Software Engineer Named ‘Best Job in America’ by Money Magazine

1. Software Engineer Why it’s great Software engineers are needed in virtually every part of the economy, making this one of the fastest-growing job titles in the U.S. Even so, it’s not for everybody. Designing, developing and testing computer programs requires some pretty advanced math skills and creative problem-solving ability. If you’ve got them, though, you can work and live where you want: Telecommuting is quickly becoming widespread. The profession skews young — the up-all-night-coding thing gets tired — but consulting and management positions aren’t hard to come by once you’re experienced.

Site – http://money.cnn.com

Top 40 Magazine Covers Of The Past 40 Years

American Society of Magazine Editor’s top 40 magazine covers.

Site – http://www.magazine.org

Skip Your Veggies? Not So Fast

A recently published study of 48,835 women, questioning low-fat diets, had serious design defects, experts say.  Subjects with “healthier” diets cut calories from fat by only 8.2 percent compared with the normal group and ate only 1.1 additional servings of fruits and vegetables a day — too small a difference to expect health benefits.  And hy focusing only on total fat intake, the study misleadingly failed to distinquish the effects of the different types of fat: unhealthy saturated and trans fats vs. healthy monounsaturated fats.

Site – http://www.businessweek.com

Web Filters Harm ‘Critical Thinking’

In a story about just how well Web porn filters work, free speech activist Bennett Haselton, expresses his opinion that concerns about children and Internet porn are overblown.  “I never met anyone who was harmed by having unfettered Internet access,” said Haselton, a Seattle programmer with the Web site Peacefire.org. “But I’ve met plenty of people who have been harmed by being overprotected. The real harm is the harm to critical thinking.”

Site – http://news.com.com

The Corporate Corruption Of American Higher Education

American universities are the envy of the world, but they may be on the brink of discarding the very values and practices that have made them so successful, argues journalist Washburn, as secretive connections between private industry and the academy have begun to “undermine the foundation of public trust on which all universities depend.” Washburn has a muckraker’s keen eye for scandals and coverups; her examples of academic research suppressed in the name of corporate profits will startle readers. Not content with merely drawing back the curtains on the sordid world of the increasingly revenue-centered university, Washburn argues that the recent partnerships between schools and businesses rarely generate the financial windfall that they promise, leaving educational institutions and state legislatures with strapped resources and hollow rhetoric about creating the next Silicon Valley.

Stie – http://www.foresight.org

PS9

Quicktime video of a commercial for the Sony Playstation 9. Could those be nanobots…

Site – http://media32a.libsyn.com

Putin Has No Mobile Phone, But 120 Million Russians Do

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Friday he does not have his own mobile phone in a meeting with Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman but 120 million others Russians now do.

Site – http://www.physorg.com

Publication Data Indicates Growth In Developing Nations’ Scientific Output

The Institute for Statistics (UIS) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published a study of bibliometric data which indicates that scientific publications by developed countries have declined in the last 20 years while some developing regions, specifically Asia and Latin America, have increased their contributions and other developing regions, specifically Africa, declined dramatically. According to the study, bibliometric indicators, which are counts of scientific publications and the citations they receive, are a good proxy for overall scientific output. The study attributes the declining publication rates in developed countries to the EU’s decision to pursue basic research instead of technological development and their lack of interest in defense research and development in comparison to the U.S. It attributes the growth in publications from developing countries to a rise in collaborations with scientists from developed nations. The study says that the data suggests that newly-industrialized nations in Asia are specializing in physics, chemistry, and engineering while other developing countries are concentrating on bio-medical research and Africa is focusing on biology, specifically food and agricultural sciences. The study can be viewed online at the link below.

Site – http://www.uis.unesco.org

Technology-Based Social Change

BBC has published an article featuring the highlights of technological social change from around the world for this year. It is amazing to find out how technology is being used in very different ways for very different communities. Victims of the Tsunami disaster, Virtual Wallets in Japan, and the Indian government, bringing technology to rural areas, all have been touched by the positive use of technology. Hope to see more good community-based collaboration in 2006.

Site – http://slashdot.org

Americans ‘Need’ Their Gadgets

Personal computers, cell phones and high-speed internet are considered essential to getting by for millions of Americans who are showing early signs of addiction to the next wave of high-tech toys, an AP-Ipsos poll found.   “Part of the reason is the hype, the commercial selling of it,” he said. “Some people feel the products will improve the quality of their lives. But do we really need to be connected in every way, shape or form?”

Site – http://www.wired.com

In Computer Science, A Growing Gender Gap

Looks like finding a compatible girl geek in the computer profession is becoming even harder, as an already wide gender gap among Computer Science majors is becoming larger. From the article: ‘A Globe review shows that the proportion of women among bachelor’s degree recipients in computer science peaked at 37 percent in 1985 and then went on the decline. Women have comprised about 28 percent of computer science bachelor’s degree recipients in the last few years, and in the elite confines of research universities, only 17 percent of graduates are women [...] The argument of many computer scientists is that women who study science or technology, because they are defying social expectations, are in an uncomfortable position to begin with. So they are more likely to be dissuaded from pursuing computer science if they are exposed to an unpleasant environment, bad teaching, and negative stereotypes like the image of the male hacker.

Site – http://www.slashdot.org

Science Grads, Where Are You?

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett urges businesses to get involved in American education — for their own sakes as well as the nation’s. America’s economic future lies with its next generation of workers and their ability to develop new technologies and products. This means we must strengthen math and science education in the U.S. We must increase the number of students who can compete on a global level by, for example, adopting the goal of doubling the number of engineering graduates each year from some 50,000 to 100,000 or more. This requires the support of elected officials, but changes of this scale cannot occur without action from the business community.

Site – http://businessweek.com