High School Goes Digital | No More Books

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ET3M4Vw2d2G0uxvcdbcqiKilPw5E6KySl3zHVopl_BePjrN9mPJfm-hjEWYK0VdvPWZjVO7i2OAZWxM34YkW8QA8dXULwkhy-urxrEBmWYbxqg79XRivHdZZ-6zo_IKBifsGGxKjCZk/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ET3M4Vw2d2G0uxvcdbcqiKilPw5E6KySl3zHVopl_BePjrN9mPJfm-hjEWYK0VdvPWZjVO7i2OAZWxM34YkW8QA8dXULwkhy-urxrEBmWYbxqg79XRivHdZZ-6zo_IKBifsGGxKjCZk/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Izayah Powell, left and DeVante Reid set up their digital devices during freshman orientation at Archbishop Stepinac High School<br />Photo: Matthew Brown/The Journal News</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/12/no-more-books-high-school-goes-all-digital-/2807577/" target="blank">USA Today</a></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">N</span><b>icholas Dadario weighed his backpack last year when it was filled with textbooks for his high school freshman honors classes at Archbishop Stepinac High School.</b><br /><br />It weighed 35 pounds.<br /><br />That backpack is going to be much lighter this year. Stepinac in White Plains has become one of the first high schools in the country to drop all textbooks like dead weight and replace them with a “digital library.” When students started classes Monday, they were zipping to an app or website on their tablet or laptop and had instant access to all 40 texts in the Stepinac curriculum, not to mention all sorts of note-taking, highlighting and interactive features.<br /><br />“It’s not only lighter, but you’re mobile,” said Dadario, 15. “You can bring your computer to your friend’s house, wherever, and you’re all set.”<br /><br />In the past, students’ families had to spend up to $700 a year on textbooks. This year — after the one-time purchase of a tablet or laptop — families have to pay $150 for access to the digital library.<br /><br />Using the digital library is almost as easy as cracking open a new book (as long as your Internet connection is on). A student can almost instantly tap into a global studies digital book and open an interactive map of Egypt or a speech by President John F. Kennedy about the Cuban Missile Crisis or a PBS documentary about Iran’s disputed presidential election of 2009.<br /><br />“Students can search for what they want, just like with Google, so now we can teach them to interpret and analyze the information,” said Matthew Hogan, social studies chairperson.<br /><br />A teacher can show a page from a digital book on an interactive whiteboard at the front of the class or send students a link to a particular math problem, with the teacher’s notes added in.</div>

High School Goes Digital | No More Books

Izayah Powell, left and DeVante Reid set up their digital devices during freshman orientation at Archbishop Stepinac High School Photo: Matt...

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Travelling Salesman

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6ybd5rbQ5rU?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><i><a href="http://www.travellingsalesmanmovie.com/" target="blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span><b>ravelling Salesman</b></a></i><b> is an intellectual thriller about four mathematicians hired by the U.S. government to solve the most elusive problem in computer science history — P vs. NP. The four have jointly created a “system” which could be the next major advancement for our civilization or destroy the fabric of humanity.</b><br /><br />The solution’s immediate application would be for theoretical computer science. However, its application would soon extend to countless other disciplines. For example, by utilizing the solution to P vs. NP, a hacker could crack advanced encryption codes within seconds—a task that now takes weeks, months, or even years. He could break into La Guardia's air traffic control or China’s communication grid. But the mathematical algorithm would also serve as the basis for accelerated biological research, curing diseases such as AIDS and cancer.<br /><br />The film begins with the four at a secret location waiting to meet with a high-ranking official of the United States Department of Defense. The group discusses the global implications of their solution, and they agree that they must be extremely careful with who they allow to control their discovery.<br /><br />The silver-tongued DoD agent soon arrives and presents them each with an offer of 10 million dollars in exchange for their portion of the algorithmic solution. He attempts to deftly address their concerns and sway the opinions of the four.<br /><br />In the end, only one mathematician speaks out against selling the solution. In pleading his case, he is forced to reveal the dark truth about his portion of the algorithm. As the mathematicians are about to sign documents that will give the U.S. government sole and private ownership of their solution, they wrestle with the moral dilemma of how this volatile discovery will be used. The math is real. The implications are real.<br /><b><br />The math behind the film</b><br />The P vs. NP problem is the most notorious unsolved problem in computer science. First introduced in 1971, it asks whether one class of problems (NP) is more difficult than another class (P).<br /><br />Mathematicians group problems into classes based on how long they take to be solved and verified. “NP” is the class of problems whose answer can be verified in a reasonable amount of time. Some NP problems can also be solved quickly. Those problems are said to be in “P”, which stands for polynomial time. However, there are other problems in NP which have never been solved in polynomial time.<br /><br />The question is, is it possible to solve all NP problems as quickly as P problems? To date, no one knows for sure. Some NP questions seem harder than P questions, but they may not be.<br /><br />Currently, many NP problems take a long time to solve. As such, certain problems like logistics scheduling and protein structure prediction are very difficult. Likewise, many cryptosystems, which are used to secure the world's data, rely on the assumption that they cannot be solved in polynomial time.<br /><br />If someone were to show that NP problems were not difficult—that P and NP problems were the same—it would would have significant practical consequences. Advances in bioinformatics and theoretical chemistry could be made. Much of modern cryptography would be rendered inert. Financial systems would be exposed, leaving the entire Western economy vulnerable.<br /><br />Proving that P = NP would have enormous ramifications that would be equally enlightening, devastating, and valuable...<br /><br />Thanks, Akito.</div>

Travelling Salesman

T ravelling Salesman is an intellectual thriller about four mathematicians hired by the U.S. government to solve the most elusive problem i...

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The Scarecrow

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lUtnas5ScSE" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">S</span><b>ince its release 3 days ago, <a href="http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Chipotle</a>’s YouTube video, <i>The Scarecrow</i>, has generated scads of publicity and media attention, stirred controversy and <a href="http://farmingamerica.org/2013/09/13/hey-chipotle/" target="_blank">angered folks</a> in the food processing industry. </b><br /><br />The restaurant chain is taking aim at Big-Food and courting Millennials who want to eat better, eat local—and brand lightly.<br /><br /><blockquote>“In a dystopian fantasy world, all food production is controlled by fictional industrial giant Crow Foods. Scarecrows have been displaced from their traditional role of protecting food, and are now servants to the crows and their evil plans to dominate the food system. Dreaming of something better, a lone scarecrow sets out to provide an alternative to the unsustainable processed food from the factory.” ~form the <a href="http://www.scarecrowgame.com/film.html" target="_blank">Chipotle website</a></blockquote><br />The film was created by Academy Award–winning Moonbot Studios and is set to a remake of the song “Pure Imagination” (performed by Grammy Award–winning artist Fiona Apple) from the 1971 film classic <i>Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory</i>. </div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/m3ZOFIE5e4g" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><i>The Scarecrow</i> video is a promotion for Chipotle’s <a href="http://www.scarecrowgame.com/game.html" target="_blank">free iOS game</a> of the same name and, coming early next year, four TV show–length <i>Farmed and Dangerous</i> short movies.</div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5skRM-9S4Ng" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">“We’re trying to educate people about where their food comes from,” Chipotle chief marketing officer Mark Crumpacker <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/12/chipotle-big-food-millennial-marketing/2798023/" target="_blank">tells USA Today</a>. And, not coincidentally, the company is also trying to win over millennials, the coveted twenty-something cohort that Crumpacker says is “skeptical of brands that perpetuate themselves.”<br /></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IS8YNQU2z5o" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">Last year, Chipotle served more than 10,000,000 pounds of local produce. Holthouse Farms is one of more than 40 producers selling to local Chipotle restaurants.</div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/eu0bcOQG3s0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">Niman Ranch Pork Company founder and pig farmer, Paul Willis, talks about reconstructing and restoring tall grass prairie lands and, below, shares his story of raising free-range, pasture raised pigs for Chipotle.</div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4U_ARgiLOiU" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">Below, Chipotle Founder, Chairman and Co-CEO, Steve Ells, reminisces about how he got the idea for the restaurant.</div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wmH73Diqf5Q?rel=0" width="853"></iframe>

The Scarecrow

S ince its release 3 days ago, Chipotle ’s YouTube video, The Scarecrow , has generated scads of publicity and media attention, stirred cont...

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What is the Worst Thing You Ever Heard Your Mommy Say?

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/emQTGwAZpa8?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />

What is the Worst Thing You Ever Heard Your Mommy Say?

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