Source: www.howardforums.com --- Saturday, August 03, 2013
Can anyone suggest how to acquire a Nokia Lumia 1020 for use in Canada? Any help is appreciated. Thank you ...
Source: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1806546-Acquire-Lumia-1020-for-use-in-Canada?goto=newpost
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Source: http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=40356
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by Ken Schott
A Daily Gazette sports blog
Ken Schott blogs about college hockey & more
The 2013-14 NBA schedule will be announced Tuesday on NBA TV starting at 6 p.m.
Matt Winer will host the one-hour special and be joined by analysts Steve Smith and Isiah Thomas.
Follow @slapschotts on Twitter. Follow @dgazettesports on Twitter.
Source: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2013/aug/01/nba-tv-to-televise-nba-schedule-announcement/
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In 2012, Ford recalled about 423,000 Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute models made during the period of 2001-04 because the gas pedal could remain depressed even after the drivers removed their foot from the pedal, which could cause crashes.
However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Ford's recall "may have been untimely", Xinhua reported Thursday.
The NHTSA said Ford knew about the problem in May 2011, but failed to take action until the safety regulator began its investigation in July 2012.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/_Hihnld1TEk/130801233106.htm
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Source: www.howardforums.com --- Thursday, August 01, 2013
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Good news for fans of the scientific method: the largest and most influential university system on the planet will be giving out its research for free. After 6-year-long fight with the for-profit academic publishing industry, the University of California Senate approved open access standards for research on all 10 campuses. The policy is major win for those who want to see academic research made public, rather than behind the pricy paywalls of big publishers. Last year, Harvard Library penned a memo urging the university’s 2,100 faculty to boycott for-profit academic research databases and instead submit articles to lower-cost open access journals. Universities pay millions for access to their colleague’s research, with subscriptions costs up to $40,000 for a single journal. Publishing, too, can cost many times more for more prestigious closed-access journals. Nature reports that it can cost $5,000 to publish in the biology journal, Cell Reports, but only $1,350 for the most popular open-access journal PLoS ONE. ?It’s still ludicrous how much it costs to publish research,” said molecular biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, Michael Eisen. The open access movement has friends in high-places. Recently, in response to a WeThePeople petition, the White House pledged a whopping $100 million to promote open access and to require all federally-funded research to be free of charge. There are issues with open access; it costs money to curate high-quality peer-review and market the research. Many academic papers take years to write, and its a risky proposition to leave it in the hands of an experimental publisher. But, speaking as a writer who likes to include academic research in my articles, open access could not come soon enough. Media outlets get inundated with research findings, but often can’t get access to the articles to report on them critically. Open access may not be perfect, but it is the future. The more people use it, the better the journals will become. And, ultimately, there will be little need for closed access at all.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WLXZOwY3Xg0/
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July 31, 2013 |??
Image of the Week #102, July 31st, 2013:
From: How the Fleas? Next of Kin Ended up Living on a Liverwort in Alaska by Jennifer Frazer at The Artful Amoeba.
Source: The Flea, by Robert Hooke. From Micrographia, 1665. Public domain.
At first glance, Robert Hooke?s illustration of a flea is basic, clean, and straightforward. Under today?s standards of 3D computer graphics, we might not even look twice at it. But note the year: 1665! The flea first appeared as an 18-inch engraving in Hooke?s classic Micrographia. At the time, no one save a few pioneers of early microscopy had ever seen a small invertebrate magnified. Hooke?s flea would have been most people?s only acquaintance with the finer details of this common parasite. Seeing this speck of an animal with every hair, every sclerite in enlarged detail must have been a revelation. For more about this image, see here.
About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz. More??
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/basic-science/~3/0w0-0NImhNI/post.cfm
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Source: http://www.facebook.com/WrestlingNewsSource/posts/512856245449533
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I think he?s going to end up not running, but if his favorables stay this high, maybe he has no choice.
He?s technically ?next in line? and he?d make a decent compromise candidate (as would fellow Wisconsinite Scott Walker) for righties who are leery of Christie, Paul, and Rubio for various reasons. Second look at Paul Ryan?
Are Ryan?s numbers really that surprising? He?s been overlooked on blogs lately because we?ve all been busy shaking our fists at Rubio over immigration and gawking at the Rand Paul/Chris Christie brawl, but thanks to 2012, Ryan?s name recognition is sky high. He?s a warrior on the budget but soft-spoken enough not to spook moderates. Grassroots righties are newly steamed at him because he seems to be slipping into the Rubio role in the House of pushing conservatives towards a deal on amnesty, but nothing?s happened yet and he?s smart enough to keep a much lower profile on the issue than Rubio did. Most low-information voters on our side probably know him as that nice young guy from the midwest who?s deeply concerned that our spending is unsustainable. Why wouldn?t he be at 65 percent favorables? And why wouldn?t he have better numbers with tea partiers than with centrists? His core issue is reforming the welfare state. Centrists resist that, partly because they?re more comfortable with bigger government and partly because they?re probably more sensitive on balance to ?electability? concerns. Conservatives might be willing to risk a ferocious political backlash in the name of fixing entitlements. I doubt many centrists are.
The real surprise is Rand Paul?s numbers. His favorables among tea partiers are now 11 points better than Rubio?s, thanks in part to immigration, of course. But his numbers among non-tea-partiers are comparable to centrist hero Chris Christie?s and amnesty champion Marco Rubio?s. Maybe that?ll change in the primaries as his philosophy is scrutinized more closely; if centrists think Paul Ryan is too much of a threat to the welfare state, wait ?til they get a load of the great libertarian hope. Christie?s unfavorables among non-TPers are also a mild surprise. I wonder if that?s more a reaction to his policies or to fatigue with his tough-guy shtick. Either way, maybe he?s more vulnerable than we thought.
One more graph:
For all the babbling about party divisions lately vis-a-vis defunding ObamaCare, there?s only minor division on immigration. Pluralities on both the right and in the center think the GOP should be more conservative about the border. Tell me something, though: What would it mean for the party to be ?more conservative? on gay marriage at this point? Despite a heavy tide nationally and in government in favor of legalizing SSM, only a handful of congressional Republicans have come out in support of it. House Republicans sued to enforce DOMA because Obama?s DOJ refused to. Rubio declared that benefits for gay spouses under the Gang of Eight bill would have been a dealbreaker for him. What should the party be doing to please social conservatives that it isn?t? Forget about the Federal Marriage Amendment. That?s nothing but a rhetorical device at this point; it?ll never pass.
I?m loath to close with something from Think Progress but if their transcript of this Paul Ryan townhall vid is accurate, it?s news. Here he is on immigration reform:
RYAN: [...] Bringing these bills to the floor, we?ll find out. It is not, ?they don?t come to the floor unless we have a majority of the majority,? because we don?t know if we have a majority until we vote on it. So here?s where I see things going. I?ve spoken to John Boehner as recently as three days ago about this, which is, we all agree it is better to legislate in stages instead of one big thousand plus page bill that no one has read. [...] I?m trying to get to a consensus so a majority of us do support those component parts. I believe that?s achievable because when people really look at the details and they focus on what?s right, I believe what I?ve just laid out is something that a consensus of Republicans and Democrats can agree to.
Is that quote accurate? The audio makes it hard to tell. The whole point of the Hastert Rule is not to bring bills to the floor until the Speaker knows that a majority of his caucus supports them. Doing it the way Ryan describes (or seems to describe) would mean abandoning the Hastert Rule; you bring the bill to the floor, kinda sorta hoping/expecting that a majority of GOPers will vote for it, and if it turns out that only a few dozen do ? plus 200 Democrats, such that the bill passes ? then whoopsie! Guess they miscalculated. Is that what he?s saying or did TP misunderstand?
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PIERMONT, N.Y. (AP) ? The stepfather of a bride-to-be killed in a boating accident on the Hudson River said no one aboard saw the construction barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge before crashing into it.
Walter Kosik said he spoke to his daughter's fiance, Brian Bond, who told him all six people on the powerboat had their eyes on the river, but no one saw the barge's dim lights.
"What we want to talk about is the lighting on the barges," Kosik told The Journal News (http://lohud.us/1ckOoOe). "You've got two anchor lights, one on each side of the barge. With the glare off the bridge, you can't see it."
He continued: "It's just amazing that, the following day, (Gov. Andrew) Cuomo put lights on those barges, lighting it up like a Christmas tree 24 hours from when they got killed."
The New York State Thruway Authority has said that the barge lighting appeared to be functioning normally, but it remained part of the investigation.
The extra lights were added "because we wanted to go above and beyond to try and prevent something like this from happening again," spokesman Dan Weiler said.
Bond was to marry Lindsey Stewart on Aug. 10; his best man, Mark Lennon, also died. Both were 30. Bond and the three other people were injured.
Bond told Kosik that they all had about one alcoholic beverage each before Friday's crash. Boat operator Jojo John had a few drinks, Kosik said, adding, "If he was that drunk, they would not have gotten onto the boat."
John was charged with vehicular homicide in Stewart's death. He hasn't been charged in connection with Lennon's death. His lawyer called the crash "a tragedy for all of us."
The Journal on Wednesday identified the remaining two survivors as John Schumacher, 44, and Daniel Dilorgi, 28, both of Valley Cottage.
Dilorgi was recovering at home. Schumacher was in surgery Tuesday, according to his lawyer, John Pappalardo.
A funeral service for Stewart was scheduled for Thursday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Pear River, where she was to have been wed. Lennon's funeral was set for Friday at St. John the Baptist Church in Piermont.
___
Information from: The Journal News, http://www.lohud.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/relative-blames-dim-barge-lights-ny-boat-crash-135605817.html
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CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped eight cents over the past two weeks.
The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.67. Midgrade costs an average of $3.85 a gallon, and premium is $3.99.
Diesel was up four cents at $3.93 gallon.
Of the cities surveyed in the Lower 48 states, Charleston, S.C., has the nation's lowest average price for gas at $3.34. Chicago has the highest at $4.10.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.83 in Sacramento. The highest was in Los Angeles at $4.04. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $3.97, an increase of two cents.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-gas-prices-8-cents-175108467.html
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at the White House in Washington, Monday, July 29, 2013, for lunch with President Barack Obama. It's the most talked about lunch in the nation's capital. President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are dining privately at the White House Monday. While it's not the first time the pair have seen each other since Clinton left the administration earlier this year, each of their get-togethers are closely analyzed. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at the White House in Washington, Monday, July 29, 2013, for lunch with President Barack Obama. It's the most talked about lunch in the nation's capital. President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are dining privately at the White House Monday. While it's not the first time the pair have seen each other since Clinton left the administration earlier this year, each of their get-togethers are closely analyzed. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Barack Obama greets people on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 29, 2013, after a ceremony where he honored the 2012 World Series baseball Champion San Francisco Giants baseball team. The team beat the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series, their second championship since the franchise moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at the White House in Washington, Monday, July 29, 2013, for lunch with President Barack Obama. It's the most talked about lunch in the nation's capital. President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are dining privately at the White House Monday. While it's not the first time the pair have seen each other since Clinton left the administration earlier this year, each of their get-togethers are closely analyzed. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? When is a lunch more than just a midday meal? When the two diners are President Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and inquiring minds want to know who, if anyone, the president will endorse in 2016.
A summertime meal shared by Obama and his rival-turned-ally threw the political speculation machine into overdrive Monday, highlighting how closely both are being watched for signs of their intentions in the next presidential race.
For Clinton, it's a question of whether the former first lady will take the plunge, launching another campaign eight years after she lost to Obama in a hard-fought primary. For Obama, it's about dueling loyalties to two of his closest advisers who would both covet his endorsement: Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, who is also said to be eyeing the Oval Office.
Such questions set the table for a midday powwow over salad, grilled chicken and pasta jambalaya whipped up by the White House chef and served al fresco on the patio just outside the Oval Office.
Will Clinton tip her hand? Will Obama offer his support? Or will the two dive deep into current events ? bloodshed in Egypt, for instance, or a budding new round of Mideast peace talks that eluded Clinton as secretary of state?
In all likelihood, none of the above.
"The purpose of the lunch was chiefly social," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, calling it a "chance to catch up" and adding that Obama had initiated the invitation. "Secretary Clinton and the president have developed not just a strong working relationship, but also a genuine friendship."
So what are the chances that Biden popped in for coffee and dessert, a casual reminder that he's still the one with the office closest to Obama's?
"I think the table was set for two," Earnest said.
Not to worry ? Biden will have his own chance to shoot the breeze with his former Senate colleague and 2008 primary opponent on Tuesday. The White House said Biden and Clinton will have breakfast together at the Naval Observatory, the vice president's official residence.
Monday's lunch isn't the first time Obama and Clinton huddled since Clinton stepped down in February after four years as Obama's top diplomat. They saw each other briefly in Dallas at the opening of former President George W. Bush's presidential library in April. And in March, the Clintons shared a private dinner with Obama that wasn't announced publicly until after the fact.
In the meantime, Clinton has kept up a hectic schedule of speeches and public appearances that has provided further fodder to those urging her to run again. A super PAC seeking to create a campaign-in-waiting in case she runs, Ready for Hillary, recently picked up support from some of Obama's most prominent former campaign organizers.
So it's no wonder that each Obama-Clinton rendezvous is closely analyzed, elating some and prompting eye rolls from others who lament that barely six months in to Obama's second term, talk about his replacement is already reaching a fever pitch.
"In Democratic circles, it makes people fantasize and engage in all kinds of speculation, when in fact it may just be a tete-a-tete between the leader of the free world and the most important person in the Democratic Party," said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic strategist who worked on President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election.
___
Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
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2 hours ago
Devin Coldewey / NBC News
A standard capacity DVD, like the one pictured, has a capacity of about 4.7 GB; a Blu-ray can have around 50GB; and the proposed format could have up to 300GB.
First there was the CD, which held 700 megabytes. Then the DVD, which held 5 gigabytes. Then the Blu-ray disc, with 50 gigs. What's next? Sony and Panasonic hope it will be a 300-gigabyte disc they're jointly researching that could hit in 2015. But might we have abandoned discs altogether by then?
Sony wrote up the joint-development agreement in a press release, citing the many strengths of optical media as justification for the project:
Optical discs have excellent properties to protect them against the environment, such as dust-resistance and water-resistance, and can also withstand changes in temperature and humidity when stored.
However, both Sony and Panasonic recognized that optical discs will need to accommodate much larger volumes of storage in years to come given the expected future growth in the archive market, and responded by formulating this agreement.
For years, the companies that make discs like these have worked to make the lasers, materials, and other components more precise, and have added more recordable layers, improving capacity. Just this last November, TDK announced a 1-terabyte disc based on refined versions of today's technologies.
But reading between the lines and taking current trends into account, the companies' enthusiasm seems a little forced. After all, the most popular new devices in the world, tablets and smartphones, both rely exclusively on flash memory rather than spacious but cumbersome hard drives, let alone optical discs. And that's only when they're not streaming that data or downloading it from cloud storage.
Even full-on computers, desktop and laptop, are far less likely to have a disc drive than they used to. Apple took the lead in 2008 with the drive-less MacBook Air, and since then support for discs has become increasingly rare.
That's why the proposed format is being framed as more of a professional tool: a high-capacity medium for the companies' pro-level video cameras and backup archives. After all, Sony and Panasonic gear is deeply embedded in TV and film, and a big bump in capacity like this will be attractive to the many creatives who rely on those devices to store hours of HD video for shows and films.
Will there be a new format war in 2015 as these mega-discs come to market? Or will we have moved on to flash and cloud storage? Chances are a bit of both ? and by making sure that both will actually exist then, Sony and Panasonic are covering their bases.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
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Yes, they're still engaged, but as far as finally tying the knot goes, it sounds like timing is a major issue for them.
Jen told The Associated Press, "We just want to do it when it's perfect, and we're not rushed, and no one is rushing from a job or rushing to a job."
Huh. I guess that makes sense.
But there's also another reason Jen and Justin aren't in a hurry to get hitched.
She said, "We already feel married."
Ugh. Typical Hollywood statement. But feeling married and being married are two totally different things, so if they're really as happy and in love as they claim to be, why not get this show on the road and seal the deal already?
I mean, given how busy they are, the timing is never going to be exactly perfect, so they might as well at least get some sort of plans in the works.
Long engagements tend to lead to all sorts of rumors about trouble in the relationship, which Jen and Justin have had their fair share of -- but she insists that everything is still hunky-dory.
Jen added, "We have yet to set any dates. There have been no canceled weddings. There have been no postponed weddings. There have been no arguments about where to get married. Just clearing all that up."
Ok, so basically Jennifer Aniston is engaged and the wedding is on but it may or may not ever actually happen. (What else is new?)
Do you think Jennifer will ever marry Justin?
?
Image via Splash
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Hunter Mahan was leading the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament on Saturday. But then his wife went into labor. So, Hunter Mahan withdrew from the tournament.
Adios! Hunter Mahan waves after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the second round at the Canadian Open golf tournament in Oakville, Ontario. Mahan was leading the tournament on Saturday July 27, when he withdrew to attend the birth of his first child.
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)
EnlargeGolf is a sport that emphasizes integrity.
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Players are expected to call penalties on themselves, even if no one is looking.
That's why it's fitting that Hunter Mahan ? who was leading the RBC Canadian Open after two rounds ?? withdrew to attend the birth of his daughter. Mahan did the right thing ? for himself, for golf, and for fathers everywhere.
That's not to say that it was an easy decision. Mahan hasn't won a PGA tournament this year. He finished in the top 10 in two recent big tournaments ? the US Open and the British Open Championship. Going into Saturday's third round, he was leading by two shots. And if he had won, Mahan would have pocketed a $1,008,000 winner's check.
How many new dad's would walk away from a $1 million pay day?
The baby wasn't due for a few weeks. But then his phone rang Saturday morning, while he was warming up on the practice range. His wife was in labor, her water had broken. He didn't hesitate. He politely left the tournament.
?I received exciting news a short time ago that my wife Kandi has gone into labor with our first child,? said Mahan. ?As a result, I have withdrawn from the RBC Canadian Open to return to Dallas. I would like to extend my very sincere gratitude and appreciation to RBC and the RBC Canadian Open.
"Kandi and I are thrilled about this addition to the Mahan family and we look forward to returning to the RBC Canadian Open in the coming years.?
Mahan is not the first golfer to face the challenge of fatherhood vs. work. As Yahoo Sports writer Jay Busbee wrote: "Back in 1999, Phil Mickelson famously wore a beeper during the U.S. Open. His daughter was born the day after Mickelson lost to Payne Stewart. More recently, Ross Fisher vowed to walk off the course at the 2009 British Open no matter what if he heard his wife was going into labor; he was just one stroke behind leader Tom Watson at the time."
And last fall, Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman caused a stir when he suggested that the birth of his child would take precedent over showing up for his job. It sparked conversations on talk radio and in social media about work and family priorities. Tillman said:
"[Football will] always be second or third in my life. That was a great lesson learned, to teach me that family ? when I?m done playing football ? my family will always be there for me.?
As The Christian Science Monitor reported at the time, "Tillman's announcement drew criticism from some sports columnists and fans. Sport radio talk show starkly framed the question: "If you only work 16 days a year, should you miss one for the birth of your child?"
Tillman's daughter was eventually born on a Monday, saving the NFL player and fans from any further controversy.
But Mahan's daughter Zoe arrived on a work day. As a father, it's unlikely Mahan will regret the decision to leave the golf tournament. And there are probably more than a few dads ? who missed the birth of their first child ? who would now gladly give a $1 million to be there.
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Let it not be said that San Jose State University hasn't taught the world a valuable lesson in the promises and pitfalls of the fancy new craze for online university learning.
The Cal State University campus set itself up as a pioneer in the field in January, when it announced plans to enroll up to 300 students in three introductory online courses; the fee would be $150, a deep discount from the usual cost of more than $2,000.
Gov. Jerry Brown, who had been pushing the state's public universities to embrace high-tech teaching modes, was on hand to mark what he called an "exciting moment in the intellectual history of our state and of our university."
Two weeks ago the results of the experiment came in. More than half the students flunked. San Jose's work with Udacity, the well-funded Silicon Valley start-up that set up the online program, will be suspended for the fall semester ? put on "pause," as the partners say ? so the courses can be retooled.
"We want to reduce the hype and take a scientific look at the results," San Jose State's provost, Ellen Junn, told me.
That's very wise, but the chances that careful evaluation of the San Jose experiment will reduce the hype surrounding online learning are slim. Online learning is seen today as the answer to virtually every problem facing higher education, especially public higher ed.
Strapped for cash? You can vastly expand your program without hiring lots of crabby, expensive professors. For example, Georgia Tech is proposing to expand its computer science master's program from 300 students to 10,000 by offering its courses online around the world. The school figures it can do this without expanding its 80-member faculty by more than eight teachers. This looks like a "significant revenue generator for the college," according to the original proposal.
Too few classroom seats for the thousands of students hungering for your professors' lectures and your institution's degrees? Put the lectures online and reach a worldwide student body! Tired of paying to sweep your buildings' corridors and scrape ivy off the exterior walls? Online platforms require no such upkeep. Students will learn better, and at less expense, through the miracle of technology.
You don't have to ask where you've heard this before, because you hear it all the time. Every new technology is hyped as a world-changer and life-changer ? just last year, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was urging that every schoolchild have a laptop, because in the near future, textbooks would be a thing of the past. As I observed at the time, this was education as seen through the eyes of Apple Inc., not through the eyes of genuine educators.
The promise of online learning has made it onto the agendas of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where big investors and government leaders hobnob to contemplate the global future, and of TED, the lecture program where ideas, good and bad, go to get inflated to world-beating scale.
News reports and blog posts bristle with terms like MOOC (the "massive open online courses" that ostensibly deliver the best in academic lectures to anyone willing to log in).
The hype originates mostly from educational start-ups backed by millions of dollars in venture capital. Udacity, which was founded by Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford professor and Google fellow who says his goal is to bring "the very best of higher education to everyone worldwide," launched last year with $20 million in venture funds. Its closest rival, Coursera, also founded by Stanford faculty members, has collected $65 million in backing so far, including a chunk from the World Bank.
So it's not surprising that the services these firms offer resemble the product of a business model more than an educational model. More to the point, critics say, it's a Silicon Valley business model.
"They think the distribution of information that they're part of is the same as education, and that's just not true," says Christopher Newfield, an English professor at UC Santa Barbara who has been tracking the spread of the online learning mania. "Learning is not the same as watching TV or playing video games."
To some extent, some promoters have already tuned down their original claims that their services could someday replace most, or all, bricks-and-mortar education.
"As I learn more about the field, it becomes clearer to me that there's a beautiful value in on-campus education that we cannot and should not replicate or replace," says Thrun, who holds three diplomas from eminent German universities. "What I am really after is access."
His argument is that online courses can serve huge populations of wait-listed students unable to obtain slots on campus, or who need to fit college-level education in their spare time from work or family duties, or who are geographically remote from centers of learning.
That's a laudable goal, but it's not always the aspect seized upon by college administrators.
As it happens, San Jose State is ground zero not only for the rollout of online college classes but for the pushback too.
In an open letter in April, the school's philosophy department rejected an administration directive to use an online video of Harvard philosophy professor Michael Sandel lecturing to his own students in a class on social justice. The material was provided to San Jose State by edX, a partnership that Harvard and MIT created to market online lectures by their faculty and others' (including UC Berkeley's).
Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/business/~3/Lvovfa0R1zg/la-fi-hiltzik-20130728,0,2408536.column
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