Unveiling Metadata in Photos

Jerone Andrews exposes the digital fingerprints on modern filmless cameras. These cameras by default stamp the time, date, and often location associated with the image.

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Online Math Success

Beth McMurtrie reports on success in teaching math online.

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Mobile Phone Webcam

Whitson Gordon suggests how to turn old cameras into a webcam .

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Independent Booksellers

Casey Cep writes of the the struggles independent book stores face competing with Amazon.

Cep interviewed bookseller Danny Caine, who noted that he must sell a book for $26.99 which Amazon sells for $15. Caine said that "our [wholesale] cost from the publisher for that book would be $14.57," and with a 43¢ margin, the store would be bankrupt in a week.

For more information, read Ryan Raffaelli's academic study of the value of independent bookstores.

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Video Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZlD6rZJCA

Key Elements of Storytelling

Angus Fletcher shares eight key concepts of memorable stories .

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University Employment Guarantees

Maryalene LaPonsie writes about universities which guarantee their graduates will find employment or they offer additional training without tuition.

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Squelching Extremist Posts

Karen Hao interviews Joaquin Quiñonero Candela, a director of AI at Facebook, about how Facebook should deal with algorithms which encourage engagement [good for revenue] and also fuel extremist posts [bad for society].

"I don’t know" was Candela's response.

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Expanding Health Care

Joan Kenen writes about how the major U.S. political parties are moving toward acceptance of health care for all .

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U.S. Political Trends

Zack Stanton interviews Stanley Greenberg, a political analyst employed by the Democrats. In the article the political analyst explains how race and education level have become dividing characteristics among U.S. voters, and what the current President is doing to try to gain support and heal the middle and lower class.

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Critical Thinking

Christopher Dwyer shares tips for using critical thinking .

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Obessive Compulsive Disorder

Lisa Whittington-Hill recounts the painful challenge of living with obsessive-compulsive disorder .

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St. Patrick's Day

Rose Davidson summarizes the history of St. Patrick's Day . The Economist created a short video about how the day came to be celebrated world-wide.

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Source: https://www.soberstpatricksday.org/

Higher Education

Goldie Blumenstyk shares four ideas for improving higher education :

1. Training on more-inclusive practices in college admissions.
2. A crowdsourced resource to help students and families find an affordable college.
3. A training and mentorship program to assist faculty members moving to “the dark side” of academic administration.
4. A model for greater collaboration between colleges and employers on work-based learning.

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Working From Home: Does It Cost the Worker More?

Sarah Holder reports on research by Christopher T. Stanton and Pratyush Tiwari which shows that home workers tend to pay more for housing .

I attribute this to the fact home workers are in the same environment all day, and are willing to splurge to have an environment they like.

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Pi Day Rant

V. Hart shares her Pi Day rant .

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Win Arguments

David Hoffeld offers tips to winning arguements without making enemies.

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Influences on Child Development

Yuko Munakata explains research which says parental behavior influences child behavior, but that the most important influence on a child's future behavior seems to be < a href="https://ideas.ted.com/why-parents-should-stop-blaming-themselves-for-how-their-kids-turn-out/" target="_blank">genetic .

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The Quest for Universal Beauty

Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman write about the quest for universal beauty .

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Pi Day Is Coming

Pi Day will soon be here. Mometrix has created this nice countdown timer to help build anticipation for the events.

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Raising a Child

Kelly Oakes writes about caring for infants . In many nations babies sleep with the parents; this is not the norm in the United States.

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Bus Travel in the United States

Laura Bliss reviews the stress that bus companies in the United States experience.

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Conserving Water, Growing Crops

Lou Del Bello explains a need for crops which use minimal water .

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Education Technology Companies Are Booming

Goldie Blumenstyck writes about the flow of money into educational technology .

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Chromebooks

J. R. Raphael muses on the development of the Google Chrome OS and Chromeboo.

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Speaking Truth to Power

Adam Grant riffs on Steve Jobs at Apple, to show how pursuading stubborn, know-it-all narcissists can be accomplished. Grant concludes that greatness often results when people with knowledge effectively speak the truth to those with power.

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Verify Facts With Lateral Reading

Charlie Warzel shares the concept that fact checking should be a quick process, verifying by first determining coherence with other sources, even Wikipedia articles.

This concept is promoted by Michael Caulfield, who believes that people tend to overthink while verifying online information. Caulfield thinks too many people spend hours using critical thinking techniques to evaluate every tenet of a questionable claim. Caulfield's position is that in most cases we just need to identify a claim as doubtful and move on.

Caulfield found these concepts in a paper by Sam Wineburg and work Sarah McGrew. Based on this research, Caulfield argues "that the best way to learn about a source of information is to leave it and look elsewhere"(Warzel, 2021).

Warzel says Caulfield recommends a four-step process when confronted with dubious information:

1. Stop.
2. Investigate the source.
3. Find better coverage.
4. Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context.

This process goes by the acronym "SIFT." It is intended for the average individual who wants to verify if a claim is consistent with other sources which are generally accurate in a reasonable amount of time.

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Sea Sponge Glass

Elena Renken reports on research on the strength, resilience, and optical properties of a sea sponge's glass skeleton .

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Microsoft Windows Is Losing Market Share

Emil Protalinski reports that Windows market share is dropping, while the Google Chrome OS has risen to over 10% of the market in 2020.

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Hard Boiled Eggs

Ann Pittman reports on the best method for boiling an egg .

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Jacob Lurie and Category Theory

Kevin Hartnett explains the basic concepts of Jacob Lurie's research into category theory , research which explores gradiations in difference in sets with diverse elements.

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Recording Lectures

Patrick Culbert suggests that professors should continue to record lectures . It is good for the student, and it is a tool for instructor improvement as well.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Bottlenecks

Isaac Arnsdorf the lead time in fighting COVID-19 by upping vaccine production.

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Successful Learning

Cecelia Meis shares the importance of a growth mindset .

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