Boston Museum Study Finds 1 in 13 Visitors Have "Ape-Like Feet"

Planet of the Apes
(image: ifc.com)

Until Charles Darwin advanced his theory of evolution, it was nearly inconceivable to assert that human ancestry included apes. Since that time, humanity has wondered whether any resemblance between itself and simians was merely coincidental.

A recent study conducted at the Boston Museum of Science has explored this proposition. According to a BBC report, researchers "studied the feet of 398 visitors" to the museum. They discovered that one in thirteen participants had "ape-like feet."

I'm looking at my own feet now. They don't seem ape-like, but how do I really know? I don't have any tree climbing aptitude. I like to eat bananas, but I could easily manage without them. I'm not particularly large and my face does not resemble any known simian mug.

I suppose Ernie Kovacs' Nairobi Trio had the right idea after all.

MOOCs Score Statewide University Contracts

The MOOC juggernaut achieved a major coup today, as ten large university systems jumped onboard higher education's online class bandwagon. According to a story in siliconvalley.com, major state systems, including New York, have joined MOOC's parade.

The article notes that today's announcement "shows the extent to which, for cash-strapped university leaders and policymakers, the MOOCs and the platforms they are built on offer an irresistible promise of doing more with less -- to scale up education and help students move more efficiently toward a degree."

Coursera, which offers the MOOC package cited in today's siliconvalley.com story, makes $3,000 per course, plus $25 per student enrolled in a MOOC course. It doesn't sound like much, until one multiplies $25 by, say, 25,000 students. That sum is $625,000 for one class. The state systems annually enroll tens of thousands of students, and they typically take more than one course.

I leave the higher math to you.

1953 Ferrari Auctioned for $13 Million

1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Pinin Farina
Berlinetta "Competizione"

When I was a boy, I had a Matchbox Ferrari. These well-made, metal toy miniature cars appealed to me. I could play with them for hours, inventing new adventures in the world of sleek, elite high-performance automobiles. Calling a Ferrari by any term other than "Ferrari," however, seems almost disrespectful to the brand's pedigree, accomplishments, and aura.

Some current auto collectors have strong feelings about Ferraris, and they're putting their money where their desires are. According to a story in today's Chicago Tribune, a rare 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta "Competizione" was auctioned for $13 million. The lucky bidder won a machine that appeared at the 24 Hours of LeMans race. Now that's pedigree.

Ethiopia Redirects Blue Nile for Dam Construction

The Blue Nile's Origin
Lake Tana, Ethiopia
(photo: Ondrej Zvacek via commons.wikipedia.org)

The Blue Nile, which supplies the famed river with more than three-quarters of its overall water supply, will soon undergo an historic diversion. According to a BBC report, the Ethiopian government will modify the river channel to accommodate the construction requirements of a massive hydroelectric project called the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

This rather breathtaking diversion has given Sudan and Egypt the jitters. Both nations are highly dependent upon the Nile for its share of blue gold. The BBC report noted that Nile water rights are governed by a colonial-era agreement that has somehow remained solid through the subsequent decades.

As the planet's useful water supply diminishes, water rights will become a profoundly hot button political and social issue. A case in point from the here and now is the Jordan River valley, which nourishes the eponymous nation, the Palestinian territories, and Israel. If one extrapolates from that conundrum to other water "choke points," it's easy to conclude there will be an increasing number of crises over water control.

An Afternoon in New York's Washington Square Park

My wife and I visited Washington Square Park yesterday. We had not walked through or lingered in the Village's best breathing space in years. The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend turned out to  be a lovely, cool spring day. The park attracted its fair share of tourists, neighborhood residents, and others who find comfort in this historic patch. I've included some photos I took with my iPhone, so that readers can get a feel for the park's atmosphere. It was more fun that we expected.

MOOC Inroads Stir Cal University Faculty Protest Letter

Image: insidehighered.com

The insular world of higher education was overdue for an institutional earthquake. When faculty of elite universities, such as Harvard and Stanford, began their commercial foray into online education initiatives such as MOOC, the ground under smug tenured faculty throughout Academia shook. The packaging of courses available to a worldwide audience, provided by intellectual stars across the academic firmament, led to the potential destabilization of higher ed's lesser lights' stature and value. Given Academia's cynical, relentless tuition and fee increases over the years, any doubt about the financial value of a tenured professor's "required" course and autocratic program requirements would be problematic to those whose "workload" includes paid summer-long vacations, paid sabbaticals, business development activities beneficial to the university and to the prof (a/k/a grants), and other activities that do not directly involve (heaven help us) instructing a generation of students.

For university administrators, tech's high priests, and the shadow world of "privatized" higher ed, the weakness of a professor's value proposition screamed for a profit-oriented "solution." MOOCs were, in some ways, made to order to resolve this conundrum. While positioned as game changers by well-intentioned university-based educators, the notions of profit and control were rarely discussed. Rather, MOOCs were characterized as the 21st Century version of "power to the people." Did anyone say "lifetime learning?"

Reporter Katy Murphy(photo: twitter.com)

Well, Academia' professorial B-list finally woke up to MOOC's implications for their jobs, their institutions, and (ahem) students. Recently, San Jose State University's philosophy department sent an open letter protesting their school's embrace of MOOC. The downloadable letter, included in Oakland Tribune reporter Katy Murphy's story on the topic,  provides cogent points regarding the MOOC encroachment into what had been the philosophy department's once-sacred grove. The story was picked up by the Mercury News, based in San Jose and in the heart of Silicon Valley.

While I don't agree with all positions the letter asserts, the document does present issues that should be considered, argued, and openly considered.

Understanding the impact and implications of MOOC leads to a broader inquiry into some of high tech's darker corners. Data mining, privacy usurpation, education as a handmaiden to business imperatives, depersonalized intellectual development -- all of these issues are at the heart of a data-driven nightmare that triumphalist technophiles are trumpeting as desirable directions for our society.

While it's difficult to sympathize with the San Jose State philosophy staff, they have raised the battle flag. What's needed is an articulate, persuasive position that questions tech's breezy assumptions regarding human behavior and the industry's dismissive preference for total power. It is individuals who should be in control of their destiny, not an algorithm written by someone who values data architecture and statistically-based mumbo jumbo over the human heart's poetic mysteries and our infinite realizations of beauty.

Richard III's "Untidy" Grave

King Richard the Third, After and Before
(Images: telegraph.co.uk)

British monarch Richard the Third, whose life and death Shakespeare memorably dramatized, became a news item this year. His grave was recently found underneath a Leicester car park, hardly an august burial site for a king. Adding to the indignity was evidence that the ruler was buried in a "'hastily dug, untidy grave,'" according to University of Leicester researchers.

The story, written without any quotes from the Bard's The Life and Death of Richard the Third, appeared in online editions of the BBC.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Expands DC-Area Presence, Big Government Alliance

Image: techcrunch.com

The commonwealth of Virginia recently announced that Amazon Web Services would add 500 employees to AWS' DC-area offices. The Cavalier State's Republican governor let the world know about this development via a news release. The story appeared on a slow news cycle in today's Washington Post.

The announcement and fawningly written WaPo article (which mischaracterized the tech company as a "retail giant") treated Amazon's decision as if it were the Second Coming. The piece pointedly noted how the average of the jobs' salaries would reach low six-figures. Meanwhile, the state provided Amazon with a $500,000 grant "to assist Amazon's recruitment and training." Why these supposedly high-tech, highly qualified applicants would need government assistance to become fully prepared for their new employment remained unstated.

The principal reason AWS is moving into northern Virginia's Dulles Internet-heavy corridor involves federal contracts. Free-enterprise Amazon has discovered the lucrative attractions of Big Government's data needs. Earlier this year, I blogged about Amazon's data storage contract with the Central Intelligence Agency. The pro-Amazon Obama Administration, enamored with Big Data's clout and reach, has intentionally or otherwise provided very useful services to Jeff Bezos' empire. Given that scenario, it is unsurprising that today's WaPo story observed that Amazon's Virginia "expansion follows an announcement this month by Amazon Web Services that the federal government had put the company on a fast track to sell it cloud computing services."

Characteristically, Amazon remained tightlipped about its plans. "An Amazon spokesman," the WaPo article noted, "declined to add more specifics, such as when the jobs would be added." Maybe the CIA has finally found its soulmate. The spooks could even offer it a codename: Sleepless in Seattle.

Chicago "Fugitive" House For Sale

House used in The Fugitive
(Photo: blog.wttw.com)

The 1993 movie The Fugitive included a sequence in which Dr. Richard Kimble's wife was murdered. The wonderful residence used in the film is now for sale, according to a story in today's Chicago Tribune. If you have $3.7 million to spare, and enjoy living in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, the five-bedroom house can be yours.

Ironically, the house was once owned by a doctor. It's unlikely the medicine man bore any resemblance to Harrison Ford.

Tapas for Vegetarians

A Tapas Plate in Barcelona
(photo: Wikipedia)

Seth Kugel in today's New York Times writes about his attempt to seek vegetarian tapas fare in Barcelona. He finds it a daunting proposition, as Catalans prefer their plants transformed into a supportive sauce rather than appear as a hefty main event. Kugel did not have to worry too much, as he's not vegetarian (a choice he notes in the first paragraphs of his article). However, his piece did highlight the challenges vegetarians face finding suitable items on Euro menus. He missed his opportunity, though, to puncture the American cookbook mafia's carefully nurtured mythology about "healthy" Mediterranean cuisine. Kugel should try again, as there are plenty of culinary targets of convenience throughout Spain, Italy, France, or just about anywhere south of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

A Sunday Bet on the Pennsylvania Lottery

My wife and I were making our way through Philadelphia's Center City on a drizzly Sunday evening when my bride reminded me to purchase a lottery ticket. We have a little ritual involving buying a lottery ticket in states where we don't reside. We don't live in Pennsylvania, so a trip to the City of Brotherly Love qualifies as an out-of-state adventure and a proper venue to put a dollar down on the state's lottery.

Our first challenge was finding an establishment that sold tickets. It wasn't obvious where to go; it was Sunday night; we were tired from a trip to the Barnes Foundation and its outstanding painting collection; we had just said good-bye to a dear friend visiting from Los Angeles. Finally, a grocery store near the Delaware River was open. I went in and discovered lottery tickets were sold via a rather confusing vending machine. However, before I inserted my dollar, a scruffly bearded man and a couple of friends walked into the store. They asked if anyone spoke Spanish. I knew a few words, as did a somewhat pale, portly man whose reason to be in the store was not obvious. The non-English speaker wanted assistance purchasing a lottery ticket.

Well, no one knew how to smoothly operate the government's ticket dispenser. We fumbled around the electronic buttons until a satisfactory ticket was produced. The Spanish-speaking man, who identified himself as Ecuadoran, grandly suggested he would split the winnings with me and the other pale face. I wasn't taking any chances on his promised millions, so I purchased my own lottery ticket.

I checked the Pennsylvania Lottery's website earlier tonight. To my relief, I didn't win a thing. However, I look at the episode this way: I'm out a dollar, but I gained a good story. I'll take that deal.

Venture Capital's Sharp Funding Drop Raises Start-Up Eyebrows

Peter Delevett
(photo: Twitter.com)

Technological innovation's lifeblood includes funding. Typically, a significant source of that revenue comes from venture capital sources. The funding tends to come from institutional firms or VC firms who work with wealthy individual investors. These groups' financial commitments offer a very useful window into the "smart money's" perceived perspective on high tech's growth prospects.

According to a story by the excellent Mercury News reporter Peter Delevett, the view from VC is not rosy at all. Venture capital firms, he noted, invested twelve percent less than in the prior quarter. "That's a troubling sign," Delevett wrote, "considering that 2012 was the first time since the Great Recession that venture capital investment fell year over year."

In the absence of appealing venture capital opportunities, where will this "smart money" go? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Gulf Emir Eyes Greek Island Purchases

Ithaka
(Photo: en.wikipedia.com)

One consequence of a national financial depression is that many assets become available on a fire sale basis. The United States is getting a taste of this unpleasant medicine, as Wall Street firms purchase foreclosed homes. Greece, which has serious sovereign debt problems, has its own unwelcome, medicinal compound of fiscal and social events. In Hellas' case, the assets possibly available for sale include rocky islands featuring secluded coves, clean seas, and no people. It's the latter point that has attracted the Emir of Qatar to kick the tires on purchasing some available islands. The Emir's intention is to swallow them whole, according to a story appearing in the financial blog zerohedge.com.

The emir is eyeing islands adjacent to Ithaka, home of Homer's legendary hero Ulysses.

Housing Bubble Worries Start to Bubble Up

Housing has become a significant part of the action in the recent, Fed-stimulated economic recovery. The happy talk around the upswing features cheerful notes about increased home values and multiple bids. However, some wise heads are considering whether this so-called recovery is in fact becoming a housing bubble. According to a story in bloomberg.com, "investors" are fueling the housing market, rather than single-family home owners. These players include deep-pocketed firms such as Blackstone, which purchase foreclosed homes on the cheap and transform them into rentals. The dirty secret in this arrangement is that rents in these homes turn out to be higher than the mortgage payments the homes' former owners could not afford to make.

The Bloomberg article cited a Wells Fargo housing analyst's view of the market. Investors, the expert noted, "are buying properties as quickly as they can and when they leave, housing will take a hit. Investors accounted for 19 percent of sales in the U.S. in March and even more in some former bubble markets, according to the National Association of Realtors." Guess who will take the fall when the next bubble bursts?

Google Case Judge Thwarts Class-Action Lawsuit Option for Copyright Holders

A federal district judge in New York recently ruled that copyright holders could not file a class-action suit against Google. The litigation involved files uploaded without the copyright holders' permission to Google-owned YouTube. According to a Reuters story picked up in today's siliconvalley.com, the judge in the case is the same jurist who dismissed Viacom's lawsuit against Google filed in 2007 for copyright infringement.

DOJ Alleges Apple E-Book Price Fixing Scheme

Image: PBS.org

In what promises to be the opening salvo of a long, interesting courtroom war, the unsequestered Department of Justice alleged Apple masterminded an e-book pricing scheme in coordination with major publishers.

The filing's details are noted in today's Washington Post. Up to now, Apple has fought the DOJ's broadside tooth and nail. The Post article noted that Apple, its court filing, asserted that "Amazon...spoke in detail to publishers who at one point offered an exclusive arrangement that would cut out Apple" from the e-book market.

The court case should be fascinating, especially as Apple's deep pockets could give the DOJ a run for Amazon's money.

Jeff Bezos' Amazon Mints Its Own Virtual Currency

Amazon Coin
(Image: theverge.com)

One of the more interesting tech phenomena is its development of virtual currency. A number of Silicon Valley firms created lucre, which essentially enabled one to hoard money and get it out of one's country. The US government began investigating some of these activities, which clearly encouraged money laundering as well as legitimate gaming activity.

The advantages of virtual currency did not escape Amazon's notice. To that end, the Seattle-based company recently announced the launch of "Amazon Coins." We don't know if Jeff Bezos' profile graces the currency. However, Amazon's money can be purchased with "real" money, such as US dollars. According to siliconvalley.com, Amazon Coin permits "people to buy apps and games in its app store and on its Kindle Fire tablet computers."

ACLU's Nicole Ozer Promotes Data Privacy Rights In Heart of Silicon Valley

While tech's high priests are proudly, even arrogantly, individualistic, they share common ground on the subject of data. The basic formula is "you have data and we're taking it." Notions such as transparency, open choice, and respect for privacy frequently land on Silicon Valley's version of the cutting room floor. The self-assured high priests frequently give privacy advocates the bum's rush, pay them lip service, or simply ignore them.

Nicole Ozer
(Photo: 365.rscconference.com)

However, there are some hardy souls who dare speak against Silicon Valley's presumptuous usurpation of privacy. One of them is Nicole Ozer, the technology and civil liberties policy director for the ACLU's Northern California branch. An interesting, thoughtful, and too brief interview with her appeared in today's siliconvalley.com. Ozer summed up the privacy contretemps with Silicon Valley rather neatly: "The companies know what they're collecting, what they're using it for, how long they're retaining it for, and who they're sharing it with -- and consumers don't."

Heritage Foundation Immigration Study Co-Author Resigns, Accused of "Sloppy Methodology" and Linked to Racist Sentiments

Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint
(photo: The Washington Post)

The right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation had a plan to hijack the political dialogue over America's most recent, painful iteration of immigration policy. A study was commissioned that essentially was intended to provide a blueprint for restrictive legislation on those without passports, but had a desire to usefully live in the United States. The "experts" who conducted the study would have provided intellectual cover for the foundation's overt political agenda. Adding heat to the Heritage fire was its recent appointment of Tea Party advocate and former US senator Jim DeMint as the think tank's capo.

Jason Richwine
(photo: slate.com)

The report became a disaster for the right-wing. Its co-author, Harvard-trained Jason Richwine, used specious methodology to reach his conclusions. Among them, according to a report in The Washington Post, was the assertion that "the cost of legalizing 11 million undocumented immigrants" would cost the nation over six trillion dollars.

Well, a trillion here or there has never stopped a conservative politician from advancing pointless weapons programs while proposing a tax cut for one percenters. What made the Heritage broadside dead on DC arrival was Richwine's 2009 Harvard doctoral thesis. In it, the Post story noted, the aspiring scholar claimed "there are deep-seated and likely genetic IQ differences between the races and that low-IQ immigrants should be kept out of the country." The Ivy-trained Richwine, according to a Talking Points Memo piece, once contributed an article on Hispanic incarceration rates for a white nationalist website. Oops.

US Senator Marco Rubio.
He recently denounced the
Heritage-Richwine study 

For the conservative establishment, still licking its wounds from its disastrous showing with "ethnic" groups during the 2012 presidential election, Richwine's background put the right-wing under a most unwelcome spotlight. The feeling that significant, vocal elements within the Tea Party and the GOP's more extreme right would openly advocate seemingly racist positions continues to linger after Barack Obama's re-election to the presidency. Many in the GOP, including two Hispanic US Senators from important electoral states, are very uncomfortable with the parties' racist drift. Less extreme conservatives and their allies, such as Jeb Bush, are powerful enough to do something about it. Let's just say the Bush faction got the word out.

Richwine resigned from the Heritage Foundation this past week, according to many sources, including The Atlantic Wire.

US Senator Scores Hole in One During Obama Golf Foursome

US Senator Saxby Chambliss
(photo: Washington Post)

Holes-in-one in golf rarely occur. Going to the links with a sitting president of the United States is just about as infrequent. US senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) recently hit this unique double during a cozy golfing foursome with Barack Obama, two other pols, and a Secret Service retinue. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the Georgia Republican nailed a six-iron for his place in obscure Senate history. We don't know if the shot helped Chambliss win any wager, but it's a safe bet that he didn't say "aye" with the president during a Senate vote later that afternoon.

Wisconsin Gov. Walker Pursues School Voucher Expansion, Food Stamp Eligibility

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker
(photo: Wikipedia)

Our previous glimpse into Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's world was during the vote which failed to recall him. Since that episode, Walker has become the darling of Republicans who imagine his youthful presence and assertive policies will translate into national political gain.

Walker has listened to this siren song and has made his play into politics well beyond Wisconsin's borders. This past week was a busy one for Walker. According to a story in today's online edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the gov gave a speech at a state Republican event in which he outlined new initiatives. Leading the way was a proposed increased reach for the school voucher program.

For those who believe church and state should be rigorously separated, Walker's notion is unwelcome news. Conservatives who claim to believe in "strict" interpretations of the Constitution should be a natural constituency to thwart ideas such as Walker's school voucher bid. Instead, the right's lust for political power has brought it into an unholy alliance with conservative religious elements, notably evangelical Christians (who are an important GOP voting block) and the Roman Catholic church. A fundamental principle of these groups is taxpayer funding of K-12 educational programs that religious organizations provide. Without such subsidies, Roman Catholic schools would largely wither on the vine. The Christian Right has created its own potent funding mechanisms; consequently, its schools do not need federal or state support.

Walker has also targeted increasing fiscal austerity for the poor. He suggests modifying the state's food stamp program so that "able-bodied" recipients without dependent children must engage in work training to qualify for the subsidy. Walker promised during his successful election campaign that he would increase the number of jobs in Wisconsin by roughly a quarter-million. He has not come even remotely close to that figure since he took office. Perhaps he'll count the trainees from the food stamp program as "success stories," unless they work for WalMart, a company which pays dog shit wages and encourages employees, according to a Daily Kos piece, to buttress their earnings with public assistance.

Former Members of Congress Speculate That Aliens Have Visited Earth

Was this discussed at the hearings?
(Photo: dvdbeaver.com)

We've often wondered what was in Washington, D.C.'s water supply, when we learn about the foolish Earthlings known as the United States Congress. A story in today's New York Daily News makes me want to bring bottled water on my next trip to the District.

The article recounts sponsored hearings in which former Congresspeople speculate on UFOs and alien visits to our planet. It's as if these former representatives of the people watched X Files reruns and let their imaginations accept the scripts as proven fact.

I'll say this for the Daily News article: you can't make this stuff up.

Invented Story About NY Mayor Suckers Drudge Report

Image: theatlanticwire.com

Earlier this week, a story made the Web rounds, in which New York mayor Mike Bloomberg was allegedly denied a second slice of pizza at a Brooklyn establishment. The idea that Hizzoner would cross the Manhattan-Brooklyn moat for a slice should have immediately aroused skepticism. Ah, but those wild and crazy folks at the Drudge Report accepted the story at face value. According to The Atlantic Wire, the story was posted at the Drudge website as "news," although it was removed later in the day.

Hoaxes such as the Bloomberg pizza story happen to just about any media outlet. Those sites with perceived ideological perspectives are notably vulnerable to acts of folly. The easy solution to this dilemma is to check the facts. Drudge didn't do so in this case, but it's far from the only popular website for whom fact is not as important as speed.

Feds Point to Multiple Causes for Honeybee Population Collapse

Sumerian seal with bee

Over the past few years, honeybees in the United States began to die in alarming numbers. No one knew precisely why this vital creature was vanishing. Various explanations emerged, the most visceral of which were the presence of pesticides in the ecosystem and the role of genetically modified crops, which required the use of the aforementioned poisons.

The US Department of Agriculture recently released what The New York Times characterized as a "comprehensive" study on the matter. It observed that bees were subjected to a barrage of unfriendly, human-made chemicals and other dreadful substances that could harm them. The presence of a parasitic mite has played havoc with bee colonies. An additional deleterious factor noted in the study was "the planting of vast areas in a single crop, such as corn."

Why should we care? While chlidhood stories and ancient myths about bees are charming, these animals are essential to a healthy agricultural system. No scheme created by humans has ever replaced the bee's ability to pollinate. The time to save honeybees is now, before they become rare sights on a summer's day.

Fatal Bird Flu Cases Increase in China

Image: forbes.com

A story getting little attention in the American media is the outbreak and spread of bird flu in China. It's not a celebrity tale, it's not a story about glamorous criminals, it does not have a movie tie-in. So why would the media bother, when we can worry about the LA-power clan Kardashians?

However, bird flu is serious business, with the potential to become a grave pandemic. The Chinese government has taken draconian action to stop bird flu H7N9, as this strain is characterized. It might not be enough to stop the mutation of the virus into an unstoppable plague. So far, 24 people have died from the disease. One case has been reported in Taiwan.

According to a report in today's online edition of the BBC, scientific experts find H7N9 worrisome. The main area of concern is whether the disease can be spread from person to person. So far, H7N9 can jump from poultry, where the disease originates, to humans. Ironically, the virus is not fatal to poultry.

The last time a major pandemic spread across Pacific Asia -- the SARS nightmare -- travel within and to the region virtually ground to a halt. This time around, Pacific Asia hopes to duck from H7N9. When it comes to bird flu, we're all chickens.