Tidbits on June 26, 2013
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

At the moment I'm having trouble with my faithful old Sony camera
When I "finalized" its CD-RW mini disk the camera lost all of my pictures since March
I'm trying to recover the files using Isobuster, but Isobuster is still running after 18 continuous hours
http://www.isobuster.com/

So this year I will feature one of my 2009 springtime files
My Walk Down Lovers Lane
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090623.htm

America in Color from 1939-1943 --- http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp

An Animated History of the Tulip ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/an_animated_history_of_the_tulip.html

USDA: The People's Garden ---
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=PEOPLES_GARDEN

The Darlington Digital Library (bird photographs) --- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/d/darlington
Audubon Magazine - Multimedia --- http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/multimedia/index.html

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

 

Tidbits on June 26, 2013
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/

The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

How Accountics Scientists Should Change: 
"Frankly, Scarlett, after I get a hit for my resume in The Accounting Review I just don't give a damn"
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm
One more mission in what's left of my life will be to try to change this
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy --- http://plato.stanford.edu/

"100 Websites You Should Know and Use (updated!)," by Jessica Gross, Ted Talk, August 3, 2007 ---
http://blog.ted.com/2007/08/03/100_websites_yo/

 

From the University of Pittsburgh
Birds of America (435 birds mounted online) --- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/
The Darlington Digital Library (bird photographs) --- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/d/darlington
Audubon Magazine - Multimedia --- http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/multimedia/index.html

America in Color from 1939-1943 --- http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp

Tree Tunnels --- http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/magnificent-tree-tunnels

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm




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

Ocean Life --- http://www.youtube.com/embed/mcbHKAWIk3I

Middle East Conflicts War Memorial ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=WEPBQGu74oo&feature=player_embedded

Mr. Magoo’s Cartoon Version of William Shakespeare’s Comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/mr_magoos_cartoon_version_of_william_shakespeares_comedy_ia_midsummer_nights_dreami.html

The Phillips Collection: Multimedia (current and historical) --- http://www.phillipscollection.org/multimedia/

An Animated History of the Tulip ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/an_animated_history_of_the_tulip.html


Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Minnesota nurse-anesthetists (waking up is hard to do) --- http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2009/11/waking-up-is-hard-to-do.html

Playing Mozart — On Mozart's Violin ---
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/06/14/190975113/playing-mozart-on-mozarts-violin

This is Fantastice
Ukrainian Wins Top Prize At Van Cliburn Piano Competition --- Click Here

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/06/10/189511177/ukrainian-wins-top-prize-at-van-cliburn-piano-competition

The Music, Art, and Life of Joni Mitchell Presented in Superb 2003 Documentary --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/the_music_art_and_life_of_joni_mitchell_presented_in_superb_2003_documentary.html

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

Pandora (my favorite online music station) --- www.pandora.com
TheRadio
(online music site) --- http://www.theradio.com/
Slacker (my second-favorite commercial-free online music site) --- http://www.slacker.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

Watch the Earliest Known Footage of Louis Armstrong Performing Live in Concert (Copenhagen, 1933) --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/earliest_known_footage_of_louis_armstrong_performing_live_in_concert.html

Bob Jensen's threads on nearly all types of free music selections online ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm


Photographs and Art

The National Gallery Makes 25,000 Images of Artwork Freely Available Online --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/the_national_gallery_makes_25000_images_of_artwork_freely_available_online_.html

40,000 Artworks from 250 Museums, Now Viewable for Free at the Redesigned Google Art Project ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/redesigned_google_art_project.html

A Photographer Climbed To The Top Of Dubai's Burj Khalifa Skyscraper To Get These Incredible Shots ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/natgeo-photographer-climbs-burj-khalifa-2013-6

St. Petersburg (where over a million Germans died in a monumental WW II battle and frigid weather) ---
https://twitter.com/Mark_Weinberger/status/347452922973532161/photo/1

18 Surreal Scenes From Australia's Great Barrier Reef ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-from-australias-great-barrier-reef-pictures-2013-6

Terrific Wired Space Photographs ---
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/space-photo-of-the-day-2/?pid=7198

14 Pictures That Show (anecdotally) The World Is Too Crowded ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/14-pictures-of-our-crowded-world-2013-6
Jensen Comment
 I don't know how they missed our Wal-Mart store in Littleton, NH that is normally bursting at the seams with Vermont shoppers who come here to avoid the Vermont sales tax. The same can be said for NH stores on the borders of Maine, Massachusetts, and Canada, especially the liquor stores.

Canada Council for the Arts --- http://www.canadacouncil.ca/

Michigan's Copper Country in Photographs (Native American History) ---  http://digarch.lib.mtu.edu/

Ross Archive of African Images --- http://raai.library.yale.edu/

Dubai Miracle Garden --- Click Here
http://www.google.ca/search?q="Dubai+Miracle+Garden"&lr=&as_qdr=all&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xUa_UcKoNNOz4AP6roGQCQ&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1152&bih=700

University of Washington Yearbooks and Documents --- https://content.lib.washington.edu/uwdocsweb/

The Nash Collection of Primates in Art and Illustration --- http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/PCLArts

Historical Society of Michigan --- http://www.hsmichigan.org/

Ward Morgan Photography, Southwest Michigan 1939-1980 ---
http://digitalcollections-wmich.cdmhost.com/cdm/search/collection/p124301coll2/page/2

Digital Encyclopedia: George Washington's Mount Vernon --- http://www.mountvernon.org/encyclopedia

Vandermaelen Atlas Universel (maps, data) ---
http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/vandermaelen/home.htm

Chicago Park District --- http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/

The Hottest Inhabited Place On Earth --- http://www.businessinsider.com/ethiopias-danakil-depression-2013-5

America's Petrochemical Landscape --- Click Here
http://www.technologyreview.com/photoessay/516216/americas-petrochemical-landscape/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130618

It's Easy To See Why Bangkok Is The New No.1 City For Tourists ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/bangkok-most-popular-city-for-tourists-2013-6

Sweet Pictures Of The Luxury Yacht Allegedly Owned By Kim Jong Un --- |
http://www.businessinsider.com/kim-jong-uns-alleged-luxury-yacht-pictures-2013-6

ArtNC (Concept Map, North Carolina History, Immigration) ---  http://artnc.org/
Bob Jensen's threads on concept maps --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#ConceptMaps 

Herman Miller Consortium Collection (furniture history) ---  http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?c=hmcc

The Work of Charles and Ray Eames (furniture design) --- http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames

Historic New England --- http://www.historicnewengland.org/

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

Listen to T.S. Eliot Recite His Late Masterpiece, the Four Quartets ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/listen_to_ts_eliot_recite_his_late_masterpiece_the_ifour_quartetsi.html

On Bloomsday, Hear James Joyce Read From his Epic Ulysses, 1924 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/on_bloomsday_hear_james_joyce_read_from_his_epic_iulyssesi_1924.html

Italo Calvino on Writing: Insights from 40+ Years of His Newly Released Letters ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/10/italo-calvino-on-writing/

Hear Charlton Heston Read Ernest Hemingway’s Classic Story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/hear_charlton_heston_read_ernest_hemingways_classic_story_the_snows_of_kilimanjaro.html

Hemingway Archives --- http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Hemingway+Archive/

"Turning Abruptly from Friendship to Love: Sartre’s Love Letter to Simone de Beauvoir," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, June 21, 2013 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/21/sartre-love-letter-simone-de-beauvoir/

"Nabokov on Inspiration and the Six Short Stories Everyone Should Read," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, June 17, 2013 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/17/nabokov-inspiration-1972/

Free Electronic Literature --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.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




Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on June 26, 2013
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2013/TidbitsQuotations062613.htm      

U.S. National Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Also see http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Peter G. Peterson Website on Deficit/Debt Solutions ---
http://www.pgpf.org/

The Economist Dean of the Columbia University Business School is Not a Fan of Ben Bernanke or Paul Krugman
"Glenn Hubbard Explains The Doomsday Scenario That America Will See In 20 Years If There's No Change In Spending," by Joe Weisenthal, Business Insider, June 24, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-hubbards-doomsday-scenario-2013-6

We recently had Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Business, in to discuss his book Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America.

Hubbard's main argument is that the US must reduce its long-term deficit, and that if it's not addressed, then within 20 years the US will see a "doomsday scenario" of virtually no social spending and monstrous taxes.

Watch the video

Bob Jensen's threads on entitlements ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm

 




Google Glass --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass

"Professors Envision Using Google Glass in the Classroom," by Sara Grossman, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20, 2013 --- Click Here
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/professors-envision-using-google-glass-in-the-classroom/44401?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Bob Jensen's threads on Google Glass ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#GoogleGlass


How to Protect Yourself Against Online Spying ---
http://getitdone.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-protect-yourself-against-online-spying.aspx

Comparisons of Antivirus Software ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_antivirus_software#Microsoft_Windows

Bob Jensen's threads on computing and networking security ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#SpecialSection


So often success is trouble turned inside out.
"The Gift of Doubt Albert O. Hirschman and the power of failure," by Malcolm Gladwell The New Yorker, June 24, 2013 ---
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2013/06/24/130624crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all

Jensen Comment
This is a very upbeat review of the Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman (Princeton) by Princeton historian Jeremy Adelman." Adelman brilliantly and beautifully brings Hirschman to life, giving us an unforgettable portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most extraordinary intellectuals."

As was nearly always the case with Hirschman’s writing, he made his argument without mathematical formulas or complex models. His subject was economics, but his spirit was literary. He drew on Brecht, Kafka, Freud, Flaubert, La Rochefoucauld, Montesquieu, Montaigne, and Machiavelli, not to mention Homer—he had committed huge sections of the Odyssey to memory. The pleasure of reading Hirschman comes not only from the originality of his conclusions but also from the delightfully idiosyncratic path he took to them. Consider this, from the same essay (and, remember, this is an economist who’s writing):


While we are rather willing and even eager and relieved to agree with a historian’s finding that we stumbled into the more shameful events of history, such as war, we are correspondingly unwilling to concede—in fact we find it intolerable to imagine—that our more lofty achievements, such as economic, social or political progress, could have come about by stumbling rather than through careful planning. . . . Language itself conspires toward this sort of asymmetry: we fall into error, but do not usually speak of falling into truth.

Is it really possible to make a complicated and deeply intellectual argument "without mathematical formulas and complex models?" Probably not by today's standards in the Academy.


The Math Behind a Game of Monopoly ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/we-swear-this-image-will-change-the-way-you-see-the-monopoly-board-forever-2013-6

Jensen Comment
Monopoly is widely used to teach accounting, economics, and other courses.
Bob Jensen's threads on the Game of Monopoly (and its variations) in college courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment


"Google's 80/20 Principle Gives Students Freedom," by Tanya Roscorla, Center for Digital Education, June 11, 2013 ---
http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Googles-8020-Principle-Gives-Students-Freedom.html 


From the Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Science and Pseudo-Science --- http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/

The demarcation between science and pseudoscience is part of the larger task to determine which beliefs are epistemically warranted. The entry clarifies the specific nature of pseudoscience in relation to other forms of non-scientific doctrines and practices. The major proposed demarcation criteria are discussed and some of their weaknesses are pointed out. In conclusion, it is emphasized that there is much more agreement in particular issues of demarcation than on the general criteria that such judgments should be based upon. This is an indication that there is still much important philosophical work to be done on the demarcation between science and pseudoscience.

1. The purpose of demarcations
2. The “science” of pseudoscience
3. The “pseudo” of pseudoscience

3.1 Non-, un-, and pseudoscience
3.2 Non-science posing as science
3.3 The doctrinal component
3.4 A wider sense of pseudoscience
3.5 The objects of demarcation 3.6 A time-bound demarcation

4. Alternative demarcation criteria

4.1 The logical positivists
4.2 Falsificationism
4.3 The criterion of puzzle-solving
4.4 Criteria based on scientific progress
4.5 Epistemic norms 4.6 Multi-criterial approaches

5. Unity in diversity Bibliography

Bibliography of philosophically informed literature on pseudosciences and contested doctrines

Other Internet resources Related Entries

Bibliography

Cited Works

Paul Feyerabend --- http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/

William Thomas Ziemba --- http://www.williamtziemba.com/WilliamZiemba-ShortCV.pdf

Thomas M. Cover --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M._Cover

On June 15, 2013 David Johnstone wrote the following:

Dear all,
I worked on the logic and philosophy of hypothesis tests in the early 1980s and discovered a very large literature critical of standard forms of testing, a little of which was written by philosophers of science (see the more recent book by Howson and Urbach) and much of which was written by statisticians. At this point philosophy of science was warming up on significance tests and much has been written since. Something I have mentioned to a few philosophers however is how far behind the pace philosophy of science is in regard to all the new finance and decision theory developed in finance (e.g. options logic, mean-variance as an expression of expected utility). I think that philosophers would get a rude shock on just how clever and rigorous all this thinking work in “business” fields is. There is also wonderfully insightful work on betting-like decisions done by mathematicians, such as Ziemba and Cover, that has I think rarely if ever surfaced in the philosophy of science (“Kelly betting” is a good example). So although I believe modern accounting researchers should have far more time and respect for ideas from the philosophy of science, the argument runs both ways.

Jensen Comment
Note that in the above "cited works" there are no cited references in statistics such as Ziemba and Cover or the better known statistical theory and statistical science references.

This suggests somewhat the divergence of statistical theory from philosophy theory with respect to probability and hypothesis testing. Of course probability and hypothesis testing are part and parcel to both science and pseudo-science. Statistical theory may accordingly be a subject that divides pseudo-science and real science.

Etymology provides us with an obvious starting-point for clarifying what characteristics pseudoscience has in addition to being merely non- or un-scientific. “Pseudo-” (ψευδο-) means false. In accordance with this, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines pseudoscience as follows:

“A pretended or spurious science; a collection of related beliefs about the world mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method or as having the status that scientific truths now have.”

June 5, 2013 reply to a long thread by Bob Jensen

Hi Steve,

As usual, these AECM threads between you, me, and Paul Williams resolve nothing to date. TAR still has zero articles without equations unless such articles are forced upon editors like the Kaplan article was forced upon you as Senior Editor. TAR still has no commentaries about the papers it publishes and the authors make no attempt to communicate and have dialog about their research on the AECM or the AAA Commons.

I do hope that our AECM threads will continue and lead one day to when the top academic research journals do more to both encourage (1) validation (usually by speedy replication), (2) alternate methodologies, (3) more innovative research, and (4) more interactive commentaries.

I remind you that Professor Basu's essay is only one of four essays bundled together in Accounting Horizons on the topic of how to make accounting research, especially the so-called Accounting Sciience or Accountics Science or Cargo Cult science, more innovative.

The four essays in this bundle are summarized and extensively quoted at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm#Essays 

I will try to keep drawing attention to these important essays and spend the rest of my professional life trying to bring accounting research closer to the accounting profession.

I also want to dispel the myth that accountics research is harder than making research discoveries without equations. The hardest research I can imagine (and where I failed) is to make a discovery that has a noteworthy impact on the accounting profession. I always look but never find such discoveries reported in TAR.

The easiest research is to purchase a database and beat it with an econometric stick until something falls out of the clouds. I've searched for years and find very little that has a noteworthy impact on the accounting profession. Quite often there is a noteworthy impact on other members of the Cargo Cult and doctoral students seeking to beat the same data with their sticks. But try to find a practitioner with an interest in these academic accounting discoveries?

Our latest thread leads me to such questions as:

  1. Is accounting research of inferior quality relative to other disciplines like engineering and finance?

     
  2. Are there serious innovation gaps in academic accounting research?

     
  3. Is accounting research stagnant?

     
  4. How can accounting researchers be more innovative?

     
  5. Is there an "absence of dissent" in academic accounting research?

     
  6. Is there an absence of diversity in our top academic accounting research journals and doctoral programs?

     
  7. Is there a serious disinterest (except among the Cargo Cult) and lack of validation in findings reported in our academic accounting research journals, especially TAR?

     
  8. Is there a huge communications gap between academic accounting researchers and those who toil teaching accounting and practicing accounting?

     
  9. Why do our accountics scientists virtually ignore the AECM and the AAA Commons and the Pathways Commission Report?
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm

One fall out of this thread is that I've been privately asked to write a paper about such matters. I hope that others will compete with me in thinking and writing about these serious challenges to academic accounting research that never seem to get resolved.

Thank you Steve for sometimes responding in my threads on such issues in the AECM.

Respectfully,
Bob Jensen

June 16, 2013 message from Bob Jensen

Hi Marc,

The mathematics of falsification is essentially the same as the mathematics of proof negation.
 
If mathematics is a science it's largely a science of counter examples.
 
Regarding real-real science versus pseudo-science, one criterion is that of explanation (not just prediction)  that satisfies a community of scholars. One of the best examples of this are the exchanges between two Nobel economists --- Milton Friedman versus Herb Simon.
 

From
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

Jensen Comment
Interestingly, two Nobel economists slugged out the very essence of theory some years back. Herb Simon insisted that the purpose of theory was to explain. Milton Friedman went off on the F-Twist tangent saying that it was enough if a theory merely predicted. I lost some (certainly not all) respect for Friedman over this. Deidre, who knew Milton, claims that deep in his heart, Milton did not ultimately believe this to the degree that it is attributed to him. Of course Deidre herself is not a great admirer of Neyman, Savage, or Fisher.

Friedman's essay "The Methodology of Positive Economics" (1953) provided the epistemological pattern for his own subsequent research and to a degree that of the Chicago School. There he argued that economics as science should be free of value judgments for it to be objective. Moreover, a useful economic theory should be judged not by its descriptive realism but by its simplicity and fruitfulness as an engine of prediction. That is, students should measure the accuracy of its predictions, rather than the 'soundness of its assumptions'. His argument was part of an ongoing debate among such statisticians as Jerzy Neyman, Leonard Savage, and Ronald Fisher.

Stanley Wong, 1973. "The 'F-Twist' and the Methodology of Paul Samuelson," American Economic Review, 63(3) pp. 312-325. Reprinted in J.C. Wood & R.N. Woods, ed., 1990, Milton Friedman: Critical Assessments, v. II, pp. 224- 43.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1914363?uid=3739712&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102409988857
 

Respectfully,
 
Bob Jensen

June 16, 2013 reply from Marc Dupree

Let me try again, better organized this time.

You (Bob) have referenced sources that include falsification and demarcation. A good idea. Also, AECM participants discuss hypothesis testing and Phi-Sci topics from time to time.

I didn't make my purpose clear. My purpose is to offer that falsification and demarcation are still relevant to empirical research, any empirical research.

So,

What is falsification in mathematical form?

Why does falsification not demarcate science from non-science?

And for fun: Did Popper know falsification didn't demarcate science from non-science?

Marc

June 17, 2013 reply form Bob Jensen

Hi Marc,

Falsification in science generally requires explanation. You really have not falsified a theory or proven a theory if all you can do is demonstrate an unexplained correlation. In pseudo-science empiricism a huge problem is that virtually all our databases are not granulated sufficiently to possibly explain the discovered correlations or discovered predictability that cannot be explained ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsGranulationCurrentDraft.pdf
 
Mathematics is beautiful in many instances because theories are formulated in a way where finding a counter example ipso facto destroys the theory. This is not generally the case in the empirical sciences where exceptions (often outliers) arise even when causal mechanisms have been discovered. In genetics those exceptions are often mutations that infrequently but persistently arise in nature.
 
The key difference between pseudo-science and real-science, as I pointed out earlier in this thread, lies in explanation versus prediction (the F-twist) or causation versus correlation. When a research study concludes there is a correlation that cannot be explained we are departing from a scientific discovery. For an example, see

Researchers pinpoint how smoking causes osteoporosis ---
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-osteoporosis.html

 

Data mining research in particular suffers from inability to find causes if the granulation needed for discovery of causation just is not contained in the databases. I've hammered on this one with a Japanese research data mining accountics research illustration (from TAR) ----
"How Non-Scientific Granulation Can Improve Scientific Accountics"
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsGranulationCurrentDraft.pdf

 
Another huge problem in accountics science and empirical finance is statistical significance testing of correlation coefficients with enormous data mining samples. For example R-squared coefficients of 0.001 are deemed statistically significant if the sample sizes are large enough :
My threads on Deidre McCloskey (the Cult of Statistical Significance) and my own talk are at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

 
A problem with real-science is that there's a distinction between the evolution of a theory and the ultimate discovery of the causal mechanisms. In the evolution of a theory there may be unexplained correlations or explanations that have not yet been validated (usually by replication). But genuine scientific discoveries entail explanation of phenomena. We like to think of physics and chemistry are real-sciences. In fact they deal a lot with unexplained correlations before theories can finally be explained.
 
Perhaps a difference between a pseudo-science (like accountics science) versus chemistry (a real-science) is that real scientists are never satisfied until they can explain causality to the satisfaction of their peers. Accountics scientists are generally satisfied with correlations and statistical inference tests that cannot explain root causes:
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsGranulationCurrentDraft.pdf
 
Of course science is replete with examples of causal explanations that are later falsified or demonstrated to be incomplete. But the focus is on the causal mechanisms and not mere correlations.

In Search of the Theory of Everything
 "Physics’s pangolin:  Trying to resolve the stubborn paradoxes of their field, physicists craft ever more mind-boggling visions of reality," by Margaret Wertheim, AEON Magazine, June 2013 ---
 http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/margaret-wertheim-the-limits-of-physics/

Of course social scientists complain that the problem in social science research is that the physicists stole all the easy problems.

Respectfully,
 

Bob Jensen

June 18, 2013 reply to David Johnstone by Jagdish Gangolly

David,

Your call for a dialogue between statistics and philosophy of science is very timely, and extremely important considering the importance that statistics, both in its probabilistic and non-probabilistic incarnations, has gained ever since the computational advances of the past three decades or so. Let me share a few of my conjectures regarding the cause of this schism between statistics and philosophy, and consider a few areas where they can share in mutual reflection. However, reflection in statistics, like in accounting of late and unlike in philosophy, has been on short order for quite a while. And it is always easier to pick the low hanging fruit. Albert Einstein once remarked, ""I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for the thinnest part and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy".

1.

Early statisticians were practitioners of the art, most serving as consultants of sorts. Gosset worked for Guiness, GEP Box did most of his early work for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), Fisher worked at Rothamsted Experimental Station, Loeve was an actuary at University of Lyon... As practitioners, statisticians almost always had their feet in one of the domains in science: Fisher was a biologist, Gossett was a chemist, Box was a chemist, ... Their research was down to earth, and while statistics was always regarded the turf of mathematicians, their status within mathematics was the same as that of accountants in liberal arts colleges today, slightly above that of athletics. Of course, the individuals with stature were expected to be mathematicians in their own right.

All that changed with the work of Kolmogorov (1933, Moscow State, http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~bskyrms/bio/readings/kolmogorov_theory_of_probability_small.pdf), Loeve (1960, Berkeley), Doob(1953, Illinois), and Dynkin(1963, Moscow State and Cornell). They provided mathematical foundations for earlier work of practitioners, and especially Kolmogorov provided axiomatic foundations for probability theory. In the process, their work unified statistics into a coherent mass of knowledge. (Perhaps there is a lesson here for us accountants). A collateral effect was the schism in the field between the theoreticians and the practitioners (of which we accountants must be wary) that has continued to this date. We can see a parallel between accounting and statistics here too.

2.

Early controversies in statistics had to do with embedding statistical methods in decision theory (Fisher was against, Neyman and Pearson were for it), and whether the foundations for statistics had to be deductive or inductive (frequentists were for the former, Bayesians were for the latter). These debates were not just technical, and had underpinnings in philosophy, especially philosophy of mathematics (after all, the early contributors to the field were mathematicians: Gauss, Fermat, Pascal, Laplace, deMoivre, ...). For example, when the Fisher-Neyman/Pearson debates had ranged, Neyman was invited by the philosopher Jakko Hintikka to write a paper for the journal Synthese ( "Frequentist probability and Frequentist statistics", 1977).

3.

Since the early statisticians were practitioners, their orientation was usually normative: in sample theory, regression, design of experiments,.... The mathematisation of statistics and later work of people like Tukey, raised the prominence of descriptive (especially axiomatic) in the field. However, the recent developments in datamining have swung the balance again in favour of the normative.

4. Foundational issues in statistics have always been philosophical. And treatment of probability has been profoundly philosophical (see for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_interpretations).

Regards,

Jagdish

June 18, 2018 reply from David Johnstone

Dear Jagdish, as usual your knowledge and perspectives are great to read.

In reply to your points: (1) the early development of statistics by Gossett and Fisher was as a means to an end, i.e. to design and interpret experiments that helped to resolve practical issues, like whether fertilizers were effective and different genetic strains of crops were superior. This left results testable in the real world laboratory, by the farmers, so the pressure to get it right rather than just publish was on. Gossett by the way was an old fashioned English scholar who spent as much time fishing and working in his workshop as doing mathematics. This practical bent comes out in his work.

(2) Neman’s effort to make statistics “deductive” was always his weak point, and he went to great lengths to evade this issue. I wrote a paper on Neyman’s interpretations of tests, as in trying to understand him I got frustrated by his inconsistency and evasiveness over his many papers. In more than one place, he wrote that to “accept” the null is to “act as if it is true”, and to reject it is to “act as if it is false”. This is ridiculous in scientific contexts, since to act as if something is decided 100% you would never draw another sample - your work would be done on that hypothesis.

(3) On the issue of normative versus descriptive, as in accounting research, Harold Jeffreys had a great line in his book, “he said that if we observe a child add 2 and 2 to get 5, we don’t change the laws of arithmetic”. He was very anti learning about the world by watching people rather than doing abstract theory. BTW I own his personal copy of his 3rd edition. A few years ago I went to buy this book on Bookfinder, and found it available in a secondhand bookshop in Cambridge. I rand them instantly when I saw that they said whose book it was, and they told me that Mrs Jeffreys had just died and Harold’s books had come in, and that the 1st edition was sold the day before.

(4) I adore your line that “Foundational issues in statistics have always been philosophical”. .... So must they be in accounting, in relation to how to construct income and net assets measures that are sound and meaningful. Note however that just because we accept something needs philosophical footing doesn’t mean that we will find or agree on that footing. I recently received a comment on a paper of mine from an accounting referee. The comment was basically that the effect of information on the cost of capital “could not be revealed by philosophy” (i.e. by probability theory etc.). Rather, this is an empirical issue. Apart from ignoring all the existing theory on this matter in accounting and finance, the comment is symptomatic of the way that “empirical findings” have been elevated to the top shelf, and theory, or worse, “thought pieces”, are not really science. There is so much wrong with this extreme but common view, including of course that every empirical finding stands on a model or a priori view. Indeed, remember that every null hypothesis that was ever rejected might have been rejected because the model (not the hypothesis) was wrong. People naively believe that a bad model or bad experimental design just reduces power (makes it harder to reject the null) but the mathematical fact is that it can go either way, and error in the model or sample design can make rejection of the null almost certain.

Thank you for your interesting thoughts Jagdish,

David

From Bob Jensen's threads on the Cult of Statistical Significance ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm
 

The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

Page 15
The doctor who cannot distinguish statistical significance from substantive significance, an F-statistic from a heart attach, is like an economist who ignores opportunity cost---what statistical theorists call the loss function. The doctors of "significance" in medicine and economy are merely "deciding what to say rather than what to do" (Savage 1954, 159). In the 1950s Ronald Fisher published an article and a book that intended to rid decision from the vocabulary of working statisticians (1955, 1956). He was annoyed by the rising authority in highbrow circles of those he called "the Neymanites."

Continued on Page 15


pp. 28-31
An example is provided regarding how Merck manipulated statistical inference to keep its killing pain killer Vioxx from being pulled from the market.

Page 31
Another story. The Japanese government in June 2005 increased the limit on the number of whales that may be annually killed in the Antarctica---from around 440 annually to over 1,000 annually. Deputy Commissioner Akira Nakamae explained why:  "We will implement JARPS-2 [the plan for the higher killing] according to the schedule, because the sample size is determined in order to get statistically significant results" (Black 2005). The Japanese hunt for the whales, they claim, in order to collect scientific data on them. That and whale steaks. The commissioner is right:  increasing sample size, other things equal, does increase the statistical significance of the result. It is, fter all, a mathematical fact that statistical significance increases, other things equal, as sample size increases. Thus the theoretical standard error of JAEPA-2, s/SQROOT(440+560) [given for example the simple mean formula], yields more sampling precision than the standard error JARPA-1, s/SQROOT(440). In fact it raises the significance level to Fisher's percent cutoff. So the Japanese government has found a formula for killing more whales, annually some 560 additional victims, under the cover of getting the conventional level of Fisherian statistical significance for their "scientific" studies.


pp. 250-251
The textbooks are wrong. The teaching is wrong. The seminar you just attended is wrong. The most prestigious journal in your scientific field is wrong.

You are searching, we know, for ways to avoid being wrong. Science, as Jeffreys said, is mainly a series of approximations to discovering the sources of error. Science is a systematic way of reducing wrongs or can be. Perhaps you feel frustrated by the random epistemology of the mainstream and don't know what to do. Perhaps you've been sedated by significance and lulled into silence. Perhaps you sense that the power of a Roghamsted test against a plausible Dublin alternative is statistically speaking low but you feel oppressed by the instrumental variable one should dare not to wield. Perhaps you feel frazzled by what Morris Altman (2004) called the "social psychology rhetoric of fear," the deeply embedded path dependency that keeps the abuse of significance in circulation. You want to come out of it. But perhaps you are cowed by the prestige of Fisherian dogma. Or, worse thought, perhaps you are cynically willing to be corrupted if it will keep a nice job

June 25, 2013 reply from Marc Dupree

With regard to the article Scott recommended, "The Flawed Probabilistic Foundation of Law and Economics,"  (https://law.northwestern.edu/journals/lawreview/v105/n1/199/LR105n1Stein.pdf), there may be more interest in the discussion of research methods than answering the question, "Is following the law the same as being ethical?"

 
An excerpt:
Evidential Variety as a Basis for Inference

The logical composition of the two systems of probability— mathematical, on the one hand, and causative, on the other—reveals the systems’ relative strengths and weaknesses. The mathematical system is most suitable for decisions that implicate averages. Gambling is a para- digmatic example of those decisions. At the same time, this system em- ploys relatively lax standards for identifying causes and effects. Moreover, it weakens the reasoner’s epistemic grasp of her individual case by requir- ing her to abstract away from the case’s specifics. This requirement is im- posed by the system’s epistemically unfounded rules that make individual cases look similar to each other despite the uniqueness of each case. On the positive side, however, the mathematical system allows a person to concep- tualize her probabilistic assessments in the parsimonious and standardized language of numbers. This conceptual framework enables people to form and communicate their assessments of probabilities with great precision.

The causative system of probability is not suitable for gambling. It as- sociates probability with the scope, or variety, of the evidence that confirms the underlying individual occurrence. The causative system also employs rigid standards for establishing causation. Correspondingly, it disavows in- stantial multiplicity as a basis for inferences and bans all other factual as- sumptions that do not have epistemic credentials. These features improve people’s epistemic grasps of their individual cases. The causative system has a shortcoming: its unstructured and “noisy” taxonomy. This system in- structs people to conceptualize their probability assessments in the ordinary day-to-day language. This conceptual apparatus is notoriously imprecise. The causative system therefore has developed no uniform metric for grada- tion of probabilities.142

On balance, the causative system outperforms mathematical probabili- ty in every area of fact-finding for which it was designed. This system enables people to perform an epistemically superior causation analysis in both scientific and daily affairs. Application of the causative system also improves people’s ability to predict and reconstruct specific events. The mathematical system, in contrast, is a great tool for understanding averages and distributions of multiple events. However, when it comes to an as- sessment of an individual event, the precision of its estimates of probability becomes illusory. The causative system consequently becomes decisively superior.

Marc 

 


How to Send the Contents of the Clipboard to a Text File via the Send to Menu --- Click Here
http://www.howtogeek.com/165912/how-to-send-the-contents-of-the-clipboard-to-a-text-file-via-the-send-to-menu/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=230613


"Addressing the Opportunity Cost Reason for Not Pursuing a Ph.D. in Accounting," by Jim Martin, MAAW Blog, June 17, 2013 ---
http://maaw.blogspot.com/2013/06/addressing-opportunity-cost-reason-for.html

Bob Jensen's threads on the sad state of doctoral programs in accountancy ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

Jensen Comment
The daughter of one of my close friends is now trying to write up a dissertation proposal in a major USA university. For a time she was dubious about applying for an accounting doctoral program because of all the math, statistics, and econometrics. Now at the dissertation proposal she's decided to beat Compustat data with an econometrics stick because that's easier than trying to collect an original data set.

The irony is that the econometrics turns away many potential applicants to accounting doctoral programs becomes their salvation when they want the easiest kind of dissertations as they near graduation from accountancy doctoral programs. Go figure!


The Phillips Collection: Multimedia (current and historical) --- http://www.phillipscollection.org/multimedia/

National Science Foundation: Multimedia Gallery --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/


Fraud Beat (Diploma Mill Degrees in Developing Countries)
"Politicians, Fake Degrees and Plagiarism," by Philip G. Altbach, Inside Higher Ed, June 16, 2013 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com//blogs/world-view/politicians-fake-degrees-and-plagiarism

Vladimir Putin not only did not write a single word in his Ph.D. thesis, it's not clear that he ever read a single word in his Ph.D. thesis ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities
Maybe he was too busy building his billion dollar house on the Black Sea.

Bob Jensen's threads on diploma mills ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#DiplomaMill

Bob Jensen's threads on cheating in academe ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm


Why India Trails China (NYT) ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/opinion/why-india-trails-china.html?_r=0

Jensen Comment
India performs worse on both inequality and birth control. Both nations restrain economic growth with high levels of government corruption.


He's not going to like it --- I guarantee it!

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on June 20, 2013

Men’s Wearhouse founder gets the boot
Men’s Wearhouse
terminated its founder and public face, George Zimmer, from his position as executive chairman. Mr. Zimmer said he was being silenced after expressing concerns about the company’s direction. He didn’t elaborate on the disagreements. But the split was a deep-seated one that “manifests itself in several conflicts with the board,”
a person familiar with the matter tells the WSJ. The company has warned in its securities filings that Mr. Zimmer is important to its success and that a loss of his services could hurt its business and stock price. The move sent the company’s shares down as much as 6.9% Wednesday before they recovered to close at $37.04, down 1.1%.

Jensen Comment
This is one of the most familiar voices in television commercials for men's clothing. His most famous lines:  "You're going to like it. I guarantee it." Wal-Mart and other big box stores also "guarantee it "with their no-questions-asked return policies. The only time I walked into a Men's Warehouse store it was to look for a summer suit. I was told that MW only sold wool suits. Wool in the South Texas heat?


"A Technical Dictionary That Fits the Definition of User-Friendly," by David A. Pogue, The New York Times, June 20, 2013 ---
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/a-technical-dictionary-that-fits-the-definition-of-user-friendly/#more-6881

Everybody talks about how Amazon has killed the American bookstore, how Facebook is isolating our children, how tiny changes in Google’s search algorithms can destroy small businesses. But Wikipedia has left some damage in its wake, too.

There was the Encyclopedia Britannica, of course, which ceased printed publication in 2010. But there was another, less visible casualty: the Computer Desktop Encyclopedia (C.D.E.).

It’s an online dictionary of 25,000 computer and consumer electronics terms, written over 30 years by Alan Freedman, his wife, Irma Morrison, and occasional part-timers. Until about eight years ago, the C.D.E. served as the built-in computer dictionary for 20 technology-related Web sites. (They used their own names for it: TechEncyclopedia, ChannelWeb Encyclopedia, ZDNet Dictionary, and so on.) Today, PCMag.com is the only tech site that still builds in the C.D.E. (FreeDictionary and YourDictionary.com also incorporate it.)

Mr. Freedman, a corporate computer trainer for many years, has therefore taken the only logical path: He’s now made the C.D.E. free online to all, at computerlanguage.com. And he challenged me to compare his definitions with its rivals.

One thing is for sure: There’s something to be said for having a single editor. Wikipedia entries, of course, are written collaboratively by strangers with different agendas and writing styles. And its technology definitions tend to be by engineers, for engineers.

Continued in article

Computer Desktop Encyclopedia ---
http://computerlanguage.com/

Jensen Comment
I no longer update my own technology glossary, but it is better than most current computer-term glossaries and encyclopedias (although it's impossible to beat Google Advanced Search if you take the trouble) for obsolete terms ---
 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm
My glossary today is more for historians seeking technical terms that have dropped from current use. For example, how many of you remember CD-I. This was my first exposure to great interactive computing (on an analog television set). I still have an early and long-neglected CD-I player in my studio. I also have a collection of commercial CD-I disks as well as some of my own creations. Those were the days my friend. I thought CD-I would never end.


"S.L.R. (Sony Camera) Advantages at Half the Size," by David A. Pogue, The New York Times, June 13, 2013 ---
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/s-l-r-advantages-at-half-the-size/

. . .

The bigger the sensor chip in your camera, the better and sharper the low-light pictures. The less blur. The better the color. The more likely you are to get that professional soft-focus background look.

In pocket cameras, there’s still nothing that can touch the amazing Sony RX-100. It’s expensive, but its sensor dwarfs all of its rivals.

In interchangeable-lens cameras, Sony has made tremendous progress with its NEX family. These are, for all practical purposes, single-lens reflex cameras: huge sensors (APS-C size, same size as in the Canon Rebel line), swappable lenses. Yet somehow, Sony has managed to shrink these cameras to about half the size of the smallest S.L.R. You can easily slip an NEX into your coat pocket, with the lens on.

For the last few months, I’ve been carrying around the NEX-6 ($650, body only), which is in the middle of the line. (Through June 22, it’s $800 with lens, case and memory card.) Unlike the cheaper NEX cameras, it has a built-in flash, a built-in eyepiece viewfinder and a flip-out screen, so you can shoot low-down shots or up-high shots. In essence, the NEX-6 is a less expensive version of the top-of-the-line NEX-7 ($950, body only). In fact, the 6 has a feature the 7 lacks: Wi-Fi, which lets you zap fresh photos over to your iPhone or Android phone for instant sending. You can also use your phone as a remote viewfinder, or as a remote trigger. I tried out the iPhone Wi-Fi app, called PlayMemories Mobile. It’s a little clunky to set up, but it works. (Basically, the camera acts as a Wi-Fi hot spot, to which you connect your phone. At that point, the latter controls the former.)

A few other apps are available, too. A free one lets you post directly from the camera to Facebook over a Wi-Fi hot spot; a $10 one adds time-lapse movie creation.

The NEX-6 also has a newer autofocus system that focuses almost instantaneously in good light, and in maybe half a second in dimmer scenes.

It’s been an extraordinary year of events and travel for me, and this camera has been fantastic. It’s small enough that it’s always with me, but it’s camera enough that it rarely lets you down. I’ve posted a selection of NEX-6 samples on Flickr.

As you flip through them, you’ll see a few of the NEX family’s specialties:

•Low light. With a typical pocket camera, you’ll get blur if you try to shoot nighttime street scenes without a tripod. This one does fine.
 

•Soft-focus backgrounds. A big sensor and large aperture make possible this classic photographic effect — one that small cameras usually can’t achieve.

•Crazy wide-angles. I’ve written before about how transformative Sony’s Sweep Panorama feature is. Now becoming common (it’s even built into the iPhone, for example), it lets you swing the camera in an arc to capture a huge wide panorama. But if you turn the camera 90 degrees, you get a huge tall photo that doesn’t seem like a panorama at all — just a sweeping, amazing vista, as though you had the world’s widest-angle lens. Food, people, critters, landscapes, and architecture all benefit from these features. Battery life is 360 shots, which is excellent for a mirrorless compact like this one. You charge it over a USB cable, although you can buy a dedicated charger for $60.

There are some things that need fixing. Here we are, in something like the sixth generation of these cameras, and Sony is still using a ridiculously awkward menu system. I wish the screen would flip all the way forward, so you could use it for self-portraits. I wish you didn’t have to switch between Photo Playback and Movie Playback modes. Why can’t movies and stills be mixed together, as they are on any other camera?

Continued in article

 


"Report: The 4 Pillars of the Flipped Classroom," by David Nagel, T.H.E. Magazine, June 18, 2013 ---
http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/06/18/report-the-4-pillars-of-the-flipped-classroom.aspx?=THENU

Though all classrooms are different, there are four critical elements that successful flipped classrooms have in common, according to a new report developed by the Flipped Learning Network, George Mason University, and Pearson's Center for Educator Effectiveness.

The report, "A Review of Flipped Learning," is designed to guide teachers and administrators through the concepts of flipped classrooms and provide definitions and examples of flipped learning in action. Among those concepts are four "pillars" that are required to support effective flipped learning.

  1. Flexible environments: Teachers must expect that class time will be "somewhat chaotic and noisy" and that timelines and expectations for learning assessments will have to be flexible as well.
  2. Culture shift: The classroom becomes student-centered. According to the guide: "Students move from being the product of teaching to the center of learning, where they are actively involved in knowledge formation through opportunities to participate in and evaluate their learning in a manner that is personally meaningful."
  3. Intentional content: Teachers are required to evaluate what they need to teach directly so that classroom time can be used for other methods of teaching, such as "active learning strategies, peer instruction, problem-based learning, or mastery or Socratic methods, depending on grade level and subject matter."
  4. Professional educators: The instructional videos used for flipped classrooms cannot replace trained, professional teachers.

The report also identified challenges and concerns about flipped classrooms, including:

The guide provides references to research supporting the teaching methods used in flipped classrooms and includes three case studies focusing on flipped classrooms in action at the high school and college level. The complete report can be downloaded in PDF form on the Flipped Learning Network site.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on learning and education technology ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

  • Working Paper 255 on Asynchronous Learning Networks
    Using Asynchronous Network Courses to Bridge Gaps in the
    Teeth of a University Curriculum With Imported Gold: Bridgework
    May Be Optimally Effective Only by Incurring High Labor Expenses

    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm

    June 19, 2013 reply from Lim K. Teoh

  • Not meant to be negative but here's an example of flipping failure that we could learn before going on this option:

    http://www.emergingedtech.com/2013/05/my-flipping-failure/ 

    Best wishes,
    Lim


  • Why the 64-bit Version of Windows is More Secure --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165535/why-the-64-bit-version-of-windows-is-more-secure/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=170613


    How Statistics Can Mislead
    "Young Households Falling Behind in Net Worth," by Barry Ritholtz, June 15, 2013 ---
    http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/06/young-households-falling-behind-in-net-worth/

    Those averages are deceptive, in that they are raised by the high wealth of a relatively small number of households. A very different picture emerges from looking at the median — the level at which half the households are richer and half poorer. That statistic can be calculated from the Fed’s triennial survey of consumer finances. In the studies conducted in the 1990s, the median net wealth was about one-quarter of the average. In the 2000s, the median fell to about one-fifth of the average, and in 2010, it was down to about one-sixth of the average.”
    Floyd Norris at the NYT

    How Statistics Can Mislead
    "MOOC Students Who Got Offline Help Scored Higher, Study Finds," by Steve Kolowich, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 7, 2013 ---
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/mooc-students-who-got-offline-help-scored-higher-study-finds/44111

    Jensen Comment
    Although I like this article, it is yet another example of the many times statistics are used to mislead readers. At the roots this is really a rehash of the issue of causation versus correlation.

    This extrapolates to the granulation problem that I've previously mentioned with respect to how often (most always) accountics science researchers really cannot say anything about causality.

    "How Non-Scientific Granulation Can Improve Scientific Accountics"
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsGranulationCurrentDraft.pdf


    In Search of the Theory of Everything
    "Physics’s pangolin:  Trying to resolve the stubborn paradoxes of their field, physicists craft ever more mind-boggling visions of reality," by Margaret Wertheim, AEON Magazine, June 2013 ---
    http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/margaret-wertheim-the-limits-of-physics/

    As Gary Larson said in one of his better-known cartoons:
    "My brain is full."


    China
    "Too Many Graduates - Not Enough Jobs," by Mike Shedlock, Townhall, June 19, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/06/19/too-many-graduates--not-enough-jobs-n1622523?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

    "Business Majors Are The Most Underemployed Graduates In America," by Vivian Giang, Business Insider, June 18, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/business-majors-most-underemployed-graduates-2013-6

    Jensen Comment
    We know a few other nations with similar problems. It would help if China followed the USA lead of expanding its McDonalds chain. "Would you like McFries or McRice or McCalculus?"


    Question
    How can you capture Camtasia audio without a microphone (e.g., for embedding a YouTube clip in your Camtasia video)?

    Hint
    Go to Windows 7 or anything higher that XP.

    Answer from Mike Curtis
    http://feedback.techsmith.com/techsmith/topics/audio_without_a_microphone_in_camtasia_studio


    "I Don't Like Teaching. There, I Said It," by Sidney Perth, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 5, 2013 ---
    http://chronicle.com/article/I-Dont-Like-Teaching-There/139623/?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en


    "Recharge Now:  Tesla's electric car offers a quiet, powerful ride. But unless it comes up with a cheaper, stronger battery, the stock could turn out to be a lemon," Bill Alpert, Barron's Cover Story, June 7, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703578204578523303280053948.html?mod=BOL_twm_ls#articleTabs_article%3D1

    "Gone in 90 Seconds: Tesla's Battery-Swapping Magic," by Ashley Vance, Bloomberg Businessweek, June 21, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-21/gone-in-90-seconds-teslas-battery-swapping-magic

    Jensen Comment
    This is a perfect opportunity for accounting students to do a feasibility-cost study based upon the cost parameters for purchasing a Tesla and paying $60-$80 per battery swap. One item to compare is the size of the nation. Canada, Russia, and the USA are particularly troublesome because both nations are huge with lots of open spaces and cold weather (batteries do not work as well in cold weather). Battery swapping that works well in Israel might be such a good idea for the USA, Canada, and Russia.

    Also troublesome are large cities. Do you really want to have to drive for 50 traffic-jammed miles round trip to find a battery swap station in downtown Toronto or Los Angeles or NYC?

    For accounting students this is a complicated fixed cost research question in CVP analysis where charging stations across a nation currently cost $500,000 each battery swap pit. How long will it take to recover the $500,000 fixed cost of a recharging station pit up in Yellow Feather village located in far north Alberta?

    Unanswered questions include warranty issues.
    Batteries currently have a 100,000 mile warranty. What if a battery having 97,483 miles is swapped for a new batter costing $60-$80 at a swapping station? Or what if you swap a battery with 1,037 miles for one having 97,483 miles? I'm not at all clear on how Tesla plans to deal with the battery warranty complications caused by battery swapping. Is Tesla essentially giving low cost battery replacements ($60-$80) for the life of a car that could be as long as forever?

    I recall what a disaster it was for K-Mart to give me a lifetime free battery replacement warrnty on my 1970 Plymouth station wagon. In 1998 the K-Mart service manager just rolled his eyes when I asked for my free battery Number 10.  Under the writing in my particular warranty contract there was no prorated depreciation for time of use. I felt like Jack Benny driving to K-Mart in a Maxwell ---
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Js93UCdzH0
    (Following a very long Lucky Strike commercial)

    Similarly, when the Feds bailed out Chrysler in 2007 a $1 billion reserve had to be created for all those Chrysler vehicles that had lifetime warranties on the power train. A car's "lifetime" apart from the power train might well be forever.

    The warranty issue is also a worry for investors in Tesla. There is zero experience on long-term battery life in varying climates. The warranty losses are great unknowns at this point in time --- a worry for accountants, investors, car buyers, and the Tesla company itself. Will banks loan $400,000 on each charging station pits having zero alternate uses.


    Is this really a "loonie" idea from Google?

    Google Wants to Provide Internet Access to Remote Parts of the World with Solar-Powered Balloons --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/google_provides_internet_access_to_remote_parts_of_the_world_with_solar-powered_ballons.html


    "African Entrepreneurs Deflate Google’s Internet Balloon Idea:  Kenyan tech leaders say the high-flying Internet balloons may not be a realistic networking solution for their continent," by David Talbot, MIT's Technology Review, June 20, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://www.technologyreview.com/news/516186/african-entrepreneurs-deflate-googles-internet-balloon-idea/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130620

  • Google’s latest pet project, called Loon, is meant to deliver the Internet to new parts of the world via solar-powered balloons soaring through the stratosphere. Yet some technologists in Africa say the project may be unrealistic as a competitive networking solution for their continent.

    For one thing, the service would only provide 3G connectivity, meaning that it would need to compete with cellular networks that are expanding and becoming ever cheaper to use. “In Kenya, most parts of the country have 3G access,” says Phares Kariuki, previously a technology consultant to the World Bank, who now leads an effort to build a supercomputing cluster at iHub, the tech startup space in Nairobi. 

    And even if Google managed to deliver faster speeds from future balloon fleets, they’d be solving the wrong problem, Kariuki adds: “The barrier to Internet adoption is not so much the lack of connectivity. It’s the high cost of the equipment.” People in poor areas simply can’t afford laptops and smartphones, Kariuki says, and generally prefer cheap feature phones.

    Google’s Loon project manager, Mike Cassidy, says that even if some countries like Kenya have substantial 3G coverage, many others don’t. “We don’t think there is any one solution or one company that will have a solution for the whole world,” he says. “We just think that from what we’ve seen, there are huge swaths of people who don’t have connectivity.”

     


    "The 50 Rip-Off Charities: Give at Your Own Risk," by Morgan Brittany, Townhall, June 17, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/morganbrittany/2013/06/17/the-50-ripoff-charities-give-at-your-own-risk-n1621292?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

    The List of 50 --- http://www.tampabay.com/americas-worst-charities/


    "Canada Mayor Crisis Spreads: Montreal Mayor In Custody," by Josh Barro, Business Insider, June 17, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/montreal-mayor-michael-applebaum-arrest-2013-6 

    Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


    Video
    "NYU's Sweet Perks for Professors," The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://live.wsj.com/video/opinion-nyus-sweet-perks-for-professors/60920397-8E2F-4091-9392-DD6A3AFB0681.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h#!60920397-8E2F-4091-9392-DD6A3AFB0681

    "N.Y.U. Gives Its Stars (administrators and faculty) Loans for Summer Homes," by Ariel Kaminer and Alain Delaquerer, The New York Times, June 17, 2013 ---
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/nyregion/nyu-gives-stars-loans-for-summer-homes.html?hp&_r=1&

    . . .

    N.Y.U. has already attracted attention for the multimillion-dollar loans it extends to some top executives and professors buying homes in New York City, a practice it has defended as necessary to attract talent to one of the most expensive cities on earth. Mortgage loans to Jacob Lew, a former N.Y.U. executive vice president, part of which was eventually forgiven, became an issue during Mr. Lew’s confirmation hearings as treasury secretary this year.

    Universities in similar circumstances, like Columbia and Stanford, also have helped professors and executives with home loans. Aid for vacation properties, however, is all but unheard-of in higher education, several experts in university pay packages say.

    “That’s getting to be a little too sexy even for me, and I have a good sense of humor about these things,” said Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, a former president of George Washington University who has publicly defended high salaries for professors and university executives. “That is entertaining, actually. I don’t think that’s prudent. I don’t mind paying someone a robust salary, but I think you have to be able to pass a red-face test.”

    Richard Revesz, who recently ended a decade as the dean of New York University Law School, lives with his wife, an N.Y.U. law professor, in a handsome West Village town house that was financed by N.Y.U. They also have a home on more than 65 acres near the Housatonic River in Litchfield County, also helped by an N.Y.U. loan, according to land records in both locales. According to the university’s most recently available tax return, they owe the university $5.7 million altogether.

    Since the late 1990s, at least five medical or law school faculty members at N.Y.U. have received loans on properties in the Hamptons or Fire Island, in addition to Dr. Sexton. Martin Dorph, an executive vice president of N.Y.U., got a $200,000 loan on a home in Bucks County, Pa., that he already owned; the university said the loan, which is forgiven over time as long as he stays with N.Y.U., was in lieu of a raise.

    “The purpose of our loan programs goes right to the heart of several decades of sustained and successful effort at N.Y.U.: to transform N.Y.U. from a regional university into a world-class research residential university,” John H. Beckman, the university spokesman, said in an e-mail. In some fields, he added, certain loans help retain faculty members who “can easily pursue a financially rewarding professional career instead of choosing the path of university scholarship and teaching.”

    He said that only a small fraction of the more than 100 loans given by N.Y.U. (some of which were made by New York University itself and others by related foundations) were for second homes. He declined to comment on the terms of most of those loans, like interest rates and any provisions for forgiveness, citing the privacy of the parties.

    In Dr. Sexton’s 11 years as president, N.Y.U. has raised its profile, expanded to campuses around the world and won approval for a major expansion in its home base, Greenwich Village. It has done so in part through aggressive spending and fund-raising.

    The rapid change has won Dr. Sexton many admirers, both at N.Y.U. and throughout higher education. The board of trustees has raised his salary to nearly $1.5 million, with a $2.5 million “length of service” bonus to come in 2015, and has guaranteed him retirement benefits of $800,000 a year. The university also provides him an apartment by Washington Square.

    But many faculty members have bristled at both his pay package and what they consider a top-down management style more fit for a corporation than a university. The faculties of five N.Y.U. schools have passed votes of no confidence in him this year. (The law school voted to support Dr. Sexton.)

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    I don't know anything about most of these loan deals provided by (mostly) private universities. Stanford leases land for almost nothing to employees to construct their own homes or buy those homes from other Stanford employees. I don't think the program is limited to faculty or to "stars" on the faculty. I rented tow of those homes in separate academic years from an associate professor of geology and an assistant professor of finance (who did not have tenure). Both weree rather modest homes on Stanford leased land. However, those older "modest" homes are now worth more 20 times their construction costs due to the explosion of sales prices even if the buyers must be employees of Stanford. It's all a matter of supply and demand.

    One question I would like answered is how Palo Alto taxes these market-restricted properties. For example, one of the homes I rented was built for $33,500 in 1970. Today it's probably worth $700,000 if sold to another Stanford employee. Outside the campus in Palo Alto the same house might sell for $1.5 million. Under those circumstances, how will Palo Alto value the house for tax purposes? Recall that Prop 13 allows property tax increases to "fair value" for new buyers. What is "fair value" in this case for tax purposes?

    Further complicating the situation is that Stanford built an elementary school for Stanford lease land housing. I don't know how property taxes are factored into paying for the operation of that school. The Stanford Elementary School was neat, while I was in a think tank for two years, in that my children could walk a short distance to that elementary school without ever having to walk on a street. There were beautiful walking trails leading to the school.

    I don't think the teachers in that elementary school were Stanford employees. They probably were not allowed to buy homes on Stanford lease land.

    In the case of the NYU loan deals, the NYU must report any difference between a favorable interest rate and the current market interest rate as taxable compensation to the employee. Stanford's tax deals are more complicated. If Stanford charges $1 per year to lease a lot that could be leased for $12,001 per year in an open market I suspect the IRS wants to treat the $12,000 as compensation. My understanding is that this was not the case in the 1970s.

    Note that the tax situation gets even more complicated for employees that given free housing doe to requirements of their jobs that they live in the campus housing provided free to employees. Such employees can include the campus fire chief, the campus police chief, the university president, the university chaplain, etc.

    Before I retired Bexar County (read that San Antonio) did not charge property taxes for campus homes for employees who were required by universities to live on campus. I think that has changed since I retired, but I'm not up to date on the details of the change. In the old days the school districts charged tuition for children of employees in tax-exempt housing. Universities negotiated what they paid for city and county services, like fire and police protection, that covered the entire campuses.

    Some universities like NYU and Stanford also provide apartment rentals to faculty at very favorable rental rates. I suspect that the difference between rent paid and market rental rates is taxed by the IRS as compensation. What is more complicated is how campus apartment buildings for employees are valued for property tax purposes by NYC and Palo Alto.

    The bottom line is that some employee benefits such as leased apartments, leased lots, and employee borrowing at favorable rates becomes complicated for taxing jurisdictions and employee relations with employees who were are not receiving such housing benefits. One way to simplify these compensation packages would be to give every employee a monthly cash benefit for housing. The university could then charge employees who take such benefits in kind rather than cash. For example, if an employee rents a campus apartment for $2,000 per month that would cost $3,000 per month off campus, the employee's cash benefit for housing would be reduced by $1,000 per month.

    The problem of housing benefits arises mostly for campuses located where housing costs are very high (outliers) such as in New York City and Palo Alto where universities face an almost impossible task of hiring employees without some kind of incremental housing cost benefits. In other words there's an enormous difference between housing costs in New York City and Palo Alto versus Vermillion (South Dakota) ---
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermillion,_South_Dakota

    A luxury summer home ala NYU is another matter entirely.


    RSS --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS

    What Is RSS?  ---
    http://techtalker.quickanddirtytips.com/what-is-rss.aspx


    Great Lectures May Be Learning Losers
    "Appearances can be deceiving: instructor fluency increases perceptions of learning without increasing actual learning," by Shana K. Carpenter, Miko M. Wilford, Nate Kornell, Kellie M. Mullaney, Springer.com, May 2013 ---
    http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2Fs13423-013-0442-z

    Abstract
    The present study explored the effects of lecture fluency on students’ metacognitive awareness and regulation. Participants watched one of two short videos of an instructor explaining a scientific concept. In the fluent video, the instructor stood upright, maintained eye contact, and spoke fluidly without notes. In the disfluent video, the instructor slumped, looked away, and spoke haltingly with notes. After watching the video, participants in Experiment 1 were asked to predict how much of the content they would later be able to recall, and participants in Experiment 2 were given a text-based script of the video to study. Perceived learning was significantly higher for the fluent instructor than for the disfluent instructor (Experiment 1), although study time was not significantly affected by lecture fluency (Experiment 2). In both experiments, the fluent instructor was rated significantly higher than the disfluent instructor on traditional instructor evaluation questions, such as preparedness and effectiveness. However, in both experiments, lecture fluency did not significantly affect the amount of information learned. Thus, students’ perceptions of their own learning and an instructor’s effectiveness appear to be based on lecture fluency and not on actual learning.

    Downfall of Lecturing --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#DownfallOfLecturing

    Two Ongoing Papers by Bob Jensen

    Ruth Bender, Ph.D. is an accounting professor in the United Kingdom

    June 17, 2013 message from Ruth Bender

    I did the MOOC ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior’ from Dan Ariely at Duke (it uses Coursera).  I registered just to see what it was like, with no expectation of doing the work.  I ended up doing all of the video lectures, all of the required readings, many of the optional readings, some of the optional videos, all of the tests, the written assignment, peer-reviews of others’ assignments… I even spent time swotting for the final exam!  And when I got my certificate, even though it is covered in disclaimers (they can’t know that I really am the one who did the work) I felt a real sense of achievement.

    On the other hand, I also started a Strategy course, and lasted only one lecture. 

    And I have just started a Finance course, but am struggling with it as it’s a bit tedious.  (Not sure how much of that relates to the fact that I understand the time value of money, and how much of it is due to style, with a presenter speaking to camera for long periods.)

    I wrote down, for Cranfield colleagues, some features of the Ariely course.  Here  they are.

    1.    A lot of time had been spent getting this right.  They reckoned, about 3000 hours.  The videos are very professional.  The cartoon drawings that accompany them every so often are quite nice as a (relevant) distraction.

    2.    As well as Dan Ariely, they had two teaching assistants on the course to answer queries.

    3.    I didn’t use the discussion for a or the live hangouts.  I don’t know about the hangouts, but I did occasionally browse the discussion for a to see how they were being used.  They seemed quite active.  Likewise, I didn’t participate in the course Wiki but it did seem active.

    4.    There was a survey done before at the start of the course and at the start of every single week.  The surveys covered attitudes, to the course and the subjects covered.  (This is a psychology course, after all.)

    5.    A final exercise, voluntary that I am not joining, is to write a group essay on the course.

    6.    The videos ranged from 5 minutes to over 20.  The readings ranged from 1-2 pages through to academic working papers of about 40 pages.

    7.    There are two tests each week – on the videos, and on the readings.  You can re-sit the tests up to 15 times

    8.    The closing exam was closed-book.  People were selling revision notes, and also providing them for free.  Some very complex mind maps here – this was unexpected and very interesting. 

    9.    A lot of interaction with Dan, including the weekly Q&A video.

    Overall, I think it was a success because the material was interesting, and because it was presented really well.  They kept my interest with short-ish videos, and with quizzes.  Ariely is an entertaining presenter.  In order to get a grade you had to peer-review at least 3 other people’s written assignments.  I ended up reading 11, just because I wanted to see the standard.  A couple were dire, but most were high.

    Hope this helps.  Happy to give more information if you like.

    Ruth

    ---------------

    Dr Ruth Bender
    Cranfield School of Management

    UK

    "Why We Fear MOOCs," by Mary Manjikian, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 14, 2013 ---
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/06/14/why-we-fear-moocs/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

    How to Sign Up for a MOOC

    Hi Paul,

    Various options are linked at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

    Although not MOOC complete courses, there are over 2,000  free learning modules at Kahn Academy, including some advanced-learning accounting modules:
    Khan Academy Home Page --- http://www.khanacademy.org/
    This site lists the course categories but there are more courses than fit under these categories.  It's best to search for a topic of interest.

     

    Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs and other shared tutorials, courses, videos, and course materials from prestigious universities ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


    "Overview Of The New 3.8% Investment Income Tax, Part 3: Gains From The Sale Of Property," by Tony Nitti, Forbes, May 2013 --- Click Here
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2013/05/01/overview-of-the-new-3-8-investment-income-tax-part-3-gains-from-the-sale-of-property/

    . . .

    We’ll be back with Part 4, in which we’ll discuss some additional considerations everyone should be aware of regarding the new net investment income tax.


    If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.
    George S. Patton

    "The Secret to Learning Anything: Albert Einstein's Advice to His Son," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, June 14, 2013 ---
    http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/14/einstein-letter-to-son/

    Some Thoughts on Learning by Bob Jensen

     

     

    "Original Mad Man David Ogilvy on the 10 Qualities of Creative Leaders." by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, June 11, 2013 ---
    http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/11/david-ogilvy-10-qualities-of-creative-leaders/


    Here’s Why Firefox is Still Years Behind Google Chrome --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165264/heres-why-firefox-is-still-years-behind-google-chrome/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=140613


    Why You Probably Aren’t Getting the Internet Speeds You’re Paying For (and How to Tell) --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165321/why-you-probably-arent-getting-the-internet-speeds-youre-paying-for-and-how-to-tell/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=150613


    NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS OWNER: Vladimir Putin Stole My Super Bowl Ring, And George Bush Told Me To Forget About It  ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-stole-robert-krafts-super-bowl-ring-2013-6

    Vladimir Putin not only did not write a single word in his Ph.D. thesis, it's not clear that he ever read a single word in his Ph.D. thesis ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities
    Maybe he was too busy building his billion dollar house on the Black Sea.


    List of common misconceptions --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions
    Note all the footnotes.

    To this we might add that Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli is not the father of accounting who wrote an accounting book originating the double-entry system called Summa de Arithmetica Geometria Proportionalita in 1494. This book Summa is an algebra book that uses double entry accounting equation as an algebra illustration. Double-entry bookkeeping existed for hundreds of years before 1494 and has unknown origins that are suspected to be Persian.

    December 16, 2005  message from Robert B Walker [walkerrb@ACTRIX.CO.NZ]

    Luca Pacioli did not invent double entry book-keeping. The rudiments of double entry book-keeping (DEBK) can be found in Muslim government administration in the 10th Century. (See Book-keeping and Accounting Systems in a tenth Century Muslim Administrative Office by Hamid, Craig & Clark in Accounting, Business & Financial History Vol 3 No 5 1995).

    As I understand it Pacioli saw the technique being used by Arab traders and adapted and codified the technique allowing it to spread to Northern Europe where it became a* key component in Western economic dominance in the last 500 years.

    This is logical if you think about it. DEBK is the greatest expression of applied algebra – that Arab word betraying the origin of the particular mathematical technique in which the world’s duality is reflected.

    RW

    October 3, 2009 message from Rick Dull

    Benedikt Kotruljevic (Croatian) (Dubrovnik,1416-L’Aquila,1469) (His Italian name was Benedetto Cotrugli Raguseo), who in 1458, wrote "The Book on the Art of Trading" which is now acknowledged to be the first person to write a book describing double-entry techniques? See the American Mathematical Society’s web-site: http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/book1.html .

    Rick Dull

    "A Brief History of Double Entry Book-keeping (10 Episodes) ," BBC Radio ---
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00r401p

     

    June 15, 2013 reply from Bob Jensen

    I have gotten the sense from most Pacioli experts I have spoken to (I have attended an international conference on Pacioli held in Sansepolcro and Florence where many of the living accounting history experts gathered) that Pacioli WOULD be considered the father of double-entry bookkeeping. I think all the experts agree that he did not originate the technique but because of the publication by him of his Summa and its wide dissemination the adoption of the technique became much more wide spread. So as all fathers had their own father, I think that it would NOT be a misconception to call Pacioli the father of double-entry bookkeeping.

    Jim McKinney, Ph.D., C.P.A.
    Accounting and Information Assurance
    Robert H. Smith School of Business
    4333G Van Munching Hall
    University of Maryland
    College Park, MD 20742-1815

    http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu

     

    June 15, 2013 reply from Bob Jensen

    Hi Jim,

    I might agree if we correct the falsehood that Pacioli wrote the first book on double-entry accounting. He wrote the first book on the fundamental double-entry accounting equation.

    There's a heated controversy in the news at the moment as to whether the Wright Brothers should be considered the Fathers of Aviation.

    I suspect they will continue to be credited with this honor even though evidence is mounting that they did not build the first flying aircraft:

    Connecticut senate passes bill saying the Wright Brothers were NOT the first to fly and German pilot beat them by two years --- Click Here
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2337275/Connecticut-senate-passes-saying-Wright-Brothers-NOT-fly-German-pilot-beat-years.html 

    Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers#Smithsonian_feud

    I suspect that the Wright Brothers will still be considered the Fathers of Aviation with some scholarly footnotes.

    Respectfully,
    Bob Jensen

     


    "Google HR Boss Explains Why GPA And Most Interviews Are Useless," by Max Nisen, Business Insider, June 19, 2013 --- 
    http://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-hires-people-2013-6

    Jensen Comment
    Adam Bryant is not speaking for all industries and companies. I'm not certain interviews are all that useless for CPA firms seeking interns and new employees. Grades are less useful due to grade inflation where the median grades in college courses are A- grades.

    Also Adam Bryant is not speaking for other recruiters, most of whom put lots of faith in grades and interviews.

    Success in a CPA firm might be defined as success in obtaining sufficient technical experience to get employed by clients when leaving the CPA firms before attaining partnership. Attaining partnership is complicated in CPA firms. It usually is more of a function of talent for obtaining and maintaining clients. Partners in CPA firms generally have a greater willingness for working nights and weekends at civic functions and conferences and charity events like golf outings. It's nearly impossible to predict whether a student still in school is truly partner material. Grades, interviews, and most any factors are not very predictive at that stage in time. There's also a lot of serendipity regarding being in the right places at the right times.

    Bob Jensen's threads on careers are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#careers


    "Record-Setting Demand Projected for Accounting Graduates: AICPA Report Accounting Graduates and Enrollments at Historic Levels, Continuing Upward Trend, AICPA, June 18, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://www.aicpa.org/Press/PressReleases/2013/Pages/Record-Setting-Demand-for-Accounting-Graduates-AICPA.aspx

    Jensen Comment
    This increases demand for the relatively-miniscule number of accounting doctoral graduates in 2013 ---
    http://www.jrhasselback.com/AtgDoctInfo.html

    $53,300: The Average Starting Salary for New Accounting Grads (in 2013) ---
    http://www.naceweb.com/salary-survey-data/?referal=research&menuID=71&nodetype=4

    Jensen Comment
    I think such starting salary surveys are highly misleading unless they also show cost of living adjustments. A starting salary of $53,300 will go a lot further in San Antonio than in San Francisco, NYC, Los Angeles, and Honolulu where people earning $53,300 should probably get food stamps and subsidized housing.

    I would go to work for $20,000 if the starting job had world class training and exposures to clients thirsting to hire away CPAs from top accounting firms.

    It's all about windows of opportunity that trump starting salaries in nearly every instance.

    I would not opt for an MBA program were graduates have average starting salaries of $143,800 (and a high standard deviation and kurtosis) relative to a Masters of Accounting Program where average starting salaries are $53,300 with a small standard deviation and negligible kurtosis. By kurtosis I mean that a few superstar graduates (such as those with whiz-kid computer science undergraduate degrees from elite universities) with starting salaries over $250,000 are skewing the average.

    There are also misleading "expected" compensations contingent upon such things as sales. For example, a marketing or finance job may look great when told that last year's hires earned an average of $143,800 with commissions and bonuses thrown in. But what about those that came in below average because they just had a harder time selling products and services?

    Please warn students that the most important thing about a new job is not the anticipated salary. It's the anticipated opportunity with a few other factors thrown in such as tension, long hours, geographic location, and constant travel. For example, a CPA firm may pay double for going to Moscow, but do you really want to start your career in Moscow where it's really dangerous on the streets and housing is rather Spartan?

    Bob Jensen's threads on careers ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#careers


    From TaxProf blog rankings on June 13, 2013 ---
    http://taxprof.typepad.com/

    Law Prof Blog Traffic Rankings

    Below are the updated quarterly traffic rankings (page views and visitors) of the Top 35 blogs edited by law professors with publicly available SiteMeters for the most recent 12-month period (April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2013), as well as the percentage change in traffic from the prior 12-month period:

     

    Blog

    Page Views

    Change

    1

    Althouse

    19,876,719

    +16.6%

    2

    Legal Insurrection

    14,749,820

    +64.7%

    3

    Hugh Hewitt

    6,879,670

    +25.1%

    4

    Leiter Reports: Philosophy

    5,727,403

    +0.1%

    5

    Patently-O

    3,562,246

    -3.9%

    6

    Jack Bog's Blog

    3,308,120

    +10.8%

    7

    TaxProf Blog

    3,283,047

    -4.3%

    8

    PrawfsBlawg

    1,982,377

    +14.0%

    9

    The Faculty Lounge

    1,333,904

    +6.8%

    10

    Sentencing Law & Policy

    1,275,184

    -15.0%

    Jensen Comment
    It makes no sense to me why Professor Althouse gets so many hits relative to the others. She's more conservative than most of the other top law bloggers ---  which should be a turn off for the liberal Academy. She has a lot of personal postings about her life and is not the best source for professional references. Just goes to show you that there's no accounting for taste in terms ob blog popularity. I like the TaxProf blog best.

     


    From the Stanford Graduate School of Business

    5 Attitudes of Successful Entrepreneurs, from Professor Irv Grousbeck ---
    http://stanfordbusiness.tumblr.com/post/52905655004/5-attitudes-of-successful-entrepreneurs-from-professor

    Jensen Comment
    We must acknowledge that successful entrepreneurs, like successful CEOs of public companies, have flaws that are generally offset by tremendous offsetting traits. For example, I don't know of any analysts that credit Steve Jobs for skills in managing people. Steve was a genius at managing products.

    Also too little credit is given to the serendipity of "success" that comes from being in the right place at the right time. A perfect combination of the five "attitudes" mentioned by Professor Grousbeck are only a small part of "success."


    Nine Famous Whistle-Blowers: Where Are They Now?

    This includes updates on Sherron Watkins (foul mouthed whistle blower who helped bring down Enron)
    This includes updates on Cynthia Cooper (persistent internal auditor whistle blower that helped bring down Worldcom)

    9 Famous Whistle-Blowers: Where Are They Now?
    http://www.businessinsider.com/9-famous-whistle-blowers-2013-6?op=1

    Bob Jensen's threads on Sherron (Smith) Watkins and Cynthia Cooper are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm

    Two types of speakers are popular on the convention circuit --- former whistle blowers and former fraudsters (after their prison years)
    Both types usually write top selling books as well.
    One problem with former fraudsters is that recidivism is somewhat high

    "Recidivism and Risk Management: Barry Minkow Goes Back to the Slammer," by Jim Peterson, re:Balance, March 2011 --- Click Here
    http://www.jamesrpeterson.com/home/2011/03/recidivism-and-risk-management-barry-minkow-goes-back-to-the-slammer.html

    Bob Jensen's threads on whistle blowing ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#WhistleBlowing

    Can Ethics Be Taught?
    "Crazy Eddie Revisited: Old Lessons for Today's Accountants," by Anthony H. Catanach Jr., Grumpy Old Accountant, June 7, 2013 ---
    http://grumpyoldaccountants.com/blog/2013/6/7/crazy-eddie-revisited-old-lessons-for-todays-accountants


    The biggest scandal in the history of the SEC is probably how it botched the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scandal. But there are other areas in need of reform at the SEC and reforms instigated by the SEC.

    Teaching Case
    From The Wall Street Journal Accounting Weekly Review on June 14, 2013

    A Reform Beginning at the SEC
    by: WSJ Opinion Page Editors
    Jun 05, 2013
    Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com
     

    TOPICS: Accounting For Investments, Banking, Cost-Basis Reporting, Mark-to-Market, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission

    SUMMARY: Some money market mutual funds may be allowed to 'break the buck' in their financial reports. "A unanimous commission voted to propose floating share prices for...money-market funds catering to large institutional investors and holding corporate debt...The idea is to underline for investors that money-fund values can fluctuate, and a modest decline is no reason to panic...." During the financial crisis, "after bad bets on Lehman Brothers debt caused the underlying assets of one fund, Reserve Primary, to slip below $1, institutional investors began fleeing Reserve and other 'prime' funds that held corporate debt. The federal government responded by slapping a temporary guarantee around the whole industry. After the crisis, much of the fund industry still resisted floating asset values." The article reports that the SEC proposal closely tracks a plan proposed in 2012 by one who has taken a different stance from the industry on this issue, Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger.

    CLASSROOM APPLICATION: The article may be used in a course on banking or in any financial reporting class covering investments, particularly in comparing amortized cost for bond investments instead of fair market value. NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR: REMOVE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION PRIOR TO DISTRIBUTING TO STUDENTS AS IT ANSWERS SEVERAL QUESTIONS AND THE PROPOSED GROUP ASSIGNMENT. Amortized cost is the accounting method allowed for money market mutual funds in order to present their net asset values as $1 per share. This presentation is labeled "accounting fiction" in the article. Resources for the instructor from the SEC's web site: "Money Market Mutual Fund Reform: Opening statement at the SEC Open Meeting" by Norm Champ, Director, Division of Investment Management, U.S. SEC, 06/05/13, available on the SEC web site at http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2013/spch060513nc.htm " Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act allows money market mutual funds to maintain this stable $1.00 share price by allowing them to use certain pricing and valuation conventions. In return, the funds must adhere to certain credit quality, maturity, liquidity, and diversification requirements designed to reduce the likelihood of fluctuations in their value." Rule 2a-7 excerpts, from the SEC web site at http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/21837.txt "To maintain a stable share price, most money funds use the amortized cost method of valuation ("amortized cost method") or the penny-rounding method of pricing ("penny-rounding method") permitted by rule 2a-7. The 1940 Act and applicable rules generally require investment companies to calculate current net asset value per share by valuing portfolio instruments at market value or, if market quotations are not readily available, at fair value as determined in good faith by, or under the direction of, the board of directors. Rule 2a-7 exempts money funds from these provisions, but contains conditions designed to minimize the deviation between a fund's stabilized share price and the market value of its portfolio." NOTES: -[5]-A money fund is required to disclose prominently on the cover page of its prospectus that: (1) the shares of the fund are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Government; and (2) there can be no assurance that the fund will be able to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share. ... -[6]-Under the amortized cost method, portfolio securities are valued by reference to their acquisition cost as adjusted for amortization of premium or accretion of discount. Paragraph(a)(1) of rule 2a-7, as amended. -[7]-Share price is determined under the penny-rounding method by valuing securities at market value, fair value or amortized cost and rounding the per share net asset value to the nearest cent on a share value of a dollar, as opposed to the nearest one tenth of one cent.

    QUESTIONS: 
    1. (Advanced) What is a money market mutual fund?

    2. (Advanced) How is a money market fund's net asset value determined?

    3. (Introductory) According to the article, what are investors' perceptions of money market funds when their net asset values are presented at a constant $1 per share?

    4. (Introductory) What is the "accounting fiction" described in the article?

    5. (Advanced) How could accounting rules support presentation of $1 net asset values "even if the underlying assets of a fund were worth slightly more or less"?
     

    SMALL GROUP ASSIGNMENT: 
    Assign question 6 as an in class group activity, having the students search the SEC web site to find the accounting requirements for money market mutual funds. The results can then be used to lean into a comparison of amortized cost and market value accounting methods for investments.

    Reviewed By: Judy Beckman, University of Rhode Island

     

    "A Reform Beginning at the SEC," by WSJ Opinion Page Editors, June 5, 2013 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323844804578527462489392582.html?mod=djem_jiewr_AC_domainid

    Is the taxpayer safety net under American finance finally, just possibly, starting to shrink? On Wednesday the Securities and Exchange Commission took a step toward reform, even as it reminded taxpayers how far it has to go to ensure that the 2008 rescue of money-market mutual funds is never repeated.

    A unanimous commission voted to propose floating share prices for a large category of money-market funds. If commissioners enact a final rule later this year, funds catering to large institutional investors and holding corporate debt would be required to report accurate prices in real time, just as in other securities markets. The idea is to underline for investors that money-fund values can fluctuate, and a modest decline is no reason to panic or call the Treasury Secretary for help.

    For decades, SEC rules have allowed fund companies to report fixed values of $1 per share, even if the underlying assets of a fund were worth slightly more or less. This accounting fiction encouraged investors to view their money funds as cash balances akin to guaranteed bank deposits.

    To further encourage the illusion of risk-free investing, the SEC also required funds to invest only in assets rated highly by the government-approved credit ratings agencies, including Standard & Poor's, Moody's MCO +2.98% and Fitch. Come the financial crisis, investors learned that the idea that money funds never "break the buck" (never lose value) was a marketing slogan, not a federal law. After bad bets on Lehman Brothers debt caused the underlying assets of one fund, Reserve Primary, to slip below $1, institutional investors began fleeing Reserve and other "prime" funds that held corporate debt. The federal government responded by slapping a temporary guarantee around the whole industry.

    After the crisis, much of the fund industry still resisted floating asset values. But last year Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger broke with the industry by proposing in these pages to float the prices of institutional prime funds—ground zero in the 2008 panic. This week's SEC proposal closely tracks the Bettinger plan and is a significant reform.

    Even better would be a requirement for floating asset values across the whole industry. It's true that funds holding government debt, as opposed to corporate debt, often perform better in times of market turbulence, but government debts can also cause such turbulence (see Europe). And there is the regulatory challenge of ensuring that institutions cannot simply split up their money-fund investments into various accounts if the retail end of the market still promises fixed asset values. But it's encouraging that at long last the SEC is moving toward clarifying that money funds are investments that can lose value, and not deposits backed by taxpayers.

    More disappointing in the SEC's Wednesday proposal is that, almost two years after a legal deadline, the agency still hasn't removed from its money-fund rules its endorsements of credit-rating agencies. Forcing funds and by extension their investors to buy only assets deemed safe by the government's anointed credit judges was disastrous in 2008 and will be again if not reformed.

    Continued in article

    Bob Jensen's banking and related rotten to the core threads ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#InvestmentBanking


    "Do You Trust Banks? Country by County Comparison," by Mike Shedlock, Townhall, June 15, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/06/15/do-you-trust-banks-country-by-county-comparison-n1620658?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

    Jensen Comment
    Corruption in banking is so common that the public hardly takes notice anymore. For example, the LIBOR fraud committed by large U.K. banks was a much bigger deal than Enron. However, the media coverage of the LIBOR fraud is miniscule compared the the massive media coverage of the Enron fraud.

    Also in the case of Enron, criminal executives eventually served prison terms. To my knowledge, no banking executive in the LIBOR fraud even was charged with a felony.


    In searching statistics postings, I stumbled upon the following working paper at
    http://www-stat.stanford.edu/~donoho/Lectures/AMS2000/Curses.pdf

    High-Dimensional Data Analysis:
    The Curses and Blessings of Dimensionality
    David L. Donoho
    Department of Statistics
    Stanford University
    August 8, 2000

     


    "Apple Flatters Microsoft With Imitation," by Ashlee Vance, Bloomberg Businessweek, June 11, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-11/apple-flatters-microsoft-with-imitation


    Marriage Penalty --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty
    For more details see http://www.lao.ca.gov/1999/121699_marriage_penalty.html
    Note that words are misleading in that the intent is truly not to penalize marriage. Rather the intent is not to subsidize marriage at a huge expense to tax revenue collection. It is progressive with income levels of both parties contemplating marriage.

    An inconvenient truth of marriage is that it often brings a tax increase compared with what the couple would pay as two single people. And the problem is only getting worse: Provisions taking effect this year will increase the "marriage penalty" for many high earners. ...
    "Wedding Bell Tax Blues," by Laura Saunders, The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2013 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324069104578529521517818776.html

    The current provisions are deeply rooted in the tax code and lawmakers would find them expensive to alter, so marriage penalties for two-earner couples will probably last longer than many marriages. Here are strategies that can help lower the bill.

    Note that the marriage penalty is not necessarily eliminated by getting married and filing separately.

    Bob Jensen's taxation helpers ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#010304Taxation


    Research by Professors from Dartmouth and Warwick
    "How Home Ownership Causes (Periodic) Unemployment," by John Carney, CNBC, June 7, 2013 ---
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/100798861

    Jensen Comment
    What I think is lacking in this study is an in-depth look at the alternatives. In the USA the alternative is the rental market. The rental market is complicated. In NYC there's a huge shortage of rental housing caused in large measure by rent controls that discourage bringing supply closer to demand. In free markets like those in Las Vegas there's often a glut of rental housing because of massive overbuilding in economic booms.

    In China there are now many towers of condo and rental apartments where the towers and their connecting malls are all vacant due to overbuilding by developers. It is possible for investors who build enormous housing complexes to make forecasting mistakes that are really devastating on the construction economy and its employment.

     There are many good things attributable to home ownership.

    There are also good things attributable to renting housing.


    From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on June 14, 2013

    SEC says Revlon misled investors, directors
    Revlon agreed to pay $850,000 to settle SEC charges that it misled shareholders during a “going-private transaction,” and kept critical information from independent board members, the WSJ’s Serena Ng and Saabira Chaudhuri report. The company didn’t admit or deny the findings. The SEC complaint stemmed from Revlon’s attempt four years ago to go private. The move was part of a complicated plan by the heavily indebted company to pay down a loan from MacAndrews & Forbes, the holding company of Ronald Perelman, the billionaire who controls Revlon.

    Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


    "Another View of the Accounting Doctoral Shortage," by James Martin, MAAW Blog, June 10, 2013 ---
    http://maaw.blogspot.com/2013/06/another-view-of-accounting-doctoral.html

    Jensen Comment
    Note that this posting focuses on a 2008 article where some of the recommendations have already been met.

    Recommendations:
    1.
    2. Train Ph.D.s from other disciplines to teach accounting.
    Jensen Comment
    To date the AACSB Bridging Program has trained over one hundred PhDs in other disciplines for accountancy tenure track positions, although the R1 research universities are not inclined to give them tenure track positions. However, to teach accounting in tenure track positions at other colleges they must have had an accounting background that prepares them to teach the assigned accounting courses. For example, a CPA who also earned a history PhD can complete the AACSB briding program to qualify herself to obtin tenure in an accounting department. A computer science PhD who has qualified work experience in AIS may bridge to teach AIS courses.

     
    3. Remove arbitrary AQ-PQ standards.
    Jensen Comment
    Just recently the AACSB expanded on other categories beyond the old AQ-PQ categories. The hope is that this will open tenure alternatives to those that previously have been denied tenure alternatives as PQ faculty.

     
    4. Treat PQ faculty as collaborators in both research and teaching rather than as second-class citizens.
    Jensen Comment
    This varies among colleges and universities, but in top R1 accounting research universities the only PhDs in tenure tracks are  likely to hold doctorates in accounting, finance, mathematics, statistics, social scienc, or computer science. Humanities PhD holders need not apply for tenure-track positions in R1 universities except in very rare circumstances. Even then a mathematics PhD is not likely to teach intermediate and other undergraduate and masters accounting courses unless qualified in those subjects. For example, a mathematics PhD is more apt to only teach in the accounting doctoral program and supervise doctoral dissertations.
     
    PQ faculty in R1 universities are not likely to be on tenure tracks and, when push comes to shove, they are second class citizens in most respects except teaching loads where they may see more students in a year than some of the research faculty see in a lifetime.
     
    June 12, 2013 reply from John Brozovsky
     

    Official numbers may be slightly low. I have put out two in a non-official ‘bridge’ program students in the last three years. Basically, they have their PhD in a different disciplines (ag econ and hotel and restaurant management) and then got a master’s degree in accounting and after went out to teach accounting in accounting departments. We currently have an outside PhD in our master’s program but she is not interested in teaching at all having already done it in her prior discipline. In essence we are getting PhDs into our master’s program because they think they can get a better job than their other discipline provided them. They did not come in thinking about being an accounting professor at all—they were thinking of going out and being an accountant.

    John

     

     
    Bob Jensen's threads on the shortage of accounting doctoral students ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms
     
    An Accountign PhD Versus a History PhD ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#HistoryVsAccountancy

    Accounting, Auditing, and Tax Humor Videos

    Hi Linda,

    Probably the best thing to do is to go to YouTube and search for "Auditing Humor" ---
    http://www.youtube.com/

    When I did that on YouTube a few possibilities emerged. For example, take a look at
    The Fixed Assets Audit --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnWDEZdrmi4

    You can also try other YouTube search words like "accounting humor," "bookkeeper humor," "SNL Accountant," "Tax Accounting Humor," "Tax Humor," "Accounting Nerds" and "Bob Newhart Accountant."

    You might consider the movie "Hot Millions" with Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, and Karl Malden.
    I never could find this on NetFlix so I bought it cheap from Amazon.

    My sadly neglected threads on accounting novels, plays, and movies are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNovels.htm
    There's not much in the way of humor here.

    Bob Jensen's threads on accounting and finance humor ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm#Humor
    There's not much in the way of video humor listed here.

    Professor Roselyn Morris (University of South Texas) had a nice listing of ethics movies and some accounting movies on the Web. However, I don't think she included humor videos. The link to her Web page on this is now broken. You might contact her. If she has a newer URL to that page please send it to me.

    Wikipedia has a page on
    Hollywood Accounting --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting
    But there's nothing funny here.


    Stanford to open resource center to foster engagement on the Muslim world ---
    http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/may/markaz-resource-center-052913.html

    Jensen Comment
    To my knowledge there are no resource centers for other religions ---
    http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/may/markaz-resource-center-052913.html
    However, Stanford does have a multifaith chapel and chaplain.

     


    "Apple Announces Mac OS X 'Mavericks," by Dan Rowinski, ReadWriteWeb, June 10, 2013 ---
    http://readwrite.com/2013/06/10/apple-announces-mac-os-x-mavericks

    Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi showed off the three biggest features of Mac OS X Mavericks: Finder Tabs, Tagging and Multiple Displays.

    1. Finder Tabs: In Mac OS X, the finder is the primary point of contact for accessing apps and documents in the operating system. Finder Tabs brings a browser-like tab interface to Mac computers.
    2. Tagging: Mac users can now “tag” documents, pictures or videos saved to their computers by topic. For instance, if you are saving pictures of your family, you can tag the pictures as “family.” Tags should make it much easier for users to search for documents and other content through the finder.
    3. Multiple Displays: Mac OS X has always worked with multiple screens. Apple has just made it easier to organize your desktop across multiple displays by allow users to draw content from one screen to another without disrupting the content that is on the desktop 

    Apple also announced several performance improvements to Mac OS X with Mavericks:

    Improvements to the Safari Web Browser.  The changes include Nitro Tiered JIT and Fast Start technologies to speed performance, shared links in the redesigned sidebar that list links by people you follow on Facebook and Twitter and an updated Top Sites display.

    Notifications. Get updated and respond to messages and calls without leaving the app you're in. 
     

    iBooks for the Mac. Books you've downloaded to your iOS device will automatically appear on your Mac. Controls are similar, too, including the ability to "turn pages with a swipe, zoom in on images with a pinch, or scroll from cover to cover."

    Apple Maps for the Mac. The best part, you can send your map directly to your iPhone for turn by turn directions.

    Apple Calendar. Continuous scrolling and a new "event inspector." When you enter a location, "it shows your event’s location on a map, calculates travel time, and displays a weather forecast."

    iCloud Keychain. Store and encrypt your website user names and passwords across all your Apple devices - then have them autofilled where needed. If you need help coming up with passwords, the new Password Generator will suggest them for you.

    Advanced featuresThe ability to compress memory, put apps to sleep (App Nap) when not in use and save power by grouping low-level operations.  

     

    "Apple Unveils iOS 7: Here's Everything That's About To Change On Your iPhone And iPad," by Steve Kovach, Business Insider, June 7, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-announces-ios-7-2013-6

    Here's what we know so far:

    There are 10 new features coming:
    • Swipe up from the bottom of device to access Control Center, which lets you control standard settings like WiFi and Bluetooth.
    • Multitasking: All apps will have full multitasking. The system is smart enough to let your apps run in the background without killing your battery.
    • Safari: New full-screen view. Search field with access to all your favorite sites. Tabs have a cool 3D view for switching between windows.
    • Control center: Lets you access basic functions like a flashlight, Bluetooth, and WiFi.
    • AirDrop: Lets you swap files between other iPhones and iPads over WiFi.
    • Camera: You can switch camera modes easier. There are also several Instagram-like filters built in.
    • Photos app: Albums are organized automatically based on where and when you take your photos. You can quickly share photos on iCloud, Email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can also share video over iCloud.

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-announces-ios-7-2013-6#ixzz2VqBPTZDk

     

    Law School Faculty Salary Links from Paul Carone on the TaxProf Blog on June 11, 2013

    Following up on my recent post, Law Faculty Salaries, 2012-13:  Above the Law has blogged individual law faculty salaries at these Top 20 public schools:

    Jensen Comment
    This is a better way to compare faculty salaries in top schools. Large surveys like those of the AAUP, Chronicle of Higher Education, and the AACSB are too skewed by small and low paying colleges.

    Keep in mind that salary comparison in general can be like comparisons of apples and kangaroos. Things to consider are the many aspects of "compensation" contracts such as summer income assurances (research or teaching), expense budgets (that in prestigious schools may be near $20,000 allowances for travel, etc.), and most importantly access to additional consulting revenues. For example, faculty at the Harvard Business School may make more consulting with and teaching CPE credits in HBS alumni companies than they make from their Harvard salaries.

    Just being on the faculty of a prestigious university also opens doors to lucrative expert witness offers, consulting offers, and textbook publishing deals where prestigious faculty are offered deals to publish with lesser known writers who write most of the books.

    Some schools like Stanford, NYU, and Columbia offer faculty great housing deals such as relatively low rents or 100-year lot leases for a dollar a year.


    FINRA --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FINRA
    Something tells me Barry does not have a whole lot of respect for FINRA.

    "The Latest Fuckery from FINRA," by Barry Ritholtz , June 17, 2013 ---
    http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/06/the-latest-fuckery-from-finra/

    What kind of fuckery is this?
    You made me miss the Slick Rick gig (oh Slick Rick)
    You thought I didn’t love you when I did (when I did)
    Can’t believe you played me out like that (Ahhh)

    -Amy Winehouse,  Me & Mr Jones
    Pop star drug addict who committed suicide

    I have throughout my career in finance, studiously avoided having much to do with FINRA, WallStreet’s woefully corrupt self-regulatory entity.

    I never got into trouble when I was on the Sell Side (i.e., series 7 licensed individual), so I never experienced their crony-flavored version of justice. But I was very much aware of their role in screwing investors — out of their legal rights to a trial (via mandatory arbitration) and thus out of their monies. If you want a primer on this, check out William Cohan’s series on FINRA arbitrations. It is astounding.

    The latest nonsense from this wholly self serving cesspool of corruption is detailed by Susan Antilla, in Dealbook’s A Rise in Requests From Brokers to Wipe the Slate Clean. It turns out that bad brokers can have their records of misdeeds, if not expunged, well then cleaned up quite a bit. Try doing that with a felony or even misdemeanor if you are not a juvenile.

    I cannot begin to express my disdain for this organization, which serves the interests of wirehouses and not investors. Indeed, I believe they have done immeasurable damage to individual investors over the decades — through their kangeroo (non)courts, and by the way the “Self” regulate, an inherent contradiction in terms if ever there was one.

    Don’t take my word for it. Read Cohan’s series, and do some digging into their formation and background. Just don’t have a large meal first . . .

    Bob Jensen's threads on rotten to the core brokers ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#InvestmentBanking

    "Why Are Some Sectors (Ahem, Finance) So Scandal-Plagued?" by Ben W. Heineman, Jr., Harvard Business Review Blog,  January 10, 2013 ---
    Click Here
    http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/01/scandals_plague_sectors_not_ju.html?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date

    Greatest Swindle in the History of the World ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm#Bailout

    The trouble with crony capitalism isn't capitalism. It's the cronies ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm#CronyCapitalism

    Subprime: Borne of Greed, Sleaze, Bribery, and Lies (including the credit rating agencies) ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm#Sleaze

    History of Fraud in America --- 
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/415wp/AmericanHistoryOfFraud.htm

    Rotten to the Core ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm

    Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


    "Islamic Finance is Growing Fast but Faces the Form-Versus-Substance Debate (Video)," by Usman Hayat, CFA, Enterprising Investor, June 11, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2013/06/11/islamic-finance-is-growing-fast-but-faces-the-form-versus-substance-debate-video/ 

    Bob Jensen's threads on Islamic Accounting ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory01.htm#IslamicAccounting


    Sometimes Amazon's Used Book Pricing Causes me to Scratch my Head

    Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders [Paperback] --- Click Here
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595910778/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1595910778&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20

    4 new from $18.62      3 used from $102.14

    This might be especially time saving when typing letters.
    How to Total Rows and Columns in a Word 2013 Table --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165464/how-to-total-rows-and-columns-in-a-word-2013-table/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=200613


    6 Things You Shouldn’t Do With Solid-State Drives --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165472/6-things-you-shouldnt-do-with-solid-state-drives/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=200613


    This might make a good lease versus buy case for accounting students.

    Chains such as Rent-a-Wheel and Rimco are seeing business boom. Many consumers pay double or triple the cost of buying and face aggressive repossession policies.
    "High prices are driving more motorists to rent tires," by Ken Bensinger, Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2013 ---
    http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-rent-a-tire-20130609,0,2490443,full.story


    How to Share Data and Files Between Your Android Phone and PC --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165017/how-to-share-data-and-files-between-your-android-phone-and-pc/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100613


    Why You Don’t Need to Install a Third-Party Firewall (And When You Do) --- Click Here
    http://www.howtogeek.com/165203/why-you-dont-need-to-install-a-third-party-firewall-and-when-you-do/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110613


    Employee Stock Options (ESOs) versus Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ---
    http://moneygirl.quickanddirtytips.com/what-are-employee-stock-options-rsu.aspx

    Jensen Comment
    Most employees still like stock options, but their employers mostly lost enthusiasm of this type of compensation when the FASB revised FAS 123 into FAS 123R that changed the rules regarding when employers must expense these options.

    The Controversy Over Employee Stock Options as Compensation ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory/sfas123/jensen01.htm
     


    From MIT's Technology Review
    Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending June 21, 2013) --- Click Here
    http://www.technologyreview.com/view/516346/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-june-21-2013/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130621


    Not Wanting to Waltz With Matilda
    Traders Are Massively Betting Against The Australian Dollar [CHART] ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/the-market-is-massively-short-the-australian-dollar-2013-6

    Australia is Not the Only Loser During the Rise in the Value of the Dollar
    "Citigroup Facing $7 Billion Hit on Dollar Gain," by Donal Griffin, June 11, 2013 ---
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-11/citigroup-facing-7-billion-currency-hit-on-dollar-peabody-says.html

    Darrell Duffie: Big Risks Remain In the Financial System
    A Stanford theoretician of financial risk looks at how to fix the "pipes and valves" of modern finance
    Stanford Graduate School of Business, May 2013
    Click Here
    http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/darrell-duffie-big-risks-remain-financial-system?utm_source=Stanford+Business+Re%3AThink&utm_campaign=edfd4f11fb-Stanford_Business_Re_Think_Issue_Thirteen5_17_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b5214e34b-edfd4f11fb-70265733&ct=t%28Stanford_Business_Re_Think_Issue_Thirteen5_17_2013%29

    . . .

    In March, Duffie and the Squam Lake Group proposed a dramatic new restriction on executive pay at “systemically important” financial institutions. Duffie argues that top bank executives still have lopsided incentives to take excessive risks. The proposal: Force them to defer 20 percent of their pay for five years, and to forfeit that money entirely if the bank’s capital sinks to unspecified but worrisome levels before the five years is up.

    “On most issues,” Duffie said, “the banks would be glad to see me go away.”

    Jensen Comment
    Squam Lake and its 30 islands is in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squam_Lake
    It is better known as "Golden Pond" after Jane Fonda, her father (Henry) and Katherine Hepburn appeared in the Academy Award winning movie called "On Golden Pond" that was filmed on Squam Lake. Professor Duffie now has some "golden ideas" for finance reforms.

     


    Possible Team Project in Cost Accounting Courses
    Have students compare costs of building and owning swimming pools under various conditions like nearby tall trees and various types of pools

    I had two swimming pools in my life (in Florida and in Texas), I will never ever buy a home in the future with a swimming pool. In Florida my main problem was towering nearby pine trees that shed needles so heavily I could almost walk on water at times. In Texas my main problem was towering live oak trees that shed surface-staining acorns and leaves into my pool. Live oaks dribble acorns and leaves all winter long.

    The kids enjoyed the pools, especially son Marshall who became a championship swimmer in his school. But as an empty-nester I would bury a swimming pool if I had a swimming pool.

    Apart from my tree debris removal troubles it seemed to cost a fortune to maintain these pools, and I don't much enjoy swimming.

    When grading the student team projects on swimming pool costs, downgrade them for not mentioning electricity costs. I never took the trouble, but I shudder to think about what it cost to power up two big 300-watt lights under each end of our pools. Actually, the lights in the night were what I enjoyed most about our pools. But when I think about it, these lights burning for hours each night are an unnecessary use of electricity when nobody is using the pool.

    When my new neighbor down the road in Florida decided to put in a new pool, the excavating machine encountered a buried swimming pool. After moving to a second spot in his back yard the excavating machine dug into a second swimming pool buried underground.

    "Here's The Real Cost Of Owning A Home With A Swimming Pool," Brian O'Connell, Business Insider, June 9, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cost-of-swimming-pool-ownership-2013-6


    8 Obscure College Degrees That Lead To High-Paying Jobs ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-uncommon-high-paying-degrees-2013-6

    Jensen Comment
    About a mile down the road a family moved in from Oregon after he retired (as a search and rescue helicopter pilot) from the U.S. Coast Guard. His wife earns a great deal (six figures) as a technical writer for one of the most prestigious global consulting firms. She never has to leave her desk where she sits behind giant twin monitors.

    Another college degree leading to high-paying jobs that I never thought much about is mortuary science.

    Keep in mind that one of the things that makes some of these eight obscure college degrees lucrative is the fact that they remain relatively obscure. If we graduated as many mortuary science graduates and elementary teachers the job opportunities for mortuary science would die.

    2009 Best Careers:  Forget Accounting and Think Usability Experience Specialist or Ghostwriting
    Comparing Career Apples vs. Oranges vs. Fiats

    Jensen Comment
    To me this listing is nonsense. Anybody who thinks the job outlook and employment security for management consulting and ghostwriting is better than for a tenured college professor or CPA is nuts. Anybody who attempts to compare engineering and veterinarian careers with hair styling, physical therapy, and ghostwriting has to be nuts.

    The above listing ignores some of the job attributes that make some careers the most satisfying. For example, college professors generally love their 40-50 year careers because of the independence they have in choosing work-day schedules, to say nothing of the generous term breaks and summer freedom months, although there are pressures to conduct research and write that fill much of this supposedly "free time." But many college professors would not trade their time-freedom jobs for twice the pay on a routine grind that forced them to work under close supervision eight hours each day for 50 weeks per year. K-12 teachers do not get the daily time independence of college professors but they do get the summer freedoms (teaching summer school is usually an option rather than a requirement).

    Many people love their careers because of how the career itself expands their minds across the 40-50 years. College professors and physicians have to constantly renew their research and scholarship in order to keep up with or stay ahead of the times. Physical therapists and pharmacists who fill physician prescriptions at Wal-Mart also have to keep up with the times, but the effort needed to stay on top of their day-to-day jobs just cannot be compared with academic scholarship.

    I often thought that the most boring careers for 50 years running have to be such things as physical therapy, audiology, pharmacy, fund raising, hair styling, locksmithing, etc. What in the heck is a Usability Experience Specialist and how can I compare it with being a forensic accountant?

    The 30 careers mentioned above are too varied in terms of skill sets, income, and types of alternatives within a career. We can pretty well picture what a Hairstylist/ Cosmetologist will be doing for 50 years, but it is harder to envision what a management consultant or engineer will be doing from year to year. If a  person is a very good writer, why not write for yourself rather than write for a ghost?

    Some of the careers listed in the above top 30 have to be terribly boring day in and day out for 40-50 years. I'd rather be a college professor than be stuck in any of the 30 alternatives listed above. At the moment careers in accounting have stronger outlooks, although "job satisfaction" is hard to generalize since there are so many different types of accounting jobs ranging from the FBI to IRS agent to corporate accountant to being an auditor for an international firm to being a sole CPA practitioner on Main Street, USA.

    My advice to a young person is to take early moves that provide wide-ranging opportunities later in life, especially when entering the first year of college. I know a recent high school graduate who had to choose between a major state university and a pharmacy school (six years). She chose the pharmacy school in Boston. I think that was a mistake for an eighteen year old graduate from high school, because she's becoming too specialized before the first day of college. Going to a traditional university for the first year or two and then making some narrowing choices would be far better. Even majoring in accounting after the first year at a state university, she would have wide-ranging career alternatives vis-a-vis pharmacy school.

    I know some young clergy that are miserable in their careers. They love counseling and mission work and preaching. But the fund raising demands and the need to constantly draw in new people into the church in order to maintain sagging church budgets, building funds, and money for your own salary becomes depressing year after year --- and there's the reality of having to suck up to irritating, often elderly, people who constantly let you know that their happiness in the church is essential to your success. Clergy face the constant threat that irritating benefactors will join another church. At least a college professor is not stuck with the same irritating students for 40-50 years of life. I would rather have new and varied irritating students than Ebenezer Scrooge on my church board for 20 years.

    I think the above listing of supposedly top careers is more misleading than helpful to young people and their parents. Comparing such varied careers is even worse than comparing vegetables --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews


    Another Socialism Failure
    "The Big Money Is Bailing On Argentina, Again, Over Fears Of Fresh Crisis," by Brian Winter, Business Insider, June 13, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/investors-are-leaving-argentina-2013-6

    More than a decade after Argentina's epic financial collapse of 2001-02, many investors are rushing for the door once again.

    From big Chinese and Brazilian companies like miner Vale do Rio Doce SA, to small-business owners and savers, the fear of a new crisis has led to canceled investments and suitcases of cash leaving the country.

    The mass exodus, which has been limited only by leftist President Cristina Fernandez's capital controls, is threatening to undermine Latin America's No. 3 economy even further by leaving it short of hard currency and new jobs.

    The underlying problems range from Fernandez's hostile treatment of the private sector, to severe financial distortions such as a parallel exchange rate, to the general feeling that Argentina is due for one of the periodic spasms that have racked the country every 10 years or so going back to the 1930s.

    Some say such worries are overblown, arguing that Argentina has defied doomsday predictions for the past decade, which was by some measures its best economic run since World War Two.

    Yet for many, the feeling is of a gathering storm.

    "The end of this story has already been written, and it ends in crisis," said Roberto Lavagna, who as economy minister from 2002 to 2005 helped create Argentina's current export-driven policy framework, and is still widely respected on Wall Street.

    While everyone agrees any crisis won't be as bad as the 2001-02 meltdown - which saw nationwide riots, two presidents quit, and the economy shrink by one-fifth - it could still be enough to severely disrupt lives and business plans.

    By relying on short-term fixes such as price controls and bans on Argentines buying dollars, Fernandez may just be delaying the inevitable while piling up even more problems.

    "The longer they try to delay things, the worse they will be," said Lavagna, who worked for Fernandez's late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, before falling out over what he saw as the couple's increasingly anti-business agenda.

    "You can't have growth without investment."

    Continued in article

       

    Another Capitalism Success
    Miracle in Chile --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Chile
    Note that Chile did not end the wealth gap in Chile nearly as much as it raised the levels of income and opportunity for the poor higher than the rest of Latin and South America. The rich got richer and the poor got richer.

    Also see where the Chilean state lends a hand ---
    http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02719329

    Programs for New Small Businesses in Chile ---
    http://startupchile.org/


    "IBM Has Started To Lay Off Thousands Of Workers Worldwide," by Kevin McLaughlin, Business Insider, June 12, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-begins-layoffs-2013-6

    "Markets Are Falling After Crash In Japan And Horrible Night In Asia," by Joe Weisenthal, Business Insider, June 13, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-june-13-2013-6


    "Is Following the Law the Same as Being Ethical?" by Steven Mintz, Ethics Sage, June 12, 2013 ---
    http://www.ethicssage.com/2013/06/is-following-the-law-the-same-as-being-ethical.html

    Hi Marc,
     
    I'm not certain that there is a whole lot of benefit of a law versus ethics debate without first focusing on a law versus ideology debate ---
    http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/law-ideology/


     
    Note especially Item 4 in the above link.

    All this points to another and related tension. This is the tension between the ideology view and the concept of the rule of law, the centrepiece of a liberal legal order. At their most basic, the terms the rule of law, due process, procedural justice, legal formality, procedural rationality, justice as regularity, all refer to the idea that law should meet certain procedural requirements so that the individual is enabled to obey it. These requirements center on the principle that the law be general, that it take the form of rules. Law by definition should be directed to more than a particular situation or individual; the rule of law also requires that law be relatively certain, clearly expressed, open, prospective and adequately publicised.

    Jensen Comment
    The question is where do ethics codes fit in between law's rules and ideology. Also at issue is how rule-like codes of ethics become become laws over time. Also at issue are sanctions. With rules of law there are procedural requirements for enforcing those rules. Ethics seems to fit more into a gray zone when rules of laws are not broken but morality standards (ideologies) have been violated.

    An interesting aspect of this thread would be examples where laws are not broken but ethics codes are violated. For example I don't think there are statutes dictating that a supervisor cannot date or have sexual relations with an employee being supervised. Many business firms and governmental agencies, however, consider this to be unethical and actually have rules against such behavior even if it is not illegal in the statutes.

    There are no statutes to my knowledge that college instructors cannot campaign for particular political candidates in their classrooms. However, the AAUP and most colleges consider this a breach of ethics in the classroom. Instructors can and have been suspended for such political activism in classrooms. But more often than not the instructor is simply advised not to campaign in the classroom. Further actions are taken if the instructor repeatedly and egregiously ignores the advice.

    The ideology in this case is that instructors should teach but not indoctrinate. Ethics codes become somewhat specific regarding what constitutes indoctrination. But the sanctions are often vague. Laws become even more specific what constitutes violation of law such as offering bribes or making physical threats. Such laws are enforceable to a point where the courts rather than the employer decides on the punishments. And the sentencing guidelines can be quite specific.

    Respectfully,
     
    Bob Jensen

    Question
    What's the difference between Japanese miniskirts and the Nikkei stock price index?

    Answer
    Miniskirts have an upper bound.

    Meet The Japanese Girlband Whose Skirts Get Shorter When The Nikkei Goes Up --- Click Here
    http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-japanese-girlband-whose-skirts-get-shorter-when-the-nikkei-goes-up-2013-6

    Jensen Comment
    I guess skirt lengths could be asymptotic. But the epsilon increments near the assymptote could be so infinitesimal that it's impossible for the human eye to detect the skirt shortenings as the Nikkei goes up and up and up.


    Special Robotics (Robot) Feature Article from MIT's Technology Review --- Click Here
    "
    How Technology Is Destroying Jobs," by David Rotman, MIT's Technology Review, June 12, 2013
    Note the 60 comments to date
    http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/515926/how-technology-is-destroying-jobs/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130613

    Jensen Comment
    This makes me recall a science fiction movie years ago. Handsome people feeding, frolicking, and "working" at whatever they wanted like painting landscape pictures above ground for no pay lived very well (sort of like what Carl Marx viewed as the ultimate communism state). The genetics of illness, including mental illness, was cured. Everything was wonderful except for the unlucky few now and then that were hauled off to slaughter houses to feed the ugly trolls living in dark caverns below ground, trolls that really controlled the world.


    "Fed Up with Flickr? Considering TroveBox," by Jason B. Jones, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 12, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/fed-up-with-flickr-considering-trovebox/50143?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en


    "The Truth About Paying Down Your Mortgage Early," Business Insider, June 21, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/paying-off-mortgage-with-leftover-money-2013-6

    Jensen Comment
    Much depends on what your intend to do with the funds that you would otherwise use to pay down part or all of your mortgage. If it all goes to wine, women, and casino gambling then pay down at least part of your mortgage. If it goes to buy gold coins then pay down your mortgage (I'm against buy gold coins in any circumstances since the transactions costs on resale are so high).  If it goes for home improvements the answer is uncertain and depends upon your particular real estate market and how much those improvements add to the monetary and personal value of your home.

    Of course your particular income, savings, and tax situation trumps almost everything.

    I have an enormous refinanced mortgage that will not be paid off until I'm nearly 100 years of age. My strategy is to carry a jumbo mortgage for tax purposes and invest in an insured tax-exempt fund where the after-tax returns of my annual tax-exempt cash flow exceed the after-tax cash outflow of my mortgage costs. Of course this is not a good strategy for everyone because there are risks in tax-exempt fund values, and tax-exempt bonds are not good inflation hedges. Old guys like me don't worry so much about inflation. Young investors should worry about inflation.

    What I'm saying is that your outlook on investments and life change with the seasons of your life. When I was young I always purchased the highest price home with the biggest mortgage that I could possibly afford. When on the faculty at the University of Maine in the 1970s  I had a big and beautiful house in town plus a cottage on 12 acres of ocean front. In those days real estate values just kept going up and up and up.

    Two things have changed in my life. One is that I'm no longer young with worries about inflation and home real estate values. My children will inherit enough to a point that I'm not worried about inflation or the value of my home over the next 20 years --- Ka Sara Sara!

    The other thing that has changed in my lifetime is the real estate market. Up in the mountains where I now live expensive property is just not selling. The market is also limited for other types of property since northern New England is in an economic and population growth slump. Also the market for second (vacation) homes is changing --- in part due to higher risk of losing money on these investments. I sold an Iowa farm a few years ago. This is a totally different type of investment where values have been rising in large measure because of the corn ethanol disaster for consumers. Today, however, I think Iowa farm land is a better investment for farmers who actually drive the tractors on Iowa farm land relative to far away landlords with no intent to farm the land themselves. Having said that, farm land is a pretty good long-term inflation hedge for investors not needing much interim cash flow. At the moment Iowa farm land may be too high priced. Who really knows? Nobody!

    My point is that both your economic and personal situation changes with seasons of life and states of the economy and tax reforms that might finally get enacted. Advice is cheap and possibly misleading. It's best to study your particular situation to a point where you can advise yourself.

    Bob Jensen's personal finance helpers ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers


    Seasons of Life
    The mindset of each incoming class at Beloit College over the years
    (since 1994 for the Class of 1998) --- http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/

  •  

    The Mindset List for the Class of 2016 ---
    http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2016/

    1. The people starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980.
    2. They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era, and did not know he had ever been shot.
    3. They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
    4. Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
    5. There has only been one Pope. They can only remember one other president.
    6. They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and do not remember the Cold War.
    7. They have never feared a nuclear war. "The Day After" is a pill to them—not a movie.
    8. They are too young to remember the Space Shuttle Challenger blowing up.
    9. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
    10. They never had a polio shot, and likely, do not know what it is.
    11. Bottle caps have not always been screw off, but have always been plastic. They have no idea what a pull top can looks like.
    12. Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
    13. The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them.
    14. They have never owned a record player.
    15. They have likely never played Pac Man, and have never heard of "Pong."
    16. Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.
    17. There have always been red M&Ms, and blue ones are not new. What do you mean there used to be beige ones?
    18. They may never have heard of an 8-track, and chances are they've never heard or seen one.
    19. The compact disc was introduced when they were one year old.
    20. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
    21. They have always had an answering machine.
    22. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black & white TV.
    23. They have always had cable.
    24. There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what Beta is.
    25. They cannot fathom what it was like not having a remote control.
    26. They were born the year Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
    27. Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them.
    28. "The Tonight Show" has always been with Jay Leno.
    29. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
    30. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
    31. They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player.
    32. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
    33. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI and WWII or even the Civil War.
    34. They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
    35. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
    36. They don't know who Mork was, or where he was from.
    37. They never heard the terms "Where's the Beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel" or "De plane, de plane!"
    38. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
    39. The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew where it was.
    40. Michael Jackson has always been white.
    41. Kansas, Boston, Chicago, America, and Alabama are all places—not music groups.
    42. McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.
    43. There has always been MTV, and it has always included non-musical shows.

     

    The Mindset List for the Class of 2016 ---
    http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/previouslists/2002/

    For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.

    1. They should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.
    2. They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”
    3. The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
    4. Michael Jackson’s family, not the Kennedys, constitutes “American Royalty.”
    5. If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube. 
    6. Their lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds.
    7. Robert De Niro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
    8. Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.
    9. They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
    10. On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of Dumb and Dumber males.
    11. The paradox "too big to fail" has been, for their generation, what "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" was for their grandparents'.
    12. For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world has been a woman’s job in the State Department.
    13. They can’t picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than rolling it.
    14. There has always been football in Jacksonville but never in Los Angeles.
    15. While still fans of music on radio, they often listen to it on their laptops or replace it with music downloaded onto their MP3s and iPods.
    16. Since they've been born, the United States has measured progress by a 2 percent jump in unemployment and a 16 cent rise in the price of a first class postage stamp.
    17. Benjamin Braddock, having given up both a career in plastics and a relationship with Mrs. Robinson, could be their grandfather.
    18. Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
    19. The Green Bay Packers have always celebrated with the Lambeau Leap.
    20. Exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends.
    21. A significant percentage of them will enter college already displaying some hearing loss.
    22. The Real World has always stopped being polite and started getting real on MTV.
    23. Women have always piloted war planes and space shuttles.
    24. White House security has never felt it necessary to wear rubber gloves when gay groups have visited.
    25. They have lived in an era of instant stardom and self-proclaimed celebrities, famous for being famous.
    26. Having made the acquaintance of Furby at an early age, they have expected their toy friends to do ever more unpredictable things.
    27. Outdated icons with images of floppy discs for “save,” a telephone for “phone,” and a snail mail envelope for “mail” have oddly decorated their tablets and smart phone screens.
    28. Star Wars has always been just a film, not a defense strategy.
    29. They have had to incessantly remind their parents not to refer to their CDs and DVDs as “tapes.”
    30. There have always been blue M&Ms, but no tan ones.’
    31. Along with online viewbooks, parents have always been able to check the crime stats for the colleges their kids have selected.
    32. Newt Gingrich has always been a key figure in politics, trying to change the way America thinks about everything.
    33. They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future.
    34. Billy Graham is as familiar to them as Otto Graham was to their parents.
    35. Probably the most tribal generation in history, they despise being separated from contact with their similar-aged friends. 
    36. Stephen Breyer has always been an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
    37. Martin Lawrence has always been banned from hosting Saturday Night Live.
    38. Slavery has always been unconstitutional in Mississippi, and Southern Baptists have always been apologizing for supporting it in the first place.
    39. The Metropolitan Opera House in New York has always translated operas on seatback screens.
    40. A bit of the late Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, has always existed in space.
    41. Good music programmers are rock stars to the women of this generation, just as guitar players were for their mothers.
    42. Gene therapy has always been an available treatment.
    43. They were too young to enjoy the 1994 World Series, but then no one else got to enjoy it either.
    44. The folks have always been able to grab an Aleve when the kids started giving them a migraine.
    45. While the iconic TV series for their older siblings was the sci-fi show Lost, for them it’s Breaking Bad, a gritty crime story motivated by desperate economic circumstances.
    46. Simba has always had trouble waiting to be King.
    47. Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book.
    48. They grew up, somehow, without the benefits of Romper Room.
    49. There has always been a World Trade Organization.
    50. L.L. Bean hunting shoes have always been known as just plain Bean Boots.
    51. They have always been able to see Starz on Direct TV.
    52. Ice skating competitions have always been jumping matches.
    53. There has always been a Santa Clause.
    54. NBC has never shown A Wonderful Life more than twice during the holidays.
    55. Mr. Burns has replaced J.R.Ewing as the most shot-at man on American television.
    56. They have always enjoyed school and summer camp memories with a digital yearbook.
    57. Herr Schindler has always had a List; Mr. Spielberg has always had an Oscar.
    58. Selena's fans have always been in mourning.
    59. They know many established film stars by their voices on computer-animated blockbusters.
    60. History has always had its own channel.
    61. Thousands have always been gathering for “million-man” demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
    62. Television and film dramas have always risked being pulled because the story line was too close to the headlines from which they were ”ripped.”
    63. TheTwilight Zone involves vampires, not Rod Serling.
    64. Robert Osborne has always been introducing Hollywood history on TCM.
    65. Little Caesar has always been proclaiming “Pizza Pizza.”
    66. They have no recollection of when Arianna Huffington was a conservative.
    67. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has always been officially recognized with clinical guidelines.
    68. They watch television everywhere but on a television.
    69. Pulp Fiction’s meal of a "Royale with Cheese" and an “Amos and Andy milkshake” has little or no resonance with them.
    70. Point-and-shoot cameras are soooooo last millennium.
    71. Despite being preferred urban gathering places, two-thirds of the independent bookstores in the United States have closed for good during their lifetimes.
    72. Astronauts have always spent well over a year in a single space flight.
    73. Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive baseball games played has never stood in their lifetimes.
    74. Genomes of living things have always been sequenced.
    75. The Sistine Chapel ceiling has always been brighter and cleaner.

     


    June 24, 2013 message from Dan Stone to the AECM listserv

    On the list of worst states for retirement: Maine and Vermont. Is it a
    coincidence that cagey ol' Bob Jensen landed in New Hampshire?
    Methinks not.

    "10 Worst States for Retirement"

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-worst-states-for-retirement-153214340.html

    On the other hand, why would anyone retire to a place where it freezes
    more than 3 times a year?

    Dan

    June 24, 2013 reply from Bob Jensen

    Hi Dan,
     

    When we retired, both Erika and I wanted to escape heat, humidity, city congestion, high crime worries (we had burglar bars on our big house), and traffic jams. This meant moving from San Antonio and its 1.4 million residents after 24 years.
     
    We wanted four-seasonal living and country living (but not total isolation).
     
    We considered moving to the mountains of California (the where we have two sons and 12 grandchildren), the nearby mountains of northern Nevada, northern Wisconsin (where we have a daughter and two grandchildren), Iowa (my home state where I inherited a home in town and the family farm), Maine (where we have a son and daughter and two grandchildren), and nearby northern New Hampshire and Vermont. We loved our lecture visit in New Zealand and gave NZ some thought for retirement, but we quickly decided that this was too far from family and friends.
     
    Eliminating California, Wisconsin, and Vermont were no-brainers based on taxation analysis. Maine is also a high taxation state, but there was some lure of ocean front property where I once owned a shoreline cottage and 12 acres. However, between 1978 and 2002 the price rise in shore front land eliminated Maine entirely from consideration. This left Nevada versus New Hampshire. The prices of homes we liked in the Nevada mountains and near Lake Tahoe eliminated Nevada from consideration.
     
    Actually, we stumbled upon our retirement home in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I had done a gig in Niagara (courtesy of Linda Kidwell). We then rented a car at the Buffalo Airport with the intent of driving across upstate NY, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to visit our two children near the University of Maine.
     
    Along the way we spent two nights in the Franconia Inn in Franconia, NH. On our way to breakfast at Polly's Pancake Parlor (via a mountain back road), we passed a For Sale sign by a cottage on a mountain golf course that really caught our eye because of the view. Less than a month later we owned it even though we did not know a single person in northern New Hampshire. The only person in New Hampshire I knew was a former college roommate who retired down south in Manchester, NH.
     
    As an accountant I did know there were some key tax advantages in NH such as no income tax or sales tax. I was a bit casual in my analysis. I did not discover the 15% real estate transfer tax until after I'd made an offer on our retirement cottage and four acres of very expensive scenic land. I was not aware of the view tax that now costs me about $4,000 on top of my property tax. And I was not aware of the pesky 5% tax on cash interest and dividends after a $5,000 exemption. Fortunately, this tax does not apply to any of my TIAA retirement income or capital gains on investments.
     
    Here's the first Webpage I put out about our NH Cottage ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm 
     
    This has worked out well in terms of making friends and about the right amount of distance for visits to family in Maine. The distances to family in Wisconsin and California are bit too far, but the Manchester Airport is served by the wonderful Southwest Airlines that takes us within 40 miles of each family household. I do miss living near a college campus and culture, but with email I'm probably closer to college friends than if they lived next door.
     
    And my chores mowing, pruning out trees in our woods, planting and nurturing three flower gardens, and blowing snow keep me young and fit. I actually like winter, although the following weather report at near by Mt. Washington before we moved had us wondering if we made mistake: Yesterday (June 23, 2013) we had a wonderful buffet breakfast with friends in the Mt. Washington Hotel, but there was a time when Mt. Washington worried me ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Hotels/Hotels.htm  

     
    Wednesday, January 22, 2003
     
    Are we nuts?  Soon we will be viewing Mt Washington from our new home--- 
      Conditions at 5:00 a.m. on January 22, 2003  

     

     
      Weather: Blowing snow and freezing fog  

     
      Temperature: -34°   Visibility: 100 feet  

     
      Wind Chill Index: -79°F   Relative Humidity: 100%  

     
      Wind: Northwest at 117 gusting to 142 MPH   Station Pressure: 22.80" and falling  

     
    Average snowfall:  40 inches per month  
    Where are the palm trees?

     
    We Moved to the Mountains on June 15, 2003
    (although I did not retire from Trinity University until 2006)
     
    On the road again
    Goin' places that I've never been
    Seein' things that I may never see again,
    And I can't wait to get on the road again.

    Willie Nelson
    CBS Records
    I like the road of any kind, 
    for they intrigue me still.
    I wonder what's around the bend,
    or just beyond the hill.

    Rachel Harnett (Age 95), 
    Tucumcary Literary Review
    , Los Angeles

     

    The Economist Dean of the Columbia University Business School is Not a Fan of Ben Bernanke or Paul Krugman

    "Glenn Hubbard Explains The Doomsday Scenario That America Will See In 20 Years If There's No Change In Spending," by Joe Weisenthal, Business Insider, June 24, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-hubbards-doomsday-scenario-2013-6

    We recently had Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Business, into discuss his book Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America.

    Hubbard's main argument is that the US must reduce its long-term deficit, and that if it's not addressed, then within 20 years the US will see a "doomsday scenario" of virtually no social spending and monstrous taxes.

    Watch the video

    Bob Jensen's threads on entitlements ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm

     


    Being a great CFO entails more than being great in finance and accounting
    From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on June 11, 2013

    As the CFO role becomes more strategic, some traditional finance skills carry less weight. Some companies looking to cut costs have shifted some of their more-basic finance functions, such as processing transactions and managing payments, to shared-services centers or “centers of excellence” that serve multiple divisions, write Emily Chasan and Maxwell Murphy in today’s Marketplace section. But as companies centralize more functions, the traditional steppingstone roles where budding finance executives could hone their technical and people skills are “lost today,” says Jeffrey Garrity, formerly a divisional CFO at NCR Corp.

    CFOs are increasingly seen as chief executives-in-waiting, so larger companies are rotating rising finance stars through more operational and strategic roles, such as the chief operating officer or president of a division, says Peter Crist, chairman of recruiting firm Crist|Kolder Associates. Nearly half of big-company CFOs appointed in the past three years have strategy and corporate-development experience on their résumés, up from just 22% of those appointed more than three years ago, according to a study by Russell Reynolds Associates.

    Finance staffs are also more focused on business analysis and big data, so CFOs who lack those skills may find themselves unprepared, Jabil Circuit CFO Forbes Alexander says. Jabil Circuit is halfway through a project to use big data to hone its global supply chain, and Mr. Alexander said finance employees with traditional accounting backgrounds aren’t always prepared to mine the data and interpret the results.

     


    Fraud Beat:
    Canadians Massively Screwed by Their City, Province, and Local Governments ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/the-three-reasons-canada-is-in-big-trouble-2013-6

    Also see the Globe and Mail article
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/montreal-mayor-michael-applebaum-arrested/article12595439/ 

    Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


    Stories from Around the Web (Week Ending June 7, 2013) --- Click Here
    A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.
    http://www.technologyreview.com/view/515841/stories-from-around-the-web-week-ending-june-7-2013/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130610

    This one especially caught my eye:

    Iowa City to Ban Red-light Cameras, Drones, and License Plate Readers, Too
    Iowa is banning drones and other forms of privacy intrusions.
    —Dave Talbot, chief correspondent

    Note: 
    Red-lights are traffic lights and not a the same as hooker signals.

    I wonder how many innocent people will have to be killed or badly injured before Iowa City comes to its senses, like all of Germany came to its senses, about traffic cameras. The thing about traffic cameras around traffic lights is that the benefits stem mostly from deterring speeding up on yellow lights.

    I'm glad I don't walk or drive in Iowa City.

    But then I happened to think that Iowa City is the most liberal city in Iowa. Now I'm not so depressed (just joking Zafar).


    Now the Patriots have a prayer to win the NFL Super Bowl ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/pats-sign-tim-tebow-2013-6


    "Fed Up with Flickr? Considering TroveBox," by Jason B. Jones, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 12, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/fed-up-with-flickr-considering-trovebox/50143?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en


    From the Scout Report on May 24, 2013

    Converseen --- http://converseen.sourceforge.net/ 

    If you are looking for a way to convert, resize, rotate and flip an unlimited number of images, Converseen is worth a look. It's an open source program that supports over 100 image formats and the user interface is easy to use. The site for the program includes a FAQ area and this version is compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems.


    Twitonomy --- http://www.twitonomy.com/ 

    For Twitter users, this handy application is a great way to get detailed and visual analytics on their tweets, and for that matter, anyone else's tweets. Visitors can use the application to browse, search, filter, and get insights on the people they follow, along with backing up their own tweets for future reference. Also, the application allows visitors to browse, search, and filter their lists. This version of Twitonomy is compatible with all operating systems.


    At the conclusion of the annual Eurovision song contest, controversy erupts
    Russia says it was robbed in Eurovision song contest
    http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-russia-eurovision-20130521,0,1712159.story

    Eurovision: Azerbaijan probes Russian 'nul points'
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22600892

    Eurovision organizers respond to media reports on voting
    http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=87553&_t=eurovision_organisers_respond_to_media_reports_on_voting

    Germans blame Angela Merkel for poor Eurovision Song Contest performance
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/germans-blame-angela-merkel-for-poor-eurovision-song-contest-performance-8623289.html

    Eurovision Song Contest
    http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline

    History of the Eurovision Song Contest
    http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history

     


    From the Scout Report on June 14, 2013

    PDF Mergy --- http://pdfmerge.w69b.com/

    Merging pdf files just got much easer with PDF Mergy. This application gives users the ability to just drag and drop files that need to be merged into a handy window. Users move the documents into the desired order, click Merge, and download the single-file version. This Web app is compatible with all operating systems.


    Google Scholar --- http://scholar.google.com/schhp?hl=en 

    For scholars young and old, Google Scholar is a great way to find key academic resources from all over the world. The homepage features a basic search engine, along with the ability to look through millions of patents and legal documents. Visitors can use the My Citations area to craft their own set of resources and they are also welcome to use the Metrics area for rigorous data. The advanced search options, links to articles citing the pieces users find, and connections to pdfs and local university libraries make Google Scholar an indispensable aid in conducting literature reviews. This version is compatible with all operating systems.


    Mayor Bloomberg announces a bold plan to protect New York's waterfront
    Bloomberg's Brilliant Waterfront Defense Plan
    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/bloombergs-brilliant-waterfront-defense-plan.html?mid=google

    Bloomberg's race to protect NY from climate change
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-bloombergs-race-to-protect-ny-from-climate-change/2013/06/11/5f06265c-d2d9-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

    Bloomberg unveils sweeping disaster protection plan for New York
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-bloomberg-climate-change-20130611,0,7933233.story

    Cities 'Must Lead Climate Initiatives'
    http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/cities-must-lead-climate-initiatives-1.1528390

    New York City Panel on Climate Change: Climate Risk Information 2013
    http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/downloads/pdf/npcc_climate_risk_information_2013_report.pdf

    World Bank: Guide to Climate Change Adaptation in Cities
    http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTURBANDEVELOPMENT/0,,contentMDK:23026256~menuPK:337198~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:337178~isCURL:Y,00.html


    From the Scout Report on June 21, 2013

    My Study Life --- https://www.mystudylife.com/ 

    Some young scholars may ask the question: "What time do I need to be at general chemistry?" or "When does my review group meet?" Keeping track of such matters is a snap with My Study Life, a free online planner. Visitors can color-code each activity for easy visual recognition and insert various tasks that might be due on any given day. Unlike more conventional calendars, this one integrates classes, tasks, and exams to give students and teachers a full picture of what remains to be done. This program is available for Chrome, Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Android, and will soon be available for iOS.


    Skype Recorder --- http://im.simkl.com/ 

    In an increasingly connected world, it's often necessary to conduct interviews, customer support, and more over Skype. Simkl is a good way to keep track of conversations users need to reference later. The conversations can be stored on any computer or to the cloud. Additionally, visitors can use the same application to record IM conversations. The program is available in over a dozen languages and it is compatible with all operating systems


    Politicians call for closer consideration of the planned merger between
    US Airways and American Airlines
    Senators urge scrutiny of American Airlines and US Airways merger
    http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-senators-inquiry-american-us-airways-merger-20130618,0,7109590.story

    American and US Airways name merged airline leadership
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/06/10/american-airlines-us-airways-leadership-merger/2407605/

    How A Merger Could Affect Congress' Favorite Airport
    http://www.npr.org/2013/06/19/191106900/how-a-merger-could-affect-congress-favorite-airport

    New American Arriving
    http://newamericanarriving.com/

    CNN Money: Airline mergers and bankruptcies
    http://money.cnn.com/infographic/news/companies/airline-merger/

    American Airlines: Company History
    http://www.aa.com/i18n/amrcorp/newsroom/company-history.jsp

     


    Free online textbooks, cases, and tutorials in accounting, finance, economics, and statistics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks


    Education Tutorials

    "Teacher Prep Review Finds Most Teacher Education Dismal," by Dian Schaffhauser, T.H.E. Journal, June 19, 2013 ---
    http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/06/19/teacher-prep-review-finds-most-teacher-education-dismal.aspx?=THENU

    Google Glass --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass

    "Professors Envision Using Google Glass in the Classroom," by Sara Grossman, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/professors-envision-using-google-glass-in-the-classroom/44401?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

    Bob Jensen's threads on Google Glass ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#GoogleGlass

    The Phillips Collection: Multimedia (current and historical) --- http://www.phillipscollection.org/multimedia/

    National Science Foundation: Multimedia Gallery --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/

    Download 60 Free History Courses from Great Universities ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/download_60_free_history_courses_from_great_universities.html

    Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch

    University of Washington Yearbooks and Documents --- https://content.lib.washington.edu/uwdocsweb/

    Subject Guides at Dalhousie University --- http://dal.ca.libguides.com/

    Bob Jensen's bookmarks for multiple disciplines ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm


    Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

    The Phillips Collection: Multimedia (current and historical) --- http://www.phillipscollection.org/multimedia/

    National Science Foundation: Multimedia Gallery --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/

    Inside Science (Science News) --- http://www.insidescience.org/

    National Science Foundation: Current --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsletter/

    National Science Foundation: Science of Innovation --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/innovation/

    Science and Engineering Library: Columbia University Libraries --- http://library.columbia.edu/locations/science-library.html

    MicroMatters: Microbiology (biology online) ---
    http://www.bioedonline.org/lessons-and-more/resource-collections/micromatters-microbiology/

    Microbe Library: Visual Media Briefs Collection --- http://www.microbelibrary.org/about/5

    The Virtual Lab Book (microbiology, biology) --- http://delliss.people.cofc.edu/virtuallabbook/

    MetLink: Weather and Climate Resources --- http://www.metlink.org/

    National Weather Service: Weather Education --- http://www.weather.gov/om/edures.shtml

    An Animated History of the Tulip ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/an_animated_history_of_the_tulip.html

    National Science Foundation: Publications http://www.nsf.gov/publications/

    Scitable (free library of science) ---  http://www.nature.com/scitable

    National Institutes of Health: Science Education: Research & Training ---
    http://nih.gov/science/education.htm

    The Concord Consortium: Projects (science education) ---  http://concord.org/projects

    Nuclear Systems Design Project
    http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/nuclear-engineering/22-033-nuclear-systems-design-project-fall-2011/

    Atomic Energy & Nuclear History Learning Curriculum ---
    http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/omeka/exhibits/show/atomic

    National Institutes of Health: Curriculum Supplement Series ---
    http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/WebPages/CSHome

    National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Inside Life Science --- 
    http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/insidelifescience/

    Microscopy Society of America --- http://www.microscopy.org/

    Visible Body --- http://www.visiblebody.com/

    National Geographic Education: Ecosystems ---
    http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/topics/ecosystems/?ar_a=1&audiences=1

    Environmental Health Risk Assessment --- http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/healthrisk/index.html

    Interactive Lectures (earth science_ --- http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/interactive/

    Earth Science World Image Bank ---  http://www.earthscienceworld.org/imagebank/index.html

    Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology --- http://tiee.esa.org/index.html

    Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network --- http://cleanet.org/

    Integrating U.S. Climate, Energy, and Transportation Policies --- http://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/2009/RAND_CF256.pdf

    Try Engineering --- http://www.tryengineering.org

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers --- http://www.usace.army.mil/

    Engineering Resources --- http://www.asme.org/groups/educational-resources/engineering-resources

    From Auburn University:  Industrial Design History ---  http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/

    The Nash Collection of Primates in Art and Illustration --- http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/PCLArts

    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

    Knight Foundation (Journalism, Newspapers, Media, Writing, Reporting) ---  http://www.knightfoundation.org/

    Knight Digital Media Center: Presentations and Webcasts --- http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/presentations/

    Resident-Centered Community Building: What Makes It Different?
     http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/CCLE-Report_3-14-13_Reduced.pdf

    Immigrant Assimilation into US Prisons, 1900-1930 --- http://www.nber.org/papers/w19083

    U.S. Conference of Mayors: Best Practices --- http://usmayors.org/bestpractices/

    Center for Civic Education --- http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=home

    William J. Clinton Presidential Library --- http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/

    History and Government of Delaware --- http://www.lib.udel.edu/digital/HistoryOfDE/

    Demos: A/V (politics, media, broadcasting) ---  http://www.demos.co.uk/av

    International Development in Practice: What Works in Development? --- http://ocw.nd.edu/political-science/international-development

    Sophia Smith Collection: Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project (birth control, planned parenthood, population control) ---
    http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/prh/prh-intro.html

    Dartmouth Flood Observatory --- http://www.dartmouth.edu/~floods/index.html 

    Risk and Resilience in Coastal Regions
    http://www.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/CoastalRegions.pdf

    USDA: The People's Garden --- http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=PEOPLES_GARDEN

    Michigan's Copper Country in Photographs (Native American History) ---  http://digarch.lib.mtu.edu/

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health --- http://www.jhsph.edu/gatesinstitute/
    PATH --- http://www.path.org/index.php

    From the Scout Report on June 14, 2013

    Mayor Bloomberg announces a bold plan to protect New York's waterfront
    Bloomberg's Brilliant Waterfront Defense Plan
    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/bloombergs-brilliant-waterfront-defense-plan.html?mid=google

    Bloomberg's race to protect NY from climate change
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-bloombergs-race-to-protect-ny-from-climate-change/2013/06/11/5f06265c-d2d9-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

    Bloomberg unveils sweeping disaster protection plan for New York
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-bloomberg-climate-change-20130611,0,7933233.story

    Cities 'Must Lead Climate Initiatives'
    http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/cities-must-lead-climate-initiatives-1.1528390

    New York City Panel on Climate Change: Climate Risk Information 2013
    http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/downloads/pdf/npcc_climate_risk_information_2013_report.pdf

    World Bank: Guide to Climate Change Adaptation in Cities
    http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTURBANDEVELOPMENT/0,,contentMDK:23026256~menuPK:337198~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:337178~isCURL:Y,00.html

    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

    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

    Historic New England --- http://www.historicnewengland.org/

    The National Gallery Makes 25,000 Images of Artwork Freely Available Online --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/the_national_gallery_makes_25000_images_of_artwork_freely_available_online_.html

    40,000 Artworks from 250 Museums, Now Viewable for Free at the Redesigned Google Art Project ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/redesigned_google_art_project.html

    Canada Council for the Arts --- http://www.canadacouncil.ca/

    From Auburn University:  Industrial Design History ---  http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/

    Towson State University History:  Albert S. Cook Library: Special Collections and Archives ---
    http://cooklibrary.towson.edu/spcoll/

    Delaware Historical Society --- http://www.hsd.org/

    History and Government of Delaware --- http://www.lib.udel.edu/digital/HistoryOfDE/

    Herman Miller Consortium Collection (furniture history) ---  http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?c=hmcc

    The Work of Charles and Ray Eames (furniture design) --- http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames

    Vandermaelen Atlas Universel (maps, data) ---
    http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/vandermaelen/home.htm

    Listen to T.S. Eliot Recite His Late Masterpiece, the Four Quartets ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/listen_to_ts_eliot_recite_his_late_masterpiece_the_ifour_quartetsi.html

    On Bloomsday, Hear James Joyce Read From his Epic Ulysses, 1924 ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/on_bloomsday_hear_james_joyce_read_from_his_epic_iulyssesi_1924.html

    Historical Society of Michigan --- http://www.hsmichigan.org/

    Michigan's Copper Country in Photographs (Native American History) ---  http://digarch.lib.mtu.edu/

    Ross Archive of African Images --- http://raai.library.yale.edu/

    Ward Morgan Photography, Southwest Michigan 1939-1980 ---
    http://digitalcollections-wmich.cdmhost.com/cdm/search/collection/p124301coll2/page/2

    Download 60 Free History Courses from Great Universities ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/download_60_free_history_courses_from_great_universities.html

    University of Washington Yearbooks and Documents --- https://content.lib.washington.edu/uwdocsweb/

    ArtNC (Concept Map, North Carolina History, Immigration) ---  http://artnc.org/
    Bob Jensen's threads on concept maps --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#ConceptMaps

    William J. Clinton Presidential Library --- http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/

    Digital Encyclopedia: George Washington's Mount Vernon --- http://www.mountvernon.org/encyclopedia

    Sophia Smith Collection: Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project (birth control, planned parenthood, population control) ---
    http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/prh/prh-intro.html

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health --- http://www.jhsph.edu/gatesinstitute/
    PATH --- http://www.path.org/index.php

    Rare Letter from Martha to George Washington Returns to Mount Vernon
    http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/pid/508/ 

    Mr. Magoo’s Cartoon Version of William Shakespeare’s Comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/mr_magoos_cartoon_version_of_william_shakespeares_comedy_ia_midsummer_nights_dreami.html

    Folger Shakespeare Library --- http://folger.edu/index.cfm 

    Mr. Magoo’s Cartoon Version of William Shakespeare’s Comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/mr_magoos_cartoon_version_of_william_shakespeares_comedy_ia_midsummer_nights_dreami.html

    And There's the Humor of it: Shakespeare and the Four Humors http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/shakespeare/index.html

    Remembering George Whitman, Owner of Famed Bookstore, Shakespeare & Company --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/remembering_george_whitman.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

    Shakespeare in the Parlor (Art, Illustrations, Drawings) ---
    http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Printsinparlor/shakespeare/index.htm

    And There's the Humor of it: Shakespeare and the Four Humors http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/shakespeare/index.html

    In Search of Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s Sonnets Lesson Plan ---
    http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/language/lessonplan.html

    Video
    James Earl Jones Reads Othello at White House Poetry Jam --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2011/03/james_earl_jones_reads_othello_at_white_house_poetry_jam.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

    Shakespeare's Staging --- http://shakespeare.berkeley.edu/

    Arden: World of William Shakespeare --- http://swi.indiana.edu/arden/gi_specs.shtml

    From the Scout Report on June 8, 2012

    Remains of Shakespeare-associated Curtain Theatre found in London Early theater of Shakespeare is unearthed in London http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/early-theater-of-shakespeares-is-unearthed-in-london/  

    Does the rediscovery of Shakespeare's Curtain theatre matter? Absolutely.
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jun/07/rediscovery-shakespeare-curtain-theatre-matters?newsfeed=true 

    Developers plan 'performance space' near remains of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/developers-plan-performance-space-near-remains-of-shakespeares-curtain-theatre-7827694.html  

    Curtain up on Shakespeare's lost theatre
    http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/news/curtain-up-on-shakespeares-lost-theatre.htm  

    Shakespeare's Globe virtual tour
    http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/about-us/virtual-tour 

    Shakespeare Online
    http://www.shakespeare-online.com/

    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

    Sheet Music Consortium --- http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/sheetmusic/

    Temple Sheet Music Collections --- http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fp15037coll1

    University of South Carolina School of Music: Sheet Music Collection --- http://sheetmusic.library.sc.edu/Default.asp

    The Music, Art, and Life of Joni Mitchell Presented in Superb 2003 Documentary --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/the_music_art_and_life_of_joni_mitchell_presented_in_superb_2003_documentary.html

    From the Scout Report on May 24, 2013

    At the conclusion of the annual Eurovision song contest, controversy erupts
    Russia says it was robbed in Eurovision song contest
    http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-russia-eurovision-20130521,0,1712159.story

    Eurovision: Azerbaijan probes Russian 'nul points'
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22600892

    Eurovision organizers respond to media reports on voting
    http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=87553&_t=eurovision_organisers_respond_to_media_reports_on_voting

    Germans blame Angela Merkel for poor Eurovision Song Contest performance
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/germans-blame-angela-merkel-for-poor-eurovision-song-contest-performance-8623289.html

    Eurovision Song Contest
    http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline

    History of the Eurovision Song Contest
    http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history

     

    Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Music

    Bob Jensen's threads on music performances ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm


    Writing Tutorials

    Italo Calvino on Writing: Insights from 40+ Years of His Newly Released Letters ---
    http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/10/italo-calvino-on-writing/

    "Nabokov on Inspiration and the Six Short Stories Everyone Should Read," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, June 17, 2013 ---
    http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/17/nabokov-inspiration-1972/

    Lesson 121 from Bryan A. Garner and LawProse <lawprose@bridgemailsyst

    What's the difference between guarantee and guaranty?

    ANSWER: Guarantee, the broader and more common term, is both a verb and a noun. The narrower term, guaranty, today appears mostly in banking and other financial contexts; it seldom appears in nonlegal writing.

    Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries


    Updates from WebMD --- http://www.webmd.com/

    June 11, 2013

    June 12, 2013

    June 13, 2013

    June 14, 2013

    June 15, 2013

    June 17, 2013

    June 18, 2013

    June 19, 2013

    June 20, 2013

    June 21, 2013

    June 22, 2013

    June 24, 2013

    June 25, 2013

     


    The Problem With Psychiatry, the ‘DSM,’ and the Way We Study Mental Illness ---
    http://www.psmag.com/health/real-problem-with-dsm-study-mental-illness-58843/ 

    Psychiatry is under attack for not being scientific enough, but the real problem is its blindness to culture. When it comes to mental illness, we wear the disorders that come off the rack.


    Researchers pinpoint how smoking causes osteoporosis --- http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-osteoporosis.html 


    MetLink: Weather and Climate Resources --- http://www.metlink.org/


    "Brain Scans Predict Treatment Outcome in Depression Patients: A biomarker could cut the trial-and-error of finding a patient’s best therapy," by Susan Young, MIT's Technology Review, June 12, 2013 --- Click Here
    http://www.technologyreview.com/view/516071/brain-scans-predict-treatment-outcome-in-depression-patients/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130613


    What Athletes Looked Like Before And After They Used Steroids ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/what-athletes-looked-like-before-and-after-they-used-steroids-2013-6


    "Walgreen in $80 Million Settlement (with Feds) Over Painkillers," by Timothy W. Martin, The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2013 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324904004578539743775320834.html?mod=djemCFO_h


    Disease Outbreak Threatens the Future of Good Coffee ---
    http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/coffee-rust-epidemic/


    Nutrition Tips for Men --- http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/nutrition-for-healthy-prostate.aspx

    Jensen Comment
    Real men prefer burgers and beer.




    A Bit of Humor

    The Most Embarrassing Missed Dunks Of The NBA Season ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-missed-dunks-of-the-nba-season-2013-6

    Humor
    The GOP will never recover if they continue to rely on leaders who come up short ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/tall-nba-player-regular-people-2013-6

    The Most Embarrassing Missed Dunks Of The NBA Season ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-missed-dunks-of-the-nba-season-2013-6

    The (Humor) Challenge: Zachary Quinto vs. Leonard Nimoy ---
    http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/06/the-challenge-zachary-quinto-vs-leonard-nimoy/

    Want to Know What Makes the Troops Laugh? Comedian Louis CK in Afghanistan (Quite NSFW) --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/want_to_know_what_makes_the_troops_laugh_comedian_louis_ck_in_afghanistan_quite_nsfw.html

    Mr. Magoo’s Cartoon Version of William Shakespeare’s Comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/mr_magoos_cartoon_version_of_william_shakespeares_comedy_ia_midsummer_nights_dreami.html




    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/

    Online Distance Education Training and Education --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
    For-Profit Universities Operating in the Gray Zone of Fraud  (College, Inc.) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#ForProfitFraud

    Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

    The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

    How Accountics Scientists Should Change: 
    "Frankly, Scarlett, after I get a hit for my resume in The Accounting Review I just don't give a damn"
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm
    One more mission in what's left of my life will be to try to change this
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm 

    What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?  ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

    The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

    AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1

    Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm

    Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So

    Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews

     

    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.

    Free (updated) Basic Accounting Textbook --- search for Hoyle at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks

    CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
    Free CPA Examination Review Course Courtesy of Joe Hoyle --- http://cpareviewforfree.com/

    Rick Lillie's education, learning, and technology blog is at http://iaed.wordpress.com/

    Accounting News, Blogs, Listservs, and Social Networking ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

    Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.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

    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.

    Accounting  and Taxation News Sites ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

     

    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://listserv.aaahq.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?HOME
    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.

    Over the years the AECM has become the worldwide forum for accounting educators on all issues of accountancy and accounting education, including debates on accounting standards, managerial accounting, careers, fraud, forensic accounting, auditing, doctoral programs, and critical debates on academic (accountics) research, publication, replication, and validity testing.

     

    CPAS-L (Practitioners) http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/  (Closed Down)
    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
    FEI's Financial Reporting Blog
    Smart Stops on the Web, Journal of Accountancy, March 2008 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2008/smart_stops.htm
    FINANCIAL REPORTING PORTAL
    www.financialexecutives.org/blog

    Find news highlights from the SEC, FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board on this financial reporting blog from Financial Executives International. The site, updated daily, compiles regulatory news, rulings and statements, comment letters on standards, and hot topics from the Web’s largest business and accounting publications and organizations. Look for continuing coverage of SOX requirements, fair value reporting and the Alternative Minimum Tax, plus emerging issues such as the subprime mortgage crisis, international convergence, and rules for tax return preparers.
    The CAlCPA Tax Listserv

    September 4, 2008 message from Scott Bonacker [lister@bonackers.com]
    Scott has been a long-time contributor to the AECM listserv (he's a techie as well as a practicing CPA)

    I found another listserve that is exceptional -

    CalCPA maintains http://groups.yahoo.com/taxtalk/  and they let almost anyone join it.
    Jim Counts, CPA is moderator.

    There are several highly capable people that make frequent answers to tax questions posted there, and the answers are often in depth.

    Scott

    Scott forwarded the following message from Jim Counts

    Yes you may mention info on your listserve about TaxTalk. As part of what you say please say [... any CPA or attorney or a member of the Calif Society of CPAs may join. It is possible to join without having a free Yahoo account but then they will not have access to the files and other items posted.

    Once signed in on their Yahoo account go to http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TaxTalk/ and I believe in top right corner is Join Group. Click on it and answer the few questions and in the comment box say you are a CPA or attorney, whichever you are and I will get the request to join.

    Be aware that we run on the average 30 or move emails per day. I encourage people to set up a folder for just the emails from this listserve and then via a rule or filter send them to that folder instead of having them be in your inbox. Thus you can read them when you want and it will not fill up the inbox when you are looking for client emails etc.

    We currently have about 830 CPAs and attorneys nationwide but mainly in California.... ]

    Please encourage your members to join our listserve.

    If any questions let me know.

    Jim Counts CPA.CITP CTFA
    Hemet, CA
    Moderator TaxTalk

     

     

     

     

    Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) --- http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm

     

    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

    Bob Jensen's Threads ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

    More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

    All my online pictures --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/

     

    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