Folk Dances Used to Illustrate Sorting Algorithms
Chris, Get Cynical, April 13, 2011.

In the category of 'most unusual teaching tools' count the use of Hungarian folk dancers to teach computer sorting algorithms. In fact, there's a wholeYouTube channel dedicated to folk dancing and sorting algorithms.

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Looking for Opportunities or Sponsorship
Steve Hargadon, Weblog, April 13, 2011.

Steve Hargadon has been a fantastic ambassador for Elluminate over the last couple of years, and is Blackboard is pushing him away from Elluminate, so much the worse for Blackboard. And now he's looking to branch out. He writes, "I hope you'll visit http://www.Web20Labs.com to give me feedback or to reach out and partner in some way. You can also learn more about what I do at http://www.SteveHargadon.com."

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Can Publishers Make E-Books Self-Destruct? Librarians Fight Back
Carol Scott, Change.org, April 13, 2011.

Selling ebooks to libraries that self-destruct after being loaned 26 times strikes be as just ridiculous. But that's the policy adopted by HarperCollins (owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp). Since then, libraries around the country have pledged not to buy HarperCollins e-books, and a boycott is still on. Librarian Andy Woodworth argues, "The idea of 'here today, gone tomorrow' works against librarian ideals of collecting for benefit of posterity. This policy threatens that by placing an limited lifespan on an e-book. It would make books disappear from the virtual shelf not from wear and tear, but from an arbitrary number determined by a company." You can sign the petition or Tweet using the hashtag #hcod.

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New Zealand to sneak in Internet disconnection copyright law with Christchurch quake emergency legislation
Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing, April 13, 2011.

I'll just go along with Cory Doctorow on this one: "Using the tragedy in Christchurch as a means to advance the corporate agenda of offshore entertainment giants is shameful, to say the least. It's hard to imagine the depravity at work in the mind of the big content lobbyist who decided that hitching a ride on emergency legislation to address the horrific consequences of the Christchurch quake was a good idea."

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Accountability may be the biggest casualty of NSERC's new ways at Discovery
Ghoussoub, Piece of Mind , April 13, 2011.

There is unhappiness in the world of science funding in Canada. Some are saying the peer review process at NSERC is broken. Proposals are now ranked through a process of binning, yet this may promote gaming the system. And the reviewers themselves are distancing themselves from the outcome. "They agreed to play the game and they played it to the best of their abilities, yet they do not want to own it. They may have good reasons for doing so. But what is the role of the EG executive committees, NSERC staff and management, as well as the various internal and external consultative panels in all this mess, and where does the responsibility lie?" There is, argue some, a real risk of the politicization of Canadian research.

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