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 March 30, 2017
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

 Set 03 of my favorite bird pictures (our mean and magnificent crows) ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Birds/Set03/BirdsSet03.htm
 

 

Tidbits on March 30, 2017
Scroll Down This Page

USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ubl

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
 

Video:  Rubic's Cube Magic (watch to the end) --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFA-RmV_wG0
Thanks to Paula for the heads up.

NASA's Earthrise:  The 45th Anniversary ---
https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1249.html

YouTube: Half Hour Hegel: The Complete Phenomenology of Spirit --- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4gvlOxpKKIgR4OyOt31isknkVH2Kweq2

Marshall McLuhan in Two Minutes: A Brief Animated Introduction to the 1960s Media Theorist Who Predicted Our Present ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/marshall-mcluhan-in-two-minutes.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
McLuhan along with most futurists of the 1960s failed to anticipate smart phones, although Dick Tracy had a wrist phone for two-way communications.

Carl Sagan Explains How the Ancient Greeks, Using Reason and Math, Figured Out the Earth Isn’t Flat, Over 2,000 Years Ago ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/carl-sagan-explains-how-the-ancient-greeks-figured-out-the-earth-isnt-flat.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

5 giant Chinese infrastructure projects that are reshaping the world ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/large-world-changing-chinese-infrastructure-projects-2017-3

Animated Graph:  200 Years of World Immigration --- http://metrocosm.com/us-immigration-history-map.html


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 

Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Barry --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8JULmUlGDA
Also go to the best instrumental rendition ever
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/chuck-berry-jams-out-johnny-b-goode-with-eric-clapton-keith-richards-john-lennon-bruce-springsteen.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Mayballene by Chuck Barry --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75RiHJGfyUE

Watch a Busker Shred the Bass on the Streets of Newcastle ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/the-jimi-hendrix-of-the-bass-watch-a-busker-shred-the-bass-on-the-streets-of-newcastle.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Hear the Influential 200-Hour Avant-Garde Piano Composition, “Music & the Mind of the World”: Now Free Online for the First Time ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/music-the-mind-of-the-world.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

See Japanese Musicians Play “Amazing Grace” with 273 Theremins Placed Inside Matryoshka Dolls–Then Learn How They Perform Their Magic ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/japanese-musicians-play-amazing-grace-with-273-theremins-placed-inside-matryoshka-dolls.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Listen to Prince's Personal Party Play List ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/hear-princes-personal-playlist-of-party-music.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Janis Joplin's Breakthrough Performance ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/watch-janis-joplins-breakthrough-performance-at-the-monterey-pop-festival.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Web outfits like Pandora, Foneshow, Stitcher, and Slacker broadcast portable and mobile content that makes Sirius look overpriced and stodgy ---
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090327_877363.htm?link_position=link2

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

Gerald Trites likes this international radio site --- http://www.e-radio.gr/
Songza:  Search for a song or band and play the selection --- http://songza.com/
Also try Jango --- http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581
Sometimes this old guy prefers the jukebox era (just let it play through) --- http://www.tropicalglen.com/
And I listen quite often to Soldiers Radio Live --- http://www.army.mil/fieldband/pages/listening/bandstand.html
Also note
U.S. Army Band recordings --- http://bands.army.mil/music/default.asp

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


Photographs and Art

Mars Rover Tests Driving, Drilling and Detecting Life in Chile’s High Desert ---
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/mars-rover-tests-driving-drilling-and-detecting-life-in-chile-s-high-desert

Thingiverse: Education (3-D Printing) --- http://www.thingiverse.com/education

What 5 Days Of Wind And Freezing Temps Along Lake Ontario Can Do ---
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lake-ontario-house-covered-ice_us_58c6311fe4b0d1078ca78dec

MK&G Collection Online (German History) --- http://sammlungonline.mkg-hamburg.de/

Amazing Images of San Francisco Before It Was a City ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-images-san-francisco-history-2017-3

A Short History of the Seed and Nursery Catalogue in Europe and the U.S.---  http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/seed

California Deserts In 'Super Bloom' Thanks To A Wet Winter ---
http://www.npr.org/2017/03/17/520496783/california-deserts-in-super-bloom-thanks-to-a-wet-winter

Art History Pedagogy & Practice --- http://academicworks.cuny.edu/ahpp

British Library: Georgians Revealed --- http://prints.bl.uk/category/georgiansrevealed

The Bowes Museum Blog (art hisotry) --- https://thebowesmuseum.wordpress.com

.Cornishmemory.com --- http://cornishmemory.com

Marcus Selmer’s Photographs of 19th-Century Norwegians ---
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/marcus-selmers-photographs-of-19th-century-norwegians/

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

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


Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

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

The Modernist Journals Project --- http://modjourn.org

Writings of William Falkner --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Faulkner

Historic Arkansas Museum: Arkansas Traveler (Faulkner) --- http://www.historicarkansas.org/Exhibits/Arkansas-Traveler/arkansas-traveler

The Big Green Book: Robert Graves and Maurice Sendak’s Little-Known and Lovely Vintage Children’s Book About the Magic of Reading ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/06/04/the-big-green-book-robert-graves-maurice-sendak/?utm_source=Brain+Pickings&utm_campaign=1dadb14047-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_03_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_179ffa2629-1dadb14047-234390133&mc_cid=1dadb14047&mc_eid=4d2bd13843

Absalom, Absalom! [William Falkner] --- http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/absalom/

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 March 30, 2017
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2017/TidbitsQuotations033017.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




Student Loan Debt is Up to $1,424+ billion or $1.4+ trillion
http://www.usdebtclock.org/+
Federal Student loan defaults of $137 billion are nearly half of what the USA pays ($273 billion) in Federal Pensions---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/03/15/137b-federal-student-loans-defaults-2016?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b028fe970c-DNU20170315&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b028fe970c-197565045&mc_cid=b028fe970c&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

An analysis of new student loan data finds the number of federal loans in default at the end of 2016 increased 14 percent from 2015. Cumulative defaults -- defined in federal law as nine months past due -- stand at $137.4 billion, according to the analysis by the Consumer Federation of America.

The group examined new data posted by the Office of Federal Student Aid last week. The analysis also found that 1.1 million federal direct loan borrowers defaulted in 2016.

"Three thousand preventable student loan defaults each day in America is 3,000 too many," said Rohit Chopra, a senior fellow at the federation and the former student loans ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, of the direct loan defaults last year. "Our broken system works well for the student loan industry but is failing borrowers, taxpayers and our economy."

Read the analysis ---
http://consumerfed.org/press_release/new-data-1-1-million-federal-student-loan-defaults-2016/


Search and explore faculty, staff, and adjunct salary data at thousands of colleges ---
http://data.chronicle.com/?cid=db&elqTrackId=e80ce5e725c64606a70852280951442b&elq=b98a4506d44f4ef6a0d17c2fce33cb90&elqaid=13086&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5405
Jensen Comment
You must fill in every search box criterion. In the third box you can write in a specific university such as Trinity University or the University of Texas at Austin.
The data is somewhat misleading without having standard deviations to compare evaluate the impact by outliers such as medical, law, computer science, business, and engineering divisions.
Compensation is also impacted by other factors such as opportunities for summer teaching, research stipends, and consulting opportunities. For example, Harvard Business School professors typically are given opportunities to consult that pay more than their Harvard salaries.
One of the most informative aspects of the graph is looking at the trend lines over time.

One of the most misleading aspects of the graphs is the comparison of men versus women. I doubt that there is much, if any, difference in gender compensation within departments. The gender difference arises more, in my opinion, by the gender composition of some departments versus others. In the higher paying computer science, engineering, and math departments there are likely to be many more men than women. Within a department the women may make as much or more than the men. The major gender differences arise when comparing departments. If the English Department could only get two or three applicants for every new tenure track opening it too would see departmental salaries rise to that of computer science, engineering, math, and accounting departments.

For example, in accounting in 2017 there will be fewer than 200 new accounting doctorates to meet demand of well over a thousand tenure track openings across the USA ---
http://www.jrhasselback.com/AtgDoct/XDocChrt.pdf
Nearly half of these may be women who will get salary offers nearly double what they would get if they were getting doctorates in primary education or English or music where there will be many more applicants for every tenure track opening.


The 50+ Best Websites for Job Searches ---
http://careersherpa.net/50-best-websites-for-job-search-2017/

From the Chronicle of Higher Education
Search for Job Openings in Higher Education ---
https://chroniclevitae.com/job_search/new

Jensen Comment
Academic job searches are usually best conducted within the major organizations of an academic disciplines where colleges and universities usually post job openings on a regular basis. Also there is usually job search information on each college's Website, although it may be better to contact department heads and deans directly.

Bpb Jensen's threads on career choices and searches ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#careers


Turing Test --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test

Common Sense, the Turing Test, and the Quest for Real Artificial Intelligence ---
http://mitp.nautil.us/feature/182/common-sense-the-turing-test-and-the-quest-for-real-ai


Credit bureau Experian will pay a $3 million fine related to giving credit scores to consumers that were not their true credit score.
Peers Equifax and Transunion reached a settlement on similar allegations in January ---

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cfpb-experian-scores-20170323-story.html

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


Question
What retail chain is expected to close the most stores in 2017?

Hint
The closed stores are mostly in malls but the stores are not the big anchor stores.
The answer makes you think there will be many more barefoot Americans.

Answer
http://ritholtz.com/2017/03/projected-retail-store-closings-2017/
Americans won't be barefoo,t but a lot more shoes are being purchased from Amazon and Walmart (that now has free 2-day shipping)
One advantage of buying shoes on Amazon and Walmart is that your size is more readily available in a larger variety of choices.
One of the most frustrating things about shopping for shoes in a store is finding the kind you like and then discovering your size is not available.
A second advantage is the ease of returning almost everything you don't like.
Shoe prices are going to be higher if Trump gets his proposed border tax.


The Most (and Least) Reliable Car and Truck Brands ---
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/03/18/the-most-and-least-dependable-car-brands/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MAR202017A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

Jensen Comment
It's amazing how the least reliable brands (Fiat, Jeep, and Ram) stay on the bottom year after year after year. Why can't Chrysler do something to improve the reputations of these vehicles?

What is also surprising is how the most reliable brands have a relatively large number of things, on average, that need fixing.


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

Speech TranslationAudio to Audio Language Translation
MIT:  For decades, machine-learning experts have tried to perfect language translation. Now Microsoft’s making strides with Skype -
--
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600991/skypes-gone-multilingual/?mc_cid=c6c808bdae&mc_eid=fe7f400ea3

Dragon Speech Recognition --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_NaturallySpeaking

Speech Recognition:   Software That Translates Audio to Written Text (and vice versa)
MIT:  Update in Dragon Speaking ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/400245/enter-the-dragon/?mc_cid=c6c808bdae&mc_eid=fe7f400ea3

Bob Jensen's badly neglected threads on speech recognition ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/speech.htm


This article shows how rough it can get to be a whistle blower in academe
Retraction Watch:  “It’s been three tough years:” Macchiarini whistleblower cleared of previous charges ---
http://retractionwatch.com/2017/03/24/three-tough-years-macchiarini-whistleblower-cleared-previous-charges/


The Academy Created a Monster:  Fraudulent Journals
A fictitious scientist called Anna O. Szust applied to join the editorial boards of 360 journals—and 48 accepted:  Journals without standards harm science and universities that count them toward tenure and promotion  ---
http://www.nature.com/news/predatory-journals-recruit-fake-editor-1.21662

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


This Week from Economist magazine

This week we have two covers. In Europe we ask what can be done to fix the European Union. As leaders gather to celebrate the club’s 60th anniversary, the project is in trouble. If it is to survive, the EU must become a lot more flexible

In the rest of the world our cover examines the extraordinary
expectations surrounding Amazon. Never before has a company been worth so much for so long while making so little money. If it fulfils its ambitions, it may attract the attention of an even stronger beast: government.


Robert Preacher --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Prechter
Note the criticism section

Book::  The Socionomic Theory of Finance (challenges the conventional view of causality)+---
by Robert Prechter
2016
http://www.socionomics.net/2017/02/the-socionomic-theory-of-finance/

Quotation from the Book's Cover

The socionomic theory of finance (STF) is a subset of the larger field of socionomics. Two of my previous books concentrated on socionomic theory overall, whereas this book focuses mainly on STF.

To put this volume in perspective: It is not just another book challenging conventional economic theory on the subjects of finance and macroeconomics; it is a book about what should replace it. It is not another book updating the age-old observation that investors are emotional; it is a book about the origin of those emotions. It is not another book about occasional investor irrationality; it is a book about contexts accommodating rational or impulsive thought. It is not another technical analysis book about interpreting financial market sentiment; it is a book about why there is even such a thing as financial market sentiment. It is not another book about market psychology; it is a book about psychology’s role in financial and social causality. It is not a how-to book about the craft of social futurism; it is a book about the primary cause of the social future.

Part I of this book dispenses with the ideas of exogenous cause and rational reaction in financial pricing.

Parts II through V introduce socionomic theory and explain the fundamentals of STF.

Parts VI through VIII expand the scope of the discussion. When pertinent, headers provide original composition dates for contributors’ chapters previously published elsewhere. I have edited them to fit smoothly into this book.

Quotations from news articles are excerpted and sometimes re-arranged for conciseness; ellipses are sometimes omitted for ease of reading. Parts of quoted publications are underlined or italicized for emphasis. All sources are cited if you want to access the originals.

With deepest gratitude, I (the author) would like to acknowledge Wayne Parker, Kenneth Olson, Alan Hall, Mark Galasiewski, Brian Whitmer, Wayne Gorman, Chuck Thompson, John Nofsinger, Euan Wilson and Dave Allman for their contributions to this book. Special thanks go to Matt Lampert for his contribution and for playing economists’ advocate, prompting an expansion of Chapter 12, and to Mark Almand for his contribution, editing suggestions and the initial idea for Chapter 39. Thanks also to Angela Hall for charts and production, Sally Webb for production and layout, Ohki Komoto for the rear flap photo and Pam Greenwood for collaborating on the dust jacket design. My co-authors and I are deeply indebted to the valiant souls who have stepped forward publicly to endorse this effort. Without their courageous support, the book may not be afforded the opportunity to find an audience.

Continued on book cover

Jensen Comment
This may be an outstanding book that I've not yet read. But in general I'm suspicious of Amazon reviews that all have five stars.

Even Moby Dick has Amazon reviews that range from 1-4 stars as well as plenty of 5-star reviews.

Please let me know the links to noteworthy reviews of this book.


Will Your Sears Warranties Become Worthless?

I currently have more than 12 items under Sears extended in-home warranties including a new TV set and a very old snow thrower. Hence I'm more than a little interested in the fact that Sears got a "going concern" exception in its latest (2016) financial audit and faces much higher expectations of a bankruptcy declaration. Of course bankruptcy declaration does not usually mean that a company is going out of business soon. These things often take years while the courts supervise bankruptcy financial matters and reorganization efforts.

The fact is that nobody really knows whether or not my various Sears warranties are in serious trouble ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-warranties-could-be-dissolved-in-bankruptcy-2017-3
Certainly many more Sears (and K-Mart) stores are in trouble..

I might add that I've been more than happy with the way Sears handled my in-home warranties over the years. The latest repair was two weeks ago to a very old treadmill. Whenever I've needed repairs Sears has had an expert out to my house within two weeks. The repairs never cost me a thing even though sometimes the repair technician had to travel over 100 miles to get to our cottage in the mountains. In general I've renewed my extended warranties about to expire. This is not necessarily good advice for everyone, but when you live in the boondocks in-home warranties are an attraction. I recall last year when I had to help a neighbor down the road load up his huge TV set (without a home warranty) into his van. Three times he had to haul this thing to Vermont before a service center (not Sears) got it fixed right.

I did lose warranty coverage of a stereo set when a nationwide outfit like Sears called W.T. Grant went under in the 1970s. In those days I was on the faculty of the University of Maine. Also I lost warranty coverage in 2001 for a microwave when Montgomery Ward went bankrupt. We were living in San Antonio at the time.

Incidentally I paid an extra $90 to have a Sears technician deliver my new TV. Installing everything on these new "smart" TV sets can be tricky, especially things like a cable box, wireless connection, keyboard, mouse, and Netflix. It was worth $90 for a hardware dummy like me. What took the technician about an hour might have taken days for me to figure things out. Now I can order from Amazon using my TV set. We had to get a cable box just so my wife could get QVC. Sigh!


The New Yorker:  Artificial Intelligence Can Increasingly Outperform Human Experts in Deciphering Medical Scans
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/03/ai-versus-md

Jensen Comment
This begs the question of why AI can beat human experts on medical scans but not necessarily financial analysis, sports forecasting, and political polling. Perhaps this is because experienced humans like Warren Buffett and Nate Silver are better at dealing with what statisticians call non-stationary systems. Human experts generally listen to AI and statisticians when confronted with non-stationarity and make adjustments for "black swans" and outliers in probability distributions. Of course super computers like Deep Blue are getting better and better in beating humans even in the face of outliers. Human experts, however, are sometimes better at tuning into private or obscure (sometimes inside) information not available to machines. Remember that dog racing is usually easier to predict than horse racing. There's no mystery regarding why. The same goes for investing in IPOs on Wall Street.


Tax Court Takes a Scalpel to Surgeon’s Passive Loss Deductions ---
http://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2017/mar/surgeon-passive-loss-deductions.html#sthash.bhsXIpYc.dpuf

Bob Jensen's threads on case writing and teaching ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Cases


McDonald’s is rolling out a new mobile ordering system  in dozens of restaurants around Spokane, Washington. This follows a similar launch last week in Monterey and Salinas, Calif., according to Reuters. If these experiments succeed, customers could be using the new McDonald’s mobile app this fall at nearly all of the company’s roughly 14,000 U.S. locations. Two billion smartphones worldwide tell us that consumers enjoy using mobile apps, but consumer preference isn’t the only reason McDonald’s is deploying technology to do what people used to do. ---
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mcdonalds-mobile-idUSKBN16L2RM?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb

Bad news for the tens of thousands of newly minted lawyers who pass the bar every year and hope to get associate positions at big law firms sorting through documents for corporate clients: Robots are taking your jobs[,] Blommberg reports [JPMorgan Software Does in Seconds What Took Lawyers 360,000 Hours]. ---
"The Big Law Massacre Approaches"  ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/03/the-biglaw-massacre-approaches.html


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

Gamification,  Then and Now ---
https://daily.jstor.org/gamification-then-and-now/

Math Arcade on Funbrain --- https://www.funbrain.com/brain/MathBrain/MathBrain.html

Bob Jensen's threads on edutainment, learning games, and gamification ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment


Microsoft's First Ever (Expensive) PC versus a Mac---
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-surface-studio-review-2017-3/#its-tempting-to-compare-the-surface-studio-to-apples-imac-all-in-one-pcs-they-do-share-a-certain-design-sensibility-but-in-my-opinion-the-surface-studio-is-so-much-more-1

Jensen Comment
Given the way powerful Dell laptops have come down in price in recent years, I can't imagine buying an expensive Microsoft PC or the (Apple-neglected) Mac. Of course Mac lovers will always be Mac loyalists for many reasons such as the graphics superiority of the Mac among other things plus their love for the Mac operating system.

In fairness, Microsoft designers have some good ideas built into the great Microsoft Surface Studio PC ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-surface-studio-first-impressions-2016-11
But I will remain a Dell laptop loyalist with an in-home extended warranty here here in these snowed in mountains.


California DMV to authorize fully driverless vehicles on roads ---
http://readwrite.com/2017/03/14/california-dmv-driverless-tl4/

Jensen Comment
I wonder if you will be charged as a ghostbuster if and when you hit one of these vehicles?

It will be great if I can one day send out a driverless vehicle to pick up our groceries and restaurant takeouts.

Here's a memory that I reported earlier about the driverless vehicles on our farm years and years ago
We did have some self-driving vehicles when I was a kid on a farm. I sometimes got to drive a team of horses pulling a grain wagon into the elevator in Ringsted. The horses generally had to be driven away from the farm. However, after the wagon was unloaded all I had to do was tie up the reins on the wagon in Ringsted and let the team pull it back to the farm without a driver. The horses did not need a driver to make their way back to the barn. I would go to the Main Street drug store for an ice cream cone and orange soda. Then I would wait around town until someone was headed back in the direction of our farm with a car. On occasion we sometimes passed my team of big horses plodding their way back home.


Quiz:  How well do you know Excel PivotTables?
http://www.cgma.org/magazine/2017/mar/excel-pivot-tables-201716033.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=21Mar2017


Eleven Grammatical Mistakes That Reveal Ignorance (maybe) ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/common-grammatical-mistakes-2017-3 ---

Jensen Comment
Those of you who think I'm ignorant have quite a lot of evidence in this regard. Perhaps one of the most ignorant things I do is not proofread much of what I write or not proofread it until after I hit the "Send" button.  Since grade school I've known better than to make any of the eleven mistakes discussed in the above article. I generally catch my mistakes if I proofread. Problem 1 is that when doing email I'm usually in a hurry. The second problem is that I succumb to ":phonix" more in my old age. I wasn't trained on "phonix" but it sometimes seems like it. Yeah, and I do know how to spell phoenix.  Or is that phoenicks?

Let those of you who do not make grammar mistakes in hurried email communications cast the first stones.

There's one thing I've noticed recently about some scholars with whom I've communicated often by email over decades. When they started using mobile phones for much of their email messaging they commenced making many more spelling and grammar mistakes. I suspect that it's more troubling to correct known mistakes on a mobile phone such that they let messages fly that they know contain mistakes (or misteaks as it's spelled on one of my big erasures).

I don't send email messages via a mobile phone, so I can't use that as an excuse.

I appreciate a scholar like Bob Blystone who always sends out perfectly-crafted email messages. That's one kind of Bob. I'm another kind of Bob. Sigh!

The Case Against Grammar Scolds ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/03/the-case-against-the-grammar-scolds/519552/


San Antonio Ranked as the Number 1 City for Veterans ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-cities-for-veterans-to-live-2017-3

Jensen Comment after Living 24 Years in San Antonio
By happenstance (think neighborhood) our closest circle of friends for weekly parties, cards, dinners out, etc. happened to be veterans. Aside from warm climate attractions  there are economies of scale arising from having so many working military bases in San Antonio (think medical tax-free base exchanges for shopping, medical facilities like the enormous Brooke Army Medical Center, golf courses on the bases, burial grounds for veterans, and the various officer and NCO clubs that hosted private parties). There are also huge assisted living facilities devoted to veterans reaching advanced ages. Some neighborhoods close to the military bases were comprised of almost all veterans or active military personnel. This makes for easier bonding among neighbors.

San Antonio offers many of the advantages of retiring in Washington DC while avoiding the enormous cost of living in and around Washington DC. Houses are relatively inexpensive in San Antonio considering that it is one of the larger cities with one of the larger airports in the USA --- plus there is the added attraction of rural living in the nearby "hill country." And Texas has no state income tax. San Antonio schools are overcrowded, but military retirees typically only have grown children. San Antonio has a highly Hispanic culture, but I found this to be an attraction rather than a drawback. But put added security on your vehicles since thousands disappear south of the Rio Grande River each month --- often before owners realize the cars were stolen.

Up here in the White Mountains of New Hampshire it amazes me how many unattended and unlocked  cars are kept running on cold or hot days while owners run into a store to shop. It's not common for Texans to leave their unattended cars running. Guess why.


Charles Murray and the Bell Curve --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Murray_(political_scientist)

Race and Intelligence --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence

Debate at Middlebury Over Co-author of the "Bell Curve" (race and intelligence) ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/02/28/debate-middlebury-over-co-author-bell-curve?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=979f5ef0d8-DNU20170228&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-979f5ef0d8-197565045&mc_cid=979f5ef0d8&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

The (Political Correctness) Mob of Students at Middlebury
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mob-at-middlebury-1488586505?mod=djemMER

A mob tries to silence Charles Murray and sends a prof to the ER.

Once again a scholar invited to speak at a university has been shouted down by an angry mob clearly unable to challenge him intellectually. On Thursday at Middlebury College, allegedly an institution of higher learning, a crowd of protesters tried to run Charles Murray off campus. Mr. Murray is the author of many influential books, including “Coming Apart,” which the kids might read if they want to understand their country and can cope without trigger warnings.

Amid the shouts, Mr. Murray was taken to another location where he was able to speak. But a Middlebury professor escorting Mr. Murray from campus—Allison Stanger—was later sent to the hospital after being assaulted by protesters who also attacked the car they were in. As if to underscore the madness, the headline over the initial Associated Press dispatch smeared Mr. Murray rather than focusing on the intolerance of those disrupting him: “College students protest speaker branded white nationalist.”

Middlebury President Laurie Patton apologized in a statement to those “who came in good faith to participate in a serious discussion, and particularly to Mr. Murray and Prof. Stanger for the way they were treated.” While she believes some protesters were “outside agitators,” Middlebury students were also involved—and she said she would be “responding.”

Mr. Murray tweeted: “Report from the front: The Middlebury administration was exemplary. The students were seriously scary.” Let’s hope President Patton follows through with discipline to scare these students straight.

Harvard and Princeton Leading Scholars Protest the Middlebury Political Correctness Incident ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/16/ideological-odd-couple-robert-george-and-cornel-west-issue-joint-statement-against?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=bdb7326f2a-DNU20170316&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-bdb7326f2a-197565045&mc_cid=bdb7326f2a&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Stylistically and politically, Robert P. George and Cornel West don’t have much in common. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, is one of the country’s most prominent conservative intellectuals. West, a professor of the practice of public philosophy and African and African-American studies at Harvard University, is a self-described “radical Democrat” who, in addition to many books, once released a spoken-word album.

So when George and West agree on something and lend their names to it, people take notice -- as they did this week, when the pair published a statement in support of “truth seeking, democracy and freedom of thought and expression.” It’s a politely worded denunciation of what George and West call “campus illiberalism,” or the brand of thinking that led to this month’s incident at Middlebury College, where students prevented an invited speaker from talking and a professor was physically attacked by some who were protesting the invitation.

“It is all too common these days for people to try to immunize from criticism opinions that happen to be dominant in their particular communities,” reads the statement. “Sometimes this is done by questioning the motives and thus stigmatizing those who dissent from prevailing opinions; or by disrupting their presentations; or by demanding that they be excluded from campus or, if they have already been invited, disinvited.”

Sometimes, it says, “students and faculty members turn their backs on speakers whose opinions they don’t like or simply walk out and refuse to listen to those whose convictions offend their values. Of course, the right to peacefully protest, including on campuses, is sacrosanct. But before exercising that right, each of us should ask: Might it not be better to listen respectfully and try to learn from a speaker with whom I disagree? Might it better serve the cause of truth seeking to engage the speaker in frank civil discussion?”

All of us “should be willing -- even eager -- to engage with anyone who is prepared to do business in the currency of truth-seeking discourse by offering reasons, marshaling evidence and making arguments,” George and West wrote. “The more important the subject under discussion, the more willing we should be to listen and engage -- especially if the person with whom we are in conversation will challenge our deeply held -- even our most cherished and identity-forming -- beliefs.”

Such “an ethos,” they conclude, “protects us against dogmatism and groupthink, both of which are toxic to the health of academic communities and to the functioning of democracies.”

George said in an interview Wednesday that signatures for the statement were flowing in at rate of several per minute, and that the names reflect all points of the ideological spectrum. “We’re gratified,” he said, adding that the statement aims to “encourage -- put the courage in -- people to stand up for themselves” and for the values of the academy.

“The goal is a heightened sense among faculty, administrators and students -- all three categories -- that they must refuse to tolerate campus illiberalism,” George said. “It’s a shared responsibility of everybody to not only refuse to participate in it but to refuse to accept it. In order for colleges and universities to fulfill their missions, there has to be an ethos, an atmosphere, an environment, in which people feel free to speak their minds -- where people are challenging each other, and thus learning.”

The immediate impetus for the statement was indeed the shouting down of Murray, author of the controversial book The Bell Curve, at Middlebury; the professor who was injured at the protest is the next signatory, after George and West. But the authors say they’ve long been concerned with a turning tide on colleges campuses that’s led to the shouting down and disinvitation of invited speakers, and other forms of what is arguably intellectual censorship. They’ve been trying to model the kind of civil dialogue they’re advocating for several years, teaching and speaking together publicly about the benefits of a liberal arts education -- including recently at the American Enterprise Institute.

Yet college illiberalism continues to grow, in their view. Just recently, for example, George said, Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton, who has argued in favor of abortion and euthanasia for severely disabled infants in some instances, was interrupted by disability rights protesters throughout an appearance via Skype at the University of Victoria in Canada.

George blamed the phenomenon on a campus culture of rightful inclusion that has been somehow “corrupted into the idea that people have the right to be free from hearing positions they disagree with.” That’s exacerbated, he said, by an emergent “consumer model” of education, in which colleges and universities competing for enrollments don’t want to offend their “customers,” even if the product -- higher education -- is supposed to be “challenging students’ deeply held convictions and helping them to lead examined lives.”

Singer announced on Twitter that he’d signed the petition. George pointed out that Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University and former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, who is anti-abortion and in many ways Singer’s ideological opposite, also signed on.

Continued in article

Shouting down of a controversial speaker -- a professor who opposes the use of gender-neutral pronouns -- at McMaster University raises new concerns about academic freedom ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/21/shouting-down-controversial-speaker-mcmaster-raises-new-concerns-about-academic?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b0b0559491-DNU20170321&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b0b0559491-197565045&mc_cid=b0b0559491&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Has American-style “campus illiberalism” reached Canada? That’s what some are wondering this week in the aftermath of the shouting down of an invited speaker at McMaster University in Ontario.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/16/ideological-odd-couple-robert-george-and-cornel-west-issue-joint-statement-against

Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and an outspoken critic of what he calls “compelled speech” -- including the mandatory use of gender-neutral pronouns such as the singular “they” -- was invited to McMaster by a student group to participate in a panel Friday on free speech and political correctness. Peterson ended up being the only participant out of four slated panelists, however, after news of protests spread.

Various videos of the event have been posted online. One posted by Peterson shows dozens of protesters gathered at the back and to one side of the lecture hall, using various tools -- from cowbells to air horns to a megaphone -- to disrupt his speech. Peterson attempts to deliver his talk to a larger group of interested students, but he is nearly inaudible at times due to ongoing chants, such as “This is where we draw the line” and “Trans rights are human rights.”

Members of the audience ask the protesters to stop, to no avail. After approximately 30 minutes, Peterson takes his talk outside. The protesters follow, but he continues to speak, explaining that he opposes a controversial Canadian bill to move to protect gender identity and expression in a non-discrimination human rights law and in the national criminal code. That's because, in his view, in part, the proposed legislation has implications for the use of certain kinds of language and enshrines an insufficient definition of identity. 

He says the protesters are inspired in part by a “radical postmodern” philosophy in which there is only group, not individual, identity, and in which dialogue between groups can never lead to consensus. He urges those listening not to go “down that road.”

 Continued in article

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


California’s Teacher Tax Break:   Sacramento moves to exempt public-school teachers from state income tax ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-teacher-tax-break-1489620659?mod=djemMER


Seven "facts" my generation learned that are now considered false ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-no-longer-true-2017-3/#then-pluto-is-a-planet-1


Mathematician Dan Meyer:  The Problem With Personalized Learning ---
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2017/problems-with-personalized-learning/

Dan Meyer:  The Difference Between Math and Modeling in Math ---
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2017/the-difference-between-math-and-modeling-with-math-in-five-seconds/


Enter a Geographic Location to Determine Solar Panel Potential ---
https://www.google.com/get/sunroof/data-explorer/

For example, San Antonio, Texas has a 92% potential whereas New Hampshire only has 66% potential.

Other factors to consider include such things as your age. Us old folks are less likely to hit the solar investment payback point than young home owners. Costs go up for Tesla back up batteries for solar electricity. However, if you put in more solar capacity than you need for your own home many states allow you to sell the excess electricity to power companies, thereby, making a "profit" to help recover your initial investment in solar power capacity and batteries.

There are some uncertainties such as how long it will take to make home hydrogen fuel cells competitive with other energy alternatives.

The big oil companies will likely keep lowering the price of oil and gas to have price advantages over other grid alternatives. This is not the case currently for my large home generator powered by propane in my huge buried tank. This is a great back up to the grid that is available 24/7 at night as well as day. The grid is still cheaper for me than my home propane electric generator. But the generator is great when the grid goes down, especially when it's below zero outside.

Without battery backup the worst-case solar scenario up here in the mountains is that the grid will go down (as it did for tens of thousands of home owners) during the March 14 ferocious wind blizzard yesterday that left me with 4-5 foot snow drifts in my driveway. Solar panels do not work well in a blizzard, but my propane generator works wonderfully. By the way, the Mt. Washington winds hit 130 mph on March 14, 2017. This was not, however, the 231 mph record for the summit of Mt. Washington ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2007/Tidbits071218.htm

Also see the history of the cog railway leading to the summit of the Mountain ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CogRailroad/History1/CogRailroadHistory.htm


Solar Trains Could Help Us Rethink Energy ---
https://howwegettonext.com/solar-trains-could-help-us-rethink-energy-7ae4c008f021#.6zzjhim5q

Jensen Comment
I recall on an Amtrak ride from Richmond to Boston that we changed from a diesel engine in Washington DC. to an electric locomotive. I'm no expert, but it may well be that in very rural areas (think Nevada and Utah) electric trains are not cost efficient. However, in thinking about technology it may well be that hydrogen locomotives could be used in the rural areas and solar-powered electric locomotives could be used on the other segments of a train trip. Hydrogen trucks and buses are now seeing limited use in the USA.


Wharton:  Will the USA Face a Shortage of Nursing Homes for Baby Boomers?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/will-u-s-face-shortage-nursing-homes-baby-boomers/
Capacity of nursing homes is on the decline (think of a changing regulatory climate that causes costs to soar) in the face of demand building up like flood water behind a dam that eventually overflow with gaga old folks.

Jensen Comment
It would seem that some national healthcare plans that fund nursing home care might have more capacity to handle increases in the aging population. However, there are some reports that in nations like Canada and the U.K. the rise in demand for funding long-term nursing care is reaching crisis levels ahead of the USA ---
https://www.canadian-nurse.com/en/articles/issues/2016/october-2016/canadas-long-term-care-funding-crisis


Educause:  The Top 10 Information Technology Issues of 2017 ---
https://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/research/top-10-it-issues


Should Robots Be Taxed? ---
http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Should-Robots-Pay-Their-Fair-Share

Jensen Comment
For example, if a robot displaces most workers in a warehouse should those robots be taxed to contribute to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other social programs funded with payroll taxes. And should employers of robots have to match the robot payroll taxes like employers have to match human worker payroll taxes?

This begs the question of what is a robot? A robot boxing up your groceries is pretty easy to define. A self-driving truck with no "robot" at the wheel is a little more difficult to define. Is a drone a robot?


How to Mislead With Statistics

IMA releases salary survey for management accountants  ---
https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/ima-releases-salary-survey-for-management-accountants

Jensen Comment
When you are in the business of selling or otherwise promoting a certification examination it's very easy to mislead with survey statistics. The most misleading part of the study is controlling who takes the examination. For example, these days virtually all people who pass the CPA examination have masters degrees (although technically only 150 hours of specified college credits are required). It's even more misleading to pass requirements to finally become a certified brain surgeon. The dummies who might skew the outcomes downward have mostly been eliminated by prerequisites to take the certification examinations.

The CMA and CGMA are not quite so restrictive regarding who is eligible to take the certification examination. But there are subtle ways where thousands of employees self-select not to take the examination and hundreds of others self-select to become certified.

My point is that the college graduates who take the CFA, CPA, CMA, CGMA, IIA, and the many other relatively prestigious certification examinations are probably graduates who are going to earn more compensation with or without becoming certified. These folks are sometimes, but not always, both the brightest graduates in their disciplines and the most motivated to earn higher compensation. This is especially the case when certifications are gravy not required for working in a discipline such as when the CMA is not required to advance as a managerial accountant and IIA certification is not required to advance as an internal auditor.

Why do employees take voluntary certification examinations not required for advancement in their careers?
 I think that often it's to often become noticed among the crowd on employees not certified. Sometimes it's to make up for having a less prestigious college diploma. If you graduated from the University of Phoenix and are working among employees with more prestigious diplomas you may feel compelled to stand out in other ways.

What's my main point?
The point is that spurious correlation creeps into analyses that attribute success to some badge of accomplishment such as graduation from college, passage of a certification examination, etc. This is especially the case when the badge is not required for advancement along a particular career path. For example, an auto dealership is going to know which mechanics are the best mechanics irrespective of their badges of professional accomplishments. Chances are the best mechanics also were so highly motivated that they earned those badges. But it's misleading to attribute their higher compensation to the fact that they earned the badges. The higher compensation is due to other causal factors such as talent and motivation.

I think back to my middle school years when I worked part-time washing cars, waxing cars, and sanding cars due for new paint jobs. The highest paid mechanic in the dealership was a old German immigrant who spoke broken English with a heavy accent. He was a master mechanic, especially when repairing automatic transmissions, who would not have benefited one penny more in pay with badges or certifications in mechanics. He was paid a huge hourly wage for the times because he was so good at the technical aspects of his work on the job. If he elected, just for the pats on the back. to earn some General Motors certifications in mechanics he would be the highest paid mechanic in the dealership, but it would be a statistical mistake to attribute his huge huge hourly wage to his GM badges.


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

Harvard:  The Blockchain Will Do to the Financial System What the Internet Did to Media ---
https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-blockchain-will-do-to-banks-and-law-firms-what-the-internet-did-to-media?referral=00202&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-weekly_hotlist-_-hotlist_date&utm_source=newsletter_weekly_hotlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hotlist_date&spMailingID=16767351&spUserID=MTkyODM0MDg0MAS2&spJobID=981039651&spReportId=OTgxMDM5NjUxS0

Even years into the deployment of the internet, many believed that it was still a fad. Of course, the internet has since become a major influence on our lives, from how we buy goods and services, to the ways we socialize with friends, to the Arab Spring, to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Yet, in the 1990s, the mainstream press scoffed when Nicholas Negroponte predicted that most of us would soon be reading our news online rather than from a newspaper.

Fast forward two decades: Will we soon be seeing a similar impact from cryptocurrencies and blockchains? There are certainly many parallels. Like the internet, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are driven by advances in core technologies along with a new, open architecture — the Bitcoin blockchain. Like the internet, this technology is designed to be decentralized, with “layers,” where each layer is defined by an interoperable open protocol on top of which companies, as well as individuals, can build products and services. Like the internet, in the early stages of development there are many competing technologies, so it’s important to specify which blockchain you’re talking about. And, like the internet, blockchain technology is strongest when everyone is using the same network, so in the future we might all be talking about “the” blockchain.

The internet and its layers took decades to develop, with each technical layer unlocking an explosion of creative and entrepreneurial activity. Early on, Ethernet standardized the way in which computers transmitted bits over wires, and companies such as 3Com were able to build empires on their network switching products. The TCP/IP protocol was used to address and control how packets of data were routed between computers. Cisco built products like network routers, capitalizing on that protocol, and by March 2000 Cisco was the most valuable company in the world. In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee developed HTTP, another open, permissionless protocol, and the web enabled businesses such as eBay, Google, and Amazon.

The Killer App for Blockchains

But here’s one major difference: The early internet was noncommercial, developed initially through defense funding and used primarily to connect research institutions and universities. It wasn’t designed to make money, but rather to develop the most robust and effective way to build a network. This initial lack of commercial players and interests was critical — it allowed the formation of a network architecture that shared resources in a way that would not have occurred in a market-driven system.

The “killer app” for the early internet was email; it’s what drove adoption and strengthened the network. Bitcoin is the killer app for the blockchain. Bitcoin drives adoption of its underlying blockchain, and its strong technical community and robust code review process make it the most secure and reliable of the various blockchains. Like email, it’s likely that some form of Bitcoin will persist. But the blockchain will also support a variety of other applications, including smart contracts, asset registries, and many new types of transactions that will go beyond financial and legal uses.

Continued in article


Upper Iowa:  A Small Private University
Investigation found that staff members improperly handled financial aid funds and changed student grades ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/17/upper-iowa-put-notice-after-staff-members-mishandled-financial-aid-changed-grades?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c36c4fcf32-DNU20170317&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c36c4fcf32-197565045&mc_cid=c36c4fcf32&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

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


Only one in five people take up this incredibly generous pension to retire at 40 (from the USA military) ---
https://qz.com/929153/only-one-in-five-people-take-up-this-incredibly-generous-pension-to-retire-at-40/

Life in the military isn’t easy, but if you serve long enough the financial rewards, at least, are great. The US military offers very generous pension benefits—after 20 years of service, members can retire with 50% of their final salary for the rest of their lives.

Since that allows most to retire around age 40, the payouts may last for a very long time (and they are also adjusted for inflation). In 2015, the US military paid out $57 billion in pension benefits (pdf) to more than 2 million veterans, or nearly 10% of its annual budget.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
The question should be how much salaries would have to be raised to offset the attraction of benefits from serving in the USA military. Great benefits from serving in the military are training (think mechanics, electronics, health care, and pilot training), medical benefits, college financing  (mostly by those who only serve a few years), and pension benefits (used by those who serve 20-30 years) that pay even when you take on a private sector job at around age 40-50. Odds of battle injury or death are miniscule, but other parts of military life suck such as low pay, absence from family, stress, and constant relocation of assignments. My cousin's grandson got great training for the private sector as a senior helicopter mechanic.

For many, however, a military career is a great entry-level career. Many that want this career badly are rejected for the all-volunteer service.


Humans Made the Banana Perfect—But Soon, It’ll Be Gone ---
https://www.wired.com/2017/03/humans-made-banana-perfect-soon-itll-gone/

Jensen Comment
But we can always hope for breakthroughs in agricultural technology, notably plant genetics. A bigger risk may come from planet overpopulation.


Dr. Oz Rebuffs First Amendment Challenge by Olive Oil Industry ---
http://reason.com/archives/2017/03/11/dr-oz-rebuffs-first-amendment-challenge


 




, From the Scout Report on March 17, 2017

Polarr --- https://www.polarr.co 

Do you have a photograph that you'd like to sharpen? Adjust the brightness? Add a filter? Polarr is a photo-editing tool that can be used on a wide number of devices: visitors can download Polarr for iOS or Android devices; for Mac, Linux, or Windows computers, or as a Google Chrome Extension. Users can also use Polarr on their web browser. Polarr's basic account is available for free; with a paid Pro account, users have access to additional filter options and editing tools.


Zoho Writer --- https://www.zoho.com/docs/writer.html 

Zoho Writer is a cloud-based word processor with most of the bells and whistles of a traditional word processor, but without the price or hassle of installation. The user interface is clean and simple, spell check is included, documents are auto-saved, and users can easily see document history. There is also the ability to chat with others while using Zoho Writer, similar to Google Docs, which helps when using the tool for collaborative projects. Zoho Writer has been designed with easy integration with MS Word in mind, making it easy to share and upload documents in popular formats. Getting started is especially easy for users who already have a Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn account.


New Book Explores the Science and Health Risks Behind Screen Addiction
Irresistible: Why We Can't Stop Checking, Scrolling, Clicking, and Watching
- review
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/26/irresistible-why-cant-stop-checking-scrolling-clicking-adam-alter-review-internet-addiction

'Irresistible' by Design: It's No Accident You Can't Stop Looking at the
Screen
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/03/13/519977607/irresistible-by-design-its-no-accident-you-cant-stop-looking-at-the-screen

Why We Can't Look Away From Our Screens
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/science/technology-addiction-irresistible-by-adam-alter.html?_r=0

Text Messaging with Smartphones Triggers a New Type of Brain Rhythm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627095322.htm

PBS NewsHour Extra: Lesson Plans: Are Teens Addicted to Technology?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons_plans/are-teens-addicted-to-technology

TED: Your Brain on Video Games
https://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games


From the Scout Report on March 24, 2017

Anecdata --- https://www.anecdata.org

Citizen science projects are becoming an increasingly popular way for scientists to gather data while also engaging members of a broader community with their research. Science researchers interested in conducting such projects may be interested in Anecdata, a free online portal for environmental-related citizen science projects. Through Anecdata, researchers can share data from Excel, Google Earth, or ArcGIS. Users can then invite others to create online profiles and help with data collection. Anecdata is designed to allow group members to communicate easily with one another during the data collection process. There are also tools to help researchers search the collected data with ease. Those interested in using Anecdata may want to start by checking out the Projects section, which features current Anecdata projects from around the globe.


Wildfire--- https://wildfire.ai 

Wildfire is a free Google Chrome extension that allows users to track and record their internet activity. For example, users can check out how many times they open a new tab, switch between tabs, used their mouse to click on something, or copied text. Once the extension is installed, users simply click on the Wildfire icon to begin recording their actions. Clicking on the icon again will pause the recording and users can view their actions as either a list (Event Log) or a flowchart (Workflow Editor). Users can also adjust which actions are recorded via the Settings section. So why use Wildfire? This extension may be of interest to those looking to track their productivity, or looking to identify ways to speed up a repetitive work task.


University of Cambridge Researcher Proposes a New Dinosaur Family Tree
Shaking Up the Dinosaur Family Tree
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/science/dinosaur-family-tree.html

A 130-Year-Old Fact About Dinosaurs Might Be Wrong
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/dinosaur-family-tree-saurischia-ornithischia-childhood-shattered-what-is-real-anymore/520338

Radical shakeup of dinosaur family tree points to unexpected Scottish
origins
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/22/scottish-fossil-may-cause-radical-shakeup-of-dinosaur-family-tree-saltopus

A new hypothesis of dinosaur relationships and early dinosaur evolution
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v543/n7646/full/nature21700.html

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 43
https://books.google.com/books?id=zQMWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA164-IA3&dq=On+the+classification+of+the+fossil+animals+commonly+named+Dinosauria

Thomas Henry Huxley and the Dinobirds
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/thomas-henry-huxley-and-the-dinobirds-88519294




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


Education Tutorials

Art History Pedagogy & Practice --- http://academicworks.cuny.edu/ahpp

The Conversation (assorted academic topics) --- https://theconversation.com/us

American Association of Community Colleges: DataPoints --- http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Publications/datapoints

National Numeracy Network: Teaching Resources --- http://serc.carleton.edu/nnn/teachin

Hall of Human Origins for Educators ---
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/human-origins-and-cultural-halls/anne-and-bernard-spitzer-hall-of-human-origins/promos/hall-of-human-origins-for-educators

Math Arcade on Funbrain --- https://www.funbrain.com/brain/MathBrain/MathBrain.html

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

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

NASA’s New Online Archive Puts a Wealth of Free Science Articles Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/nasas-new-online-archive-puts-a-wealth-of-free-science-articles-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Carl Sagan Explains How the Ancient Greeks, Using Reason and Math, Figured Out the Earth Isn’t Flat, Over 2,000 Years Ago ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/carl-sagan-explains-how-the-ancient-greeks-figured-out-the-earth-isnt-flat.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Global Biodiversity Information Facility --- http://www.gbif.org

Consortium of Midwest Herberia http://midwestherbaria.org/portal

The Conversation (assorted academic topics) --- https://theconversation.com/us

Thingiverse: Education (3-D Printing) --- http://www.thingiverse.com/education

A Short History of the Seed and Nursery Catalogue in Europe and the U.S.---  http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/seed

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

Monroe Work Today (lynching history) ---  http://www.monroeworktoday.org

Corvid Research (Behavior of Crows and Ravens) ---  https://corvidresearch.blog

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

National Numeracy Network: Teaching Resources --- http://serc.carleton.edu/nnn/teachin

Math Arcade on Funbrain --- https://www.funbrain.com/brain/MathBrain/MathBrain.html

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 and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


History Tutorials

Animated Graph:  200 Years of World Immigration --- http://metrocosm.com/us-immigration-history-map.html

A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology --- http://www2.archivists.org/glossary

YouTube: Half Hour Hegel: The Complete Phenomenology of Spirit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4gvlOxpKKIgR4OyOt31isknkVH2Kweq2

Elucidations (Philosophy) --- https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/elucidations

YouTube: Half Hour Hegel: The Complete Phenomenology of Spirit --- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4gvlOxpKKIgR4OyOt31isknkVH2Kweq2

Internet Arcade (history of video and computer games) --- https://archive.org/details/internetarcade

Library of Congress: Popular Graphic Arts ( http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection

Art History Pedagogy & Practice --- http://academicworks.cuny.edu/ahpp

The Bowes Museum Blog (art hisotry) --- https://thebowesmuseum.wordpress.com

British Library: Georgians Revealed --- http://prints.bl.uk/category/georgiansrevealed

Automation in the 1940s Cotton Fields ---
https://daily.jstor.org/automation-in-the-1940s-cotton-fields/
Jensen Comment
In 2017 farmers can plant their crops with self-driving tractors and pick the crops with self-driving combines.

The Rise and Fall of the Shopping Mall ---
https://daily.jstor.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-shopping-mall/

The Modernist Journals Project --- http://modjourn.org

Since Francis Fukuyama proclaimed ‘The End of History’ 25 years ago, he has been much maligned. His work now seems prophetic ---
https://aeon.co/essays/was-francis-fukuyama-the-first-man-to-see-trump-coming?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a68adf3c2e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_03_24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-a68adf3c2e-68951505

Monroe Work Today (lynching history) ---  http://www.monroeworktoday.org

National Museum of American History: Coins, Currency, and Medals --- http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/subjects/coins-currency-and-medals

A Short History of the Seed and Nursery Catalogue in Europe and the U.S.---  http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/seed

Writings of William Falkner --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Faulkner

Historic Arkansas Museum: Arkansas Traveler (Faulkner) --- http://www.historicarkansas.org/Exhibits/Arkansas-Traveler/arkansas-traveler

Absalom, Absalom! [William Falkner] --- http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/absalom/

How Aristotle Created the Computer ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/03/aristotle-computer/518697/
Jensen Comment
These "precursors" of computing can be overstated --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer#Pre-20th_century
Charles Babbage still deserves the credit for inventing the first serious computing device ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer
Aristotle himself was an important historic philosopher who was a lousy scientist.

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  

Gray Lady History:  View any or every front page of The New York Times since 1852 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/03/every-front-page-of-the-new-york-times.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Flashes by quickly --- like life I guess!

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


Language Tutorials

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

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/

March 16, 2017

March 17, 2017

March 18, 2017

March 20, 2017

March 21, 2017

March 22, 2017

March 23, 2017

March 24,2017

March 25, 2017

March 27, 2017

 


Ken Jeong Answers Medical Questions From Twitter ---
https://www.wired.com/video/2017/03/ken-jeong-answers-medical-questions-from-twitter/

YouTube: Healthcare Triage --- https://www.youtube.com/user/thehealthcaretriage


PLOS Collections: Dementia Across the Lifespan and Around the Globe --- http://collections.plos.org/dementia ---


Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice with these medications ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/grapefruit-medication-bad-interactions-list-2017-3/#some-anti-infection-medications-5

Jensen Comment
Always check with your doctor and read the pharmacy information that accompanies prescriptions. I suspect that the above list is missing some other problematic interactions. There may also be food items other than grapefruit that should be avoided.


Common Pain Meds Are Linked to a Higher Risk of Heart Problems ---
http://time.com/4701441/ibuprofen-nsaids-cardiac-arrest/?xid=newsletter-brief

Ibuprofen and other common painkillers are linked to an increased risk of cardiac arrest, according to a new Danish study published in the European Heart Journal—Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy. The authors say these drugs should be used with caution and that people with heart problems may want to avoid them.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, are among the most commonly used drugs worldwide. Previous studies have linked them to increased risk of heart attack and stroke, heart failure and high blood pressure. Because some of them are sold over the counter, experts worry that people perceive them as safe and free of side effects.

The new study only looked at prescription NSAIDs, but in Denmark, these include ibuprofen and naproxen: two drugs that are available over the counter in the United States under the brand names Advil and Aleve. In Denmark, the only NSAID sold without a prescription is ibuprofen in 200 mg tablets, equal to a regular-strength Advil in the United States.

The researchers reviewed all NSAID prescriptions filled at Danish pharmacies since 1995, as well as the medical records of nearly 30,000 people who had cardiac arrests that occurred between 2001 and 2010.

They found that 3,376 people with cardiac arrest had taken an NSAID in the 30 days before their cardiovascular event. When they compared this to preceding months without heart problems, they found that filling a prescription for any NSAID raised the risk of cardiac arrest by 31%.

When they broke their results down by specific medications, diclofenac—which is also sold by prescription in the United States—was associated with a 50% increased risk, and prescription-strength ibuprofen with a 31% increased risk.

The drugs naproxen, celecoxib and rofecoxib were not associated with cardiac arrest, although the authors say this could be because they are not widely prescribed in Denmark and were underrepresented in the study. (In the United States, celecoxib is sold by prescription; rofecoxib has been withdrawn from the market in both countries.)

The study wasn't able to tell exactly how long people took the medication, but average treatment lasts from 13-29 days, the study authors note. "Previous studies have observed enhanced cardiovascular risk associated with less than 30 days of treatment with NSAIDs," they write.

The results emphasize that these drugs are not harmless, said study author Dr. Gunnar Gislason, professor of cardiology at Copenhagen University Hospital, in a press release. "NSAIDs should be used with caution and for a valid indication," he said. "They should probably be avoided in patients with cardiovascular disease or many cardiovascular risk factors

Continued in article


 From the Scout Report on March 17, 2017

New Book Explores the Science and Health Risks Behind Screen Addiction
Irresistible: Why We Can't Stop Checking, Scrolling, Clicking, and Watching
- review
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/26/irresistible-why-cant-stop-checking-scrolling-clicking-adam-alter-review-internet-addiction

'Irresistible' by Design: It's No Accident You Can't Stop Looking at the
Screen
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/03/13/519977607/irresistible-by-design-its-no-accident-you-cant-stop-looking-at-the-screen

Why We Can't Look Away From Our Screens
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/science/technology-addiction-irresistible-by-adam-alter.html?_r=0

Text Messaging with Smartphones Triggers a New Type of Brain Rhythm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627095322.htm

PBS NewsHour Extra: Lesson Plans: Are Teens Addicted to Technology?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons_plans/are-teens-addicted-to-technology

TED: Your Brain on Video Games
https://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games

 

Internet Arcade (history of video and computer games) --- https://archive.org/details/internetarcade


 


Humor for March 2015

Symptoms of Growing Old (the second video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPFCn3itBFE

For Tax Nerds (forwarded by Amy Dunbar) ---
https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2015/03/17/take-the-tax-bracket-challenge-what-is-the-best-code-section-of-them-all/#5f4b2000326e

17  Terrible Jokes for Smart People ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/jokes-for-smart-people

Video:  Rubic's Cube Magic (watch to the end) --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFA-RmV_wG0
Thanks to Paula for the heads up.




Humor February 2017 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0217.htm

Humor January 2017 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0117.htm

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

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