Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The largest (26-gigapixel) picture in the world. zoomable.
Unfortunately nobody seems to be doing anything interesting at the time and location this picture was taken.
Unfortunately nobody seems to be doing anything interesting at the time and location this picture was taken.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
I Just found the amazing Khan Academy site (video tutorials focusing on math and science) from an article on sfgate.
It began with long-distance tutoring in late 2004. He agreed to help his niece Nadia, then a seventh-grader struggling with unit conversion, by providing math lessons over Yahoo's interactive notepad, Doodle, and the phone.
Nephews and family friends soon followed. But scheduling conflicts and repeated lectures prompted him to post instructional videos on YouTube that his proliferating pupils could watch when they had the time.
They did - and before long, so did thousands of others. Today, the Mountain View resident's 800-plus videos are viewed about 35,000 times a day, forming a virtual classroom that dwarfs any brick and mortar school he might have imagined. By using the reach of the Internet, he's helped bring education to the information-hungry around the world who can't afford private tutors or Kaplan prep courses.
"With so little effort on my own part, I can empower an unlimited amount of people for all time," Khan, 33, said. "I can't imagine a better use of my time."
Man returns library book due in 1955, gets out of a $1750 late fee by taking advantage of their Amnesty program
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
UA law prof to underwater mortgage borrowers: Ditch your mortgage in good conscience.
White contends that far more of the estimated 15 million U.S. homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages should stiff their lenders and take a hike.
Doing so, he suggests, could save some of them hundreds of thousands of dollars that they "have no reasonable prospect of recouping" in the years ahead. Plus the penalties are nowhere near as painful or long-lasting as they might assume, he says.
"Homeowners should be walking away in droves," White said. "But they aren't. And it's not because the financial costs of foreclosure outweigh the benefits."
White contends that far more of the estimated 15 million U.S. homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages should stiff their lenders and take a hike.
Doing so, he suggests, could save some of them hundreds of thousands of dollars that they "have no reasonable prospect of recouping" in the years ahead. Plus the penalties are nowhere near as painful or long-lasting as they might assume, he says.
"Homeowners should be walking away in droves," White said. "But they aren't. And it's not because the financial costs of foreclosure outweigh the benefits."