Cyber Security While Traveling

Christopher Elliot warns about cybersecurity while on vacation , offering suggestions for keeping your privacy while traveling.

-DD

Judging Character By Appearance

Darlene Storm reports that a U.S. agency is supporting Faception in developing a system for identifying potential terrorists by identifying facial features.

It sounds a bit like phrenology.

-DD

Disposal of Sodium Video (1947) Highlights Primative Chemical Handling

Derek Lowe maintains an entertaining blog on mishaps and historical trivia related to chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry. In his February 21, 2012 post called "Ten Tons of Sodium and Just One Lake Ten Tons of Sodium and Just One Lake ", Lowe shares a 1947 clip where chemical disposal was accomplished by dumping into a remote alkaline lake. The video has a recent endnote suggesting that those considering the disposal of chemicals should check the website of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to address safety and legal considerations.

-DD

Global Peace Index

Vision of Humanity has been producing a Global Peace Index since 2008. According to their interactive map, the world has become less peaceful since that time.

-DD

Online Cheating by Students

Dian Schaffhauser reports that students try to bamboozle online proctors by hiding notes or hiring "ringers" to take their test.

-DD

Words to Avoid

John Rampton shares 25 words which should rarely be used to describe a person .

-DD

Poor Quality Networks Plague Inner-City

Patrick Nelson shares university research indicating poor people have lower-quality cell phone service and data services available to them.

-DD

Body Sensors Being Developed by Microsoft

Andy Patrizio shares a Microsoft release about a "mood shirt " it developed to help people cope with extreme emotional states.

-DD

Bots

Katherine Noyes reveals the prevalence of "bots " that add traffic to home and business networks to increase a hacker's website ranking.

-DD

Texting While Driving

Bob Brown notes that texting while driving deprives the driver of a valuable automatic response system, making distracted driving very dangerous.

-DD

Free Digital Textbooks

Dian Schaffhauser lists fifteen sites offering free digital textbooks .

-DD

A Free Reference to Cascading Style Sheets

Tommy Olsson and Paul O'Brien developed an online reference to CSS. Other works in the series include a reference to HTML by Ian Lloyd, and javascriptJavascript by James Edwards. . These reference works are freely available from SitePoint.

-DD

Activation Energy

Mel Robbins in a TEDTalk exhorts people to push themselves to overcome apathy . She says that too many individuals lack the activation energy

-DD

Avoiding Clutter

Stephanie Vozza offers suggests for avoiding clutter and becoming organized.

-DD

Obtaining Discounted Accomodations

Terence Loose offers twenty tips for obtaining a discount on hotel rooms in the United States. These include:

1. Obtain reservations at RoomerTravel.com
2. Ask for a price match
3. Obtain a coupon code
4. Find individuals who have been unable to rent their property, and negotiate
5. Check your discount club
6. Stay midweek
7. Look for inclusive deals
8. Check for credit card benefits
9. See if your affiliation (AAA, AARP, etc.) qualifies you for a discount
10. Try the HotelTonight app
11. Use frequent flier miles
12. Choose a business hotel
13. Investigate if a small or unusual room is available at a lower price
14. Check in late for potential upgrades
15. European Apart-Hotels offer a small kitchen, which saving dining costs
16. Minimize foreign transaction fees
17. Join a loyalty program
18. Sign up for the hotel's credit card

-DD

Standardized Tests

Nikki Adeli shares in a video about the problem with standardized tests .

-DD

Language Learning Tools

Johnny Evans suggests eight mobile apps for learning a foreign langauge . These include:

1. Duolingo
2. Busuu
3. MindSnacks
4. Living Language
5. HiNative
6. Memrise
7. Babbel
8. FluentU

-DD

Securing USB Drives

Emmett Dulaney reviews several encyption options for securing USB drives .

-DD

Free Upgrade to Microsoft Windows 10

Gregg Keizer notes that the free Windows 10 upgrade offer from Microsoft expires July 29, 2016 . Keizer provides sound reasons why Microsoft has limited the timing for the free upgrade.

-DD

Healthcare Apps

Johnny Evans comments on the development of healthcare apps , such as the one being used to help provide more personized care to cateract patients.

-DD

Computer Language Translation

Agam Shah gives a cursory review of the state of automated language translation .

-DD

Lifetime Batteries

Lucas Mearian reports that new lithium-ion batteries which should last the life of a device .

-DD

School Distributing WiFi Hotspots

Patrick Nelson reports that the Coachella Valley Unified School District is now parking school buses in remote areas to provide students with access to WiFi hotspots.

-DD

Solar Power

Lucas Mearian explains that rooftop solar power ownership is seeing a return on investment in five years.

However, Mearian warns that degradation can take place over time, reducing power output by as much as 35%.

-DD

Multitasking

Stanford experts explore multitasking , and discover that multitasking introduces errors.

-DD

Recommended Windows Apps

Woody Leonhard recommends 25 tools for every Windows 10 desktop . These include software for managing updates or new software, or redommended applications for email and office tasks.

-DD