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.
6/28/13
TechNews for the week: June 28; June 26; June 24;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Chicago Federal Court Case Raises Questions About NSA Surveillance; The court “oversight” of NSA phone surveillance is unacceptable;
Spy program gathered Americans' Internet records; Pakistan government using Canadian company’s technology to censor Internet;
Senator Wants More Oversight of Surveillance Programs; NSA head acknowledges flaws with fact sheet on surveillance programs;
With Apparent Help from WikiLeaks, Snowden Leaves Hong Kong; Snowden in Moscow, seeks asylum in Ecuadorn;
Company Allegedly Misled Government About Security Clearance Checks;
US army blocks access to Guardian website;
Supreme Court sends affirmative action case back to a lower court; Supreme Court stops use of key part of voting rights act;
High court: Generic-drug makers can’t be sued for design defects;
Supreme Court strikes down Defense of Marriage Act; clears way for same-sex marriage in California;
CIA rebuffs Congress on 'torture' findings;
Senate passes sweeping immigration reform; Sarah Palin's mind-bogglingly incoherent immigration reform critique;
Retired general target of leaks probe about Stuxnet;
IG Changes Tune On IRS Scandal;
Obama: Keystone pipeline must not increase greenhouse gases;
Berlusconi found guilty in sex trial, but still Senator; Vatican cleric arrested in €20m probe;
Texas Senate blowup threatens lt. gov.'s futuren;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
History of, and the relationship between, secrecy and privacy; Lessons from Biological Security;
Pentagon Bans Flash Drives But Grants Many Exceptions;
Android malware up 614% as smartphone scams go industrial;
Math and science
The Future of Satellite Surveillance;
MIT Researchers Develop Video System Detects Pulse From Small Head Movements;
What math topic do engineering faculty rate as the most important?
Voyager 1 finds solar system's edge rather fuzzy;
Web and Computing issues
Five apps for creating installation packages; Five power user tools in Gmail for Android;
Help Fix Someone's Computer Using Google Hangouts' Remote Desktop;
Appeals Court Sets Date for Net Neutrality Case;
Big data: Two truths and five myths;
SC Politics
Results of Senate votes on Haley vetoes; Providers say Veto could shut down any SC health-care expansion;
SC voting laws no longer require federal approval;
Finance and Economics
US growth revised down to 1.8%; Coal lobby will be key in US midterm elections;
Moody’s: State pensions face larger-than-usual funding gap;
BP takes another road as Congress reviews renewable fuels rules;
WSJ: Settlement cost for Moody's, S&P, Morgan Stanley is $225 million; S&P, Moody's Defend Pay Model Faulted by Regulators;
Kids Stop Paying the Parents’ Debts;
Education:
College Dropouts Increase, Analysis Suggests Funding College Prep; U.S. Releases New Lists of Nation's Most- and Least-Expensive Colleges;
Moody’s Says MOOCs Could Raise a University’s Credit Rating; UCLA Gets Approval to Move M.B.A. Program Off of Public Support;
American Meritocracy: universities to lay bare methods of defining merit; For Admissions Offices, Supreme Court's Ruling Prolongs 'Fuzziness';
Final Rules on Contraceptive Coverage Fail to Satisfy Some Religious Colleges;
Senators: Student loan interest rates to double;
NCAA Punishes U. of Oregon for Recruiting Violations in Football;
6/21/13
TechNews for the week: June 21; June 19; June 17;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
The impact of Syrian refugees on Turkey and Jordan; CIA preparing to deliver rebels arms through Turkey and Jordan; Why has Israel closed its doors to Syrian refugees?
Moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani wins Iran's presidential election; Blair warns window closing on Palestinian peace;
North Korea Proposes High-Level Talks With U.S.;
US to join direct peace talks with Taliban over Afghanistan's future; Karzai suspends security talks and accuses US of 'inconsistent statements';
US Conducting Offensive Cyberwar Policy; Documents suggest Britain and U.S. spied at summit;
NSA director says surveillance programs disrupted dozens of terrorist attacks; Senators say NSA phone records did little to thwart terror plots;
FBI admits to using surveillance drones over US soil; States eye drone laws;
U.S. chief records officer details federal e-mail record-keeping programs; Intelligence contractors omitted from whistleblower protections;
Google challenges U.S. gag order, citing First Amendment; Wants Surveillance Court to Lift Gag Order; ACLU sues over NSA surveillance;
Lawmaker releases transcript of interview with IRS manager;
GOP trying to use ‘Obamacare’ to derail immigration reform efforts;
Men arrested for building death ray machine;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
June Crypto-Gram Newsletter, NSA Spying, Politics of Security, the Internet of Things and more; Private companies a bigger threat to privacy than NSA;
Cozy relationship between the commercial personal-data industry and the intelligence industry; Evidence that the NSA Is Storing Voice Content, Not Just Metadata;
How Web mail providers leave door open for NSA surveillance; US Uses Vulnerability Data for Offensive Purposes;
Facebook, Microsoft release number of data requests from government; Yahoo reveals US government made 13,000 requests for user data;
Details of NSA Data Requests from US Corporations; Cost/Benefit Questions NSA Surveillance;
Metadata proves to be a powerful tool for U.S. intelligence agencies; State photo-ID databases become troves for police;
Obama defends surveillance effort as 'trade-off' for security; NSA Secrecy and Personal Privacy;
Blowback from the NSA Surveillance over Internet control;
Petition to Subject NSA's Surveillance Program to Public Comment;
U.S. probing contractor that vetted NSA leaker;
Security Expert Says Hackers Can Attack Cameras; Trove of medical devices found to have password problems;
Math and science
Google to use balloons to provide free Internet access to remote areas;
New Headwear To Keep Track Of Sports-Related Head Injuries;
Congress Criticized For Authorization Bill’s Lack Of Funding for NASA;
Researchers Develop 3-D Printed Lithium-Ion Batteries As Small As A Grain Of Sand;
Web and Computing issues
Firefox Advances Do Not Track Technology; Facebook announces video on Instagram; View your recent Google account activity;
SC Politics
SC State gets accreditation warning;
Finance and Economics
Treasurys tank as Fed indicates tapering intent;
Bank of America Lied to Homeowners and Rewarded Foreclosures;
Report: 700 doctors wrote possibly harmful Medicare prescriptions;
Is cable holding back superfast broadband adoption on purpose;
Patent Office Reverses Key Decision Against Apple;
Stratasys to buy 3D printer start-up;
China's bid for Smithfield called undervalued;
The Rule of 85 with Retirement;
Other news
2 Boy Scout leaders chided for Utah parade march;
Giving a TED Talk? Expect More Visibility, but Not More Citations;
Education:
Moody says College’s Closure Signals Problems for Others; 'An Industry of Mediocrity': Study Criticizes Teacher-Education Programs;
Some Student-Loan Borrowers Are Being Charged for Free Federal Services; Senate Compromise Aims to Avert Doubling of Student-Loan Interest Rates;
U.S. News Releases 2013 Best High Schools for STEM Rankings;
Calif. Community Colleges Unveil a Tool Showing Earning Power of Graduates;
Survey: Many Professors Plan To Teach Past Age 65;
The 4 Pillars of the Flipped Classroom;
IG says West Point superintendent misused his office; Three Naval Academy Midshipmen Accused of Sexual Assault;
Let's Give the Rich and Powerful Their Own NCAA Division;
6/14/13
TechNews for the week: June 14; June 12; June 10;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Syrian opposition says there’s little point in talks; Syria’s rebel leadership makes new pleas to U.S.; Syrian war tilting regional balance of power in Tehran’s favor;
U.S. to provide direct military support to Syrian rebels; says Syrian regime used chemical weapons against rebels;
Police renew sweep through Istanbul square;
Taliban expected to sustain surge ahead of election and NATO pullout;
Secret cyber directive calls for ability to attack without warning;
Secrecy of surveillance programs blunts challenges about legality; Surveillance programs Congress has approved now spark controversy;
No Warrant, No Problem: How the Government Can Get Your Digital Data; Mass Surveillance in America: A Timeline of Loosening Laws and Practices;
NSA Prism: Patriot Act Author Questions Scope; Source of NSA leaks Identified; Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks;
Cincinnati employees say their actions started IRS targeting efforts;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
NSA Dragnet Debacle: What It Means To IT; Trust in IT; The outsourcing of U.S. intelligence raises risks among the benefits; The low-level, tech-savvy leaker?
Terror watch lists: Can you keep tabs on every suspect? NSA's Call Surveillance Program Raises Privacy Fears; Trading Privacy for Convenience;
Internet Companies Differ on Government Cooperation; Inside the Military’s Secret Terror-Tagging Tech; How secure is the National Security Agency?
Government Secrets and the Need for Whistle-blowers; NSA Director Says Monitoring Program Stopped Attacks;
Prosecuting Snowden: what other investigations ought to happen; Essays Related to NSA Spying Documents;
7 Tips To Avoid NSA Digital Dragnet; Five ways to stop the NSA from spying on you; Google Gives Details on Disclosing User Data;
Android Trojan Looks, Acts Like Windows Malware;
Math and science
Supreme Court says human genes cannot be patented; Academic Scientists Hail Supreme Court's Decision;
MakerBot 3D Printer 'Changes the Game Entirely';
Web and Computing issues
Animating Ideas With Adobe Edge and HTML5; Turn videos into animated GIFs;
How (and why) to update your laptop's Wi-Fi card;
Poll Results 2013: Chrome overtakes Firefox as the preferred web browser;
Finance and Economics
State budgets are on the mend; Urgency on debt fades with big issues unsolved;
Study: Immigrants help U.S. economy; New immigration rule change crippling tourism businesses;
Key to government’s monitoring power lies in war, technology; PalTalk: The PRISM company that you may have never heard of;
Bank of America's Surprising Revelation;
Other news
What does rural mean? Uncle Sam has more than a dozen answers;
Most Americans remain ill-informed about personal finances;
House approves measure to have military branches share one camouflage pattern;
Education:
Number Of US College Graduates Rises; The U.S.’s Low Standards for Teacher Training;
Poll: Majority opposes race-based college admissions programs; Report: Diversity in Academe;
Senators Condemn For-Profit Colleges' Use of Military Tuition Aid; New Research Effort Aims to Examine Effectiveness of MOOCs;
7 Courses Finance Students Should Take;
Wis. Governor Rescinds Nomination of Regent Who Signed Recall Petition;
NCAA Bars 18 Teams From Postseason Play for Poor Academic Progress; Fixing the NCAA's Quandary on Historically Black Colleges;
Academic Advisers for Athletics Grapple With UNC Controversy; Recording: Rutgers Coach Treated Players as 'Slaves';
6/7/13
TechNews for the week: June 7; June 5; June 3;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Russian, Iranian technology is boosting Assad’s assault on rebels; Syrian rebels, army battle near Israel crossing in Golan Heights;
In Syria, a high-stakes game that Hezbollah cannot afford to lose; Lebanese militants help Syrian forces recapture key border town;
The U.S. has tragically misplayed Syria; Turkish protesters decry 'unprecedented violence'; U.S. Blacklists 37 Companies in Iran Dispute;
Egypt’s highest court rules legislature was illegally elected;
In Afghanistan, engineer-turned-militia leader takes on the Taliban;
Chinese Official Claims Evidence of U.S. Hacking;
Plan to shut military supermarkets shows difficulty of cutting defense spending; Small veterans group advocates for military spending cuts;
U.S. military chiefs balk at taking sex-assault cases out of commanders’ hands;
In recess appointments case, Supreme Court looks at an article of the Constitution: ‘the’; A damning dissent: Scalia’s dissent for the ages in the DNA case;
White House threatens veto of spending bills; Obama’s frosty relationship with Congress bodes ill; Congress up in the air about losing nonstop flights;
Who to Blame in Congress for Authorizing Government Spying;
Republican divisions over Medicaid expansion deepen further; 2 states paint varied portraits on premiums as health law rolls out;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
U.S. government secretly collecting data on millions of Verizon users; White House defends snooping of Verizon phone records;
NSA 'top secret' spying order affects millions of Americans; Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge;
The Security Risks of Unregulated Google Search;
Good Article on How Easy it Is to Crack Passwords;
You Can’t Ban Guns at the Public Pool;
Math and science
Bell Labs Develops Lensless Camera; Start-Up Develops Software That Connects Internet To Home Appliances;
Predicting when and where hurricanes will strike;
Mystery deepens on how genetically modified U.S. wheat landed in field;
Recognizing the Signs, Symptoms of Overtraining;
Web and Computing issues
Five apps to convert video to support mobile devices;
Microsoft's Windows XP is still kickin' -- do you use it?;
LinkedIn: When To Say No To Connecting; Yahoo Updates Mail, Adds Google-Like Scanning for Better Ads;
SC Politics
SC Senators: Ethics dead for the year; gun proposals die in legislative session’s final days;
The Story Behind Drum Island’s Piles Of Dirt; Numbers show S.C. still has a long way to go;
Boeing To Diversify Engineering Base;
Finance and Economics
U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in May; unemployment rate at 7.6 percent; Treasury yields near 14-month high on jobs, Fed expectations;
Medicare trust fund projected to last until 2026 as health costs drop;
SEC proposes changes to money-market rules; Obama Moves To Curb Patent Lawsuits;
Wells Fargo Breaks Ground on $100 Million Mortgage Expansion;
Reverse Mortgages Are Backfiring on Some Seniors; HSBC Sued For Violating U.S. Foreclosure Law; What’s Up With the Banks?
BP announces new investment plans after Alaska oil tax change; The social cost of carbon is on the rise;
Other news
Study: Paperless statements won't take over any time soon;
Education:
New Blog Will Track Private Equity’s ‘Thirst’ for Education Investments; U.S. Senate Rejects Dueling Bills on Student-Loan Interest Rates;
Study: MOOC Students Who Got Offline Help Scored Higher; Universities and Libraries Envision a ‘Federated System’ for Public Access to Research;
Rise of 'Altmetrics' Revives Questions About How to Measure Impact of Research;
Ohio State’s President Says He'll Retire;
NCAA Recognizes 976 Teams for Academic Excellence;
Judge Tosses Out Challenge to NCAA Penalties Against Penn State;
Many Big Athletics Programs Fail to Protect Themselves From Fickle Recruits;
NCAA Punishes Mississippi State U. for Recruiting Violations in Football; West Point Suspends Rugby Team Over Derogatory E-Mails;
Twelve coaching jobs in 16 years: One last chance; High Coaching Turnover Highlights Racial Inequalities;
Rutgers athletic director, a school’s core values and our national crisis of morality; For Rutgers President, Sports Controversies Open Another Wound;