Tidbits on October 26, 2009
Bob Jensen
The White
Mountains of New Hampshire from our living room
The
hydrangea
bush alongside our driveway goes from
summer white to autumn pink to winter rust
Erika bringing in the mail
The little waterfall in our pond
Our Bull Frog Clyde (before the
crows ate him)
Erika in the Bedroom
The Green Mountains of Vermont from our bedroom
Our clemitus blooms were huge this
year and Erika's domestic roses were spectacular
Erika's Roses
At first I placed the Japanese
beetle trap next to the roses
Until Mike at the hardware store said the trap should be at least 100 feet away
I trapped thousands of Japanese beetles over the summer in just three traps
I mean it was World War II all over again on Sunset Hill Road
Yellow Bidens, Verbena, and Snap Dragons
This is our back mountain road (Lafayette Road)
You don't want to drop a wheel off the edge
Trucks are not allowed on this road
And we do not use this road in the wintertime
Our good friends Lon and Nancy are building a new home on this road
This summer they added a Chinese girl and her brother (Yani and Tad) to their
family of two daughters
Lon and Nancy own and manage the
nearby Sunset Hill House Hotel
This picture was taken from their golf course that borders our south field
We had dinner there last evening with our good friend and former tax professor
Will Yancey
He was our house guest last night on his return to Maine from Dartmouth
College’s homecoming
Will and his wife have a summer home in Maine on the ocean and a winter home in
Dallas
Fun Halloween Pictures
Here are a few
links to my view pictures:
Sunrises ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080904.htm
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090817.htm
Autumn ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080925.htm
Also
see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090924.htm
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits091005.htm
Springtime
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090603.htm
Summertime
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090702.htm
Ducks on the
Golf Course ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090714.htm
Inside the
Cottage ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090723.htm
Ice ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080219.htm
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090504.htm
Wind ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits071206.htm
Snow ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070409.htm
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090210.htm
Rainbows ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits091015.htm
Erika's Flowers of the Field ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080625.htm
Wild Cranberries ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090509.htm
Wild Birds ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090526.htm
Erika's Domestic Roses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits091026.htm
Our Wild Roses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090807.htm
Phlox (my favorite) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090807.htm
Amaryllis ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080212.htm
More photographs
and history of this area ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Sunset Hill
House Hotel ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080824.htm
Iron Ore ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070924.htm
White
Mountain Intrusion ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits071001.htm
Robert Frost
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070905.htm
Grandpa
Dourte's Champion Draft Horse ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080118.htm
Church
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080916.htm
Bette Davis
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070801.htm
Patti Page
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080715.htm
Bode Miller
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080331.htm
Cannon
Mountain ---
http://www.trinity.edu/%7Erjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits071226.htm
Mittersill
---
http://www.trinity.edu/%7Erjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070515.htm
Mt.
Washington Winds ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits071218.htm
My Walk Down Lovers Lane ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090623.htm
Polly's
Pancake Parlor ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090105.htm
The
Sugar Hill Sampler ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090303.htm
Harman's
Cheese and Country Store ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090115.htm
------------------------
And you
might also look at (Randy Pausch) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080415.htm
Poem
from a Marine to his Dad ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2008/tidbits080801.htm
Stories About Growing Up
·
Short story entitled
My Glimpse of Heaven: What I learned from Max and Gwen
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/max01.htm
·
Short story entitled
Mrs. Applegate's Boarding House (with Navy pictures)
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070723.htm
·
A Year 2000 message of love from my
wife, Erika.
She describes how a Munich street urchin became Cinderella filled with love
and joy ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/erika/xmas00.htm
·
A Year 2001 message of love from my
wife, Erika
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/erika/xmas01.htm
-
-
- I see from my house by the side of the road
- By the side of the highway of life,
- The men who press with the ardor of hope,
- The men who are faint with the strife,
- But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
- Both parts of an infinite plan-
- Let me live in a house by the side of the road
- And be a friend to man.
Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)
For earlier editions of Tidbits go to
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New
Bookmarks go to
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations Between October 16 and October 26,
2009
To Accompany the October 26, 2009 edition of Tidbits
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090926Quotations.htm
U.S. Debt/Deficit Clock ---
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Bob Jensen's universal health care messaging ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm
Tidbits on October 26, 2009
Bob Jensen
For earlier editions of Tidbits go to
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter ---
Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron"
enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and
other universities is at
http://www.searchedu.com/.
Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations
Bob Jensen's Threads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page is at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/
CPA
Examination ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
Cool Search Engines That Are Not
Google ---
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/06/coolsearchengines
World Clock and World Facts ---
http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
U.S. Debt/Deficit Clock ---
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Free Residential and Business Telephone Directory (you must listen to an
opening advertisement) --- dial 800-FREE411 or 800-373-3411
Free Online Telephone Directory ---
http://snipurl.com/411directory [www_public-records-now_com]
Free online 800 telephone numbers ---
http://www.tollfree.att.net/tf.html
Google Free Business Phone Directory --- 800-goog411
To find names addresses from listed phone numbers, go to
www.google.com and read in the phone number without spaces, dashes, or
parens
Cool Search Engines That Are Not
Google ---
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/06/coolsearchengines
Bob Jensen's search helpers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm
Education Technology Search ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm
Distance Education Search ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/crossborder.htm
Search for Listservs, Blogs, and Social Networks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListservRoles.htm
Bob Jensen's essay on the financial crisis bailout's aftermath and an alphabet soup of
appendices can be found at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
The Master List of Free
Online College Courses ---
http://universitiesandcolleges.org/
On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long
and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was
generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My
wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Bob Jensen's blogs and various threads on many topics ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
(Also scroll down to the table at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ )
Global Incident Map ---
http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php
If you want to help our badly injured troops, please check out
Valour-IT: Voice-Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops ---
http://www.valour-it.blogspot.com/
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available
free on the Web.
I created a page that summarizes those various links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Video: Augmented 3-D Sketching ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24253/?nlid=2446&a=f
Bob Jensen's threads on data visualization ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm
Video: The Brain's White Matter (not humor) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=461
Irish Blessing Slide Show ---
http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en#
President Obama's promises as a candidate that were reneged
upon in office
Video: Seven Lies in Two Minutes ---
http://www.theospark.net/2009/09/video-7-lies-in-under-2-minutes.html
The Lost Generation The continuing job crisis is hitting young
people especially hard—damaging both their future and the economy ---
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_42/b4151032038302.htm?link_position=link2
Weather Channel founder wants to sue Al Gore for fraud (and
CNN, MSNBC, and the other Obama media outlets) ---
http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/play.php?id=2212
Hampton Roads Naval Museum ---
http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/
Fun Science Videos
Sixty Symbols ---
http://www.sixtysymbols.com/
South Park spoofs Acorn fraud ---
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/10/15/south_park_spoofs_acorn_video_scandal.html
Free music downloads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Fiddler's Grove ---
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/sfc1/fiddlers/FiddlersGrove.htm
Great Chinese State Circus (Swan Lake) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sMc-p19FIk&feature=related
Bill Haley and the Comets (Dance Video) ---
Click Here
Irish Blessing Slide Show ---
http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en#
Googzilla/Goodzilla (David Albrecht’s terms) Will Soon
Offer Free Music Big Time
Google will soon launch a music service,
we've heard from multiple sources, and the company has spent the last several
weeks securing content for the launch of the service from the major music
labels. One source has referred to the new service as Google Audio. We're still
gathering details, but our understanding is the service will be very different
to the Google China music download service that they
launched in 2008.
That service, which is only available in China,
allows users to search for music and download it for free.
Michael Arrington, Tech Crunch via The
Washington Post, October 21, 2009 ---
Click Here
Jensen Comment
I listen to free music most of the time that I’m on my computer (with occasional
diversions to special programs on NPR).
My favorite free sources, before Googzilla
climbs the broadcasting tower, are as follows:
TheRadio
(my
favorite commercial-free online music site) ---
http://www.theradio.com/
Slacker (my second-favorite commercial-free online music site) ---
http://www.slacker.com/
Pandora (free time per month is generously limited) ---
http://www.pandora.com/
Gerald
Trites likes this international radio site ---
http://www.e-radio.gr/
Songza: Search for a song or band and play the selection ---
http://songza.com/
Also try Jango ---
http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581
Sometimes this old guy prefers the jukebox era (just let it play through) ---
http://www.tropicalglen.com/
And I
listen quite often to Soldiers Radio Live ---
http://www.army.mil/fieldband/pages/listening/bandstand.html
Also note U.S. Army Band recordings ---
http://bands.army.mil/music/default.asp
Web outfits like
Pandora, Foneshow, Stitcher, and Slacker broadcast portable and mobile content
that makes Sirius look overpriced and stodgy ---
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090327_877363.htm?link_position=link2
If you want to download particular
selections, often with video, take a look at the free download music links at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Photographs and Art
Great Pictures from the L.A. Times ---
Click Here
Herbert L. Block Collection ---
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hlbhtml/hlbabt.html
Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills ---
http://www.library.gatech.edu/fulton_bag/
Hampton Roads Naval Museum ---
http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/
Naval History
http://www.naval-history.net/
Rare and Beautiful Books in Biology and Medicine
Turning the Pages Online ---
http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/intro.htm
Nature Milestones ---
http://www.nature.com/milestones/index.html
University of North Texas Digital Collections:
Miniature Book Collection
http://digital.library.unt.edu/browse/department/rarebooks/mnbc/
Free Images from the U.S. Government ---
http://rastervector.com/resources/free/free.html
Irish Blessing Slide Show ---
http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en#
Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History
Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various
types electronic literature available free on the Web.
I created a page that summarizes those various links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
University of North Texas Digital Collections:
Miniature Book Collection
http://digital.library.unt.edu/browse/department/rarebooks/mnbc/
I Know Poe
http://www.iknowpoe.com/
Rare and Beautiful Books in Biology and Medicine
Turning the Pages Online ---
http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/intro.htm
Nature Milestones ---
http://www.nature.com/milestones/index.html
Herbert L. Block Collection ---
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hlbhtml/hlbabt.html
Pittsburgh and Beyond: The Experience of the Jewish Community
---
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/ncjw/
The Association of Jewish Libraries ---
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/
Jewish American Heritage Month
http://www.jewishheritage.gov/index.html
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
"How SuperFreakonomics Gets Climate Engineering Wrong: The new
book Superfreakonomics neglects the real dangers of geoengineering," by Kevin
Bullis, MIT's Technology Review, October 20, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/24274/?nlid=2446
Will classroom clickers be obsolete if each student in class is
online?
October 22, 2009 message from Bill Ellis
[bill.ellis@furman.edu]
http://www.sapweb20.com/blog/powerpoint-twitter-tools/
Here’s new software from a reliable source. I’ve not
tried this yet, but it might have a use in classrooms.
FREE PowerPoint Twitter Tools
Ever wanted to make presentations a more interactive, Web 2.0 experience? A
prototype version of the PowerPoint Twitter Tools is now available for
testing. Created using SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius <http://www.sap.com/solutions/sapbusinessobjects/sme/reporting-dashboarding/index.epx>
(but requiring only PowerPoint for Windows and Adobe
Flash to run), the twitter tools allow presenters to see and react to tweets
in real-time, embedded directly within their presentations, either as a
ticker or refreshable comment page. There are currently six tools:
-
PowerPoint Twitter feedback slide
-
PowerPoint Twitter ticker bar
-
PowerPoint Twitter update bar
-
PowerPoint Twitter voting — bar charts and pie chart
-
PowerPoint Mood meter
-
PowerPoint Crowd meter
Jensen Comment
Thanks for this heads up Bill. For over a decade I taught in an electronic
classroom where each student work station had software that made clickers
unnecessary, although clickers would still be useful for students not having
computers at their seats. The above software does more than most electronic
classroom software to date.
I summarize the history of classroom clickers (response pads) at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#ResponsePads
This includes a previous message from Bill Ellis and reference to an early
adopter back in the 1980s --- our own AECM founder Barry Rice (who by the way
was a very popular old-style ToolBook lecturer when using response pads).
The main advantage of response pads, in my viewpoint, is that they help hold
student attention in a lecture because of fear/anticipation of being called on.
I used an Excel program that not only called on a student at random, it flashed
his/her picture on the screen.
My electronic classroom software could also instantly flash whatever was on
any student’s workstation screen. This prevented students from doing email or
playing computer games in class --- or so I discovered after embarrassing a few
students early on in the course. If a student seemed to be furiously typing an
email message in class, I flipped that student’s screen in front of the class.
Some would begin “Dear Mom.”
Students can write to their moms after class.
Bob Jensen's threads on education technology ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm
Microsoft's Bing search engine gains an edge over Google in the
search wars
"Bing Goes Real-Time with Twitter and Facebook Updates," by
Kristina Grifantini, MIT's Technology Review, October 21, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24283/?nlid=2451&a=f
In two separate, non-exclusive deals, Microsoft
will partner with Facebook and Twitter to show status updates in its search
site, Bing. Microsoft officially announced the deals at the Web 2.0 Summit
today.
While rumors of the Microsoft-Twitter deal have
been circulating for a few weeks, integrating Facebook updates is a surprise
twist, although not entirely unexpected, given
Microsoft's $240 million investment in Facebook two
years ago. Google is said to be in talks with Twitter and Facebook as well.
*(It didn't take Google long to respond. An
official blog post reveals that the company has
also signed a deal to index real-time information from Twitter).
Twitter has been gaining notice as a valuable
source of real-time information. For example, news often breaks on Twitter
before hitting major media outlets and
well
before showing up in search engines. In January
Yahoo announced TweetNews, which ranks Yahoo News
stories based on Twitter posts.
The integration seems to be a win-win situation: social networking sites
will presumably help search engines capture trending news topics more
quickly, while the search engines can offer
needed revenue streams to the social networking sites
and help solidify their legitimacy. It also makes it
harder for businesses to ignore social media: with the integration, having
Facebook and Twitter accounts can also help a company gain prominence in the
much-coveted top spots on search results.
Bing ---
http://www.bing.com/
Bob Jensen's search helpers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm
"Will the Nook (with its MP3 Player) Eat the Kindle's Lunch? The e-reader
marketplace is heating up with the introduction of Barnes & Noble's new device,"
by Stephen Cass, MIT's Technology Review, October 21, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24281/?nlid=2451
U.S. bookseller
Barnes and Noble
sent a shot squarely across the bow of
Amazon
yesterday, with the announcement of the
Nook eReader,
designed to
compete directly with the
Kindle.
The device is built around a 6-inch display
manufactured by E-Ink,
whose
electronic paper technology can be found in most
e-readers today, including the Kindle. To differentiate itself from the
competition, the Nook also sports a 3.5-inch color LCD touchscreen beneath
the E-Ink display. Readers can use the touchscreen to browse their
libraries, purchase books from Barnes & Noble's ebook store (connecting via
a 3G or WiFi network), or annotate books using a touch keyboard similar to
the
iPhone's.
The introduction of the color display may also
signal a certain impatience among users and device makers with E-Ink, which
has been working on bringing color electronic paper to the market for
years.
The big selling points of E-Ink's technology is that
it provides large low-power displays economically that are easier to read
than conventional displays. But the success of the iPhone and iPod Touch,
which require frequent recharging, suggests that consumers will happily
trade some battery life for more features, and are willing to spend hours
viewing LCD screens, if the popularity of watching TV and movies on Apple's
mobile devices is any indication.
Not only could E-Ink face a challange from
conventional mid-size LCD displays in e-readers, but other technologies are
also nipping at their heels--Pixel
Qi is in early production of a low-power
laptop display that, like E-Ink's displays, is
easily readible even in the bright outdoors, while
other companies, such as
Qualcomm,
are targetting the e-reader market with their
alternative electronic paper technologies. "The
e-reader market is accelerating quickly--this is one of the fastest growing
segments the consumer electronics and mobile industries has seen in quite
some time...most importantly consumers will be looking for color, multimedia
capabilities and extended battery life from these devices," says Jim Cathey,
a VP of Business Development for Qualcomm. If E-Ink can't deliver some of
these color and multimedia capabilities soon, it may risk getting squeezed
out of a market that it played a large part in creating.
Getting back to the Nook, it uses the
Android
operating system, although users cannot download and
install 3rd
party Android applications. However, William
Lynch, president of Barnes & Noble's website, says that "in the future,
putting out a [software development kit] and a developer environment would
be something exciting for us."
The Nook also has an MP3 player for music and audio
books, but does not offer a built-in text-to-speech function (as does the
Kindle). Barnes & Noble claims to have rejected text-to-speech technology
because, according to Lynch: "we don't think the technology works well
today. The only features that we've included in the Nook are features that
we thought delivered a really elegant consumer experience...we think [other
devices have] a fairly clumsy execution and the technology doesn't quite
deliver a great experience." But this explanation carefully avoids the issue
of, say, visually impaired consumers who might prefer even a clumsy and
inelegant reading experience over no reading experience. Given that Apple,
for example, has had to publicly
bow to legal pressure to make their
software and
devices more accessible, it's probably only a
matter of time before this feature comes to the Nook.
And even though Barnes & Noble is clearly making a
major brand investment in the Nook, it's not placing all its eggs in one
basket, having signed deals with e-reader makers
Plastic Logic
and
IREX to provide content and handle transactions
for their devices through Barnes & Noble's eBook store. The company also
doesn't want readers to abandon its bricks-and-morter stores either, with a
clever use of the Nook's wireless connectivity. Consumers who bring their
Nooks into a Barnes and Noble store can use the WiFi connection to avail of
special deals, as well as being able to read any ebook for free while
onsite, just as if they had pulled it off a bookshelf.
For me, I'm waiting with interest to see two
things. First, whether or not hackers will break open the Nook's Android
platform, much as the iPhone has been
hacked, and what things they will do with it if
they do. Second, the response that the Nook will provoke from Amazon in the
form of the next version of the Kindle. The pace of eReader development is
certainly accelerating, and how the burgeoning technology will affect book
and magazine publishing could be huge.
Jensen Comment
Google is in the eBook market with options that use computers as readers or
specialized readers. Apple will soon have a new multimedia reader tablet. And
Kindle is on the verge of producing a new multimedia Kindle. And Sony is still
in there with its reader along with several other older competitors.
New Books Downloaded Directly Into Your Laptop
All along I've claimed that the best electronic book reader will be a laptop
computer (or giant screen HDTV) that requires no special reader. Now Amazon is
selling software that will do just that so that you have all your computer's
multimedia capabilities and only have to lug one machine when on the road. Also
can you imagine having a computer projection on the ceiling so that persons
confined to bed can read books on the ceiling --- beats a skylight.
An advantage of using your computer for reading books is that you can buy
huge monitors for ease of reading books. Also a Kindle reader holds up to 1,500
(non-multimedia) books, but your computer with over 100 Gb of hard drive will
hold many more books, including multimedia books and newspapers.
An advantage of Amazon over some other electronic book readers to date lies
in having more new books available for downloading (not free of course) than
competitors. This may only be a short-term advantage.
Kindle for PC --- No Amazon link on October 23, 2009 but it will soon have a
purchase link on Amazon
"Amazon to release free Kindle software for PC," MIT's Technology
Review, October 22, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/wire/23794/?nlid=2455&a=f
Amazon.com Inc. is trying to get more people to buy
the electronic books that are compatible with its Kindle gadget by offering
free software for people to read them on a computer.
The Seattle-based online retailer said Thursday that it will release an
application called "Kindle for PC" in November. It will let you buy,
download and read Kindle books on a Windows-based PC, regardless of whether
you own a Kindle.
If you also own a Kindle, you can see any notes or highlights made on the
e-reader.
Amazon will also keep track of where you are in a book, so you can stop
reading on your PC and pick up at the same place on your Kindle.
If you're running Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 7 operating system and have
a touch screen on your computer, you can zoom in on book pages by pinching
your fingers. In the future, Amazon said, you'll be able to turn pages by
swiping a finger across the screen.
The company already offers a similar application for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and
iPod Touch that lets users read Kindle books whether or not they own the
device.
Amazon is facing a rising tide of competition in the e-reader market from
companies like Sony Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc. Sony already offers
several e-readers, and both companies plan to release wireless-enabled
devices soon that, like the Kindle, will be able to download books straight
to them. Making Kindle books available to consumers who don't want to buy a
dedicated reading device may provide another stream of revenue.
Also Thursday, Amazon said that it lowered the price of its newest Kindle by
$20, to $259, matching the cost of a U.S.-only device that it is
discontinuing. The new version has wireless access that works around the
world, replacing a model that worked only in the U.S.
Just two weeks ago, when it introduced the international Kindle, Amazon cut
prices for the U.S. version by $40, to $259.
The company still sells a larger-screen version of the Kindle called the DX
for $489.
There will also be a Kindle software download
for Mac computers ---
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10381272-1.html
You can read more about the competitors (Sony, Barnes and Noble Nook,
Google eBooks, Apple Tablet eReader, QVC Cool-er, etc.) and their histories in the
electronic book market in my threads at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ebooks.htm
Godzilla Makes Another Move Toward eBooks (Electronic Books)
"Google to launch platform for selling books online," MIT's Technology
Review, October 15, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/wire/23752/?nlid=2436&a=f
Google Inc. is launching a new online service that
will let readers buy electronic versions of books and read them on such
gadgets as cell
phones, laptops and possibly e-book devices.
The company said Google Editions marks its first
effort to earn revenue from its Google Books scanning project, which
attempts to make millions of printed books available online. Although the
scanning program has faced complaints from authors and publishers over
copyright, Google Editions will cover only books submitted and approved by
the copyright holders when it launches next year.
It's part of an ambitious plan that Google first
publicly discussed several months ago at a book conference in New York.
By the time Google Editions makes its debut, the
Internet search leader hopes to have an even larger selection of digital
books available as part of a legal settlement with authors and publishers.
The year-old settlement still requires U.S. court approval and is being
revised to address the U.S. Justice Department's worries that the
arrangement could be abused to drive up the prices for electronic books.
The books bought through Google Editions will be
accessible on any device that has a Web browser, including smart phones,
netbooks and personal computers and laptops, putting Google in competition
with Amazon.com Inc. and its Kindle e-book reader.
Consumers can buy directly from Google or from any
number of online booksellers and other retail partners using the Google
Editions platform. Google will actually host the e-books and make them
searchable.
"We expect the majority will go to retail partners,
not to Google," Tom Turvey, head of Google Book Search's publisher
partnership program, said Thursday at the 61st Frankfurt Book Fair. "We are
a wholesaler, a book distributor."
Many publishers have been unhappy that Amazon and
others have been charging just $10 for most e-books, a price that could hurt
sales the more expensive hardcover. Google said publishers will get to set
prices under its system.
Publishers will get nearly two-thirds of revenue
for direct sales by Google. When a retail partner is involved, publishers
will get 45 percent, with the retailer getting a "vast majority" of the
rest.
Electronic books are gaining in popularity, led in
part by devices like Amazon's Kindle and Sony Corp.'s new Reader Pocket
Edition. Publishers estimate the size of the e-book market at anywhere from
1 percent to 5 percent of total sales, but it is growing quickly.
Sony's eBook Store includes more than 100,000
books, as well as a million free public-domain books available from Google.
The Kindle Store currently has more than 330,000 available titles.
Turvey expects Google's program will start with
400,000 to 600,000 books in the first half of 2010. Google has made digital
copies of 10 million books in the past five years, but can only show
snippets from most of them because of copyright restrictions.
Books bought through Google Editions will be stored
on the device and readable without a live Internet connection.
Bob Jensen's threads on electronic book readers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ebooks.htm
"Teacher Training Termed Mediocre,"
by Jennifer Medina, The New York Times, October 22, 2009 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/education/23teachers.html?_r=1&hpw
Calling scores of education school programs
“mediocre,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Thursday implored
universities to significantly change the way they prepare teachers to run
classrooms, saying a “revolutionary change” was needed to train as many as
one million new teachers in five years.
During a speech at Columbia University’s Teachers
College, Mr. Duncan said that too often the schools of education were simply
seen as a “cash cow” for universities, because they are relatively
inexpensive to run and have high enrollment.
“By almost any standard, many if not most of the
nation’s 1,450 schools, colleges and departments of education are doing a
mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st-century
classroom,” he said.
Mr. Duncan said that he had met hundreds of
teachers who complained that they did not get enough practical training with
classroom behaviors, particularly with poor students.
A report by a former president of Teachers College,
Arthur Levine, found that roughly 60 percent of education school alumni said
that their programs did not prepare them to teach.
The debate over teacher education is particularly
loud in New York City, which has a number of schools.
Mr. Duncan noted that more than half of the
country’s teachers are trained at colleges of education and only a fraction
come through alternative programs such as Teach for America. But
nontraditional programs have continued to grow in New York City; roughly a
third of the teachers hired in 2008 came through Teach for America and the
city’s Teaching Fellows program, which places rookie teachers in high-needs
schools.
David M. Steiner, the new state education
commissioner, was previously dean of the education school at Hunter College,
and has made similar critiques of traditional training programs. When he was
appointed in July, he said the fact that the state’s licensing exam had a
pass rate of more than 90 percent showed that the bar was too low.
While Mr. Duncan was generally critical, he was
careful to praise programs at some education schools, including Teachers
College, that require intense practical training.
"New Critique of Teacher Ed," by Elia Powers, Inside Higher Ed,
September 29, 2006 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/19/teachered
Bob Jensen's threads on the need for teacher education reform are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#TeacherEd
Education doctoral programs in need serious reform according the the
Carnegie Commission ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#DoctoralProgramChange
FBI Arrest in What Appears to Be the World's Largest Case Involving
Insider Information
More and more keeps coming out, including revelations of wiretapping
"8 trades the insiders allegedly made The government's case against the
Galleon crew includes transactions in companies like Google, AMD, Hilton and
Sun," by Michael Copeland, Fortune, October 19, 2009 ---
Click Here
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/19/markets/insider_trading_arrests.fortune/?postversion=2009101912
The government's case in what it is calling the
largest insider trading case involving a U.S. hedge fund contains a detailed
list of trades involving household-name companies.
Investigators have pieced together a case that
alleges more than $25 million in illegal gains based on trading in 2006-09
on companies including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Fortune 500), Akamai (AKAM),
Clearwire (CLWR), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), Hilton, Polycom (PLCM) and Sun
Microsystems (JAVA, Fortune 500), among others.
The six people charged include hedge fund
billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of Galleon Group; Robert Moffat, IBM's
(IBM, Fortune 500) top hardware executive and an oft-discussed CEO
candidate; Mark Curland and Danielle Chiesi, executives of the hedge fund
New Castle Partners; Anil Kumar, a director at consulting firm McKinsey &
Co.; and Rajiv Goel, an executive in Intel's treasury department.
Just what did they allegedly do? Using information
gleaned from wiretapped conversations between the accused and others, along
with the statements of an apparent informant, SEC investigators have pieced
together a series of episodes alleging to show how the defendants used
inside information and well-timed trades to turn million-dollar profits.
Those charged have yet to enter pleas in the case.
Jim Waldman, a lawyer for Rajaratman, told the Wall Street Journal that the
hedge fund chief "is innocent. We're going to fight the charges." Lawyers
for some of the other accused said their clients are shocked by the charges
and deny wrongdoing.
What follows is a condensed account of eight major
trades the suspects made and the inside information they capitalized on,
according to the the SEC investigation and complaint. At the center of some
of the trades is an unnamed "Tipper A," a person who gathered a great deal
of information on companies for Rajaratnam, and whose identity presumably
will be made public as the case unfolds in court.
Polycom beats the Street
On Jan. 10, 2006, the
unnamed source identified in the SEC's complaint as "Tipper A" told
Galleon's Rajaratnam that, based on information received from a Polycom
insider, revenues at the video-conferencing company for the fourth-quarter
of 2005 were about to beat Wall Street estimates. Polycom was set to
announce its earnings more than two weeks later.
Rajaratnam sent an
instant message to his trader instructing him to "buy 60 [thousand shares]
PLCM" for certain Galleon Tech funds. All told, from Jan. 10 through Jan.
25, the date of the Polycom earnings release, Rajaratnam and Galleon bought
245,000 shares of Polycom and 500 Polycom call-option contracts. Polycom did
beat the Street, and collectively, the Galleon Tech funds made over $570,000
in connection with their Polycom trades based on Tipper A's tip.
The same scenario was
repeated for Polycom's first-quarter 2006 earnings, the complaint says.
Galleon made $165,000 on the information. Tipper A made $22,000.
The Hilton takeover
Tipper A allegedly
obtained confidential information in advance of a July 3, 2007, announcement
that a private equity group would be buying Hilton for $47.50 per share, a
premium of $11.45 over the July 3 closing price. Tipper A obtained the
information from an analyst who, at the time, was working at Moody's, a
rating agency that was evaluating Hilton's debt in connection with the
planned buyout. Tipper A bought call option contracts based on the
information, and passed on the tip to Rajaratnam.
On July 3, Rajaratnam and
Galleon bought 400,000 shares of Hilton in the Galleon Tech funds. That
evening, the Hilton transaction was announced. Tipper A sold all of the
Hilton call option contracts for a profit of more than $630,000, the
complaint says. To compensate the source for the Hilton tip, Tipper A paid
the source $10,000. The Galleon Tech funds sold their Hilton shares after
the July 3 announcement for a profit of more than $4 million.
Google Misses
Around July 10, 2007, a
PR consultant to Google allegedly told Tipper A that Google's second-quarter
earnings per share would be down about 25 cents. The Street had estimated
yet another strong quarter for the search giant, which was scheduled to
report earnings July 19.
Two days later Tipper A
bought put options in Google and passed along details of the pending Google
miss to Rajaratnam. He and Galleon began buying Google put options for the
Galleon Tech funds, and continued buying them through July 19. In addition,
Galleon funds bought other options betting on a fall in Google shares and
sold short Google stock beginning July 17.
On July 19, Google
announced its earnings results, disclosing that its earnings-per-share was
indeed 25 cents lower than the prior quarter. Google's share price fell from
over $548 per share to almost $520 per share. The Galleon Tech funds'
profits from the Google tip were almost $8 million. Tipper A sold all of the
put options the day after the July 19 announcement for a profit of over
$500,000.
Trading in Intel
Rajaratnam allegedly tapped former Wharton classmate
and Intel executive Rajiv Goel just before Intel's (INTL)
scheduled fourth-quarter 2006 earnings announcement to get inside
information on the world's largest chipmaker. On Jan. 8, 2007, Rajaratnam
contacted Intel's Goel. The next day, Rajaratnam bought 1 million shares of
Intel at $21.08 per share. On Jan, 11, he bought 500,000 more at $21.65 per
share.
Goel and Rajaratnam
communicated again multiple times over the Martin Luther King Day weekend
that followed. On Tuesday, Jan. 16, the day the markets reopened, Rajaratnam
reversed course, selling the Galleon Tech funds' entire 1.5 million share
long position in Intel at $22.03 per share, and making a profit of a little
over $1 million
Later that day, after the
markets closed, Intel released its fourth-quarter 2006 earnings. Although
the company's earnings beat analysts' projections, its guidance was below
expectations. Intel's stock price fell nearly 5% on the news, but Rajaratnam
was already out of the stock.
According to Intel
officials, Goel has been placed on administrative leave pending the court
case.
Clearwire Gets a Partner
In early February 2008, Goel allegedly tipped
Rajaratnam that there was a pending joint venture between wireless broadband
company Clearwire and Sprint (S,
Fortune 500). Intel
was a huge shareholder in Clearwire. Over the next three months, Galleon
Tech funds bought and sold Clearwire shares on three occasions. Each time,
the Galleon Tech funds traded in advance of news reports relating to the
deal between Clearwire and Sprint, and shortly after calls between Goel and
Rajaratnam. Overall, the Galleon Tech funds realized gains of about $780,000
on their Clearwire trading between February and May 2008. On May 8, the
joint venture between Sprint and Clearwire was publicly announced.
As payback for Goel's
tips, Rajaratnam (or someone acting on his behalf) executed trades in Goel's
personal brokerage account based on inside information concerning Hilton and
PeopleSupport (the government notes that a Galleon director sits on the
PeopleSupport's board of directors though no charges of wrongdoing have been
brought against that person), which resulted in nearly $250,000 in profits
for Goel.
Shorting Akamai
Another hedge fund
executive, New Castle's Danielle Chiesi, is an acquaintance of Rajaratnam.
When an Akamai executive told her that the Internet infrastructure company
would trend lower in the company's second-quarter 2008 guidance to
investors, the government claims she passed along the information to
Rajaratnam. The consensus among Akamai's management was that Akamai's stock
price would decline in the wake of the lowered guidance scheduled for July
30.
Chiesi and the Akamai
source spoke multiple times between July 2 and July 24. Chiesi told what she
had learned from the Akamai source to her colleague at New Castle, Mark
Kurland. On July 25, several New Castle funds took short positions in Akamai
shares. The positions grew through July 30. Rajaratnam's Galleon funds also
built up a short position during the same period.
In its second-quarter
2008 earnings announcement on July 30, Akamai's results disappointed
investors. The stock fell nearly 20% following the announcement. New Castle
made $2.4 million. The Galleon Tech funds took home more than $3.2 million.
IBM knows Sun
In January 2009, IBM was conducting due diligence on Sun Microsystems in
preparation for an offer to buy it (Sun was ultimately bought by Oracle (ORCL,
Fortune 500)).
As part of that process, Sun opened its books to IBM, providing its
second-quarter 2009 results in advance of the scheduled Jan. 27
announcement.
Because much of Sun's
business is hardware, IBM's top hardware executive Robert Moffat was
involved in the evaluation of Sun. Moffat allegedly had access to Sun's
earnings results. He and Chiesi were also friends and contacted each other
repeatedly during January 2009. The frequency of contact between the two
increased just prior to the Sun earnings release, investigators say.
On Jan. 26, New Castle
began acquiring a substantial long position in Sun. On Jan. 27, after the
market close, Sun reported earnings that exceeded Wall Street's estimates,
posting a two-cent per-share profit when analysts had expected a loss. Sun
shares soared 21% on the news. New Castle made almost $1 million.
AMD gets out of manufacturing
On June 1, 2008, McKinsey
& Co. began advising Advanced Micro Devices over its negotiations with two
Abu Dhabi sovereign entities. One, a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi
government, Advanced Technology Investment Co., would take over AMD's chip
manufacturing. The other, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala
Investment Co., would provide a large investment in AMD (in the end, it
would total $314 million). According to the SEC, Anil Kumar was one of the
McKinsey team briefed on the negotiations. Kumar also knew Rajaratnam.
On Aug. 14, Kumar learned
that the two deals were finally getting done. The next day he told
Rajaratnam, investigators say. Almost immediately, Rajaratnam and Galleon
increased their long position in AMD by buying more than 2.5 million shares
in Galleon funds and continuing to build their long position until just
before the announcement of the AMD transactions. Rajaratnam and Galleon
bought 4 million AMD shares on Sept. 25 and 26, and 1.65 million more on
Oct. 3. On Oct. 8, the deals were announced publicly. AMD's stock price
increased by about 25%. All told, the value of Galleon's entire position in
AMD increased approximately $9.5 million in Oct. 6-7.
However, the allegedly ill-gotten gain was wiped out by the financial crisis
of the time. Because the Galleon Tech funds had accumulated much of their
AMD position beginning in August, before the crisis sent stock prices,
including AMD's, tumbling in September and October, the funds lost money on
the overall trade
The Deep Shah Insiders Leak at Moody's: What $10,000 Bought
Leaks such as this are probably impossible to stop
What disturbs me is that the Blackstone Group would exploit investors based up
such leaks
"Moody's Analysts Are Warned to Keep Secrets," by Serena Ing, The Wall
Street Journal, October 20, 2009 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125599951161895543.html?mod=article-outset-box
Bob Jensen's fraud updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Rotten to the Core ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm
This tutorial includes how to edit video in Windows 7
"Manage All Your Media in Windows 7 From online streaming to all-new library
controls, here's how to get more out of Windows 7's new multimedia features,"
by Zack Stem, PC World via The Washington Post, October 22, 2009
---
Click Here
http://snipurl.com/windows7multimedia [www_washingtonpost_com]
Whether you're leaping directly from
Windows XP to Windows 7 or you stopped in Vista territory along the way,
you'll find that the latest version of Microsoft's operating system handles
media files in several new ways. The methods for photo and video importing,
editing, and exporting have been all updated. You have new options for
sharing and streaming files between computers. And media libraries become
more-versatile vessels for finding and managing media files. I'll explain
how to get started with these and other entertainment features of Windows 7
Check Out the Libraries
Windows 7 manages media files differently
than previous Windows OSs did. It retains the familiar Pictures, Videos,
Music, and Documents folders, but you can assign additional library
locations in order to collect your media files more dynamically.
The libraries in Windows 7 organize file
types to help applications find media more easily. By default, programs look
to the Pictures, Videos, Music, and Documents folders instead of having to
scrutinize your whole disk. Windows XP and Vista tied media libraries to
those specific folder locations. For example, Windows Media Player watched
vigilantly over C:\Users\[username]\Music. Then, anytime you added new audio
files to that folder, Media Player showed them in your music library. If you
wanted Media Player to look for media in other areas--say, in the iTunes
music folder or in another user's music library--you had to add the new
locations manually within the program.
In Windows 7, the Pictures, Videos, Music,
and Documents folders are not the only doors into those libraries; you can
add any other disk location you like, and library-savvy applications will
automatically pool media wherever it's stored.
Add Libraries
Instead of manually curating media in the
traditional user folders, you can turn any folder into a library.
Applications will know where to find media, and you can keep your computer
organized in whatever way you want.
For example, you can turn a networked
folder into an auxiliary library, or even pool music files from a different
user on the same PC. Or transform your Downloads folder into a library,
instantly putting MP3 and video downloads into media applications. Here's
how (the process is the same for any of these situations).
Open the Start Menu, and click your
username. Open the Downloads folder, and pick Include in library, Music.
Then select Include in library, Movies. Henceforth, without your having to
open them immediately after downloading them, your PC will automatically
slurp music and movie files into Windows Media Player.
To remove the library status of a folder,
open a window in the desktop and then navigate to that library folder in the
left pane. In our case, the menu path is Libraries, Music, Downloads.
Right-click the library-enabled folder--Downloads--and choose Remove
location from library.
Get Windows Live Essentials
Windows 7's standard installation omits
some previously bundled Windows software, including Photo Gallery and Movie
Maker, but you can still download these apps at the Windows Live Essentials
download page. Click Download on the right side, and save and run the file.
In the installer, mark the checkbox for
each piece of software you want to add. If you're on the prowl for useful
multimedia options, check Photo Gallery, Movie Maker Beta, and Silverlight.
(You're likely to encounter Silverlight video-streaming sites such as
Netflix, so you might as well add it to Windows 7 now.) Click Install, and
after several minutes, okay the final prompts to exit the installation. (I
skipped changing my default home page and other needy-relationship-style
requests.)
You can sign up
Use these groupings to your advantage.
Click Next and then click Add tags next to any of the groups. Enter a few
keywords from that particular photo session, separating them with
semicolons. Click Import.
If you shot RAW files, the program may
prompt you to download and install an additional codec. I had to go through
that process to accommodate photos from my digital SLR camera; but once
you've installed the extra piece of software, Windows 7 can display the
higher-end RAW files in the same manner as it does JPEGs.
Publish a Photo Gallery Online
Your friends and family can view your
photos through the Windows Live site. After importing and arranging an
album, you can upload the images within Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Within that application, right-click My
Pictures, and pick Create new folder. Name the new folder. Drag in pictures
that you want to publish online. Click the name of the folder within the
main window near the top to select all of the pictures. Choose Publish,
Online album. Sign into your Windows Live account if needed.
Give the album a title and in the pop-up
menu choose who can view the pictures. Change the value for 'Upload size' in
the pop-up menu if you wish; Medium gives enough detail for Web viewing;
Large and Original allow ample size for displaying on a big TV, printing,
and otherwise downloading. Then click Publish.
After the photos have finished uploading,
the program will prompt you with the option to view them. Click View Album
to open the page in your Web browser. If you miss that option, click your
account name in the upper right corner of Windows Live Photo Gallery, and
select View your photos. Copy the link from the Web page, and share it with
your friends.
If you decide to limit who can see one of
your albums, visit that album's Web page, and click Shared with: Everyone
(public) at the bottom of the page. Click Edit Permissions on the following
page, and uncheck the Everyone (public) box. If you've made friends through
the Network area of Windows Live, pick the My network box instead.
Otherwise, you can add individual e-mail contacts at the bottom. (Press the
spacebar to speed up entry of the next address.)
Back in Photo Gallery, you can add more
photos to a published group by selecting the new pictures and choosing
Publish, [gallery name]. Hold Shift and click the first and last images to
select pictures in sequence, or hold down Ctrl and click pictures to group
them in any order you like.
Import Photos and Videos Into Windows
Live Movie Maker
Windows Live Movie Maker eschews video
capture tools in favor of relying on the rest of Windows 7. If you connect a
DV camcorder to a Win 7 PC, the capture process should automatically launch
outside Movie Maker.
Click the Import the entire video radio
button, enter a name, and click Next. Click the Import videos as multiple
files checkbox, and the tool will splice the tape into your individual
shots. Approve the next windows to import the tape; the importing process
will take exactly as much time as your footage does to play.
Once your PC has captured your media, you
have some options for adding clips to a video in Windows Live Movie Maker.
From the desktop, drag your photos and videos into the right pane in that
program. If that area is blocked, drag the files over the Movie Maker icon
in the Taskbar, continue to hold the mouse down, and then drop them into the
right pane. Alternatively, select Add above Videos and photos in the
software, select the media, and click Open.
You'll want to rearrange and trim various
clips during the editing process, but at this point all of them are part of
your movie. If you added too many clips or images, delete them from the
storyboard by clicking the files and then clicking Remove.
Edit Your Movie
Windows Live Movie Maker cuts the timeline
view, focusing instead on arranging clips in a storyboard. Just drag and
drop each clip and each image to place them in the desired order within the
right pane. Since some video clips run too long, you'll need to trim them
into shape.
Click a video clip to select it; then
click the Edit tab at the top of the window, and click Trim. At this point,
you can adjust the in- and out-point sliders (which govern the length of the
clip, by trimming from one or both extremities) at the beginning and end of
the timeline. Press the spacebar or click the Play icon to view a sample
from the full clip, playing only between the edited points.
If you're satisfied, click Save and close
to finish. You'll make the edit here, but the original video file will stay
the same, in case you want to reimport it later.
Continued in this long article
Video Capture, Editing, Compression, Playback ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Video
Bob Jensen's tools and tricks of the trade are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to
remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught.
Oscar Wilde
"The Objective of Education is Learning, Not Teaching (audio version
available)," University of Pennsylvania's Knowledge@Wharton, August 20, 2008
---
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm;jsessionid=9a30b5674a8d333e4d18?articleid=2032
"More Faculty Members Adopt 'Student Centered' Teaching," Chronicle
of Higher Education, October 18, 2009 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/Chart-More-Faculty-Members/48848/
Professors are
warming to new methods of teaching and testing
that experts say are more likely to engage
students, a UCLA survey found last year. Below
are percentages of faculty members who said they
used these approaches in all or most of the
courses they taught. Those trends may continue,
UCLA says, as full professors retire. Assistant
professors were much more likely, for example,
to structure teaching around small groups of
students, while full professors were more likely
to lecture extensively.
|
2005 |
2008 |
Selected
teaching methods |
Cooperative learning (small groups of
students) |
48% |
59% |
Using
real-life problems* |
n/a |
56% |
Group
projects |
33% |
36% |
Multiple
drafts of written work |
25% |
25% |
Student
evaluations of one another’s work |
16% |
24% |
Reflective writing/journaling |
18% |
22% |
Electronic quizzes with immediate
feedback in class* |
n/a |
7% |
Extensive
lecturing (not student-centered) |
55% |
46% |
Selected
examination methods |
Short-answer exams |
37% |
46% |
Term and
research papers |
35% |
44% |
Multiple-choice exams |
32% |
33% |
Grading
on a curve |
19% |
17% |
* Not
asked in the 2005 survey |
Note:
The figures are based on survey
responses of 22,562 faculty members
at 372 four-year colleges and
universities nationwide. The survey
was conducted in the fall and winter
of 2007-8 and covered full-time
faculty members who spent at least
part of their time teaching
undergraduates. The figures were
statistically adjusted to represent
the total population of full-time
faculty members at four-year
institutions. Percentages are
rounded. |
Source: "The American College
Teacher: National Norms for the
2007-8 HERI Faculty Survey,"
University of California at Los
Angeles Higher Education Research
Institute |
"The Case Against Case Studies: How Columbia's B-school is teaching
MBAs to make decisions based on incomplete data," by Geoff Gloeckler,
Business Week, January 24, 2008 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_05/b4069066093267.htm?link_position=link1
Downfall of Lecturing ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#DownfallOfLecturing
Bob Jensen's threads on metacognitive learning ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/265wp.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on higher education are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm
October 22, 2009 reply from David Albrecht
[albrecht@PROFALBRECHT.COM]
Forgot to add a link. A copy of my Learning
Centered syllabus is available at:
http://profalbrecht.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/s355-2009-fall-withprojects.pdf
In my opinion, when students buy into the LC approach,
there is nothing like it. I've never had students learn as much as my
students are learning this semester.
Thanks for sending this out. Dee Fink, the American
guru of the learner-centered approach has told me on different occasions
that he estimates that 20% of American collegiate faculty have adopted the
LC approach to a greater or lesser degree, leaving about 80% that are
essential traditional. From what I can see when talking with accounting and
viewing hundreds of syllabi of accounting professors and their courses, the
20% could be a little high.
Whatever, for every faculty convert, there will be
a handful of students who end up learning a bit better.
David Albrecht
xTREME Accounting Games from PwC
PwC launched the xTREME Games in 2002, to increase
students' exposure to professional services and the world of public accounting.
Since then, the games have grown substantially with over 85 schools involved,
more than 2,500 teams comprising 13,000 participants, and 1.5 million in prize
money awarded. Over the years, more than 150,000 hours have been logged to the
xTREME Games by competing students. The xTREME Games continue to have a
significant impact on our participants, helping them to better understand the
vast career opportunities in public accounting and connecting them with
professionals in the industry. The characteristics that winning teams exhibit
are critical thinking, presentation skills, teamwork, and using time wisely
---
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/xtreme/what-it-takes.jhtml
"PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE COMPETITION TO ENHANCE CAREER
READINESS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS," by Andrew Priest, Accounting Education
News, September 10, 2009 ---
http://accountingeducation.com/index.cfm?page=newsdetails&id=150210
As college students across the country continue to
face a highly competitive job market, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has
announced the launch of the firm's 8th Annual xTREME Games, a unique
competition that enables undergraduates at schools across the country to
experience and solve real-world business challenges. Participants in PwC's
xTREME Games compete for school bragging rights and nearly $300,000 in total
prize money while broadening and enhancing valuable skills such as decision
making, communication and team building, which are critical to success in
the professional world. Approximately $1.5 million in total prize money has
been awarded to students since xTREME began.
As one of the nation's largest employers of college
graduates, PwC collaborates with schools across the country to provide
meaningful, relevant learning programs and opportunities to ensure that
students are well prepared to enter the profession. The xTREME Games
competition is part of PwC's larger, ongoing commitment to corporate
responsibility and youth education.
xTREME, beginning this week at the University of
Alabama, includes xTAX, short for "Extreme Tax," and xACT, short for
"Extreme Accounting." Both challenge undergraduates to solve cases designed
to expose them to real tax and accounting scenarios, including policy and
planning issues. Over the next six weeks, hundreds of the best accounting
students representing nearly 80 schools nationwide will compete in
five-person teams for the right to potentially represent their schools at
the national finals in January.
"When it comes to preparing students for successful
careers in the accounting profession, there is no substitute for hands-on,
real-world experience," said Christina Fitzpatrick, National Campus Sourcing
Programs Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. "With the xTREME Games, students
get a firsthand look at the type of intricate challenges that tax and
accounting professionals face on a daily basis. The competition builds
collaboration and problem-solving skills while also requiring that ideas are
effectively presented -- all crucial skills in a competitive job
environment."
Created by PwC in 2002, the xTREME Games
competition has grown steadily to include nearly 80 schools and more than
2,500 teams comprised of 13,000 participants. More information about xTREME
can be found at www.pwc.com/xtreme.
PwC has a strong history of investing in education
and talent development. For the past two years, PwC has been ranked #1 in
Training magazine's "Training Top 125" annual ranking of organizations that
excel at employee training and development (the firm also ranked #2 in
2007). PwC has also consistently been named to FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best
Companies to Work For" list, and has been highly ranked on BusinessWeek's
lists of "Best Internships" and "Best Places to Launch a Career."
Also see "EXTREME-ACCOUNTING: ACCOUNTANTS' (in Wales) WACKY RACES" ---
http://accountingeducation.com/index.cfm?page=newsdetails&id=137526
The PwC xTreme Games Site ---
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/xtreme/index.jhtml
Have you got the right stuff?
Business is the place where theory is executed in
real time. It's a place where decisions are made with consequences, where
communication is key, and collaborative, team-oriented thinking is a must.
These are the conditions created in the xTREME Games, PwC's Tax and
Accounting Campus Competitions.
No longer within the safe confines of the
classroom, PwC seeks students who are eager to plunge briefly into the
environment of the real business world to show what they're made of as
critical thinkers, able collaborators and persuasive advisors on important
business issues.
No number crunching exercises, the xTREME Games are
focused on high-level issues designed to test and improve your
decision-making skills. Detailed accounting or tax knowledge is not required
to participate. What is required is your desire to learn, meet new people,
experience new challenges, and have fun!
Our 2009 xTREME campuses are designated for either
the xACT competition OR the xTAX competition. Read on for more information
about how it works, what it takes to succeed, and to see if your school is a
participant!
Build your team ---
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/xtreme/how-it-works.jhtml
Find your five-member team. Two must be
sophomores—each must be enrolled in the first accounting course or be an
accounting major/minor One junior—must be an accounting major One “other”
team member may be at any level: freshman to fifth year student. This team
member does not have to be an accounting major, e.g., a general business or
business-related major, such as Finance or Information Systems is
acceptable. One team member can be any level but must either be enrolled in
the first accounting course or be an accounting major/minor at the
undergraduate or graduate level.
3 Attend official mission meeting on campus
In your mission meeting, you and your teammates
will meet with PwC representatives to receive your official case packet,
with instructions and further information about the xTREME Games. 4 Develop
your case
You and your team will have two weeks to develop
your case and consult with your faculty and PwC mentors for guidance and
encouragement along the way. The average time it takes a team to complete
the case assignment is 10-15 hours. 5 Present your case in 12 minutes to PwC
professionals
Your team will be charged with clearly
communicating your position, presenting in a dynamic way, and backing up
your case solution in an interactive question and answer session. Each team
member must speak for at least one minute. 6 Celebrate!
All participants will receive an invitation to a
PwC celebratory event following the competition where they’ll have an
opportunity to network with our professionals. The winning team on each
campus will receive $1,000 and consideration for the national finals. 7 Five
lucky winners to compete in the national finals
Five teams will be chosen as national finalists and
awarded $10,000 per team and a trip either to New York City (xACT) or
Washington, D.C. (xTAX). There, each team will get a chance to join with
experts from PwC for a fun-filled, exciting two-day final competition.
Winners of the xACT competition receive our prestigious Montgomery Award,
while winners of the xTAX competition receive our prestigious Hamilton
Award. The xACT Montgomery Award
Named after Robert Montgomery, founding partner of
Lybrand, Ross Brothers & Montgomery in 1898, who wrote the first American
book on the practice of auditing. He was instrumental in the founding of the
AICPA and served as its first president.
The award, a silver bowl, resides at PwC
headquarters in New York City.
Names of each member of the winning team are
inscribed on its base. Each winning team member and their faculty mentor
receive a replica of the award to keep. The xTAX Hamilton Award
Named after Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary
of the US Treasury, who set the first tax policy and defended it in a
decision that was the Supreme Court's first ruling on the constitutionality
of a law.
The award, a silver bowl, resides at PwC's
Washington National Tax Service office in Washington, DC.
Names of each member of the winning team are
inscribed on its base. Each winning team member and their faculty mentor
receive a replica of the award to keep.
Home How it works What it takes Who's competing
Winner's circle Register now Recently visited pages xTREME Games: PwC's tax
and accounting competition
Bob Jensen's threads on tools and tricks of the trade (including games and
other forms of edutainment) in education are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on careers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/BookBob1.htm#careers
Video:
Augmented 3-D Sketching ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24253/?nlid=2446&a=f
Bob Jensen's
threads on data visualization ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm
Question
When might you want to run Linux on your Windows computer?
"E-Banking on a Locked Down (Non-Microsoft) PC," by Brian Krebs
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#IdentityTheft
Part II ---
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/10/e-banking_on_a_locked_down_pc.html?wprss=securityfix
Great Balls of Fire ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bB5xL577r4
"Sun's Plasma Balls Could Wipe Out Human Civilization," Natural
News, October 11th, 2009 ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362766/posts
Natural fluctuations in the sun's atmosphere could
cause it to fire a giant plasma ball at Earth, shutting down the planet's
electric grids and leading to widespread social collapse, according to a
report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Funded by NASA, the report draws attention to
naturally occurring events known as coronal mass ejections (CME), in which a
ball of plasma -- the charged, high-energy particles that comprise stars --
is fired from the sun. If such a ball strikes the Earth, it could produce
rapid changes in the planet's magnetic field, leading to a surge of direct
current in the long-range power lines that carry electricity through modern
power grids.
Modern power grids are designed to carry
electricity at extremely high voltage, making them especially susceptible to
this kind of magnetic disruption. What they are not designed to do, however,
is carry direct current. Transformers are particularly vulnerable, and
sudden influx of direct current could cause the wiring inside the devices to
melt. The NAS report estimates that within 90 seconds of a plasma ball
hitting the Earth's magnetic field, power would be knocked out to 130
million people in the United States alone. The same effect is likely
throughout the world.
A really large storm could be a planetary
disaster," said power industry analyst John Kappenman.
In the First World, where everything from
transportation to food and water distribution depends on electricity, this
could create a humanitarian catastrophe.
"It's just the opposite of how we usually think of
natural disasters," Kappenman said. "Usually the less developed regions of
the world are most vulnerable, not the highly sophisticated technological
regions."
According to the report, potable water would be one
of the first losses in the event of such a disaster. Because water pumping
relies on electricity, people would have access to tap water only for about
half a day, until the amount already in the system ran out. High-rises,
which rely on water being pumped to upper floors, would lose water
immediately.
All electric-powered transport would stop at once,
and automobiles could only run until they ran out of gas, since the pumps at
gas stations also rely on electricity. This would quickly cause the shelves
at stores to run bare, since the modern "just-in-time" delivery method
relies on restocking shelves as they run out, with minimal storage inside
shops themselves.
Backup generators at places like hospitals could
only run until they ran out of fuel. According to the report, this
translates into 72 hours of minimal care for only the most vulnerable
patients. The absence of refrigeration would cause food and many
prescription drugs to quickly spoil.
The NAS report notes that a technological meltdown
on this scale might be impossible to undo. Pumping natural gas or oil
requires electricity, and modern transport networks are required to keep
coal plants supplied. Nuclear power plants automatically shut down if the
power grid fails, and cannot be turned back on until the grid is back to
normal. Very few spare transformers exist, meaning that new ones would need
to be manufactured to replace most of the burned-out ones. Again, the lack
of industrial infrastructure would make this a major challenge.
"We're moving closer and closer to the edge of a
possible disaster," said Daniel Baker, chair of the committee that produced
the report.
Although the scenario may sound fantastic and
unlikely, scientists warn that there have been precedents. In 1859, a CME
known as the Carrington event produced auroras as far south as the equator
and caused severe disruptions to the world's telegraph systems. In 1989, a
direct current overload in the power grid cut off electricity to 6 million
people in Quebec province, Canada. And in 2006, a fluctuation in a small
part of Germany's power grid caused a cascading power failure through the
wider European grid.
Wolfram Alpha ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfram_Alpha
"Wolfram Alpha's Second Act Following a sharp drop in interest, the
'computational knowledge engine' pins hopes on API--and homework," by David
Talbot, MIT's Technology Review, October 16, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24254/?nlid=2439&a=f
The summer months saw a sharp drop in user interest
in Wolfram Alpha, the online "computational knowledge engine" that
calculates everything from planetary distances to cholesterol levels and
generates (from the topics it knows) customized charts and graphics not
available from general search engines. In the peak days after the May 15
launch, traffic soared to around 2.8 million daily visitors--but then hit a
trough of 200,000 in July, according to the company. But now, with traffic
now drifting back toward the 300,000 mark, the site is pinning its hopes
partly on a new application programming interface (API) to leverage the
online tool in websites, online publishing, desktop applications and mobile
devices. An iPhone app will be one of the early examples.
It will be interesting to see how third-parties
leverage the depth of Wolfram Alpha's knowledge in math, science, geography,
and engineering beyond the simple search-engine-like interface that now
confronts users. Right now, the engine has a ways to go to meet the goal of
its brainchild, the physicist Stephen Wolfram, to "make all systematic
knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone."
The rebound toward 300,000 visitors may reflect a
back-to-school bump, with students seeing the engine as a great tool for
doing their math and science homework, according to Schoeller Porter, who
heads up Wolfram's API program. (Indeed, the engine is throwing a homework
day event next week to promote further such use.) "We had an enormous launch
with a huge amount of interest and a lot of traffic. The traffic fell off,
and we fully expected that; it was a nice relaxation for us, and it let us
fix code and put in new features," he told me this morning. "It followed a
kind of---I won't say overhyped--but a well-hyped launch." Wolfram Alpha is
built on Mathematica--Stephen Wolfram's comprehensive repository of
mathematical and scientific formulae--and fed by datasets curated by Wolfram
Research.
Tags: Internet, search, Web 2.0, search engine, wolfram alpha
Comments
Looking the gift horse in the mouth I have a
great personal and potential professional interest in Wolfram Alpha, but
I have a significant amount of uncertainty about the commercial terms of
the yet to be determined business model that will eventually be settled
on. I'm sure many others share this concern, and it will limit adoption
of Wolfram Alpha and its API until clarified.
Bob Jensen
Bob Jensen's search helpers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on tricks and tools of the trade ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm
Ida's Minute of Glory: Her Limb Cut From the Family Tree
"'Missing Link' Primate Fossil Debunked," Discovery News,
October 21, 2009 ---
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/21/ida-primate-fossil.html
Remember
Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with
its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that
would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans.
Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close
relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction.
In fact, Ida is as far removed from the
monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be,
says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York.
He and his colleagues compared 360 specific
anatomical features of 117 living and extinct primate species to draw up a
family tree. They report the results in Thursday's issue of the journal
Nature.
Ida is a skeleton of a 47 million-year-old
cat-sized creature found in Germany. It starred in a book, "The Link:
Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor."
Ida represents a previously unknown primate species
called Darwinius. The scientists who formally announced the finding
said they weren't claiming Darwinius was a direct ancestor of
monkeys, apes and
humans. But they did
argue that it belongs in the same major evolutionary grouping, and that it
showed what an actual ancestor of that era might have looked like.
The new analysis says Darwinius does not belong in
the same primate category as monkeys, apes and humans. Instead, the analysis
concluded, it falls into the other major grouping, which includes lemurs.
Experts agreed.
"This is a rigorous analysis based on many
features," said Eric Sargis, an anthropology professor at Yale. He said he'd
found the argument of the Darwinius researchers unconvincing, so the new
result came as no surprise.
In fact, it confirms what most scientists think,
said David Begun, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto.
Jorn Hurum of the Natural History Museum in Oslo,
Norway, an author of the Ida paper, said he welcomed the new analysis.
Darwinius is an example of a group of primates
called adapoids, and "we are happy to start the scientific discussion" about
what Ida means for where adapoids fit on the primate family tree, he wrote
in an e-mail
Software and Personal Finance Helpers for Individuals and Small Businesses
Software Buying and Use Guides
SMB
Finance and Accounting Checklist
What a great site Saeed. Thank you.
On the personal financing and investment side of things, I
like the following link:
"The Best Online Tools (software, services) for Personal
Finance," The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2009 ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/PersonalFinanceTools.htm
Bob Jensen’s threads on accounting software are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/BookBob1.htm#AccountingSoftware
Bob Jensen’s small business helpers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/BookBob1.htm#SmallBusiness
Fun and Educational Science Videos
Sixty Symbols (in physics and astronomy) ---
http://www.sixtysymbols.com/
There is a great set of videos about symbols in the periodic table ---
http://www.periodicvideos.com/
Has anybody done something similar with videos about statistics symbols?
Has anybody done something similar with financial symbols?
Question
Should traders at the NYSE really have cheered and broke out the champagne when
the Dow surpassed $10,000 yesterday?
Or should they instead have broken out the pain killer pills?
Actually they should probably cheer for their commissions while the rest of us
down pain killers.
"Happy Days Aren't Quite Here Again," by John Lott, Fox News,
October 15, 2009 ---
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/10/14/john-lott-dow-stock/
With the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching
10,000, Americans are feeling wealthier.
Unfortunately, roughly a third of the increase
simply reflects the falling dollar, that American goods and assets are
becoming cheaper to the rest of the world. About a third of the increase in
stock prices has occurred simply because the value of the dollar has fallen
so much. Just as a lower dollar makes it more attractive for foreigners to
buy American goods, it also makes it a better deal for foreigners to buy
stock in American companies.
Over the course of this year, as the value of the
dollar rose until the beginning of March, the stock market fell. As the
dollar fell during the rest of the year, the stock market rose. While the
stock market has risen by about 49 percent since its low in March, the
dollar has fallen by about 20 percent against the Canadian dollar, 17
percent against the Euro, 15 percent against the Mexican Peso, and 11
percent against the Japanese Yen. For each of these currencies the dollar
peaked right when the stock market hit its lowest value.
Figures 1 and 2 are available here and here.
To get an idea how important these drops in the
value of the dollar are, if the dollar hadn’t declined by about 17 (the
amount it fell against Euro), the stock market would be only at about 8,600.
Obviously other factors have played a role in the
swings over this year. For example, in early March, Larry Summers, the White
House Economics adviser, blamed a fearful public for dragging the economy
down and said that there was an "excess of fear" – the economy was no where
near as bad at that time as many believed. President Obama's claims that "we
were in the "worst financial crisis since the Great Depression" and that we
had an "unprecedented crisis" may certainly have added to those concerns. In
any case, part of the increase in stock values since March may simply have
occurred because they were too depressed in March.
In any case, don't go feeling as if you have gotten
back all your wealth over the last six months. The American dollar doesn't
buy what it did just a short time ago. Whether it is imported cars from
Japan or Korea or wine from France.
John R. Lott, Jr.is a FOXNews.com contributor. He is an economist and
author of "Freedomnomics."
Jensen Comment
To the extent the the weakening dollar predicts hyperinflation down the road,
perhaps stock prices are doing their job as inflation fighters. Also three
cheers for foreigners who invest their dollars in the U.S. stock market rather
than push commodity prices even higher with their money and abandon the U.S.
stock market.
Please don't ask me for advice about investing and don't take this as a plug
for jumping four square back into stocks or gold or anything else. I'm a fan of
Warren Buffett, but he's not tipping his hand and is so super rich that he can
afford to speculate now and then. He also is a very, very smart investor who
does his homework. At the moment I'm more into sweeping on tons of leaves.
Bob Jensen's investment helpers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/BookBob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers
Follow the Herd: Can you identify a moral hazard here?
From the Finance Professor Blog on October 19, 2009 ---
http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/
"KaChing, a Web site where 400,000 amateur and
professional investors manage virtual portfolios. Others have logged on to
see what the investors on the site are doing and make the same trades in
their own real portfolios.
On Monday, KaChing is to add a new twist. Customers
can set up brokerage accounts that automatically mirror the trades of a
money manager, some of them professionals.
“The idea of an asset manager showing all his
research, his holdings — it’s unheard-of,”"
The trouble with mutual funds is that investors can
feel as though they have put their money in a black box. The 90 million
Americans with money in funds know little about fees, what securities their
money is invested in and who is in charge . . . KaChing has attracted a roster
of prominent early investors from Silicon Valley who have financed the company
with $3 million. They include Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape; Kevin
Compton of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; and Jeffrey Jordan, chief executive
of OpenTable, the online reservation service. The angel investors have also been
investing their own money through KaChing during the pilot period. “The concept
is great — the ability to tap into not just the wisdom of the crowd, but to be
able to identify and invest with the particular geniuses in the crowd that stand
out,” said Mr. Andreessen, who has invested $100,000 using the site.
Claire Cane Miller, "Site
Lets Investors See and Copy Experts’ Trades," The Wall Street Journal,
October 19, 2009 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/technology/start-ups/19kaching.html?_r=1
Jensen Comment
Money managers are human. Some might loose their tempers at a company to the
point they lead their herds off cliffs just to get back at a company. Some money
managers may be secretly greedy for themselves or friends and family and lead
their herds with hidden agendas based on greed. For example, this is one way for
a money manager to help out one of his buddies who founded a small technology
company with high financial risk at the moment.
Stock pickers in the WSJ's "Heard on the Street" and other financial news
sites are watched closely such that they are not manipulating their private
accounts with hidden agendas that make themselves wealthy at the expense of
readers.
I'm not arguing that there's anything illegal or even unethical about
KaChing's "new twist." I just feel that the lemmings should be aware of the
moral hazard.
The KaChing homepage is at
http://www.kaching.com/
Bob Jensen's investment helpers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/BookBob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers
Betting Big on America's New Find in Natural Gas
The U.S. natural gas industry hopes that as Lloyd Yates
goes, so goes the country. In summer 2008 the U.S. and much of the rest of the
world were consumed by talk of peak oil and natural gas and fears that high fuel
prices would persist forever. Today analysts still worry about the oil supply
but far less about natural gas. U.S. gas producers, capitalizing on a
technological breakthrough, have in recent years unlocked an enormous volume of
natural gas in the shale rock under Colorado, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and
other states. According to a July report by the Colorado School of Mines, the
U.S. now holds 1,800 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, one third of it in
shale, the equivalent of some 320 billion barrels of oil. That's more than Saudi
Arabia's 264 billion barrels.
Steve LeVine and Adam Aston,
"Betting Big on a Boom in Natural Gas: With prices low and the promise of
vast new supplies, businesses are making the switch from oil-based fuels and
coal," Business Week, October 8, 2009 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_42/b4151046053399.htm?link_position=link4
What happened was an explosion of loans being made
outside of the regular banking system. It was largely the unregulated sector of
the lending industry and the underregulated and the lightly regulated that did
that.
Barney Frank
Question
How did banks circumvent mortgage regulations in before the subprime scandal
broke?
Jensen Comment
For once I would like to bless
Barney Frank,
although as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee when these
scandals were taking place, he should have stopped this banking house of cards
before this banking fraud came tumbling down. In spite of yelling foul now, Rep.
Frank helped create this pile of "Barney's Rubble." Pardon me for not blessing
Barney now ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm#Rubble
Was he left in the dark about mortgage fraud? Wink! Wink!
I'm about to puke!
Hint
They used a ploy much like corporations used to keep real estate and other debt
of the balance sheet before accounting standard setters put an end to the sham.
For example, Avis Car rental at one time avoided putting millions of debt for
financing its cars by creating a sham subsidiary financing subsidiary and then
(in those good old days) did not consolidate the financing subsidiary into the
consolidated balance sheet of Avis. Similarly, Safeway appeared to not own any
stores or have any mortage debt on those stores because all this was hidden in
an unconsolidated subsidiary. It took way to long in the United States for the
FASB to put an end to the sham of off-balance-sheet-financing (OBSF):
FAS 94: Consolidation of All Majority-owned Subsidiaries--an amendment of
ARB No. 51, with related amendments of APB Opinion No. 18 and ARB No. 43,
Chapter 12 (Issued 10/87) ---
http://www.fasb.org/summary/stsum94.shtml
In the case of banks circumventing regulations on selling mortgages,
here's how it worked with sham mortgage company subsidiaries.
"Subprime and the Banks: Guilty as Charged," by Joe Nocera. The New
York Times, October 14, 2009 ---
http://executivesuite.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/subprime-and-the-banks-guilty-as-charged/
“There has not been a case made that there is an
enforcement problem with banks,” Edward Yingling, the head of the American
Bankers Association, said last week. “There is a problem with enforcement on
nonbanks.”
As I wrote in
my column last week, this has become something of
a mantra for the banking industry. We aren’t the ones who brought
the world to the brink of financial disaster,
they proclaim. It was those awful nonbanks,
the mortgage brokers and originators, who peddled those terrible subprime
loans to unsuspecting or unsophisticated consumers. They’re the ones who
need to be regulated!
Apparently, when you say something long enough and
loud enough, people start to believe it, even when it defies reality. Here,
for instance, is the normally skeptical
Barney Frank on the subject: “What happened
was an explosion of loans being made outside of the regular banking system.
It was largely the unregulated sector of the lending industry and the
underregulated and the lightly regulated that did that.”
To which I can now triumphantly reply: Oh,
really???
Last weekend, after the column was published, an
angry mortgage broker — someone who felt she and her ilk were being unfairly
scapegoated by the banking industry — sent me a series of rather eye-opening
documents. They were a series of fliers and advertisements that had been
sent to her office (and mortgage brokers all over the country) from
JPMorgan Chase, advertising their latest wares.
They were dated 2005, which was before the subprime mortgage boom got
completely out of control. They’re still pretty sobering.
“The Top 10 Reasons to Choose Chase for All Your
Subprime Needs,” screams the headline on the first one. Another was titled,
“Chase No Doc,” and described the criteria for a borrower to receive a
so-called no-document loan. “Got Bank Statements?” asked a third flier. “Get
Approved!” In a number of the fliers, Chase makes it clear to the mortgage
brokers that the bank doesn’t need income or job verification — it just
needs to look at a handful of old bank statements.
“There were mortgage brokers who acted unethically,
absolutely,” my source told me when I called her on Monday. (She asked to
remain anonymous because she still has to work with JPMorgan Chase and the
other big banks.) “But where do you think mortgage brokers were getting the
subprime mortgages they were selling to customers? From the big banks,
that’s where. Chase,
Wells Fargo,
Bank of America — they were all doing it.”
So enough already about how the banks weren’t the
problem. Of course they were. Here’s the evidence,
right here. Read ’em and weep.
Jensen Comment
If you really want to see how sleazy mortgage lending became, read about the on
Marvene's shack in Phoenix. She purchased the shack for $3,500 and later, with
no improvements, got a $103,000 mortgage. When the mortgage was foreclosed,
neighbors bought the shack and tore it down ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm#Sleaze
Dodd Dodges
"The Countrywide Vote The backroom battle over a subpoena on VIP mortgages,"
The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2009 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704322004574477711907000406.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad lawyered up
when the Senate ethics committee asked about their VIP loans from
Countrywide Financial. But the sweetheart Senators may not be able to stop
another look at their dealings with the subprime mortgage factory. A
Democrat on the House oversight committee, Illinois freshman Mike Quigley,
tells us that he supports a subpoena to obtain documents on the "Friends of
Angelo" loan program.
Named for former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, the
program was used to curry influence with government officials. Bank of
America, which bought the failed lender last year, has said it's ready to
turn over the files as soon as it receives a subpoena.
We're told that, at a closed Thursday meeting of
Democrats on the House oversight committee, several Members urged Chairman
Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.) to allow a vote on California Republican Darrell
Issa's proposal to issue the subpoena. Mr. Towns received two mortgage loans
from the Countrywide unit that processed VIP loans but claims he received no
special favors.
How long can Mr. Towns bottle up the subpoena vote?
Mr. Quigley is urging Democrats to remember that ethical lapses helped end
the GOP majority. "The right thing to do is also the smart thing to do,"
says Mr. Quigley. "Both parties must decide that they can't protect their
members, no matter how powerful they are." Countrywide's efforts to obtain
influence were not limited to one party, nor is there any guarantee that
only Democrats like Messrs. Dodd and Conrad succumbed to Angelo's charms. As
Mr. Quigley says, "Stupidity wears both hats."
Still, Mr. Issa tells us that he has all Republican
members of the committee ready to vote for a subpoena. The aim is to find
out the extent and impact of Countrywide's efforts to influence federal
housing policy. This goes to the heart of the financial crisis. Countrywide
was the largest originator of subprime loans and provided billions of
dollars of mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at huge cost to
taxpayers.
Mr. Issa has even offered to redact the names of
individuals. This would allow the committee to study Countrywide's
activities without revealing individual recipients of VIP mortgage terms.
Replies Mr. Quigley: "Forget redacting names." He believes the oversight
committee should forward to the House ethics committee all the "names on
Angelo's list."
To find out what role cut-rate mortgages might have
played in encouraging politicians to allow Fan, Fred, Angelo and others to
create the mortgage debacle, taxpayers will need four more Democrats to vote
for a subpoena. Among potential swing votes, New Hampshire's Paul Hodes
doesn't seem eager to have to vote on the issue. "The Congressman will make
an independent judgment on this issue when it is brought up before the
committee," says his spokesman. No response yet from Virginia Congressman
Gerry Connolly, another oversight member.
Mr. Quigley, for his part, favors a broad
investigation of "predatory lending." But he should understand that a
party-line vote to redirect the inquiry away from evidence of wrongdoing
will not instill public confidence. As he told us on Friday, "No one's going
to believe you if you do this on a partisan basis." It's good advice for
oversight committee Democrats, and a hopeful message for taxpayers.
Bob Jensen's threads on the banking scandals accompanied by taxpayer
bailouts ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
Bob Jensen's fraud updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Rotten to the Core ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm
Respondus 4.0 Online Testing Software
October 13, 2009 message from Richard Campbell
[campbell@RIO.EDU]
For anyone teaching online, this software is a
"must-have". They have released a new (4.0) version with improved
integration of multimedia. Below are some videos (created in Camtasia) that
demonstrate key features of the software.
http://www.respondus.com/
They have tightened up the integration with
publisher test banks.
Richard J. Campbell
mailto:campbell@rio.edu
Bob Jensen's threads on Online Education Effectiveness and Testing ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#OnlineOffCampus
Bob Jensen's threads on tools and tricks of the trade ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm
Anti-Capitalism Trumps God:
The Staunch Atheism of Marx No Longer Matters as the Vatican Sings His Praises
"Marx gets Vatican thumbs up," The Hindu Times, October 22, 2009 ---
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article37253.ece#
Amid the worst recession in generations, Karl Marx,
who famously described religion as “the opium of the people”, got a thumbs
up from the Vatican overturning a century of Catholic hostility to his
creed.
Marx, who predicted that capitalism would be
destroyed by its internal contradictions, has joined Galileo, Charles Darwin
and Oscar Wilde on a growing list of historical figures to have undergone an
unlikely reappraisal by the Roman Catholic Church, The Times newspaper said
on Thursday.
The British daily, quoting the Vatican newspaper
L’Osservatore Romano, said Marx’s early critiques of capitalism had
highlighted the “social alienation” felt by the “large part of humanity”
that remained excluded from economic and political decision-making.
Amid signs of recovery in global financial markets,
Christian leaders have flayed the capitalist system for displaying a lack of
moral values, arguing that ethical debates needs to be given greater
prominence.
Georg Sans, a German-born professor of the history
of contemporary philosophy at the pontifical Gregorian University, argues
that Marx’s work remained especially relevant today as mankind was seeking
“a new harmony” between its needs and the natural environment.
The report quoted Prof. Sans as saying that Marx’s
theories may help to explain the enduring issue of income inequality within
capitalist societies.
The Vatican, in a reappraisal of Galileo, last year
erected a statue of the great astronomer who was put on trial in 1633 for
his observation that the Earth moved around the Sun.
In February a leading Roman church official
declared Darwin’s theory of evolution compatible with the Christian faith,
and in July L’Osservatore praised Oscar Wilde, the gay playwright, as “a man
who behind a mask of amorality asked himself what was just and what was
mistaken“.
Two years ago Benedict XVI singled out Marxism as
one of the great scourges of the modern age. The Pope’s latest encyclical,
Charity in Truth, argued that global capitalism has lost its way and that
Church teachings can help to restore economic health by focusing on justice
for the weak and closer regulation of the market, the report in the London
daily said.
Prof. Sans’s article was first published in La
Civiltattolica, a Jesuit paper, which is vetted in advance by the Vatican
Secretariat of State. The decision to republish it in the Vatican newspaper
gives the unlikely reappraisal of Marx by the Roman Catholic Church added
papal endorsement.
Bob Jensen's threads on the economic crises are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
"The Shorter, Faster, Cheaper MBA Accelerated MBA programs of a year or
less are gaining in popularity, but critics say they're not right for everyone
and may leave some students shortchanged, Business Week, October 15.
2009 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/oct2009/bs20091015_554659.htm?link_position=link1
Schools in the U.S. are already responding to the
demand from students for alternatives. One school starting a new program is
Rutgers Business School (Rutgers
Full-Time MBA Profile), which is launching a
one-year MBA program in the summer of 2010. The school has offered a
two-year MBA program on its Newark (N.J.) campus for years, but never
offered a one-year program, says Susan Gilbert, Rutgers' associate dean of
MBA programs, who was asked by the school to explore options for a new MBA
program on the school's New Brunswick campus.
While researching, she reviewed applicant data from
the past few years and unearthed a surprising discovery; about 40% of the
applicants to the school's two-year MBA program already held undergraduate
business degrees and were likely up to speed on the concepts typically
covered in first-year core MBA courses. Adding a one-year MBA program to the
school's degree offerings seemed to make sense, Gilbert says, with the idea
that the program would cater to these more experienced applicants. "There's
a growing niche segment of students who aren't making as big of a career
switch." Gilbert says. "They want their MBAs in a hurry in order to advance
their career in the field and function that they are already in."
Uptick in Enrollments
Schools that already offer one-year MBA programs
say they are starting to reap the rewards of catering to this new market of
students. At Utah State University's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business,
which has offered a one-year MBA for more than a decade, enrollment is at 56
students this fall, up from 43 last year. In fact, this year's class was so
big that the first-year cohort couldn't fit into the classroom where
lectures are typically held and had to move into the school's larger
80-person capacity classroom, says Ken Snyder, Huntsman's director of MBA
programs.
Continued in article
Jensen Comment
There are lots of pressures for change in academe, but shortening the MBA
program to one year or less is not the type of change I advocate in any way,
shape, or form. When other professions like medicine are adding to the education
requirements, cheapening the MBA degree is not a good idea for status as a
profession.
I graduated from a one-year MBA program a hundred years ago and found it to
be almost a joke. It got me out of a few business courses when I commenced a
doctoral program in accountancy, but aside from that I think it did little for
preparing me for a career in business. Of course, in Colorado in those days you
could take the CPA examination as a senior majoring in accountancy. Hence, I
entered the MBA program with the CPA exam already under my belt. In those days,
an MBA degree in accountancy in Colorado also substituted for work experience,
which made getting a license to practice in Colorado an even bigger joke (if I
had not also worked in auditing and tax at Ernst and Ernst in Denver).
The proof of the pudding so to is said to be placement. If recruiters are
offering jobs to one-year MBA graduates then some might deem the education
program to be a success. However, this can be misleading. Some one-year MBA
programs cater to military officers or other applicants who are not seeking
immediate changes in their jobs upon graduation. Recruiters may also have other
agendas such as badly wanting to hire a top engineer or hospital administrator
who just happened to get a one-year MBA degree before seeking a new job.
And recruitment can be motivated by affirmative action that sometimes leads to
hiring of graduates that were short changed in education.
I am most definitely opposed to giving course credit or shortened degree
programs to students with "work or other qualified life experience." By age 25,
all God's children got "life experience." This in no way, shape, or form is a
substitute for earned college credits --- well, er, maybe I could be convinced
otherwise in a very unique circumstance, but as a general rule --- never!
For MBA applicants who majored in business as undergraduates I would allow
waiving some core courses, but I would insist on substituting other courses.
Bob Jensen's thread on higher education controversies are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm
At my age we hope Obamacare will fund searches for short circuits
They've discovered something unique in bookkeeper brains. For every entry on
the right side of the brain there's an offsetting entry on the left side of the
brain. Current thinking, however, is that this only happens after making about a
million debt and credit entries in the general journal. That's part of life
experience for true bookkeepers. Most accounting professors are still on single
entry brains.
"Intelligence Explained: Tracking and understanding the complex
connections within the brain may finally reveal the neural secret of cognitive
ability," by Emily Singer, MIT's Technology Review, November/December
2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23695/?nlid=2446
A series of black-and-white snapshots is splayed
across the screen, each capturing a thin slice of my brain. The gray-scale
pictures would look familiar to anyone who has seen a brain scan, but these
images are different. Andrew Frew, a neuroscientist at the University of
California, Los Angeles, uses a cursor to select a small square. Thin
strands like spaghetti appear, representing the thousands of neural fibers
passing through it. A few clicks of the cursor and Frew refines the tract of
fibers pictured on the screen, highlighting first my optic nerve, then the
fibers passing through a part of the brain that's crucial for language, then
the bundles of motor and sensory nerves that head down to the brain stem.
Frew is giving me a tour of my white matter--the
tissue connecting the neurons, or nerve cells, that make up gray matter.
Something about the twisting, turning neural wires that ferry information
between the neurons--their individual thickness, perhaps, or their
abundance, or the specific paths they take from one part of the brain to
another--may explain, at least in part, the variations in human
intelligence.
Scientists have been searching more than two
centuries for the source of intelligence--the general cognitive ability
often quantified in the form of IQ. With the advent of technologies such as
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers concentrating mainly on gray
matter have been able to map the parts of the brain that appear to play a
role. But this has taken them only so far, and the focus on gray matter has
not told the whole story. Not until the last few years, as new variations of
MRI home in on the brain's white matter, has a deeper understanding begun to
emerge. "Scientists are now able to switch the focus from particular regions
of the brain to the connections between those regions," says Sherif Karama,
a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist at McGill University's Montreal
Neurological Institute. Their initial findings have led Karama and others to
believe that neural wiring and the way it carries information around the
brain may be crucially important to IQ.
Until fairly recently, only a few scientists were
studying how brain structure might be related to IQ, in part because the
idea of a biological and genetic basis for intelligence has long been
controversial. Since people from different ethnic groups often score
differently on intelligence tests, such studies may raise contentions of
racism, and critics fear potential abuses such as discrimination in
education or employment. Nonetheless, new imaging techniques have allowed
types of studies never before possible, and the number of research groups
focusing on this question is growing quickly. Many of these groups are
setting their sights on white matter.
The hope is that finding the brain areas and
circuits involved in intelligence will provide new insight into neurological
and psychiatric diseases that impair cognition, such as Alzheimer's and
schizophrenia. "If you want to understand cognitive decline, you need to
understand how cognition is manifested and put together in the brain," says
Rex Jung, a neuroscientist at the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, NM.
The research may also improve understanding of learning disabilities such as
dyslexia and ADHD, perhaps leading to better treatments. But other potential
applications could be more controversial. Some scientists envision a day
when brain scans are used to estimate IQ. Sandra F. Witelson, a
neuroscientist at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster
University in Ontario, says, "It's not a wild guess to say that sometime in
the future, brain scans will be part of a group of tools that try to
indicate what level someone's ability is going to be."
Continued in article
Undergrad Seeks Personal Assistant
Inside Higher Ed, October 20, 2009 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/20/qt#211033
Vox Populi, a Georgetown University blog, has
identified a sophomore whose ad for a personal assistant "takes premature
self-importance to a whole new level." The ad describes duties this way: "PA
example tasks -Organize closet -make bed -Drop off / pick up dry cleaning
-Drop me off / pick me up from work -Do laundry -Fill up gas tank -bring car
for servicing -schedule appointment for haircut -Pay parking tickets -manage
electronic accounts -shopping and running errands -other random tasks." The
pay is hourly, but the student isn't just opening his wallet. Consider this
description of how time will be counted: "Tasks such as doing laundry that
involve a lot of waiting around (time when you could be doing other tasks or
doing your own stuff) will be counted for the approximate amount of time it
would take to do the labor involved. For instance, laundry will be counted
for half an hour even though a laundry cycle takes 1.5 hrs to complete." A
Georgetown spokeswoman confirmed that the position is a real posting, and
that the job remains open. That is all.
Jensen Comment
I'm relieved that the job description does not also include taking examinations,
writing term papers, and back scrubbing in the shower.
And "that's where the tax porn grows"
Liberals in Hollywood promote government spending but avoid paying taxes
themselves
"Another Hollywood Story It's in Iowa, but it's no field of dreams," The
Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2009 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704500604574483713335053356.html#mod=djemEditorialPage
One of the things we like most about Hollywood is
the fact that so many people there share our preference for relatively lower
rates of taxation. The big difference is that we say it loud and proud in
these columns, and they sneak around in back alleys, so to speak, looking
for tax breaks.
The latest evidence appeared on the Journal's front
page yesterday, detailing the state of Iowa's hapless tax-credit program to
lure Hollywood productions to the state. Needless to say, it worked until it
blew up.
Hollywood production companies live out their lives
in an Odysseus-like quest for low-tax locations to make films and TV
programs. They'll go to Iowa, Louisiana, cross the border to Canada, even do
business in New York City, so long as the Big Apple lets Hollywood off the
high-tax hook it uses on people who live there.
Hollywood's biggest stars are the political world's
biggest thumpers for luxe government and the candidates who will deliver it,
except when they have to do real work. Iowa's program lured Tinsel Town with
a whopping 50% tax credit for production costs in the state—payroll, food,
living expenses. They even let the Rodeo Drive tax refugees apply the credit
to the purchase of a car. In this field of schemes, one director bought a
new Mercedes. Iowa's cash for clunkers.
Now the Iowa program is falling apart amid
allegations of weak oversight and abuse—the usual problems that occur when a
tax system loads up its survival on loopholes. Iowa's Democratic Governor
Chet Culver has temporarily suspended the tax-credit program, asserting,
"Iowans will not be taken for suckers." We knew that, but what about Iowa's
politicians?
The larger issue beneath the Iowa fiasco has to do
with using tax credits as a policy tool. Almost without exception, we think
tax credits are bad policy. Politicians come to think of them almost
literally as pots of gold at the end of their favorite rainbow, as the Obama
Administration is doing for "green" technology and green everything.
It's an idea that eventually breeds inefficiency,
high cost and even corruption. This is where we'd normally propose a lower,
flatter, simpler tax system as the alternative to this recurring mess, but
oh, never mind.
Bob Jensen's fraud updates are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on political fraud are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#Lawmakers
Princeton Review Buys Distance-Education Provider for $170-Million
The Princeton Review, the test-preparatory company,
announced today that it would pay $170-million in cash to purchase the Penn
Foster Education Group, a 118-year-old company that operates three
accredited distance-education institutions serving 223,000 secondary and
postsecondary students in more than 150 countries. In a
news release, the Princeton Review, which is not
connected with Princeton University, said the deal would increase the
company's "cash flow generating capabilities
Jensen Comment
What surprised me is the number of students served by the Penn Foster Education
Group ---
http://www.pennfoster.edu/index.html?semkey=Q092344
One contributing factor to the large number of online students is the granting
of high school diplomas. Penn Foster also offers career training as opposed to
education ---
http://www.pennfoster.edu/programs_diplomas.html
American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers Certification Exam
One of the training programs is a certificate bookkeeping program ---
http://www.pennfoster.edu/bookkeeping/index.html
Bookkeeping
CAREER OUTLOOKYour New
Career
Thousands of new businesses open each year and every organization, large or
small, needs someone with the right training to maintain and update its
financial records. Bookkeepers hold vital positions within the companies
they work for. They verify and balance receipts, post debits and credits,
and record transactions.
Some Bookkeepers have offices in their own homes and make extra money in
addition to their regular salary. Newspaper ads regularly appear for payroll
clerks, accounts receivable and payable clerks, and Bookkeepers for large
and small businesses. Enjoy career independence in this exciting profession!
Whether you work for an established business or earn extra income at home,
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects more than 263,000 new job
opportunities for Bookkeepers through 2016.*Your New Skills
Learn to prepare a balance sheet, create a profit and loss statement, and
produce a financial report for any business. You'll have the skills others
depend on in the business world, earning the respect of your employers, and
making you a vital asset to any corporation.
You'll learn all of the important skills you need in Bookkeeping.
- Get the necessary accounting skills. Learn to
prepare the balance sheet and income statement, as well as accounting
for cash and payroll accounting.
- Gain practical experience. Maintain the accounting
records and prepare financial statements for a model company.
- Learn valuable computer skills. Master the first
steps in using a computer and learn to create notes, documents, and
drawings using Microsoft® Windows® and Windows® accessories. (Software
not included in program.)
- Prepare for certification. Penn Foster encourages
students to take the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers
Certification Exam, provides special supplements to assist with your
studies, and even includes an $85 voucher to help defray the cost.
Bob Jensen's threads on distance education training and education
alternatives around the world are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
Another one from that Ketz guy
He knows about Altman’s Z-score model for non-manufacturers
---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_prediction
"Hertz Diverts and Subverts (Where Are You, Mary?)," by: J. Edward
Ketz, SmartPros, October 2009 ---
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x67864.xml
In a recent perversion, Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ)
sued Audit Integrity because it had the audacity to predict that Hertz was
in danger of bankruptcy. This is another example of issuer retaliation and
it must stop. The Congress and the SEC need to rein in corporate America
when it attempts to enforce censorship against anybody that criticizes them.
The facts in the case are simple. Earlier this
year Audit Integrity moved Hertz on to its watch list for companies in
financial distress. Hertz demanded a retraction and sent a copy of the
letter to 19 other firms that made the list, encouraging them to join Hertz
in “protecting the investing public.” Then Hertz sued Audit Integrity for
defamation. (See Sue Reisinger, “Hertz
GC Sues Analyst Who Said Company Could Go Bankrupt”)
Audit Integrity responded with an
open letter to the SEC. James Kaplan, Chairman of
Audit Integrity, wrote “As Hertz’s ultimate goal was to silence an
independent research firm calling regulatory and investor attention to the
company’s real and material financial risk, the matter warrants an
investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Quite frankly, the court should just toss out the
case. Any introductory student of mine can compute the Altman Z-score and
indeed discover that Hertz is in financial distress. Its 2008 10-K is quite
revealing, with net income a negative $1.2 billion and EBIT a negative $164
million. Retained earnings has a deficit of almost one billion dollars.
And its capital structure is heavily tilted on the debt side as its
debt-equity ratio exceeds 10. Any neophyte would agree with Audit
Integrity.
Altman’s Z-score model for non-manufacturers is:
Z = 6.56 * WC/TA + 3.26 * RE/TA + 6.72 * EBIT/TA +
1.05 * BVE/TD
where WC = working capital
TA= total assets
RE = retained earnings
EBIT = earnings before interest and taxes
BVE = book value of equity and
TD = total debts.
One interprets the Z-score as follows. If Z>2.6,
then we predict the firm is healthy and relatively free from financial
distress. If 1.1<Z<2.6, the company is in the indeterminate zone. It faces
some financial distress, but more investigation is needed to determine how
serious it is. But, if Z<1.1, then the model predicts that the firm faces a
serious chance of going into bankruptcy.
When I plug Hertz’s 2008 numbers into the model, I
obtain a Z-score of 0.417. Altman’s model therefore predicts bankruptcy. I
guess Hertz should sue Professor Altman for inventing such a model. After
all, if the firm goes under, it must be his fault.
A few years ago Senator Wyden expressed concerns
about corporate managers who attempt to intimidate those who issue research
reports critical of them and their operations. He correctly stated that the
impact of such retaliation could have an adverse reaction on the publication
of objective research, which in turn could have a negative impact on the
quality of information that is employed by the investment community and
could lead to an inefficient allocation of resources.
Chairman Cox responded to the Senator on September
1, 2005. He stated that he shared Sen. Wyden’s concerns about issuer
retaliation and its adverse impact on the investment community. He promised
to tackle the issue, but never did.
Mary Schapiro, it is your turn. Are you going to
embrace the mission statement of the SEC and be an advocate for investors or
are you going to be like your predecessor and say one thing but behind the
scenes enable managers and directors to defraud the investment community?
Issuer retaliation is an incredible problem in this
country. If it isn’t stopped, independent investors will stop performing
independent research analyses. And there will be more and more Enrons
bursting on the scene.
Mary, where are you? Where do you stand on the
issues of the day?
Bob Jensen's threads on difficulties security analysts encounter when
trying (or not trying) to issue negative reports on companies ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#InvestmentBanking
Bob Jensen's fraud updates are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
From the Scout Report on October 16, 2009
Google SketchUp 7.1 ---
http://sketchup.google.com/product/newin7.html
Want to
draw a house? It can happen with Google SketchUp. The 3D modeling program
offers users the ability to use basic shapes in order to create a number of
different objects, including buildings and other structures. One
particularly nice feature of the program is that visitors can also add
textures to simulate wood, concrete, and grass. After that, users can also
see their models in Google Earth, if they so desire. This version is
compatible with computers running Windows XP or Vista and Macs running OS X
10.4 and newer.
Ozum 5.05 ---
http://www.ozinsight.com/
A number of
newsreaders offer elaborate interfaces that can be confusing and
disorienting to a neophyte entering the fray of such applications. Ozum 5.05
offers a bit of clarity in this regard, and it includes a "wizard" that will
help new users find the feeds they want to include. Visitors can also use
the tabbed panes and icons to set up new projects and filters for article
searches. Also, the program includes a built-in image viewer. This version
is compatible with computers running Windows 95 and newer.
Chicago hot-dog stand controversy continues as
activists get involved in the debate Slaw and Order: Hot-Dog Stand in
Chicago Triggers a Frank Debate
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125538779820481255.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
Burger Billionaires and Felony Franks ---
http://www.examiner.com/x-5940-SF-Restaurant-Business-Examiner~y2009m10d13-
Burger-Billionaires-and-Felony-Franks
Prison Puns Annoy Neighbors of Felony Franks
http://www.wbur.org/news/npr/113742195
Vienna Beef: History of the Chicago Hot Dog
http://www.viennabeef.com/culture/chgodoghistory.asp
National Hot Dog & Sausage Council [Quick Time]
http://www.hot-dog.org/
How To Make Chicago Hot Dogs
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-chicago-hot-dogs-2
Free online textbooks, cases, and tutorials in accounting, finance,
economics, and statistics ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Education Tutorials
Video: Augmented 3-D Sketching ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24253/?nlid=2446&a=f
Bob Jensen's threads on data visualization ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch
Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials
"How SuperFreakonomics Gets Climate Engineering Wrong: The new book
Superfreakonomics neglects the real dangers of geoengineering," by Kevin Bullis,
MIT's Technology Review, October 20, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/24274/?nlid=2446
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology ---
http://www.waset.org/
Fun and Educational Science Videos
Sixty Symbols (in physics and astronomy) ---
http://www.sixtysymbols.com/
There is a great set of videos about symbols in the periodic table ---
http://www.periodicvideos.com/
Has anybody done something similar with videos about statistics symbols?
Has anybody done something similar with financial symbols?
Nature Milestones ---
http://www.nature.com/milestones/index.html
Rare and Beautiful Books in Biology and Medicine
Turning the Pages Online ---
http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/intro.htm
Illinois Natural History Survey ---
http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/
Bob Jensen's threads on free online science,
engineering, and medicine tutorials are at ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Science
Social Science and Economics Tutorials
Herbert L. Block Collection ---
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hlbhtml/hlbabt.html
Serve.gov ---
http://www.serve.gov/
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology ---
http://www.waset.org/
Free Images from the U.S. Government ---
http://rastervector.com/resources/free/free.html
Michigan State University Libraries: Map Library ---
http://www2.lib.msu.edu/branches/map/index.jsp
U.S. Department of the Interior:
Bureau of Indian Affairs ---
http://www.doi.gov/bia/
Pittsburgh and Beyond: The Experience of the Jewish Community ---
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/ncjw/
The Association of Jewish Libraries ---
http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/
Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and
Philosophy tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Social
Law and Legal Studies
Pittsburgh and Beyond: The Experience of the Jewish Community ---
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/ncjw/
Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Law
Math Tutorials
Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics
History Tutorials
University of North Texas Digital Collections: Miniature Book Collection
http://digital.library.unt.edu/browse/department/rarebooks/mnbc/
Herbert L. Block Collection ---
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hlbhtml/hlbabt.html
Monastic Matrix ---
http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/
"participation of Christian women in the religion and society of medieval
Europe."
Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills ---
http://www.library.gatech.edu/fulton_bag/
Hampton Roads Naval Museum ---
http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/
Sources on US Naval History
http://www.history.navy.mil/sources/index.htm
Naval History http://www.naval-history.net/
I Know Poe
http://www.iknowpoe.com/
U.S. Department of the
Interior: Bureau of Indian Affairs ---
http://www.doi.gov/bia/
H-LatAm (Latin American History) ---
http://www.h-net.org/~latam/
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (urban history) ---
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?c=sanborn
Google Maps Rumsey Historical Maps (old Chicago, Moscow, etc.) ---
http://www.davidrumsey.com/gmaps.html
Michigan State University Libraries: Map Library ---
http://www2.lib.msu.edu/branches/map/index.jsp
Big Streets in a Little City: Downtown Street Scenes in Kiel, 1860-1980
(Wisconsin History) ---http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/subcollections/KielLocHistAbout.html
PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf (Pennsylvania History) ---
https://secureapps.libraries.psu.edu/digitalbookshelf/
Massachusetts Historical Society: Massachusetts Maps ---
http://www.masshist.org/online/massmaps/
Oregon Maps ---
http://boundless.uoregon.edu/digcol/ormaps/index.php
The Rochambeau Map Collection ---
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/rochambeau-maps/index.html
Nature Milestones ---
http://www.nature.com/milestones/index.html
Rare and Beautiful Books in Biology and Medicine
Turning the Pages Online ---
http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/intro.htm
Pittsburgh and Beyond: The Experience of the Jewish Community ---
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/ncjw/
Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Language Tutorials
Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Languages
Music Tutorials
Ballad Operas Online [iTunes]
http://www.odl.ox.ac.uk/balladoperas/
Fiddler's Grove ---
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/sfc1/fiddlers/FiddlersGrove.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Music
Writing Tutorials
Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries
Updates from WebMD ---
http://www.webmd.com/
October 15, 2009
October 16, 2009
October 17m 2009
October 19, 2009
October 20, 2009
October 21, 2009
October 22, 2009
October 23, 2009
October 24, 2009
October 26, 2009
Better Than a Kick in the Butt for Some of Us
"Older People Get Brain Boost From Internet Study: Shows Using the
Internet Activates Decision-Making Centers of the Brain," by Jennifer
Warner, WebMd, October 19, 2009 ---
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20091019/older-people-get-brain-boost-from-internet
Surfing the Internet may be the latest way to teach
an old dog new tricks.
A study shows older adults who learn to use the
Internet to search for information experience a surge of activity in key
decision-making and reasoning centers of the brain.
"We found that for older people with minimal
experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period
of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function," says
researcher Gary Small, MD, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute
for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, in a news release.
As people get older, a variety of both structural
and functional changes can occur in the brain that can reduce activity and
impair function. Previous studies have shown that mental stimulation through
brain training activities can increase the efficiency of cognitive
processing and slow this decline in brain function.
Researchers say the results suggest that Internet
training and searching online may qualify as a simple brain training
activity to enhance cognitive function in older adults.
In the study, presented today at the annual meeting
of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, researchers used functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare brain activity in different
regions of the brain in 24 healthy adults between the ages of 55 and 78.
Half of the participants used the Internet daily
and the other half had very little experience with the Internet.
The participants were instructed on how to perform
Internet searches while fMRI scans recorded levels of brain activity. After
the initial scan, the participants were sent home and conducted Internet
searchers for one hour a day for seven days over a two-week period.
The practice searchers involved using the Internet
to answer questions about a variety of topics by visiting different web
sites and obtaining information.
After the two-week period ended, the participants
received a second brain scan while performing the same Internet stimulation
task as during the first scan but with different topics.
The results showed that not only were the same
regions of the brain that control language, reading, memory, and visual
abilities activated in the second scan as the first, but two additional
activity centers were activated in the second scan among those who were new
to the Internet.
Researchers say the two regions, the middle frontal
gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, are known to be involved in working memory
and decision-making skills. When performing an Internet search, people make
use of the ability to hold information in working memory and extract
important points among distracting graphics and words.
The results suggest that it may only take a few
days of brain training activity like Internet searching for brain activity
activation to reach the same levels found in those with years of Internet
experience.
Adults with little Internet experience show changes
in their brain activity after just one week online, a new study finds.
"UCLA Study: The Internet Is Altering Our Brains," Fox News, October 19,
2009 ---
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568576,00.html?test=latestnews
Video: The Brain's White Matter (not humor) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=461
Brain signals can drive arm movement in a monkey with a paralyzed arm
A monkey with a paralyzed arm can still grasp a ball,
thanks to a novel system designed to translate brain signals into complex muscle
movements in real time. The research, presented at the
Society for Neuroscience
conference in Chicago this week, could one day
allow people with spinal cord injury to control their own limbs.
Emily Singer, MIT's Technology Review, October 23, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23790/?nlid=2455
At my age we hope Obamacare will fund searches for short circuits
They've discovered something unique in bookkeeper brains. For every entry on
the right side of the brain there's an offsetting entry on the left side of the
brain. Current thinking, however, is that this only happens after making about a
million debt and credit entries in the general journal. That's part of life
experience for true bookkeepers. Most accounting professors are still on single
entry brains.
"Intelligence Explained: Tracking and understanding the complex
connections within the brain may finally reveal the neural secret of cognitive
ability," by Emily Singer, MIT's Technology Review, November/December
2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/23695/?nlid=2446
A series of black-and-white snapshots is splayed
across the screen, each capturing a thin slice of my brain. The gray-scale
pictures would look familiar to anyone who has seen a brain scan, but these
images are different. Andrew Frew, a neuroscientist at the University of
California, Los Angeles, uses a cursor to select a small square. Thin
strands like spaghetti appear, representing the thousands of neural fibers
passing through it. A few clicks of the cursor and Frew refines the tract of
fibers pictured on the screen, highlighting first my optic nerve, then the
fibers passing through a part of the brain that's crucial for language, then
the bundles of motor and sensory nerves that head down to the brain stem.
Frew is giving me a tour of my white matter--the
tissue connecting the neurons, or nerve cells, that make up gray matter.
Something about the twisting, turning neural wires that ferry information
between the neurons--their individual thickness, perhaps, or their
abundance, or the specific paths they take from one part of the brain to
another--may explain, at least in part, the variations in human
intelligence.
Scientists have been searching more than two
centuries for the source of intelligence--the general cognitive ability
often quantified in the form of IQ. With the advent of technologies such as
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers concentrating mainly on gray
matter have been able to map the parts of the brain that appear to play a
role. But this has taken them only so far, and the focus on gray matter has
not told the whole story. Not until the last few years, as new variations of
MRI home in on the brain's white matter, has a deeper understanding begun to
emerge. "Scientists are now able to switch the focus from particular regions
of the brain to the connections between those regions," says Sherif Karama,
a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist at McGill University's Montreal
Neurological Institute. Their initial findings have led Karama and others to
believe that neural wiring and the way it carries information around the
brain may be crucially important to IQ.
Until fairly recently, only a few scientists were
studying how brain structure might be related to IQ, in part because the
idea of a biological and genetic basis for intelligence has long been
controversial. Since people from different ethnic groups often score
differently on intelligence tests, such studies may raise contentions of
racism, and critics fear potential abuses such as discrimination in
education or employment. Nonetheless, new imaging techniques have allowed
types of studies never before possible, and the number of research groups
focusing on this question is growing quickly. Many of these groups are
setting their sights on white matter.
The hope is that finding the brain areas and
circuits involved in intelligence will provide new insight into neurological
and psychiatric diseases that impair cognition, such as Alzheimer's and
schizophrenia. "If you want to understand cognitive decline, you need to
understand how cognition is manifested and put together in the brain," says
Rex Jung, a neuroscientist at the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, NM.
The research may also improve understanding of learning disabilities such as
dyslexia and ADHD, perhaps leading to better treatments. But other potential
applications could be more controversial. Some scientists envision a day
when brain scans are used to estimate IQ. Sandra F. Witelson, a
neuroscientist at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster
University in Ontario, says, "It's not a wild guess to say that sometime in
the future, brain scans will be part of a group of tools that try to
indicate what level someone's ability is going to be."
Continued in article
Purportedly this is from the London Times but it is really false
according to Snopes
http://www.snopes.com/crime/clever/carpark.asp
In any case it's fun fiction
A Well-Planned Retirement
Outside England's Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8
buses. For 25 years, the parking fees were managed by a very pleasant
attendant. The fees were £1 for cars ($1.40), £5 for busses (about $7).
Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just
didn't show up; so the Zoo
Management called the City Council and asked it to
send them another parking agent. The Council did some research and replied
that the parking lot was the Zoo's own responsibility.
The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was
a City employee. The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never
been on the City payroll.
Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the
coast of Spain (or some such scenario), is a man who'd apparently had a
ticket machine installed completely on his own; and then had simply begun to
show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees,
estimated at about $560 per day -- for 25 years.
Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over
$7 million dollars!
And no one even knows his name!
Jensen Comment
Of course if he invested the money at compound interest it might be worth more
than $20 million. Following up on another story (which may have been fiction)
forwarded by Glen Gray, the above parking attendant could give back the entire
$7 million and possibly still be multimillionaire with his villa if nobody was
astute enough to also ask for the compound interest.
In the early editions of his famous Principles of Economics textbook, Paul
Samuelson had an example of compound interest. If the
Lenape Indians
had invested the $24 dollars they got for the Island of Manhattan (which may
only be urban legend), the accumulated interest for 400 years (Henry Hudson
first encountered the Lanape in 1609), the value of the savings in 2009 would be
$318,095,369,845.41 (billions) if compounded annually at 6%. In his famous
economics textbook, Nobel Prize winner Paul Samuelson used this illustration
with a slightly fewer number of years ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Samuelson
One of my favorite short stories about a tragic retirement is "The Lotus
Eater" by Somerset Maugham, ---
http://maugham.classicauthors.net/lotuseater/
Forwarded by Auntie Bev
GEOGRAPHY FACTS
Alaska
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska .
Amazon
The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply.
The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than
one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out
of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next
eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all
rivers in the United States .
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only large land mass on our planet that is not owned by any country.
Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica . This ice also
represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it
sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total
precipitation is about two inches Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it,
ice.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity
lower than the Gobi desert.
Brazil
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.
Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an
Indian word meaning ' Big Village .'
Chicago
Next to Warsaw , Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.
Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, so named
because it was the first paved road anywhere.
Damascus, Syria
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was
founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in
existence.
Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles
de Porciuncula -- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
New York City
The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's
who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city. Therefore, to play
New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin , Ireland ; more
Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy ; and more Jews in New York City
than in Tel Aviv, Israel .
Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio , everyone is manmade.
Pitcairn Island
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia , at just
1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.
Rome
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome , Italy in
133 B.C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.
Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.
S.M.O.M .
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military
Order of Malta (S.M.O.M). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area
of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less people than
the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the
Vatican is.
Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert , there is a town named Tidikelt , Algeria , which did
not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place
on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island . There has been no
rainfall there for two million years.
Spain
Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits.'
St. Paul , Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota , was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named
Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.
Roads
Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A : 1%, in Canada : 75%
United States
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile in every five must be
straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or
other emergencies.
Waterfalls
The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet
(979 meters). They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls .
Tidbits Archives ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter ---
Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron"
enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and
other universities is at
http://www.searchedu.com/
World Clock ---
http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/
Interesting Online Clock
and Calendar
---
http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
Time by Time Zones ---
http://timeticker.com/
Projected Population Growth (it's out of control) ---
http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm
Also see
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Populations.html
Facts about population growth (video) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
Projected U.S. Population Growth ---
http://www.carryingcapacity.org/projections75.html
Real time meter of the U.S. cost of the war in Iraq ---
http://www.costofwar.com/
Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons ---
http://zipskinny.com/
Sure wish there'd be a little good news today.
Three Finance Blogs
Jim Mahar's FinanceProfessor Blog ---
http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/
FinancialRounds Blog ---
http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/
Karen Alpert's FinancialMusings (Australia) ---
http://financemusings.blogspot.com/
Some Accounting Blogs
Paul Pacter's IAS Plus (International
Accounting) ---
http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
International Association of Accountants News ---
http://www.aia.org.uk/
AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries ---
http://www.accountingeducation.com/
Gerald Trites'eBusiness and
XBRL Blogs ---
http://www.zorba.ca/
AccountingWeb ---
http://www.accountingweb.com/
SmartPros ---
http://www.smartpros.com/
Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud
Updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Online Books, Poems, References,
and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available
free on the Web.
I created a page that summarizes those various links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
The Master List of Free
Online College Courses ---
http://universitiesandcolleges.org/
Shared Open Courseware
(OCW) from Around the World: OKI, MIT, Rice, Berkeley, Yale, and Other Sharing
Universities ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Free Textbooks and Cases ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Mathematics and Statistics Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics
Free Science and Medicine Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Science
Free Social Science and Philosophy Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Social
Free Education Discipline Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm
Teaching Materials (especially
video) from PBS
Teacher Source: Arts and
Literature ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit.htm
Teacher Source: Health & Fitness
---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/health.htm
Teacher Source: Math ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/math.htm
Teacher Source: Science ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/sci_tech.htm
Teacher Source: PreK2 ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/prek2.htm
Teacher Source: Library Media ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/library.htm
Free Education and
Research Videos from Harvard University ---
http://athome.harvard.edu/archive/archive.asp
VYOM eBooks Directory ---
http://www.vyomebooks.com/
From Princeton Online
The Incredible Art Department ---
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/
Online Mathematics Textbooks ---
http://www.math.gatech.edu/~cain/textbooks/onlinebooks.html
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives ---
http://enlvm.usu.edu/ma/nav/doc/intro.jsp
Moodle ---
http://moodle.org/
The word moodle is an acronym for "modular
object-oriented dynamic learning environment", which is quite a mouthful.
The Scout Report stated the following about Moodle 1.7. It is a
tremendously helpful opens-source e-learning platform. With Moodle,
educators can create a wide range of online courses with features that
include forums, quizzes, blogs, wikis, chat rooms, and surveys. On the
Moodle website, visitors can also learn about other features and read about
recent updates to the program. This application is compatible with computers
running Windows 98 and newer or Mac OS X and newer.
Some of Bob Jensen's Tutorials
Accounting program news items for colleges are posted at
http://www.accountingweb.com/news/college_news.html
Sometimes the news items provide links to teaching resources for accounting
educators.
Any college may post a news item.
Accountancy Discussion ListServs:
For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a
ListServ (usually for free) go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm
AECM (Educators)
http://pacioli.loyola.edu/aecm/
AECM is an email Listserv list which
provides a forum for discussions of all hardware and software
which can be useful in any way for accounting education at the
college/university level. Hardware includes all platforms and
peripherals. Software includes spreadsheets, practice sets,
multimedia authoring and presentation packages, data base
programs, tax packages, World Wide Web applications, etc
Roles of a ListServ ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm
|
CPAS-L (Practitioners)
http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/
CPAS-L provides a forum for discussions of
all aspects of the practice of accounting. It provides an
unmoderated environment where issues, questions, comments,
ideas, etc. related to accounting can be freely discussed.
Members are welcome to take an active role by posting to CPAS-L
or an inactive role by just monitoring the list. You qualify for
a free subscription if you are either a CPA or a professional
accountant in public accounting, private industry, government or
education. Others will be denied access. |
Yahoo
(Practitioners)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xyztalk
This forum is for CPAs to discuss the activities of the AICPA.
This can be anything from the CPA2BIZ portal to the XYZ
initiative or anything else that relates to the AICPA. |
AccountantsWorld
http://accountantsworld.com/forums/default.asp?scope=1
This site hosts various discussion groups on such topics as
accounting software, consulting, financial planning, fixed
assets, payroll, human resources, profit on the Internet, and
taxation. |
Business Valuation
Group
BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com
This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag
[RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM] |
Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) ---
http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm
Some Accounting Blogs
Paul Pacter's IAS Plus (International
Accounting) ---
http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
International Association of Accountants News ---
http://www.aia.org.uk/
AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries ---
http://www.accountingeducation.com/
Gerald Trites'eBusiness and
XBRL Blogs ---
http://www.zorba.ca/
AccountingWeb ---
http://www.accountingweb.com/
SmartPros ---
http://www.smartpros.com/
Management and Accounting Blog ---
http://maaw.info/
Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud
Updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Some
Accounting History Sites
Bob Jensen's Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#AccountingHistory
Accounting
History Libraries at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) ---
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy/libraries.html
The above libraries include international accounting history.
The above libraries include film and video historical collections.
MAAW Knowledge Portal for Management and Accounting ---
http://maaw.info/
Academy of Accounting Historians and the Accounting Historians Journal ---
http://www.accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aah/
Sage Accounting History ---
http://ach.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/11/3/269
A nice timeline on the development of U.S. standards and the evolution of
thinking about the income statement versus the balance sheet is provided at:
"The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional
Standards (1930-1973)," by Stephen A. Zeff, CPA Journal, January 2005
---
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm
Part II covering years 1974-2003 published in February 2005 ---
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/205/index.htm
A nice
timeline of accounting history ---
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2187711/A-HISTORY-OF-ACCOUNTING
From Texas
A&M University
Accounting History Outline ---
http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/history.html
Bob
Jensen's timeline of derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds
History of
Fraud in America ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/415wp/AmericanHistoryOfFraud.htm
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud.htm
Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob)
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone: 603-823-8482
Email:
rjensen@trinity.edu