Tidbits on September 15, 2020
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 2 of Renate's Photographs from Germany
 http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Renate/2020-4/Renate01.htm 

 

Tidbits on September 15, 2020
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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 

My Latest Web Document
Over 400 Examples of Critical Thinking and Illustrations of How to Mislead With Statistics --
-
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm

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

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

Animated  Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010) ---
A Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010)

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

In September 2017 the USA National Debt exceeded $20 trillion for the first time ---
http://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/national-debt-surpasses-20-trillion-for-the-first-time-in-us-history

Human Population Over Time on Earth ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUwmA3Q0_OE 




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio

Arnie Barkman forwarded this amazing video about international automobile production.
It doesn't really matter what the subject matter is about.
What I liked is the way the graphic changes with time.
https://para-rigger.posthaven.com/top-ten-car-producing-countries-1950-2019

The Best Websites for Streaming Free TV ---
https://www.reviewgeek.com/51685/the-best-places-to-stream-free-tv-in-2020/

Virtual Trip to Mars ---
http://nautil.us/issue/89/the-dark-side/take-our-virtual-trip-to-mars

Big Data, Small Farms and a Case of Two Tomatoes ---
https://e.ted.com/www.ted.com/talks/erin_baumgartner_big_data_small_farms_and_a_tale_of_two_tomatoes---1eyJ0cmFja2luZyI6eyJkaWQiOjI1MDcxOTQ5MX0sInByb3RvY29sIjoiaHR0cDoiLCJzZWFyY2giOiI-1dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1yZWNvbW1lbmRhdGlvbiZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1leHBsb3JlJnV0bV90ZXJtPW5ld2VzdC10YWxrcy02In0-2.kTB-1CEc9-0z06Txs-1GIWJi7snfeRjW9yWVd1tDQrGNZ0-2

French Feet ---
https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/film/telefoot_the_foot

The Sunset Hill House Hotel (near our cottage) ---
https://www.thesunsethillhouse.com/
Watch the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cqUX0LcbU&t=9s
 


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 

Watch an Epic Drum Battle, Pitting a 9-Year-Old Girl Against Foo Fighter Dave Grohl  ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/09/watch-an-epic-drum-battle-pitting-a-9-year-old-girl-against-foo-fighter-dave-grohl.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

Watch Bob Dylan Perform “Only A Pawn In Their Game,” His Damning Song About the Murder of Medgar Evers, at the 1963 March on Washington ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/watch-bob-dylan-perform-only-a-pawn-in-their-game.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

Video:  MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY --- www.youtube.com/channel/UChhjKCoFQvIcpVPdVhk6QgA/featured

Bobby Sherman ---
https://jborden.com/2020/09/07/music-monday-i-may-lose-any-credibility-i-have-with-this-one/

The Big 6 Music Streaming Services Compared—Which One Is Right for You?
https://www.reviewgeek.com/52108/the-big-6-music-streaming-services-compared-which-one-is-right-for-you/

Vinyl, Cassette, CD, MP3, or Streaming – What Format Offers the Best Sound Quality? ---
https://jborden.com/2020/08/31/music-monday-vinyl-cassette-cd-mp3-or-streaming-what-format-offers-the-best-sound-quality/
Also see How Stuff Works ---
https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/is-the-sound-on-vinyl-records-better-than-on-cds-or-dvds.htm
There are diehards who prefer vinyl to digital to a point where there's are growing market for vinyl recordings ---
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/610972/vinyl-records-sales-surpassed-cds
 

Bob Jensen's Links to Free Music
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm


Photographs and Art

Take Immersive Virtual Tours of the World’s Great Museums: The Louvre, Hermitage, Van Gogh Museum & Much More ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/09/take-immersive-virtual-tours-of-the-worlds-great-museums.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

Wildfires in California ---
https://www.foxnews.com/us/firefighters-overtaken-by-flames-in-california-mountains

The Atlantic's Photo Collections for Every State ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/fifty/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20200904&silverid-ref=MzEwMTkwMTM3ODg3S0

Art Times (in Africa) --- https://arttimes.co.za/

THE STUDIO MUSEUM (in Harlem) --- www.studiomuseum.org

The Bible in Paintings ---
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=illuminated+bibles&form=HDRSC2&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover&cw=1519&ch=722

Take a Virtual Tour of Frida Kahlo’s Blue House Free Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/take-a-virtual-tour-of-frida-kahlos-blue-house-free-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

Historically Black Neighborhoods of Houston ---
https://time.com/5876372/houston-historically-black-neighborhoods/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief-covidwave2&utm_content=20200830&et_rid=31470513

$90 Million Boston Area House Sells for $23 Million --- Why?
https://www.businessinsider.com/reebok-founder-boston-home-for-sale-photos-2019-10

A Beautiful 1897 Illustrated Book Shows How Flowers Become Art Nouveau Designs ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/a-beautiful-1897-illustrated-book-shows-how-flowers-become-art-nouveau-designs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

What Did the Roman Emperors Look Like?: See Photorealistic Portraits Created with Machine Learning ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/what-did-the-roman-emperors-look-like.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

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

 

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 September 15, 2020
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2020/TidbitsQuotations091520.htm             




Professors say faculty burnout is always a real threat, but especially now, and that institutions should act before it’s too late ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/14/faculty-members-struggle-burnout?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a4a5a9c878-DNU_2020_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a4a5a9c878-197565045&mc_cid=a4a5a9c878&mc_eid=1e78f7c952


In a lawsuit against the Internet Archive, the largest corporations in publishing want to change what it means to own a book ---
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/publishers-are-taking-the-internet-to-court/


Speech-to-Text
Microsoft adds transcription feature (multiple speakers' voices to text) to MS Word ---

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-microsoft-transcription-feature-word.html

Text-to-Speech
How to Use Text-To-Speech on Discord ---
https://www.howtogeek.com/687997/how-to-use-text-to-speech-on-discord/

Intel Reader --- http://www.intel.com/healthcare/reader/index.htm

The Intel Reader, powered by an Atom processor, is a handheld device with a five-­megapixel camera that can read aloud any printed text it is pointed at, including product labels, receipts, and pages from books and newspapers. Previously, visually impaired or dyslexic people required a desktop scanner connected to a computer to convert print into speech.
"Scan and Listen," MIT's Technology Review, December 17, 2009 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/24198/?a=f
Also see
https://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/2009/20091110corp.htm


How to Get Access to Free Internet, TV, and Phone Services ---
https://readwrite.com/2020/09/04/how-to-get-access-to-free-internet-tv-and-phone-services/


Zoom alternatives: More suggestions for videoconferencing apps ---
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-alternatives-videoconferencing-apps.html


Seemingly small design tweaks to Google search results interface may change how and where people find information online ---
https://www.wired.com/story/blurred-lines-closed-loops-google-search/


Harvard scientist wins $3 mn prize for work on parenting instinct ---
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-harvard-scientist-mn-prize-parenting.html


A New Record for the Largest Ocean Clean Up ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1357-record-ocean-cleanup/

More Countries are Protecting Animals ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1288-animal-welfare-laws/


These students figured out their tests were graded by artificial intelligence — and the easy way to cheat ---
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/2/21419012/edgenuity-online-class-ai-grading-keyword-mashing-students-school-cheating-algorithm-glitch

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


General Motors to build electric pickup with optional choice for batteries or hydrogen ---
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/general-motors-to-build-nikola-badger-electric-pickup


The Latest Thing in Cheating:  Use Google Translate to Plagiarize

Google Translate --- https://translate.google.com/

Stacey Guney, assistant vice president for academic affairs at Aims Community College, in Fort Collins, Colo., wrote that students may use Google Translate to avoid plagiarism-detection software. Students start by translating the text into another language, and then back to English. After they clean up the result a bit, the text will be different enough to evade the software.
Chronicle of Higher Education Newsletter on September 1, 2017

Jensen Comment
Having grown up in Munich my wife speaks German. Yet whenever we went back to Germany years later she never could explain what I did for a living to her relatives (who don't speak English).

My point here is that it may be easier to get a decent translation of a history article in Google Translate than to get a translation of an accounting article. The reason is that translation software and even human translators generally have trouble translating articles where the vocabulary is quite technical and specialized. I speculate that college admissions essays are more apt to be plagiarized using Google Translate than will articles on accounting for interest rate swaps and other hedging transactions.

As for me I have a terrible time writing a mystery novel. Today I'm going to start translating my new novel.


Few US students ever repeat a grade, but that could change due to COVID-19 ---
https://phys.org/news/2020-09-students-grade-due-covid-.html


For job seekers with disabilities, soft skills don't impress in early interviews (technical skills are more important) ---
https://phys.org/news/2020-09-job-seekers-disabilities-soft-skills.html


What Is Long-term Care Insurance, and Do You Need It?
https://health.howstuffworks.com/health-insurance/long-term-care-insurance.htm

Jensen Comment
It's very hard to give advice on this in general, because each person's situation is both unique and uncertain. The poor of course get long-term care coverage from Medicaid.

I won't comment beyond what you read in the article other than to recommend comparing coverage with the exploding cost of quality long-term care. For example, a fixed amount of coverage specified in the insurance contract for care in the future may be wholly inadequate given what the cost of such care will be in the future.

 Then again, a future Medicare-for-All plan (ala Bernie Sanders) may subsidize long-term care costs that Medicare does not now cover at all beyond very short-term care. Personally, I don't think the damaged USA economy will enable Medicare to provide expanded nursing care coverage for a long, long time beyond what government, especially state government, currently provides the poor with Medicaid coverage of long-term care costs.


6 Mistakes People Make When Buying a TV ---
https://www.howtogeek.com/687173/6-mistakes-people-make-when-buying-a-tv/

Jensen Comment
Maybe you really want a smart TV, but I like this article's advice on buying a non-smart TV.  In my opinion smart TV sets are just too complicated. I have a notebook computer feeding into my TV from a laptop computer that connects via an HDMI cable. I use my computer to connect to things like streaming TV, DVD disks, etc. Maybe it's just because I'm familiar with my laptop and mystified by my smart TV complexity.


DEAFTEC: TEACHING & LEARNING (for the deaf and otherwise hearing impaired) ---
https://deaftec.org/teaching-learning/

Bob Jensen's threads on technology aids handicapped/disabled learners ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Handicapped


Nuclear Fusion --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion

World's Largest Nuclear Fusion Facility is Being Built in France ---

https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1421-nuclear-fusion-project/


Wind power is now cheaper than natural gas ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1108-wind-cheaper-than-fossil/
As long as you don't factor in cost of energy storage and location issues (think distance to where the wind force is adequate such as on the coast)

Wind power:  Bird deaths down 70 percent after painting wind turbine blades black ---
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/black-paint-on-wind-turbines-helps-prevent-bird-massacres/


The Potential of Tidal Power is Amazing ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1132-tidal-power-potential/


From an OZY Newsletter on September 4, 2020

CRACKING POVERTY

1. POVERTY STOPLIGHT

What if a simple color-coded self-assessment project could help families prioritize limited resources to fight poverty? That’s the idea behind the Poverty Stoplight program that launched in Paraguay but has spread to some 30 nations, helping families gain agency to lift themselves out of poverty. Read more.

2. BANGLADESH MIRACLE

Henry Kissinger once described the South Asian nation as an economic “basket case.” Today, the country is a global model for pulling millions of people out of extreme poverty. And central to that success have been microcredit loans as small as $10 to the very poor, a concept that earned a Nobel Prize for Bangladeshi entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus.

3. EARN AS YOU LEARN

One retailer’s trash can be another person’s treasure. The Clothing Bank, a South African initiative, is training thousands of poor women to become microentrepreneurs, taking surplus clothes cast off by giant retailers and selling them at taxi stands, flea markets and offices on payday. Read more.


Walmart+ will undercut Amazon Prime's price and offer perks for ecommerce, in-store shopping, and fuel ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-plus-undercuts-amazon-primes-price-debuts-three-perks-2020-9?IR=T&utm_medium=email&utm_term=BII_Daily&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_campaign=BII Weekender 2020.9.4 - Marketing

WALMART PLUS ARRIVES: The retail giant unveils its long-anticipated $98 annual membership offering free grocery delivery and fuel discounts ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-unveils-amazon-prime-rival-walmart-plus-costing-98-annually-2020-8

Jensen Comment
Walmart+ provides serious competition, but lacks the vast variety of products available at Amazon.

Here's a very useful link that I recently had occasion to use on Amazon. It was a joyous experience. I bought an atomic projection (bedroom ceiling) clock. When it arrived the outdoor temperature gauge was not working. Amazon sent a replacement clock before I even sent the defunct unit back. In the meantime the defunct unit started working properly. I decided to keep both the first and second units sent to me by Amazon. When I asked for instructions the the following chat line on how to pay for the second unit I used the following terrific chat line link ---
Amazon Chat --- 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/contact-us/ref=sxts_snpl_1_1_7a421395-705b-4360-beae-8e635f09493c?pf_rd_p=7a421395-705b-4360-beae-8e635f09493c&pf_rd_r=B1ESYPBDMR6ZN1Y0ZTZ8&pd_rd_wg=1I6jA&pd_rd_w=UZQ39&qid=1598100261&pd_rd_r=815ce291-40a6-445a-a8e2-3531580d813a
One reason I'm happy is that in my chat Amazon elected to give me the second (the replacement) unit for free. What a company!

THE ONLINE GROCERY REPORT: The coronavirus pandemic is thrusting online grocery into the spotlight in the US — here are the players that will emerge at the top of the market
https://www.businessinsider.com/online-grocery-report-2020


MAKEOVER MONDAY (Data Visualization) --- www.makeovermonday.co.uk

Bob Jensen's threads on data visualization ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm 


What college students need to know about liability waivers for COVID-19 ---
https://theconversation.com/what-college-students-need-to-know-about-liability-waivers-for-covid-19-145361


A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged ---
https://elemental.medium.com/a-supercomputer-analyzed-covid-19-and-an-interesting-new-theory-has-emerged-31cb8eba9d63
Thank you Jagdish Gangolly for the heads up.


From viral conspiracies to exam fiascos, algorithms come with serious side effects ---
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/06/from-viral-conspiracies-to-exam-fiascos-algorithms-come-with-serious-side-effects


Global analysis shows major electric utilities not moving to greener alternatives ---
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-global-analysis-major-electric-greener.html


CAREER DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES --- www.ala.org/educationcareers/employment/career-resources

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


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

North Korean hackers steal billions in cryptocurrency. How do they turn it into real cash?
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/10/1008282/north-korea-hackers-money-laundering-cryptocurrency-bitcoin/

Department of Justice Announces Charges of North Korean and Malaysia Nationals for Bank Fraud, Money Laundering and North Korea Sanctions Violations ---
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-charges-north-korean-and-malaysia-nationals-bank-fraud-money


Scale of New Zealand cyber attacks unprecedented ---
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-scale-zealand-cyber-unprecedented-minister.html


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

CalPERS Cooks Its Books ---
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/09/calpers-cooks-its-books-grossly-understated-investment-consultant-meketas-expenses-in-annual-financials-made-a-criminal-false-account-by-burying-the-cost.html

Francine McKenna, an accounting expert and adjunct professor at American University in Washington D.C., confirmed our concerns about the misclassification of the Meketa charges:

It’s either intentional manipulation of the books or a level of incompetence and sloppiness that is inexcusable for an entity of this size with so many highly paid professionals and consultants involved.

If this excuse for the inability to track the Meketa payments is accurate, it’s an admission that CalPERS has been making false accounts, which is a violation of the California Penal Code section 424. Given the magnitude of either the omission or the deliberate misclassification in combination with the fact that CalPERS is rated by Moodys, which presumably relies on the information in the CAFR, this abuse could rise to the level of a fraud.1

This reporting deficiency is troubling since it calls into question the integrity of CalPERS’ accounting and record-keeping. But perhaps this is not surprising. Most of the CAFR, including the “Other Supplementary Information” section in which outside vendor costs and CalPERS’ investment overhead fall, is unaudited. As we have pointed out, the entire investment section of CalPERS’ financials, including the valuation of its assets, is not audited either (see the auditor’s letter starting on page 17 to confirm).

 Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on book cooking and creative accounting ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory02.htm#Manipulation


The Largest Mortgage Origination Volume on Record ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/the-largest-mortgage-origination-volume-on-record


Scientific American:  Medical Education Needs Rethinking ---
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/medical-education-needs-rethinking/


Amazon to bring autonomous (no-handling) checkout to Whole Foods ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-go-tech-could-come-to-whole-foods-2021-2020-8?IR=T&utm_medium=email&utm_term=BII_Daily&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_campaign=BII Weekender 2020.8.28 - Marketing

The ecommerce titan plans to start rolling out the technology it uses at its Amazon Go stores to Whole Foods locations in Q2 2021, according to the New York Post. Bringing the technology, which tracks shoppers and products so consumers can grab their items and leave without stopping to physically check out, to Whole Foods' over 500 locations would be a major accomplishment for Amazon because it'd prove that it can retrofit existing stores with its technology.

This has been a challenge for the entire industry, and doing so would mean Amazon can scale its technology for much bigger stores. For context, the 10,400-square-foot Amazon Go grocery store is the largest location to use Amazon's technology, and Whole Foods stores are often over 40,000 square feet.

Whole Foods could serve as a testing ground for Amazon to convince merchants to license its in-store technologies.

·        The etailer has a limited need for in-store innovations, so its focus is likely on licensing its technologies to other merchants. In addition to the technology Amazon uses at its Go stores, the firm has reportedly developed shopping carts that use autonomous checkout technology and hand-scanning biometric payments — all of which could create a more seamless in-store shopping experience. But Amazon's business isn't focused on brick-and-mortar — its physical stores brought in $17 billion in sales in 2019, while its online stores racked up $141 billion — so it likely hopes to license its tech to other merchants to boost its revenue and possibly access more in-store data. In fact, it already started to license Amazon Go's technology, dubbed "Just Walk Out," bringing it to an airport retailer.

·        Amazon can use Whole Foods to prove to merchants that its technologies work and are worth licensing. Retailers could be wary of working with Amazon since it has relatively little experience with brick-and-mortar technologies and may be competing with them through its online marketplace. But Whole Foods' hundreds of stores enable Amazon to show if its tech works and appeals to consumers in live retail environments, potentially convincing merchants to license Amazon's offerings.

If the pandemic stretches on, Amazon's offerings could attract retailer interest. The coronavirus pandemic has raised interest in contactless payment experiences, and autonomous checkout should be particularly appealing since it removes the physical checkout process entirely.

We predicted that autonomous checkout technology providers would miss out on this opportunity this year due to technological shortcomings — but if Amazon rolls out its tech in 2021, and the pandemic continues, merchants may be eager to adopt Amazon's offerings and provide consumers with a truly contactless checkout experience.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
It's not clear how this works for items (think bananas) that have to be weighed. Perhaps these have to be weighed and priced before the customer places them in a shopping cart. Of course the customer could first hand the bananas to a robot for the pricing.

Amazon is opening its new grocery chain, which has a lower price point than Whole Foods ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-debuts-tech-laden-grocery-chain-separate-from-whole-foods-2020-8?IR=T&utm_medium=email&utm_term=BII_Daily&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_campaign=BII Weekender 2020.8.28 - Marketing
The store uses smart carts (called Dash Carts) complete with Alexa voice assistant ---
https://www.amazon.com/b?node=21289116011&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Post Blast bii-payments-and-commerce: Amazon debuts tech-laden grocery chain | Stimulus payments may have been mistakenly tossed | Afterpay moves into Canada&utm_term=BII List PayCom ALL
It would be a huge breakthrough if Alexa could lead you to each product you're looking for in the grocery store.


Chronicle of Higher Education:  Some Students are Smarter Than Other Students (and that's OK) ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/some-students-are-smarter-than-others-and-thats-ok?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1479495_nl_Chronicle-Review_date_20200831&cid=cr&source=ams&sourceId=296279&cid2=gen_login_refresh

I’m in my Ph.D. program at Purdue University. It’s 2013 or so. I am enjoying being part of the kind of large educational machine that a Big Ten university represents, the scale of it all. I’m teaching freshman comp again, spring semester. As I approach the door to class, I notice that one of my students waiting outside is crying, while friends comfort her. I know better than to say anything to her directly; the last thing an emotional undergraduate wants is an instructor offering consolation. After class I caught up with one of her friends to check if everything was alright.

“It’s just first-year engineering,” she said. “Everybody cries.”

I was a little concerned, and a little curious, so I poked around a bit and talked with a grad student I knew in mechanical engineering. He told me that only one in three students who started as an engineering major would finish with the degree, and that early courses in the major were actually designed to be “weed out” classes, meant to compel students to drop the major and choose another. Why? Because the rigor of the engineering programs was so high that a large percentage of students was guaranteed to drop out eventually, and it was far better for them to do so early, before they had accumulated a lot of credits.

What had seemed like cruelty to me was, in fact, an act of mercy, an artifact of a pragmatic and necessary acknowledgment that not all students possess the underlying ability necessary to flourish in some fields. In time I would learn that many college classes, such as calculus and organic chemistry, function in much the same way. And I grew to think that rather than representing a failure of educators to do their jobs, these classes, which screen out students, perform a necessary if unfortunate function for colleges dedicated to training young people for their futures.

Experiencing these moments as an educator, and observing many others as a student, deeply influenced my thoughts on how teaching does and should function in the real world. And these experiences dovetailed with my deepening academic and professional interest in education. When I made up my mind to go back to school and get my M.A., I knew that I wanted to focus on pedagogy. I loved to teach; I had a lot of experience, it gave me a sense of purpose, and I felt that I had a knack for it. I went to study in a writing department because I believed that it was a field where I had the most to offer to students. By the time I was doing coursework in my Ph.D. program, I was focused primarily on the measurement of student learning, and I took classes in statistics, research methods, educational measurement, and psychometrics.

I busily went about the work of being a doctoral student, and in time would write a dissertation about a major test of college learning, publish in conventional academic journals, and try to professionalize. But my sense that something was wrong in our basic conception of education gnawed at me. The rigid ideology of education, and particularly of the education “reform” movement, was that there were no natural constraints on student growth — and that any suggestion that students had limits to their potential was an excuse ginned up by lazy instructors. By contrast, my own teaching had demonstrated that different students varied significantly in their underlying ability, and that this difference in talent profoundly shaped academic outcomes.

Yet so much of the pedagogical literature had nothing at all to say about differences in student ability. In research originating from departments of education, there frequently seemed to be some sort of gentleman’s agreement against speaking frankly about differences in natural talent among individual students. In the humanities, the philosophy on pedagogy seemed to militate against judging student accomplishment at all, treating the assessment of student learning as just another tool of hegemony. And the academic discourse on teaching seemed suffused with a cheery know-nothing optimism that insisted on seeing every student as an endlessly moldable lump of clay.

. . .

We have, in the world of education, borrowed a term from agriculture to describe our students and their talents: We cultivate them. It’s the kind of metaphor that’s been used so much it’s no longer really a metaphor. But the comparison is a good one. Each student is a seed, and each seed grows in the soil of the student’s environment. In the world today, some seeds are sheltered and nourished, while some are neglected and underfed. We should strive for a world in which all seeds grow in healthy, well-tended soil, out of a fundamental commitment to the equal moral value of all. But just as no plant can grow in full from poor soil, no amount of tending to the soil can make some seeds taller than some others. Some seeds are meant to spawn taller plants. That is the way of things. All plants have their own beauty, and all human beings have something of value to contribute to society. But to act as though every human being has the same potential in academic life is no more sensible than expecting every sapling to grow to the same height. It’s a pleasant expectation, and one we can’t keep believing.


Business schools are scrambling to improve online MBAs. The author tried out edtech startup Jolt's 'sane alternative' to see if it lived up to the hype ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/mba-alternative-jolt-review-zoom-coronavirus-cost-2020-5?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BIPrime_select&utm_campaign=BI Prime 2020-08-27&utm_term=BI Prime Select

The number of people applying to study for an MBA has fallen dramatically in the US, even among the leading business schools — with many prospective students citing excessive tuition fees. 

Almost three-quarters of US business schools saw a decline in applications in 2019, according to a report published by the Graduate Management Admission Council in November.

There's also evidence that the cost of MBAs is rising. A November analysis by Poets&Quants, a forum and community group targeting business-school students, showed the total price tag, including room and board and other fees, had ballooned to more than $200,000 at a dozen institutions.

While most business schools have yet to publish stats for the coming fall semester intake, Harvard Business School said about 30% of students accepted by its MBA program had chosen to defer their studies until the following year.

With skepticism around traditional courses on the rise, and a pandemic preventing physical attendance, I decided to take an online course with Jolt. Jolt is a business-school startup based in London that promises students a "sane alternative" to MBAs.

Jolt, founded by the Israeli entrepreneur Roei Deutsch in 2015, offers students "NAMBA" (not an MBA) classes consisting of lectures and hands-on workshops overseen by experts in everything from finance and marketing to data optimization and team management. 

The NAMBA was designed with heavy input from alumni of some of the best-known graduate schools, including Harvard Business School and Insead, who cherry-picked the best elements of their courses to create a much more affordable product. 

The firm's offering is competitively priced. Applicants can choose to pay Ł85 ($105) for three classes, Ł129 ($160) for five classes, or Ł2,450 ($3,050) for a year's worth of unlimited classes. 

Jensen Comment
There are also various free access to prestigious MBA program MOOC courses such as the core courses at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Of course MOOC learning in this manner does not earn transcript credits, but some MOOC learners have managed to surge ahead like the Tibet student who learned (rather than earned) his way into MIT's Ph.D. program in this manner.

Bob Jensen's threads on MOOC alternatives and other free learning from prestigious universities ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


Monetising the access to new and existing research results is profoundly at odds with the ethos of science ---
http://journalfieldrobotics.org/JFR/DearColleague_Letter.html


China's Xpeng Motors raises $1.5 billion in bumper New York IPO ---
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/investing/xpeng-ipo-price-hnk-intl/index.html


 Harvard Business School offers online classes that run parallel to its MBA program for a fraction of the cost ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-business-school-online-courses-change-careers-without-mba?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BIPrime_select&utm_campaign=BI Prime 2020-08-28&utm_term=BI Prime Select

Jensen Comment
So what's lost? First and foremost is the networking that is different onsite versus online, especially when students are living and eating together face-to-face in dormitories. This lends more to serendipity factors that are lost in remote learning and even onsite learning for commuting students.


1955 University of Chicago Price Theory Exam ---
http://www.irwincollier.com/chicago-economic-price-theory-prelim-exam-taken-by-zvi-griliches-winter-quarter-1955/
Links to other tough examinations given in the article


Fraud in the Time of Crisis ---
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2020/aug/fraud-iq-quiz-coronavirus-crisis.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07Aug2020

Tens of thousands of loans issued under the government’s $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program are vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, according to a report from a House panel ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-panel-criticizes-lack-of-oversight-on-ppp-loans-11598981252?mod=djemCFO

NFL Player Charged for Role in $24 Million COVID-Relief Fraud Scheme ---
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nfl-player-charged-role-24-million-covid-relief-fraud-scheme

West Virginia Hospital Agrees To Pay $50 Million To Settle Allegations Concerning Improper Compensation To Referring Physicians ---
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/west-virginia-hospital-agrees-pay-50-million-settle-allegations-concerning-improper

The Wildest Insurance Fraud Scheme Texas Has Ever Seen:  The Villain is Known as T.R. ---
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/it-was-never-enough/

Toronto priest plagiarized when ghostwriting for Canada's most senior Vatican figure ---
https://nationalpost.com/news/new-revelations-in-the-serial-plagiarism-of-a-canadian-priest-extend-to-his-role-as-ghostwriter-for-vatican-figure/

One Difference Between China and Illinois is That Illinois Did Not Prosper With Corruption
Recall that three recent governors of Illinois went to prison

High-ranking Chicago Public Schools official charged with lying to FBI in contract probe ---
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/high-ranking-chicago-public-schools-official-charged-with-lying-to-fbi-in-contract-probe

A top aide to Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson has been charged with lying to the FBI about whether he passed secret bid information about a massive $1 billion custodial contract to a lobbyist working for one of the bidders.

Big Chicago building owners sue ComEd over alleged Madigan bribery scheme ---
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/big-chicago-building-owners-sue-comed-over-alleged-madigan-bribery-scheme 

A group of Chicago commercial property owners, including the owners of the historic Burnham Center, have added their names to the growing list of businesses and individuals suing electrical utility ComEd over its role in a bribery scandal that has implicated Illinois House Speaker and Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan.

Illinois politicians promise generous retirement benefits to the unions, and the unions work the precincts to elect the politicians, some of whom use their offices to amass wealth and power. And who pays the bill?
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/how-much-do-you-trust-pritzkers-fair-tax-heres-a-way-to-prove-it

Why China Prospered With Corruption ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/08/why-china-prospered-with-corruption.html

Current and past editions of my blog called Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (Herbalife), a U.S.-based publicly traded global nutrition company, has agreed to pay total penalties of more than $122 million to resolve the government’s investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ---
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/herbalife-nutrition-ltd-agrees-pay-over-122-million-resolve-fcpa-case


Tens of thousands of loans issued under the government’s $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program are vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, according to a report from a House panel ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-panel-criticizes-lack-of-oversight-on-ppp-loans-11598981252?mod=djemCFO


A Russian national allegedly offered a Tesla employee $1 million to introduce malware onto the company's network ---
https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-russian-ransomware-attack-tesla-1528524

Jensen Comment
These types of hacks using insiders are the hardest to prevent.


Millennials Help Power This Year’s Housing-Market Rebound Generation that was slow to enter U.S. housing market now accounts for more than half of all new home loans ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/millennials-help-power-this-years-housing-market-rebound-11598520601?mod=djemCFO

Jensen Comment
All-time low mortgage rates are probably the major incentive combined with the exodus from troubled big cities.


Minneapolis businesses fight ban on exterior shutters owners wanting to protect their windows after riots face obstacle ---
https://www.startribune.com/mpls-business-owners-wanting-to-protect-their-windows-after-riots-face-obstacle/572206032/
Twin city St. Paul allows external shutters --- Go figure!


When there are no profit incentives for raising capital it may lead to lack of internal controls on expenses ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-postal-service-spent-522-million-on-questionable-overtime-last-year-watchdog-says-11598468331?mod=djemCFO

The U.S. Postal Service’s watchdog criticized the agency’s handling of overtime expenses, finding lackluster controls resulted in millions of dollars in extra costs. It said 42% of postal workers logged unauthorized overtime last year.

The Postal Service builds overtime expenses into its annual budget, and some of it is required due to understaffed locations. But it still exceeded planned overtime expenses by more than $3 billion over the six-year period examined in the report.

Jensen Comment
The same thing might happen when expenses (think travel expenses and overtime) are easily passed along to consumers/clients by oligopolies such as Big Four auditing firms.


Parents are spending thousands on the latest gadgets, coding bootcamps, and tech tutors for their toddlers to prepare them to compete in a digital world ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthy-parents-investing-coding-tech-lessons-toddlers-kids-2020-7?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BIPrime_select&utm_campaign=BI Prime 2020-08-27&utm_term=BI Prime Select


The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation ---
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7gxy9/the-broken-algorithm-that-poisoned-american-transportation-v27n3


How to Mislead With Statistics

The Cost of Variance Around a Mean of Statistically Discriminating Beliefs ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/8/27/the-cost-of-variance-around-a-mean-of-statistically-discriminating-beliefs


Tragedy Down Under
More than 100 000 livestock animals perish as intense snowstorms hit Patagonia, 70 percent of flock at risk ---
https://watchers.news/2020/08/24/more-than-100-000-livestock-animals-perish-as-intense-snowstorms-hit-patagonia-70-percent-of-flock-at-risk/

400,000 chickens, turkeys and emus euthanized as bird flu spreads in Australia ---
https://strangesounds.org/2020/08/400000-chickens-turkeys-and-emus-euthanized-as-bird-flu-spreads-in-australia.html


Approaching Infinity: Dignity in Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon ---
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/361462


After 40 years of capitalism, China’s income is divided almost as unequally as America’s ---
https://qz.com/1591961/thomas-pikettys-new-research-shows-rising-inequality-in-china/

Now, the Chinese government wants Piketty’s publisher to remove parts where the author draws on extensive research to show growth in economic inequality to a level comparable to that of the US. Piketty has so far refused to remove the offending passages, which means Capitalism and Ideology most likely won’t be sold in China.

While a move is underway to destroy the American Dream of rags to riches (by taxing away the riches) the Chinese dream is on the rise.
The Chinese Dream
How a Chinese billionaire went from making $16 a month in a factory to being one of the world's richest self-made women with an $8.3 billion real-estate empire ---

https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-richest-self-made-woman-wu-yajun-net-worth-2019-2

Top 50 Billionaires in China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_by_net_worth

Jensen Comment
The question for students to debate is why a supposed communist country allows so many billionaires to rise up from poverty.
That's supposed to happen in the USA where a child growing up in deep poverty (think Oprah Winfrey or Howard Shultz) became a multi-billionaires.
But is it also supposed to happen under communism? If so, why?


The Atlantic:  Can Italy Defeat Its Most Powerful Crime Syndicate?
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/italian-mafia-ndrangheta/615466/
 


Goodbye to Lord & Taylor, and the Way We Used to Shop ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/03/opinion/lord-taylor-closed.html

It’s finally the end for Lord & Taylor. After limping along since its Fifth Avenue flagship closed in 2019, the nearly 200-year-old department store chain announced last week that it will close all its locations.


30 Essential Windows Key Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 10 ---
https://www.howtogeek.com/686985/30-essential-windows-key-keyboard-shortcuts-for-windows-10/

Jensen Comment
You may not want to use all 30, but there are a few that may be useful to you.
I printed this list and put it within handy desk-drawer reach.
 


University of Pennsylvania:  How Foreign Purchases of U.S. Homes Impact Prices and Supply ---
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/foreign-purchases-u-s-homes-impact-prices-supply/

Housing markets are preferred destinations for foreign investors looking for yields, vacation homes or safe havens, or for those dodging tax restraints and corruption crackdowns in their home countries. But demand for U.S. homes from foreign investors, especially Chinese, pushes up home prices, exacerbating concerns over housing affordability, according to new research from Wharton.

House prices grew 8 percentage points more in U.S. zip codes with high foreign-born Chinese populations from 2012 to 2018, according to a paper titledGlobal Capital and Local Assets: House Prices, Quantities, and Elasticities,” authored by Wharton doctoral student Caitlin Gorback and Wharton real estate professor Benjamin Keys.

“The big picture is we have an affordability crisis for housing in the cities where the jobs are,” Keys said. “One of the real tensions in the U.S. housing market is that the places that are seeing sharp job growth are not creating new housing quickly enough to accommodate that job growth.”

The starkest example of disconnects between job growth and housing is the San Francisco Bay Area and specifically San Mateo County, said Keys. Since 2012, that region has had about a 30% increase in employment, but less than a 10% increase in housing units, he added.

Keys blamed those housing shortages on zoning restrictions that deter new homebuilding, and rising construction costs. “There are about six times as many new jobs as there are new housing permits,” he said. “There are a lot of hoops to jump through to get anything built in these places, especially to build in a way that is dense.”

Foreigners buying U.S. homes potentially exacerbate that problem of affordability, Keys continued. Chinese buyers have led foreign investments in U.S. homes for the past seven years. In 2019-2020, they bought U.S. home properties worth $11.5 billion, or little more than a sixth of the total, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Other investors in the top five came from Canada, Mexico, India and Colombia, in that order. (Colombia last year replaced the U.K. as the fifth-largest country of origin of foreign buyers). Foreign buyer purchases made up 4% of the $1.7 trillion existing-home sales last year, the NAR report noted.

 Continued in article



Word Counter Tool --- https://www.wordcounteronline.net/

 


UK retail jobs have nearly halved over the past year, as job cuts reach their fastest rate since 2009 ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-retail-job-losses-fastest-cuts-since-2009-footfall-rising-2020-8


Federal Reserve says inflation should rise dramatically ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/federal-reserve-says-inflation-should-rise-dramatically

The quality-adjusted rate of price inflation is much higher than measured ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/08/the-quality-adjusted-rate-of-price-inflation-is-much-higher-than-measured.html

Jensen Comment
Today my grandson sent me his first email as a new RN in Bangor's Eastern Maine Medical Center, two houses down from where we raised his mother and uncle for ten years of their very young lives.

This is the first time in his life that he will be making a salary as a full time employee. Although he was an All-American track star and trekked off to climb mountains in New Zealand and Scotland (which is why it took him five years to earn his first degree) he's had a knack for making money. Before he even had a driver's license he bought old jeeps and restored them for a profit.

He said he would like to invest in an apartment building by taking out a big mortgage. I reminded him that these are not good times for landlords in this pandemic where tenants are losing jobs and making it difficult for landlords to survive their debt loads.

I think I talked him out of becoming a landlord --- at least for the time being. But then he asked me where I thought he should invest. In this period of zero (and even negative) interest rates and a very tenuous stock market I really do not have good advice for a young investor.

I'm reminded of my own investment strategy when I was his age. That strategy (as a young father) was to invest in the most house I could afford and the least car I needed to get me safely by in the world. My kids were proud of their homes but ducked down in the back of our old stationwagons when we entered our neighborhood. They did not want anybody to recognize them in our cars. We had a nice house in Bangor close to the medical center and a summer cottage on a nice beach and 11-acres of woods along the nearby Atlantic ocean.

But it struck me how difficult it is in this era to give investment advice to a young family (he has long-time girlfriend, a teacher completing a Ph.D., but they are not yet married). Safe investments have virtually zero cash flow returns. In my opinion inflation is going to soar. In my old age I live on relatively high-interest lifetime annuities that I bought when times were good (2006). Most of my added savings are in a tax-free trillion dollar mutual fund. But I cannot recommend such investments for a young man facing possible hyperinflation for the next several decades.

I'm at a loss to tell him where to invest, although since you can probably guess my one piece of advice with hyperinflation in the long-term horizon.


A price war between companies like Charles Schwab and Robinhood drove trading fees to zero, as brokerages leaned into other, more controversial ways of making money ---
https://qz.com/1772017/robinhood-fined-1-25-million-by-finra-for-trading-violation/


From a Quartz newsletter on September 1, 2020

Interest rates have plunged as central banks like the US Federal Reserve do whatever it takes to keep their economies going. This hunt for yields drives massive money flows to stocks.


How to Manage Your Time More Effectively: The Science of Applying Computer Algorithms to Our Everyday Lives ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/09/how-to-manage-your-time-more-effectively.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)


A Database of 5,000 Historical Cookbooks–Covering 1,000 Years of Food History–Is Now Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/09/a-database-of-5000-historical-cookbooks-covering-1000-years-of-food-history-is-now-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)


Business Recovery Hampered for Some by Foreign-Worker Visa Bans ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-recovery-hampered-for-some-by-foreign-worker-visa-bans-11599393600?mod=djemCFO
Note the ranking of states by number of foreign workers


 

 


 


 


 


From the Scout Report on August 21, 2020

GNU DATAMASH --- www.gnu.org/software/datamash 
Datamash is a command-line utility that can validate and perform summary analysis on text format data files such as CSV and tab-delimited. It can compute a number of descriptive statistics (for example, mean, median, and standard deviation) and even includes a number of statistical tests to determine if data were drawn from a normal distribution. It can perform cross-tabulation on the input to summarize it by categories, similar to the pivot table feature in many spreadsheet programs. The Examples sub-section of the Datamash website (found by scrolling to the Documentation and Help section of the Software page) provides several sample files and uses them to demonstrate the capability of the software. The examples given include analysis of grades and bioinformatics on data from the Human Genome Project. The Datamash manual (located on the Docs page) serves as a comprehensive reference on the features of the software. Windows users can locate installers by following the "download section" link (under Downloading Datamesh on the page linked above). Linux and BSD users can locate Datamash in their system's package repositories. MacOS users can install Datamash using Macports, Fink, or Nixpkgs.


POLYPHONE SCIENCE --- www.polyphone-soundfonts.com 
Polyphone is a "soundfont editor" that allows for creating and editing digital musical instruments for use with midi keyboards and synthesizers. It can read and write the sf2, sf3, and sfz soundfont file formats and can import sfArk format files. Alternatively, WAV file samples can be imported to build musical tones directly from sound files. A number of sound processing tools are included to perform pitch detection, loop creation, sample equalization, and more. Plus, a built-in virtual keyboard allows users to test their new soundfonts prior to loading them on a midi device. The Documentation section of the Polyphone website includes reference materials, user tutorials, and technical documentation for developers. Polyphone can be downloaded for Windows, macOS, and several flavors of Linux.


From the Scout Report on September 4, 2020

JC --- https://pypi.org/project/jc/ 
JC is a wrapper that converts the output of many standard command-line tools and a number of common file types to JSON for easier manipulation in scripts or processing with JSON-literate tools such as jq. In the Examples section (found by clicking the "EXAMPLES.md" link), users can find numerous sample invocations covering a myriad of uses including: finding large files in a directory, summarizing installed Python packages, processing XML files, and many more. The Parsers section of the jc site lists the commands and formats that are understood out of the box. Users can also extend jc with their own custom parsers written in Python. Readers can install jc using either Python's pip package manager or with their operating system's package manager. Installation instructions are provided in the Installation section of the JC site


JID --- https://github.com/simeji/jid 
The JSON Incremental Digger (jid) is an interactive tool to inspect and filter JSON data using a jq-like query language. Users start jid by pointing it at a JSON file. By default, with no query entered, jid simply pretty-prints and colorizes the data it was given. Users can then type in a query. As they type, the data will be filtered down to show the matching portions. To speed up the query building process, jid provides the user with tab completions and autosuggestion of query terms. The Usage section of the jid README provides a few brief illustrations of how the tool can be used. In the Releases section of jid's site, users can locate binaries for Windows, macOS, Linux, and several flavors of BSD. Most distributions and BSDs also provide a version of jid from within their official package repositories





 

 




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


Book Reviews

The paradox of Graham Greene: He wrote so deftly about international politics, yet was an alarmingly unsophisticated political thinker ---
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-paradox-of-graham-greene-searching-for-peace-in-the-world-s-warzones

Margaret Atwood on Thrillers, Classics, and Free Speech ---
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/27/arts/margaret-atwood-thrillers-classics-free-speech/

Beyond the End of History ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/beyond-the-end-of-history

Thomas Sowell’s Inconvenient Truths ---
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/

'Who knew people wanted a funny book on punctuation?': Lynne Truss on writing Eats, Shoots & Leaves ---
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/who-knew-people-wanted-a-funny-book-on-punctuation-lynne-truss-on-writing-eats-shoots-leaves

The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think · by Jennifer Ackerman ---
https://theamericanscholar.org/our-feathered-friends/#.X01P7nlKhPY

Bob Jensen's threads on free electronic literature ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm


Education Tutorials

DEAFTEC: TEACHING & LEARNING (for the deaf and otherwise hearing impaired ---
https://deaftec.org/teaching-learning/

CAREER DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES --- www.ala.org/educationcareers/employment/career-resources

AI4ALL OPEN LEARNING (build your own artificial intelligence learning project) ---
https://ai-4-all.org/open-learning/

HISTORY POD (history news) --- www.historypod.net

SCALE SCIENCE EDUCATION (curriculum materials from Stanford University) ---
https://scienceeducation.stanford.edu/

THE ACCESSIBLE FILMMAKING GUIDE ---
https://accessiblefilmmaking.wordpress.com/

COFFEE BREAK FILM SCHOOL ---
https://moviola.com/cbfs/unit-1/

BLACK GIRL FILM CLUB ---
https://blackgirlfilmclub.tumblr.com/

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY: STUDENT RESOURCES --- 
www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/filmmaking

FILMSOURCING --- www.filmsourcing.com

Bob Jensen's threads on education links ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch


Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

New Zealand startup eyes global wireless electrical grid ---
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-zealand-startup-eyes-global-wireless.html

Nuclear Fusion --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion
World's Largest Nuclear Fusion Facility is Being Built in France ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1421-nuclear-fusion-project/

Guide to the Many Meanings of Quantum Mechanics ---
http://nautil.us/blog/your-guide-to-the-many-meanings-of-quantum-mechanics

SCALE SCIENCE EDUCATION (curriculum materials from Stanford University) ---
https://scienceeducation.stanford.edu/

BOOTSTRAP: DATA SCIENCE --- www.bootstrapworld.org/index.shtml

The Super Volcano Under Yellowstone is Alive and Kicking --- http://earth.nautil.us/

NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS --- www.nsbe.org/home.aspx

THE SUFFRAGE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS REFORM MOVEMENTS ---
www.docsteach.org/activities/teacher/the-suffrage-and-the-civil-rights-reform-movements

The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think · by Jennifer Ackerman ---
https://theamericanscholar.org/our-feathered-friends/#.X01P7nlKhPY

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

The Gary Chamberlain Online Seminar in Econometrics ---
https://www.chamberlainseminar.org/
Look at the schedule of upcoming seminar topics

1955 University of Chicago Price Theory Exam ---
http://www.irwincollier.com/chicago-economic-price-theory-prelim-exam-taken-by-zvi-griliches-winter-quarter-1955/
Links to other tough examinations given in the article

Who Are You Calling Latinx?
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/who-are-you-calling-latinx

Why Do Most Indian Men Live With Their Parents?
https://www.draliceevans.com/post/why-do-most-indian-men-still-live-with-their-parents

PBS:  UNLADYLIKE 2020 (] diverse and little-known American women from the turn of the 20th century) ---
https://unladylike2020.com/

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

H2O OPEN CASEBOOKS (Harvard Law School's open sharing legal cases and textbooks) ---
https://opencasebook.org/

What college students need to know about liability waivers for COVID-19 ---
https://theconversation.com/what-college-students-need-to-know-about-liability-waivers-for-covid-19-145361

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


Math Tutorials

BOOTSTRAP: DATA SCIENCE --- www.bootstrapworld.org/index.shtml

MAKEOVER MONDAY (Data Visualization) --- www.makeovermonday.co.uk

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

HISTORY POD (history news) --- www.historypod.net

Yale University:  Doing Research at the Beinecke Library ---
https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/research-teaching/doing-research-beinecke-library

Take Immersive Virtual Tours of the World’s Great Museums: The Louvre, Hermitage, Van Gogh Museum & Much More ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/09/take-immersive-virtual-tours-of-the-worlds-great-museums.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Lab (think Bell Labs) ---
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-american-rd-lab/
The theme here is that with all the benefits of antitrust breakups of large corporations comes a loss in R&D, especially R.
On the other hand, in my opinion, remote communications such as cell phones are better today because the telephone industry became more competitive

BLACK PERSPECTIVES --- www.aaihs.org/black-perspectives

THE STUDIO MUSEUM (in Harlem) --- www.studiomuseum.org

PBS:  UNLADYLIKE 2020 (] diverse and little-known American women from the turn of the 20th century) ---
https://unladylike2020.com/

UNHEARD VOICES: STORIES OF LGBT HISTORY SOCIAL STUDIES ---
www.adl.org/education/educator-resources/lesson-plans/unheard-voices-stories-of-lgbt-history

THE SUFFRAGE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS REFORM MOVEMENTS ---
www.docsteach.org/activities/teacher/the-suffrage-and-the-civil-rights-reform-movements

This weighty study reveals how the Nazis exploited films and theatre to spread their poisonous ideology ---
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/13/culture-in-the-third-reich-by-moritz-follmer-review-when-fascism-stole-the-show

What Did the Roman Emperors Look Like?: See Photorealistic Portraits Created with Machine Learning ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/what-did-the-roman-emperors-look-like.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

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

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


Language Tutorials

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings ---
https://folkways.si.edu/

WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS CAMPUS ---
https://wwb-campus.org/

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


Music Tutorials

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, explained ---
https://www.vox.com/switched-on-pop/21428033/beethoven-5th-symphony-switched-on-pop-new-york-philharmonic

HATHI TRUST: WOMEN COMPOSERS COLLECTION ---
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/mb?a=listis&c=1346310894

The many Beethoven myths ---
https://www.newstatesman.com/Beethoven-250-anniversary-myth

The Big 6 Music Streaming Services Compared—Which One Is Right for You?
https://www.reviewgeek.com/52108/the-big-6-music-streaming-services-compared-which-one-is-right-for-you/

Video:  MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY --- www.youtube.com/channel/UChhjKCoFQvIcpVPdVhk6QgA/featured

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/

August 31, 2020

·        With COVID Vax in Works, 20% Don't Believe in Shots

·        Feds: Nursing Home Staff Must Get COVID Tests

·        Will Telehealth Remain After COVID? Should It?

·        FDA Warning Issued About Hand Sanitizer Packaging

·        Salmonella in Peaches Has Sickened 78 in 12 States

·        Fauci Wasn’t Involved in New Testing Guidelines

·        Blood Thinners May Increase COVID Survival Rates

·        Obesity Raises the Risk of COVID-19 Complications

·        NC State Closing Dorms as COVID-19 Cases Climb

September 1, 2020

·        FDA: COVID Vaccine Could Be Given Before Tests End

·        CDC Director Tries to Clarify Testing Guidance

·        Dept of Justice Looks Into 4 States' Nursing Home Deaths

·        1st U.S. COVID-19 Reinfection Reported in Nevada Patient

·        Masks Use Up - COVID Cases Down in Philadelphia

·        Worldwide COVID-19 Cases Pass 25 Million

·        Remote Monitoring May Help Control High Blood Pressure

·        New Quick COVID Test May Boost Screening Efforts

·        Most Americans Wear Masks, But Myths Linger: Poll

September 2, 2020

·        Many COVID-Infected Hospital Workers Asymptomatic

·        Study: Face Shields Not a Good Mask Substitute

·        Newlyweds Donate, Serve Wedding Food to Shelter

·        Dear Commissioner Hahn: Tell the Truth or Resign

·        COVID-19 Primary, Not Only, Cause of 94% of Deaths

·        Cellphone Data Can Help Track Pandemic Spread

·        Cases Spiking in Some Southern Universities

·        Fauci Says Vaccine Might Be Ready By Late 2020

·        KY Reports Record-High Weekly COVID-19 Cases

September 3, 2020

·        Multiple Studies Find Steroids Fight Severe COVID

·        Parents Can Stop Pandemic Cyberbullying

·        Rate of Depression Are Triple of Pre-COVID Levels

·        How Effective is the Flu Vaccine?

·        WebMD Poll: More Acceptance of COVID Vaccine

·        Call for Independent Committee for Vaccine Review

·        You May Want to Plan for Thanksgiving by Video

·        Advisory Group Outlines COVID-19 Vaccine Priority

·        Infected Children May Go Unnoticed, Study Says

September 4, 2020

·        Why A Vaccine Won’t Be a Quick Fix for COVID-19

·        Can COVID-19 Cause Diabetes?

·        COVID Survivors May Need Test a Month Later

·        Coronavirus on Surfaces: What's the Real Risk?

·        CDC Says COVID Vaccine May be Distributed in Nov.

·        Trump Administration Broadens Eviction Protections

·        U.S. Won’t Join Global COVID-19 Vaccine Effort

·        Giroir Says Rapid COVID-19 Tests Will Go to States

·        Study: COVID-19 Antibodies May Last 4 Months

September 8, 2020

·        Campus Life in the COVID Era: 'We're Missing Out'

·        Study Backs Use of Saliva COVID-19 Test

·        Fauci: Pre-Labor Day Numbers 'Unacceptably High'

·        COVID-19 Ills No Greater for Those With Lupus, RA

·        Asthma May Not Boost Odds of Severe COVID-19

·        COVID Was Part of Early Seattle 2020 'Flu Season'

·        COVID-19 Vaccine 'Unlikely' by October

·        Big Ten Athletes with COVID Have Heart Condition

·        First COVID-19 Death Linked to Sturgis Rally

September 9, 2020

·        Trial Tests MMR Vaccine to Help Prevent COVID-19

·        Permanent Nerve Damage for Some COVID-19 Survivors

·        Why Do Black Men Fare Worse With Prostate Cancer?

·        Can Plexiglass Stop COVID?

·        Official Recommends Wearing a Mask During Sex

·        Drug Companies Will Pledge COVID-19 Vaccine Safety

·        Batman Film Halted After Pattinson Tests Positive

·        India Overtakes Brazil in Number of COVID-19 Cases

·        Kids Can Have COVID And Antibodies at Same Time

September 10, 2020

·        Drug Companies Pledge Integrity for Vaccine

·        Russia Begins Rollout of COVID-19 Vaccine

·        Child Hospitalization Rates Similar With COVID, Flu

·        Over Half a Million U.S. Kids Infected With COVID

·        Are Masks a Kind of Vaccine Against COVID-19?

·        Drinking Raises Blood Pressure Risk With Diabetes

·        Sturgis Bike Rally: Superspreading Event or Not?

·        Report: Trump Downplayed COVID Threat

·        Study Disputes Views on COVID-19 'Cytokine Storm'

September 12, 2020

·        Suicide Rate Keeps Rising Among Young Americans

·        Blood Pressure Meds Can Affect COVID-19 Care

·        COVID May Have Been in LA Earlier Than Believed

·        Wildfires, COVID a Double Whammy to Lung Health

·        South Carolina Teacher Dies From COVID-19

·        Florida Teen Dies from Brain-Eating Amoeba

·        Hard-Hit Navajo Nation Reports Lower Case Numbers

·        Dining Out Linked to Increased COVID-19 Risk

·        “Wheel of Fortune” Returns with Safety Protocols

SSeptember 14, 2020

·  

·        Fauci: Plan to 'Hunker Down' for Fall and Winter

·        Florida Bars Can Reopen Monday at 50% Capacity

·        Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine Could Be Given in Late 2020

·        AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Resume in UK

·        Online Search Trends May Predict COVID-19 Hotspots

·        No Canadian COVID Deaths for First Time in 6 Months

·        Midwest Faces Record COVID-19 Surge

·        COVID-19 Takes Heavy Toll on Kidneys

·        Loneliness Spikes In Older Adults During Pandemic

VIEW ALL HEALTH NEWS


There are 176 coronavirus vaccines in the works ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-timeline-what-to-watch-leading-research-2020-3?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BIPrime_select&utm_campaign=BI Prime 2020-09-11&utm_term=BI Prime Select

Research has progressed quickly into human testing, with 32 vaccine candidates now being tried on humans in clinical trials around the world. A handful are in the final stage of testing, which could show if these vaccines work or not before the end of 2020. 

There's an urgent need for a vaccine, particularly in the US, where the pandemic has not been brought under control. As of September 3, the US had recorded more than 6.5 million infections and about 190,000 deaths attributed to the virus.

Vaccine development is historically a challenging multiyear process, aimed at ensuring a candidate is safe and effective before giving it to millions of healthy people. Governments and nonprofits have given billions of dollars to drugmakers to expedite this process and do multiple steps of testing in parallel. 

A Business Insider review found at least 15 more experimental vaccines are expected to enter the clinic in 2020. That means there will likely be around 50 coronavirus vaccines in human testing by the end of the year. 

While research is moving with unprecedented speed, the biggest challenges still lie ahead in generating data showing a vaccine works, ramping up manufacturing, and distributing a shot around the world.

Already, the vaccine race faces challenges as AstraZeneca put a hold on its vaccine trial after a participant appeared to have an adverse event. AstraZeneca's CEO said Thursday its vaccine could still be available this year, even with the pause.

A leader of the US government's vaccine efforts recently told Business Insider he expects a shot will be widely available to Americans in April, May, or June of 2021. 

Continued in article


Men Who Can Do Over 40 Pushups Are Less Likely to Get Heart Disease ---
https://www.studyfinds.org/men-more-than-40-push-ups-heart-disease/


Nearly 100 common drugs linked to increased risk of thinking and memory problems ---
https://www.studyfinds.org/common-drugs-anticholinergics-memory-problems/


How Alcohol and Caffine Affect Your Sleep ---
https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_walker_how_caffeine_and_alcohol_affect_your_sleep?rid=T2MVxRKbAm1k&utm_source=recommendation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=explore&utm_term=watchNow


What Is Long-term Care Insurance, and Do You Need It?
https://health.howstuffworks.com/health-insurance/long-term-care-insurance.htm

Jensen Comment
It's very hard to give advice on this in general, because each person's situation is both unique and uncertain. The poor of course get long-term care coverage from Medicaid.

I won't comment beyond what you read in the article other than to recommend comparing coverage with the exploding cost of quality long-term care. For example, a fixed amount of coverage specified in the insurance contract for care in the future may be wholly inadequate given what the cost of such care will be in the future.

 Then again, a future Medicare-for-All plan (ala Bernie Sanders) may subsidize long-term care costs that Medicare does not now cover at all beyond very short-term care. Personally, I don't think the damaged USA economy will enable Medicare to provide expanded nursing care coverage for a long, long time beyond what government, especially state government, currently provides the poor with Medicaid coverage of long-term care costs.


A young Australian scientist's groundbreaking research has found honeybees could hold the secret to treating one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer ---
https://www.9news.com.au/national/honeybee-venom-could-hold-secret-to-treating-aggressive-breast-cancer-australian-research-finds/450cb272-924e-492b-84cc-63651290ae00


Argentina Will Be the First South American Country to Legalize Abortion ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1322-abortion-legal-argentina/


 

 

 

 

 

 




Humor for September  2020

Forwarded by Paula

I reflect on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed.  Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I did not drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, it is better to drink this beer &   let dreams come true, than be selfish &   worry about my liver.”      
Babe Ruth   

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”
Paul Horning

"24 hours in a day and 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not!”
H. L. Mencken

"When we drink, we get drunk When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven.”
George Bernard Shaw

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Benjamin Franklin

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, But the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”
Dave Barry

“Beer: Helping ugly people have sex since 3000 B.C.”
W. C. Fields

“Remember ‘I’ before ‘E,’ except in Budweiser.”
Professor Irwin Corey

“To some it is a six-pack. To me, it is a Support Group. Salvation in a can.”
Leo Durocher

One night at Cheers , a TV Sitcom, Cliff Clavin said to his buddy, Norm Peterson: "Well, ya see, Normy, it's like this .. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But, naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers!”


Church Signs Forwarded by Tina

Cremation is your last chance for a smokin' hot body

Baptist Church:  If you stole our AC units keep one ---  It's very hot where you're headed

Forbidden fruit causes many jams

Anglican Church:  Adam and Eve were the first to not read the apple's terms, conditions, and side effects

If you're praying for snow, please stop

The fact that there's a "highway to hell" and only a "stairway to heaven" says a lot about traffic flow

Be the kind of person your pet thinks you are

Tweet others like you would like to be tweeted

Honk if you love Jesus; Text while driving if you want to meet him


Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Did you ever wake up, kiss the person next to you, and exclaim how glad you are to be alive. I did, and now I'm banned from that airline.

To get a really sparkling smile run your teeth through a dishwasher.

Single women come home, see what's in the fridge, and then go to bed
Married women come home, see what's in bed, and then go to the fridge.

I don't go the extra mile, because if I do I will miss my exit.

People don't think I'm as old as I am until they listen to me standup.

I want to be 14 again and ruin my life differently with some new ideas.

I don't mind getting older, but my body is taking it differently.

My mind is like an Internet browser in that I have no idea where the music is coming from.


Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Mind-Blowing Facts That Sound Completely Fake But Are Claimed to be True:

* You cannot breathe and swallow at the same time. It's also impossible to hum while holding your nose.
* Coconuts kill more people than sharks every year. Vending machines are twice as likely to kill you than a shark.
* The lint that collects in the bottom of your pockets has a name — gnurr.
* There is enough iron in your body to make a 3-inch nail.

* Every two minutes, we take more pictures than all of humanity did in the 19th century.
* A "butt load" is an actual unit of measurement, equivalent to 126 gallons.
* Every odd number has something in common: They share the letter “e”.
* The dot over an "i" is called a "tittle."
* The word "swims" has a secret: swims upside-down is still swims!
* A strawberry isn't a berry but a banana is. So are avocados and watermelon.
* Peanuts are not nuts. They grow in the ground, so they are legumes.

* New York City is further south than Rome, Italy. Scotland is farther north than Alaska.
* France was still executing people with a guillotine when the first Star Wars film came out.
* And there's enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America in one foot of water.
* There are more fake flamingos in the world than real flamingos.
* Studies show that goats, like us, have accents.
* Armadillos nearly always give birth to identical quadruplets.
* Hippo milk is pink.
* Turtles can breathe out of their butts.
* The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.

* Pluto never made a full orbit around the sun from the time it was discovered to when it was declassified as a planet. Russia has a larger surface area than Pluto. It rains diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter.
* There are more stars in space than there are grains of sand on every beach on Earth.
* If you dug a hole to the center of the Earth and dropped a book down, it would take 42 minutes to reach the bottom.
* A TI-83 calculator has six times more processing power than the computer that landed Apollo 11 on the moon.

* Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barbara Walters were born in the same year, 1929. Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln have the same exact birthday — down to the year. Beethoven and George Washington were alive at the same time — in fact, George Washington was in his forties when Beethoven was born.
* Shakespeare and Pocahontas both lived during the same time.
* Betty White is actually older than sliced bread.
* John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, has a grandson who's alive today.
* The toy Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
* The name Jessica was created by Shakespeare in the play Merchant of Venice.
* Not once in the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme does it mention that he's an egg.

* Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than she did to the building of the Great Pyramid. Mammoths went extinct 1,000 years after the Egyptians finished building the Great Pyramid.
* The probability of you drinking a glass of water that contains a molecule of water that also passed through a DINOSAUR is almost 100%. There are 10 times more bacteria in your body than actual body cells. And 90% of the cells that make us up of aren't human but mostly fungi and bacteria.
* At the time the current oldest person on Earth was born, there was a completely different set of human beings on the planet. And at the time you were born, you were briefly the youngest person in the entire world.
* A thousand seconds is about 16 minutes. A million seconds is about 11 days. A billion seconds is about 32 years. (A billion is a lot!)

 

 

 




Humor August 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q3.htm#Humor0820.htm 

Humor July 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q3.htm#Humor0720.htm 

Humor June 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q2.htm#Humor0620.htm

Humor May 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q2.htm#Humor0520.htm

Humor April 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q2.htm#Humor0420.htm   

Humor March 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q1.htm#Humor0320.htm  

Humor January 2020 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book20q1.htm#Humor0120.htm

Humor December 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q4.htm#Humor1219.htm

Humor November 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q4.htm#Humor1119.htm

Humor October 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q4.htm#Humor1019.htm

Humor September 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q3.htm#Humor0919.htm 

Humor August 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q3.htm#Humor0819.htm 

Humor July 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q3.htm#Humor0719.htm

Humor June 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q2.htm#Humor0619.htm

Humor May 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q2.htm#Humor0519.htm

Humor April 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q2.htm#Humor0419.htm 

Humor March 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q1.htm#Humor0319.htm

Humor February 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q1.htm#Humor0219.htm 

Humor January 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q1.htm#Humor0119.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

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

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