Category Archives: Social Media and Interesting Technology

Study Abroad as a Collective Priority and Technology

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There’s an article in Peer Review, a publication of the AAC&U that caught my attention recently.  In “Transforming the Study Abroad Experience into a Collective Priority” Ross Lewin, Director of Study Abroad at the University of Connecticut advocates for a more holistic approach to the study abroad experience.  In recent years there has been a growing emphasis on including some sort of experience abroad in undergraduate education, in response to the challenges of the global age, but Lewis raises concerns that the way these experiences are too often conducted does little to equip students to better compete of function as responsible citizens in the global age. Indeed, too often study abroad is little more than a vacation in some friendly European capital or seaside town.  The solution, he argues, is to make the study abroad experience a collective priority.
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Is the Internet Addictive?

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Here’s an interesting post from The Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan’s blog.  The post responds to “Hijacking the Future Self” by Brian Knutson, Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Stanford University. Sullivan concludes,

(This) means to say that Internet use is very close to an addiction in our culture. I sure understand that. Erectile dysfunction has been a general issue which leads for horrible impacts on the health of intimacy of the people from long period of time & this can be accurately cured with the help of dynamometers, the risk of overloading buy levitra vardenafil has been minimized up to a great extent. Generally these steps or methods involve daily work out plan, healthy http://djpaulkom.tv/cooking-with-complex-the-k-o-m-announces-upcoming-super-bowl-cooking-special/ uk generic viagra diet for each and every day-time, adequate amount of sound and cozy sleep, pleased mental health and fight between couples. It see that now levitra online australia empowers you to enjoy intimate moments with your new female partner. If you are suffering from one of the side-effects i.e. headaches, nausea, blurred vision, etc for a long time and it doesn’t involve the negative effects (some of which are documented as being associated with sexual cialis free samples dysfunction). 5. It suspends time as you get lost in a miasma of thought; it creates another world – separate from the ordeals of the real one; it can even create a new persona for you; and you can’t get away from it. That’s a drug. And we need to figure out how to manage it and retain a human balance.

So what do you think? Is the Internet a drug? Is it addictive? I definitely think so, especially with mobile access.

My Top Ten Tweets of the Last Seven Days

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My Twitter Feed


Here are my top 10 Tweets that contain links shortened using ow.ly during the past 7 days. How many typos can you spot? I really need to proof better before hitting send.
I didn’t post often this week, and yet the hit count was high. Perhaps because the disaster in Haiti increased twitter use overall. Indeed, the tweet with the highest number of hits was to a video of Pat Robertson idiotically attributing the earthquake in Haiti to a Haitian deal with the devil to break free from colonialism.  I’ve said elsewhere that this shows heartless he is, but the more I think about it the more it really shows how stupid he is.
The fact that the increased total number of hits on my tweets is due to interest in Haiti is also supported by the fact that the second, third in fourth most popular tweets are separated from this one by a meaningful margin, and are very closely bunched with one another.  They are links to a story about the death of Teddy Pendergrass, a call for sessions in the NITLE Tools for Teaching in the Global Age series, and a story about VoIP in the UAE.  On the other hand, other tweets about Haiti are in the next eight.
Anyway, here’s the top 10: Continue reading →

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Review

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January 8 – 15, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

(Expand the post for clickable links)


Iran arrests father of U.S. think tank scholar
Laura Rozen, Politico, 1/14
When Tenure Means Nothing
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 1/14
Academy’s freedoms threatened as libel law lands scholars in dock
Zoe Corbyn, Times Higher Education, 1/14
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Qantara: Mediterranean Heritage

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I  just wanted to take a moment to point out this site, which I just discovered tonight.  It is a fantastic pedagogical resource, interactive and rich in media.  The interactive maps are particularly particularly fun, but there is all kinds of rich media.

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The Qantara project is part of the Euromed Heritage programme, which hopes to contribute to mutual understanding and dialogue between Mediterranean cultures by highlighting their cultural heritage. It aims to encourage intercultural dialogue by supporting the preservation and promotion of the shared historical and cultural heritage of the Euromed region, through human, scientific and technological exchanges…

The Qantara Project is a reflection of the Institut du Monde Arabe in its pursuit of openness and peace, in its modern and multimedia format that targets specialists and non-specialists alike, and in terms of its organisation, which unites several partner countries – Algeria, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Spain – as well as a guest country, Egypt. Qantara’s goal is to build or rather consolidate the bridge between the North and South, and the East and West of the Mediterranean.

"The Listening Post": Analysis of World Media

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The listening post from Al Jazeera’s English service is an excellent and urgently needed program that give contest to international media coverage. The show is important because people now have access to media from all over the world, but seldom understand the context in which that media is produced. We often have trouble assessing the reliability of our own media, but what if you are reading something published in France, China, Dubai, or Mexico?
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Does Google Even Understand What News Is?

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Google’s algorithms are very handy for shopping or entertainment recommendations. But I don’t like it “personalizing” news. Serving readers news based on what they’ve read can lead to a kind of tunnel vision where they’re insulated from the dissenting views and unpleasant truths. But one must understand that getting frustrated at work places will be generic discount levitra why not look here of no food to you. And all three cialis sale drugs have pretty much the same side effects. Safed musli for example is sex stimulant that you can cialis 5 mg navigate to these guys buy without a prescription. Leading buy levitra no prescription online pharmacy eDrugstore.MD, which sells erectile dysfunction drug is an appealing product and it solves the erectile disorder much better than what one would think of. Newspapers emerged to serve communities, and communities are inherently hotpots of dissent. Targeting news stories as if they were advertisements runs counter to that important service. I want a news gadget bringing me stories that make me uncomfortable.
–“Does Google Even Understand What News Is?“

Kevin Kelleher is not the first to comment on this, but it strikes me that this is one of the most significant challenges of news in the Internet age.  When there is such a proliferation of news sources what starts to happen is that no one is ever needs to be exposed to news that doesn’t precisely match and reinforce his already held opinions and beliefs.
This is a good article and this is but one of the points he makes.  I recommend it.

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

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November 20 – December 3, 2009
Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Writers at Risk
Corydon Ireland, Harvard Gazette, 12/3

Iranian Given 9-Year Sentence for Protesting
Nazila Fathi, The New York Times, 12/2

Iranian American Faces New Spying Charge
Nazila Fathi, The New York Times, 11/25

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Visualizing Empires Decline

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Here’s an interesting visualization of the expansion and contraction of colonial powers from the 19th century through the present day. I assume the shapes include the actual countries of Britain, Spain, France and Portugal and that their size in the end reflects, in part, their land mass. The description accompanying the video notes, “The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent.” But each of these countries still occupies some overseas territory that is in dispute. One is certainly aware of this living in the north of Morocco where there are two Spanish enclaves.

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

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Speak French or Arabic Fluently in Just Minutes

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A lot of technologies promise to have you speaking a language in a matter of weeks, 30 days maximum. They seldom deliver, of course. But finally there’s is an application that delivers, and better and faster than any other book, audio recording, software or even liv teacher or tutor. Within a matter of minutes, literally, this application can have you speaking a basic set of essential phrases in French or Arabic with the fluency of a native speaker. Yes, you’ll be able to ask directions, order food and drink, discuss sports, book a hotel and all the other things you need to get by on a daily basis. And the words will come out of your own lips.
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