Poverty and Race, 1980 to 2010

Where do poor people live, now and then? The Poverty and Race in America, Then and Now visualization works best of lager metropolitan areas and when you zoom-in - that way you can see changes at the neighborhood level.

The Collapse...

This is a great and somewhat controversial book - have a look join the debate (only 79 pages):
The Collapse of Western Civilization - A View From the Future (by Naomi Oreskes and Erik
Conway)

Solstices and Equinoxes from Space

Read all about it here: NASA's Seeing Equinoxes and Solstices from Space.

Climate CoLab

This is an interesting initiative from the folks at MIT: can we crowd-source solutions to climate change using our collective intelligence? It's about time! Too many reports or websites focus on telling us - once again - what is happening to the world and that we are responsible. That's important, but does not lead to action...and action is what we need = what can we do, together? Consider getting involved in the Climate CoLab!

The Largest Satellite Image - Ever!

This has been around for a while, but how often do you get to see a satellite image that is 120 miles wide and 6,000 miles (!) long: Come Fly With Landsat 8

Great Cartoon and Article!

Why Doesn't Anyone Know How to Talk About Global Warming?

CMS or LMS?

On one side you have the big-boys: Vista, Blackboard, Moodle, etc. - those are great if you want to run an online course and need all the tracking and assessment tools they provide. But what if all you want is a fun, easy-to-use, and intuitive shared space to exchange ideas, sources, and maybe some files with and among your students? You could go Facebook or Google+, but that creates a weird mixing between your private and professional life. Here are several options for light-weight course managements systems:

• Yammer. The basic version is free, the interface looks almost identical to Facebook, and everything is hosted somewhere in the cloud - no downloads or configurations.
• Podio. The Lite version for up to 5 people is free, above that it's $9 per person per month.
• Basecamp. Commercial, web-based product similar to Yammer. No free option!
• Commons In A Box. This is a great option, but requires a WordPress installation on your own server.
• Wordpress. Use as-is or with plug-ins (see Commons In A Box).
• Drupal. Very popular, but requires your own server to run (real or virtual).
• Entrada. Also very popular, but as with Drupal needs its own server.
• Google Classroom. Part of Google's Apps for Education - looks promising and here are the first impressions from ProfHacker.
• Schoology. This looks like a great option as well.

So...get friendly with your IT folks, use Yammer, convince your college admins to invest in a Basecamp package, or just commit to going Google!