Clipmarks | n2teaching's clips

Blood from a Turnip

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:16:01 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: The city of Milwaukee obviously needs money. If this foreclosure goes through, they can begin to foreclose on may other properties in the same situation. What a way to increase city revenues.

Clip Source: www.jsonline.com

Milwaukee man faces foreclosure because he didn’t pay parking fine

In what city officials believe is the first case of its kind, the city foreclosed on Tubic's house on W. Verona Court after repeated attempts to collect the fine - which over the years had escalated to $2,600 - had failed.

Peter Tubic ignored a $50 parking fine in 2004, and on Monday, it cost him his $245,000 house.

According to the Social Security Administration, Tubic, 62, has been disabled since 2001. He has been diagnosed with psychological disorders that limit his "ability to understand, remember and carry out detailed instructions," according to documents from the administration.

In addition he suffers from chronic pain caused by degenerative diseases of the knees and spine, as well as chronic respiratory disease, diabetes and obesity, among other ailments.

His father was suffering from dementia. His mother was battling cancer, and he was their live-in caretaker.

The van repair could wait, he thought.

Tags: fine, foreclosure, revenues, disability

Squeezing Salmonella to Death

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:04:22 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: This is an excellent use of a previously used technology. By pressurizing fresh food, especially those with few air pockets, bacteria inside the food is squeezed to death
This technique is also use for raw oysters and other meat.

Clip Source: www.redorbit.com

Technology Slays Salmonella on the Farm

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 July 2008, 00:40 CDT

Experts say it’s easier to prevent contamination on the farm than to try to get rid of it later.

"This is never an excuse for a dirty product," warns University of Minnesota infectious disease specialist Michael Osterholm.

Washing produce, even with chlorine or other chemicals, only gets rid of surface contaminants. Washing does not kill germs that sneak inside the fruit or vegetable. Some scientists believe technology is the missing link in protection against food borne diseases.

Food scientists at a Virginia Tech laboratory this summer, subjected small grape tomatoes to what's called "high pressure processing" to see if they could squeeze salmonella to death.

The key to success is to choose a water-packed food with few air pockets. It’s placed in a container of water and pressure is applied evenly to all sides. The air pockets will collapse but the waterlogged tissue is more resistant.

Tags: salmonella, bacteria, "pressure sterilization" technique science, education

The Snake's Tail

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:06:06 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: VERY interesting, yet easily readable research abstract that explains the research behind determining what causes the development of various vetebrae across species

Clip Source: www.hhmi.org

How the Snake Got Its Vertebrae

Snakes, fish, chickens, and humans all begin life in much the same way. Early in their transformation from an amorphous blob of cells into a fully developed animal, growing cells pinch off into a string of identical segments destined to become individual vertebrae, which will later sprout blood vessels, peripheral nerves, and muscle. These repeated segments ensure that the rod-like spinal column can hunch, arch, and twist.

The segmentation process also helps establish some key differences in the body plans of different organisms: while humans have 33 vertebrae, frogs have 10 or fewer, and snakes can have more than 300.

Now, a team led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers has uncovered the mechanism that guides vertebral development in the early embryo and makes sure each species ends up with the right number of vertebrae.

Tags: vertebrae, snakes, people, chickens, research, olivier pourquie'

Be a Book Wizard!

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:20:44 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: Embed this widget in your website or blog and anyone can use it to find children's literature by author, keyword or title.
Scholastic has used Google gadgets to create an excellent teacher resource, a children's literature search engine. You can find your favorite book or search for titles to help you develop an instructional unit. While most titles are published by Scholastic, they do include other book titles from other publishers.
When readers at your blog, wiki, or website use the Teacher Book Wizard Widget, they will be taken away from your site to the Scholastic site. I would like to see this widget open in another tab or window. While this is an inconvenience, it is not a major hindrance.

Clip Source: www.scholastic.com

What is the Teacher Book Wizard Widget and how do I use it?

FREE ultimate children's book search engine

The widget will help teachers find:

Book and author information

Reading levels

Book-based lesson plans, booktalks and discussion guides

Series lists

embed the Teacher Book Wizard Widget onto your Web site or blog.

Tags: widget, search engine, children's literature, reading, teacher, author, lesson plans, discussion

Help Is One Tweet Away!

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:06:55 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: This is the most serious use of Twitter that I have ever seen, but there are lifesaving tweets all over the network.

Clip Source: www.techcrunch.com

Twitter Saves Man From Egyptian Justice

Michael Arrington

Twitter. Don’t leave home without it.

I don’t know if this is as good for Twitter as the Charlie Rose incident was for Apple, but it’s close. UC Berkeley graduate journalism student James Karl Buck was arrested on April 10 without any charges in Egypt for photographing a demonstration.

He used his mobile phone to twitter the message “Arrested” to his 48 followers, who contacted UC Berkeley, the US Embassy and a number of press organizations on his behalf.

next day Buck twittered ” Alive and ok. Still in jail,” but was released not too long afterwards.

Website:	twitter.com
Location:	San Francisco, California, United States
Founded:	March 1, 2006
Funding:	$5.4M

Founded in March of 2006, Twitter is social networking and micro-blogging site that allows users to post their latest updates. An update is limited by 140 characters and can be posted through three methods: web form, text message, or instant message…. Learn More

Tags: twitter, cool, egypt, network, jail, released

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:53:49 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: It seems that NASA and the European Space Administration did NOT say these new predictions by student are correct. It seems that NASA has already accounted for the orbits of the satellites in their collision calculations, so the 1:45,000 probability stands.

Clip Source: www.theregister.co.uk

Schoolboy's asteroid-strike sums are wrong

German kid saw 1 in 450 chance of Apophis apocalypse

By Lewis Page → More by this author

Published Wednesday 16th April 2008 11:06 GMT

There's only one problem with the story: the kid's sums are in fact wrong, NASA's are right, and the ESA swear blind they never said any different. An ESA spokesman in Germany told the Reg this morning: "A small boy did do these calculations, but he made a mistake... NASA's figures are correct."

It would appear that the intial article in the Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten, which says that NASA and the ESA endorsed Nico Marquardt's calculations, was incorrect. The story was picked up by German tabloids and the AFP news wire, and is now all over the internet.

because Apophis will pass interior to the positions of these satellites at closest approach,

does not threaten the satellites in that heavily populated region.

All in all, it seems there's no need to dust off the asteroid-busting space nukes just yet. ®

Tags: probability, nasa, esa, apophis, satellite, orbit, collision, asteroid

More Danger Than Ever

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:57:00 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: Apophis is even more likely to hit Earth, according to a young student and verified by NASA.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: paper

AFP/NASA-HO/File Photo: This artist's rendition released by NASA shows an asteroid belt. A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected...

BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported Tuesday,

Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported.

NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young whizzkid had got it right.

The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to the planet on April 13 2029.

Tags: nasa, apophis, earth, student, germany, esa, satellites, asteroid

A Spoonful of Sugar

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:49:11 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: Very interesting research that could affect children's and adult's eating habits if they knew about these data.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

A Spoonful Of Sugar Makes Some Kids Feel Good

ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2005) — It's no secret that children like sweet-tasting foods and beverages. It's also known that sweet taste acts as an analgesic in children, reducing their perception of pain.

analgesic efficacy of sweet taste is influenced both by how much a child likes sweet taste and by the child's weight status.

To evaluate response to pain, the researchers used a classical model known as the cold pressor test, measuring how long subjects were able to keep their hands in a cold water bath maintained at 50 degrees F (10 C). The cold pressor test was repeated twice, once with the subject holding a 24 percent sucrose solution in the mouth and again with water in the mouth.

In normal weight children,

sucrose reduced the experience of pain in children with higher sweet taste preferences, but not in children who preferred lower concentrations of sweetness.

analgesic was blunted in overweight and at-risk-for-overweight children

Tags: childrens_health, psychology, biology, sucrose, taste_bud, research, experiment

Video Ghosties

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:28:35 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: Mhmm! Sounds like an idea for a new Ghost Hunters International episode;D sent by a Twitter colleague

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

'Soldier ghost' caught on camera

A group of amateur film-makers believe they may have proof that ghosts really do exist after one of them caught something strange on camera.

The group now plan to research the area's Roman history

George Gunn said he captured pictures of a ghostly apparition while out walking along a footpath in Outwood, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Mr Gunn, a member of Outwood Community Video Club, said he thought the figure looked like that of a Roman soldier.

'Something peculiar'

The apparition appears to be still in the footage, but fades momentarily as two people jog through it.

Mr Gunn did not notice the figure until he reviewed his film later in the day.

Tags: ghosts, video, image

Mac or PC: Can't Decide

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:37:50 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: People are still talking about this; Let's all get along; go opensource w/Linux and use web applications like IBM's new Symphony of office applications. What do you think?

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

Missionairies of Macintosh

by Sheril R. Kirshenbaum Department: Technology

I need a new computer.

The disagreeable Toshiba from grad school crashes inexplicably on it's own whim. I've wiped it clean so many times it has more in common with Jim Carrey's character in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind than it's brethren that recognize Windows. Needless to say, I'm a little uncomfortable storing anything important on the old Tosh (although my trusty external harddrive puts me at ease).

At the day job I use an archaic hand-me-down Dell. Occasionally, it forgets it has memory upon booting up - only to curiously display familiar desktop items later in the week just when I begin to get concerned.

And though I still adore that old Smith-Corona Super Sterling and it is wireless and portable, it's also disconnected, and just won't cut it long term.

Which leaves your resident blogger at a crossroads... PC or Mac?

Tags: pc, mac, choice, wiredscience, laptop, computer, operating system, web applications, symphony, linux

Breathtaking View: Up Close and Personal

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:28:40 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, the three copies of the Magna Carta will be on display in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. If you live close or can travel this will be the trip of a lifetime. Most times, these documents cannot be seen by the public.

Clip Source: www.ox.ac.uk

Oxford's Bodleian library holds a quarter of the world’s Magna Cartas

A new survey has revealed that nearly a quarter of the world’s original 13th-century manuscripts of Magna Carta are held at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.

survey, conducted in advance of a Sotheby’s sale of the a Magna Carta belonging to Ross Perot, has found seventeen surviving Charters

The Magna Carta (or ‘Great Charter of English Liberties’) is considered one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy. It was agreed by King John at Runnymede in 1215 and reissued throughout the 13th century by England’s rulers. It was the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today, and its influence extends to the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.

1217 Charters are a unique historical collection,’ says Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian. Each Charter originally bore the seals of the guardians of the boy King Henry III

Tags: magna carta, oxford's bodleian library, 13th century, survey sotheby, ross perot

Charter of the Forest: A Sister

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:18:13 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: The Charter of the Forest was negotiated at the same time as the Magna Carta, and further spelled out some rights that belonged even to the common man; for instance, a king did not have the right to kill someone just because they hunted in the King's Forest.

Clip Source: info.sjc.ox.ac.uk

The Charter of the Forest and its relationship to Magna Carta

Henry III's Charter of the Forest was issued on November 6, 1217, in the second year of Henry's reign. It followed the reissue in 1216 and again in the same year, 1217, of Magna Carta, first promulgated by Henry's father, John, in 1215, and the two statutes need to be seen as complementary. The editors of the translation in English Historical Documents (set out below) pointed out that a new additional article (Clause 20) in the 1217 text of Magna Carta makes clear that the drafting took place after a decision had been taken to make a separate charter for forest questions.

[10] No one shall henceforth lose life or limb because of our venison, but if anyone has been arrested and convicted of taking venison he shall be fined heavily if he has the means; and if he has not the means, he shall lie in our prison for a year and a day;

if after

he can find pledges he may leave prison; but if not, he shall abjure the realm of England.

Tags: english common law, common law, magna carta, charter of the forest, oxford university, bodleian library, king henry iii, king john

Going Freelance? Check this out!

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:22:23 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: Questions to consider before you "fire your boss" and start to work at home or on your own.

Clip Source: blogs.photopreneur.com

Think You Can Quit Your Job and Be a Work-at-Home Photographer?

It’s the dream of many amateur photographers. A chance to walk into the boss’s office, announce that you’re leaving and head home to a studio in the garage, an SUV full of camera equipment and a diary full of high-paying bookings.

No more commuting. No more begging for a pay rise. Just all the freedom you could want in a job you’ve always considered a hobby.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Of course, there are a few things you have to consider…

What Will You Shoot?
The first is what you’ll be shooting.

Spreading the Word
And you’ll have to find them.

Perhaps the biggest challenge new photographers face is building up their client list.

So How Much Will This Cost?

How Long Will It Take?

Shuttermom is a good place to find support and the Professional Photographers of America can be useful too. And tell us what you’ve found hardest about striking out on your own.

Tags: photography, diy, blog, photopreneur, freelance, questions, considerations

Bring Back that Photo MOJO

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:15:27 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: cool ideas for photographers or anyone who's idea pool is going dry.

Clip Source: blogs.photopreneur.com

60 Sources of Inspiration for Photography

Posted 11/27/07 by laurie

Photography: mab2413

Are you struggling for new ideas? Do your creative batteries feel as flat and lifeless as a skunk in the fast lane?

Here are 60 ways to breathe new life into your love of photography and re-energize your inspiration.

1. Play with Photoshop
So much of photography these days happens after the shutter release has been pressed. There’s probably a ton of things that you don’t know how to do in Photoshop. Learn something new and see what that does for your photography potential.

11. Watch a Sports Event

10. Join a Demonstration

9. Hit the Streets
There’s a good reason that street photography is so popular: there are so many good things to shoot there. If you haven’t been photographing roads and crowds, give it a go. And if you have, try a different road.

5. Visit a Flea Market

Strange objects mean strange shapes, odd shadows and plenty of potential for unique compositions.

you don’t even have to buy anything.

Tags: photo, inspiration, source, ideas, photography, photopreneur, blog

12 Most Influential Online Videos of All Time

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:09:55 GMT

clipped by: n2teaching
clipper's remarks: This is from 2006, and these videos are funny, poignant and classic. Enjoy!

Clip Source: www.webbyawards.com

The Webby Awards' 12 Most Influential Online Videos of All Time

To celebrate its 12th year, The Webby Awards has put together a list of some of the most important, influential and beloved online videos of all-time. It wasn't easy to narrow down over a decade of online video to just twelve, but each of the videos listed below represents an important starting point for the tactics and trends currently flourishing online.

BMW Films: "The Hire" (2001)

With a star-studded line-up of actors and directors that included Clive Owen, Madonna, Don Cheadle, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, and John Woo, The Hire set the standard for branded content and proved that millions of people will tune in online to view original, high-quality films.

Clip Source: shots.snap.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.webbyawards.com

JibJab - "This Land" (2004)

Burger King's Subservient Chicken (2004)

Tags: webby award, 2006, online video, influential, snl, bmw, george bush