Interesting links: 05.26.10

Re-Imagining Learning in the 21st Century 
“On May 17 … educators, parents and policy experts gathered at The New School in NYC ... to offer visions for the future of education and share promising moments ... to increase the relevancy of learning by meeting kids where their interests are and helping them identify, discover, trace and follow that interest”
Ethnicity and Geography of Facebook Users 

“ePluribus: Ethnicity on Social Networks, by the Facebook data science team includes some interesting estimates of the geographic distributions of Facebook users.”
Legislation Before Congress to Make CRS Reports Public 

“The Legislation: S. Res. 118 and H.R. 3762. As of today, both bills are listed as “referred to committee.” The House bill appears stalled since nothing has happened with it since October, 2009. ”
Consumer Genetic Tests Under Scrutiny 

"On May 19, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a toughly worded letter to three CEOs, including Pathway Genomics, [who] was preparing to sell an over-the-counter genetic-testing kit ... called Genetic Health Report, purported to test for more than 70 health issues, including predispositions to Alzheimer's, breast cancer, and diabetes."
ITU calls for broadband access for half the world by 2015 

“The number of Internet users has more than doubled since 2003 … and today more than 25 per cent of the world’s population is using the Internet … more efforts are needed to increase the number of Internet users. While today 75 per cent of all households have a TV, only 25 per cent have Internet access. In the developing countries, home Internet penetration is as low as 12 per cent.”
Physical Visualization of Urban Social Data 

“Social Bits is a research design project focused on putting digital information in a physical context. A collection of small interventions located at Istanbul aim to explore the physical display of urban data. … Urban Mood visualizes the real-time mood of the citizens of İstanbul through a simple keyword projection and sound installation. Urbansphere Wearables is a collection of beautiful T-shirts that reflect the daily keywords of the city by using the data streams of social networks.”