Ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Stephen Goforth
Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue… as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.
Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
The difference between God and us is that he never thinks that he’s us.
Reverse engineering the Hamiltonian model to shed light on quantum systems
Deepfake satellite imagery poses a not-so-distant threat, warn geographers
The challenges of applied machine learning
Latest neural nets solve world’s hardest equations faster than ever before
Apache Software Foundation retires 13 Hadoop-related projects including Sentry, Tajo and Falcon
Overhyping artificial intelligence: For AI to succeed, it first must be able to fail
C at the top (C++ not far behind)—& Fortran rises from the dead
Researchers demonstrate first human use of high-bandwidth wireless brain-computer interface
Neural network models for combined classification and regression
The not-so-secret value of sharing commercial geospatial and open-source information
Machine-Learning Pioneer Michael I. Jordan: Stop Calling Everything AI
Asking for help is smart. It's also the answer to fatigue and the "I'm indispensable" image. But something keeps us from this wise course of action, and that something is pride. Plain, stubborn unwillingness to admit need. The result, painful though it is to admit, is a lifestyle of impatience. We become easily irritated- often angry. We work long hours. Take less time off. Forget how to laugh. Cancel vacations. And all the while the specter of discouragement looms across our horizon like a dark storm front,- threatening to choke out any remaining sunshine.
Say, my friend, it's time to declare it. You are not the Messiah of the twentieth century! There is no way you can keep pushing your life at that pace and expect to stay effective. Analyze yourself any way you please, you are H-U-M-A-M... nothing more. So? So slow down. So give yourself a break. So stop trying to cover all the bases and sell popcorn in the stands at the same time. So relax for a change!
Charles Swindoll, Encourage Me
#GOODNEWS
Steelers Draft Pick Najee Harris Hosts Draft Party at Homeless Shelter Where He Used to Live.
"There was a time I needed a helping hand. They gave us an opportunity to get back on our feet. So it is my job to give back."
Whatever team drafts Alabama's Najee Harris is getting a special person. Today he threw a draft party for kids at the homeless shelter where he lived for several years growing up. He told me it was emotional the first time he went back to visit. @kron4news #NFLDraft #RollTide pic.twitter.com/JadBIFh4pd
— Kylen Mills (@KylenMills) April 30, 2021
Read the story here.
Many young people have stopped learning in the religious or spiritual dimensions of their lives long before they graduate from college. Some settle into rigid and unchanging political and economic views by the time they are twenty-five or thirty. By their mid-thirties most will have stopped acquiring new skills or new attitudes in any central aspect of their lives.
As we mature we progressively narrow the scope and variety of our lives. Of all the interests we might pursue, we settle on a few. Of all the people with whom we might associate, we select a small number. We become caught in a web of fixed relationships. We develop set ways of doing things. As the years go by we view our familiar surrounding with less and less freshness of perception. We no longer look with a wakeful, perceiving eye at the faces of people we see every day, nor at any other features of our everyday world.
That is why travel is a vivid experience for most of us. At home we have lost the capacity to see what is before us. Travel shakes us out of our apathy, and we regain an attentiveness that heightens every experience. The exhilaration of travel has many sources, but surely one of them is that we recapture in some measure the unspoiled awareness of children.
It is not unusual to find that the major changes in life - marriage, a move to a new city, a new job, or a national emergency - reveal to us quite suddenly how much we have been imprisoned by the comfortable web we had woven around ourselves. Unlike the jailbird, we don't know that we have been imprisoned until after we have broken out.
John Gardner, Self-Renewal
Do a lot of reading. Talk to a lot of people. Do a lot of listening. -Joyce Carol Oates
Do you face the possibility of an adverse event? Don’t worry. Who knows, it may turn out to be good for you. Doubting the consequences of an outcome will allow you to remain imperturbable.
Nassim Taleb, The Black Swain
Find more tools here
360Verse
360 panoramas.
123rf
Royalty-free stock photos.
500px
Photography community. Share photos and ideas on this free app (IOS, Android, Windows).
Afterlight 2
Similar to Darkroom, Lots of filters, textures, and unique frames.
Animoto
Templates for creative videos made up of your photos. Free but limited. Fee for more flexibility.
Camera FV-5
An app to control camera functions including shutter speed, exposure, focus, and white balance. (Android only)
Camera+*
Photo app with lots of filters and strong HDR mode. Sets the standard when it comes to third party iPhone cameras. $2.99.
CameraT
Photo app. IOS only. Features: shutter speed, white balance, and exposure compensation, focus controls, tilt meter. Doe not record video.
Canva*
Graphic design tools. Create social media graphics, headers, slides, flyers, photo collages, posters, and infographics using drag-and-drop. 60k templates. Clip-art library available or upload your own images. Share to social media from the app or download a jpg, PDF, etc. for posting. Free. $12 a month for more options.
Clip Safari
Free, easy-to-find and use clip art.
Compressor*
Compress image files less than 10 MB so they will download quicker. A slider allows you to compare the look of the original and the optimized version side by side. Free.
Creative Commons
Royalty free stock photos.
Darkroom*
iPhone app with filters (or create your own filters), a curves tool for RGB channels, and an infinite history remembers all your edits so undo is easy. Edit photos without having to import them. Link your account to your Instagram account for easy upload. Free. $3 upgrade for curves.
Death to Stock Photo
10 free, hi-resolution photos each month (for your email address). Access to entire library of hi-resolution photos is $10 a month.
DeviantArt
A wide range of different Creative Commons. A bit difficult to navigate. Free.
DreamsTime
Royalty-free stock photos. Some for low prices. Requires registration.
Every Stock Photo
More than 21 million free stock photos (under the Creative Commons license).
Exif Data
Extract Exif (Exchangeable Image File) data from photos. EXIF is a standard for embedding data within an image or audio file. This may include date, time, camera settings, etc.
Facetune
Airbrushing for the face. Digital makeup that works on IOS and Android. 40m daily active users. Monthly subscription required for special tools (such as simulated studio lighting). $4.
FindMyShadow
This free site helps you to "calculate the position and height of the sun anywhere in the world on any date and plot the shadow cast by the sun at different times of the day." A helpful tool for photo verification.
Filmic
High definition mobile cam for videography, photography. Lots of bells and whistles probably too much for the average person or even for what a professional journalist would need. $14.99.
FilterStorm*
Advanced mobile photo editing that can be sent by email, FTP, Dropbox, SFTP or export into social media. $3.99.
Flickr
Easy to navigate, though not the best app for shooting and editing photos. But the free terabyte of storage makes it a good place to dump everything. The Creative Commons licensing section has free stock photos.
Foto Forensics
Helps you verify the authenticity of digital images.
Free Digital Photos
Free stock photos but you must give credit to the image creator.
Free Images
Free stock photos with details on restrictions.
Free Pix
Lots of nice free stock photos of travel, people, etc. Other photos fall under the Creative Commons.
Free Range
Quality free stock photos. Must register.
Free Stock Photos
More than 14,000 free stock photos and clipart. A variety of licenses from commercial to public domain.
Geograph
More than 3 million free stock photos for travel and geography under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license.
Getty Images
The most prestigious and the highest quality stock photography agency, Getty also offers video, music, and multimedia elements. Some of its images can be expensive to use and known to be protective of its property.
GIMP
A free alternative to Photoshop which is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Includes cropping tools and the ability to adjust brightness and contrast. Some advanced editing and a low learning curve.
Good Free Photos
Thousands of free stock photos under the Free Public Domain licensing.
Google Advanced Search
Under “usage rights” and pick one such as “free to use, share or modify, even commercially” to narrow down your search for usable photographs. Google recommends checking the license to make sure it is legitimate.
Google Reverse Image Search*
Drag and drop or upload an image into this search engine to find where images originated from. Video explains it here.
Gratisography
Free hi-resolution stock photos.
Hipstamatic*
Fact-checking photo editor. Can pick films, lenses, and flashes before taking your photos. Set shutter speed, shoot multi-exposed photos. $2.99 for the app but HipstaPacks for up to $4.99.
Hyperlapse
Instagram’s timelapse video. No audio option.
Inkscape
A Photoshop-free alternative using vectors instead of pixels. A high learning curve but great flexibility. Video tutorial here.
Inshot
Video & image editing app. Simple-to-use & all-in-one with basic functions. Free version with ads $2.99 to remove them and the watermark.
Instagram*
Photo and video sharing app owned by Facebook.
InVID
A free Firefox plugin to debunk fake video news and verify videos and images.
iPhone Shutter Grip
This iPhone accessory helps you hold it more steady and have a button to push. $40.
iStockphoto
Royalty-free stock photos.
Jay Mantri
Free stock photos under public domain. Seven new photos each Friday.
Jimpl
Extract Exif (Exchangeable Image File) data from photos, which can include date, time, camera settings, etc.
Kizoa
Free service to create slideshows and edit photos.
Library of Congress Photos
Stock photos. Free.
Little Visuals
Hi-resolution images of buildings, travel, landscapes, under the Public Domain Dedication. Seven images in your inbox every 7 days.
Magistro
Load your video clips or images, pick a style, then the AI software automatically edits them into a video. You give up some editing control for speed. There’s a free version but $60 a year gets you everything.
Manual
An app to control camera functions on your phone you can't manipulate with the IPhone camera app including shutter speed, exposure, focus, and white balance. (iOS only)
Metapicz
Extract Exif (Exchangeable Image File) data from photos. EXIF is a standard for additional data embedded within an image or audio files, which can include date, time, camera settings, etc.
Moment*
Cases, lens, batteries, lights, gimbals, etc. to enhance photos and videos taken with a phone.
Morguefile
More than 300,000 free stock images with a wide range of categories. The site asks that you credit the photographer.
Narrative
Wearable camera that takes a photo every 30 seconds and creates a video at the end of the day (without using the repetitive shots). No work for the wearer. $199. Video explanation.
NASA images
Free use of images.
New Old Stock
Free stock website with vintage photos under the Creative Commons or “The Commons” license from Flickr.
Open Attribute
Plugin that makes it easier to use Creative Commons.
Pexels*
Vast and well-organized, it is one of the best free stock images and video sites. High-quality images under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.
Pattern Library
Free stock photos of patterns you can use in your own designs (useful for backgrounds too).
Perfect365
Kardashian-approved photo-editing app. Adjust the intensity of each effect using a slider. Includes celebrity-inspired templates.
Photo Everywhere
More than 3000 free stock photos under the Creative Commons Attribution focused on travel.
Photo Peach
Slideshows with audio and text. Sample.
PhotoRoom
Removes the background from a selected photo and lets you select another background. Free.
ProShot
Photo App that offers grid overlay and custom aspect ratios. Andriod or iOS.
PhotoFeeler
Feedback on how you are being perceived in your profile photos. Add a photo in one of three categories – Business, Social or Dating. Vote on photos of other people to get credits or purchase credits with real money. Each credit allows one person to vote on your photo.
Pic Jumbo
Free stock photos in many categories. Attribution is not required though suggested.
PicMonkey
Free photo-editing alternative to Photoshop. No software download or learning curve. Some more advanced options for $4.99 a month.
Pixabay
Creative Commons Public Domain photos so you do not need permission or have to pay any attribution when you use the photo.
Pixlr*
Browser-based and mobile photo editing. Pixlr Express is an option for making small changes when Photoshop is overkill. Pixlr Editor and Pixlr Pro is a step up for professional use. Free for basic tools, $5/month Pixlr Pro.
Preceden (formally Time Glider)
Create web-based timelines using images & videos.
ProCamera*
iPhone app for capturing, editing, and sharing photos. Control over focus, exposure, white balance, and lighting. Compose shots or shoot HD and SD video. Tools can clutter the screen but cold be worth the $5 price.
Public Domain Archive
All images are public domain, free to use. Includes a large collection of vintage images.
the Rasterbator
Make a printable poster out of an image.
Refe
A Tumblr site of free stock mobile photos.
Regex
Helps to verify the authenticity of digital images through its Metadata.
Shorthand*
A visual storytelling tool used by major news outlets that allows users to combine text, images, and video. See exactly how a story will look as it is built. See examples created by the BBC here and here. Free trial then pricing starts at $150 a month.
Shutterstock*
Royalty-free stock photos. With reverse image search, you can use drag a photo or illustration into search in order to find other images with a similar look and feel.
Slow Shutter Cam
Capture beautiful light trails, improves low light photos. 99 cents.
Smithsonian Open Access
Nearly 3 million high-resolution two- and three-dimensional public domain images from the Smithsonian. Not only images but data is available as well. You’ll find it in a GitHub repository here.
Snapseed
Google's Snapseed is a powerful mobile photo tool. Both auto edit and editing controls. Both IOS and Android. Free.
Speaking Photo
Audio note-taking to go with photos. Take a picture of a scene then speak notes on the phone. Free.
Stock Free Images
Nearly a million images donated by the Dreamstime contributors to download for free with registration. Credit must accompany the photo. There are some other restriction options.
StockSnap.io
Large collection of free stock photos and high res images. The photos are under the creative commons public domain (no attribution required).
Stock Vault
More than 46,000 free stock photos. A variety of photographs and various licensing options.
SunCaic
Allows you to see in any given area, on any given date, the direction of the sunrise and sunset.
TechSmith (formally Jing)
A free, easy-to-use screen capture application. Snap a screenshot or record a video, save and share. capture a presentation, lecture, or event.
Thnk Link
Make images interactive. Sample.
TiltShift Video
Create the tilt-shift effect for photos and video. No in-app camera to shoot video and no sharing options. $3.99.
Tineye
This reverse image search engine connects images to their creators. Helps in image verification.
Unbound
App for simple and pretty viewing experience of your Dropbox photos. Fast with lots of features. $2.99 a month. Mac version $9.99/ a month.
Unsplash
Hi-res photos featuring many random shots. Use their photos however you want under the Public Domain Dedication license. Subscribe and get 10 new photos every 10 days.
Vecteezy
Millions of free stock photos culled from Flickr with the Creative Commons license.
Videolicious*
App for easy photo and video editing on your iPhone. Sort of a stripped-down version of iMovie to make videos with narration and music. Filters, too. Free.
VivaVideo Pro
Lots of features for video editing. Music, filters, etc.
VSCO*
Great start-to-finish photo/video app. Easy to use filters and helpful tutorials. Manual controls like focus lock, exposure lock, and white balance. Edit images and share them on social media. IOS. Free version. $19.99 a year for 170 presets.
Wikimedia Commons
Offers free stock photos under all different licenses as well as sounds and videos. The link to the CC Creative Common license will tell you how you can use that image.
WowSlider
An image slider with wide compatibility and easy embed.
Confusion isn’t the enemy of understanding, they are allies. -Rhett Allain
***COVID-19
Even after being fully vaccinated, many still wrestle with a fear of catching Covid
How to Resume to Normal Life When Your Child is Not Vaccinated
MIT researchers: Risk of contracting COVID-19 indoors the same at 6ft and 60ft
People Are Reporting Unusual Periods After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccines — Here’s What We Know
***HIGHER ED & COVID
University of Chicago links COVID-19 outbreak to spring break travel and student gatherings
Yale Is The Latest University To Require Students To Get A Coronavirus Vaccine
***LAYOFFS & CUTS
The faces of higher education’s historic layoffs
LaGrange College to Cut Several Programs, Employees
***COLLEGE FINANCES
Washington pumped $35 billion into emergency grants for college students—here’s how it’s going ($)
New York Community College wants to sell its dorms
***PROTESTS
Ohio State University students demand the college sever ties with Columbus police
Vanderbilt Employees Decry $100 Million Recruitment Initiative During Pandemic
Haverford College student strike leaves deep divisions
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Student accused of cheating sues Syracuse University, claims he was denied fair hearing
Judge dismisses former coaches' discrimination lawsuit against University of Minnesota Duluth
University of Arkansas settles lawsuit with former student over Title IX
Arizona State professor files lawsuit against former head of Knowledge Enterprise
Former Virginia Tech soccer player sues coach; says she was forced off of team for not kneeling
Lawsuit dismissed that sought to block transgender athletes from competing in Connecticut
***TEACHING
21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion
Common Core ultimately had little impact on school performance (opinion)
Zoom pledges to let institutions moderate their own content -- with some important exceptions
51 West Point cadets caught cheating must repeat a year
***ACADEMIC LIFE
University of Florida Professor Resigns Amid Investigations Into Student’s Suicide
Visiting Researcher Fired From Cornell Tech, Drawing Widespread Backlash
College faculty at Linfield express no confidence in university leadership
For female professors, less time to research in pandemic
***ADMISSIONS
After a Year of Turmoil, Elite Universities Welcome More Diverse Freshman Classes ($)
How The Pandemic Changed The College Admissions Selection Process This Year
***COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS
College administrators receive near-zero pay increase during pandemic
Survey shows how provosts faced the pandemic
Ousted Temple business school dean indicted on fraud charges tied to college rankings scandal
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
Faculty no confidence vote in Wright State president passes
Thomas Aquinas College president will step down, return to teaching in 2022
Saint Xavier Faculty Calls for President's Removal
Calvin University selects Noah Toly as provost
Pepperdine University Names Jay Brewster Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Gordon College names Dr. Michael Hammond as its next president
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Saint Leo University draws challenge after sidestepping faculty union
Diversity Advocates at Evangelical Colleges: ‘In Some Ways, You’re Seen as a Heretic’
Faculty vote ‘no confidence’ in board at Seattle Pacific University over LGBTQ hiring exclusion
Christian university sues to block HUD order forcing male student placement in female dorms
Baylor Basketball Rejects Championship Jeep After Auto Dealer Makes Racist Comment On TV
Priest indicted for alleged rape of student at Franciscan University
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary moving to new home at Gwynedd Mercy University
Asian American student assaulted near Baylor campus
***RESEARCH
Editor’s tips for passing journal checks
Medicine’s Privileged Gatekeepers: Producing Harmful Ignorance About Racism And Health
Shifting toward 'open peer review'
Why don't you publish your research here?
***RETRACTIONS
Two retractions spotlight the ethical challenges of consent for case reports
***STUDENT LIFE
What Teenagers Have Learned From a Tumultuous Time in Politics ($)
Study: Student Drinking Decreased During Pandemic
Proctorio sued over accusing student of Copyright Infringement to Get Critical Tweets Taken Down
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Past Students Say Professor of Rock ’n’ Roll Sexually Harassed Them ($)
As on-campus rape reports rise, University of Cincinnati continues to issue few alerts
Former women athletes sue Canisius College, allege they were harassed for being lesbians
***RACIAL ISSUES ON CAMPUS
Wichita State University student senator under fire for ‘white lives matter’ mask
Tennessee Tech professors face discipline for calling colleague a racist
Allegations of anti-Semitism at Linfield University
***CAMPUS COMPUTER ISSUES
From admissions to teaching to grading, AI is infiltrating higher education
Linux bans University of Minnesota for committing malicious code
***CRIME ON CAMPUS
Most people wait until everything is just right before they do anything. They refuse to go out on a limb because they don’t understand that the fruit is always out on the limb – Zig Ziglar
It's not about “being.” It’s about “becoming.” –Stephen Goforth (born April 24, 1961)
When you teach people to hate you teach people to wound themselves. -Alice Walker
***COVID-19
Moderna hopes to have Covid booster shot for its vaccine ready by the fall, CEO says
People who get Covid between vaccine shots can get second dose soon after recovery
***RELIGION & THE VIRUS
Polls find vaccine hesitancy in White Evangelical community
Are there any drugs I shouldn't mix with my COVID-19 vaccine?
Study: White evangelicals biggest group planning to skip vaccine
***RELIGION
It’s Not Just Young White Liberals Who Are Leaving Religion
New study links evangelical Christianity to phallic insecurity in the United States
Brazil is building a new statue of Jesus -- and it's going to be bigger than Rio's
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Can America's 'Civil Religion' Still Unite The Country? (opinion)
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Minnesota churches caught in standoffs between protesters and police
Sex discrimination suit against Florida church tests ‘ministerial exception’ rulings
North Dakota governor signs Ten Commandments school bill
***THE BIBLE
Bibles Get American Pastor Tangled Up in Turkish Politics
Home Share Religion A $300 designer Bible aims to make the holy book more hip
***DENOMINATIONS
Evangelical Christian denomination behind proposed $200 million development in Columbus suburb
America’s largest Protestant denomination considers changing direction ($)
United Methodist Church anticipates split of denomination over gay rights, other issues
***SEMINARIES
Black Gateway Seminary board member protests ‘racial insensitivity’ of SBC’s seminary leaders
How Baptists hold differing views on the resurrection of Christ and why this matters
***CATHOLIC
Passionists order, Catholic dioceses didn’t reveal predator deacon in their midst
***MEGACHURCHES
Megachurch Pastor’s son becomes famous on TikTok for his criticism of religion ($)
***RELIGION & WOMEN'S ISSUES
'The Making Of Biblical Womanhood' Tackles Contradictions In Religious Practice
***ISLAM
Muslim civil rights group sues Facebook
Ramadan 2021 brings decisions for Muslims
***SIKHS
U.S. Sikh group demands probe of possible hate bias in deadly Indianapolis FedEx rampage
***PASSING
Ole Anthony, Dallas pastor known for relentless investigations into TV preachers, dies at age 82
#GOODNEWS
An amateur radio operator who Tweets public alerts about natural disasters helped authorities to find a hiker lost in the wilderness. ABC-7 in Los Angeles has a video report (below) or read the story here.
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily reflection is occupied with them: the starry heaven above me and the moral law within me. Neither of them need I seek and merely suspect as if shrouded in obscurity or rapture beyond my own horizon; I see them before me and connect them immediately with my existence. -Immanuel Kant (born April 22, 1724)
Budgets are moral documents.
Being in power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t. –Margaret Thatcher
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