It is funny how Lindsey Vonn is considered the new American sweetheart, how she showcases herself in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, but no one mentions her weight. At least the Wham mentioned it in their article about Lindsey and her gold medal.

Google Nexus One Facts as of January 7th, 2009:

• The cost of the Nexus One phone is $530 unlocked, and $199 under the TMobile contract.
• Pretty easy link; you can buy the phone at Google.com/Phone
• T-Mobile has upgraded its 3G network to support 7.2 Mbps (wiki ) for this phone, as well as prepping itself for a 4G network. Sprint is the only company in the US to currently have a 4G network, although Verizon plans to unveil a 4G network in late 2010 (reference).
• The Nexus One runs on Android 2.1, the latest version of the operating system, and features a 5-megapixel camera. iPhone currently only offers a 3-megapixel camera.
• Apple Iphone 3Gs are currently found unlocked on the internet for around 450-750 dollars.
• The Nexus display features a resolution of 480 x 800. That’s a few less pixels than Motorola’s Droid (480 x 854), but far more than the iPhone 3GS (320 x 480).
• TMobile will be the exclusive carrier ( in terms of discounting for its cell plan ) for the Nexus One for the first quarter of 2010 ( link )
• Nexus One’s screen is an OLED, so the device is thinner and allows for better colors on the monitor.
• Uses a Snapdragon 1Ghz processor and is supposed to be amazingly fast!
• You can talk with email, texts, commands and more. That Google Voice project has given them the upper-hand over iPhone, which you have to buy the Dragon App to use transcription.

Reviews

#1

3 Reviews of the Nexus One phone, and the hype surrounding some reviews before its release. Essentially, this discussion post shows how much people are paying attention to how well this phone will do on its own. This is Google’s first hardware, so the hype is expected (link).

#2

The CNet review gives pretty much the same review as the IPhone 3G. There is no native tethering. (link )

For a comparison with the Iphone, see their review here. (link)

#3

This writer at the Inquistr writes how the marketing campaign by Google claiming to be the world’s first unlocked smartphone is highly-fabricated, and very US-centric with its means to showcase the phone (link)

#4

This article has guys opening up the Nexus one and talking about all its hardware and features. Its pretty good if you want to know the display and technology used to build this phone up. Just don’t do this at home; your warranty is kaput if you do what these guys did. Leave it to the pros. (link)

Comparisons

#1

This article gives a Q&A on the Nexus Phone, and talks about how it stacks up with the Droid for Verizon. It does mention why your Droid isn’t obselete yet. (link)

#2

The best comparison chart on the web is provided to you by none other than (drum roll please ) Mashable! A lot of great information on the Nexus One, IPhone, Palm Pre, and Droid. (link)

#3

Huffington Posts unveils 7 features that the Nexus One has over the iPhone. Pretty interesting comparison. Extra battery, bigger camera etc.. Does anyone have a comparison that shows what the iPhone has that Nexus does not? (link)

ps: Is it just me or is Huffinton post becoming extremely slow?

Parody!

This is a video that is a parody on how the Nexus One exists just to screw with Iphones. Pretty funny video. But a disclaimer: HTC Nexus One phones can’t pee on Iphones.

“The problem with even minor forms of classroom incivility is the negative impact on learning and even student retention (Seidman, 2005). When students engage in annoying behavior, like talking on their cell phones, not only do they miss valuable learning time, they also may interfere with the learning of those around them. Engaging in classroom discussion allows students to connect with course content in meaningful and relevant ways. When students engage in classroom terrorism, however, they may make other students less likely to participate in class discussions. This can result in less productive dialogue and thereby less learning.”

- Schroeder & Robertson, 2008

This may be happening at your school. Especially if you are a new teacher, and don’t have a lot of experience, and/or the class is really huge, this could be a cumbersome task.

Keeping the attention of students and their focus on studies is vital to the health of the entire school:

“Canadian students are not feeling engaged. They are feeling like numbers in a room. And it’s hard to deliver meaningful, hands-on learning experiences in a classroom of 800 students. The un-engaging lecture is the default for all but the most dedicated teacher.

At the same time this lack of engagement is disastrous for a university. It has long term implications for the reputation of an institution, for the satisfaction of Alumnae, for recruitment and retention of students, and for fundraising efforts in the future. Engagement is a strong predictor of learning. A lack of engagement of the current crop of students has implications for any university and its brand for years to come.”

- Coleen Sharen Blog

1. Be Pro-Active With Students, Especially in Big Classrooms

Try to bring to the forefront what you expect your students to get from the class. Bring together what they are learning in your class and how it can be used in the real world ( or the world related to what they want to do in life ).

In terms of classroom etiquette, put the ground rules in the syllabus. No talking on cell phones, quell classroom disruptions, focus on work etc.

2. Balkanized & One-on-One Meetings

Make an additional 6 hours in the semester dedicated to meeting the student ( other than or along with open office hours ). Many professors assume the life of the student outside of his/her class, but gaining empathy and understanding of a student’s life helps the professor understand any problems, promotes empathy between teacher-student, engages the student as an adult and individual, and could give insight to the current social conditions of the student body in general.

Push the issue into the syllabus:

” Students must have two 10-minute meetings with the teacher/TA”

Although two meetings sound like a lot, this could be an optional situation where you can exclude some students who are excelling and don’t need these meetings.

Get the emails of all the students, and when any one of them you think have issues, or you want to interact with a particular student, contact them to set up a meeting.

As well, if there is a common connection between multiple students in the same class ( ie: they are all athletes; they had a friend pass away in their dormitory ), you could set up a group meeting. This saves time, and it provides a bigger interaction environment where people can listen as well as be heard.

3. Hone your Skills and Get Advice

Easier said than done, but find other professor, TA’s, or *gasp* even students ( outside of your classes ) to sit in on one of your classes and see how well you do. Sometimes, especially for tenured professors, they don’t have a lot to gauge how well they are engaging students and getting them to learn and like the work.

” Some uni­ver­sity web­sites (such as Har­vard http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do; The Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan http://www.crlt.umich.edu; and Van­der­bilt Uni­ver­sity http://www.vanderbilt. edu/cft/index.htm) offer resources such as tip sheets, arti­cles, and the­ory much of which are avail­able to anyone.”

- Cuny Graduate Website

Find tools and materials from both collegiate and K-12 teaching guides on how to teach better. This is hard to ask of someone if they have been teaching for a very long time, but keeping up with the research of getting students to learn is a pre-requisite for anyone trying to be the best.

In sports, we harp on players who don’t upgrade their talents to become better, and we criticize their mistakes hoping they learn from them. The same should go for how well professors teach their students.

4. School Spirit

Show the students why they came to the school. You don’t want to waste your valuable academic time talking to students about their student government or sports team, but create a mailing list, and once in a while send out something that would appeal to the student ( such as a community event, or an administrative announcement ).

Ask students questions, engage them based on the class at hand. Are you teaching sociology? Ask them how the tray-less cafeteria’s will affect student interactions in the lunch room.

Intro Physics? Ask them about any new research from any other schools that interests them ( other the Hadron Collider; its overkill by now, am I right? ).

Getting students to interact with their school, to engage topics within their class, and to know that there is a teacher who cares, goes a long way to developing well-rounded people who will make the school a better place, and hopefully give back to it long after they graduate.

Try out the Wham Classifieds today!

Some events around Harvard include author Daniel Pink’s Book tour at the Harvard Book store today.

We have a mailing list of many editors, bloggers, and websites where other people will like to get this information to showcase to high-school and college students. As well, we will also post some of them here as well.

There is no cost; the information is valuable enough that you shouldn’t have to pay to give others an opportunity.  You can email us at juuble@yahoo.com.

Read the infidelity statistics here.

The Kim Kardashian Black Eye Pictures.

UConn Housing resources for 2010.

How about a questionnaire?!? Don’t have time to make one? Well, this site called campuswham has the best roommate survey questionnaires around. Check it!

Zimrides UCLA

Zimrides has a rideshare board exclusively for UCLA students. Must have a UCLA.edu account in order to use the board.

UCLA Whamifieds Campuswham Rideshare

Resource for ridesharing. Not too many postings at the moment.

CarpoolWorld

UCLA board for getting matched up for carpools.

Craigslist LA Rideshare

If you don’t know about this by now…:(