Thinking & Acting
/Think like a man of action, and act like a man of thought. -Henri Bergson
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
When things go wrong and break your heart
/Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be. –Charles T. Jones
Data Science articles - Dec 2020
/10 data analytics trends to follow in 2021—starting with augmented predictive analytics
China launches remote sensing satellite in final scheduled orbital launch attempt of the year
Overlooked aspects of text preprocessing for natural language processing and machine learning
The entanglement of Artificial intelligence with quantum mechanics
Does Programming Depend More on Math or Language Skills?
Let’s talk about meta-Learning as a part of machine learning
A brief history of machine learning
Predictive Analytics May Not Be So Predictive: today’s risks pose a new set of challenges for decision-makers
Which machine learning algorithm should I use?
Amazon Web Services launches new tool to detect bias and blind spots in machine learning
Essential math for data science: probability density & mass functions
MIT: How leaner subnetworks within neural networks can complete the same task more efficiently
In the journal Nature: a team of physicists report the most precise measurement yet of the fine-structure constant that shapes the universe
Google computer scientists: machine learning algorithms are prone to a previously unknown problem
MIT says its machine learning models show the COVID-19 vaccines may not do as well covering people of Black or Asian genetic ancestry bec of a lack of genetic diversity in clinical trials
If you're developing machine-learning models right now, then you really have no way to do some kind of red teaming models
The magic formula for flourishing
/In 1938, a group of researchers began an intensive study of 268 students at Harvard University. The plan was to track them through their entire lives, measuring, testing and interviewing them every few years to see how lives develop.
As this study — the Grant Study — progressed, the power of relationships became clear. Body type was useless as a predictor of how the men would fare in life. So was birth order or political affiliation. Even social class had a limited effect. But having a warm childhood was powerful. As George Vaillant, the study director, sums it up in “Triumphs of Experience,” his most recent summary of the research, “It was the capacity for intimate relationships that predicted flourishing in all aspects of these men’s lives.”
It’s not that the men who flourished had perfect childhoods. Rather, as Vaillant puts it, “What goes right is more important than what goes wrong.” The positive effect of one loving relative, mentor or friend can overwhelm the negative effects of the bad things that happen.
In case after case, the magic formula is capacity for intimacy combined with persistence, discipline, order and dependability.
But a childhood does not totally determine a life. The big finding is that you can teach an old dog new tricks. The men kept changing all the way through, even in their 80s and 90s.
The men of the Grant Study frequently became more emotionally attuned as they aged, more adept at recognizing and expressing emotion.
David Brooks writing in the New York Times
How to shape the future
/The future is shaped by men and women with a steady, even zestful, confidence that on balance their efforts will not have been in vain. They take failure and defeat not as reason to doubt themselves but as reason to strengthen resolve. Some combination of hope, vitality and indomitability makes them willing to bet their lives on ventures of unknown outcomes.
John Gardner, Self-Renewal
Birth & Pain
/Seldom or never does a marriage develop into an individual relationship smoothly without crisis. There is no birth of consciousness without pain. -Carl Jung
Drinking bacon grease for breakfast
/If you seek advice from a very old person about how to become very old, the only person who can provide you an answer is a person who is not dead. The people who made the poor health choices you should avoid are now resting in the earth and can’t tell you about those bad choices anymore. That’s why it’s difficult not to furrow your brow and wonder why you keep paying for a gym membership when Willard Scott showcases the birthday of a 110-year-old woman who claims the source of her longevity is a daily regimen of cigarillos, cheese sticks, and Wild Turkey cut with maple syrup and Robitussin. You miss that people like her represent a very small number of the living. They are on the thin end of a bell curve. There is a much larger pool of people who basically drank bacon grease for breakfast and didn’t live long enough to appear on television. Most people can’t chug bourbon and gravy for a lifetime and expect to become an octogenarian, but the unusually lucky handful who can tend to stand out precisely because they are alive and talking.
David McRaney, You are not so Smart
Articles of interest about higher ed (& the virus) - Dec 28
/***VACCINES
CDC issues new guidance about vaccinations for people with underlying health conditions
What happens if you miss your second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine? (podcast)
How will you be told when it's your turn for a COVID-19 vaccine? It's complicated
There’s one major problem with coronavirus vaccines
Can Employers Require Workers To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?
***THE VIRUS
Fauci shares Biden's concern that 'darkest days' may be ahead in Covid-19 fight
Disinfecting Surfaces And Parcels To Fend Off The Coronavirus May Be Overkill
***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS
How the Pandemic Is Imperiling a Working-Class College ($)
Fauci: Vaccines Should Allow CA Colleges to Teach in-Person Next Fall
Massachusetts grad student, parent suing over flu vaccine requirement
***HIGHER ED & POLITICS
Biden’s Education Department will move fast to reverse DeVos policies
Changes in the Federal Student-Aid System
Congressional Deal Would Give Higher Ed $23B
***SEMESTERS TO COME
Fauci: Vaccines Should Allow CA Colleges To Teach In-Person Next Fall
Roanoke College delays spring semester after cyberattack
***HIGHER ED
California university signs historic pact with Mexico’s government
***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS
University of Hawaii faculty union sues to stop furloughs
Illinois Supreme Court: Community Colleges Cannot Replace Laid Off Tenured Faculty with Adjuncts
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Judge temporarily stops University of Iowa from cutting Women’s Swimming and Diving
Pitt cardiologist sues school after backlash to his article on affirmative action
***CHEATING
Naval Academy exams being reviewed for 'inconsistencies'
Backlash Over Leniency at West Point After 73 Cadets Are Accused of Cheating ($)
West Point accuses more than 70 cadets of cheating in worst academic scandal in nearly 45 years
NYC is Paying $2 Million For Anti-Plagiarism Software After Firing Teachers
How teachers are sacrificing student privacy to stop cheating
California Bar Exam Flagged A THIRD Of Applicants As Cheating
***ACADEMIC LIFE
University of Evansville faculty vote no confidence in realignment plan
Appeal Filed In Harvard Circumcision Case
Washington State researcher resigns after his colleagues caught him fabricating data
***ADMINISTRATORS
Methodist University president resigns, effective immediately
University of North Carolina at Greensboro provost fired after just six months
Austin Peay State University President
Chapman University president self-isolating at home after testing positive for coronavirus
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
The Priesthood of All Professors? Court to Consider ‘Ministerial Exception’ for Gordon College
Chicago area Lutheran college lays off 51, closes 15 programs
Catholic College Expels Faculty Union, Citing NLRB Decision
***LIBERTY U
Liberty Students 'Embarrassed' by Falkirk Center, Says Student Body President, Vice President
***RESEARCH
Survey: 51% reported being were aware of colleagues’ scientific misconduct
How a grad student discovered an error that might affect hundreds of papers
How accurate are citations of frequently cited papers in biomedical literature?
Are authors who post data entitled to co-authorship of any future papers that use those data?
Do You Have a Conflict of Interest? This Robotic Assistant May Find It First
Meta-Research: Journal policies and editors’ opinions on peer review
Retractions are on the rise in medical research
***STUDENT LIFE
What Congress Could Do to Keep More College Students Enrolled
More info is available about which college majors pay off, but students aren’t using it ($)
In Rural America, Fears About The Future Abound As Fewer Students Go To College
At 3 Top Universities, Black Student Body Presidents Make History
Alabama College Student Arrested in Fatal Campus Shooting
UT Austin graduate students face issues getting personal protective equipment from university
College students recruited as teachers to keep schools open
***STUDENT MEDIA
Journalism students report on COVID's impact while living it
Penn State student newspaper refuses to negotiate predatory contract with staff (opinion)
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Security lapses at Eckerd College led to campus rape, lawsuit says
U of South Carolina professor facing sexual harassment lawsuit no longer teaching
28-year-old man arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting student on Orange Coast College campus
***RACIAL ISSUES ON CAMPUS
How one very old Census record spurred a reckoning at Johns Hopkins University ($)
Seven Women of color denied promotion accuse San Jose State University president of discrimination
***FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS
UT agrees to dismantle Campus Climate Response Team
A Cheerleader’s Vulgar Message Prompts a First Amendment Showdown ($)
When life buries you
/There were two groups... those who didn't die and those who came back to life. - Ester Perel
God had come near
/He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty. No silk. No ivory, No hype. No party. No hoopla. Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of star-gazers, there would have no gifts.
For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feeling got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.
To think of Jesus in such a light is - well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn't it? It's not something we like to do; it's uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.
He's easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable. But don't do it. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world.
Max Lucado, God Came Near
Articles of interest about the virus, journalism, fakes, security & more
/***THE VIRUS
California's new virus message: 'Don't share your air'
Where COVID-19 spreads most easily, according to experts
Common childhood vaccine could protect against COVID-19
Vitamin D and coronavirus: Study shows more than 80% of patients were deficient
Does It Matter Which COVID-19 Vaccine You Get?
What You Can Do Post-Vaccine, and When ($)
Are COVID-19 Vaccines Safe For Children?
***JOURNALISM
Top 2020 Tools for reporters
How Google sends readers away from local news
Number of journalists murdered for their work more than doubled in 2020
Journalists will learn influencing isn’t easy
***WRITING & READING
Why on Earth Is Someone Stealing Unpublished Book Manuscripts?
Lithub: Our 65 Favorite Books of the Year
Why this forgotten punctuation mark should be revived for 2021
***FAKES & FRAUDS
"Unreliable" news sources got more traction in 2020
Misinformation Amplifiers Target Georgia Senate Races
Tony Robbins claims he saved an employee from COVID-19 - She says in a lawsuit that’s a lie
Nonprofit coalition demands Biden act on misinformation educating the public on misinformation
Top Ten Disinformers – and Top Ten Straight Shooters With The Most Online Engagement
My job reporting on QAnon and coronavirus disinformation has led to daily death threats — but we can’t give up
***ANTI-VAXXERS
Anti-Vaxxers Are Coaching People How to 'Refuse' the COVID Vaccine
The GOP's Fave Anti-Abortion Celebrity Is a COVID Anti-Vaxxer Now
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Why social media hasn’t been able to shut down vaccine misinformation
Facebook will offer new account security options in 2021
Twitter tests 'humanization prompts' in effort to reduce toxic replies
How pastel cookware took over Instagram
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
How to lock your Wi-Fi and protect your home
The Toll Of Conspiracy Theories: A Voting Security Expert Lives In Hiding
Why the Russian hack is so significant, and why it's close to a worst-case scenario
iPhones vulnerable to hacking tool for months, researchers say
A Florida sheriff’s program that claims to identify potential future criminals violates student privacy according to a new report
Who can access your iPhone and Apple accounts?
The data that apps use to track you, according to Apple
***THE SOLARWINDS HACK
Microsoft has discovered yet more SolarWinds malware
What Happens Next with the Massive SolarWinds Hack
Hacked networks will need to be burned 'down to the ground'
Suspected Russian hacking campaign hit over 40 organizations, Microsoft says
Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught
The shepherd who didn’t go to the Manger
/Imagine that one of the shepherds telling the story about angels appearing to him in the fields, telling him about the Christ child—but not going to the stable to see the child (Luke 2).
“Grandpa! Tell us the story of the angels again.”
“Well, there I was out in the field … angels appeared.”
“And what was the baby like?”
“Oh, I never went to see the child.”
Hard to imagine, right? The angels’ appearance was just the beginning. How could the shepherd not have gone into the more? How could he have been satisfied with just that first exhilarating experience? He shouldn’t have been. And neither should we.
Stephen Goforth
Gifts to the Christ child
/What did the inn keeper give to Jesus at his birth? What he had, a stable (Luke 2:7).
What did the shepherds give? Their praises (Luke 2:21).
What did the “wise men” give? Their worship (Mt 2:11).
What did Mary give? Herself (Luke 1:38).
What have you given to Jesus? He only comes to what’s available.
Stephen Goforth
Neighbors surprise kind UPS driver with emotional 'thank you'
/#GOODNEWS
"It was terribly lonely and he was always the highlight of my day. Mentioning this to a few people and the response I got was all I needed to know I was not alone. … The neighborhood gesture visibly moved Gaskin, who spoke briefly, thanked everyone, and then got back to work."
I’ve never seen
/I’ve never seen where a woman has given birth to a success or to a failure. It’s always either a boy or a girl. -Zig Ziglar
Articles of Interest about religion (and the virus) - Dec 21
/***THE VIRUS
Hospitals Are Still Short on Masks and Other Protective Gear ($)
Hospital CEOs have gotten rich cutting staff and supplies. now they’re not ready for the next wave
What Happens After Receiving A COVID-19 Vaccine?
Millions forced to cancel Christmas as 'new variant' of coronavirus spreads in U.K.
Thinking of gathering indoors? Here's how fast COVID transmission happens.
***RELIGION & THE VIRUS
Televangelist network returns millions in PPP loan after buying private jet
Supreme Court Rejects Kentucky Religious School on Covid Shutdown
Lauren Daigle responds to request to remove her from NYE celebrations over breaking lockdown rules
***RELIGION & GEN Z
Finding common ground with Gen Z (opinion)
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Will election become a new ‘lost cause’ for evangelical conservatives?
DC church replaces Black Lives Matter banner destroyed by ‘Proud Boys’
Texas Baptist Minister, a Lifelong Republican, Loses License After Endorsing Biden
***RELIGION & RACIAL ISSUES
Black Texas megachurch pastor cuts ties with SBC over seminary presidents’ statement on CRT
***CATHOLIC
Vatican: Coronavirus vaccines 'morally acceptable' for Catholics
Vatican nativity scene: Art teacher defends 2020 nativity scene decried as ugly
***MEGACHURCHES
The Majority of American Megachurches Are Now Multiracial
Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch defends getting $4.4 million in federal PPP loans
Senior Pastor at metro Atlanta mega church has COVID-19, days after attending White House party
Megachurches take huge sums from PPP Funds
***TELEVANGELISTS
Televangelist Kenneth Copeland's Inaccurate Hanukkah Tweet Sparks Condemnation
***MUSLIMS
California appoints its first ever Muslim chaplain to the state legislature
***RELIGION AROUND THE WORLD
Women in many countries face harassment for clothing deemed too religious – or too secular
***CONVERSION THERAPY
Gay conversion therapy: Hundreds of religious leaders call for ban
Rewrite your brain
/Many people believe that their intellectual ability is hardwired from birth, and that failure to meet a learning challenge is an indictment of their native ability. But every time you learn something new, you change the brain-the residue of your experiences is stored. It's true that we start life with the gift of our genes, but it's also true that we become capable through the learning and development of mental models that enable us to reason, solve, and create.
Peter C. Brown and Henry L. Roediger III, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Two brands of discontent
/There are two brands of discontent: the brand that merely fosters greed and snarling and back-biting, and the brand that inspires greater and greater effort to reach the desired goal. What is your brand? -BC Forbes