Markup Matters

Barry Schwartz observes that markup matters to Google.

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iPhone Tips

Jonny Evans offers twenty tips specifically for iPhone users .

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New Google Search App

Barry Schwartz mentions that Google is developing a new search app.

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iOS Tips

Johnny Evans shares over 50 tips for using an iPhone or iPad .

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Android for Travelers

Richard Hoffman provides tips on keeping your data secure when traveling overseas.

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Excel for Business Analytics

Thor Olavsrud provides examples of Excel as a tool for interpreting business intelligence.

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Vacations Are Valuable

David Wildermuth argues that vacations provide insights and opportunities.

Enjoy!

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New Madrid Earthquake

Today people are focusing on the eclypse passing through southern Missouri. In 1811 there was another natural event which shaped this part of the United States: the New Madrid earthquake .

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Android Backups

J.R. Raphael advises Android users about backup strategies.

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Incivility on Campus

Marcia Chatelain suggests that in some cases universities embolden white nationalists . She proposes that this is done by:

• Faculty playing the devil's advocate;
• Faculty and staff grumbling about inclusion;
• Discounting student concerns and failing to acknowledge their pain;
• Endorsing stereotypes about minorities, and,
• Nostalgia for the days of campus elites.

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Smartphones and Mental Focus

Mike Elgan reports that smartphones disrupt mental focus, resulting in a 10%-25% decline in attentiveness at work. A study commissioned by Kaspersky Labs indicates that employees who do not bring their smartphones to work are 26 percent more productive. Just having a powered-up phone is distracting -- Jill Elish reports on a Florida State University study showing that cell phone notifications approach the distraction factor of reading a text message.

For more information on this issues, Elgan recommends Sherry Turkle's book, Reclaiming the Conversation, and mentions additional books on the topic will be published later this year. Elgan interviewed Turkle in 2015.

Elgan also highlights two firms, Siempo and Light Phone which are preparing to distribute limited-feature phones for corporate use.

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Chrome Extensions

James Martin recommends a list of select Google Chrome extensions . Martin points out that the Chrome browser has 60% of the U.S. market share. The 25 selected extensions include:

1. Boomerang allows e-mail delivery to be scheduled for a future date.
2. Accomany dredges up information on the person or company who sent you an email.
3. MYSMS allows sending and receiving SMS messages from a desktop or laptop through a wireless connection to a mobile phone.
4. Click & Clean provides tools for clearing your cache, history, and other data on your Chrome browser.
5. Google Page Analytics is used in conjunction with Google Analytics to view which parts of your web page are attracting users.
6. Speedtest reports on your internet connection, providing download and upload statistics.
7. Pocket is a tool for storing web pages for later reading (also available in FireFox).

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iOS Typing Tips

Johnny Evans offers 16 typing tips for those using iPhone and iPads.

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Android Productivity

J. R. Raphael suggests how to tune the Android mobile operating system into a productivity tool.

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Challenges of Being a Diversity Officer

Sarah Brown reports on the challenges of serving as a Diversity Officer at a university.

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Meeting Technology

Alexa Lemzy suggests technologies to incorporate in meetings .

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Telecom Statistics Show Most Youth Have Internet Access

The International Telecommunications Union released statistics on internet usage , indicating that 80% of the worlds' youth have some form of access.

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Android and IOS Security

Lucas Mearian analyzes the Android and IOS operating systems, and reports that IOS is more secure in real-world implementation.

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Chrome to Offer Ad-Blocker by 2018

Gregg Keizer reports that draft updates of the Google Chrome web browser offer ad-blocking , leading to speculation that Chrome users may be able to block ads by 2018.

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The Effect of Offering Live Streaming on Event Participation

Melissa Lombardo interviewed Will Curren, who addressed how live streaming an event impacts attendance, and answered questions about current live streaming technology for event planners.

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Social Networking

Manya Whitaker suggests that an important part of having a useful social network is regular updates and maintaining connection with those in your network. It also entails pruning those with whom you no longer have anything in common: "Be willing to remove people entirely from your network if the usefulness of the relationship has expired."

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Machine Learning and Search Engine Optimization

Dave Davies reports on how machine learning will change the way search engines organize content.

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Google Scholar

Quora participants suggest improvements for Google scholar

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Gainful Employment Statistics Are Not Available From the U.S. Department of Education

Adam Harris reports that the current U.S. Administration is not collecting data regarding gainful employment rates of students after college. The Obama administration had tasked the U.S. Department of Education with compiling data to allow each university to be evaluated on whether graduates were gainfully employed as a result of their educational experience.

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MOOC Design

Alice Bonasio shares the latest trends in MOOC development.

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Firefox v. 57

Stephen Shankland reports on the upgrade to Mozilla's FireFox web browser, slated for October release.

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Overdoing Hobbies

Charles Chu reviews the life of author Oliver Sacks, who almost crippled himself in weight lifting competition . Chu concludes that

"Hobbies are wonderful things, but be careful lest they try to replace the irreplaceable–to supplant love with sex, friendship with fantasy, and meaning with madness."

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Beef Emissions

James Hamblin indicates that carbon emissions could be reduced if beef raising did not consume one-third of arible land.

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Google Can Index Hundreds of Megabytes From a Page

Barry Schwartz reports that Google search can index hundres of megabytes from a page , a tenfold increase from a few years ago.

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Google Search Examples

Dan Russell offers examples off how to make Google searches more productive in his blog, Searchers Research .

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Mobile Design

Patrick Stox offers best practices for mobile-centered web design .

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Google Creates Images

Barry Schwartz notes that webmasters can add markup to their images, allowing Google to automatically create animated GIF files that users can interact with.

Webmasters can test their structured data using this link: https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool

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Classroom Polling Using Mobile Devices and Classroom Distraction

James Lang recommends polling apps which provide instant feedback from the entire classroom. Lang addresses the concerns about students being drawn off-topic as a result of being allowed to use their devices in the classroom, and recommends the reading of Gazzaley's Distracted Minds as well as review of earlier posts in his series on digital distraction.

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