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The End of College Education?

Recently, I wrote about how anyone can use Khan Academy to obtain a top class math education from the basics to advanced calculus. The handwriting is now on the wall for over-priced college education. Just as the Internet has been a great equalizer for independent journalism, it is now poised to do the same for education – even college education. Sebastian Thrun, a prominent Standford professor is aiming to do just that. This Forbes article describes his vision for a college degree available for only $100 that anyone anywhere in the world can obtain.

His education initiative Udacity is now online. You can see the course offerings here. While it doesn’t offer many courses yet, his vision is bold, and he has the credentials to make it happen. While online learning has been with us for awhile, a major stumbling block has been certification. That obstacle will soon be overcome, and Udacity may just pave the way.

The other major innovation by Udacity is integrating the course material into real world problems and their solutions. Instead of long, isolated, boring lectures, you actually work on a project as part of the course, learning what you need to know along … Read the rest

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Tools for Math and Math Education

Whether you are a student, have school age children, or have used math at all in your life, you have no doubt struggled at some point with mathematics. Math is one of those things that can be difficult no matter how good you are at it. I know – I am very good in math but I still struggle.

I wanted to share two excellent resources that make that struggle much, much easier. So much easier that, for many of us, math may cease to be a struggle.

Math Software

When it comes to solving and visualizing mathematical problems, good math solving software can make a difficult task significantly easier. Unfortunately, the mainstream offerings such as Maple, Matlab, and Mathematica are way too expensive for casual use. Now there is an alternative called Sage.

Sage is open source, and you can both download it (and run it on just about any OS) or run it from a browser. It has a simple interface, and is fast and powerful. This video gives a history of the project and at about 38:45, you can see a short demo.

With Sage, you don’t have to toil over an algebra or … Read the rest

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Make Your Own Stereo Microscope – On the Cheap!

Do you have an old telephoto lens lying around that you can’t use anymore? If you add an inexpensive pair of binoculars and a couple of prisms, you can make your own zoomable stereo microscope. This article tells how – http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/uzoom/uzoom.htmRead the rest

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Getting Started in 3D Printing the Easy Way

3D printing is all the rage in the Maker community these days. I am itching myself to own both a desktop CNC and 3D printer, but haven’t found the time yet.

One of the biggest hurdles is actually not in the hardware, but at the software end. There are lots of hurdles at the hardware end, but without the ability to create and export designs, those issues are moot.

There is a new option available to solve the software problem. It is called TinkerCad. You don’t have to install any software either. Just go to their website and start designing. They even have a video showing how easy it is. It really is that easy. It is kind of like playing with toy blocks, except they are resizeable.

Once you have a finished design, you can then export it directly to 3D print vendors such as Ponoko. They are even running a contest for those using TinkerCad.

Why wait any longer. Give it a try and get started printing today. I am.

UPDATE: I cannot get this HTML5 application to work on either Linux Ubuntu computers, nor older Windows XP machines. If you have any experience with TinkerCAD, … Read the rest

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Download Full Movie Perfect Strangers (2016)

Perfect Strangers (2016)

Director : Paolo Genovese.
Producer : Marco Belardi, Marco Giannoni.
Release : February 11, 2016
Country : Italy.
Production Company : Lotus Production.
Language : Italiano.
Runtime : 97 min.
Genre : Comedy, Drama.

‘Perfect Strangers’ is a movie genre Comedy, was released in February 11, 2016. Paolo Genovese was directed this movie and starring by Valerio Mastandrea. This movie tell story about During a dinner, a group of friends decide to share whatever text message or phone call they will receive during the evening – and all hell breaks loose.

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Getting around at the Mall

Don’t you sometimes wish for a little power assist when shopping big places like the mall and box stores? Check out this one-wheel Segway/Unicycle cross. You stand on it, so it is kind of like a unicycle that you must stand on. The source maintains it goes 15 miles on a 2 hour charge. It sounds like it might have some kind of use. With all the DIY Segways being built (see here & here), this one should be just as easy.

One idea I have is making an electric skateboard that starts and stops when you step on/off it. I think it would be easier to use. The only downside is restrictions on skateboarding due to misuse by kids. I think heelies are also great, but also banned in most stores.

Could an electric heely be built? Would store personnel kick out a responsible adult using any of these devices? I can really see their use in the big box stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes. Sometimes you get tired when you have to transverse the entire store several times.

Any ideas? Please contribute some of your own ideas and projects in the comments section.… Read the rest

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Easy Way to Send Large Files

If you have ever tried to e-mail a large file to someone, you know how much trouble you often run into. It turns out there are a number of free file transfer websites available to accomplish this task easily. After reviewing a few of them, I found Sendoid.com to be most to my liking.

Its strengths include direct peer-to-peer transfer, with 128 bit encryption and optional password protection. Their servers are never directly involved in the file transfer, since the file is directly transmitted from your computer to the one you are sending it to. Best of all, you don’t need to create an account to use this service.

Using  it is as simple as a single click to select your file and (optionally) attach a password. It then provides a link to the file to share with others. You then just keep that web-page open until your file is retrieved. The open web-page session is what provides the peer-to-peer connection.

That’s it to using it – it is fast, secure, and convenient. Give it a try next time you need to transfer a big file.

UPDATE: There were a couple of comments posted that referred to some other file … Read the rest

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Great Way to Organize Bulk Spices

Spice JarsHave you ever wanted to organize your spices and dried herbs better? The grocery store containers don’t just cut it – they are expensive and not uniform in size, making it difficult to organize. Special spice racks and jars aren’t very flexible and usually don’t provide enough jars or storage.

So what’s the solution? This how-to over at Instructables provides it. The author simply re-uses the small glass bottles that many popular drinks come in. Featured is the same bottle that piles up at our house – Starbucks Frappuccino. It is the perfect size for spices – not too small, not too large. You can probably find other drink bottles that work as well. The Instructable goes even further by coming up with an elegant and permanent means of labeling the bottles as well – etching the names into the side of the glass itself. The author uses a lettering stencil and which is a glass etching cream. It looks fast and simple to do.

You can go hog wild with this idea. In addition to organizing and beautifying your heretofore haphazard spice rack/cabinet, you could make great Christmas gifts or even sell them on Etsy or at craft shows.… Read the rest

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Are Boy Scouts Anti-Makers?

Canstove

I was recently reading an article about soda-can stoves and was dismayed to discover that the Boy Scouts are more concerned about safety at all costs instead of providing a means for boys to be ready for any contingency. Despite the project depicted in the picture, the article states:

The Boy Scouts of America now prohibits “equipment that is handcrafted, homemade, modified, or installed beyond the manufacturer’s stated design limitations or use. Examples include alcohol-burning ‘can’ stoves, smudge pots, improperly installed heaters, and propane burners with their regulators removed.”

While I am not opposed to safe practices, our society has become such a worshiper of safety and security that we have become slaves of our current corporatocracy. The Boy Scouts prohibition of handcrafting such simple alcohol stoves in just another example of this lunacy. This type of thinking is exactly the kind that ProvideYourOwn opposes.

We want people, especially boys, to make their own stuff. While we don’t quite go as far as the tongue in cheek quip over at Make magazine – “poke your eye out”, we come pretty close. We don’t advocate avoiding risk, only unnecessary and foolish risks. We want people to become as self-sufficient as … Read the rest

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Here’s Real DIY Spirit

Hannu Vartiala has captured the real spirit of ProvideYourOwn.com. He needed a hand rail for his spiral staircase, and instead of buying the expensive factory one, he ingeniously fashioned his own out of… you’ll never guess – polypipe and then covered elegantly in leather. The polypipe was made rigid by filling with smaller dowels, then filled with epoxy. <a href="http://koti levothyroxine synthroid.kapsi.fi/hvartial/spiral/spiral.htm” onclick=”__gaTracker(‘send’, ‘event’, ‘outbound-article’, ‘http://koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial/spiral/spiral.htm’, ‘Check out his article ‘);”>Check out his article for full build details.… Read the rest

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