CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-25 14:45:26 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

It's time to talk about what this is doing to education.
Arguably nothing good. Averages say there are no differences in outcome. Surely there are bright spots. But if you look at this year's report on the best schools, what does it look like? Yeah. I thought so. Nothing stands out after over ten years of churning public investment in favor of private profit.

What I seriously don't understand is why the citizens of New Orleans don't use their school district administrators for something useful like digging ditches.




#studentsfirst   #charterschools   #educationreform   #tcot   #tcot_talk  

2013-05-25 14:15:22 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I totally hate going through 200 new contacts to find 3 people who need to be acknowledged properly.
#googleplus  

2013-05-25 13:17:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

http://planetmaker.wthr.us/

2013-05-24 22:26:41 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Interactions among journalists involved with Climate Change Media Partnership show a useful network in action. http://www.internews.eu/Climate-Change-Media-Partnership/

2013-05-24 21:07:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Progress (or not) in a number of indicators of human life.

2013-05-23 22:57:53 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I found an amazing ebook of graphic designs based on moths! By Ecuadorian artist Belen Mena http://issuu.com/belenmena/docs/pachanga

2013-05-23 21:11:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Cockroaches love sugar. So why do they avoid that sweet, sweet poison we left out for them? 

http://j.mp/13Mresx 

A study in the 24 May issue of Science explains how German cockroaches quickly adapted to sugary manmade traps. 

[IMAGE The head of a German cockroach with hairy appendages capable of sampling tastes from potential food, like this dyed drop of water. CREDIT: Courtesy of Ayako Wada-Katsumata and Andrew Ernst]

2013-05-22 23:57:53 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Got blocked by someone claiming basic research should be abandoned in favor of research on sustainability because I claimed it was already being done and she needs education.
Oh well. +Dan Kahan you will probably say I need to make a slow and careful approach through the tall grass from downwind. :)

My first comment:
Current research is producing advances in quality of life. What makes you think sustainable solutions aren't part of it?

Her next remark was a demand to demonstrate the usefulness of research into particle physics with regard to quality of life.

I then said she needed to read up on the history of basic research. (Blocked at this point)

We know the history of science  is replete with work that has demonstrably improved the quality of human existence. I don't think it's my job to help someone find Wikipedia. The same goes forour... more »

2013-05-22 23:08:43 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Think of the five craziest things you've ever heard said about Barack Obama. Assume that, whatever those things are, they'd provide an adequate casus belli for civil war in the minds of a significant portion of the population.

Now assume, for the purposes of this thought experiment, that two of them are true.  They're not, of course. But comparable things have been true elsewhere: Peru's birthers, for instance, were right about Fujimori, and Iran's conspiracy theorists were right that the Shah's coup was orchestrated by US and British Intelligence. 

Even if something comparable dire were true, if you're generally a supporter of liberal democracy, you will not immediately take up arms. If the government continues to send signals that it's still democratic or that it is willing to return to democratic norms in the near-term future, you are likely to bec... more »

2013-05-21 23:10:16 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

2013-05-21 23:09:14 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told Brian Williams that the older schools were not being retrofitted with tornado shelters. But hastened to add that the new schools all have them.

Way to admit that older neighborhoods occupied by lower income families don't get priority.
#tornado  

2013-05-21 22:50:11 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Fujita Scale for tornados was the child of atomic blast analysis. Fujita calculated backward from destruction to conclude there was one bomb and its yield. This led to the ability to discover the energy in storms.

2013-05-21 22:43:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

The latest issue of Science Signaling is now available

In a packed issue this week, we have Research Articles about estrogen reducing lipid content in the liver, the evolution of G protein signaling, and the mapping of stress response pathways in yeast, as well as a Review on adhesion class G protein-coupled receptors.

Ellis Levin and colleagues used various mice to show that gene expression changes induced by a plasma membrane-localized form of estrogen receptor alpha alter metabolism without the receptor translocating to the nucleus.

Alan Jones, Daisuke Urano, and colleagues performed phylogenetic analyses and in vitro assays to show that G proteins switched from being self-activating to requiring an activating receptor as eukaryotic organisms evolved.

Haiyuan Yu and colleagues compared protein-protein interaction networks involved in the stress response... more »

2013-05-21 22:41:21 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

On TV right now.
Teacher: I prayed. Then I sent a small boy up to the window to see if it was safe.
Nothing like hedging your bets. :D

2013-05-20 23:57:40 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Percussion Pistols, by Pedro Ibarzabal, dated 1842

Today I am studying this pair of early percussion pistols made in Vitoria Spain. They are dated 1842. These beautifully decorated pistols with silver inlay and applied gold must have been made for a very wealthy man. The style is a combination of classic Spanish and what would have been contemporary French / European.

Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spanish: Vitoria, Basque: Gasteiz) is the capital city of the Basque Country, an autonomous community of Spain, with the official status of a nationality. The city has a rich history. The nearby city of Eibar (33 miles) has been a well known manufacture of armaments since the 16th Century.

One lock is marked “Por Pedro” and the other “Ibarzabal”. In other words, made by Pedro Ibarzabal.

The top three facets of the barrel have this text inlaid insilver:... more »

2013-05-20 01:14:31 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

 In January, a firm called Capital Roundtable – which touts itself as “America’s leading conference company for the middle-market private equity community” – held a Master Class called “Private Equity Investing in For-Profit Education Companies.” The conference website noted, “For-profit education is one of the largest U.S. investment markets, currently topping $1.3 trillion in value.” The event was hosted by Harold Levy, a former chancellor of the New York City Schools System who promoted charter proliferation during his tenure. Now he manages Connecticut investment company Palm Ventures. One of the major focuses of the firm involves funneling individual investments into for-profit charter-school related companies.  As a former finance lawyer for Citigroup, Kaplan and Saloman Brothers, Levy is quite the expert on getting rich this way.

2013-05-20 01:10:06 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Need I say more?

2013-05-20 00:34:03 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Gender, power, and MOOCs.

2013-05-20 00:07:30 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Georgia Tech makes a MOOOOVE.

2013-05-18 19:52:01 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

It's North Florida. See someone with brown skin? Report 'em. Mission accomplished. </sarcasm>

2013-05-18 11:53:45 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

There's a very strange internet drama making noise around the US, and it's about my neighbors. I know people in this lawsuit, and I sometimes post on that forum--but luckily I wasn't sucked into this.

It's really bizarre, and unlikely to go anywhere. But the basic issue is that a local forum site (a LiveJournal) with a police report and some chatter has resulted in a guy suing for $5million for defamation and a bunch of other claims.

Here's a pretty detailed look at the status. It's a little bit fun to watch from the bleachers.

2013-05-18 11:44:20 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

It's a no brainer yet it's unbelievable that there are those that will question this. 

2013-05-17 23:30:53 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Thanks +Google+ for letting me know I missed 337 posts between lunch and dinner. Makes me feel soooooo inadequate.
:D

2013-05-17 19:59:50 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

A new poll is out:
A clear majority of adults say they are familiar with the terms DNA and "genetically modified", but half of all adults and young people have never heard of the "human genome".

I weep.

hat tip +GenomeWeb for this story: http://www.genomeweb.com//node/1231411?hq_e=el&hq_m=1583979&hq_l=3&hq_v=42b419f306

Poll itself page below.

2013-05-16 11:19:29 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

South FL Hack for Change is at FAU in Boca Raton.

2013-05-15 21:29:55 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Just did a reboot after 30 days and this thing appears.
Ok. The new interface.
Why change the chicklet icons like "Public" with it's double-ended illustration? Can I get rid of the icons and just have text? That would be nice and modern.
This is going to take me a while to digest.

2013-05-15 21:26:43 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

“My interest is in cultural evolution,” says AAAS Fellow Peter Peregrine, “which is one basic question: Why aren’t all cultures the same? And from that: What explains variations in cultures?” 

His current project involves testing models of physical and biological systems to see if similar patterns occur in cultural evolution over time. http://membercentral.aaas.org/blogs/member-spotlight/peter-peregrine-unravels-cultural-mysteries

2013-05-15 12:20:34 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Colony Collapse Disorder

2013-05-15 00:51:27 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

New York Mayoral candidates agree. Bloomberg's school reforms stink on ice. The paper doesn't agree. Possibly due to brain damage.

2013-05-15 00:27:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

French historic edu-reform perspective.

2013-05-14 23:50:08 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Are you sensitive enough to detect WiFi? Neither was this guy. But that didn't stop him from making an ass out of himself.

2013-05-14 23:02:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

You were expecting maybe something competent? Michael Millikin and the Millikin Family Foundation provide strategic guidance. 

#educationreform   #studentsfirst  

2013-05-14 22:54:40 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

You just can't make this stuff up.

2013-05-14 21:55:40 (1 comments, 5 reshares, 8 +1s)

2013-05-14 21:38:10 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Local political candidate claims she was endorsed by Jesus. Yes, it was on the news. 
DANGER - autoplay video clip. :(

2013-05-13 23:50:42 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 3 +1s)

Want to send some love to Kissinger?
Sentiments from Henry Kissinger:

"It is an act of insanity and national humiliation to have a law prohibiting the President from ordering assassination." - 1975

"The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer." - 1975

"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." - 1973

2013-05-13 20:32:47 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2013-05-12 21:51:54 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Where do they find these people?

2013-05-12 16:14:29 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Worried about "growing disability rolls"? If so, I bet you worry that the world's population will cause the Malthusian trap to spring shut on your foot. ;-)

Since Social Security was enacted, Congress has "reallocated" payroll tax revenues across the OASI and DI trust funds - about equally in both directions - some 11 times to account for demographic shifts. In 1994, the last time such reallocation occurred, SSA actuaries projected that similar action would next be required in 2016. They were right on target.

2013-05-12 16:10:42 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Speaking your mind.

2013-05-07 23:46:45 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

The corporate take-over of America and the dumbing-down of the American population was predicted over 100 years ago. American author Jack London predicted the rise of a corporate oligarchy in America in his seminal work, "The Iron Heel." The book can be downloaded for FREE and is available in many formats. A highly recommended read!

2013-05-07 12:55:34 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

#americanidol  

2013-05-07 01:39:33 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

A while back it occurred to me that democracy is like a user interface for a country, and the representative democracy we have is a flawed user interface for America. So I decided to illustrate this point by literally turning it into a flawed user interface.

(Game requires Chrome or Firefox)

2013-05-04 14:36:41 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Share this if you agree: It's time to fix our broken immigration system. http://wh.gov/zWn7

2013-05-03 00:54:36 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Education and funding.
+Meg Tufano mentioned that money isn't the problem because we spend more than other countries. But I have yet to see a study on it. The argument is familiar, but it is a "reformy" one that used New York schools. I don't think it is an important argument.

Let's look at Florida. I live there. We spend nearly the least on ed and get higher than average results for the US. This leads me to suppose that our effectiveness/productivity has hit a wall of sorts. But if you examine the way the money is spread around, you can see there is unfairness.

Special ed kids cost more to support but schools that are both poor and have special ed populations get the shaft from the state and their districts which are complicit in funding calculations. They say they fund fairly, but Bruce proves they do not. There is a wealth of information here:more »

2013-05-02 00:41:35 (10 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

This problem is impossible to solve. Because Henry doesn't get his music in 1990s ways.

2013-05-01 23:26:23 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

A bit of Florida history. THE F STATE

This is a link to a page in the archive. Nothing special. Chuck Shepherd used to run a compilation of stupid crime stories culled from weeklies all over the state, but because he lives in Tampa, his own state has a special place in the hierarchy of ignorance.

If you're in Tampa, ask an old timer in the office about it. ;-)

2013-05-01 23:12:18 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

This is wrong.

UPDATE 1: There is a petition started on Change.org: http://chn.ge/16oQoU6

UPDATE 2: A followup news article is here: http://bit.ly/ZWk0nF

TL;DR version: Teen does science, it gets messy, she gets expelled and charged as an adult with a felony. If I was rich, I'd get her a lawyer and a private school education. I'm not rich, but if someone sets up an Indiegogo after reaching out to the girl, I'll gladly give.

editorial
According to the linked news article a curious student was doing random science experiments of the "Mix this and see what happens" variety. What she mixed - toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum - had a smoky reaction that exploded a soda bottle. No damage was caused. No one was hurt... unless you take into consideration the girl's future. She was expelled and according to the storyw... more »

2013-05-01 21:53:53 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-05-01 00:46:11 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

OK other states, we beat you to the draw.
Our new state slogan:
FLORIDA, jumping into things before we know it.

I wonder if they'll charge the new unit for using the Sakai installation. Fifteen million seems small.