Categories
Assignments Economics

The Mystery of the Banana Stand

From this Freakonomics blog post @ NYT:

A reader named William Kearney describes the following mystery, which puzzles him every day:

“Outside my building there is a woman with a fruit stand. Everything is normal about this fruit stand except for the fact that the BSL [Banana Stand Lady] will sell you two bananas for $1 and will sell you three bananas for $1! They are the same exact bananas (see attached picture) and the signs and stacks of bananas are literally one foot away from each other. I have done multiple double blind studies to test the quality of both piles of bananas and they really are the exact same. However, BSL gets upset if you try to get the three bananas from the two-banana pile.”

Mysterious indeed. What could possibly be going through the BSL’s head? Is she perhaps a grad student working on a behavioral thesis?

Two for $1.00

Three for $1.00

Leave your comments below for a chance at extra credit (only applicable to my econ students!)

Categories
etc.

Dieter Rams – Design Principles

Ten principles to “good design”

Good design:

  • Is innovative – Rams states that possibilities for innovation in design are unlikely to be exhausted since technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. He also highlights that innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology and can never be an end in and of itself.
  • Makes a product useful – A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Categories
Edtech

20 Facts about Social Media that will make you go wow!

Social Media ? Facebook and Twitter – That’s what you thought all it was, isn’t it ? Well, No!

In 2010, the internet saw some radical changes on social media, internet usage and the way content is being populated and exchanged online. Looking at the figures, you’d think – WOW! When did this really happen ?

1. Internet Users in the Middle East has risen to 63.2 million by 2010.

The Middle East population is estimated at 212 million. This means that the penetration ratio of the Internet with respect to its population is 29.8% – the biggest ever recorded !

Categories
Edtech

Are you ever satisfied?

When it comes to materials I use for my daily instruction, I am constantly revising, reviewing, adding, subtracting, and innovating at the same time. The work never ends. And I suppose that’s a good thing, because if it did, I’d be bored!

Categories
Economics

Today’s Econ Links

  • It’s Always the Urban Pot That Boils Over
    Urban density provides the mass necessary for violent protest that topples governments, an economist writes.
  • Economics Roundup on the Egyptian Crisis
    In light of the unrest roiling Egypt, here’s a roundup of readings on the economic consequences, and roots, of the crisis.
  • The Haves and the Have-Nots
    A chart showing that America’s poorest are about as rich as India’s richest.
  • The Weak Heart of Economics
    Economics cannot simply be about freedom, because different societies, in different ways, encourage and require responsibility for others, an economist writes.
  • Never Again?
    Despite an investigative panel’s judgment that the financial crisis was avoidable, most experts see little prospect of preventing another.
  • Volunteering Rate Fell in 2010
    The volunteering rate — as measured by the portion of Americans who volunteered through or for an organization at least once over the course of a year — was 26.3 percent in the year ending in September 2010.
  • Corporate Taxes: More Winners and Losers
    The disparities among major industries in their effective tax rates may have much to do with the life cycle of companies, an N.Y.U. professor says.
  • Herbert Obama?
    Some eerie parallels between President Obama’s State of the Union speech and some statements by Herbert Hoover, who presided during the early years of the Great Depression.
  • Winners and Losers Under the U.S. Corporate Tax Code
    A look at which industries and companies fare best under the nation’s byzantine corporate tax system.
  • Is a Multinational C.E.O. the Best Jobs Czar?
    Multinationals have a bad record of job growth in the United States. Given his company’s views on corporate tax policy and job creation, what will Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric bring to the table?

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Categories
Assignments Economics History

Snowday @ Nordonia

Good Morning!

We have a snow day today @ Nordonia High School!

Here’s what that means for my classes, and students:

  • USHIST – homework 12.3 is still due tomorrow, and we’ll take a quiz! 12.4 is still due on Thursday.
  • ECON – reading for today is still due today. We’ll take the chapter 1 test first thing tomorrow. Please begin reading chapter 2 as well…
Categories
Economics

Economics For Leaders / FTE

Economics For Leaders by FTE

What Is It?

EFL teaches high school students how to integrate economics into the process of decision-making through a hands-on, experiential environment. Economics professors and leadership instructors, selected nationwide for their expertise and teaching effectiveness, lead classes that introduce students to “the economic way of thinking,” and help them develop an understanding of and skill in leadership. Students will also be challenged by creative decision-making simulations in which they apply the concepts learned in the classroom.

Sites and Dates

Programs are held on college campuses throughout the 2011 summer.

Click here to view sites and dates

What Does It Cost?

Lodging, meals, and materials are provided by the Foundation. The only expenses not covered are an administrative fee (site-specific, ranging from $125 – $500), transportation to and from the site, and incidental spending money.

Who Can Apply?

EFL is open to high school students who will complete their junior year in 2011.

Deadline to Apply

Applications will be accepted until March 4, 2011

via Blog | Valley Voyages | History through Innovation.

Categories
Edtech

Apps in the classroom!

Last fall, Rebecca Allen distributed brand-new Apple iPad tablet computers instead of books to her fourth-grade class at the Rich Acres Elementary School in Martinsville, Va. The students went wild. “It was like Christmas in October,’’ the teacher said.

“It was fun watching the kids jump right in,’’ Allen added. “They are so used to technology, they took to them right away.’’

The iPads are part of an ambitious pilot program by the state of Virginia, targeted to a generation that has grown up surrounded by computer screens and digital gadgets. The devices offer a digital platform for longtime print textbook publishers like Pearson Education Inc., the British publishing firm with large divisions in Boston. Last fall, the company launched what it claims is the nation’s first-ever complete social studies curriculum for the iPad, in partnership with Virginia officials.

Read the rest here:  Apps in the classroom – The Boston Globe.

Categories
Economics etc. History

Guide to N.Y.C.’s 19th-Century Houses of Prostitution

Encyclopedic in breadth but compact enough for the vest pocket of a 19th-century gentleman on the go, the book was an insider’s guide to Manhattan, easily picked up at the newsstand before a night on the town, much the way tourists and local residents now consult a guidebook when they are in the mood for a memorable restaurant or meal.

Read the whole thing here: Guide to N.Y.C.’s 19th-Century Houses of Prostitution – NYTimes.com.

Categories
Economics etc.

Busting Docs Who Don’t Wash Their Hands – NYTimes.com

January 25, 2011, 2:00 pm

Busting Docs Who Don’t Wash Their Hands

By FREAKONOMICS

Here’s an interesting method of combating the hand-hygiene problem discussed at length in SuperFreakonomics: “A doctor enters a hospital room to examine a patient, but neglects to wash her hands. A special badge on her lab coat turns a deep shade of red as wireless computer components in the door, the soap dispenser and near the bed immediately relay information about the unwashed hands. The doctor is busted.” The system is part of an upcoming pilot program at the UMass Medical School, spearheaded by Elke Rundensteiner, a computer science professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “It can track things in real time, and those things can easily be fixed — they can wash their hands,” says Rundensteiner. (HT: Eric M. Jones)

via Busting Docs Who Don’t Wash Their Hands – NYTimes.com.