In 2017 my Website was migrated to the clouds and reduced in size.
Hence some links below are broken.
One thing to try if a “www” link is broken is to substitute “faculty” for “www”
For example a broken link
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
can be changed to corrected link http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

However in some cases files had to be removed to reduce the size of my Website
Contact me at 
rjensen@trinity.edu if you really need to file that is missing

 

Tidbits on January 17, 2017
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 1 of an Ugly Prefabricated House with Great Views
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Houses/Prefab/UglyHouse01.htm  

 

Tidbits on January 17, 2017
Scroll Down This Page

Bob Jensen's Tidbits ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

For earlier editions of Fraud Updates go to http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Bookmarks for the World's Library --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm 

Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

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

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/

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

Updates from WebMD --- Click Here

Google Scholar --- https://scholar.google.com/

Wikipedia --- https://www.wikipedia.org/

Bob Jensen's search helpers --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm

Bob Jensen's World Library --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm

 




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
 

How the World’s Oldest Computer Worked: Reconstructing the 2,200-Year-Old Antikythera Mechanism ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/how-the-worlds-oldest-computer-worked-reconstructing-the-2200-year-old-antikythera-mechanism.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

I Am The Edison Phonograph (1906) ---
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/i-am-the-edison-phonograph-1906/

A Journey Through The Heart of Australia's Outback ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/511178/a-journey-through-the-australian-desert/

An Introduction to Confucius’ Life & Thought Through Two Animated Videos ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/an-introduction-to-confucius-life-thought.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

World Science Festival: Video --- http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/category/video


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

NPR Concerts for the New Year --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1109

Hallelujah Christmas
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/12/a-hallelujah-christmas.html
Also listen to Susan Boyle (wonderful) ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPJFB0nfLAg

What Does the World Oldest Surviving Piano Sound Like?: Pianist Dongsok Shi Gives a Performance on a 1720 Cristofori Piano ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/what-does-the-world-oldest-surviving-piano-sound-like.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Stream Brian Eno’s “Magnificently Peaceful” New Album Reflection: A Thoughtful Way to Start 2017 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/stream-brian-enos-reflection.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

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

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


Photographs and Art

Debbie Reynolds' Life in Pictures ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/debbie-reynolds-life-pictures-2016-12

Digital Library for Decorative Arts and Material Culture (crafts) ---  http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/DLDecArts 

Inside the Creepy, “Abandoned” Wizard of Oz Theme Park: Scenes of Beautiful Decay ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/the-creepy-abandoned-wizard-of-oz-theme-park-scenes-of-beautiful-decay.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher cut the ribbon on opening day in 1970 atop North Carolina’s Beech Mountain.

153 Photos From 153 Countries ---
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/one-year-one-photo-per-country/ss-BBxCsBE

Historical Book Images --- http://historicalbookimages.tumblr.com

Boris Ignatovich, 1899-1976 (great Website about a great photographer) --- http://borisignatovich.com

WW II Junk Rusting in Greenland ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/eerie-photos-of-wwii-junk-in-greenland-2016-12

Bob Jensen's threads on art history ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#ArtHistory

The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present ---
http://bureau.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=7d6d7322131d4abba4e120b8613b8fa3

The Most Stunning Photos From Space in 2016 ---
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/stunning-space-photos-2016/

The Most Terrifying Weasons of WW I ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-terrifying-weapons-world-war-i-2017-1

The most iconic Reuters photo from nearly every country in the world in 2016 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/reuters-photos-from-every-country-in-2016-2016-12

Thousands of Photos from the George Eastman Museum, the World’s Oldest Photography Collection, Now Available Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/thousands-of-photos-from-the-george-eastman-museum-now-available-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Incredible Photos of the US Army in 2016 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-2016-pictures-2017-1

Children in Progressive-Era America --- https://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/children-progressive-era

Victorian Collections --- https://victoriancollections.net.au

The Marine Corps in Action in 2016 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-photos-2017-1

Military Life in 2016 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-photos-military-life-2016-2017-1

Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History

A Gallery of Visually Arresting Posters from the May 1968 Paris Uprising ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/a-gallery-of-visually-arresting-posters-from-the-may-1968-paris-uprising.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29


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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on libraries --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#---Libraries

25 Animations of Great Literary Works: From Plato, Dostoevsky & Dickinson, to Kafka, Hemingway & Bradbury ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/12/25-animations-of-great-literary-works.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Carrie Fisher prefers to be remembered as a writer ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/12/carrie-fishers-handwritten-changes-to-empire-strikes-back.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Download 243 Free eBooks on Design, Data, Software, Web Development & Business from O’Reilly Media (including books on AI, big data, and security)  ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/download-243-free-ebooks-on-design-data-software.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Association for Library Service to Children: Recommended Books --- http://www.ala.org/alsc/booklists 

Houghton Library: Tumblr --- http://houghtonlib.tumblr.com

Fiction Unbound (critical reviews) --- http://www.fictionunbound.com

Witness (creative literature, including creative non-fiction) --- http://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org

Historical Book Images --- http://historicalbookimages.tumblr.com

Free Electronic Literature --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI




Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on January 17, 2017
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2017/TidbitsQuotations011717.htm         

To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the booked obligation of $19+ trillion) ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2016/05/25/spring-2016-to-whom-does-the-us-government-owe-money-n2168161?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
The US Debt Clock in Real Time --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 
Remember the Jane Fonda Movie called "Rollover" --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_(film)

To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the unbooked obligation of $100 trillion and unknown more in contracted entitlements) ---
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/15/news/economy/entitlement-benefits/
The biggest worry of the entitlements obligations is enormous obligation for the future under the Medicare and Medicaid programs that are now deemed totally unsustainable ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm

Entitlements are two-thirds of the federal budget. Entitlement spending has grown 100-fold over the past 50 years. Half of all American households now rely on government handouts. When we hear statistics like that, most of us shake our heads and mutter some sort of expletive. That’s because nobody thinks they’re the problem. Nobody ever wants to think they’re the problem. But that’s not the truth. The truth is, as long as we continue to think of the rising entitlement culture in America as someone else’s problem, someone else’s fault, we’ll never truly understand it and we’ll have absolutely zero chance...
Steve Tobak ---
http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/02/07/truth-behind-our-entitlement-culture/?intcmp=sem_outloud

"These Slides Show Why We Have Such A Huge Budget Deficit And Why Taxes Need To Go Up," by Rob Wile, Business Insider, April 27, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-presentation-on-the-federal-budget-2013-4
This is a slide show based on a presentation by a Harvard Economics Professor.

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

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

Bob Jensen's health care messaging updates --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm




When you receive a boxed item from Amazon empty out the new item and fill the box with donations (not electronics) and ship it free (even free pickup).

Open Your Box: Unpack your merchandise from your Amazon shipping box.

Pack Your Box: Fill the box with clothing, accessories and household goods you no longer need and print your free shipping label from GiveBackBox.com.

Send Your Box: Let UPS or the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) deliver your box of donations to Goodwill for you.

Jensen Comment
You can even receive a receipt (but not a valuation) for having donated.


Perhaps this should read "Sherlock" of the DNA lab
How ‘Sherlock of the library’ cracked the case of Shakespeare’s identity
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jan/08/sherlock-holmes-of-the-library-cracks-shakespeare-identity


Child’s play:   The authoritative statement of scientific method derives from a surprising place — early 20th-century child psychology ---
https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-scientific-method-came-from-watching-children-play?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=14ca5194c3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-14ca5194c3-68951505

. . .

Today, science is torn between accessibility and authority. Crises of replication and claims of data-dredging appear alongside such phrases as ‘studies say’ and ‘what science tells us’. But the secret, well-known to most scientists, is that ‘science’ doesn’t ‘tell us’ anything. Science is a medium – a really effective one – not a message. Dewey saw it this way: science is less what a set of people called scientists say than it is a way of saying things. Science is a style of reasoning. This is what made children ‘little scientists’, at least originally.

The story of how science got identified with one particular method remains to be told. The question, then and now, is how far that method extends and who is capable of using it. Casting children as scientists is not about taking science down a peg. Rather, linking the scientific method and child’s play might help us imagine new ways of putting science to work in the world around us.  

Bob Jensen's threads on scientific method ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong


Ten Leading Books in Economic History ---
https://notesonliberty.com/2017/01/09/ten-best-papers-in-economic-history-of-the-last-decades-part-1/


How Media Fuels Terrorism ---
https://priceonomics.com/our-fixation-on-terrorism/


Yes, Clemson Football Coach Swinney indeed said that. And his remark is a stark reminder that college football is drowning in hypocrisy. Swinney earned $1.4 million in bonuses during Clemson’s run to the championship: $150,000 for winning the ACC title, $150,000 for winning 11 games, $400,000 for making the four-team College Football Playoff, another $400,000 for reaching the championship, $100,000 for winning the championship, and $200,000 for finishing ranked in the top 5. He earns $4.55 million in base pay. Last year, he even trademarked a slogan: BYOG. Bring Your Own Guts.
Time Magazine:  One Reason Not to Celebrate Clemson’s Triumphant Win ---
http://time.com/4630530/clemson-alabama-national-championship-dabo-swinney-pay/?xid=newsletter-brief


A New Consumer Dangers Site (which a special focus on dangers in popular products) ---
http://www.consumerdangers.com/

Bob Jensen's threads on this and more egregious consumer frauds are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm


Information Literacy Versus Finance Literacy

Librarians Say Information Literacy Is Important, They Don't Have the Tools to Teach It ---
https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/01/05/report-librarians-say-info-literacy-is-important-they-dont-have-the-tools-to-teach-it.aspx

Bob Jensen Says Financial Literacy is Important, and Perhaps We Have Too Many Tools to Teach It ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers

More specifically we don't have a single site or a single curriculum that stands out above all others in the areas of financial literacy and personal finance. One problem is knowing how to choose the best topics for different levels of learning. One vital element is an understanding of the time value of money and how to use finance calculators and/or spreadsheet software like Excel to teach it. Another important element is learning about how to borrow money and calculate annual percentage rates (APRs) on loans and savings. I personally think it's vital to teach when to buy versus rent a home. I think it's vital to learn how to make purchase verses leasing decisions for things like cars.

More uncertain topics include how deeply to go into tax rules and advice.

More uncertain topics include the financial aspects of marriage and divorce.

Other uncertain topics include how deeply to go into retirement savings alternatives.

Other uncertain topics include how deeply to go into accounting and small business management.

There are many free sites, including my own at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers

Here’s What You’ll Pay for Health Care In Retirement (Social Security benefits won't even cover your health care costs if you add supplemental Medicare insurance (that I recommend by the way)) ---
http://time.com/money/4340299/what-youll-pay-healthcare-in-retirement/

Student Loans:  What You Need to Know Before Signing ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2017/jan/student-loan-repayment.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=09Jan2017

Helpers for Student Loan Forgiveness and Cancellation ---
https://www.moneygeek.com/education/college/resources/student-loan-forgiveness-cancellation/

From the CPA Newsletter on November 19, 2015

US ranks 14th in world for financial literacy
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/
The US ranked 14th in a survey of global financial literacy that was conducted in more than 140 countries. The researchers asked multiple-choice questions about topics such as interest and diversification. Only 57% of Americans received a passing grade. Find the AICPA's financial education resources at 360financialliteracy.org. Forbes (11/18)

How little couples talk about money. It’s probably one of the last taboos except in heated arguments after it's too late.
Suggestions for improving communications with partners about money
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2016/09/16/how-much-do-you-need-for-retirement-communication-is-the-key/#558a3fc514eb

Jensen Comment
I found the best way to communicate about money with Erika was to let her take over the checkbook years and years ago even before we retired. That way when I talked about long-range planning her knowledge of the short-range ins and outs made her much more sympathetic and understanding about the long run. In the short run, however, she still won't tell me how much money is in the account --- in fear that I might spend too much foolishly if I know how much is available. She let's me carry one check in my billfold --- but that's strictly for emergencies.

And what a relief it was to put bill paying out of my mind.
Erika actually reconciles the checkbook to the penny which is something that I rounded off to the nearest $100 give or take another $100. This task is difficult for her since, as a surgical nurse by training long before computers, she did not even use a calculator let alone a computer. She still likes to balance our checkbook without the aid of a calculator.


Washington Post:  If colleges keep killing academic freedom, civilization will die, too ---
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-colleges-keep-killing-academic-freedom-civilization-will-die-too/2017/01/10/74b6fcc2-d2c3-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html?utm_term=.2c6f1b618276

Slavoj Žižek Calls Political Correctness a Form of “Modern Totalitarianism” ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/slavoj-zizek-calls-political-correctness-a-form-of-modern-totalitarianism.html

The Political Correctness Police Crack Down on . . . Kids Books The literary altercations of 2016 have highlighted the dilemma of publishers, illustrators and writers in a neo-Jacobin era of hair-trigger racial, sexual and ethnic sensitivities ---
http://www.wsj.com/articles/juvenile-controversies-in-a-neo-jacobin-era-1483048467?mod=djemMER

In January, after a two-week social-media drumming, Scholastic pulled from distribution “A Birthday Cake for George Washington,” which was criticized for an excessively jolly portrayal of enslaved people in the first president’s household.

 

. . .

In July, controversy swirled around Lane Smith’s picture book “There Is a Tribe of Kids” (which publisher Roaring Brook did not recall) for representing children in a natural setting with feathers in their hair (see below)—as if, critics said, they were “playing Indian.” In August, Candlewick recalled copies of E.E. Charlton-Trujillo’s young-adult novel “When We Was Fierce.” Early critical praise had morphed into social-media wrath over the author’s use of an invented urban dialect that was, in the words of one prominent fault-finder, “deeply insensitive.”

. . .

Fictional and fictionalized stories are among our best means of voyaging into strange places, of experiencing life from within other skins, of hearing the beat of hearts unlike our own. But art cannot flourish under ideological repression. Thousands of talented writers and illustrators, with their editors and publishers, are trying in good faith to bring forth thoughtful, imaginative books. Rather than police every micro-transgression, how much better, in 2017, to give them a bit of creative space.

Jensen Comment
Years ago my friend Jean Chittenden sat on a censorship board that filtered history questions on SAT examinations. She said one part of history was that was not allowed is reference to a historical fact that "women brought water to men on the field."  That was one of my early discoveries that there is a Big Brother filtering known facts from the archives of history.

Bob Jensen's threads on the political correctness police ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#PoliticalCorrectne


Donald Trump Won Because People Are Tired of Political Correctness ---
Bernie Sanders
http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/13/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-won-because

Trump Owes a Debt of Appreciation to His Harshest Critics --- Especially  Hollywood Celebrities and Professors
Harvard:  How the Attacks on Trump Reinforce His Strategy ---
https://hbr.org/2017/01/how-the-attacks-on-trump-reinforce-his-strategy?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date&spMailingID=16320667&spUserID=MTkyODM0MDg0MAS2&spJobID=940984255&spReportId=OTQwOTg0MjU1S0

One of the tricky things about strategy is that good strategies end up seeming inevitable, and that makes them difficult to analyze. After the fact, we have trouble distinguishing cause from effect, or strategic choices from good luck — and as a result, we draw suspect lessons from the exercise. This is especially true when the success in question was a surprising one.

For a sterling example, look no further than Donald Trump. Ex-post-facto rationalizing has portrayed his rise as being largely the result of Hillary Clinton’s strategic fumbles (not enough campaigning in the Rust Belt) and bad luck (James Comey). In this telling, Trump won the election not through his own actions but because he happened to be up against a particularly incompetent opponent. Another line of thinking argues that Trump’s win was a function of external factors: the media’s obsession with celebrity, the large field of GOP primary candidates, the interference of Russian hackers, an electorate that wanted change above all else. The factors here are very different, but the upshot is the same: Trump somehow won the election despite himself, not because of anything he actually did.

The problem with both of these views is that they portray the Trump triumph as inevitable, and it just wasn’t. It was one of the longest long shots in modern U.S. presidential history. So it’s worth asking what Trump did — strategically — that made it possible.

When he entered the race, Trump had zero political experience and was reviled by the Republican establishment. The normal thing to do was to follow the path of a typical “outsider” candidate, accepting the boundaries of the category and attempting to be sufficiently distinctive within that category to overcome the outsider disadvantages. For example, see Bernie Sanders: “I am a Democrat, but I bring a much more compelling liberal view than my establishment opponent.” Or Ben Carson: “I am a Republican candidate, but as a successful surgeon, I bring a fresh perspective.” In fact, this was such expected behavior from Trump that during the primary the media largely covered him as a classic outsider candidate, even though he was doing something radically different.

What he was doing was creating with precise and relentless consistency an entirely new category in the minds of voters: the politically incorrect candidate. He has since monopolized that new category.

To establish the legitimacy of the category, he made a consistent and devilishly tautological argument: In the category of traditional presidential candidates, the politicians are all politically correct. When they get in power, they fail you. Hence you don’t want a leader in that category — you want one in a new category called politically incorrect presidential candidates. I have been a huge success in business by being politically incorrect. Therefore: political correctness = failure, and political incorrectness = success.

It doesn’t matter whether he consciously set out to pursue that strategy or whether it was the result of his personality and instincts. The outcome is the same in either case.

Trump used an approach to attract primary and general election voters that businesses use to attract customers. Customers create categorical boundaries in their minds – e.g., Chinese restaurants, sporty cars, blue jeans – and within those boundaries they are disproportionately inclined to choose the product that feels the most natural, familiar, and comfortable to them. Because the mind craves simplicity and consistency, the product that feels most comfortable tends to be the one with which people have a long and dependable experience. For example, someone’s favorite Chinese restaurant is their favorite because they have gone there the most often and know the people and the menu and the layout best. Former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley and I have termed this “cumulative advantage,” and it is an underappreciated way of attaining sustained leadership in a market.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
This may account for a lot of Trump's votes in the GOP primary (especially against politically correct John Kasich), I still think that Hillary's blunders helped him more than politically correct critics in the general election. If more Sanders supporters had bothered to vote Trump would've lost the general election. Sanders supporters, however, were turned off by DNC and media corruption that favored Hillary over Sanders, especially her willingness to cheat in her debates with Bernie Sanders with the help of the DNC and CNN.

 

Someone Is Rewriting Trump’s Tweets Like A Grown-Up, And He Could Learn From It ---
http://www.boredpanda.com/mature-donald-trump-tweets-maturetrumptwts/
Jensen Comment
Does this have potential in college writing courses?
Seems like students could learn both from the exercise itself and when being assigned to evaluate the meaning lost versus meaning gained from the rewrites.
Of course, in the USA today there may be less demand for higher quality tweets (in terms of writing style)
This might be like photoshopping more clothes on Madonna or Lady Gaga


Should merchants be able to give price discounts to customers who pay cash (as opposed to using credit cards)?

In 2017Supreme Court Case, Freedom Of Speech Meets Your Wallet ---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/in-todays-supreme-court-case-freedom-of-speech-meets-your-wallet/

. . .

The stakes for this battle might not seem all that high — after all, why should a business care if that stray $2 is described as a discount or a surcharge, as long as cash customers pay less and credit card customers pay more? But a group of behavioral economics scholars says research has found that the framing has a substantial impact on how consumers make decisions — and that these insights should be taken into account as the Supreme Court evaluates the law. If the justices are willing to consider the possibility that the surcharge ban might be regulating speech, the behavioral economists’ insights could be crucial for helping the justices evaluate the state’s rationale for keeping the law on the books by adding empirical and theoretical weight to the businesses’ claims. Social science research has played a role in Supreme Court decision-making going as far back as Brown v. Board of Education, and as recently as last summer, the court drew on public health findings in striking down a restrictive abortion law in Texas.

Richard Thaler — one of the founders of behavioral economics, which draws on psychological research to understand why people make seemingly irrational economic decisions — hypothesized about the impact of credit card surcharges in 1980, when the discipline was just getting off the ground. He predicted that consumers would view cash discounts and credit card surcharges as fundamentally different things, preferring to avoid a surcharge rather than receive a discount. According to behavioral economic theory, one of the quirks of the human mind is that we hate to lose money more than we like to save it; if that’s true, it means consumers’ negative feelings about a surcharge would be stronger than their positive feelings toward a discount — even if the end result was the same.

“You can imagine that a rational person would look at a cash discount, understand that it’s functionally the same as a credit card surcharge, and make his decision accordingly,” said Todd Rogers, a professor of public policy at Harvard. “But the cool and important contribution that behavioral science can make here is to highlight how people behave in reality, which is not in this so-called rational way.” The word “surcharge,” he said, prompts consumers to think about the price differential in a way that “discount” does not — which, in turn, has an effect on their willingness to use cash.

To show the justices how this theory works, Rogers and several of his colleagues at Harvard devised an experiment to test the law and included it in an amicus brief to the court. They randomly assigned 820 participants to two groups (a surcharge and a discount group) and gave each a scenario to read. The surcharge group received a scenario in which they could pay $130 for food at a convenience store, but only if they paid cash; the price would be $133.90 if they paid with credit. The discount group had the opposite scenario: The groceries added up to $133.90, but they could pay $130 if they used cash. Most of the respondents in both groups opted for cash, but only 11 percent of the surcharge group said they’d use credit, compared with 18 percent of the discount group.

“Essentially we’re trying to show the court that the labels matter for consumer behavior,” said Brigitte Madrian, a professor of public policy and corporate management at Harvard who also signed onto the brief. She said the law, as written, effectively biases consumers toward credit card use; because businesses are only allowed to offer cash discounts, fewer customers are willing to pay with cash. If New York really wanted to prevent businesses from adding inflated surcharges, she said, it should pass a law requiring businesses to include only the cost of the credit card transaction in the surcharge. Meanwhile, she said, consumers’ tendency to spend more when using credit — and Americans’ high rates of credit card debt — should make the state think twice about sanctioning a law that prompts buyers to use credit cards.

These findings are, of course, not a reflection of real consumer behavior, and no actual money was on the line. In an interview, Thomas Miller, a finance professor at Mississippi State University, criticized the study, saying that it was too hypothetical and failed to account for the fact that consumers today rarely carry enough cash to cover an entire $130 purchase. “In the real world, the choice isn’t between paying with the hundreds of dollars in your wallet or paying credit,” he said. “You have to decide if you want to go to an ATM and take out cash to cover the difference. They might not be happy about it, but most people would probably just pay the credit card fee.”

Todd Zywicki, who is a law professor at George Mason University and filed a brief in support of New York, added that a study of consumers and merchants that was conducted after a credit-card surcharge ban was removed in the Netherlands could undermine the Harvard scholars’ findings. (Because a relatively small number of the consumers and merchants surveyed said they had received or given a cash discount or credit card surcharge, the sample sizes are low.) Although the Dutch consumers’ negative feelings about the surcharges were much stronger than their positive feelings about the discounts, both buyers and sellers said that a cash discount was more likely to motivate a switch to cash. “The question here isn’t how consumers feel about surcharges; it’s what they actually do when faced with one,” Zywicki said. Cash discounts, he said, are also preferable because businesses are unlikely to offer a markdown that’s more than the cost of the credit card transaction fee.

A ruling in favor of the businesses might, ironically, undermine forms of regulation that draw on the principles of behavioral economics in nudging consumers toward one choice or another. Amanda Shanor, a doctoral candidate at Yale Law School, said the credit card surcharge challenge is just one part of a bigger effort, led mostly by big businesses, to bring previously unprotected speech — like warning labels on cigarette packages or nutrition information on food labels — under the umbrella of the First Amendment. If businesses can successfully argue that the language of credit card surcharges and cash discounts are protected under the First Amendment, other forms of previously accepted economic regulation that rely on language and information disclosure, like forcing restaurants to state calorie counts, might come under scrutiny.

Madrian acknowledged that a ruling in favor of the businesses could have ripple effects in other regulatory domains. But she said that’s not a reason to refrain from asking the justices to consider a behavioral economics perspective in this particular case. The point, for her, is to help the justices understand how the law functions on the ground. “It’s easy to abstract these issues and imagine how an ordinary person should weigh choices in a particular situation,” she said. “What we’re trying to show is that rational decision-making isn’t always the same as human decision-making and the law should take that into account.”


Cool Gadgets From the CES 2017 ---
http://time.com/4626654/ces-2017-best-gadgets/?xid=newsletter-brief

Nine Must-Have Gadgets for Under $100 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-tech-gadgets-under-100-dollars-2016-6

Here are some of the gadgets sweeping the sleep-tech market in 2017 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/sleep-tech-gadgets-ces-2017-2017-1

The 50 Most Influential Gadgets of Our Time ---
http://time.com/4309573/most-influential-gadgets/?xid=newsletter-brief

Bob Jensen's threads on gadgets ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#Technology


The Atlantic:  Restoring the Promise of Public Education ---
http://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/allstate-2017/restoring-the-promise-of-public-education/1181/?utm_source=TL

Feds Finalize Assessment Parts of ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) ---
https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/12/07/feds-finalize-assessment-parts-of-essa.aspx

Jensen Question
Why do we need a new law when USA students K-PhD are all earning A or B grades now.
Isn't that enough success?
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor

PISA Results: Math Down, Science and Reading Flat for U.S. Students ---
https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/12/06/pisa-results-math-down-science-and-reading-flat-for-u.s.-students.aspx

Pissed Results:  Overall, the USA's schools earn a C on the latest Quality Counts report card, with variations among some states ---
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/01/04/nations-schools-get-middling-grade-on-quality.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2-RM

State Report Cards Map ----
http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2017/2017-state-education-grades-map.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-mostpop
Top Five With B Grades:  Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maryland
Bottom Five with D Grades:  Nevada, Mississippi, New Mexico, Idaho, Oklahoma
Average for the USA is a C Grade that puts it between Ohio and Montana
Select any of the 50 states in the map to view that state's details

The Atlantic:  When Finnish Teachers Work in America’s Public Schools ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/when-finnish-teachers-work-in-americas-public-schools/508685/
Bottom Line:  They don't like it
Go to the above article to find out why.

The Economist Magazine:
South Africa spends more on education, as a fraction of GDP, than European countries do on average. Yet it ranks at the bottom of educational league tables. What explains its terrible results?
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21713858-why-it-bottom-class-south-africa-has-one-worlds-worst-education?cid1=cust/ednew/n/bl/n/2017015n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/NA/8532313/n


How to mislead with statistics
Where Did Americans Move in 2016?
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/where-did-americans-move-2016

Jensen Comment
There's probably no good way to present this data in a single graphic. Using absolute numbers of moves into and out of each state results in total dominance of highly populated states like California, Texas, and New York.

However, using percentages can also be misleading. For example, Vermont has barely over a half million residents counting children. That's smaller than many cities elsewhere in the USA. A state ranking based upon percentage of population changes is likely to be distorted by the size of the base upon which percentages are based. This does not mean distortion in every instance. For example, Wyoming and Alaska do not have the same distortion problem as Vermont.

Also reasons for population shifts can be complicated. Vermont's "tax everything" policies certainly discourage higher income professionals like physicians from moving into or staying in Vermont. On the other side of the coin Vermont's generous welfare benefits attract lower income people to move into Vermont.


Moral Hazard --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_hazard

LA agrees to $4 million settlement in fatal Venice police shooting of homeless black man ---
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/12/02/66792/la-agrees-to-4-million-settlement-in-fatal-venice/

Jensen Comment
In this tidbit I'm not trying to make it sound unjust to reward families of police brutality. Most, if not every settlement to date, is justified.

However, I would like to point out the moral hazard that such multi-million settlements create in society. Suppose Donny and Dorothy D have been separated for three years even though they are still married. Dorothy D is so scared of her violent drug-dealing husband that she has a court-ordered restraining order against Donny D., Dorothy D approaches Policeman Paul P with a proposition. If Policeman Paul P guns down Donny D she agrees to split her $4 million settlement with Paul P. That $2 million sounds very inviting to Paul P even though he might lose his $48,000 very risky job and get a year or two in jail for manslaughter. Jail time is not very probable if they stage the shooting properly while Dorothy D takes the video footage of the shooting. The bottom line is one less wife-beating drug dealer in LA and two millionaires. The only losers are and Donny D and the LA taxpayers, especially if such settlements become common in LA after hurting wives and disgruntled police officers catch on to how easy it's becoming to get such settlements.

This is may become an extension of those common and very lucrative insurance scams where one car filled with seven lawyers and doctors breaks suddenly and intentionally so as to be hit from behind.


Stanford University:  The country’s oldest school for blind students turns to mobile apps, online courses, and driverless cars ---
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/bringing-business-mindset-educating-visually-impaired-students?utm_source=Stanford+Business&utm_campaign=af3235699e-Stanford-Business-Issue-103-1-8-2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b5214e34b-af3235699e-70265733&ct=t(Stanford-Business-Issue-103-1-8-2017)

Bob Jensen's threads on technology for teaching the blind and deaf and learning-challenged students ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Handicapped


UMass Dartmouth: Open Educational Resources --- http://guides.lib.umassd.edu/c.php?g=254707&p=1698634

Bob Jensen's threads on tools and tricks of the trade ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm


Metacognition --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition

Learning Intentionally and the Metacognitive Task
SSRN, 2016
https://outatpapers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2831242
Journal of Legal Education, Volume 65, Number 4, Summer 2016 Hofstra Univ. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-08

Authors

Patti Alleva University of North Dakota - School of Law

Jennifer A. Gundlach Hofstra University - Maurice A. Deane School of Law

Abstract

This article serves both to frame The Pedagogy of Procedure symposium it introduces and to itself explore the importance of metacognition and learning about learning to legal education and lawyering. The authors begin by suggesting why Civil Procedure doctrine is so challenging to teach and learn, noting how the symposium pieces help to tackle those challenges. They then join the growing number of law professors who advocate that learning how to learn deserves greater attention in the law school curriculum, suggesting that law schools should do more to demonstrate respect for the process of learning as an end in itself. They especially extol and explain the use of metacognitive strategies to help students develop greater self-sufficiency and proficiency in confronting learning challenges of any kind, Civil Procedure or otherwise. They highlight metacognition because of its importance to self-regulated learning and its benefits for professional development. To do so, they draw upon the literature in this area, from law faculty and from faculty in other disciplines, to create a helpful mini-primer-plus for use in Civil Procedure and other doctrinal courses. They close with suggestions for how law schools can show more institutional respect for learning as a subject worthy of independent attention.

 

Reading Apprenticeship at WestEd: Downloadable Resources (metacognition) --- http://readingapprenticeship.org/publications/downloadable-resources

Metacognitive Bookmark --- http://readingapprenticeship.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/RFU-ch-4-metacog-bookmark.pdf

Metacognition Experiment in Teaching Intermediate Accounting ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/265wp.htm


Why Sex Is Binary but Gender Is a Spectrum
A short genetic history of one of the most profound dimensions of human identity.
---
http://nautil.us/issue/43/heroes/why-sex-is-binary-but-gender-is-a-spectrum


Trump's national security pick Monica Crowley plagiarized over 50 sections of her 2012 book (and Columbia University thesis) ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/monica-crowley-plagiarized-over-50-sections-of-her-2012-book-2017-1

Bob Jensen's threads on celebrities who plagiarize ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities
 


Wails from Wales
Britain now gets more electricity from wind than coal ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/wind-power-overtaken-coal-first-time-uk-electricity-turbine-green-renewable-energy-britain-2017-1

Jensen Comment
But wind and coal combined only account for about a third of the power generated. Solar is increasing, but gas is still the king of power generation in England.


Download 243 Free eBooks on Design, Data, Software, Web Development & Business from O’Reilly Media (including books on AI, big data, and security)  ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/download-243-free-ebooks-on-design-data-software.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29


Why California's Liberal Laws Are Sometimes Unjust and Dysfunctional
Mother Jones:  The Crazy Story of the Professor Who Came to Stay—and Wouldn't Leave ---
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/berkeley-sarah-lawrence-professor-house-rental-saga th
As the saying goes, the road to legal Hell is paved with good intentions


Student Loans:  What You Need to Know Before Signing ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2017/jan/student-loan-repayment.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=09Jan2017

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


We Know What Works in Teaching Composition ---
http://www.chronicle.com/article/We-Know-What-Works-in-Teaching/238792?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=be6b358f8ca2471695007f271cb42058&elq=ffa26774e1e24c04833a1db626aa823e&elqaid=12065&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=4869

Bob Jensen's writing helpers  ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries


Mathematics and Graphing Calculators Go Beyond What Most of Us Think of as "Calculators" --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphing_calculator

Meta-Calculator --- http://www.meta-calculator.com

The Atlantic:  The Common High-School Tool That's Banned in College ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/the-conundrum-of-calculators-in-the-classroom/493961/?utm_source=twb

Jensen Comment
I taught at a university where the mathematics department's faculty were badly divided regarding the use of mathematics and graphing calculators.

Perhaps even more controversial is the following Website:

Wolfram Alpha ---
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

 Very complicated equations, including those requiring integration, can be fed into Wolfram Alpha and solved. This takes all of the challenge out of homework assignments in both high school and college level mathematics to say nothing about mathematical computations on the job.

I provide an example of the use of Wofram Alpha for solving and inserting equations and solutions in an academic paper at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/WorkingPaper275.pdf 

Years ago I also provided a helper document on using the Wolfram Alpha site ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theorylearningcurves.htm

A very, very interesting mathematics teaching blog ---
dy/dan (mathematics teaching blog) --- http://blog.mrmeyer.com 

[Makeover] Systems of Equations ---
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2016/makeover-systems-of-equations/

Shock and Disbelief in Math Class ---
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2016/shock-and-disbelief-in-math-class/

Jagger's Theorem:  "You can't always get what you want."
David Giles mentions Mick Jagger (a London School of Economics graduate) and the movie entitled "The Big Chill"
http://davegiles.blogspot.com/2017/01/jaggers-theorem.html

Jagger's Theorem:  "You can't always get what you want."

The latest issue of Amstat News includes a piece written by Arthur Kenickell, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. It's title is, "Crooked Roads: IRS Statistics of Income at 100". (See p.25.)

The Teach to One Math Experiment in Mountain View, CA Is a Trainwreck: A Cautionary Tale of Digital Math Education ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/the-teach-to-one-math-experiment-in-mountain-view-ca-is-a-trainwreck.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Mathematics and Statistics

Bob Jensen's links to free courses (including mathematics) and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


280 MOOCs Getting Started in January 2017: Enroll Free Today ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/280-moocs-getting-started-in-january-enroll-free-today.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

HarvardX and MITx: Four Years of Open Online Courses -- Fall 2012 - Summer 2016
SSRN, December 16, 2016

Authors

Isaac Chuang Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Office of Digital Learning; MIT

Andrew Dean Ho Harvard University; Harvard University - HarvardX

Abstract

In 2014 and 2015, a joint research team from Harvard University and MIT released summary reports describing the first two years of Harvard and MIT open online courses launched on the nonprofit learning platform, edX. These reports set expectations for the demographics and behavior of course participants and established an analytic framework for understanding the then-nascent online learning context known as the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

This “Year 4 Report” extends these earlier findings to four complete years of HarvardX and MITx courses on edX, resulting in one of the largest surveys of MOOCs to date: 290 courses, 245 thousand certificates, 4.5 million participants, 28 million participant-hours, and 2.3 billion events logged online. We present our findings in a series of nine exhibits that address questions about the evolution of the MOOC movement from its birth in 2012, through its current adolescence.

 

Jensen Comment
What surprised me is that only about a third of the MOOC users are teachers and professors. I would have thought the percentage would be higher since MOOCs are windows into how your most prestigious competitors are doing their jobs.

What surprised me even more is how important certificates of completion seem to be to the users of MOOCs. MOOC courses are free, but growth leveled somewhat when edX started charging for the certificates. Also about 60% of the users are willing to pay for those certificates. It would surprise me if those certificates mattered much in the job market. But then what do I know?

Bob Jensen's links to free courses (including mathematics) and tutorials ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


Educause:  2016 Students and Technology Research Study ---
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2016/6/2016-students-and-technology-research-study

This hub provides findings from the 2016 student study, part of the EDUCAUSE Technology Research in the Academic Community research series. ECAR collaborated with 183 institutions to collect responses from 71,641 undergraduate students across 25 countries about their technology experiences. This study explores technology ownership, use patterns, and expectations as they relate to the student experience. Colleges and universities can use the results of this study to better engage students in the learning process, as well as improve IT services, increase technology-enabled productivity, prioritize strategic contributions of IT to higher education, plan for technology shifts that impact students, and become more technologically competitive among peer institutions.

Bob Jensen's Education Technology Threads ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

Educause:  Competency-based Education (CBE)
https://library.educause.edu/topics/teaching-and-learning/competency-based-education-cbe

The competency-based education (CBE) approach allows students to advance based on their ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace regardless of environment. This method is tailored to meet different learning abilities and can lead to more efficient student outcomes. Learn more from the Next Generation Learning Challenges about CBE models and grants in K-12 and higher education. 

Organizations

·   CBEinfo - This site was created for schools to share lessons learned in developing CBE programs.

·   Competency-Based Education Network (CBEN)

·   CAEL Jumpstart Program

·   CompetencyWorks

Competency Definition

·   Competency-Based Learning or Personalized Learning. This U.S. Department of Education topic page includes links to various states and districts putting CBL programs into action.

·   Principles for Developing Competency-Based Education Programs. Change Magazine, April/March 2014. Sally M. Johnstone and Louis Soares

·   The Degree Qualifications Profile, Lumina

Bob Jensen's competency-based learning threads ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#ConceptKnowledge

 


Ten Learnings from Ten Years of Brain Pickings ----
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/10/23/10-years-of-brain-pickings/?utm_source=Brain+Pickings&utm_campaign=9f0e5b74d5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_179ffa2629-9f0e5b74d5-234390133&mc_cid=9f0e5b74d5&mc_eid=4d2bd13843


Denmark’s Parliament has passed a bill that restricts students who already have a university degree from pursuing a second degree program in a different field at the same or lower educational level ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/01/04/danish-law-restricts-students-taking-second-degree-same-level?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=8468773469-DNU20170104&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-8468773469-197565045&goal=0_1fcbc04421-8468773469-197565045&mc_cid=8468773469&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Jensen Comment

 Such a law in the USA would badly punish humanities and science graduates who have trouble getting into careers without going back to school for professional degrees like business, nursing, pharmacy, etc. Of course the USA in general does not have tuition-free college, although the State of New York is close to implementing free college for residents earning less than $125,000 per year. No mention is made whether college graduates in New York can also get free second degrees.

Nations that provide only free college education control costs do in several ways, including not allowing second degrees. The most common way, however, is by not allowing over half the Tier 2 (high school) graduates to even go to college. College in nations like Denmark and Germany is restricted to the Tier 2 elites. In Denmark about 64% of the Tier 2 graduates are not even allowed to go to college for their first degrees ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment


INew York Times:  India’s Call-Center Talents Put to a Criminal Use: Swindling Americans ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/world/asia/india-call-centers-fraud-americans.html

Jensen Comment
These scams are particularly troublesome because most of them are life calls and simply not recordings. Typical topics are such things as
"Something is dangerously wrong with your computer,"
"Something is wrong with your Windows installation,"
"Your email system is infected"
"You failed to pay fines when you became an USA citizen"

Probably the worst scam to date involved highly-threatening calls from the IRS that unless a fine is paid immediately the sheriff will be knocking at your door."

The callers often claim to be from well known companies like Microsoft.or from the government.
Or they will simply claim to be from your Computer Support Center


Amazon's Book Recommendations for the New Year ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-book-amazon-january-2017-1

"The Lost City of the Monkey God"

"History of Wolves"

"The Bear and the Nightingale"

"The Dry"

"Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk: A Novel"

"This is How it Always is"

"Lucky Boy"

"In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown"

"Testosterone Rex: Myths of Sex, Science, and Society"

"Human Acts"

 

CFOs Share Their Favorite Books of 2016 ---
http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2016/12/29/cfos-share-their-best-books-of-2016/?mod=djemCFO_h

Nutshell by Ian McEwan Recommended by: Coram Williams, CFO of publisher Pearson PLC

The Outsiders by William Thorndike Recommended by: Michael Chae, CFO of Blackstone Inc.

Decision Points by President George W. Bush Recommended by Robert Lloyd, CFO of video game retailer GameStop Corp

The Culture Map by Erin Meyer Recommended by: Kimberly Ellison Taylor, Chairman of the American Institute of CPAs Board of Directors

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull Recommended by: Tracey Travis, CFO of Estée Lauder Cos.

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance Recommended by: R. Neil Williams, CFO of financial technology company Intuit Inc.

Superintelligence, by Nick Bostrom Recommended by: Luka Mucic, CFO of software company SAP SE

Grit, by Angela Duckworth Recommended by: Cathy Smith, CFO of Target Corp.

All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot Recommended by: Scott Ullem, CFO at Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
Jensen Note:  There are actually four later books in this series by the same title

The Founder's Mentality, by Chris Zook and James Allen Recommended by: Dave Marberger, CFO of ConAgra Foods Inc

Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley Recommended by: Terri S. Polley, President and CEO of the Financial Accounting Foundation

27 Important Books in the History of Finance ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-finance-books-2017-1

One of the Largest and Most Interesting Scandals of Wall Street
Nova Video:  The Trillion Dollar Bet

http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRottenPart2.htm#LTCM

Timeline of Other Wall Street Scandals ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRottenPart2.htm#DerivativesFrauds


New York Times:  Homeland Security Officials Took Millions in Bribes to 'Look the Other Way' ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/us/homeland-security-border-bribes.html?smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur&_r=0

WASHINGTON — In 2012, Joohoon David Lee, a federal Homeland Security agent in Los Angeles, was assigned to investigate the case of a Korean businessman accused of sex trafficking.

Instead of carrying out a thorough inquiry,

Mr. Lee solicited and received about $13,000 in bribes and other gifts from the businessman and his relatives in return for making the “immigration issue go away,” court records show. Mr. Lee, an agent with Homeland Security Investigations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, filed a report saying: “Subject was suspected of human trafficking. No evidence found and victim statement contradicts. Case closed. No further action required.”

But after another agent alerted internal investigators about Mr. Lee’s interference in another case, his record was examined and he was charged with bribery. He pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

It was not an isolated case. A review by The New York Times of thousands of court records and internal agency documents showed that over the last 10 years almost 200 employees and contract workers of the Department of Homeland Security have taken nearly $15 million in bribes while being paid to protect the nation’s borders and enforce immigration laws.

These employees have looked the other way as tons of drugs and thousands of undocumented immigrants were smuggled into the United States, the records show. They have illegally sold green cards and other immigration documents, have entered law enforcement databases and given sensitive information to drug cartels. In one case, the information was used to arrange the attempted murder of an informant.

The Times’s findings most likely undercount the amount of bribes because in many cases court records do not give a tally. The findings also do not include gifts, trips or money stolen by Homeland Security employees.

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald J. Trump said border security would be one of his highest priorities. As he prepares to take office, he will find that many of the problems seem to come from within.

Continued in article

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



The 20 Universities With the Most Foreign Students ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/american-colleges-with-most-foreign-students-2016-12/#20-university-of-minnesota-twin-cities-7037-foreign-students-1
The winners are NYU, USC, and Arizona State


50 Trivia Facts ---
http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/smart-living/trivia-day-50-facts-we-bet-you-dont-know/ss-BBxR9B8?ocid=spartanntp#image=2

Oxford University, established in 1096, is older than the Aztec Empire (1428-1521)

J.K. Rowling became the first author to make it to Forbes’ billionaire list (excluding billionaires who also are authors after the fact)

Studies on dolphin behavior show that they have names for one another

Charlie Chaplin once participated in a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest at a San Francisco theater. He didn't win

An average human body has 60,000 miles of blood vessels; they’d stretch the entire earth if you laid them out end to end.

In Finland, Donald Duck comics were banned because he does not wear pants

Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime

Gravity is not consistent at every spot on Earth

Alabama was the last American state to overturn a ban on interracial marriage. It finally lifted the law in 2000

The tongue of a blue whale can weigh as much as an elephant, and its heart is about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle car and can weigh up to 992 lbs (450 kg). Their aorta, the major blood vessel of the heart, is big enough for a human child to crawl through

Continued in article (some are questionable as "facts")


5:38 Blog:  Fact-Checking Won’t Save Us From Fake News ---
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fact-checking-wont-save-us-from-fake-news/

Jensen Comment
One thing to note about fact checkers is that those like Snopes that are politically biased do provide a useful service, but keep in mind that they have selectivity bias --- they seldom fact check the fake facts that they like out in the world.

I also find this to be the case in the liberal world of academe. For example, the Chronicle of Higher Education often allows fact checking by encouraging comments on their articles. However, they now cherry pick some of the articles that will not allow comments and, thereby, shut down fact checking by respondents.


How to replace windows essentials 2012 after support ends in January ---
http://www.howtogeek.com/286552/how-to-replace-windows-essentials-2012-after-support-ends-in-january/


Amazon Echo vs. Google Home: Which One Should You Buy?
http://www.howtogeek.com/282568/amazon-echo-vs.-google-home-which-one-should-you-buy/


Ten Most Important Legal Technololgies in 2016 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/01/the-10-most-important-legal-technology-developments-of-2016.html

Dave Barry's Year in Review ---
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/dave-barrys-year-in-review-trump-and-the-hideous-monstrosity-that-was-2016/2016/12/29/17c84a14-b7d6-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html?utm_term=.0a6aee2b2bdc

From the 24/7 Blog on January 2, 2017

2016 IN REVIEW

The Best, and Worst, CEO's of 2016

The Best, and Worst, Investments of 2016

America's Most and Least Successful Companies in 2016

The Year's Best Charities

American Cities that Added the Most Jobs in 2016

American Cities that Lost the Most Jobs in 2016

 

Dennis Elam's Best Read Choices for 2016 ---
http://professorelam.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/12/my-best-reads-of-2016.html s
Dennis teaches accounting at Texas A&M in San Antonio

Non-Fiction

A Dog Named Slugger by Leigh Brill Ms. Brill has cerebral palsy which has worsened as she ends college. Simple tasks such as handing a coin to the clerk elude her. Then she learns about service dogs, applies, and is partnered with Slugger. Slugger is a yellow male Lab. Leigh takes us behind the scenes on how a dog is trained over two years. The book traces her marriage and blossoming career.  Slugger opens doors, retrieves fallen coins, and brings new confidence to Leigh. This is a tale for dog lovers everywhere.

Spiralizer Cookbook by John Web

Muffin Tin Chef: 101 Savory Snacks….by Matt Kadey

Web offers a new way of presenting vegetables. Kadey presents ways to create individual portions via the muffin tin in a creative manner.

Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of White Collar Crime by Eugene Soltes

In Texas one must take an ethics course approved by the State Board of Accountancy to sit for the CPA exam.   I designed and teach our course here at San Antonio A & M. Soltes has written an excellent supplement for such a class. The reason is that he uses real world examples of real world white-collar felons to demonstrate his points. He also reviews the history of white-collar sentencing as well as theories for why they do it.

Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America by Ann Coulter

Ann is an acquired taste. This book came out a few years ago but after watching the emerging demonstrations of the past two years, I took a read. She traces this practice of mob rule to he French Revolution. And brings it right up to today.   Biased, opinionated, skewering, and humorous, she spares no prisoners in the best French Revolution tradition.

Lucy and Desi by Warren G. Harris this is touted as the best read on America’s most famous couple. But understand this is more than a star-crossed romance. It is the story of the literal development of television on the West Coast. It is the story of how pregnant women and mixed marriages became an accepted norm. The couple formed Desilu from the RKO studios, and well the rest is history. Desi was the most successful television director and producer in the 1950s. This story reflects expanding Americana culture via television in the 1950s. Alas, don’t expect a happy ending.

Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reiley The Killing series succeeds so well in that it is written in a page turning ‘you are there’ style.’ I have read three in the series, the other two being Patton and Kennedy. But surprise, Lincoln held the most surprises. I won’t reveal why but there is much, much more here than simply Booth shooting Lincoln.

Mood Matters by John Casti I often discuss how social mood drives social action in this column.   This is an excellent one-volume explanation and demonstration of how this applies to all social action from music to movies to politics.

The Socionomic Theory of Finance by Robert Prechter I wrote a review of this book which has been submitted for academic publication.   Prechter advances the idea that the Random Walk Theory is incorrect. Behavioral Finance gets closer to the truth but still assumes individuals are influenced by outside forces. This is a compilation of articles written over time which demonstrate his point.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy by Charles Hugh Smith. Smith suggests that the several hundred year old higher education system is overdue for an over haul.   He argues for a new paradigm in which we accredit the graduate not he university. He suggests something analogous to the CPA exam to prove that the student has learned something.

The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All Administrative University by Benjamin Ginsberg Simply put, read this to find out what is really going on in Higher Education.

Fiction

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva   This is the 16th in the Gabriel Allon series.   Allon is an Israeli operative whose cover is art restoration. Silva has conducted extensive research in writing the story. This is a window on the mind of ISIS.

Stories from the Twilight Zone by Rod Serling Fifty years and counting there is no modern replacement for the imagination of Serling. These are stories from the series. The original television shows are available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.   And they have lost no appeal over time.

25 Animations of Great Literary Works: From Plato, Dostoevsky & Dickinson, to Kafka, Hemingway & Bradbury ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/12/25-animations-of-great-literary-works.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29


Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here (except in la la land California)---
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the-desalination-era-is-here/
One of the driest countries on Earth now makes more freshwater than it needs


Harvard Business:  Why We’re Seeing So Many Corporate Scandals ---
https://hbr.org/2016/12/why-were-seeing-so-many-corporate-scandals?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date&spMailingID=16221649&spUserID=MTkyODM0MDg0MAS2&spJobID=922560097&spReportId=OTIyNTYwMDk3S0


The Emergence of Commercial Drones ---
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/emergence-commercial-drones/


Unemployment 101
The Extraordinary Size if Amazon in One Chart
http://ritholtz.com/2017/01/extraordinary-size-amazon-one-chart/
Jensen Comment
Size comparisons by any criterion can be misleading. For example a revenue criterion ignores markup percentages. One expects grocery chains to have high revenues but margins are more narrow relative to airliner manufacturers. Numbers of employees overlooks robotics. Accounting measures ignore things that accountants don't measure or measure badly such as intangibles and contingency liabilities.

Unemployment 101
Amazon.com hires a lot of people. But the expansion of its army of orange-wheeled robots is more than keeping pace. The world’s largest e-commerce retailer said it has 45,000 robots in some . . .
.Amazon's Robot Army Grows by 50%
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazons-robot-army-grows/

Unemployment 101
Five ways the new connected agriculture world changed in 2016
http://readwrite.com/2016/12/31/2016-year-review-agtech-il4/

Unemployment 101
MIT:  The Robotic Grocery Store of the Future Is Here
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603229/the-robotic-grocery-store-of-the-future-is-here/?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=f97b342bc6-The_Download&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-f97b342bc6-153727301

Unemployment 101
MIT:  Mining 24 Hours a Day with Robots ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603170/mining-24-hours-a-day-with-robots/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-robotics&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20161228&utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=c76fee33cc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-c76fee33cc-153727301&goal=0_997ed6f472-c76fee33cc-153727301&mc_cid=c76fee33cc&mc_eid=fe7f400ea3

Unemployment 101
Japanese white-collar workers are already being replaced by artificial intelligence ---
http://qz.com/875491/japanese-white-collar-workers-are-already-being-replaced-by-artificial-intelligence/

Unemployment 101
A giant wave of store closures is about to hit the US ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/stores-closing-macys-kohls-walmart-sears-2016-12

Unemployment 101
Macy's is Closing 100 Stores -
--
http://www.businessinsider.com/macys-plans-close-100-stores-next-couple-years-low-sales-2017-1

Unemployment 101
From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on January 9, 2017

Closing
Troubled women’s apparel retailer Limited Stores LLC is closing all of its 250 stores nationwide, though the website remains available. In a letter to employees, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Chief Financial Officer Larry Fultz said that due to a heavy debt load and tough retail environment the company had to be sold or it would be closed altogether. He said in the letter the company was in the process of reviewing bids from potential buyers, and was “hopeful” the business would remain open.

Unemployment 101
Sears and Kmart are closing more stores — see if your store is on the list

http://www.businessinsider.com/list-of-sears-and-kmart-stores-closing-2016-12
Also read why Sears is on the brink of bankruptcy ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-failing-stores-closing-edward-lampert-bankruptcy-chances-2017-1
Jensen Comment
This makes me very unhappy since Sears has the best in-home appliance and other product repair warranties in the boonies where I live.

Unemployment 101
Hear Alan Watts’s 1960s Prediction That Automation Will Necessitate a Universal Basic Income ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/hear-alan-wattss-1960s-prediction-that-robots-will-necessitate-a-universal-basic-income.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

MIT:  Basic Income: A Sellout of the American Dream  ---
 https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601499/basic-income-a-sellout-of-the-american-dream/


MIT:  Poker is the latest game to fold against artificial intelligence (the robot can even play a bluffing game) ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603342/poker-is-the-latest-game-to-fold-against-artificial-intelligence/?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=31143e57ca-The_Download&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-31143e57ca-153727301

"You've Got to Know When to Hold 'em and Know When to Fold 'em" (Kenny Rogers) ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj4nJ1YEAp4


Drexel Freezes Faculty, Staff Staff Salaries Due To Decreased Enrollments ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/12/drexel-freezes-faculty-staff-staff-salaries-due-to-decreased-enrollments.html


Global smart cities market to reach a whopping $3.5 trillion by 2026 ---
http://readwrite.com/2017/01/07/smart-cities-market-will-grow-3-5-trillion-worldwide-2026-cl4/

San Antonio lines up $8 million in 2017 smart city projects ---
http://readwrite.com/2016/12/26/san-antonio-lines-8-million-2017-smart-city-projects-cl4/

Jensen Comment
San Antonio is one of the fastest-growing cities in the USA. That's both good news and bad news. After 24 years at Trinity University and living in San Antonio, the City was just getting too complicated and congested for us. This is one reason that, when we retired, Erika and I headed for the sparsely-populated White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

New and expanded San Antonio freeways were full by the time of "completion." Are freeways in big cities like San Antonio ever complete?


Think You’re Safe From College Retirement-Plan Lawsuits? Think Again ---
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Think-You-re-Safe-From/238831?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=5dd81bb7c2d8417eaf000cc94800a60b&elq=f85e5ac134504f689519e176caccd1b8&elqaid=12114&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=4891

Within a span of 10 days last August, a dozen coordinated lawsuits were filed against elite universities, alleging that they had imprudently managed their 403(b) retirement plans for faculty and staff. So far, all of the targets have one thing in common: They are private institutions, and the duties they are said to have breached derive from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, better known as Erisa. Public universities, by contrast, are exempt from Erisa as government institutions. Does this mean that public universities have nothing to fear from this new species of litigation?

Not exactly. Although public universities are exempt from the fiduciary duties imposed by Erisa, they may be subject to similar duties under state law. Moreover, their status as government entities may allow plaintiffs to bring similar actions under government-specific state statutes, or as constitutional claims. State universities, then, would do well to insulate themselves from possible claims of imprudence — while at the same time providing an attractive benefit to employees — by instituting or continuing processes that demonstrate sound management of retirement assets.

The allegations in the employee lawsuits against Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Johns Hopkins, MIT, NYU, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Yale, as well as the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California, follow a predictable pattern: The plaintiffs claim that by allowing unreasonable administrative fees and offering investment options that underperformed or charged relatively high fees, these institutions and their 403(b) plan administrators breached fiduciary duties owed to employees under Erisa. It is important to note that the plaintiffs’ claims are untested and are far from sure to succeed. But given the potential magnitude of the damages asserted, even the fact of the litigation itself is alarming.

Erisa is a federal statute that regulates retirement plans nationally and across almost all sectors of the economy. It imposes fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty on employers in the administration of these plans. These concepts boil down to a requirement that in making decisions about their retirement plans, employers must act solely in the best interests of the employees who benefit under the plans, and with the care that a prudent person in similar circumstances would employ. It is a demanding standard of conduct for those subject to its requirements.

But, importantly, it does not apply to government employers. However, this does not mean that no standards apply to public-university retirement plans, or that they are immune from lawsuits like those recently filed against the private institutions. The state common law of trusts, as well as state trust statutes, can impose duties analogous to those faced by private universities under Erisa, and can form the basis for similar lawsuits.

A suit filed in Minnesota in 2010 shows how this kind of litigation might work. The defendant in that action was the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; like those of government employers, the retirement plans of churches are exempted from Erisa’s coverage. The plaintiffs in that case therefore based their suit on fiduciary duties imposed by state common law and state statutes.

They also claimed breach of contract, arguing that the church had promised a level of benefits that it subsequently failed to deliver. The Lutheran Church case ultimately settled favorably to the employer after the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification was denied, but it may serve as a road map for suits against other non-Erisa retirement plans.

Potential litigation against public universities may involve additional complications, based on the universities’ status as government entities. In addition to the common law and generally applicable statutes, other laws specifically enabling government retirement programs may establish — or limit — fiduciary duties. For example, California’s State Constitution imposes fiduciary duties of loyalty, prudence, and diversification on the administrators of public retirement systems. On the other hand, an Arizona statute appears to expressly preclude fiduciary duties on the part of public education employers.

The governmental status of public universities may also implicate constitutional property protections, as well as complex issues of state sovereign immunity. The laws of each state are different, making it extremely difficult to generalize about the prospects of this kind of litigation.

Continued in article


$93 Million for my Alma Mater

Seems like a long time ago when rented a boarding house room alongside the edge of Iowa State University ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070723.htm

I just want to clear the air. I'm not the source of the wonderful 2017 $93 anonymous gift to that university.
The better news is that the money will be spent upgrading academic programs and not a Hollywood-style football scoreboard that became the spending priority of the University of New Hampshire (sigh) ---
http://www.foundation.iastate.edu/s/1463/giving/interior.aspx?sid=1463&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=6856&ecid=6856&crid=0&calpgid=451&calcid=1843


When Students’ Prejudices Taint Reviews of Instructors ---
http://www.chronicle.com/article/When-Students-Prejudices/238892?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=93ec6b94cb9e4ddc9775899b292fb527&elq=825af1d1bc00435ebc5f3f992c542412&elqaid=12145&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=4904

Jensen Comment
I think Professor Joritz's 30 years in Germany made her naive about student evaluations. This may not be so much about ethic bias as it is about playing the student-evaluation game. The way to get high student evaluations is to give every student an A grade in an easy course ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor

Virtually all the USA's top-rated teachers on RateMyProfessor.com are also rated as easy graders. It helps to be caring about students, but tough graders who care about students don't fare nearly as well as easy graders. I guess being an easy grader is the best way to care about students in this era where a high gpa is the key to the kingdom.


 




From the Scout Report on January 6,  2017

Meta-Calculator --- http://www.meta-calculator.com 

For mathematics teachers and students, Meta-Calculator is a free, online graphing, matrix, scientific, and statistics calculator. All four calculators are easy to use with either a cursor or a computer keyboard. The user-friendly design of all four calculators makes them a bit easier to use than traditional calculators, as they allow users to quickly toggle between different tools with just a click. Users may save graphs as a portable network graphic and share specific calculators as a URL. The full screen display provides a useful teaching tool.


Nimbus Screenshot --- http://nimbus.everhelper.me/screenshot.php 

Taking a screenshot is an easy way to share what you see on your computer screen or mobile device with friends, family, colleagues, or IT support. But sometimes simply sharing what you see isn't enough; it would be nice to add notes and comments. Nimbus Screenshot is a free Google Chrome or Firefox browser extension that allows users to easily take screenshots and add annotations before sharing. Once installed, users can take full screenshots or select part of a screen to capture. Users can then add notes, arrows, and images to help explain or direct others to certain elements of interest. Nimbus Screenshot is also available as an application for Windows computers and Android devices (as "Nimbus Clipper").


A New Study Hatches New Insights about Dinosaurs and their Extinction
Dinosaur babies took a long time to break out of their shells
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/dinosaur-babies-took-long-time-break-out-their-shells

Some Dinosaur Eggs Took Six Months or More to Hatch
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/science/dinosaur-eggs.html

How long does it take to hatch a baby dinosaur egg? Too long.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2017/0103/How-long-does-it-take-to-hatch-a-baby-dinosaur-egg-Too-long

Dinosaur incubation periods directly determined from growth-line counts in
embryonic teeth show reptilian-grade development
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/01/01/1613716114.abstract

American Museum of Natural History: Dinosaur Eggs
http://www.amnh.org/dinosaurs/dinosaur-eggs

Top Ten Weirdest Dinosaur Extinction Ideas
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-top-ten-weirdest-dinosaur-extinction-ideas-23642539


From the Scout Report on January 13, 2016

HandBrake --- https://handbrake.fr 

Do you have a video on a DVD that you need to rip onto your computer? Or a video that you need to condense in size so that it can be downloaded more quickly, allowing you to more easily embed it into a website or share it with friends or coworkers? Converting videos from one format to another can be cumbersome, and HandBrake is a free, open-source tool that helps users do so with ease. Visitors can download HandBrake for Mac, Linux, or Windows computers at the above website. Originally released in 2003, HandBrake has gone through a number of updates and was most recently updated and released as HandBrake 1.0.0 on December 24, 2016.


Dashpop--- https://dashpop.com 

For those looking to improve their daily productivity and habits, there are a number of mobile apps that promise to help. Dashpop is a new iOS application that may appeal to those looking for an application that is part traditional "to-do" and part lifestyle motivator. Dashpop allows users to create a number of reminders throughout the day. These reminders may be tasks (e.g. turn in report by 4:00 PM) or reminders to drink water, clean, or practice a new language. Once users complete a task they can "pop" the task and eventually earn reward badges called balloons. Dashpop also allows users to track productivity in a number of tasks and areas and provides users with productivity tips. Dashpop is free for iOS devices and includes optional in-app purchases.


Winter Storm Destroys Historic 'Tunnel' Sequoia in California
Historic Pioneer Cabin Tree toppled in California storm
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Historic-Pioneer-Cabin-Tree-toppled-in-California-10844206.php

Iconic Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' Brought Down By California Storm
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/09/508919216/iconic-sequoia-tunnel-tree-brought-down-by-california-storm

Storm fells one of California's iconic drive-through tunnel trees, carved
137 years ago
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-tunnel-tree-falls-california-storms-20170109-story.html

Google Arts & Culture: California State Parks
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/RgJicq2KEXhvIA

The National Parks: America's Best Idea
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/history

Last Tree Standing
http://www.biographic.com/posts/sto/last-tree-standing

 

 




Free Online Tutorials, Videos, Course Materials, and Learning Centers


Education Tutorials

Paideia: Active Learning (K-12 Socratic Method, asychronous learning)  https://www.paideia.org

dy/dan (mathematics teaching blog) ---  http://blog.mrmeyer.com

CIESE: K-12 Science Curricula --- http://www.k12science.org/materials/k12

Association for Library Service to Children: Recommended Books --- http://www.ala.org/alsc/booklists 

Math Snacks (middle school) --- http://mathsnacks.com ,

Children in Progressive-Era America --- https://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/children-progressive-era

National Study of Youth and Religion --- http://youthandreligion.nd.edu

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

Historic Jamestowne: For Educators --- http://historicjamestowne.org/education/for-educators

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

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

 


Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

Lateral Magazine (science news) --- http://www.lateralmag.com/

The New Yorker:  Through DNA editing, researchers hope to alter the genetic destiny of species and eliminate ---
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/02/rewriting-the-code-of-life?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=49ae69f083-The_Download&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-49ae69f083-153727301

What the Octopus Knows ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/what-the-octopus-knows/508745/

World Science Festival: Video --- http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/category/video

I Am The Edison Phonograph (1906) ---
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/i-am-the-edison-phonograph-1906/

The Fulweiler Laboratory at Boston University (biochemistry, geology) --- http://www.fulweilerlab.com

National Society of Genetic Counselors: Master Genetic Counselor Series --- http://www.nsgc.org/p/cm/ld/fid=248

Neurology, Neuroscience, and Neurosurgery Websites --- http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ion/library/lib-info/neurology

How the World’s Oldest Computer Worked: Reconstructing the 2,200-Year-Old Antikythera Mechanism ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/how-the-worlds-oldest-computer-worked-reconstructing-the-2200-year-old-antikythera-mechanism.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

The Classicizing Chicago Project (classical architecture) --- http://classicizingchicago.northwestern.edu

The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present ---
http://bureau.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=7d6d7322131d4abba4e120b8613b8fa3

Bob Jensen's threads on free online science, engineering, and medicine tutorials are at --http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


Social Science and Economics Tutorials

How Media Fuels Terrorism ---
https://priceonomics.com/our-fixation-on-terrorism/

Children in Progressive-Era America --- https://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/children-progressive-era

Virtual Tour: 103 Orchard (Chinatown tenement houseing) --- http://103orchard.tenement.org/stories/103-orchard

Historic Jamestowne: For Educators -- http://historicjamestowne.org/education/for-educators

built: LA: Age of Los Angeles (urban design) --- http://cityhubla.github.io/LA_Building_Age

Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and Philosophy tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


Law and Legal Studies

Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Law


Math Tutorials

dy/dan (mathematics teaching blog) ---  http://blog.mrmeyer.com

Makeover Systems of Equations --- http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2016/makeover-systems-of-equations/

Math Snacks (middle school) --- http://mathsnacks.com

Science Friday: How Much Math Should Everyone Know? (Show Your Work) ---
http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-much-math-should-everyone-know-show-your-work

Mathematics and Graphing Calculators Go Beyond What Most of Us Think of as "Calculators" --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphing_calculator

Meta-Calculator --- http://www.meta-calculator.com

Digital Library for Decorative Arts and Material Culture (crafts) ---  http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/DLDecArts

The Atlantic:  The Common High-School Tool That's Banned in College ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/the-conundrum-of-calculators-in-the-classroom/493961/?utm_source=twb

Jensen Comment
I taught at a university where the mathematics department's faculty were badly divided regarding the use of mathematics and graphing calculators.

Perhaps even more controversial is the following Website:

Wolfram Alpha ---
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

 Very complicated equations, including those requiring integration, can be fed into Wolfram Alpha and solved. This takes all of the challenge out of homework assignments in both high school and college level mathematics to say nothing about mathematical computations on the job.

I provide an example of the use of Wofram Alpha for solving and inserting equations and solutions in an academic paper at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/WorkingPaper275.pdf 

Years ago I also provided a helper document on using the Wolfram Alpha site ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theorylearningcurves.htm

A very, very interesting mathematics teaching blog ---
dy/dan (mathematics teaching blog) --- http://blog.mrmeyer.com 

Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Mathematics and Statistics

Bob Jensen's links to free courses (including mathematics) and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


History Tutorials

25 Animations of Great Literary Works: From Plato, Dostoevsky & Dickinson, to Kafka, Hemingway & Bradbury ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/12/25-animations-of-great-literary-works.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

How the World’s Oldest Computer Worked: Reconstructing the 2,200-Year-Old Antikythera Mechanism ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/how-the-worlds-oldest-computer-worked-reconstructing-the-2200-year-old-antikythera-mechanism.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
History of Computing ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#---ComputerNetworking-IncludingInternet

I Am The Edison Phonograph (1906) ---
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/i-am-the-edison-phonograph-1906/

Historical Book Images --- http://historicalbookimages.tumblr.com

Witness (creative literature, including creative non-fiction) --- http://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org

Fiction Unbound (critical reviews) --- http://www.fictionunbound.com

irtual Tour: 103 Orchard (Chinatown tenement houseing) --- http://103orchard.tenement.org/stories/103-orchard

An Introduction to Confucius’ Life & Thought Through Two Animated Videos ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/an-introduction-to-confucius-life-thought.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Thousands of Photos from the George Eastman Museum, the World’s Oldest Photography Collection, Now Available Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/thousands-of-photos-from-the-george-eastman-museum-now-available-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

A Gallery of Visually Arresting Posters from the May 1968 Paris Uprising ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/a-gallery-of-visually-arresting-posters-from-the-may-1968-paris-uprising.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Under the Influence of the Heavens: Astrology in Medicine in the 15th and 16th Centuries ---
http://www.cppdigitallibrary.org/exhibits/show/astrology

Historic Jamestowne: For Educators --- http://historicjamestowne.org/education/for-educators

The Real Pocahahontas ---
http://daily.jstor.org/the-real-pocahontas/

Journal of the American Revolution --- http://allthingsliberty.com/

A digital portrait of Colonial life --- http://lisnews.org/node/43841/

Children in Progressive-Era America --- https://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/children-progressive-era

Boris Ignatovich, 1899-1976 (great Website about a great photographer) --- http://borisignatovich.com

HistoryLink (Washington State) --- http://www.historylink.org

Houghton Library: Tumblr --- http://houghtonlib.tumblr.com

The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present ---
http://bureau.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=7d6d7322131d4abba4e120b8613b8fa3

Victorian Collections --- https://victoriancollections.net.au

Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to History
Also see http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm  

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


Language Tutorials

World Oral Literature Project (anthropology and endangered languages) --- http://www.oralliterature.org 

Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Languages


Music Tutorials

 

Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Music

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


Writing Tutorials

The Largest Historical Dictionary of English Slang Now Free Online: Covers 500 Years of the “Vulgar Tongue” ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/01/the-largest-historical-dictionary-of-english-slang-now-free-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

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



Bob Jensen's threads on medicine ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Medicine

CDC Blogs --- http://blogs.cdc.gov/

Shots: NPR Health News --- http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots

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

December 28, 2016

December 29, 2016

December 30, 2016

December 31, 2016

January 4, 2017

January 5, 2017

January 7, 2017

January 9, 2017

January 10, 2017

January 11, 2017

January 12, 2017

January 13, 2017

January 14, 2017

 


Here are some of the gadgets sweeping the sleep-tech market in 2017 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/sleep-tech-gadgets-ces-2017-2017-1


Siri, Am I About to Have a Heart Attack? (Big Data) ---
http://www.wsj.com/articles/siri-am-i-about-to-have-a-heart-attack-1484007412?mod=djemMER


Our Saliva Has a Pain Killer That's 100 Times More Powerful Than Morphine ---
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10514-natural-born-painkiller-found-in-human-saliva/
Alas, it's not ready for prime time ---
http://io9.gizmodo.com/you-have-a-painkiller-six-time-stronger-than-morphine-i-1601853735


6 things you need to know before buying quinoa ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/sc/quinoa-superfood-important-information-2016-12




Humor for January 17, 2017

Over 1,000 Clean Jokes Served Up by Jim Martin ---
http://maaw.info/GadgetsMain.htm

Dave Barry's Year in Review ---
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/dave-barrys-year-in-review-trump-and-the-hideous-monstrosity-that-was-2016/2016/12/29/17c84a14-b7d6-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html?utm_term=.0a6aee2b2bdc

Last words of famous people ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/famous-last-words-2017-1/#bob-marley-1
Bob Jensen plans to ask for an email server.

Baby Animals Video (click in the middle of the starting image) --- https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10200387320826253

"Martin Luther had a mug around which were three rings,” wrote Mr. Bainton. “The first he said represented the Ten Commandments, the second the Apostle’s Creed, and the third the Lord’s Prayer. Luther was highly amused that he was able to drain the glass of wine through the Lord’s Prayer, whereas his friend Agricola could not get beyond the Ten Commandments."
http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html?elqTrackId=3604148db54a48bdb3f916f1769cc523&elq=629e0807d4804fe9bbc4eec0498da547&elqaid=12010&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=4837
Jensen Comment
In Martin Luther's case the mug shoud've been filled with a laxative since his constipation is legendary.


Forwarded by Paula

 

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence is unexpected -
and often times humorous:
 
 
1. If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they'd eventually find me attractive.
 *
2. I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom, until they're flashing behind you.
 *
3. Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a glass of water.
 *
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
 *
5. I'm great at multi-tasking--I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at once.
 *
6. If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
 *
7. Take my advice ;  I'm not using it.
 *
8. My wife and I were happy for twenty years; then we met.
 *
9. Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they're at home when you wish they were.
 *
10. Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.
 *
11. Ever stop to think and forget to start again?
 *
12. Women spend more time wondering what men are thinking than men spend thinking.
 *
13. He who laughs last thinks slowest.
 *
14. Is it wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly?
 *
15. Women sometimes make fools of men, but most guys are the do-it-yourself type.
 *
16. I was going to give him a nasty look, but he already had one.
 *
17. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
 *
18. I was going to wear my camouflage shirt today, but I couldn't find it.
 *
19. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
 *
20. Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other times I let him sleep.
 *
21. If tomatoes are technically a fruit, is ketchup a smoothie?
 *
22. Money is the root of all wealth.

*

23. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

 


 

When they market a self-driving exercise bike I'll buy one ---
Bob Jensen

 

You know you''re old when you have a terrible morning after feeling and you did nothing the night before to deserve it.
Anonymous

 

Sign outside a Catholic confessional
"If you killed a politician please don't take time to confess it. You need not confess public service work.
Anonymous

 

Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side because it's been fertilized with more bullshit.
Anonymous

 




Humor December 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q4.htm#Humor1216.htm 

Humor November 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q4.htm#Humor1116.htm 

Humor October 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q4.htm#Humor1016.htm

Humor September 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q3.htm#Humor0916.htm

Humor August  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q3.htm#Humor083116.htm

Humor July  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q3.htm#Humor0716.htm  

Humor June  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q2.htm#Humor063016.htm

Humor May  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q2.htm#Humor053116.htm

Humor April  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q2.htm#Humor043016.htm

Humor March  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q1.htm#Humor033116.htm

Humor February  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q1.htm#Humor022916.htm

Humor January  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q1.htm#Humor013116.htm

 




Tidbits Archives --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

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

Update in 2014
20-Year Sugar Hill Master Plan --- http://www.nccouncil.org/images/NCC/file/wrkgdraftfeb142014.pdf

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

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

  • With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
  • With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
  • With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR
  • With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses

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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

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

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

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

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm 
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://faculty.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://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

 

For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a ListServ (usually for free) go to   http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

Some Accounting History Sites

Bob Jensen's Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links --- http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds

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

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

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://faculty.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