Monday 28 October 2013

Facebook researchers are trying to predict when you and your spouse will break up

theverge.com - A Cornell professor and a senior Facebook engineer are claiming to have developed a Facebook algorithm that can accurately identify who you're dating and, especially for new relationships, whether you're in danger of breaking up.The algorithm depends on a new metric the researchers are calling "disperson," which looks at connections between people who have different sets of friends. Close friends are likely to share a lot of friends in common, which social scientists call "embeddedness.

Securities Course | Online and Distance Learning

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This page helps you find out more about a securities course, what the course is about, where you can take them, and what you can expect to earn …



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Evolution of the Aussie bloke

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From beered-up snag-lover to well-groomed SNAG: The quiet evolution of the Aussie male has been rapid and significant – if faltering. (Well, we do have a senator now whose idea of a good time is throwing kangaroo poo at his mates!) New research has found Hugh Jackman to be the celebrity more men aspire to be like than any other. That he is seen as intelligent, friendly, family oriented and a gentleman all run in his favour. Shane Warne is considered a fallen idol. But actually, it’s not so much that Warne has fallen, more that the male standard has risen. Australia, ladies and gentlemen, is coming of age.




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Full Documentary SINGULARITY [2013] Rise of the Machines with Ray Kurzweil and Stephen Hawking

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You watched an YouTube Original HBO - Hello Beiber Orifice; a Film By Justin Beiber; a Stephen Hawcking Production, in association with Ray Kurzweil Pictures.




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Educational Administration Leadership Masters | Online and Distance Learning

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This page provides information on what is studied in educational administration leadership masters degrees and where you can study them online.



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Educational Psychology Online | Online and Distance Learning

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Find out more about studying educational psychology, what the job prospects are after graduating, and locate educational psychology online programs at suitable schools.



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Neuroscience pushes meditation into the mainstream

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MINNEAPOLIS Propelled by technological breakthroughs in neuroscience allowing researchers to monitor brain activity, the medical community is increasingly aware that meditation has beneficial physical effects on the brain.



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5 steps to maximize iPads for students with autism | eSchool News | eSchool News

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Learn how you can increase student achievement and classroom efficiency by following these 5 steps when using the iPad for education.



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Can A Data Benchmarking Exercise Affect Positive Change Within Development? - Zunia.org

zunia.org

Publish What You Fund (PWYF) released its annual Aid Transparency Index and advanced the claim that transparent aid information is a “necessary condition to enable…social change”. However, earlier this week, Duncan Edwards of the Institute of Development Studies argued that the rosy prescription of “openness + ICTs = development outcomes” is fundamentally flawed.

The apparent dissonance between these two views is, in our view, reconcilable. Open data is certainly not sufficient to provoke positive change, but it is also not inconsequential. Open data can be catalytic when complementary efforts are in place to address several other important conditions: incentives are in place for donors to supply useful information; the intended beneficiaries of aid have an understanding of how the information supplied by donors is relevant to their interests; and local stakeholders in the developing world have the ability to put such data to effective use.

Thursday 24 October 2013

Inhaled Stem Cells Might Replace Lost Neurons

scientificamerican.com - See InsideIntranasal stem cell therapy may one day treat brain disordersBy Caitlin ShureImage: Jim KoppMany diseases of the central nervous system involve the death of neurons—so, theoretically, the replacement of dead cells should improve symptoms of degenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's, as well as stroke and brain tumors. Stem cell therapy may do just that even though evidence of its effectiveness is mixed.

Could a Focus on 'Dispositions' in Education Improve Teaching?

educationnews.org - Deborah Schussler, associate professor in Penn State’s College of Education, said that ‘dispositions’ — rapid, calculated judgments and responses — should be included as one element to be evaluated in teacher education programs. According to Schussler, it is important to clarify and build dispositions in teacher education to help future teachers to be better prepared and morally sensible.Explaining dispositions in education, Schussler said they are a teacher’s quick decisions or understandings based on the perceptions of his/her environment and how they affect future actions, Pennsylvania State University said in a statement .

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Internet for all: SA towns race for free public wifi

zunia.org - Africa , basic network , city network , communications technology , E-government , electricity , government services , ICT , ICT Applications , internet service , nelson mandela , United States , South Africa , East Asia and Pacific , Europe and Central Asia , South AsiaThe idea that access to the internet is something other than a cutting-edge luxury has been slow to filter into South African discourse.





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Internet for all: SA towns race for free public wifi

zunia.org - Africa , basic network , city network , communications technology , E-government , electricity , government services , ICT , ICT Applications , internet service , nelson mandela , United States , South Africa , East Asia and Pacific , Europe and Central Asia , South AsiaThe idea that access to the internet is something other than a cutting-edge luxury has been slow to filter into South African discourse.

The new distance learning gets up close and personal

theglobeandmail.com - Jennifer Feschuk already had one degree when she started at Royal Roads University in Victoria last year, but she still had some pre-school jitters before her classes began.The first day involved the typical tour and meet-and-greet with classmates, and she was given time to look around and get her bearings. But unlike her first postsecondary experience, this wasn’t taking place in person – it was all being done online.





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The new distance learning gets up close and personal

theglobeandmail.com - Jennifer Feschuk already had one degree when she started at Royal Roads University in Victoria last year, but she still had some pre-school jitters before her classes began.The first day involved the typical tour and meet-and-greet with classmates, and she was given time to look around and get her bearings. But unlike her first postsecondary experience, this wasn’t taking place in person – it was all being done online.

Doctors often don't reveal cancer test overtreatment and harms

health.harvard.edu - There’s no question that tests to detect cancer before it causes any problems can save lives. But such tests can also cause harm through overdiagnosis and overtreatment.A study published online yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine indicates that the majority of people are never informed by their doctors that early warning cancer tests may detect slow-growing, or no-growing, cancers that will never cause symptoms or affect health.

Sunday 20 October 2013

This Week in Seeding the Change: 20 Teachers Who Are Changing the World

huffingtonpost.com - Every day of the week, The Pollination Project awards $1000 seed grants to individuals working in areas like sustainability, social justice, community health and wellness, arts and media. Our “pollination philanthropy” model of giving money directly to people, instead of established entities, is intended to help change-makers launch new ideas — and teachers have unique opportunities to strike at the roots and create a more just, peaceful, healthy future for us all.





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This Week in Seeding the Change: 20 Teachers Who Are Changing the World

huffingtonpost.com - Every day of the week, The Pollination Project awards $1000 seed grants to individuals working in areas like sustainability, social justice, community health and wellness, arts and media. Our "pollination philanthropy" model of giving money directly to people, instead of established entities, is intended to help change-makers launch new ideas -- and teachers have unique opportunities to strike at the roots and create a more just, peaceful, healthy future for us all.

Saturday 19 October 2013

Anatomy of a bush fire: How Australia's explosive forest fires work

cnn.com - (CNN) — Fanned by scorching summer winds that feel like they’re directed from a giant hair dryer, firefighters variously describe the sound of an Australian bush fire as somewhere between a freight train and a jet engine just before take-off.Add to the mix boiling apocalyptic smoke clouds, desperate homeowners caught between fleeing or fighting the fire and sheets of fan-blasted flame that carpet whole stretches of country road, and it is little wonder that residents and firefighters regard bush fires with something approaching awe of the supernatural.





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Researchers discover new approach to improve personalized cancer treatments

medicalxpress.com - Researchers from the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, and University of Toronto have successfully shown that a new method for targeting mutated cells could create a major breakthrough in a personalized medicine approach to treat cancer.The team's findings are published in the Oct. 15 issue of Cancer Research , a journal of the American Association of Cancer Research.The new research discovers susceptible genes in the cancer cells using synthetic lethal interactions—pairs of genes in which mutation in either gene alone causes no damage to the cell, but where mutations in both cause the death of the cell.

Friday 18 October 2013

Aid for trade: A failing grade in LDCs?

zunia.org - Aid for Trade has certainly helped to shift the aid debate towards building productive capacities. According to the WTO/OECD database, Aid for Trade is mostly disbursed to productive capacity-building projects and trade-related infrastructure. Until 2009, transport and storage, energy, and agriculture accounted for 80 per cent of Aid for Trade resources, and were identified by LDCs as priority areas reported in the Aid for Trade evaluation survey.





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5 Open Education Resources for K-5 Common Core Math

edutopia.org - There is an abundance of math open educational resources on the web. So many, in fact, that Education Week asked, " Why is There More Open Content for Math than English? "Common Core is driving a lot of the growth in open education production and curation, with new databases and sources popping up left and right. It can be overwhelming to wade through everything, and find a source that works for your classroom.

Thursday 17 October 2013

Massive open online courses: a first report card

theguardian.com - Many foreign students are running the text of their work, readings and lectures through translation software multiple times. Photograph: Gary S Chapman/Getty ImagesWho's going to grade all that homework?Those of us who are engaged in teaching "massive open online courses", or Moocs , find ourselves answering a lot of questions these days, and that's one we hear a lot.One month into my own effort for Northwestern University, I've heard so many versions of that one on the street, in meetings, and even when doing TV interviews, that I have a quick and facile answer:

Twitter Hires Google Advertising Executive Ahead of IPO

mashable.com - Twitter has hired a Google advertising executive to be head of retail, as the company ramps up hiring and works to expand its business ahead of an initial public offering.J.J. Hirschle, who directed media and entertainment advertising at Google, will be responsible for the team selling advertising products to retail companies, Will Stickney, a spokesman for Twitter, said Wednesday. He starts Oct. 28.

Bright poor 'held back for decades'

m.bbc.co.uk - By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent17 October 2013 Last updated at 01:22 Blue Peter generation: Social mobility had not reached education in the 1960sThe level of qualifications achieved by adults now in their 40s, 50s and 60s was influenced by social background as much as their own intelligence, according to a long-term study from the University of Oxford.It found that children of the same ability went on to achieve very different levels of exam results.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Australian scientists plan to relocate wildlife threatened by climate change

theguardian.com - Australian researchers have developed the “first rigorous framework” on how to relocate animals displaced due to climate change.The study, conducted by academics from four Australian universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), devised a formula on how to decide whether to relocate a species, which species to prioritise for reintroduction and where and how to move them.





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New Technology Lets Doctors Watch Patients From Afar - National Journal

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New Technology Lets Doctors Watch Patients From Afar

National Journal

With wireless technology, data are objective, acquired, and displayed nearly continuously.” That could help doctors better target their care, bringing down costs.



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5 Teaching Strategies To Keep Students From Turning Off Their Brains

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"Dr. Judy Willis–resident brain investigator at Edutopia and TeachThought–is a neurologist turned educator whose work…focuses on the brain–how it works, and how teachers can respond."




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A radiant light and an aura of activity

mindhacks.com - Nature Medicine has a fascinating article about attempts to research the neuroscience of migraine and its aura – the perceptual changes that precede the onset of the splitting headache.It turns out to be trickier than it seems. The idea is to trigger a migraine in people who seem to have clear conditions that start one off and then get them in a scanner as soon as possible.Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work very reliably.

I'm OK, you're not OK: Right supramarginal gyrus plays an important role in empathy

sciencedaily.com - Oct. 9, 2013 — Egoism and narcissism appear to be on the rise in our society, while empathy is on the decline. And yet, the ability to put ourselves in other people's shoes is extremely important for our coexistence. A research team headed by Tania Singer from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences has discovered that our own feelings can distort our capacity for empathy. This emotionally driven egocentricity is recognised and corrected by the brain.

Studying an Education Management PhD Online

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Education management PhD online degrees are particularly useful if you want to progress in a career in school or college management. This page provides more details …



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Studying Organizational Psychology Online

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Find out more about organizational psychology online or industrial organizational psychology and locate suitable universities to take online programs.



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Expand your opportunities with a Computer Engineering Degree

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Pursuing a computer engineering degree gives you the ability to expand your opportunities and increase your salary. This page provides more details …



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Tuesday 15 October 2013

Applying Early Decision: 5 Good (And 4 Bad) Reasons To Do It

huffingtonpost.com - By Winnie MaIf you’re currently a high school senior, chances are your life has turned into stacks of colorful college brochures, scribbled pros-and-cons lists and books about applying to college, all piled so high around you that you’re wondering where the light at the end of the tunnel went. Let’s admit it — you just started the college application process, and you already want it to end! Not only do you have to finalize your list of ever-growing colleges, but you also have to decide if you want to apply early decision to one of them.





via Tumblr Applying Early Decision: 5 Good (And 4 Bad) Reasons To Do It

Applying Early Decision: 5 Good (And 4 Bad) Reasons To Do It

huffingtonpost.com - By Winnie MaIf you're currently a high school senior, chances are your life has turned into stacks of colorful college brochures, scribbled pros-and-cons lists and books about applying to college, all piled so high around you that you're wondering where the light at the end of the tunnel went. Let's admit it -- you just started the college application process, and you already want it to end! Not only do you have to finalize your list of ever-growing colleges, but you also have to decide if you want to apply early decision to one of them.

Connected and Healthy: Using ICTs to Improve People’s Health

zunia.org - Africa , global development , ICT , ict4d , icts , internatinoal development , mobile technologies , public policy , sustainable development , Health , Open DataIn Kenya, the open data movement has allowed creation of health maps to monitor the spread of diseases such as malaria. These applications combine the power of technology with the appeal of a simple-to-use map and the transparency of an open data platform.

Keeping the Lifeline Open: Remittances and markets in Somalia

zunia.org - Each year, Somali migrants around the world send approximately $1.3bn to Somalia in an expression of solidarity, faith, patriotism, and generosity. These flows represent a significant share of Somalia’s economy and help to reduce Somalia’s reliance on assistance from foreign governments and international organizations.Continued support from the Somali diaspora is essential for Somalia to successfully emerge from its protracted humanitarian emergency and political crisis and build the foundations for its long-term development.

This just in: why news is Twitter's next frontier

theverge.com - Twitter is moving more aggressively into the world of journalism, building a new alert system for breaking news and hiring someone to build new partnerships with the media industry. Together, the moves point to a service that is as much a broadcaster as it is a social network, owning live events with a core product that predicts its users’ interests without having to ask for them. Whether it realizes that vision remains anyone’s guess — but if its latest experiment proves successful, Twitter will have gotten a lot closer to it.

Monday 14 October 2013

What Does It Mean to Be a Connected Educator?

edutopia.org - My story began while I had to stay home to convalesce from a recent spine surgery. That sounds bad, but its all good now, so no matter. While I was home recovering, iPad in hand, I began exploring. Edutopia was a good place to start. I had already been using the resources on this site for several years, and had meant to post a note, or read an article... One in particular, commenting on the value of Twitter for establishing a PLN, piqued my interest in exploring that medium.

11-year-old designs a better sandbag, named 'America's Top Young Scientist'

nbcnews.com - 1 hour agoAn 11-year-old boy from Florida has designed a new kind of sandbag to better protect life and property from the ravages of saltwater floods. His invention took top honors at a science fair this week, earning him a $25,000 check and a trip to Costa Rica."Living in Florida, I'm keenly aware of hurricanes and saltwater flooding," the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge grand prize winner Peyton Robertson , who is a sixth grader at the Pine Crest School in Ft.

Wireless Witch: How to Test Your Wireless Performance

pcmag.com - Slow Internet and network performance are annoying. However it's hard to troubleshoot issues when you just feel that performance is slow. You've got to know the kind of performance you are getting in order to improve it. Let's take a look at a few ways you can actually gage and monitor network performance.

The first order of business is to understand the difference between bandwidth and throughput.

A development data revolution needs to go beyond the geeks and bean-counters

zunia.org - Africa , development data revolution , food , global development , good governance , greener technology , ICT Applications , ict4d , icts , international development , public policy , Social development , sustainable development , Technology innovation , United States , East Asia and Pacific , Europe and Central Asia , South AsiaGood data can help progressive leaders and civil servants make their case and implement better policies.





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Becoming an eTeacher

sites.google.com - Hello and welcome to Becoming an eTeacher, a five-module course on getting online and becoming an eTeacher.We will follow Fifi, our teacher, as she learns the essential skills needed to begin eTeaching.This course is in five parts, preceded by an introduction video (to the right). You can preview the modules to see which of them you want or need to complete on its own, or you can complete them all one-by-one in your own time, at your own pace.

Apps for Every School Leader to Consider

itouchthefuture.pbworks.com - When properly configured, tablet devices like the iPad or those running an Android OS are great tools for school leaders. There are all kinds of productivity and utility apps that can be used to streamline tasks and help leaders make better use of their valuable time and resources.Use the links on this page to explore the possibilities.The categories listed here also work well as titles for folders you might want to create on your iPad.

Google Vs. Facebook: A Map Of Global Conquest

npr.org - Mark Graham/Stefano De Sabbata / Internet Geographies at the Oxford Internet InstituteThe U.K.'s Oxford Internet Institute has put together an interesting illustration of the most popular websites around the world. Not surprising, Google and Facebook dominate the globe.We're not quite sure what the data mean, if anything, but you can be the judge.The institute, using data from the Web analytics site Alexa , crunched the numbers and came up with this:

How Twitter Is Going to Take a Billion Dollars From YouTube

allthingsd.com - Twitter’s public S-1 filing revealed much-awaited metrics about the company’s revenue, monthly active users, growth rate and more. Dispersed throughout the 164-page filing are details on tweet distribution and plans for growing ad revenue through Twitter Amplify and real-time TV ad targeting. These plans and details show how Twitter could take $1 billion dollars in ad revenue from YouTube.Yes, YouTube is the de facto video distribution provider on the Internet.

Moocs: from mania to mundanity

timeshighereducation.co.uk - After the hype is over, e-learning will be the norm, predicts Stephen HaggardEducation by computer software will be the norm for post-school learning. Most of us will earn our degrees at a screenThe supernova effects of massive open online courses include a warping of time. Academics running Moocs report working 100-hour weeks. FutureLearn invites applause for its burn rate: 10 months from zero to a full clutch of courses.

Social Media Detectives: Is That Viral Video For Real?

opb.org - Whether it’s an uprising in Egypt or a video of a fake twerking session gone awry , news outlets need to know everything they can about a video before they run with it. That’s where Storyful steps in. The company helps journalists figure out what’s real, and what’s not.“We use the same forensic process of discovery and verification for Syria as we do for hoax videos,” says Executive Editor David Clinch.





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Thalidomide: Were more babies affected?

bbc.co.uk - New scientific research appears to suggest the drug Thalidomide may have caused a wider range of deformities than previously thought. A new group of "Thalidomiders" now believe they should get compensation for their disabilities.Gary Grayson shows me the very first pair of wooden legs he had to wear as a child. They are painted pink, but are heavy and ungainly.The feet are not hinged and there is a complicated harness of steel and leather.