Student Success Efforts

Linda Baer discusses student success in a university environment. She notes that beyond collecting data and developing strategies, student success efforts "are social experiments that run for decades" (section 4, "Develop a Student Success Mindset").

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iPhone Tips

Johnny Evans provides a bunch of iPhone tips for working faster.

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Auto Headlights

Tanya Mohn reports on an AAA study which discloses that European headlight systems are safer than those installed on U.S. vehicles.

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Apple's Watch

Johnny Evans shares tips for using an Apple Watch .

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Crypto Wallets

Lucas Mearian explains the concept of a crypto wallet .

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Blockchain Taxonomy

Lucas Mearian reports on efforts to allow interoperability between various blockchain technologies by establishing a taxonomy.

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Organizing Your Life

J. R. Raphael recommends Android apps for personal organization .

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Listening Skills

David Perlmutter provides tips on becoming a better listener .

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Google Unveils Short URLs for Business Customers

Barry Schwartz reports that Google is now creating short URLs for its business customers.

This seems like a smart idea to me, for if customers only know how to reach a firm through the Google provided link, the firm must maintain their relationship with Google to remain in business.

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Student Success

Goldie Blumenstyk writes about academic effort to use technology to enhance student enrollment and student success.

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Parenting for Success

Tom Popomaronis cites a research study organized by John Gabrieli to encourage parents to talk to their children . The results indicate that children who converse with their parents become happier and more successful than their peers.

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Disable Internet Explorer

Jason Evangelho warns that Internet Explorer can be a vector for attacks on the security of your PC, even if you never use the browser . Evangelho shares instructions from Microsoft for disabling the browser if you are using Windows 10:

Press the Windows logo key+R to open the Run box.
Type appwiz.cpl, and then select OK.
In the the Programs and Features item, select Turn Window features on or off.
In the Windows Features dialog box, locate the entry for the installed version of Internet Explorer. For example, locate the Internet Explorer 11 entry. Then, clear the check box.
Select OK to commit the change.
Restart the computer.

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Ancient Library Catalog

Allison Flood writes about the library of 15,000 books cataloged by Hernando Colon, son of Christopher Columbus. The catalog lists books which have vanished since the early 16th century. The catalog was discovered in a Copenhagen library by Edward Wilson-Lee, author of the recent biography of Colón: The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books. The catalog is valuable because it has annotations which summarize the contents of 2,000 volumes, some of which have been lost.

According to Flood:

After amassing his collection, Colón employed a team of writers to read every book in the library and distill each into a little summary in Libro de los Epítomes, ranging from a couple of lines long for very short texts to about 30 pages for the complete works of Plato, which Wilson-Lee dubbed the “miracle of compression".
Because Colón collected everything he could lay his hands on, the catalogue is a real record of what people were reading 500 years ago, rather than just the classics.

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Memory and the Computer

Gene Tracy suggests that human memory is being offloaded to computer storage.

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Public Library Technology

Erin Carson explores the current technology found in public libraries .

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The following video is in Spanish:

Open Access and Academic Journal Databases

Lindsay Ellis reviews the state of Open Access academic journals, and the budget constraints of buying database bundles.

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Travel Apps Rated

Suzanne Kelleher reports on a J.D. Power study on user satisfaction with travel apps . The following travel agency apps received the best scores:

1. Orbitz (866)
2. Priceline (859)
3. Expedia (847)
4. Travelocity (844)
5. CheapOair (827)

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When Writing, Save Your Drafts

Rebecca Schuman encourages writers to keep their unpublished work for later revision and possible publication . Schuman discovered that many writers destroy work that might have been foundational for later work.

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Handling Requests for Sample (Unpaid) Work

Matt Alderton confronts the ethical issue of being asked to do "free work," suggests that job seekers avoid being doormats .

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Elsevier Publishing

Lindsay Ellis writes that "Elsevier’s Presence on Campuses Spans More Than Journals. That Has Some Scholars Worried ."

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Open Education Resources

Beth McMurtrie shares concerns about free learning resources which are replacing textbooks in many schools.

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Webspam Report 2018

Google has released Webspam Report 2018, which recounts efforts by the search giant to ensure that users do not get spammy results.

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Teaching Newsletter

The Chronicle of Higher Education now has a newsletter called Teaching which offers best practice ideas. In the selected issue, teachers talk about student's course evaluations, using social media and improving student engagement.

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Safari Browser

Johnny Evans offers tips on using the Safari web browser on an iOS device like a smartphone or iPad.

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Academic Faculty and Volunteer Service Expectations

Helene Meyers recommends that faculty who are not on a tenure track should consider the opportunity cost of volunteer service on committees that will not advance their career.

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When to Turn-Off Mobile Data

Mike Elgan suggests that turning-off mobile data will reduce compulsive checking of social media while driving or walking, allowing phone users to be more aware of their surroundings, increase time relating to other people, and save on data bills. He encourages the use of wi-fi when at home or work, and describes apps which limit the need of Android users for mobile data.

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A Moral Dilemma

Herb Childress laments that universities are training far too many for professorships when there are not enough positions for them.

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Forgetfulness as a Virtue

Guido Hertel proposes that forgetfulness may prompt better decisions, if it prompts greater reliance on relevant quality published information .

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Authentication at Facebook

Lucas Mearian notes that incorporating blockchain into Facebook could be both profitable and enhance the authentication of individuals .

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Secure URLs

Ben Fried exhorts the use of HTTPS for website security.

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Web Redirects

Adrian Cojocariu explains how webmasters use 301 redirects .

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Student Distraction

Laura Scione provides tips for reducing student distraction.

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Morning Wakefulness

Wanda Thibodeaux suggests practices which allow one to be more awake in the morning.

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