Janrain has released a study powered by its Engage tool, which analyzed some 365,000 sites. Overall, Janrain found that Facebook accounted for 45% of social logins, while Google came in at 31%. Yahoo and Twitter collectively hold an 18% share of social logins, while LinkedIn, Myspace and a number of other sites account for the remaining 3%. (via Facebook and Google Dominate 76% of Social Logins)
- Kids learned to use e-readers quickly even though 43 percent of them had never used a computer before. Also, not surprisingly, they were quick to discover “the multimedia aspects of the e-reader, such as music and Internet features.”
- Near-zero theft. Only two e-readers (out of 600) were lost in the whole study, partly because “community involvement was encouraged through e-reader pledges, community outreach programs, and support from community leaders.”
- Kids got access to way more books. Before the study, primary-school students had access to an average of 3.6 books at home. Junior-high students had access to an average of 8.6 books at home and high-school students access to an average of 11 books. With the e-reader program, kids had access to an average of 107 book.
- Primary school students’ test scores improved, but effects on older kids were less clear. The reading scores of primary-school students who received e-readers increased from 12.9 percent to 15.7 percent. But results for older kids were mixed.
- Students sought out access to international news. “Amazon data revealed that students were downloading The New York Times, USA Today, and El País etc., demonstrating that students want to access a wide range of reading materials that were previously inaccessible.”
- Kindles break too easily. Worldreader had not predicted how many Kindles would break: 243 out of 600, or 40.5 percent.
- The program appears cost-effective. Worldreader estimates that “for the years 2014-2018, using a calculation focused strictly on the provisioning of textbooks, the e-reader system would cost only $8.93-$11.40 more per student over a 4 year period [$0.19 to $0.24 per month] than the traditional paper book system.”
The Saltwater Room - Ayeyi Aboagye
Check out Google’s Starcraft easter egg in Google Search. You get to it by typing “zerg rush” without quotes into Google Search.
Day and Night in New York City Captured in Single Images by Stephen Wilkes.
Consider the real number that is represented by a zero and a decimal point, followed by a never-ending string of nines:
0.99999…
It may come as a surprise when you first learn the fact that this real number is actually EQUAL to the integer 1. A common argument that is often given to show this is…
“ Quiet people have the loudest minds. ”
—Stephen Hawking
The Most (and Least) Peaceful Places in America
Over the past year, a majority of states, 35 of 50, became more peaceful. However, there is substantial geographic variation. New England ranks as the nation’s most peaceful region with the lowest scores; Maine is the nation’s most peaceful state, followed by New Hampshire and Vermont. Minnesota and Utah are fourth and fifth; North Dakota, Washington, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Iowa round out the top ten.
Louisiana is the least peaceful state on the State Peace Index, followed by Tennessee, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona. Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Mississippi round out the ten least peaceful states.
Read more at The Atlantic Cities. [Image: Martin Prosperity Institute]
Oh, Louisiana. I am not angry or surprised, but I am disappointed. We are still the 36th happiest state, though.
“Cosmologists use the mathematical properties of eternity to show that although universe may last forever, it must have had a beginning”
- Physics arXiv Blog (Published by MIT)
Exclusive: North Korea’s nuclear test ready “soon”
North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead.
The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United States when it launched the long-range rocket on April 13 and was censured by the U.N. Security Council, including the North’s sole major ally, China.
Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at honing the North’s ability to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States, a move that would dramatically increase its military and diplomatic heft.
Now the North appears to be about to carry out a third nuclear test after two in 2006 and 2009.
“Soon. Preparations are almost complete,” the source said when asked whether North Korea was planning to conduct a nuclear test.
This is the first time a senior official has confirmed the planned test and the source has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the 2006 test days before it happened.
Photo Credit: (AP)
Well, that is unnerving…
What happens when you give Kindles to kids in Ghana? Results: