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.
5/27/16
TechNews for the week: May 27; May 25; May 23;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Isis claims responsibility for Syria coastal bombs; Islamic State drives Syria rebels from near Turkish border; Bombs kill nearly 150 in Syrian government-held cities;
Islamic State Aims to Destroy Israel, 'Liberate' Jerusalem with Sinai Peninsula Terrorist Force;
Shi'ite leader: Final battle for IS-held Falluja will start in days;
Iranian commander warns regime could destroy Israel "in under eight minutes"; Iran's hardliners hit back at reformists with new assembly head;
Ex-prime minister and defense ministers warn Israel is 'infected by the seeds of fascism" and has been taken over by "extremists" ; Is fascism rising in Israel?
Worrisome Politicization of Israel's Military; Netanyahu shifts Israel further right, appoints ultranationalist defence minister;
A Deadly Shooting, a General's Revolt, and the Rise of Israel's New Right; Israeli watchdog Report slams Netanyahu over travel expenses;
Qatar tells forum End Israel's occupation of Palestine;
Afghan Taliban announce successor to Mullah Mansour;
Austrian rightwinger concedes defeat; After Austria election, a look at Europe's rising right-wing parties;
'Urgent' action needed to preserve CIA torture documents;
Supreme Court leaves in place Va. redistricting decision, rejects GOP lawmakers' challenge; Rules Prosecutors Violated The Constitution When Excluding Black Jurors;
House moves to change rules after floor fight; Little middle ground on Capitol Hill from Ohio Congressman;
State Department audit sharply criticizes Clinton's email practices;
For many would-be voters, getting photo ID is a challenge; Damning Revelations In Wisconsin's Voter ID Trial;
Oklahoma governor vetoes bill criminalizing abortion; Wisconsin's state legislative districts are a big Republican gerrymander;
America has moved on, but many still live in a white fantasy land; We must weed out ignorant Americans from the electorate;
Poll: Clinton, Trump both viewed unfavorably by majority of voters;
The new book that details how GOP delegates could wriggle out of nominating Trump (and more!);
Donald Trump signed off deal designed to deprive US of tens of millions of dollars in tax; Donald Trump's Tax Returns: See Them Now or GOP Will Pay Later;
Months after fundraiser, Trump pledges $1 million to veterans' causes;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
Congress is so bad at cybersecurity, two lawmakers sent advice to colleagues; Senate bill would Senate bill would let FBI read your emails without a court order;
FBI wants to keep secret who's stored in its massive biometric database; State Department Proposes Anti-Spying Rule On University Research;
US nuclear force still using 1970s floppy disks warns watchdog; The real reason America controls its nukes with ancient floppy disks;
The Unfalsifiability of Security Claims; Challenges for Explosive Detection;
SWIFT Creates New Security Plan Amid Bank Heists;
Should You Be Allowed to Prevent Drones From Flying Over Your Property;
Companies Not Saving Your Data;
Math and science
5,000-year-old Kurgan tomb of Bronze Age warrior discovered in Istanbul;
Scientist Argues For Ground-Based Search For Killer Asteroids;
Engineers Tout "Chem-Phys Patch" For Monitoring Biochemical Signals;
Study Suggests Data Taken From Car's Internal Computer Can Determine Driver In Minutes;
Web and computing issues
Ex-FCC chief sees no winners in Net neutrality legal battle;
Five free Android apps to help you hit your goals;
SC Politics
S.C. House tacks 'dark money' regulation amendment on income disclosure bill;
Infrastructure Bank board closes the door on I-526 extension; Time runs out on funding plan for I-526 extension ;
In South Carolina, Primary Day often matters more than Election Day; Legislative Turtles Are Enough To Make Some Run For Office;
Finance and Economics
U.S. economic growth revised higher in first quarter; This cartoon explains how the rich got rich and the poor got poor;
China military budget hit by economic slowdown; Seven Chinese companies that will shape the future of the tech industry;
Corporate Japan much more downbeat about escape from deflation;
For First Time Ever, Clean-Energy Jobs Overtake Those In Oil, Natural Gas Extraction;
Burning Of All Fossil Fuels Would Result In "More Profound Climate Changes";
Bakken Pipeline Stalled In Iowa Amid Lawsuits Over Eminent Domain; Possible Native American Site In Iowa May Delay $3.8B Oil Pipeline;
Chemical Industry Pushed For Greater EPA Oversight Amid "Hodgepodge" Of State Rules; Germany's Bayer offers $62 bn for Monsanto;
"Pay-to-stay" Sting Operation Involving Sham College Leads To 21 Indictments;
Apple explores charging stations for electric vehicles;
Has Blackstone Fallen Enough to Start Buying?
Other news
Five financial rules for those beginning a career; How (and) why Athletes Go Broke;
This Is What the Future of American Politics Looks Like;
Estonia's olympic team female marathon runners triplets;
Education:
Regional Publics Cast Wider Nets and Rethink Retention; Many College Payment-Assistance Programs Fail To Help Low-Income Students;
Report: States Are Wrong To Base Higher Education Funding On Performance; Numerous Reforms Needed To Improve Job Prospects For College Grads;
Asian-American Groups Accuse Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale of Bias in Admissions ;
Illinois Colleges See Decline In Applications Amid Funding Concerns; U. of Akron Will Not Rehire 'Success Coaches' for Freshmen;
State Lawmakers Seek to Protect Campus Speech, With Mixed Success;
Everyone's Waiting for Trump's Higher-Education Platform. In the Meantime, Here are Some Clues;
U. of Iowa Cheating Investigation Focuses on Chinese Companies;
Baylor Demotes President and Moves to Fire Football Coach Amid Sex-Assault Controversy ; 5 Damning Findings From the Baylor Investigation;
Ole Miss Admits Former Assistant Football Coach Helped Falsify ACT Scores;
5/20/16
TechNews for the week: May 20; May 18; May 16;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
Islamic State attacks gas plant north of Baghdad;
Forget Sykes-Picot. It's the Treaty of Sevres That Explains the Modern Middle East.; European powers forced artificial borders on more places than the Middle East;
Israel defense minister quits, warns of "extremist" takeover; A Hundred Tiny Hezbollahs; In Israel, It's Not Your Parents' Evangelicals; Israel's villa in the jungle;
With de facto segregation the norm in Israeli schools, outspoken parents and teachers argue for integrated classrooms;
Venezuela president declares emergency, cites U.S., domestic 'threats';
Senate report on CIA torture is one step closer to disappearing;
House erupts into chaos after LGBT protection amendment narrowly fails; Turns Out Benghazi Bad Boy Trey Gowdy Did a Bad Job with His Benghazi;
Supreme Court sends Obamacare contraception case back to lower courts;
Missouri lawmakers passed a sweeping expansion of gun rights;
Brownback signs bill imposing more Kansas welfare restrictions; Kansas budget; orders $97 million in allotment cuts, slashing KU funding;
Koch Brothers Remain Out of the Fray This Campaign Season; Koch network spends big to save Republican Senate;
Ex-Generals March Into Campaign 2016's Political Wars;
Psychologists' research suggests a connection between Obama's skin tone and support for tea party;
Clinton declares victory in Kentucky; Sanders wins Oregon;
Former Pentagon chief: Trump thinks he 'has all the answers';
Trump Doesn't Have Enough Cash To Fund His Own Campaign; Why the tax returns could be Trump's kryptonite; Former Mafia-linked figure describes association with Trump;
Trump once revealed his income tax returns. They showed he didn't pay a cent.;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
May Crypto-Gram Newsletter, encryption, malware and more; Identifying People from Their Metadata;
What to do if hackers hold your computer hostage and demand cash; Researchers Say Click-Fraud Botnet Infects 1 Million Computers;
Judge Sides With Technology Firms in Case Over Justice Department's Gag Orders;
SEC Chair Calls for More Action to Guard Against Cyber Attacks; British Banks Ordered to Increase Cybersecurity;
Newsletters released from secretive National Security Agency;
How to jump out of the TSA security theater line;
FAA Tests FBI Drone-Detection System at JFK Airport;
Defeating a Tamper-Proof Bottle; Primitive Food Crops and Security;
Twitter, Facebook Sued by French Jewish Group Over Hate Speech;
Math and science
We're about to see a mind-blowing demographic shift unprecedented in human history;
How Your Gut Affects Your Mood;
Web and computing issues
Nearly half of Americans no longer use the Internet the way they once did;
Calculating Beta: Portfolio Math For The Average Investor; 9 Free Online Courses To Pump Up Your Big Data, Analytics Skills;
Stop Windows 10 from automatically updating your PC; How to download and install Android N now; Best calendar apps;
How Blockchain Will Disrupt the Higher Education Transcript;
SC Politics
Fix Squishy Candidate Residency Laws;
S.C. senators push for transgender bathroom restrictions for Berkeley students;
Finance and Economics
Millions more workers will be eligible for overtime pay under new federal rule; How Negative Interest Rates Work;
Energy Company Bankruptcies Surge Despite Rising Crude Prices; How Kansas head Basketball Coach pays almost no income taxes;
Beekeepers lost nearly half their colonies in the past year; Science Board Says GM Foods Pose No Health Risks To Humans;
China's Largest Wind Turbine Producers Buys Texas Wind Project; Companies Propose Deep-Ocean Wind Turbines Off Hawaii's Shores;
Social-sciences preprint server snapped up by publishing giant Elsevier;
Germany's Bayer makes unsolicited bid for Monsanto;
Senators Want Study Of Additional Great Lakes Lock Expedited;
Other news
Three Lies Christians Believe;
Why We Have Men's and Women's Bathrooms;
How Republicans embraced Christian morality;
This is how fascism comes to America;
Education:
U.S. Universities Come Out on Top in Country Ranking; On the anniversary of Brown v. Board, new evidence shows that U.S. schools are resegregating;
Girls outscore boys on inaugural national test of technology and engineering skills;
New Graduates Find Better Job Market, But Face Big Student Debt; Foreign Students Outpacing Americans For STEM Graduate Degrees;
Report: College Discounts Increase To Nearly Half Tuition In 2015; For the poor at Ivy League schools, a full ride isn't always what they imagined;
Increased Access To Higher Education Saddling Low-Income Students With Debt; UNC Tuition for $500? State Lawmakers Consider the Possibility at 5 Campuses;
Judge Rules Kentucky Governor Can Unilaterally Cut University Budgets; Facing Budget Cuts, Kentucky Community College System Lays Off 45 Faculty Members;
Burlington College Will Close, Citing Longstanding Financial Woes;
What Obama's Overtime Rule Could Mean for Colleges; Administration Selects Colleges For Dual-Enrollment Pilot Program;
Why Do Politicians Keep Talking About 'Hard-Working' Students?
Converting Courses for Accelerated Summer Sessions;
Among Greek Groups, Efforts to Curb Drinking Have Little Effect;
NCAA Eases Scholarship Restrictions, Raising Concerns Over Competitive Equity; Further Assault Allegations Against Baylor Football Players;
5/13/16
TechNews for the week: May 13; May 11; May 9;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
The Turkish Town In ISIS' Crosshairs; War against ISIS hits hurdles just as the U.S. military gears up; Islamic State bombings mark bloodiest day in Baghdad in months;
Iran's leaders squabble over its Israel missile strike capability; Top Hezbollah commander killed in Damascus blast;
Israel raids hit Gaza as violence flares for fourth day;
Brazil's Rousseff set to bow out after Senate votes to put her on trial; Rodrigo Duterte: The Filipino Trump, Turned Up to 11;
86 countries have drones, 19 of them armed;
Federal judge strikes down Obamacare payments; Death penalty divides Supreme Court after Scalia's death;
Judge finds Arizona sheriff violated court orders in racial profiling case; Alaska Gov. proposes first income tax in 35 years;
History lesson: More Republicans than Democrats supported NAFTA;
Harvard Law Professor Says Treat Conservative Christians Like Nazis;
Donald Trump is floating an insane idea that would tank the American economy; Trumponomics: Leave Your Logic at Home;
Trump: I don't expect to release my tax returns before November; claims 'there's nothing to learn' from his tax returns; Says His Tax Rate Is 'None of Your Business';
Donald Trump's agenda a mystery as interviews contradict position papers; Trump is effectively running to the left of Clinton on many issues;
10 takeaways from the Ryan-Trump confab; Adelson's Trump endorsement; Audio captures Trump masquerading as a publicist to brag about himself;
Experts say Clinton-Trump election could 'scramble' traditional electoral map;
Bernie's Israel-Bashing: How Symptomatic Is It?
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
Panama paper trail goes online with massive searchable database; Panama Papers include dozens of Americans tied to financial fraud;
FCC, FTC Explore Vulnerabilities on Wireless Devices; FTC Investigating Android Patching Practices;
U.S. Security Alert Warns About 6-Year-Old SAP Vulnerability; New Credit Card Scam;
NIST Starts Planning for Post-Quantum Cryptography;
Math and science
John Oliver: Scientific Studies;
Archeologists Clash in Egypt Over King Tut Tomb Theory; 14,550-year-old prehistoric underwater site reveals traces of humans in the Americas;
Sports technology to train your head and body for epic fitness; A new study finds that exercise can also be good for the mind;
Doctors Explain How Hiking Actually Changes Our Brains; Physics Makes Aging Inevitable, Not Biology;
Ingestible "origami" robot could help lessen need for invasive surgeries;
Australian study ties disappearance of 5 Solomon Islands to human-caused climate change;
Hyperloop Company Demonstrates Future Of High-Speed Transit; Researchers Design Algorithm To Spot Galaxies;
Web and computing issues
Souped-up Vivaldi browser nabs nearly a million users;
Republic Wireless snags more phones for cheap Wi-Fi calling;
SC Politics
Charleston church under fire for mass shooting payouts;
The Citadel Won't Allow Student to Wear a Hijab With Her Uniform;
Finance and Economics
U.S. jobless claims rise to more than one-year high; Middle class takes a hit in most US cities; Study: 17.8% Of Young High School Graduates Unemployed;
China's coming debt bust; China Quietly Reforming Oil And Gas Sector;
Portland gave its minimum wage workers a raise. Here's what happened next;
MOODY'S: Normal interest rates are history; Bank of America says Investors dump stocks at fastest rate since August 2011;
Kansas To Halt Clean Power Plan Compliance Work; Ohio renewable energy and efficiency standards could be frozen indefinitely;
Wildfire Shuts Down most of Canada's Oil Sands Production; Proposed oil pipeline secures permissions from landowners In Dakotas;
Amazon, Alphabet In Drone Delivery "Race"; AirMap Signs Up 75 Airports For Its Drone Air Traffic Control System;
Older Drivers Reluctant To Embrace Self-Driving Technologies;
Other news
Professor's airplane math didn't equal airplane threat;
Why Is American Beer So Bland?
Education:
Study: Many Middle, Upper Class Students Taking Remedial Courses; Need For Remedial Courses Can Raise College Costs;
Engineering Students Encouraged To Choose Discipline Early; The Importance of Reflection When Learning Technical Skills;
Early Evidence: The College Scorecard Made a Difference, but Only for Some Groups of Students;
Oregon To Introduce Next Generation Science Standards; The TEDification of the Large Lecture;
Backer of Student Loans Pivots in Push to Reshape Higher Education; Education Department Eases Student Loan Default Rate Concerns For Small Colleges;
Student Debt Problems At Community Colleges Growing; Student-Loan Interest Rates Will Drop Again in 2016-17;
Administration Urges Colleges To Reconsider Questions About Applicants' Criminal Records;
U. of Akron's Financial Outlook Is Downgraded to 'Negative' by Moody's ; University Of Phoenix Shareholders Approve Sale To Private Investors;
Harvard Paid Former Endowment Chief $13.8 Million; George Mason Is Koch's Academic Darling;
West Point launches inquiry into cadets' fists-raised photo; The Army is upset;
5/6/16
TechNews for the week: May 6; May 4; May 2;
War, Politics and Reports (Also, see Finance and Economics)
State of emergency declared in Baghdad after protesters storm parliament; Baghdad chaos throws U.S. plans in Iraq into doubt;
Islamic State militants seize gas field in eastern Syria;
Israel, Hamas and Egypt form unlikely alliance against Islamic State affiliate; Israel-Palestinian tensions return to boiling point;
Israeli justice minister proposes controversial West Bank settlement legislation; Critics slam Israeli proposal for dual legal system;
Jewish American author Chabon takes on Israeli occupation; Top IDF officer compares modern Israel to 1930s Germany in bombshell speech;
US takes tougher tone on Israeli settlements in new report;
Iranian commander threatens to close Strait of Hormuz to US;
Turkey's prime minister resigns amid rift with Erdogan; Proposed Sale of Russian Fighters to Pakistan Would Threaten India Ties;
Conservatives in Congress urge shutdown of tax-collecting IRS;
Justice Dept. says North Carolina's bathroom law violates the Civil Rights Act;
Kansas legislators approve plan for balancing state budget; Brownback predicts 'a lot of financial strain that's going to be continuing' for Kansas;
The GOP has a massive problem that has nothing to do with Trump; House Speaker Ryan 'not ready' to back Trump, deepening GOP divide;
Why the outcome of the 2016 election is already crystal clear; US election polling: Donald Trump now beating Hillary Clinton in head-to-head race;
Trump will soon get briefings from U.S. spy agencies. It might not go well;
Math, science and technology:
Security issues
Comments on the Feinstein-Burr Bill;
Google Patches 40 Android Flaws in May Update; Ransomware's growing threat to Android; Credential Stealing as an Attack Vector;
Facebook's newest privacy problem: 'Faceprint' data;
Hacker Claims He Accessed Clinton's Email Server;
Math and science
6 maps that will make you rethink the world;
After 4,600 years, we can finally see deep inside Egypt's mysterious pyramids; Captain James Cook's centuries-old ship discovered in Newport Harbor;
Geologists Find Clues In Crater Left By Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid; Hubble Telescope captures unprecedented view of Milky Way's 'galactic core';
IBM Launches Online User-Friendly Quantum Computing Simulator;
Why the weight loss study everyone has been sharing is misleading;
Web and computing issues
5 settings every new Android owner should change; Send documents over WhatsApp or Telegram;
9 Detachable Tablets To Replace Your PC;
SC Politics
Bills borrowing for schools, roads meet crossover deadline; How South Carolina's guns end up in the hands of out-of-state criminals;
North Charleston one of the most dangerous cities in America;
The Citadel's Confederate flag came down quietly, years before current debate;
Finance and Economics
U.S. added 160,000 jobs in April; jobless rate remained unchanged at 5 percent; World Bank says The biggest threat of climate change is to the water supply;
Puerto Rico Headed For Default As Congress Tackles Relief Plan;
Medical errors now third leading cause of death in United States; These states top the list of financial disasters;
Climate Change Destroying South Florida Reefs Faster Than Expected; Republican-led States Benefiting From Shift To Renewables;
Poll: Most Americans Have Not Heard Of Clean Power Plan; States Suing Over Clean Power Plan Still Cutting Coal Use;
Wind Power Could Reduce Costs Of Offshore Oil Production; Colorado Supreme Court Strikes Down Local Bans On Fracking;
Digital Farming Could Shake Up Agrichemicals; Report: Internet Of Things Could Increase Ag Productivity 70%;
Government, Scientists, Industry Working To Determine Autonomous Vehicle Regulation; Google, Fiat Chrysler Partner For Autonomous Vehicles' Development;
Haliburton, Baker Hughes merger called off;
Missouri lawmaker sneaks broadband provision into traffic bill;
Other news
Hospital discharge: It's one of the most dangerous periods for patients;
Why Are Highly Educated Americans Getting More Liberal?
Why You Can't Trust Yourself;
Education:
Should Everyone Go to College? A Lesson From South Korea: When Everyone Goes to College;
How the U. of Maine Attracted More Students From Out of State; What Does Work Add to the Learning Environment;
Small Liberal Arts Colleges "Under Financial Siege"; At Chicago State, 'Utter Insecurity' Prevails After Hundreds Are Laid Off;
Texas University Students Struggle To Get Dual-Credit Courses Accepted; U. of Illinois Students Will Be Required to Take Course on Minority Culture;
George Mason Faculty Demands Review of University's Agreements With Donors; U. of California Regent Violated Ethics Policy but Kept Board Seat;
Judge Blocks Troubled Accreditor From Sanctioning For-Profit; Corinthian Colleges' Downfall Reveals Problems In Accreditation System;
Texas A&M Building New Research Campus;