science
Wolves Teach Scientists Their Limitations; Supercomputer Apps Tackle Cancer, Autism, Heart Attacks;
New Technology Could Engineer the Perfect Baseball Swing; Stereo Photogrammetry Used To Examine Way Trees Fall;
Did scientists just find dark matter?
$100-Million Project to Study Brain Function;
Web issues
Dealing with Blocked emails; How to Send E-mail Without Checking E-mail; 8 LinkedIn Etiquette Mistakes;
When will Microsoft pull the plug on your version of Windows or Office? Google releases full Google Glass explainer video;
The secret to shooting time-lapse video; a rotating time-lapse tripod; Quickly set up your home router like a pro;
Facebook unveils 'Home,' a family of apps for your Android phone;
JavaScript Physics Engines Comparison;
SC Politics
Report Criticizes the Citadel's Investigation of Abuse Complaint;
Time for the Legislature to do something courageous; Efforts underway to fix coastal insurance;
S.C. Commission on Higher Ed names new director;
Finance and Economics
U.S. economy adds just 88,000 jobs in March; unemployment rate at 7.6 percent; IMF’s initial public statements on Cyprus clashed with private doubts;
Court of Appeals Affirms Ruling Allowing Aereo Broadcasts; Judge Rules Against Sale of ‘Used’ Digital Music;
Fannie Mae reports $7.6 billion profit in fourth quarter; Bonds gain attention as safe harbor;
GAO: 401(k) companies often mislead account holders; Regulators closer to supervising nonbank financial companies;
Sallie Krawcheck: ‘Bank Reform Still Needed’; Regressive Vs. Progressive Taxes: Do Southern Tax Policies Kill Poor People?
Apple application to trademark iPad Mini denied;
Exxon Mobil pipeline leaks ‘a few thousand’ barrels of oil in Arkansas;
Other news
The rise of the bitcoin: Virtual gold or cyber-bubble?
Google's 10 Best Gags, Pranks And Easter Eggs;
April 3, 1973: The first call from a cell phone was made;
Education:
Latest Report on Fixing Financial Aid Focuses on Minority Students; A Low-Cost Way to Expand the Horizons of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students;
Bill Gates: A fairer way to evaluate teachers; The racket with standardized test scores;
Alum Stands By Her Advice to Princeton Women to Get That ‘Mrs.’ Degree;
Academic Journals on Your Tablet; Online communication and online classes: who’s on the other end;
Purdue's "This is Engineering" video creates controversy; Saint Louis U. Threatens Faculty With Copyright Suit Over Campus-Climate Survey;
4 Ways for universities to Bolster Your Hacker Defenses;
At Final Four, NCAA Faces Renewed Questions About Its Role; NCAA ain't ready for reform;
Letter to Division I College Presidents and Governing Boards: Fix Skewed Incentives in Your Sports Programs;
Former Auburn players allege NCAA misdeeds under former coach Gene Chizik; For UConn, Lessons From a Year of Tournament Exile;
Rutgers Fires Basketball Coach After Controversial Practice Video Surfaces; Rutgers AD Resigns After Uproar Over Coach’s Conduct;