Category: economics
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US Competitive Edge
TIME Magazine’s Cover Story for its 13 Feb 2006 issue is entitled, “Are We Losing Our Edge?” The article reminds me of (and cites) Thomas Friedman’s 2005 bestseller, “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century.” The article points to the critical importance of innovation for the continued success of the U.S.…
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Poverty and Globalism
Tim Kane has published a new article in National Review online entitled “Income Relativism: When people care more about politics than helping the poor.” The issues of income inequalities, empowering the poor to better themselves educationally and economically, bridging the digital divide… these are all important to me. Tim’s thoughts are worth considering. He offers…
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Graphing change
These charts by Karl Hartig are amazing. The information age graph shows the US transition from the 1st wave (agricultural economy) to the 2nd wave (industrial age) to our present 3rd wave (information age). The PDF versions of these charts are best, since they have the highest resolution and let you zoom in with a…
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Following the free
The Dec/Jan issue of Educational Leadership focuses specifically on “Learning in the Digital Age.” It has a great lineup of articles, including: Listen to the Natives by Marc Prensky The New WWW: Whatever, Whenever, Wherever by Tom March The Overdominance of Computers by Lowell W. Monke The Educator’s Guide to the Read/Write Web by Will…
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Downhill Battle
This t-shirt from the website “Downhill Battle – Music Activism” is rather amusing: Downhill Battle’s “reasons to get rid of the major record labels” include: Music diversity will grow. Pay-for-play radio will end. Independent music won’t be marginalized. The lawsuits will stop. Artistic freedom will expand. Musicians will make a better living. All of these…
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Watch BCS 2006 on an iPod
Like watching college football games over again “offline” after the fact? The 4 games of the 2006 Bowl Champtionship Series are available for purchase now on the iTunes Music Store for $5.97. (Well, all but the Rose Bowl which will be played tonight.) According to an article in Free Republic, more than 3 million videos…
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Digital Divides
Digital divides continue to exist in the United States between many groups, including broadband/dialup users and the ways students use Internet resources at home versus at school. According to the October 2005 Pew Internet and American Life report on Digital Divisions, the number of adults in the U.S. reporting they use the Internet is up…
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EFF and Publicknowledge
If you are interested in the cause of free idea exchange, you should know about (and support) the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge. These are both digital rights advocacy groups engaged on behalf of citizens on the issues of copyright, fair use, and government regulation of our digital information landscape. Do you know who…
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Digital natives want digital toys
My wife told me a story yesterday about what students at our local elementary school report they want for Christmas. She substituted for the PE teacher on Friday, so she was able to ask kids in all different grades this question. Except for primary age girls, who reported wanting American Girl dolls, basically all the…
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ID Theft Action steps
What recommendations should school districts give employees regarding identity theft, and what steps should be taken if an employee suspects his/her identity has been stolen? I am not an expert on these issues, but going with what the FTC recommends on its website on identity theft, the steps below seem reasonable and well-advised: 1. Notify…