The Influentials: How many are non-white?

The Influentials: Read with me and we can discuss later.

Who listen? - When community members voices speak -

Dear Congress,
It is no surprise that federal cutbacks causes local consequences and disappointments. Although many stress that digital divide relates to access and usage, I personally realize and advocate that it means more including  communication liberties. When deficit thinking models are allowed to oppress communities the consequences are damaging for generations. Please review this post http://17307thstnw.blogspot.com/2011/06/digital-media-literacy-dml.html#links. It was posted by a member of our Digital Media Literacy - Empowerment, Enrichment and Employment Development (DML E3D) curriculum. In may opinion, the voices will get louder unless policies and politics are not changed to be more inclusive.

Paul Allen a critical digital literacy idea man?

On 60 Minutes, billionaire Paul Allen talked about the long list of companies he’s suing for patent infringement. Leslie Stahl teasingly called him “The Bitter Billionaire.” But stop and think. How bitter can Paul Allen really be?

Let me introduce you to the The Brokenaire Club of DC which is full of Rotten Brokenaires.
Now, I don’t mean to insult anyone. DC is an economically thriving city. But it’s also a city of glaring inequities, full of what could be called – if 60 Minutes was paying attention – “Rotten Brokenaires.”
What’s a Brokenaire? The opposite of a Billionaire. A Brokenaire always wants to take you somewhere. They’re always talking about how good it was in the past or how great it will be in the future. But presently, they don’t have anything. You see them every day.  Some of them are so broke that they’re carrying flyers, signs, banners and cards. Brokenaires often carry these items to pretend they are awaiting a signed contract.” I don’t have a signed agreement, but these items a sign that I’m living the life.” Is it a good, bad or ugly life? It’s ugly.


Continue reading on Examiner.com: Paul Allen receives an invitation from The Brokenaire Club of DC - Washington DC Urban Technology | Examiner.com

Personality 2: digital technology critic

The promise of digital technology is impresssive, however, some believe their are limits and others believe humans need to set limits. For example, nanotechnology proponents claim that if researchers could design and build structures at the scale of single molecules, the world of possibilities would be metaphorically huge: drug factories the size of pinheads, computers in the brain to aid memory, robots moving through the bloodstream to repair internal injury or disease. One opponent stated; "It would change what it means to be human,"
Can you name this critic?,
Do you agree with the critic's view?

References:

The Khan Academy: Try It, You Might Like It!

Free online learning sites are a great idea - at least I think so. But I've never run into one with as much "wow" impact as Khan Academy, which claims to be the fastest-growing, open-course project on the Web. Having watched and been involved in the production of online classes and webinars in higher education, I'm truly impressed by this relatively new site. Instead of elaborate productions that seek to reproduce the formal lecture or class experience with a few interactive modifications (so radical at the time!) , the Khan Academy feel like a friendly tutoring experience - which, in essence, it is.

Sal Khan, who is from New Orleans, began the Khan Academy by tutoring his cousins long-distance. The tutoring eventually evolved into more than 2,100 short YouTube videos, all free and easy to access. Most of the videos are in challenging subjects such as basic mathematics, calculus, organic chemistry, physics, statistics, etc. There are also "softer topic" videos in plate tectonics, banking and money, brain teasers, the French revolution, etc. What's great about them is they are all sequenced - you start at the beginning and progress bit-by-bit in a logical fashion.

Sal Khan jokes he is "the founder and faculty of Khan Academy." His philosophy is, 'No one is a genuis, or everybody can be a genuis.' He has been featured on national TV, and has received $2 million from Google's Project 10 and more recent support from Bill and Melinda Gates. You can see various presentations and interviews with Sal for yourself on the Khan Academy site. I watched a presentation he made to the MIT Club of Northern California. Here are some highlights:

• Sal claims he is getting more than 70,000 views a day, more than MIT's 30,000-40,000 views for its open-course videos.
• Sal is anti grades. "Grades are ridiculous... everyone should be forced to be an A student."
• Everyone has gaps in their knowledge. Even A students who got 95% correct on a test got 5% wrong.
• K-12 schools are "huge filtering systems... the fundamental model is bizarre." The K-12 model should be reversed - homework should be done in school, and lectures watched at home.
• Continual assessment through digital data collection is key, along with differentiated learning (i.e., inductive versus deductive approaches, etc.).
• The Khan Academic doesn't currently offer videos in different learning styles, but Sal sees opportunity.
• Ditto for incorporating bio-feedback.
• People like informality - they like to see when he makes mistakes.
• Sal breaks his information into nuggets (i.e., not more than 10-minutes videos) but makes sure the information is part of a comprehensive picture.
• Sal thinks some K-12 teachers will be able to scale up in the future, but the majority will become human mediators.
• Sal thinks 80 to 90 percent of students would not have discipline problems in the Khan Academy - in other words, he believes the site is not limited to a small, self-selecting group of students.
• Everyone should start with "one plus one" - most people have superficial understandings of academic topics, and teachers are products of the same failed system.
• Sal thinks his model can eventually tackle complex questions - such as the impact of slavery - through meta data analysis and collection.
• Others are welcome to potentially collaborate and contribute videos - although in his experience it's hard to get people to put themselves publicly "out there" and make a sequence of around 50 videos.

I'm not sure I agree with everything. But I'm going to start self-experimenting. I'll report on my Khan Academy experiences as they occur. I've got my eye on statistics. The one-plus-one lesson sounds good too, if I can find it. Let me know if you try out any of the videos, and what you think of them.

Personality 1: Not enough energy critic

The energy required for digital technology has caused concerns from the beginning and future projections of energy consumptions have force many to suggest aborting digital technology development. For example, a opponent has stated; "It's a mistake to extrapolate exponential trends indefinitely, since they inevitably run out of resources to maintain the exponential growth. Moreover, we won't have enough energy to power the extraordinarily dense computational platforms forecast, and even if we did they would be as hot as the sun."
Can you identify the critic that made this statement?
Do you accept this energy limit perspective?


References:

Convergence of human beings and machines

If both Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil, are correct with their future predications that there will come a time when the world will be unpredicable to humans due to an inability of humans to imagine the intentions or capabilities of superintelligent entities, then the included recommendations are critical digital literacy. These entities will roam the earth because of digital technologies that renders the necessary superintelligence. To further explore the possiblities, I recommend reviewing the following;

An 8th grader's digital literacy requirement

Did you know there is an 8th-grade digital technology requirement to use digital technology to demonstrate achievement in analytic, production and communication skills? Teachers and administrators can use an online tool to gauge their students’ progress towards the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 8th-grade technology-literacy requirement. The assessment includes 30‐minute activities. Students are expected to use a variety of Microsoft Office applications - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Access and Expression Web to complete real-world tasks such as writing a business-oriented letter or constructing a slide presentation on current events. The assessments attempt to offer formative information about students’ skills. They have been strongly recommended as an instrument for high school exit proficiency. What is your opinion?

CompTIA - Upgrade Wanted

Computing Industry Association (CompTIA) is known for its technology certification called CompTIA A+ certification. This assessment falls into the IT category and proves a candidate has a broad base entry‐level knowledge and competency in core hardware and operating system technologies, including installation, configuration, diagnosing, preventive maintenance and basic networking.

Internationally, two leading companies have dominated the work force for basic digital literacy assessment areas - Certiport with its Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) and International Computer Driver’s License (ICDL). Both companies reference multiple countries using their assessment areas for both standardized benchmarking and regional and national levels, and for individual digital literacy work force assessments. When preparing the human population for the inevitable biological and technological convergence, candidates are seeking leadership for assessment content Upgrade. Are are you interested in the Upgrade?

A futurist, psychic, thought-leader, or fortune teller?

Marshall McLuhan: One of the best who ever did it!

For more than 20 years, my information communication technology (ICT) career has been fueled by the writings of Marshall McLuhan. Yet his material seems like it was written yesterday. He had a gift to write and speak in the moment (i.e. past, present and future). "We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies." Imagine being haunted by your enemy which is a digital equivalent of yourself. His material challenges whether humans have evolved beyond Darwin's limited concept of biological evolution, and whether our digital technology will utilmately evolve beyond us. (Read More)

Vendor-neutral educational approach is the Game Changer needed

Is it possible that numerous students in the education system (i.e K-16) today are lacking in the basic ICT literacy skills required to even effectively operate a computer and navigate typical application suites?

Yes. Because to date, assessments and curricula have been primarily driven by competitive vendors with a primary interest in marketing tests for industry related computer skills, standards or technical competencies for jobs related to digital technology. For example, organizations such as Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, Novell, Linux, a even Apple and Google, have wide‐ranging testing materials with support curriculum that relate directly to their products and services. Their skills tests, known generally as IT or ICT assessments, are available either directly from the company or through numerous resellers.

Most of these digital technology skills certifications and training programs are costly for the consumer and focus on identifying and validating use of vendor specific products and systems. The assessments seem to adequately measure and provide certification of higher‐level candidates on primarily the planned obsolescence technical skills.

Is such a game changer approach needed?

The Seven Standards (TSS)

1. Determines the nature and extent of the information needed.
2. Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
3. Evaluates information and its sources critically.
4. Incorporates verified information into knowledge base and value system.
5. Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
6. Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information.
7. Accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Embrace challenges without fear, Bright Girls

How often have you seen a Bright Girl suddenly lose confidence when faced with a difficult task? How many girls and women, while seemingly smart and good students, claim they "aren't good" with technology and computers?

Heidi Grant writes in the Huffington Post about the gender differences between boys and girls when it comes to facing difficult tasks. Drawing on the research of Carol Dweck, who was her graduate school advisor and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006), Grant explains that praise can be bad for girls, particularly Bright Girls. This is because praise tends to promote a fixed mindset about yourself. Comments such as "You are smart," or "You are a good student" lead to fixed ideas about who you are, and thus the need to continually prove yourself. Bright Girls would rather give up than tackle a difficult task that might lead to failure. That would be too painful, since it could involve giving up your basic identity.

Boys, on the other hand, are usually considered a handful by parents and teachers regardless of how well they perform in school. Bright Boys tend to receive feedback such as, "If you try harder, you can get it right." Thus they are free to continually improve themselves without risk of identity failure.

In Mindset, Dweck promotes the idea of people having a "fixed mindset" versus a "growth mindset." When people have fixed mindsets, they tend to exhibit rigid thinking. Dweck gives the example of one of her former teachers, who organized students' seating arrangements according to IQ rank - ironic, since the founder of the IQ test himself did not believe in fixed IQs. People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, regard things such as "intelligence" as just a starting point. Purposeful engagement is the key to achieving expertise or success, not pre-existing attributes such as "talent" or "genes." Dweck noticed that some of the boys she observed loved failure. In fact, they saw "failure" as a stimulating challenge - a temporary state of affairs.

Positive mental attitudes can be adopted by anyone, is the point made by both Grant and Dweck. Seek out people who will challenge you to grow, and don't let "beliefs" about yourself lead to pre-mature conclusions. Embrace challenges without fear.

Read more about real science used for real goals and struggles in:

Ferguson: The financial meltdown up close isn't pretty

Why isn't there more popular outrage over "a crime story like no other in history" - a.k.a, the 2008 Wall Street financial meltdown?

Charles Ferguson, the Oscar-winning director of "Inside Job," suspects many people find the financial services industry just too complicated to understand. The industry is awash with obscure jargon. Additionally, digital technology has complicated and fundamentally changed how the industry operates, to the point traders are studying computer programming and computing.

But Ferguson believes people CAN understand what's going on, with a little effort. The official Inside Job website has a study guide for teachers, complete with hands-on activities and a list of players. This is pretty radical stuff. I'd be interested in finding out how many K-12 teachers are using it.

If you still just can't see yourself spending money on a documentary about the financial services industry, you might want to listen to Ferguson being interviewed at the Commonwealth Club of California. The audience is clearly on Ferguson's side, and a sense of outrage comes alive after the first few minutes. I haven't seen the film, but I plan to after listening to this show. For example...

Ferguson, a former software entrepreneur and technical policy academic and consultant, commented "too bad" when informed some people on Wall Street didn't like their portrayal in his film.

"How did you get to be such a tough guy?" asked the Commonwealth interviewer.

"Well, I've been one for awhile actually. Partially perhaps the way I was raised, I don't know. When I was an academic, certainly it was quite routine to get into tough fights - intellectual fights, not personal ones. People were very direct about their views of each other's ideas."

Ferguson also talked about his Ph.D. thesis advisor, a man who had spent real time out in the read world.

"I remember one time when I complained to him that I was under a lot of pressure, and he kind of smiled and said, 'Charles, let me tell you about the Cuban missle crisis. That's pressure. Your problems are not pressure.' So he set a high standard."

Then there was the time he spent filming in Iraq. It sounds more interesting via audio.

As good as Inside Job is (at least I think it is), we need more articles, films. photos, and general documentation about the impact of the financial meltdown from a variety of perspectives and social levels. History is in the making - and with digital technology perhaps more of it can be collectively shaped than in the past.

For more insight about "Inside Job" or the Charles Ferguson writing, please consider the following;

Dangerous clouds: Why critical digital literacy matters

OK, here’s the situation. I was watching TV the other night, and heard about a new danger: Hydrofluoric acid (HF). Hydrofluoric acid can travel swiftly in huge clouds, and cause horrible death to anyone in its path, according to a report by The Center for Public Integrity. With 50 oil refineries in the US still using HF, more than 16 million people are in the potential path of HF – most of them unaware of the danger they face. The friendly and concerned TV anchorperson advised checking the map on The Center for Public Integrity Web site for more details.

I don’t usually follow up on such things. But noticing two oil refinery plants that appeared to be very near where I live in the center of the country, I decided to check it out. I couldn’t find a map on the Web site. But I did find an Excel spreadsheet of the 50 oil refineries. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the headings on the Excel spreadsheet to appear, or get the scroll bar to show up, so I couldn’t make sense of – I assume – valuable and free information. I never did like Excel, and I forget everything I learn about it. But I shouldn’t. Excel is apparently here to stay, at least for awhile.

I still don’t know if I’m in the path of HF. But maybe you can figure out if you are.

Using GPS to track truant students

The Anaheim Union High School District in California is using GPS units to track truant students, according to the Orange Country Register. Students who have more than three unexcused absences from school are being given the GPS units, developed by AIM Truancy Solutions.

"Every school day, the participants receive an automated phone call reminding them to get to school on time. They are then required to enter a code that tracks their location during their departure for school, arrival at school, lunch period, departure from school and at 8 p.m.,' according to a recap of the article by PCWorld.

"The devices cost between $300 and $400 apiece. All together, the six-week program costs about $8 per day for each student, or $18,000. It's estimated that schools lose $35 per day for each absent student, so AIM Truancy Solution's program is a cost savings."

The threaded discussion that follows the story in PCWorld is interesting. Most of it focuses on the accuracy of the math, with a couple of comments about the threat of "juvie" and the poor quality of schools. Interesting in itself, and an example of how smart, technocratic thinking can quickly dominate educational issues. But what about the social aspect of having schools track students from first thing in the morning to night? Is this an example of schools and parents working together to ensure better futures for their children? Or is technology being used in too controlling a fashion?

Don't pay for reading, writing & math skills!

What are K-12 students actually learning in school? According to an article in the New York Times, 65% of community college students nationwide need remedial education in reading, writing or math. With fees ranging up to $910 per class, students are paying a lot of money - and earning no college credit - for education that should have got in middle and high school. No wonder only 35% of community college students nationwide graduate in six years.

According to the article, many students are surprised to find out they need remedial classes. Math is the subject where students most frequently lack skills. Test your own college-level math skills with four basic math problems offered through ACT, a nonprofit organization that engages in educational and workforce assessments, certifications and research.

With K-12 schools failing to give students the skills they need to succeed in community colleges, could critical digital literacy help fill the knowledge gap? Maybe schools should help students learn to teach themselves, through connecting them to some of the many online math resources. That way, students could teach themselves when they need to, as often as they need to. After all, an associate degree can mean the difference beween an $85,000 nursing job and a minimum-wage service job, as a community college president pointed out.

Ready or not: K-12 Students MUST take online courses

More states are requiring students to take an online course before graduating from high school. Michigan, Alabama, New Mexico, and Idaho have or are proposing some form of e-course requirement, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning in Virginia.

I have a bad feeling about this. Not only are there serious equity concerns, which states claim to be addressing, but is there any better way to kill students' interest in digital learning and technology? Instead of computers being an escape from school, a place where kids can engage in social networking and perhaps explore sites and information outside the boundaries of common core standards, online learning will become a duty - right up there with turning in truly boring homework.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe students need to be pushed into online learning, in order to get comfortable with what is likely to be - more online learning in their future! What do you think?

Parents pay big bucks for e-high schools

It looks like digital literacy is becoming necessary to compete at the K-12 school level, where until recently paper and pencil used to rule. Parents are increasingly paying tution for online private high schoolsk said a spokesman for the Evergreen Education Group, which conducts research on online K-12 education . The George Washington University Online High School (GWUOHS), which just launched this year with 18 students, charges $9,999 annually per student.

GWUOHS is a partnership between George Washington University and Virginia-based K12 Inc, which operates public schools in 25 states. The school is targeting college-bound, high achieving students. Read an article about the partnerhip in Education Week (where access to much of the content costs about $10 a month).

Can the compounded advantages of money and advances in digital learning be overcome? What do you think?

Odd books in odd places

Would you bet a book on cupcake design would be a big seller? Or how about books titled “Erotic Poems” or “Awkward Family Photos?”

Thanks to emerging market trends, such off-beat books are big sellers – just not in traditional bookstores or big online sites such as Amazon. Publishers are increasingly turning to non-book retailers to sell their wares, according to an article in the New York Times. Lowe’s is selling books on cooking and home projects. Craft store Michaels is carrying the cupcake design book, and Urban Outfitters carries Awkward Family Photos.

The success of this new strategy lies in putting carefully selected physical books in front of people’s eyes, at full price. This may seem like a reversal of the trend toward e-books and online search capabilities, but in a way it reflects an emerging digital mentality – geographic space is becoming fragmented as an organizing concept. Heuristic thinking (a speculative exploration of possibilities) is in. As a colleague of mine commented, bookstores should have been offering free coffee – instead of coffee shops offering free books and newspapers.

So what is next? I’m trying to think of a book that will go over well at gas stations. Awkward Oil Changes? Don’t steal my idea, but you can purchase the following books to explore other options of selling books.

Holographs join airline security staff

It sounds like a riddle: Meet staff who are always on duty, but never there.

As reported by The Telegraph, Manchester and London Luton became the first airports in the world earlier this year to use holographic staff. The new, all-digital staff are based on actual airline employees who work in security. Like their flesh-and-blood counterparts, the holograms remind passengers to have their boarding cards ready and give other security instructions to speed up security checks. The four, all of whom are attractive and wholesome-looking, are so life-like (see video) that reportedly some passengers are attempting to converse with them.

Technically, these are not real holograms. The holograms used by Manchester, for example, are life-like rear projections on a well-made surface. Nonetheless, they are sophisticated enough to give you the impression you are sharing space with a 3D person, according to the Singularity Hub. The Hub predicts a switch from life-like virtual projections to actual holograms and other 3D technologies that don't require as much space. In fact, telepresence with holographic display is one of the emerging technologies receiving increased attention this year, according to an article in TMCnet. It is drawing the attention of both artists and businesses, despite the challenges of high costs and elaborate setup.

So which do you prefer - a real security agent reminding you to have your documents ready, or a hologram?

Please consider the following sources for more knowledge about holographs;

I'm guilty of mobile etiquette offenses - are you?

Do you use mobile devices while driving, talk on a mobile device loudly in public places, or use a mobile device while walking on the street? If so, you might want to watch your back!

According to a 2010 survey sponsored by Intel, the above three behavoirs are people's top pet peeves - the same as in 2009. Survey results also showed that three quarters of people believe mobile manners have gotten worse in the last year, and nine out of 10 people claim they have seen people misuse mobile technology. (Not surprisingly, only 20 percent of people claimed they misused it themselves).

Genevieve Bell, Intel Fellow and head of interaction and experience research, Intel Labs, said "Digital technology behavoirs are still embryonic, and it's important for Intel and the entire industry to maintain a dialogue about the way people use technology and our personal relationships with technology as they continue to help shape societal and cultural norms."

That's likely academic talk for, "We're not taking a stand." Personally, I wonder what the survey results say about our emerging culture. I can see the danger of talking on the phone and driving, but what's wrong with talking while walking on the street? I'm guilty, I admit it. And I don't mind when others do it - it's nice to see human interaction. Is there an unwritten code of silence in public places and streets that I'm missing? What's the difference if you're talking to a friend in person or on the cell? Does cell phone talk interfere with muzak? Share your view.

For more information on the subject please consider the following;

Blogging might cost your job - but should it?

I was talking to a K-12 teacher the other day about Natalie Munroe - the controversial Philadephia teacher who was suspended with pay after students discovered her blog on Feb. 8. In the blog, Munroe, a 30-year-old pregnant teacher at Central Bucks East High School, ranted about her students being "disobediant, disrespectful oafs" and "noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy, LOAFERS." Talking about the rude kids in her honors class, she wrote,

"Something must be done about their disrespect and attitude problems. We should do away with the attitude of the students (and if we can't, we should do away with the students who have attitudes.) Better to have a pet - at least you know where you stand with a pet."

Munroe, who started her blog in 2009, was harshly criticized by Central Bucks Superintendent Robert Laws. No kids should have to be subjected to such a hostile environment, he said.

But the K-12 teacher I talked to thinks everyone should have the option to vent. "If you can't vent in a blog, where can you?" she asked. Munroe's lawyer likewise believes Munroe has a free-speech defence, and education blogger Alexander Russo asks, "Should teachers be limited to happy talk?"

Interestingly, Monroe's original blog, which did not use her full name and did not name her school or students, has been taken down. But Monroe has started a new blog, and this one makes no effort to be discreet: It's at www.nataliemunroe.com.

USA Today reports that while Monroe previously had nine followers, now she has 22. But people looking for outrageous comments - such as when Monroe wrote that teachers should be able to use "rat-like" and "dresses like a streetwalker" when writing report cards - might be disappointed. So far, Monroe has busied herself with defending and explaining her actions.

How are we going to communicate in a world of increasing smoke and mirrors? When should people keep their thoughts to themselves, and who's going to decide?

Is the term 'False Positive' a critical digital literacy?

A false positive is another way of saying ‘error’. As applied to the field of digital  programs, a false positive occurs when the program mistakenly flags an innocent file as being malicious or infected. This may seem harmless enough, but false positives can be a real nuisance and sometimes major problems if you are at a critical digital literacy disadvantage.

For example, from a digital computing perspective  a) you waste even more time and resources in futile attempts to disinfect ‘infected’ files b) you waste productivity due to user down-time.
c) you may take e-mail offline, as a security precaution, thus causing a backlog and more lost productivity.

In short, digital false positives can be costly nuisances.

Unfortunately, the term is not confined. It also applies, for example, to anti-spam protection, where it refers to the misidentification of a legitimate e-mail message as spam.  Since the undelivered e-mail may be a business critical message, this too could be very costly,

It can also apply to health and medical issues. For example, in a highly reported interview titled "Christina Applegate: MRI 'saved my life'" the following exchanged occured on the false positives in life threathening circumstances.

GUPTA: Most women, as you said, don’t know about MRIs with respect to screening for breast cancer.

APPLEGATE: Well it’s not talked about and I also think that you know, there’s also been a lot of talk that there’s all these false positives with MRIs but there are false positives with any kind of screening. Same with mammography – there is also a lot of false positives. They are not perfect science, unfortunately. But they’re learning more and more now that it’s, it’s an incredible way to screen for early detection.

GUPTA: One of the things I hear all the time as a doctor is that you doctors order too many tests – you’re ordering tests for everything. What do you say to people who say look we’re a culture of over-testing as it is? (Click here for the full interview)

What are your experiences with false positives? Do you agree its a critical digital literacy term to understand?

For some  interesting literture on the subject, please consider purchasing the following;

Pity the O

I am an 'O blood type.' That means, according to Peter D'Adamo, the author of Eat Right 4 Your Type, I am a universal blood donor, more prone to temper tantrums, and can eat more meat due to having an acidic stomach. The Os, as the most primitive of the four blood types - "the ancestral prototype was a canny, aggressive predator" - need to run through the forest when they get stressed, unlike 'As,' whose best bet is calming activities and meditation.

I have no idea if D'Adamo is on to something. His blood type-specific diets offer food for thought (i.e., Type As should avoid dairy products). So I would like to do a study of blood types and the use of social media. I know, blood types evolved through millions of years. Social media is what - a decade, two decades old?

But I want to know how an O differs from an A, B, or AB online. It can't be good for an O to be sitting at a computer. On other hand, the O feels compelled to lead. What are Os supposed to do with the world moving online? If you would like to participate or fund this important study, please let me know.

Please consider the following sources for more information;

A provocateur (Malcolm Gladwell) keeps it up.

The Global Post has an interesting piece on Malcolm Gladwell, the best-selling author of "The Tipping Point," "Blink," and "Outliers." Gladwell insists social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have not played a central role in the revolutions changing the landscape of the Middle East. In a Feb. 2 post in The New Yorker, Gladwell argued the "how" of a communcative act is not as important as the "why." High-risk social activism requires deep roots and strong ties, he argues - not exactly a characteristic of social meda. Revolutions have happened throughout history without Twitter.

But The Global Post argues that while Gladwell "deserves credit for reality-checking the hyperbole over the democratizing magic of social media," he doesn't address the question of why dictators (and regimes) find mass media so threatening. If a tree falls down in the middle of a forest and no one hears it, did it fall down?

Take the example of Indonesia in 1975, The Global Post explains. Entire villages in East Timor were getting slaughtered. Hoping for outside help, rebels put their faith in a precious piece of digital technology.

"Rebel leader Xanana Gusmao was desperate to alert the outside world to these crimes. But how? Surrounded by ocean and enemy territory, in the darkest years of the struggle, they relied on a Wagner 50-watt single sideband transceiver, which they hauled to mountain tops to transmit a staticky signal in hopes that supporters in Australia would be listening. The rebels rushed their broadcasts so that the enemy couldn’t track the signal and kill them. Complicating matters, only one man among them — “his nom de guerre was Hadomi,” Xanana told me — was strong enough to carry the massive transceiver battery. Eventually the Indonesians killed Hadomi, and the rebels were silenced."

Would more people in East Timor have survived if they managed to transmit a bit longer? Would Australians have rushed to help if only the rebels had posted photos on Facebook? History doesn't allow reruns, at least at this point.

But the story points to the complexity of unraveling social media's role. Gladwell, a sociologist, tends toward deterministic (inevitable) theories. "How" is put in its box as neatly as "why," without considering the morphings that perhaps do not repeat history and cannot be easily explained. Has the force of everyday oppression and the glimmers of escape through social media played out in the past? Is there something fundamentally new about humans and the digital environment, or does social media just represent a faster or different way to communicate, as Gladwell argues. What do you think?

Bloggers gone wild...

A New York Times article today describes a dramatic drop in blogging among the young. By "young," the NYT is referring to 12 to 17 year olds. Fourteen percent have blogs - a decline of half from 2006, when about 30 percent of that age group who used the Internet had blogs.

At the same time, older age groups are blogging more. As the NYT describes,

"Among 34-to-45-year-olds who use the Internet, the percentage who blog increased six points, to 16 percent, in 2010 from two years earlier... Blogging by 46-to-55-year-olds increased five percentage points, to 11 percent, while blogging among 65-to-73-year-olds rose two percentage points, to 8 percent."

The NYT concludes that the young, discouraged by lack of readers, are shifting to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr., which is mainly images and doesn't involve as much writing. By contrast, "serious" bloggers are into more serious analysis and using several mediums to generate traffic.

I had no clue so many teens were blogging, or that so many people in general were blogging. Maybe people like to write more than you'd guess, given educators' deep concern over reading test scores. Then again, statistics are tricky. What do you think?

IBM’s Watson wins on Jeopardy!

After the famous “thinking” computer Watson beat its human contestants on Jeopardy this week, NPR Weekend Edition Saturday took a stab at how the Human Being is still unique: The Human Being is the only creature/machine that can laugh at, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”

Really? I always had trouble with that joke. Should I be worried?

Read about Watson’s innards - "deep NLP with machine learning, a voting algorithm, a method of interpreting the questions and assessing them by formulating parallel hypotheses, and Hadoop and UIMA for preprocessing, as well as the usual search, fuzzy matching software and of course an in-memory caching system to save time in retrieval" - at PCWorld.

I'd rather eat a plate of spiders...

The New York Times Magazine today carried a story about mental athletes, "or M.A.'s for short." These mental athletes - who were competing in the U.S.A. Memory Championship - can memorize thousands of random digits in under an hour. According to the article, they use techniques handed down from the ancient Greeks (who were not living in an era when more than a million books are published a year). This includes using spatial thinking and visual images - such as creating a unique image for every number from 0 to 999,999,999, or creating a memory palace for a series of cards.

Does this have anything to do with critical thinking? Personally I dislike memorizing many things, including passwords - a personal, hugely annoying roadblock in moving toward critical digital literacy. There seem to be a ton of sites on critical thinking, but little consensus on the issue. After a quick search, I tenatively decided the answer is no, you don't need a good memory - or any memory? - to be a critical thinker. I settled on the overview provided by Asking the Right Questions - A Guide to Critical Thinking, 9th edition. The author's blog might be more interesting, if you like contemplating this kind of stuff.

For additional information regarding critical thinking please consider the following sources;

Do you know what your megabit-per-second download speed is?

A Commerce Department survey provides some initial evidence that yes, a digital divide exists – thanks in part to murky business practices.

The information, compiled in a national broadband map, shows which populations have access to high-speed internet.

In DC, only 12 percent of homes can get broadband speeds as high as 25 megabits per second – compared to 98 percent of homes in Montgomery County and 99 percent of homes in Fairfax and Arlington Counties.

The survey doesn’t include pricing or real (vs company advertised) speed information. Still, it provides new information that documents the digital divide, notes The Washington Post in an article today.

Who is really an “expert”?

Science is increasingly taking place in institutions such as universities. But the institutions are losing the trust of the public, argues philosopher Naomi Scheman. So while expertise is being institutionalized, “experts” are less trustworthy.

So who is really an expert?

We all need to know if the water is safe to drink. But would you trust an institution to tell you the water is safe to drink? “Unverifiable expertise,” much like power and privilege over others, is an increasing problem, Scheman says. There is truth and reality – but truth and reality cannot be claimed by just one group claiming to speak for everyone.

Expertise needs to be on the side of the public. Equally important, the public needs to have a say in the questions “experts” ask. We can best understand objectivity and truth as public goods, Scheman says. After all, the notion of rational individual thought was itself the result of public, engaged epistemology – how do we know what we know.


In summary, “expertise” cannot exit without our critical thinking and input.



Read a 2010 article by Scheman at: If you care about truth, fight for justice

Want to delve further? Check out: Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning (2007).

Cyber..Virtual..Digital-Crime

Diffusion and Effects of Cyber-Crime in Developing Economies : NIR KSHETRI

ABSTRACT: Cyber-crime’s footprints across the developing world are getting bigger. The aim of this article is to examine the structure of cyber-crimes in developing economies. Its central idea is that economic and institutional factors facing cyber-criminals and potential victims in the developing world are different from those in the developed world. In economies characterised by low internet penetration rates and few resources devoted to fighting cyber-crimes, formal institutions related to such crimes tend to be thin and dysfunctional. A cyber-criminal is less likely to be stigmatised in such economies. Moreover, organisations’ and individuals’ technological and behavioural defence mechanisms are likely to be weaker. Many people in developing economies are also attracted into cyber-crime because of high unemployment and low wages.

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After reviewing the aforementioned report and considering the latest media reporting about cyber crimes, I'm  reminded to continue to stress the importance of critical digital literacy. With over 100 books at my disposal that deals with information security, communication systems design, criminal investigations, penetration testing (hacking), and computer crime investigation (digital forensics) I can confirm that the aforementioned report has valid and accurate information. Several for my friends are working in digital forensics at the local/state/federal levels in law enforcement have collaborated about similar incidents reported in the material. The books below are good because they collectively covers what REALLY happens out in the field during a digital computer crime investigation (including entire chapters on what to bring, how to plan, who to work with, etc). Also included are entire chapters dedicated to various tools and step by step instructions on how to use them. Some of the authors are still outstanding writers, speakers and investigator in the digital forensics world, working with corporations, government agencies, law enforcement, and global military. I recommend the aforementioned report and the following books for both novices and those with experience.

Second Chance Act Technology Careers Training Demonstration Projects for Incarcerated Adults and Juveniles

Review the following information to get a sense of how much the demand for digital literacy has grown. Basically, when enforcement recognise the potential of technology knowledge to reduce crime and violent activitity, its a indication to individuals to seek critical digital literacy.

1. What are the purposes and expectations for this program?
To provide technology career training to persons confined in state prisons, local jails, and juvenile residential facilities.

2. What is the goal of the program?
To increase the post-release employability of offenders in related technology-based jobs and career fields.

3. What is the objective of the program?
To establish and provide technology career training programs to train incarcerated adults and juveniles during the 3-year period before release from a prison, jail, or juvenile facility.

4. What are the eligibility requirements under this program?
Applicants are limited to states, units of local government, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior).

5. Are there specific requirements that must be adhered to for the program?
To receive an award under this announcement, applicants must adhere to the following deliverables and mandatory requirements:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the value of technological training for offenders reentering the community from prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities.
• Specify and include a process or plan for identifying, referring, and assessing potential participants into the training program.
• Include a curriculum that helps participants acquire and develop skills needed to build potentially successful careers in technology-related fields. The training curriculum must identify necessary skills and competencies, provide real-world work experience, teach transferable job skills and soft skills to help prepare for post-release reentry and employment, and provide resources to support training in technology areas.
• Provide incarcerated adults and juveniles with paths to career opportunities in technology-based fields by utilizing a variety of learning strategies to assist with performing work-related activities.
• Incorporate the following activities: address skills and competencies demanded by the targeted technology career; support participants’ advancement along a defined career pathway; and, where applicable, result in a recognized certificate, degree, or license that indicates a level of mastery and competence in a given technology based on the type of training completed.
• Highlight, when at all possible, evidence-based programs or practices.
• Restrict access to the Internet by incarcerated persons, as appropriate, to ensure public safety.
• Submit to BJA a report no later than 90 days after the last day of the final fiscal year of the award that describes and assesses the uses of award funds during the preceding fiscal year.

6. What is the deadline for submitting an application?
All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on March 3, 2011.

7. What is the potential project length for an award?

As required by the statute, any awards made under this program will be made for a period of up to 12 months.

8. What are the award amounts for projects?

Contingent upon the availability of funds, awards of up to $750,000 each may be made. Pending the outcome of the FY 2011 appropriations process anticipated in March 2011, BJA may make as few as no awards and as many as five awards this fiscal year under this program. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

9. When will applicants be notified if they are successful?
Awards should be announced before the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30, 2011.

10. How quickly after receiving notice will a grant recipient be expected to launch their program?
Actual funding access to award recipients is dependent on final budget clearance and adherence to Special Condition requirements. However, award recipients should anticipate begin providing services no later than 90 days after receiving notice.

11. Can agencies that received Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 awards under the Second Chance Act Section 115, also apply for funding again under the FY 2011 solicitation?

There is no regulation that prohibits FY 2010 award recipients from applying again for funding. However, applicants that received FY 2010 awards may not be able to demonstrate the same degree of need as new unfunded applicants.

Target Population

12. What is the target population for this program?
The target population should be incarcerated adults and juveniles within a 3-year period before release from a prison, jail, or juvenile facility. The target population for the initiative must be a specific subset of the population of individuals convicted as an adult or adjudicated as a juvenile, and incarcerated in a state, local, or tribal prison; jail or a juvenile detention/correctional facility; juvenile camp; juvenile community-based program; or a juvenile residential facility. For federally recognized Indian tribes, the individuals may be housed in a tribal, state, regional, county, or local jail facility pursuant to state or tribal law.
Applicants must provide justification for selecting the target population and provide supporting documentation for their decision.

13. What is the definition of a “high risk offender”?

There is no official definition contained in the Second Chance Act for “high risk” offenders. However, an applicant should use the definition adopted by their particular jurisdiction. In identifying the target population applicants should be mindful of the requirement to track participants on a quarterly basis.

14. Is the applicant agency required to concentrate efforts on offenders returning to a specific geographic community, or can it be a statewide initiative (regardless of the community where the offender is returning)?

Due to the competitive nature of this solicitation the applicant is encouraged to provide as much justification for selecting the target population and providing support documentation for their decision. In addition, applicants need to be aware of the requirements to establish a baseline rate for the target population and the need to track the members of the target population on a quarterly basis.

15. May funded programs target specific people who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system?
As a condition for receiving funding, recipients must comply with applicable federal civil rights laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Federal law prohibits a recipient of funding from discriminating in the delivery of services or benefits on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or disability. While applicants may design their program to maximize participation by any population overrepresented in the criminal justice system, they may not accept or reject otherwise eligible participants on the basis of their race.
Program-Specific Requirements

16. For the purposes of the solicitation, how is “technology career” defined?

The specific type of technology-based field(s) incorporated into the training program is at the discretion of the applicant. However, the applicant must be able to justify the selected training as technology-related. Some examples of technology-based fields include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Computer assisted design in engineering and construction.
• Information technology development and design.
• “Green-technology”-related projects.
• Braille transcription training and certification.
• Wireless and broadband deployment.
• Computer science and programming.
• Other fields as justified by the eligible applicant.

17. Are applicants required to collaborate with technology industry-related organizations to provide resources and expertise?
It is not required or mandatory that applicants collaborate with technology industry-related organizations. However, priority consideration will be given to applications that partner with technology industry-related organizations and other entities that can provide resources or expertise to the project. Applicants should demonstrate a high degree of collaboration with workforce employers, and provide documentation demonstrating partnerships, agreements, or memoranda of understanding with relevant employers in the technology areas to which program participants are likely to return.

In addition, priority consideration will be given to applicants that partner with technology industry-related organizations and other entities (including local and small businesses) willing to hire and support high-risk offenders through the learning and job training process.

18. What requirements must technology industry-related organizations meet to qualify as partner agencies?

Technology industry-related organizations and other entities must provide resources or expertise to the project and be willing to hire high-risk offenders.

19. Can programs offered to individuals in jails be designed to begin in jail and continue after release due to the shorter lengths of stays?

The solicitation requires that programs must focus on incarcerated adults and juveniles during the 3-year period before release from a prison, jail, or juvenile facility. So programs may be established in a pre-release jail setting if individuals are incarcerated in jail for that length of time.

20. Are applicants required to restrict access to any technology tools or resources?
Yes. Applicants must restrict access to the internet by incarcerated persons, as appropriate, to ensure public safety.

21. Can successful applicants provide post-release services to program participants?

Yes. Programs may provide post-release services for a maximum six-month period that provides support for program participants engaged in paths to technology-based careers. However, programs must include a pre-release component during the period of incarceration and cannot be focused solely on post-release services.

22. Can successful applicants provide assistance with identifying post-release employment opportunities?

Yes. Award funds may be used to provide job search and placement assistance in the technology field, including stipend support for participants/employers where appropriate. In addition, applicants can also provide career counseling, work-based learning, and other activities as justified by the applicant (where appropriate).

Performance Measures

23. What are the performance measures for this program?
The performance measures will require the tracking of key data points. An example would be the Performance Measure, “Percentage of trainees who successfully completed the in-person training program,” which will require the grantee to provide the following data points:
• Number of individuals who completed the training
• Number of individuals who attended each training

A complete list of the Performance Measures can be found on pages 7-9 of the solicitation.

24. What software or tools should grantees use to track performance measures? Are these tools provided by BJA?

Applicants will be required to report their performance measures in BJA’s Performance Measurement Tool (PMT). All applicants selected for an award will subsequently be provided training and additional information on the PMT.

25. How long will grantees need to track client’s performance measure data listed in solicitation? Beyond the funding period?
Recipients may be required to track clients beyond the end of the period for which they receive federal funding. BJA will provide further guidance and assistance to recipients on data collection.
Budget/Allowable Uses

26. What are the allowable uses of funding under this program?

Approved uses for award funds under the technology training program may include the following:

• Classroom occupational training.
• Training activities that lead to permanent employment in a technology related field.
• Alignment with apprenticeship programs in the technology field.
• Basic skills training that includes:
• Adult basic education
• English as a Second Language (ESL)
• Job readiness training
•  Job search and placement assistance in the technology field.
• Career counseling, work-based learning, and other activities as justified by the applicant (where appropriate).
• Equipment or supplies necessary for participation and completion of the training program.
• Training instructors with technology career experience.
• Post-release services for a maximum 6-month period that provides support for program participants engaged in paths to technology-based careers, including voucher/stipend support.

27. Can grant funds be used to provide services to family members of incarcerated individuals participating in the grant program?
No.

28. Can grant funds be used to subsidize employers or fund transitional employment programs?
Yes. Award funds may be used for post-release services for a maximum 6-month period that provides support for program participants engaged in paths to technology-based careers, including voucher/stipend support.

29. Does the entire award amount need to be used within the award period?
No. No‐cost extensions will be available to grantees, subject to the approval of BJA. If all award funds are not used (spent) within the award period and completion of the project, the funds will be de-obligated.

30. Are there any limitations on how award funds can be used for employee compensation?
With respect to any award of more than $250,000 made under this solicitation, federal funds may not be used to pay total cash compensation (salary plus bonuses) to any employee of the award recipient at a rate that exceeds 110% of the maximum annual salary payable to a member of the Federal Government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) at an agency with a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System for that year.
A recipient may compensate an employee at a higher rate, provided the amount in excess of this compensation limitation is paid with non-federal funds. The limitation on compensation rates allowable under an award may be waived on an individual basis at the discretion of the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP).

31. Is there a match requirement for this program?
This solicitation does not require a match.

32. Some federal grants require applicants to set aside funds for travel to mandatory grantee meetings. Should mentoring grant applicants budget for any particular training or technical assistance?
Applicants must budget funding to travel to U.S. Department of Justice-sponsored grant meetings. Applicants should estimate the costs of travel and accommodations for three staff to attend two meetings in Washington, D.C.

Collaboration

33. Can a collaboration of entities apply as one applicant?
Yes. However, only one state, unit of local government, territory, or federally recognized Indian tribe, must be designated as the “official” applicant. Priority consideration will be given to applications that demonstrate a high degree of collaboration with workforce employers, and provide documentation demonstrating partnerships, agreements, or memoranda of understanding with relevant employers in the technology areas to which program participants are likely to return.

Technical Application Questions

34. Does the budget narrative count against the 15 page limit?
No.

35. Are there any priority considerations that will be given when evaluating applications for awards?
Priority consideration will be given to applications that:

• Partner with technology industry-related organizations and other entities that can provide resources or expertise to the project. Applicants should demonstrate a high degree of collaboration with workforce employers, and provide documentation demonstrating partnerships, agreements, or memoranda of understanding with relevant employers in the technology areas to which program participants are likely to return.
• Provide training to offenders within 12–18 months prior to release to ensure the training is not obsolete and still current, useable, and transferable.
• Target high-risk offenders for program participation using validated assessment tools. Examples of high-risk offenders may include, but are not limited to: sex offenders, mentally ill offenders, offenders dually diagnosed with major mental health disorders and alcohol or substance addictions at the same time, and other offenders.
• Assess the local demand for employees trained in their targeted field, in the areas to which their program participants are likely to return, to improve the likelihood of post-release employment.
• Partner with technology industry-related organizations and other entities (including local and small businesses) willing to hire and support high-risk offenders through the learning and job training process.
• Provide ongoing training to employers and potential employers on successful approaches to working with trainees/employees engaged through the program.
• Provide individualized education and reentry plans for offenders participating in the training program.
• Leverage existing resources (including current Second Chance programs) to continue the training, job placement, career, and reentry success during the community release phase of reentry.
• Incorporate “peer” mentors when appropriate and include a plan for recruiting, training, and supervising mentors.

36. What is the selection process for grant awards under the program?
All applications will be peer reviewed based on the solicitation requirements. The Directors of BJA and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) will then make award recommendations to the AAG for OJP, who will make final determinations.

37. If the state is not applying, can more than one local jurisdiction apply in that state?
Yes, it is possible for several cities, counties, and the state to apply since all are independent jurisdictions.

38. Is there a percentage breakdown for allocation to state versus local government?
No. BJA is cognizant of the need for geographical distribution as well as some level of equity among states, locals, and tribes.

39. How will submissions from multiple jurisdictions in the same state be viewed? How would it reflect on a state if multiple agencies applied from that state?
Submissions from multiple jurisdictions in the same state will be viewed on the individual merit of each application that meets the solicitation requirements.

Other

41. Will there be future opportunities to apply for funding under this program?
All future BJA funding opportunities will be based on Congressional approved appropriations.

42.  Can grant funds be used to enhance existing reentry programs, or are funds limited to new programs?
Federal funds cannot be used to supplant existing services. Federal funds provided under the Second Chance Act are meant to be one of the sources of program funding. They may not to be used to replace other funding sources.

43. Is there someone specific to contact with questions about the process or program?

For technical assistance with submitting the application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800–518–4726 or via e-mail to support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours, 7 days a week, except federal holidays.
For assistance with any other requirement of this solicitation, contact the BJA Justice Information Center at 1–877–927–5657. The BJA Justice Information Center hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. eastern time on the solicitation close date.

Critical Digital Literacy: Use in Crime

Digital literacy can prevent individuals from believing hoaxes that are spread Online or are the result of photo manipulation. E-mail frauds and phishing often taking advantage of the digitally illiterate, costing victims’ money and making them vulnerable to identity theft.

For less than $15.00, you can purchase any of the following books and prevent losing over $1,500 due to identity theft schemes.