An excerpt from CNN -
Custodian picks up degree from college he cleaned for almost a decade
Michael Vaudreuil is used to picking things up at school. He's a custodian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
But over the weekend, he picked up something he'll definitely want to keep: a college degree.
Vaudreuill, 54, graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the same place where he's cleaned and emptied the trash for the past eight years.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/us/custodian-graduates-from-college-he-cleaned-trnd/index.html
Monday, May 16, 2016
Tea Remedies
An excerpt from Little Things -
Eight Cozy Cups Of Tea To Soothe Your Every Affliction
By Rebecca Endicott
By Rebecca Endicott
Headache And Poor Circulation: Cinnamon Tea
Heeral Chhibber for LittleThings
Cinnamon is another cozy, warming spice that might conjure up images of Christmas cookies or your morning oatmeal.
This flavorful and familiar bark isn’t just good in mulled cider, though; soaking cinnamon sticks in hot water yields a rich, strong tea that can help cure a stubborn headache.
Because of its strong anti-inflammatory properties, cinnamon improves circulation and helps to reduce head pain, which is most often caused by minor swelling of the sinuses and of the facial muscles.
http://www.littlethings.com/tea-home-remedies/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange
Sunday, May 15, 2016
99 Cent Rentals
iTunes is offering 99 cent rentals of hit movies, including Chi-Raq and The Butler.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
A Heavy Burden Multiplied
An excerpt from The Washington Post -
The invisible tax on black teachers
By John King May
John King is U.S. education secretary.
Research conducted recently by the American Federation of Teachers found that, while more teachers of color are being hired than in the past, they also are leaving the profession more quickly than white teachers.
Improved compensation and working conditions can help address this, of course. But one factor in teachers’ decisions to leave deserves special attention: the “invisible tax.”
According to some African American male teachers, the “invisible tax” is imposed on them when they are the only or one of only a few nonwhite male educators in the building. It is paid, for example, when these teachers, who make up only 2 percent of the teaching force nationally, are expected to serve as school disciplinarians based on an assumption that they will be better able to communicate with African American boys with behavior issues.
It is also paid when they have to be on high alert to prepare their students for racism outside of school. “Every time I take my students to an engineering competition, or to speak with industry partners, or to tour colleges, I have to have the code-switching talk,” explained Harry Preston, an African American physics teacher in Baltimore. “That is a mental tax I personally pay as an educator.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Sharif El-Mekki, principal of the Mastery Charter School’s Shoemaker campus in Philadelphia, has noted that the African American teachers he speaks with are of two minds about these extra duties. “They feel honored and appreciated that they are asked,” he said, “but when so many different people are asking them for help, it becomes a burden.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-invisible-tax-on-black-teachers/2016/05/15/6b7bea06-16f7-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
The invisible tax on black teachers
By John King May
John King is U.S. education secretary.
Research conducted recently by the American Federation of Teachers found that, while more teachers of color are being hired than in the past, they also are leaving the profession more quickly than white teachers.
Improved compensation and working conditions can help address this, of course. But one factor in teachers’ decisions to leave deserves special attention: the “invisible tax.”
According to some African American male teachers, the “invisible tax” is imposed on them when they are the only or one of only a few nonwhite male educators in the building. It is paid, for example, when these teachers, who make up only 2 percent of the teaching force nationally, are expected to serve as school disciplinarians based on an assumption that they will be better able to communicate with African American boys with behavior issues.
It is also paid when they have to be on high alert to prepare their students for racism outside of school. “Every time I take my students to an engineering competition, or to speak with industry partners, or to tour colleges, I have to have the code-switching talk,” explained Harry Preston, an African American physics teacher in Baltimore. “That is a mental tax I personally pay as an educator.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Sharif El-Mekki, principal of the Mastery Charter School’s Shoemaker campus in Philadelphia, has noted that the African American teachers he speaks with are of two minds about these extra duties. “They feel honored and appreciated that they are asked,” he said, “but when so many different people are asking them for help, it becomes a burden.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-invisible-tax-on-black-teachers/2016/05/15/6b7bea06-16f7-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Too Cute!
 |
| A photo of Lincoln Ball trying to train his new puppy by showing him a YouTube video has gone viral on Facebook. |
http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/boy-makes-puppy-watch-youtube-tutorials-training-adorable/story?id=39126358
A Roaming Mindset
An excerpt from StumpleUpon -
Instead Of Renting An Apartment, Sign A Lease That Lets You Live Around The World
Roam provides short-term apartments with a communal feel, for today's digital work-from-anywhere nomad.
If you can afford the airfare, it's getting easier to be a digital nomad. Roam, a new network of co-living spaces, offers a lease that lets you continually move: After a couple of weeks or months in Madrid, you can head to Miami, or Ubud, Bali. By 2017, the startup plans to have 8-10 locations around the world.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3cg0MT/:wk0ttLt2:jlSqRSM./www.fastcoexist.com/3059469/instead-of-renting-an-apartment-sign-a-lease-that-lets-you-live-around-the-world
Instead Of Renting An Apartment, Sign A Lease That Lets You Live Around The World
Roam provides short-term apartments with a communal feel, for today's digital work-from-anywhere nomad.
If you can afford the airfare, it's getting easier to be a digital nomad. Roam, a new network of co-living spaces, offers a lease that lets you continually move: After a couple of weeks or months in Madrid, you can head to Miami, or Ubud, Bali. By 2017, the startup plans to have 8-10 locations around the world.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3cg0MT/:wk0ttLt2:jlSqRSM./www.fastcoexist.com/3059469/instead-of-renting-an-apartment-sign-a-lease-that-lets-you-live-around-the-world
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Greatest Innovation Era?
An excerpt from The New York Times -
What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation? A Brief Guided Tour
Which was a more important innovation: indoor
plumbing, jet air travel or mobile phones?
By NEIL IRWIN MAY 13, 2016
We’re in the golden age of innovation, an era in which digital technology is transforming the underpinnings of human existence. Or so a techno-optimist might argue.
We’re in a depressing era in which innovation has slowed and living standards are barely rising. That’s what some skeptical economists believe.
The truth is, this isn’t a debate that can be settled objectively. Which was a more important innovation: indoor plumbing, jet air travel or mobile phones? You could argue for any of them, and data can tell plenty of different stories depending on how you look at it. Productivity statistics or information on inflation-adjusted incomes is helpful, but can’t really tell you whether the advent of air-conditioning or the Internet did more to improve humanity’s quality of life.
We thought a better way to understand the significance of technological change would be to walk through how Americans lived, ate, traveled, and clothed and entertained themselves in 1870, 1920, 1970 and the present. This tour is both inspired by and reliant on Robert J. Gordon’s authoritative examination of innovation through the ages, “The Rise and Fall of American Growth,” published this year. These are portraits of each point in time, culled from Mr. Gordon’s research; you can decide for yourself which era is truly most transformative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/upshot/what-was-the-greatest-era-for-american-innovation-a-brief-guided-tour.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=0
What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation? A Brief Guided Tour
Which was a more important innovation: indoor
plumbing, jet air travel or mobile phones?
By NEIL IRWIN MAY 13, 2016
We’re in the golden age of innovation, an era in which digital technology is transforming the underpinnings of human existence. Or so a techno-optimist might argue.
We’re in a depressing era in which innovation has slowed and living standards are barely rising. That’s what some skeptical economists believe.
The truth is, this isn’t a debate that can be settled objectively. Which was a more important innovation: indoor plumbing, jet air travel or mobile phones? You could argue for any of them, and data can tell plenty of different stories depending on how you look at it. Productivity statistics or information on inflation-adjusted incomes is helpful, but can’t really tell you whether the advent of air-conditioning or the Internet did more to improve humanity’s quality of life.
We thought a better way to understand the significance of technological change would be to walk through how Americans lived, ate, traveled, and clothed and entertained themselves in 1870, 1920, 1970 and the present. This tour is both inspired by and reliant on Robert J. Gordon’s authoritative examination of innovation through the ages, “The Rise and Fall of American Growth,” published this year. These are portraits of each point in time, culled from Mr. Gordon’s research; you can decide for yourself which era is truly most transformative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/upshot/what-was-the-greatest-era-for-american-innovation-a-brief-guided-tour.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=0
When Schools Allow Creativity & Innovation
From Stanford Magazine -
IMAGINE WALKING INTO A HIGH SCHOOL classroom and, instead of rows of desks and chairs facing a whiteboard, you see workbenches. Stationed around the room is an array of machines: a 3-D printer, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter and a milling machine. Metal drawers and storage shelves are stocked with wood, resins, burlap, glue, machinable wax, acrylic and dozens of other supplies.
You have entered a fab lab.
What’s that? Short for “fabrication laboratory,” the concept—born at MIT in 2001—was to create an environment full of multipurpose tools where one could build nearly anything. The idea caught on, and now there are close to 600 fab labs worldwide, according to fablabs.io, a website that supports and organizes the fab lab movement. The underlying goal is to provide broad access to modern means of invention.
http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=86044&utm_medium=Email&GenwiShareGUID=E6F0A8E4-4D3E-4D11-AE82-657C0E75D103
 |
| FAB FEATS: Juliana Cook, ’15 (above), works in Blikstein's lab, where creations range from sculptures to 3-D printing projects. Photo: Tamer Shabani, '14 |
IMAGINE WALKING INTO A HIGH SCHOOL classroom and, instead of rows of desks and chairs facing a whiteboard, you see workbenches. Stationed around the room is an array of machines: a 3-D printer, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter and a milling machine. Metal drawers and storage shelves are stocked with wood, resins, burlap, glue, machinable wax, acrylic and dozens of other supplies.
You have entered a fab lab.
What’s that? Short for “fabrication laboratory,” the concept—born at MIT in 2001—was to create an environment full of multipurpose tools where one could build nearly anything. The idea caught on, and now there are close to 600 fab labs worldwide, according to fablabs.io, a website that supports and organizes the fab lab movement. The underlying goal is to provide broad access to modern means of invention.
http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=86044&utm_medium=Email&GenwiShareGUID=E6F0A8E4-4D3E-4D11-AE82-657C0E75D103
A Black Golfer We Can Be Proud Of
Excerpts from Stanford Magazine -
MARIAH STACKHOUSE has never been known to shrink from the spotlight. Not when students and faculty flocked to her gallery to watch her complete the best round in the history of women’s collegiate golf—a 10-under-par 61 in her first tournament at the Stanford Golf Course as a freshman. Not when she was asked to give a speech introducing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to a packed banquet hall in 2014. And not when the Cardinal’s season depended on her overcoming a two-stroke deficit with two holes to play against Baylor at the NCAA championships last May.
~~~~~~~~~~
The young fans who flock to her tournaments find a similarly magnetic role model in Stackhouse, who is personable, quick to laugh and, at 5-foot-2, close to their size. (Among the things her young fans don’t know about her but would no doubt admire: She has a nearly encyclopedic memory for song lyrics.) Says Stackhouse of her pint-size acolytes, “I love it when little black girls tweet me or come up to me at tournaments to say, ‘I want to go to Stanford!’”
http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=86084&utm_medium=Email&GenwiShareGUID=ABDBABB2-E56D-4C81-A749-A69CD9EC0FEC
 |
| PRECOCIOUS: Stackhouse has been winning tournaments since she was 6. Photo: Casey Valentine/Isiphotos.com |
MARIAH STACKHOUSE has never been known to shrink from the spotlight. Not when students and faculty flocked to her gallery to watch her complete the best round in the history of women’s collegiate golf—a 10-under-par 61 in her first tournament at the Stanford Golf Course as a freshman. Not when she was asked to give a speech introducing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to a packed banquet hall in 2014. And not when the Cardinal’s season depended on her overcoming a two-stroke deficit with two holes to play against Baylor at the NCAA championships last May.
~~~~~~~~~~
The young fans who flock to her tournaments find a similarly magnetic role model in Stackhouse, who is personable, quick to laugh and, at 5-foot-2, close to their size. (Among the things her young fans don’t know about her but would no doubt admire: She has a nearly encyclopedic memory for song lyrics.) Says Stackhouse of her pint-size acolytes, “I love it when little black girls tweet me or come up to me at tournaments to say, ‘I want to go to Stanford!’”
http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=86084&utm_medium=Email&GenwiShareGUID=ABDBABB2-E56D-4C81-A749-A69CD9EC0FEC
Patterns in Our World
From The Smithsonian -
The Science Behind Nature's Patterns
A new book explores the physical and chemical reasons behind incredible visual structures in the living and non-living world
 |
| A furled chameleon tail obviously takes its shape from the rolling of a tube, but its pattern is distinct from that created by rolling an even tube, such as that of a garden hose. The gentle taper of the tail produces a logarithmic spiral—one that gets smaller, yet the small parts look like the large parts. (Michal Filip Gmerek/Shutterstock.com) |
 |
| The undulations of a sand dune reveal a pattern in time as well as space. Sinuous waves arise from a pulse, an ebb and flow, as grains of sand are blown in the wind. (Denis Burdin/Shutterstock.com) |
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-behind-natures-patterns-180959033/#HmG7CfIdXah4fwCG.99
Friday, May 13, 2016
Google Needs You
An excerpt from PC Magazine -
Google Will Pay You to Drive Around in Its Self-Driving Cars
BY ANGELA MOSCARITOLO
The Web giant is looking to hire "vehicle safety specialists" in Arizona to be part of its self-driving car project.
Calling all college graduates in Arizona with a clean driving record and no criminal history: Google wants your help.
The Web giant is looking to hire "vehicle safety specialists" in the state to be part of its self-driving car project. As per the job description, those selected will be tasked with driving an autonomous vehicle around the state for six to eight hours per day, five days per week, collecting data for Google's engineering team. Drivers will earn $20 per hour, according to The Arizona Republic.
"Test drivers play an important role in developing our self-driving technology," Brian Torcellini, head of operations for Google's Self-Driving Car testing program, told the paper. "They give our engineers feedback about how our cars are driving and interacting with others on the road, and can take control of the vehicle if needed."
http://www.pcmag.com/news/344438/google-will-pay-you-to-drive-around-in-its-self-driving-cars
Google Will Pay You to Drive Around in Its Self-Driving Cars
BY ANGELA MOSCARITOLO
The Web giant is looking to hire "vehicle safety specialists" in Arizona to be part of its self-driving car project.
Calling all college graduates in Arizona with a clean driving record and no criminal history: Google wants your help.
The Web giant is looking to hire "vehicle safety specialists" in the state to be part of its self-driving car project. As per the job description, those selected will be tasked with driving an autonomous vehicle around the state for six to eight hours per day, five days per week, collecting data for Google's engineering team. Drivers will earn $20 per hour, according to The Arizona Republic.
"Test drivers play an important role in developing our self-driving technology," Brian Torcellini, head of operations for Google's Self-Driving Car testing program, told the paper. "They give our engineers feedback about how our cars are driving and interacting with others on the road, and can take control of the vehicle if needed."
http://www.pcmag.com/news/344438/google-will-pay-you-to-drive-around-in-its-self-driving-cars
Trump and the Holy Ones
An excerpt from The New Republic -
Why Evangelicals Like Trump
Fundamentalist approaches to evangelicalism have long fostered anti-intellectual and authoritarian mindsets.
BY MUGAMBI JOUET
The support that Donald Trump has received from legions of evangelicals has puzzled and “surprised” many people. After all, the presumptive Republican nominee is exceptionally vulgar and, despite claiming to be a devout Christian whose favorite book is the Bible, knows little about scripture and has emphasized, “I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness” from God. One common explanation for this apparent contradiction is that numerous evangelicals embrace Trump’s agenda, from eviscerating Obamacare to cracking down on undocumented immigrants and barring Muslims from entering America. But Trump and his evangelical supporters think alike in more ways than people realize. Fundamentalist approaches to evangelicalism have long fostered anti-intellectual, anti-rational, black-and-white, and authoritarian mindsets—the very traits that define Trump.
The historian Richard Hofstadter explored the roots of the issue in his 1966 book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, which described how the spread of evangelicalism since the eighteenth century fostered the notion that education is an obstacle to faith. Not all evangelicals thought alike, although many were convinced that people need not read any book except the Bible. As the influential preacher Dwight L. Moody (1837-99) proclaimed, “I do not read any book, unless it will help me to understand the book.” Hofstadter concluded that this anti-intellectual conception of religion extended to life outside the church. Hardline evangelicals became particularly disdainful of reflection and refined ideas, leading some to be drawn to “men of emotional power or manipulative skill.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/133488/evangelicals-like-trump?utm_source=New+Republic&utm_campaign=7710bae9ba-Daily_Newsletter_5_13_20165_13_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4ad0aba7e-7710bae9ba-59581889
Why Evangelicals Like Trump
Fundamentalist approaches to evangelicalism have long fostered anti-intellectual and authoritarian mindsets.
BY MUGAMBI JOUET
The support that Donald Trump has received from legions of evangelicals has puzzled and “surprised” many people. After all, the presumptive Republican nominee is exceptionally vulgar and, despite claiming to be a devout Christian whose favorite book is the Bible, knows little about scripture and has emphasized, “I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness” from God. One common explanation for this apparent contradiction is that numerous evangelicals embrace Trump’s agenda, from eviscerating Obamacare to cracking down on undocumented immigrants and barring Muslims from entering America. But Trump and his evangelical supporters think alike in more ways than people realize. Fundamentalist approaches to evangelicalism have long fostered anti-intellectual, anti-rational, black-and-white, and authoritarian mindsets—the very traits that define Trump.
The historian Richard Hofstadter explored the roots of the issue in his 1966 book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, which described how the spread of evangelicalism since the eighteenth century fostered the notion that education is an obstacle to faith. Not all evangelicals thought alike, although many were convinced that people need not read any book except the Bible. As the influential preacher Dwight L. Moody (1837-99) proclaimed, “I do not read any book, unless it will help me to understand the book.” Hofstadter concluded that this anti-intellectual conception of religion extended to life outside the church. Hardline evangelicals became particularly disdainful of reflection and refined ideas, leading some to be drawn to “men of emotional power or manipulative skill.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/133488/evangelicals-like-trump?utm_source=New+Republic&utm_campaign=7710bae9ba-Daily_Newsletter_5_13_20165_13_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4ad0aba7e-7710bae9ba-59581889
Can We Pay Some More Folks?
A tweet from Patrick Stewart as seen on The Huffington Post -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-patrick-stewart-tweet_us_5735799ce4b077d4d6f2b8d3
Made me forget the humidity for a moment.
Worth 5 bucks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-patrick-stewart-tweet_us_5735799ce4b077d4d6f2b8d3
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Meet Gboard
Once you add the keyboard, you'll need to hold down the GLOBE on the left of the space bar and select Gboard to activate it.
Being able to search within apps is a super cool feature.
Enjoy!
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