I want to be there when they take away the student’s iPads

Notre Dame launches paperless iPad courses (with video)[
Via MacDailyNews]

“‘This has become known as the iPad class,’ Corey Angst, assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame, told his students on their first day of class Aug. 24,” Shannon Chapra reports for Notre Dame News. “‘It’s actually not…it’s ‘Project Management.””

“A member of Notre Dame’s ePublishing Working Group, Angst is debuting the University’s first and only class taught using Apple’s new wireless tablet computer to replace traditional textbooks,” Chapra reports. “The course is part of a unique, year-long Notre Dame study of eReaders, and Angst is conducting the first phase using iPads, which just went on sale to the public in April.”

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It could be a real mistake to start them off with iPads in a class using different eReaders for textbooks. Going from a Kindle to an iPad would be a reasonable transition. But going from an iPad to a Kindle? After letting them put all their music and download apps for the iPad? Making them feel like they own it and showing it off all over campus?

You never see a drug dealer starting his victims on the really addictive stuff and then trying to get them to use marijuana. A car dealer would not let someone use a Lexus for a couple of months and then try to get them to use a Vibe.

So, weed to heroin – no withdrawal. Vibe to Lexus – no withdrawal. iPad to Kindle – could induce shakes, cold/hot flashes and convulsions.

I’d like to hear one of these judges call a black man ‘boy’

Atlanta appeals court: It’s “nonracial” to call an adult black employee “boy”
[Via Boing Boing]

A black man who worked for a Tyson chicken plant in Alabama sued his employer for discrimination, after being passed up for promotion in favor of white workers from another plant—and after being referred to regularly and derogatorily as “boy” by his supervisor, as were other black co-workers. An appeals court in Atlanta, GA ruled that calling an adult black man “boy” in this context was “nonracial.”

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Growing up in Texas, I knew that you did not call an adult black male ‘boy’ . The word was too racially charged. It still is. But this is such an odd case. Three different almost all white juries both agreed that the black employee was discriminated against and awarded him a lot of money. Twice this appeals court has overturned that decision. The Supreme Court has already rebuked this circuit court once regarding its ruling on the case. Unanimously (How often does that happen?) Looks like it might happen again.

This circuit court originally said that the use of ‘boy’ could only be seen as derogatory if it was framed as ‘black boy.’ Otherwise, the use of the term was just conversational. They said that a ‘reasonable jury could not have found’ evidence of race discrimination. A Federal court has ruled that the use of ‘boy’ is no different than saying ‘sir.’ And anyone who feels otherwise is just being unreasonable.

So, three juries fro Alabama were all unreasonable. What a crock.

I’d love these judges use that term in the room full of African-Americans lawyers or call some of them ‘boy’ during a trial. After all, it is just conversational.

The juries all knew what was going on here.

Using Amazon to help with biology

by tipiro

Cloud computing method greatly increases gene analysis
[Via Eureka! Science News - Popular science news]

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed new software that greatly improves the speed at which scientists can analyze RNA sequencing data. RNA sequencing is used to compare differences in gene expression to identify those genes that switched on or off when, for instance, a particular disease is present. However, sequencing instruments can produce billions of sequences per day, which can be time-consuming and costly to analyze. The software, known as Myrna, uses “cloud computing,” an Internet-based method of sharing computer resources. Faster, cost-effective analysis of gene expression could be a valuable tool in understanding the genetic causes of disease. The findings are published in the current edition of the journal Genome Biology. The Myrna software is available for free download at http://bowtie-bio.sf.net/myrna.

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I love these sorts of stories. Putting large data sets up onto unused servers run by Amazon – the cloud – permits being able to perform calculations by anyone who can access the data.

The paper Cloud-scale RNA-sequencing differential expression analysis with Myrna is Open Access so anyone can read it. Fun stuff.

In this case, it took them a little over an hour to upload 43 gigabytes of data for a transfer rate of 82 Mb/second. Sweet. Then they used their software to examine the different levels of RNA expressed in different cells.

The looked at 1.1 billion RNA sequences in less than 2 hours for about $66. That is a lot cheaper than if they had provided the servers themselves.

Amazon will be making a bigger and bigger impact on biological research in the coming years.

Using high tech tools, a researcher makes it personal

by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Stanford land-use expert brings satellite data down to Earth
[Via Eureka! Science News - Popular science news]

By integrating remote satellite imagery with revelations from door-to-door interviews, Stanford University geographer Eric Lambin and his colleagues are exploring the complex conditions that give rise to a broad range of land-use challenges – from the reforestation of Vietnam to the spread of Lyme disease in Belgium. For decades, orbiting satellites have peered downward to gather information about the surface of the Earth, giving scientists an unprecedented view of the planet. Using this data, researchers have created maps of deforestation and other land-use changes over time.

Satellites are precise tools, able to measure the rate of photosynthesis in a tiny clump of trees in the heart of the Amazon Basin. But satellite technology reveals little about the people living beneath the canopy who decide the fate of the trees around them. For a deeper understanding of how and why humans alter their environment, researchers need to talk face-to-face with the people who live there.

“We really need a meeting between land-use studies and these new sources of information, like digital satellites,” said Lambin, a professor of environmental Earth system science and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment.

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Satellite images provide all sorts of very reliable data but often do not explain at all the reasons for changes. Here, parts of Vietnam have been reforested but the reasons are much more complex than environmental conservation

There are all sorts of economic and social reasons for rebuilding the forests that Lambin found by actually looking at t=what the people living there were doing.

So, for instance,he was able to uncover why Vietnam, whose forests are growing was able to increase its furniture exports 4-fold – people were illegally importing wood from surrounding countries. The people did not ant to reduce their own forests as they knew the problems from deforestation. So they got the wood from elsewhere.

He makes a great point reggarding the fact that these are complex issues and that what works in one location is not applicable to another:

“Policymakers like simple, neat solutions,” he said. “They tend to assume that one issue is caused by one set of factors, and, therefore, you need to apply the same remedies in all situations.”

He and his colleagues may have an explanation for why malaria is disappearing in Thailand but dengue fever is rising. By cutting down forests, the puddles that sustain the malaria-causing mosquitoes disappear. Then, when the forest is replaced by fruit trees, a different mosquito finds a niche, one that carries dengue fever.

The complexities of land use will not permit one size fits all solutions. And the behavior of people is a large reason it is so complex. But good data and insight can provide a path for finding solutions.

Hermine keeps on going

by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Major flooding in Austin from Hermine
[Via Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog]

Major flooding is occurring in the Austin, Texas region after Tropical Storm Hermine dumped an estimated 10 – 15 inches of rain over the past 24 hours. The flash flood warning for Austin from the National Weather Service at 4am this morning summarized the danger:

“Areas along I-35 and the Balcones Escarpment in and around the Austin Metro area will continue to experience a very dangerous flash flood event over the next few hours. Numerous evacuations and high water rescues have already been reported by the media and law enforcement personnel.”

As wunderground’s Dr. Rob Carver reports in his blog this morning, hardest hit was the area ten miles north-northwest of Austin, where an NWS cooperative station measured 10.11″ of rain yesterday. The rains have swollen the South Fork of the San Gabriel River at Georgetown, Texas to 50-year flood heights.

Hermine has dissipated, but its heavy rains live on, and are now affecting the Dallas/Fort Worth region, where 1 – 3 inch rainfall amounts have been common. Hermine’s rains are still lingering over the hard-hit Austin area, but should remain under one inch for the remainder of the morning. However, this afternoon, additional significant rains are possible near Austin as the sun’s heat drives thunderstorm development in the very moist airmass over Central Texas.

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Luckily it appears that Hermine is going up the center of Texas, so my parents in Houston missed much of the rain. The next storm is called Igor, just off the coast of Africa (Is it pronounced e-gor or is it pronounced eye-gor? What are we naming storms based on movie characters now? Maybe each season could have a theme.)

One thing I read in Master’s blog that make me realize the power of these storms, even if they never get a name – Guatemala has been really hard hit this year from two storms that were not even hurricanes – Tropical Storm Agatha, which hit from the Pacific side, as did Tropical Depression 11E. The former killed almost 300 people and the latter has killed over 50. 11E, which really only existed for a couple of days, may have done over $500 million in damages. August was the rainiest one in their history. Scary since September and October are usually the wet months in the country.

We are on the downhill side of the hurricane season, which peaks around the end of August. But still lots of time as the season does not end until November.