Blogs

Scientific studies have found that lead is dangerous at much lower levels in the human body than previously thought. The studies show that children's nervous systems are especially vulnerable, and that lead exposure can result in IQ loss and damage to many internal systems. Lead in the air was greatly reduced three decades ago when the government ordered it removed from gasoline, but it is still emitted by lead smelters, cement plants and steel mills.

Intel says it will provide $120 million over the next decade to fuel more interest in math and science among young students. The $120 million is the largest single commitment from Intel ever, the company says, and will extend its title sponsorship of the Intel Science Talent Search through 2016 and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair through 2019. The new funding will support a youth outreach program and an online science community and science fair alumni network.

The US Department of Education reports that, "Continuing constraints in our capital markets have posed challenges for students and student lenders throughout the last year. We recognize that education is the foundation of a strong American workforce and we must not let challenges in our capital markets hinder our students' opportunities."

In support of its belief that that today's youth will invent the greatest technologies of the future, that every student should have the opportunity to shine, and that success is made possible through a solid educational foundation, Google has just announced the Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards.

Europe is in an excellent position to become the leader in Web 3.0 technology because of its focus on open and pro-competitive telecom networks and commitment to online privacy and security, says Viviane Reding, the European Commission's (EC's) commissioner for information society and media. "Web 3.0 means seamless 'anytime, anywhere' business, entertainment and social networking over fast reliable and secure networks," Reding says.

Until now, membership of public charter schoool boards has required nothing more than a willingness to work hard and the support of the school community. This has resulted in many excellent boards and schools, but also many horror stories. Charter school boards have until now worked in relative obsurity with little oversight, but as the list of horror stories continues to grow, charter school boards may someday face increased scrutiny.

You can read on this at, Many Charter Boards Seen as Unprepared from EducationWeek: Charters and Choice.

A common (and unfortunately, effective) technique for luring e-mail users into opening virus-launching attachments is to send messages that would appear to be relevant or important to many of their potential recipients. Such e-mail may contain an attached image, PDF document, MS Word document, or other. Any of these could be a potential virus.

BetterNetworker.com (http://www.betternetworker.com) a network marketing site,  shows the current state-of-the-art of Drupal social networking sites. the site offers an attractive, CSS-based design, many standard social networking features, such as groups, forums,  articles, resources, podcats, videos, user profiles, and friend lists.

There is an article that makes the claim that the Web is evolving from a collection of 'sites' to a collection of 'vehicles'. I'm not sure the conclusions are completely valid, but if you're interested in the rapid evolution of the Internet, the important questions and original answers it proposes are worth considering.

St. Paul's Police Protest the Press -

    Chronicling his life as a journalist in the colonial British Raj, a young Winston Churchill wrote that, "Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." Nor, I'd add, is there anything in life quite so discombobulating as to turn a corner and unexpectedly walk into a wall of tear gas.