Sunrise, Sunset:  How Swiftly Go the Days (when you're in the autumn of life)

Carl Sandberg late in life said he would eat more ice cream and watch more sunsets.
Late in my life I watch both the sunrises and sunsets almost every day (without the fattening ice cream)
Up here I move all over inside the house when the sun changes locations with the seasons of the year.

 Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLEBAQLZ3Q

Poems About Mountains --- http://www.poetseers.org/poem_of_the_day_archive/poems_about_mountains

After the rain,
the empty mountain
at dusk
is full of autumn air.
A bright moon
shines between the pines;
The clear spring water
glides over the rocks.
Bamboo leaves rustling —
the washer-girls bound home.
Water lilies swaying —
a fisher-boat goes down.
Never mind that
spring plants are no longer green.
I am here to stay
my noble friends!

From the From the Unknown Professor, Financial Rounds Blog on August 29, 2008 --- http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/

How Professors Spend Their Time
I'm in the midst of filling out my annual report (we do one every year to show the powers that be what we did over the previous year). I've got several attachments, to my report, but I'm debating adding this as one more:

Tidbits on September 4, 2008
Bob Jensen

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.

Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination

Despite these noteworthy linguistic strides, the Academy presents Orwell 2008 to a college counselor who advises his clients to deliberately make mistakes on their applications so they "don’t sound like robots." After all, "if you fall into the trap of trying to do everything perfectly," without "typos" and other "creative errors," there's just "no spark left."
Fifteenth Annual Emperor's Awards, Guest commentary by Poor Elijah (Peter Berger), The Irascible Professor, August 19, 2008 --- http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-08-19-08.htm
Jensen Comment
The same can be said for blogs and newsletters.

On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm

Chronicle of Higher Education's 2008-2009 Almanac --- http://chronicle.com/free/almanac/2008/?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on economic and social statistics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#EconStatistics

Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Russian-Bar Acrobatic (the last part is truly unbelievable) --- http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PRJxJdgc4Ng&feature=related

A Video Version of the Periodic Table (a video for each element)  --- http://www.periodicvideos.com/

Size Matters --- http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=FqfunyCeU5g
Otherwise entitled "Shift Happens"

Lunch on the Skyscraper (1930) --- http://www.slideshare.net/ronaldl/lunch-on-the-skyscraper-presentation/
(Hit the arrow buttons)

Total Solar Eclipse 2008: Live from China --- http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2008/ 

Manhattan - Woody Allen (Chapter 1) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6QKpNK9Cc

How to write kick-ass opening line --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=g_82MgWBkaM
Richard Sansing forwarded the link to Monty Python --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=ogPZ5CY9KoM

Great Chicago Stories --- http://www.chicagohistory.org/greatchicagostories/ 

Why mutual funds are dangerous investments --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=irZi9YZVEyo
This is good advice to a point. However, most investors have different circumstances such as liquidity preferences, tax complications, and different ages such that there may not be a safe index fund suitable for every investor

How it All Began (Internet Humor) --- http://home.comcast.net/~singingman7777/Beginning.htm

The Boxing Cat --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=5HAf_INrFy0

Conversations with History: John Kenneth Galbraith --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=jNgfIH5pyxg

Some of the most famous series of liberal vs. conservatism debates in history were those of Galbraith vs. William F. Buckley.
Both were good speakers with skills in writing, satire, and humor, although in both cases their scholarship and research may have been overstated.
Unfortunately, I cannot find any video records of a single B-G debate on YouTube.
There are a lot of videos of the Buckley-Noam Chomsky debates, but these, in my viewpoint, were second rate relative to the B-G debates.
Charlie Rose (William F. Buckley Tribute) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=9Har3ByGiCI
Chris Matthews (William F. Buckley Tribute) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=Iix0dXVzdpw
Part 1 of the Buckley-Chomsky debates --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlMEVTa-PI

William F. Buckley impression by David Frye --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=YFW17jbT9QQ

Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

One of Linda Kidwell's favorite dance videos --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

Beautiful Photographs Accompanied by the Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) --- Click Here
Click the right arrow button after it loads.

Farmer and the Lord (Jim Reeves) --- http://home.comcast.net/~singingman777/Farmer.htm

Take Just One Minute --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=AsMkz5vSjdo

Best Motivator Quotations (video) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=CNu0g57l7RQ

Waiting In Saigon (Apocalypse Now) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=4ADTPYAEi80

New from Jessie
Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/beerhorses.htm
If the music does not start up after 30 seconds, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the Play arrow.

New from Jessie
Neal and Leandra --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/fireplacemulti.htm
If the music does not start up after 30 seconds, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the Play arrow.

Old from Jessie and still my favorite
Hope Has Its Place --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/pity.htm
If the music does not start up after 30 seconds, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the Play arrow.

Old from Jessie
Monster Mash --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/mash.htm
If the music does not start up after 30 seconds, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the Play arrow.Bob Jensen listens to music free online (and no commercials) --- http://www.slacker.com/ 

Photographs and Art

Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

How to write kick-ass opening lines (video) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=g_82MgWBkaM
Richard Sansing forwarded the link to Monty Python --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=ogPZ5CY9KoM

101 Best First Lines (Novels) http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0934311.html
Also see http://www.giga-usa.com/quotes/topics/books_first_lines_t001.htm

Index of First Lines --- http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/lists/firstlines.html

Famous First Lines Quiz --- http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~dea22/quizjfic.htm

OEDILF The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form --- http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php

We All Need a Tree --- http://home.att.net/%7Esoloshideaway/751/tree.htm

Nichita Stãnescu Poems (1933 - 1983) --- http://www.romanianvoice.com/poezii/poezii_tr/burned.php

Poets.org --- http://www.poets.org/

Best Motivator Quotations (video) --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=CNu0g57l7RQ

The Comic Quote Blog --- http://wit.kitt.net/ 

Worst Analogies Written in High School Essays --- http://www.iainbrown.net/jokes/analog.htm

Writing.com writing helpers --- http://writing-world.com/
Bob Jensen's helpers for writers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries

Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Faculty members identify as liberals and vote Democratic in far greater proportions than found in the American public at large. That finding by itself won’t shock many, but the national study released Saturday at a Harvard University symposium may be notable both for its methodology and other, more surprising findings. The 72-page study — “The Social and Political Views of American Professors” — was produced with the goal of moving analysis of the political views of faculty members out of the culture wars and back to social science. The study offers at times harsh criticism of many of the analyses of these issues in recent years (both from those hoping to tag the professoriate as foolishly radical and those seeking to rebut those charges). The study included community college professors along with four-year institutions, and featured analysis of non-responders to the survey (two features missing from many recent reports). The results of the study find a professoriate that may be less liberal than is widely assumed, even if conservatives are correctly assumed to be in a distinct minority. The authors present evidence that there are more faculty members who identify as moderates than as liberals. The authors of the study also found evidence of a significant decline by age group in faculty radicalism, with younger faculty members less likely than their older counterparts to identify as radical or activist. And while the study found that faculty members generally hold what are thought to be liberal positions on social issues, professors are divided on affirmative action in college admissions.
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, October 8, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/08/politics 
Jensen Comment
The liberal academy is already claiming that Sarah Palin will be the death of education, research, and science ---http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/02/palin

. . . (NBC's Andrea) Mitchell who said that only uneducated, female voters will be drawn to Sarah Palin, not those smart, college educated ones. At about 5:57 into this clip Andrea Mitchell was brought onto Meet the Press with Goodwin, David Gregory and host Tom Brokaw to tell us all that Sarah Palin will only appeal to uneducated women, not educated ones. At about 5:57 into this clip Andrea Mitchell was brought onto Meet the Press with Goodwin, David Gregory and host Tom Brokaw to tell us all that Sarah Palin will only appeal to uneducated women, not educated ones.
Newsbusters, August 31, 2008 --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072189/posts
Jensen Comment
Mitchell is saying that no woman with a college degree at NBC will vote for Sarah Palin. NBC has joined the ranks of MSNBC and those politically correct academic departments in universities who will not allow Republicans to join the faculty --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PoliticalCorrectnessFracture

Tensions are running high at MSNBC, at least surrounding veteran host Joe Scarborough who seems to be increasingly discontented at his network's decision to market itself as the cable net of choice for Bush haters. That hasn't sat well with the likes of the far left (Surge-hating and Bush-hating) Keith Olbermann who has played a large role in getting MSNBC to pursue this strategy The Democratic convention seems to have only exacerbated those tensions. Last night saw Olbermann caught on an open mic blurting out profane disgust at Scarborough, prompting the latter to verbally call him out while fellow MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews . . .
Newsbusters, August 25, 2008 --- http://media.newsbusters.org/stories/scarborough-mocks-shuster-msnbc-for-no-bias-claims.html
Watch the video --- http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/08/26/keith-olbermann-caught-dissing-joe-scarborough-open-mic
Also see the video --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=447YeVdqspE

At a forum on Sunday, when Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called MSNBC "the official network of the Obama campaign," Democrat Tom Brokaw said, "I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far." Insiders say Olbermann is pushing to have Brokaw banned from the network and is also refusing to have centrist Time Magazine columnist Mike Murphy on his show.
P.J. Gladnik quoting from the New York Post, Newsbusters, August 27, 2008 ---
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/08/27/keith-olbermann-trying-banish-tom-brokaw-msnbc

Grandmother Can’t Grandfather Generation Skip
Journal of Accountancy, August 2008 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/aug2008/taxmatters.htm
Refers to estate taxes.

Fannie, Freddie Find Legs in Shorts
TheStreet.com, Aug. 21
Refers to investing strategies

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
Abigail Adams to J.Q. Adams, 5/8/1780 as quoted in the bottom of an email message from Bill Ellis

Using a class project to evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities, a team of Stanford University Business School students drew up plans to launch a no-frills airline in Colombia. And just to make it really interesting, they intend to promote the new airline through a reality television show.
Michele Chandler, "Class project takes wing with proposal for no-frills Colombian airline," Stanford Report, August 2008 ---
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/august6/airline-080608.html 

Stanford athletes won a record 24 medals in Beijing (eight gold, 12 silver and four bronze)
http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/olympics/spec-rel/082408aaa.html

Professors and other educators continue to be among the top donors to Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign. An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics of summer fund raising by Obama found that education as an industry was behind only the legal industry in contributing to the Democrat’s campaign. Further, a list of the 25 employers whose employees gave the most to Obama included 9 universities. They are (in order): University of California, Harvard University, Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania.
Inside Higher Ed, August 27. 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/27/qt
Also see http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/08/professors-spent-their-summer.html
You can read more about the liberal bias of the academy at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#LiberalBias

The speech by Senator Obama, in front of an audience of nearly 80,000 people on a warm night in a football stadium refashioned into a vast political stage for television viewers, left little doubt how he intended to press his campaign against Mr. McCain this fall. =In cutting language, and to cheers that echoed across the stadium, he linked Mr. McCain to what he described as the “failed presidency of George W. Bush” and — reflecting what has been a central theme of his campaign since he entered the race — “the broken politics in Washington.”
Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeley, The New York Times, August 29, 2008 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/us/politics/29dems.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Daytime talk show diva and billionaire businesswoman Oprah Winfrey, who played a crucial early primary role in raising the prominence of her fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama, was so moved by her man's Democratic acceptance speech Thursday night that she cried off her false eyelashes.
"Oprah so moved by Obama speech she cries her eyelashes off," Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2008 --- http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/oprah-obama-dnc.html

After three days of Democrats trying to portray their nominee as a normal Everyman, Barack Obama accepted their nomination on a stage fit for Superman. A Hollywood version of the White House facade plopped down in the middle of a tricked-out football stadium was a grand idea if the goal was to create a media spectacle. But to communicate a message of realistic hope for a beleaguered middle class, fake grandeur was an odd choice. Using a facade to appear presidential invites wisecracks about a nominee already derided as a messiah wanna-be. And the numerous references by warmup speakers to Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. are gratingly outsized for the 47-year-old rookie senator. The content of the speech was more sober and a better fit for the historic moment of the first African-American winning the nomination of a major party. Obama looked and sounded supremely confident in his belief that his time has come and that he can lead an American renewal.
Michael Goodwin, "Where was substance in Obama's acceptance?" New York Daily News, August 29, 2008 ---
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/28/2008-08-28_where_was_substance_in_obamas_acceptance.html

A looming crisis of debt and dependency will similarly tie the president's hands. Bluntly, the United States for too long has lived beyond its means. With Americans importing more than 60 percent of the oil they consume, the negative trade balance now about $800 billion annually, the federal deficit at record levels and the national debt approaching $10 trillion, the United States faces an urgent requirement to curb its profligate tendencies. Spending less (and saving more) implies settling for less. Yet among the campaign themes promoted by McCain and Obama alike, calls for national belt-tightening are muted.
Andrew J. Bacevich, "No matter who wins in November, you're going to be disappointed," Los Angeles Times via The Seattle Times, August 29, 2008 --- http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008145401_prezop29.html

The top problem with peer review of scientific research? Incompetence, according to a survey of scientists at a federal research agency and published in the September issue of Science and Engineering Ethics. Sixty-two percent reported encountering incompetence in the process. Other problems included: bias (reported by 51 percent), being required to include unnecessary references to the peer reviewers’ publications (23 percent), and personal attacks in reviewer comments (18 percent).
Inside Higher Ed, August 27. 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/27/qt
Bob Jensen's threads on peer review are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PeerReview

The first cup of tea, you're a stranger; the second cup, a friend; and the third cup, you're family," Mortenson says. "And for the family, they're prepared to do anything, even die."
"'Three Cups of Tea' With Pakistan's Musharraf," NPR, August 23, 2008 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93902559&sc=emaf
This link was forwarded by Katy Ginanni.

A Simple Thing to Try in Case of Identity Theft
James Woods, who played an LA prosecutor on Shark, has set a great example for dealing with identity theft. Woods told Michael Glynn at The Enquirer that he was horrified to learn that someone had charged thousands of dollars on his credit card. The crook had bought a computer and purchased two VIP tickets to the recent Dave Matthews concert at the Staples Centerin LA for $3,700. The fraudulent charges were deducted from his bill, but James was determined to find the guilty party. He called the Staples center and cleverly told them he hadn't received his tickets yet - that he wanted to verify the correct name and address. Incredibly, the crook had used his own real name and address. James realized he'd eaten at a restaurant just blocks from where the crook lived. He then called the restaurant and tracked down a guilty waiter. Woods handed the info to the Beverly Hills police and they arrested the guy.
Janet Charleton's Hollywood, August 28, 2008 ---
http://janetcharltonshollywood.com/gossip/james_woods/identity_theft_james_woods_proves_crime_does_not_pay_20080828.php
Identity Theft Resource Center --- http://www.idtheftcenter.org/ 
Bob Jensen's threads on how to protect yourself from ID theft are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#IdentityTheft

Canada is one of the top three world suppliers of the psychedelic drug ecstasy, and a significant supplier of marijuana to the United States, the government admitted on Friday. A survey of organized crime by Criminal Intelligence Services Canada found that Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium were the primary sources of ecstasy, an illegal drug that's popular at clubs, raves and rock concerts.
"Canada Aadmits It's a Top Ecstasy Supplier," Newsmax, August 22, 2008 --- http://newsmax.com/international/canada_ecstacy_supplier/2008/08/22/124173.html

China specialists make a parlor game of imagining what Mao Zedong would make of the People's Republic of China today, with its capitalist-friendly Communists and young people more familiar with the theme song from Titanic than The East is Red. In China's Brave New World, for example, I ruminate on a revivified Mao's likely response to my favorite Nanjing bookstore, where the philosophy section has nary a copy of his Little Red Book, but does contain Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy and studies of abstruse French theory, like the optimistically titled Understanding Foucault. Some of my colleagues have taken this motif a step further, bringing into the mix the Chairman's arch-rival, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who died in exile on a Nationalist Party-run Taiwan that was both capitalist and authoritarian. In Modern China: A Very Short Introduction, for instance, Oxford historian Rana Mitter writes: "One can imagine Chiang Kaishek's ghost wandering around China today nodding in approval, while Mao's ghost follows behind him, moaning at the destruction of his vision."
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, "What Would Mao Think of the Games?" The Nation, August 22, 2008 --- http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/wasserstrom

"Who's Responsible for Outrageous Gas Prices?" by Steve Bass, PC World via The Washington Post, August 20, 2008 --- Click Here

Are the outrageous prices caused by oil speculators, the oil producing nations, or a hyper-conspiracy by--hold the phone--the government? I'm still not sure, but I do know that lots of people--pundits, the airlines, and average Joes--are all giving me compelling stories.

I generally disregard messages from corporations pitching me to write to the legislature. The one I got recently from United Airlines caught my eye.

United claims is that oil speculators are responsible for driving up fuel prices. You can read the letter below and go to the site that walks you through sending an e-mail to your congressperson.

So I dug around the Internet, as did my buddy Paul C., and we came up with three weighty pieces that say, essentially, no, we can't blame speculators.

Some people point fingers at the Middle East countries that sell us oil.

For instance, Energy Investment Strategies says "Mideast oil producers increasingly consume their own oil to fuel their fast-growing economies, driving up oil prices," in Vicious Circle: Middle East Affluence Drive Up M.E. Oil Use and Price.

I don't know if these countries are to blame, but I found a half-dozen news stories showing how much money some of them have to throw around.

Abu Dhabi is one of seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates. Gulf News said one businessmen had enough bucks to spend--sit down now, this is going to hurt--$14.5 million on a personalized license plate. The plate read "1" and the price set a new Guinness world record. According to Motor Authority, the plate with "F1" was cheap at $880,000.

There's got to be plenty of money available in Dubai, another member of the UAE. Get a load of this shape-shifting skyscraper.

How about an indoor skiing facility, also in Dubai, a sky-high tennis court atop the Dubai's Burj Al Arab hotel, or plans for the Crescent Hydropolis, an underwater hotel 65 feet below the Persian Gulf.

Two reports about extravagant spending turned out to be hoaxes (thank goodness): the silver Audi and the diamond-studded Mercedes Benz.

Keep the supply low so the demand will be high, and oil company profits will skyrocket. That's the theory argued in Damning Evidence of 'Big Oil' Conspiracy to Limit Supply.

There are also people who think it's a government conspiracy to force us to pay more in taxes. Read the American Daily's So you think you know oil: maybe not.

To get more bang for the gas buck, lots of people are looking to a bunch of oh-I-hope-it'll-work devices. I saw a $10 gadget that attaches magnets to your gas line and thought, what the heck maybe it'd help. But my colleague, Tom Spring, says, no way, no how, in his Gas Crisis Fuels Dubious Online Offers.

Some people are trying outlandish and extreme tricks in order to save gas. It's called hypermiling, and it involves coasting whenever possible, sliding through stop signs, and tailgating trucks. Edmunds.com has a good piece on hypermiling and Go Green Travel Green has a list of about 450 tricks that you may want to spend a week studying.

Continued in article
Jensen Comment
The bottom line is that if anybody like Ben Stein blames futures markets speculators or evil oil company manipulators, consider them to be superficial grandstanders. The enemy is us. After state and federal taxes are excluded, the price of each gallon of gas in the U.S. has nearly always been underpriced relative to what people pay in other parts of the world. We're just catching up now because our strong dollar that contributed to cheap fuel is now badly shrunken and getting weaker each year. That's the main cause of rising fuel prices! And the main contributor to our shrinking dollar is the exploding (Bush-folly) annual Federal deficit and August 23, 2008 accumulated national debt of $9,621,462,007,286 --- http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

The estimated population of the United States is 304,593,115 so each citizen's share of this debt is $31,587.92. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.86 billion per day since September 28, 2007! It's going to be a bumpy ride for whomever is elected to the White House in November. "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy (ride) ." --- http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=ea5__uUuxoU

An energy bait-and-switch.
To wit, the greens are blocking the very transmission network needed for renewable electricity to move throughout the economy. The best sites for wind and solar energy happen to be in the sticks -- in the desert Southwest where sunlight is most intense for longest, or the plains where the wind blows most often. To exploit this energy, utilities need to build transmission lines to connect their electricity to the places where consumers actually live. In addition to other technical problems, the transmission gap is a big reason wind only provides two-thirds of 1% of electricity generated in the U.S., and solar one-tenth of 1%. Only last week, Duke Energy and American Electric Power announced a $1 billion joint venture to build a mere 240 miles of transmission line in Indiana necessary to accommodate new wind farms. Yet the utilities don't expect to be able to complete the lines for six long years -- until 2014, at the earliest, because of the time necessary to obtain regulatory approval and rights-of-way, plus the obligatory lawsuits.
"Wind Jammers," The Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2008 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121901822110148233.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

Behind every financial crisis there is usually a crisis in the real economy, based in some underlying structural deficiency. Even if the financial crisis is bottoming out, sooner or later the real crisis must be faced. The fundamental problem in the American economy is that, for years, people treated rising asset prices as a substitute for personal savings. The thinking went something like this: As long as your home’s value rose every year, you didn’t have to set aside so much from your paycheck. If your stocks went up, too, so much the better; don’t forget that the Dow Jones industrial average stood in the 800 range in 1982 and seemed to rise almost nonstop for many year. Of course, asset prices haven’t been rising much lately, so many people will need more savings for their retirement or for possible emergencies. The need to save more sharpens a number of interrelated secondary problems. First, America is aging. More people than ever are entering the years when they stop saving and start spending their nest eggs. That means the transition to higher-than-expected savings may be drawn out and painful.
Tyler Cowen, "Finding the Mess Behind the Mess," The New York Times, August 24, 2008 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/business/yourmoney/24view.html?ref=business
Jensen Comment
Sorry Tyler, but the "fundamental problem" is the inflationary burden inflicted on future generations by spendthrift government entitlements --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/entitlements.htm

"12 Unnecessary Vista Features You Can Disable Right Now : Tired of Vista's bloat? Reclaim your PC's performance by turning off a dozen wasteful features," by Lincoln Specter, PC World via The Washington Post, September 4, 2008 --- Click Here

Our AECM friend David Albrecht has a new blog in 2008.
The Summa:  Debits and credits of accounting --- http://profalbrecht.wordpress.com/
The September 2 and 3 tidbits are as follows (I'm serious):

A Copper Penny for Your Laugh

Do a google search on accounting and (humor or jokes or funnies), and you are bound to get a listing of some really awful stuff.  I’m willing to retell the following, but only to make a point that we accountants aren’t very funny.

• What’s the difference between counting and accounting?  Accounting goes a-one, a-two, a-three, and so forth.
• Did you know there are three types of accountants?  Those that can count, and those that can’t!
• Says one accountant’s wife to her friend, “My husband is so accrual, he doesn’t depreciate me any more.”
• If an accountant’s wife can’t sleep, what does she say to her husband?  “Darling, tell me about your work.”
• How was copper wire invented?  Two accountants were arguing over a penny.

What do you think?  These are the best of the worst jokes ever created.

Why can’t accountant jokes be as funny as economist jokes?  Here are a few:

• Economics is the only field in which two people can get a Nobel Prize for saying exactly the opposite thing.
• Three econometricians went out hunting and came across a large deer.  The first econometricial fired, but missed by a meter to the left.  The second econometrician fired, but missed by a meter to the right.  The third econometrician didn’t fire, but shouted loudly in triumph, “We got it!  We got it!”
• Talk is cheap, supply exceeds demand.
   

OK, so the economist jokes aren’t all that funny either.  So I decided to create my own accountant joke.  Can I do any worse?

• America is in a war against terror.  An accountant decides to join the army.  After a month of basic training, the accountant has become the sergeant’s pet and is permitted to take the rest of the troop out for a march.  The accountant gets the men started, “Ready, set, march!”  The men start stomping left and right, stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.  The accountant joins in to keep them in time, “Debit (stomp) Debit (stomp) Debit Credit Debit (Stomp)”

Over and out - - David Albrecht

Not afraid to call a schmuck a schmuck

September 2, 2008 by David Albrecht

In his most recent column for the Accounting Cycle (September 2008), Ed Ketz, accounting professor at Penn State University, comments on the SEC’s advisory group:  Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (August 1, 2008) < http://www.sec.gov/about/offices/oca/acifr/acifr-finalreport.pdf>.  Ed’s complete column about it can be found at <http://accounting.smartpros.com/x63030.xml>.

Ed is a throwback to an older age of accounting professors.  Not necessarily a curmudgeon, which evokes images of ill-tempered and disagreeable, he certainly is “a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas”. Nor is he afraid to call a schmuck a schmuck.  I like that.

Continued in the blog

Jensen Comment
I'm considering sending David the following for his blog:

Accountants are so tight they can debit (stomp) the poop out of the buffalo on a nickel.

I'm guessing that David's strategy is to embed serious accountancy issues amongst his bad jokes. Why not? I think it has made him a popular and effective teacher in the classroom. But do most of the accounting jokes have to be so bad? Perhaps it wins him the sympathy vote on student evaluations.

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting humor are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm#Humor
Included is this tidbit from David a while back:

Partying Accountants (video links forwarded by David Albrecht)

• Accountant Holiday Party --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaEudWDMpvU
• Who says accountants aren't fun? Move over Michael --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKK8gA_AJvM
• The Accountant Dance --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcjbKnwcL9w&feature=related
• Seinfeld Accountant --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekp9dmXM7Qs&feature=related
• The Accountant --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UePRIzW___s&feature=related

As far as partying accountants go, let's never forget Rich Kinder's Enron Departure Party before the meltdown of Enron (it features Jeff Skilling in the flesh speaking about Hypothetical Future Value Accounting) --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/windowsmedia/enron3.wmv
Then Texas Governor George W. Bush even makes a brief appearance in the video.

Footnote:  Rich Kinder left Enron, formed his own energy company, and became a billionaire --- http://www.mcdep.com/MR11231.PDF
See Question 2 at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnronQuiz.htm
Enron's accounting books got cooked early on under his watch while Andersen's auditors turned a blind eye. 

Almost everything that is great has been done by youth.
Benjamin Disraeli

"Old Dogs Don’t Create New Tricks," by Ron Baker, White Paper on the AccountingWeb, August 2008 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/whitepapers/old_dogs.pdf

Jensen Comment
I have to respectfully disagree with both Disraeli and Baker. People under 30 years of age have may countless innovations, made important research discoveries, and often solve old problems with a new perspective. However, the same can be said for people over 30 years of age. People over 30 have the added advantage in many disciplines of many years of accumulation of knowledge.

Neither Disraeli nor Baker properly account for important differences among academic disciplines. Josh Lederberg won a Nobel Prize in Genetics in 1958. I got to know him when we spent a year together in a think tank on the Stanford University campus in 1971. On more than one occasion he said that he was grateful that he'd chosen genetics and chemistry where years of study are such formidable prerequisites that prodigies cannot make much of a contribution like they can in mathematics and computer science. You cannot contribute to solving a problem as a prodigy in disciplines where it takes decades of scholarship to even understand the problem. In accounting, the average age of persons obtaining PhD degrees is 35. It's virtually impossible these days to become a member of the academy at a youthful age even if you are a prodigy (see a module on this below).

Observation of the ages of Nobel Prize winners at the time they published the theory leading to their award indicates that, although there are certainly differences between individuals, highly-creative research results often seem to be produced between the ages of about 30 and 45. There is increasing concern about the supply of personnel, particularly young researchers, from a quantitative perspective as the number of children in society (such as in Japan) declines. It is more important than ever to promote the activity of talented, highly-creative young researchers.
Mext, 2007 --- http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/2007/03/07022214/001/007.htm

A great deal about aging and learning and research is available in the pages beginning at http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/2007/03/07022214/001/001.htm

Update on the Shortage of Doctoral Faculty in Accountancy

Probably the best set of data available on accounting doctoral programs in the United States is provided by Jim Hasselback at http://www.jrhasselback.com/AtgDoctInfo.html

Especially note the bottom of the table at http://www.jrhasselback.com/AtgDoct/XDocChrt.pdf
Jim made a concerted effort recently to improve the accuracy of the data provided in this table. He points out that the Year 2007 data are incomplete such at the 116 number is understated. However, the 149 number of doctoral graduates in 2006 can be trusted and compared with the numbers in earlier years. These numbers are a bit on the rise since the number bottomed out at 105 graduates in 2003. In the 1980s and early 1990s this number hovered around 200 graduates. In a period of exploding salaries since year 2000 coupled with reductions of teaching loads to about three courses a year or less, something serious has been contributing to the declining interest in getting a doctoral degree in accounting in the United States. One reason is the shrinking of program size in such universities as Texas and Illinois that historically produced the largest numbers of accounting doctoral graduates. Another reason is the number of years that it takes (around five to six) of full-time study in an accounting doctoral program vis-à-vis the three years needed for many other doctoral degrees such as economics and psychology. But the most serious reason in Bob Jensen's viewpoint is that accounting doctoral programs are no longer attractive to accountants who want to study accounting --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

At the 2008 AAA annual meetings, Jim made a point of saying that an increasing proportions of our doctoral graduates are from outside the United States. The shortage of doctoral graduates to meet the demand in U.S. universities is affected by this since a significant number of graduates return to their home countries after graduation. Also, some graduates do not commence working for colleges and universities. Thus perhaps only 100 (rough guess) of the 2006 graduating accounting doctoral students were available to colleges and universities in the U.S. Furthermore, a serious number of those graduates had prior study in mathematics and science while having little education and experience in accounting studies. Some still have difficulties with the English language.

Two important reports on the crisis of meeting the demand for new doctoral graduates in accounting were published as follows:

Behn (2008) --- (not free) http://www.atypon-link.com/AAA/doi/pdf/10.2308/iace.2008.23.3.357
Accounting Doctoral Education—2007 A Report of the Joint AAA/APLG/FSA Doctoral Education Committee
Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 23, No. 3, August 2008, pp.357-368
Author(s): Bruce K. Behn | Gregory A. Carnes | George W. Krull Jr | Kevin D. Stocks | Philip M. J. Reckers |

Plumlee (2006) --- (not free) http://www.atypon-link.com/AAA/doi/pdf/10.2308/iace.2006.21.2.113 
Assessing the shortage of accounting faculty,”
Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 21 Number 2, May 2006, pp. 113-126
R. David Plumlee | Steven J. Kachelmeier | Silvia A. Madeo | Jamie H. Pratt | George Krull

Both the Plumlee (2006) and Behn (2008) reports conclude that shortages are more severe in some specialties than others. The crisis is critical in Accounting Information Systems (AIS), Auditing, and Tax.  Table 6 of the Behn (2008) report on Page 360 reads as follows:

TABLE 6

Student Topical Research Areas (percentage of responses by category)

Area Percentage

• Financial 52%

• Managerial 12%

• Tax 9%

• Audit 12%

• Information Systems 4%

• Unsure /Undecided/Other 11%

AIS shortages are supplemented with MIS and computer science graduates who have backgrounds in accountancy. Auditing and tax were viewed by the AICPA as being in really deep trouble, i.e., the heart and core of public accountancy has the fewest numbers of graduating accountancy doctoral students. For this reason, the large accounting firms are contributing to a newly-established AICPA Foundation fund providing $30,000 annual scholarships to selected doctoral students in auditing and tax --- http://commons.aaahq.org/files/24e4586780/ADS_Program_Overview.doc

Increased funding to attract doctoral students into accounting is important and will have an impact, especially on directing study and research into auditing and taxation. However, what is really necessary is to make accounting doctoral programs more attractive to real-world accountants who really want to teach accounting, do research in accounting, and get a doctoral degree in a reasonable amount of full-time effort for three to maybe four years instead of five to six years. I think the most important things that will reverse the decline in the numbers of doctoral students in accounting are as follows:

1. Doctoral programs should be shortened for experienced accountants who have credentials like CPA and CMA certificates.
    
2. Doctoral programs should offer study and research tracks apart from the limited econometrics, psychometrics, and analytical mathematics tracks that all require years of study of mathematics, statistics, and social science prerequisites. For example, at present there is virtually no university in the United States that has a doctoral studies track in accounting history. Few offer tracks in case method research.
    
3. Universities in the U.S. need to increase the numbers of doctoral students in their programs. This, in turn, means adding more incentives for AIS, auditing, and tax professors to take on responsibilities in the doctoral programs.
    
4. Leading accounting research journals need to invite submissions beyond the narrow band of mathematics and statistics research method criteria of the past three decades --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/03MainDocumentMar2007.htm
   The Accounting Review has taken the lead in 2008 by inviting submissions in AIS, field studies, and accounting history.
    
5. Accountancy doctoral programs need to be more concerned about pressing research problems in the practicing profession. Schools of medicine do research on problems encountered in treating patients. Law schools do research on problems encountered in the practice of law. Schools of accountancy elected to rise above issues of accounting practice by focusing on problems of economic and behavioral theory that have had little or no impact on the practicing profession.

In the academic year ended in 2006, there were 1,711 doctorates awarded in business reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education's 2008 Almanac Issue on Page 20. There's no separate category for accounting. But if Hasselback's reported 149 accounting graduates are included in the 1,711 number, then 8.7% of the business doctoral degrees for 2006 were in accounting. The AACSB can provide some further data about its member schools enrollments and graduations --- http://www.aacsb.edu/knowledgeservices/datadirect/dd-intro.asp

If the 2,848,440 total earned degrees (Associate+Bachelor's+Master's+Doctoral) are divided into the 562,435 earned degrees in business, the percentage is about 20%. If the 56,067 earned doctoral degrees in the United States are divided into the 1,711 business doctoral degrees, the percentage is about 3%. This suggests that perhaps 3% of the new business doctorates are teaching about 20% of the students, although there are wide margins for error in these percentages. I suspect that the situation is much worse in accounting education programs that are increasingly relying on adjunct faculty without doctoral degrees to teach the accounting students.

The AACSB 2002 white paper entitled "Management Education at Risk" is available at http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/dfc/default.asp

In part this led to the AACSB's Bridge Program where persons with doctoral degrees in fields other than business can enter special programs to become business professors --- http://www.aacsb.edu/bridge/graduates.asp

I recently posted the following comments at the AAA Commons:

I think that initially a few doctoral programs will find that if they break away from the accountics (i.e., econometrics, psychometrics, and advanced mathematics) prerequisites they will get some of the best high GMAT practicing accountants to apply for thier programs. For example, the University of Central Florida (one of the largest universities in the U.S.) adopted this tactic for their relatively new accoutancy doctoral program. You can read the comments of one of its leading students and a leading professor at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms 

Next I think there will be some new doctoral tracks offered in accounting history in older doctoral programs that dropped these tracks when the Chicago-type capital markets accountics hijacked their programs. Initiatives for this may be forthcoming from leading professors now in the Academy of Accounting Historians.

The new $30,000 annual doctoral program scholarships funded by the large accounting firms for auditing and tax doctoral students may inspire some doctoral programs to make some tracks available somewhat similar to the doctoral program at Central Florida --- --- http://commons.aaahq.org/files/24e4586780/ADS_Program_Overview.doc

As far as deans go, they are heavily influenced by the AACSB, and the AACSB has white paper out that notes the future of business education is jeopardized by the shortage of doctoral graduates in all business fields ---  http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/dfc/default.asp 

In most instances the deans will applaud rather than constrain offering of new tracks in business doctoral programs. The major obstacle, as Pogo said, is US. We let the mathematicians take over our doctoral programs, and now it is very hard to motivate our auditors, tax, and AIS professors to supervise doctoral students. The following quote pretty much says what it is with present-day doctoral student advisors. The quote is from
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms 

Why must all accounting doctoral programs be social science (particularly econometrics) doctoral programs? --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

Internet users can view video either as video file downloads (that may or may not be stored on a hard drive) or as streaming video (that does not entail downloading a media file but can be captured with streaming media software).

Update from the AAA Accounting Commons --- http://commons.aaahq.org/pages/home
I thank Rick for sharing his expertise in the new VoiceThread multimedia education and communication technology.
Accounting Professor Rick Lillie Uses VoiceThread to Create Streaming Video --- http://iaed.wordpress.com/
 

If you have not yet discovered VoiceThread, I strongly recommend that you click on the link below and explore the VoiceThread website. You are in for a real technology treat!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VOICETHREAD WEBSITE

I use VoiceThread to create streaming video lectures, to create tutorials explaining how to solve problems, to explain answers to quiz and examination questions, and more. VoiceThread is easy to use, is similar to PowerPoint (but much more robust), and is web-hosted which makes it easy for you to share VoiceThread presentations with your students and colleagues.

During a presentation that I gave at the recent 2008 American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, I talked about VoiceThread. To help participants to see how easy it is to create and share dynamic presentations with VoiceThread, I put together a short presentation that explains how to use VoiceThread. Click on the link below to view the short tutorial program.

Click here to view a short tutorial program explaining how to use VoiceThread

 

I encourage you to sign up for a free account.  Learn to use VoiceThread.  If you like what you create, then you can upgrade to the “Pro” version, which is very inexpensive. To get the full benefit of using VoiceThread, you need a headset/microphone and webcam.  To begin, use the tools included in VoiceThread. If you have questions about VoiceThread, use the “Contact Me” option on the right side of the screen.  Send me a message.  Include your email and/or telephone number.  I will be happy to work with you.

Enjoy!
Rick Lillie

Jensen Comment
VoiceThread has an advantage in allowing a community of users to comment (in multimedia) comments on an instructional video.
It's drawback is that it uses a lot of storage and bandwidth for talking heads.

Some VoiceThread pricing information is given at http://voicethread.com/pricing/pro/
It is possible to get small amounts of video file storage free, but it can get really expensive when the community goes on and on with long commentaries.
In the pro version, file sizes are limited to 100 Mb. This is about one tenth the size of a 10 minute YouTube video. YouTube generally limits file sizes to 1 Gb or 10 minutes of compressed video such as mpg compression --- http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hlrm=en&answer=57924
Colleges can stream much larger videos on YouTube such as the courses that UC Berkeley makes available on YouTube with over one hour of video for each lecture in a course.

VoiceThread makes it possible to have somewhat longer videos in a 100 Mb file by using small video screens. Note how Rick does this at http://voicethread.com/#q.b173180.i923368

YouTube also allows any users to comment in text format such that commentaries can accompany videos on YouTube. The huge advantage of YouTube is that videos can be uploaded, viewed, and even downloaded for free. VoiceThread, for an annual fee, has more features.

Although I've not tried VoiceThread, it would seem that cost and file size limits make this less attractive than YouTube.

Other video streaming alternatives are summarized at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#StreamingMedia

Camtasia users should note that TechSmith will serve up streaming videos in a utility called ScreenCast --- http://www.techsmith.com/screencast.asp

You can read the following at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#StreamingMedia

However, in most instances open sharing videos are streaming (using the term loosely here) videos for which there is no file to download. In that case the video must be captured in total or in part by software designed for such purposes. The software I like for video capturing is called Camtasia Recorder --- http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/record.asp
Also see http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/education.asp
This is cheaper alternative than many more specialized products for streaming video capture. You can download my PowerPoint file about Camtasia at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/PowerPoint/
Links to examples are given in this slide show.

 

Other streaming media alternatives are summarized at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#StreamingMedia

August 31, 2008 reply from Rick Lillie at the AAA Accounting Commons --- http://commons.aaahq.org/pages/home

Hi Bob,

Thank you for your comments about VoiceThread.  I would like to expand on several points that you raised.

Regarding the way VoiceThread works

VoiceThread is a hosted service that can be used in a variety of ways.  For example, VoiceThread may be used to create

• a digital discussion board where comments may be made in text, audio, or video formats.
• streaming audio commentaries (e.g., streaming lectures, tutorials and personalized feedback to students).
• streaming video commentaries (e.g., steaming lectures, tutorials, and personalized feedback to students).

Currently, VoiceThread is offered in both free and low-fee options.  The pricing screen needs a little more explanation.

• When using the "free" version, you are limited to three active VoiceThread programs (files) at any given time.  If you need to go beyond three active VoiceThread files, simply delete one or replace it with the new program.
• The file size and time limitations apply to EACH VoiceThread program created.  This is not an overall limitations (e.g., for all three VoiceThread programs if you use the "free" version).
• The "Pro" version is extremely generous in that you can create an unlimited number of VoiceThread programs during a subscription year, with each file including up to 500 slides and being up to 100 MB in size.
• You create your slides on your own computer and then upload them into VoiceThread.  Once uploaded, this is where the production process takes place.  Commenting on individual slides is done online through the VoiceThread interface screen.  You control
  • how your VoiceThread will be made available to viewers (i.e., public or private).
  • whether viewers can post reply comments to individual slides within the program.
  • whether individual slides may be downloaded.

• The VoiceThread file is condensed which reduces overall file size for a VoiceThread program.

Pros vs Cons of VoiceThread

• VoiceThread recognizes the need to maintain privacy of materials created for use within a learning environment (i.e., face-to-face, blended, or online classroom setting).  You control who may view a VoiceThread.  While a VoiceThread may be viewed through VoiceThread's social network (i.e., visable to everyone), you may limit viewing.  This is important with respect to satisfying "fair use" of copyrighted materials.
• VoiceThread is extremely easy to use as compared to other software programs (e.g., Camtasia).
• To create a streaming video VoiceThread, all you need is your computer, an internet connection, a headset/microphone, and a webcam.  If you do not have a headset/microphone, you can use a telephone to record the audio track.
• VoiceThread does not currently meet all ADA (Sect. 508) requirements.  However, the developers have said that VoiceThread is expected to be fully ADA compliant by early to mid-2009.
• VoiceThread does not currently include a closed-captioning option.  YouTube announced yesterday (8/30/08) that it has added a closed-captioning feature for use with videos uploaded to YouTube.
• VoiceThread includes a feature that the other software programs do not include.  VoiceThread makes it possible to annotate a slide while the program is being recorded.  All other programs record static slides and attach an audio and/or video track to the slide.  The capturing of the live annotation adds a "warmth" to the delivery of the content that brings the student's learning experience closer to what would be experienced in a live, face-to-face classroom.  I have found that this "single feature" improves the learning experience for students, especially when used in blended and online learning settings.

IN CLOSING

There are lots of ways to create rich-media instructional materials.  I use them extensively in my accounting courses.

Personally, I do not like Camtasia, Adobe Presenter, Camtasia Recorder and similar software programs.  For me, these programs are too complex to use.  I like processes to be as simple as possible.  This is why I prefer VoiceThread.

VoiceThread allows me to focus on creating the slides, pictures (jpeg files), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files, etc., that I want to include in a streaming presentation.  VoiceThread makes it easy to go from slides to streaming video with embedded commentary.  VoiceThread saves the file and gives me a URL to the program or the html code for embedding a player into course materials.

The overall process is simple and easy to use.

Many accounting faculty that I have talked with seem hesitant to include technology in their courses and to use technology tools when creating course materials.  When I find something that will make life easier, I share the information.

Thank you for your comments.  I enjoy this type of discussion.

Best wishes,

Rick Lillie

August 31,  2008 reply from Bob Jensen at the AAA Accounting Commons --- http://commons.aaahq.org/pages/home

Hi Rick,

I  really appreciate your detailed elaboration on video creation alternatives. Thank you so much! Please keep them coming at the AAA Commons. You obviously have unique technology skills.

The one area where I disagree with you is on Camtasia. I personally learned how to use Camtasia in less than an hour and then recorded many technical videos for my students to use outside the classroom. It cut down on the traffic through my office door by about 95% from students who just did follow the technical details in class. More importantly these videos (especially the ones about MS Access technicalities) helped me explain things that I forgot how to do over time. Examples of my Camtasia videos can be found at the following links:

ACCT 5342 (AIS videos) --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/acct5342/

ACCT 5341 (Accounting Theory videos) at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/acct5341/ 

I even prepared a tutorial on how to record (capture) computer image videos and produce (compress) them into smaller files for storage and delivery --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/Tutorials/
(I suggest clicking on the CamtasiaTutorial.wmv file)

I hope accounting professors and students will not be scared away from Camtasia before even trying it out. A limited and free version may be attempted first. It is called Jing --- http://www.jingproject.com/ 

But an even better suggestion is to download Camtasia Studio itself on a free trial basis --- http://www.jingproject.com/ 

Another interesting product from TechSmith is called UserView. Suppose a student is located somewhere else in the world. UserView allows a professor to both see and record what is happening on a student's computer screen such that the professor can analyze the moves and suggest to the student how to do something better. Similarly, the student can see what is happening on a professor's computer while he/she narrates.  Good stuff --- http://www.techsmith.com/uservue.asp 

But for me, the best thing since grapefruit is Camtasia Studio for producing videos for my own servers, YouTube, and possibly even VoiceThread. For YouTube I suggest choosing mpg compressions after recording a wmv video.

Bob Jensen's video helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm

Thanks Rick,

Bob Jensen

Amazon Plans to Market Its E-Book Reader to Colleges
Amazon is considering entering the student textbook market with a new version of its Kindle e-book reader, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Most publishers now offer electronic versions of their textbooks, but so far there's not an attractive enough e-book reader, and Amazon aims to fill that void. The college-oriented new model might be larger and include student-friendly features, such as allowing making annotations, according to a technology blog. Amazon officers also said the high Kindle sales estimates calculated by TechCrunch--a popular blog on internet products and companies--are not accurate. But the electronic company refuses to make public how many e-book reader units it has sold since Kindle was launched last November.
Maria José Viñas, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 25, 2008 ---
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3268&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Also see http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc20080826_932949.htm?link_position=link7

Amazon Kindle, an electronic device that he hopes will leapfrog over previous attempts at e-readers and become the turning point in a transformation toward Book 2.0 --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle

Then watch this video --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKUKQ7QqOHw
Other Videos

• Introduction to Kindle --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi2q5gTlu6o
• Amazon Kindle - More Details - Part 1 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct0yPJqBzzA
• Amazon Kindle - More Details - Part 2 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StFq6QHNFSg
• Amazon Kindle - More Details - Part 3 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmT6TsWfVAU

$359 Amazon Kindle --- Click Here

Read This Next
The Future of Reading (beyond mere hard copy and electronic books as we know them)
"Amazon's Jeff Bezos already built a better bookstore. Now he believes he can improve upon one of humankind's most divine creations: the book itself.," Newsweek Cover Story, November 26, 2007 --- http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983

"Technology," computer pioneer Alan Kay once said, "is anything that was invented after you were born." So it's not surprising, when making mental lists of the most whiz-bangy technological creations in our lives, that we may overlook an object that is superbly designed, wickedly functional, infinitely useful and beloved more passionately than any gadget in a Best Buy: the book. It is a more reliable storage device than a hard disk drive, and it sports a killer user interface. (No instruction manual or "For Dummies" guide needed.) And, it is instant-on and requires no batteries. Many people think it is so perfect an invention that it can't be improved upon, and react with indignation at any implication to the contrary.

"The book," says Jeff Bezos, 43, the CEO of Internet commerce giant Amazon.com, "just turns out to be an incredible device." Then he uncorks one of his trademark laughs.

Books have been very good to Jeff Bezos. When he sought to make his mark in the nascent days of the Web, he chose to open an online store for books, a decision that led to billionaire status for him, dotcom glory for his company and countless hours wasted by authors checking their Amazon sales ratings. But as much as Bezos loves books professionally and personally—he's a big reader, and his wife is a novelist—he also understands that the surge of technology will engulf all media. "Books are the last bastion of analog," he says, in a conference room overlooking the Seattle skyline. We're in the former VA hospital that is the physical headquarters for the world's largest virtual store. "Music and video have been digital for a long time, and short-form reading has been digitized, beginning with the early Web. But long-form reading really hasn't." Yet. This week Bezos is releasing the Amazon Kindle, an electronic device that he hopes will leapfrog over previous attempts at e-readers and become the turning point in a transformation toward Book 2.0. That's shorthand for a revolution (already in progress) that will change the way readers read, writers write and publishers publish. The Kindle represents a milestone in a time of transition, when a challenged publishing industry is competing with television, Guitar Hero and time burned on the BlackBerry; literary critics are bemoaning a possible demise of print culture, and Norman Mailer's recent death underlined the dearth of novelists who cast giant shadows. On the other hand, there are vibrant pockets of book lovers on the Internet who are waiting for a chance to refurbish the dusty halls of literacy.

As well placed as Amazon was to jump into this scrum and maybe move things forward, it was not something the company took lightly. After all, this is the book we're talking about. "If you're going to do something like this, you have to be as good as the book in a lot of respects," says Bezos. "But we also have to look for things that ordinary books can't do." Bounding to a whiteboard in the conference room, he ticks off a number of attributes that a book-reading device—yet another computer-powered gadget in an ever more crowded backpack full of them—must have. First, it must project an aura of bookishness; it should be less of a whizzy gizmo than an austere vessel of culture. Therefore the Kindle (named to evoke the crackling ignition of knowledge) has the dimensions of a paperback, with a tapering of its width that emulates the bulge toward a book's binding. It weighs but 10.3 ounces, and unlike a laptop computer it does not run hot or make intrusive beeps. A reading device must be sharp and durable, Bezos says, and with the use of E Ink, a breakthrough technology of several years ago that mimes the clarity of a printed book, the Kindle's six-inch screen posts readable pages. The battery has to last for a while, he adds, since there's nothing sadder than a book you can't read because of electile dysfunction. (The Kindle gets as many as 30 hours of reading on a charge, and recharges in two hours.) And, to soothe the anxieties of print-culture stalwarts, in sleep mode the Kindle displays retro images of ancient texts, early printing presses and beloved authors like Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen.

But then comes the features that your mom's copy of "Gone With the Wind" can't match. E-book devices like the Kindle allow you to change the font size: aging baby boomers will appreciate that every book can instantly be a large-type edition. The handheld device can also hold several shelves' worth of books: 200 of them onboard, hundreds more on a memory card and a limitless amount in virtual library stacks maintained by Amazon. Also, the Kindle allows you to search within the book for a phrase or name.

Some of those features have been available on previous e-book devices, notably the Sony Reader. The Kindle's real breakthrough springs from a feature that its predecessors never offered: wireless connectivity, via a system called Whispernet. (It's based on the EVDO broadband service offered by cell-phone carriers, allowing it to work anywhere, not just Wi-Fi hotspots.) As a result, says Bezos, "This isn't a device, it's a service."

Specifically, it's an extension of the familiar Amazon store (where, of course, Kindles will be sold). Amazon has designed the Kindle to operate totally independent of a computer: you can use it to go to the store, browse for books, check out your personalized recommendations, and read reader reviews and post new ones, tapping out the words on a thumb-friendly keyboard. Buying a book with a Kindle is a one-touch process. And once you buy, the Kindle does its neatest trick: it downloads the book and installs it in your library, ready to be devoured. "The vision is that you should be able to get any book—not just any book in print, but any book that's ever been in print—on this device in less than a minute," says Bezos.

Amazon has worked hard to get publishers to step up efforts to release digital versions of new books and backlists, and more than 88,000 will be on sale at the Kindle store on launch. (Though Bezos won't get terribly specific, Amazon itself is also involved in scanning books, many of which it captured as part of its groundbreaking Search Inside the Book program. But most are done by the publishers themselves, at a cost of about $200 for each book converted to digital. New titles routinely go through the process, but many backlist titles are still waiting. "It's a real chokepoint," says Penguin CEO David Shanks.) Amazon prices Kindle editions of New York Times best sellers and new releases in hardback at $9.99. The first chapter of almost any book is available as a free sample.

The Kindle is not just for books. Via the Amazon store, you can subscribe to newspapers (the Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Le Monde) and magazines (The Atlantic). When issues go to press, the virtual publications are automatically beamed into your Kindle. (It's much closer to a virtual newsboy tossing the publication on your doorstep than accessing the contents a piece at a time on the Web.) You can also subscribe to selected blogs, which cost either 99 cents or $1.99 a month per blog.

Continued in article

"Review: Amazon Reader Needs More Juice," by Peter Svensson, PhysOrg, November 21, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news114878393.html

Bob Jensen's threads on electronic book readers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ebooks.htm

Drupal Might Better Be Termed: Websites for Dummies
It's free and purportedly great for novices wanting to start up a full-featured Website without having to become techies
Drupal --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupal

"Drupal:  Simple, flexible Web publishing," by Clay Shirky, MIT's Technology Review, August 2008 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?Cand=T&TRID=688 
Also see the video --- Click Here
http://www.technologyreview.com/video/index.aspx?id=688&brightcove=1695290092&iframe=tr35&autoplay=true

The Internet has made publishing on a global scale almost effortless. That's the rhetoric, anyway. The truth is more complicated, because the Internet provides only a means of distribution; a would-be publisher still needs a publishing tool. A decade ago, people who wanted such a tool had three choices, all bad: a cheap but inflexible system, a versatile but expensive one, or one written from scratch. What was needed was something in the ­middle, requiring neither enormous expense nor months of development--not a single application, but a platform for creating custom publishing environments. For tens of thousands of sites and millions of users, that something is Drupal.

Created as an open-source project by Dries Buytaert, Drupal is a free content management framework--a tool for building customized websites quickly and easily, without sacrificing features or stability. Site owners can choose from a list of possible features: they might, say, want to publish ­articles, offer each user a profile and a blog, or allow users to vote or comment on content. All these features are optional, and most are independent of the others.

With Drupal's high degree of individualization, users can escape cookie-cutt­er tools without investing in completely ­custom-­made creations, which can be time-­consuming, costly, and hard to maintain. The Howard Dean presidential campaign used Drupal in 2004, and today it's used by Greenpeace U.K., the humor magazine the Onion, Nike's Beijing Olympics site, and MTV U.K., among many others.

The diversity of its users has led to many improvements, Buytaert says: "The size, passion, and velocity of the Drupal community makes incredible things happen." There are tens of thousands of active Drupal installations worldwide. Thousands of developers have contributed to the system's core, and more than 2,000 plug-ins have been added by outside contributors.

Buytaert began the work that became Drupal in 2000, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Antwerp. He had a news site called Drop.org, and he needed an internal message board to host discussions. After reviewing the existing options for flexible message boards, Buytaert decided he could write a better version from scratch.

The original version of Drupal (its name derives from the Dutch for droplet) worked well enough to attract additional users, who proposed new features. Within a year, Buytaert decided to make the project open source. He released the code in January 2001 as version 1.0.

Since open-source projects tend to attract expert users, they often lack clear user interfaces and readable documentation, making them unfriendly to mere mortals. But Buytaert understood from the beginning how important usability is to the cycle of improvement, adoption, and more improvement that drives the development of open-source software. The core Drupal installation comes with voluminous help files. The central team regularly polls users as well as developers (which is unusual in an open-source project) to decide what to improve next. The process reveals not just features to add, but ones to remove, and ways to make existing features easier to understand. For example, the project's website has been redesigned to help people new to Drupal figure out how to get up and running.

Buytaert has also founded a company, Acquia, to offer support, service, and custom development for Drupal users, especially businesses. He calls Acquia "my other full-time job" and likens it to Linux distributor Red Hat, which provides custom packaging and support for its version of the open-source operating system.

With Drupal version 7, due later this year, Buytaert hopes to include technologies that will make sites running Drupal part of the Semantic Web, Tim ­Berners-­Lee's vision for making online data understandable to machines as well as people. If Drupal hosts a website containing a company's Securities and Exchange Commission profile, for example, other sites could access just the third-quarter revenues, without having to retrieve the whole profile. The goal of sharing data in smaller, better-defined chunks is to make Drupal a key part of the growing eco­system of websites that share structured data. If this effort succeeds, it will ensure Drupal's continued relevance to the still-developing Web.

Bob Jensen's links to Web technology are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#Web

Question
What is Zing software?

Hint
Not to be confused with Zing Technologies --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zing_Technologies

The idea, which Dell plans to unveil as early as September, is to create a broad standard, more open than Apple's, that will give people greater choice in how they buy and consume music, movies, and podcasts. Dell will give other companies the software to help establish the standard and will make its money selling PCs and other hardware. "Customers want access to content from a broad variety of sources—how, when, and where they choose," says CEO Michael Dell.
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