Summary. Because education and the free exchange of information are central to a stable democracy, open access is an essential part of national security. Open Access Week is an initiative to increase public awareness about the importance of open access.

“Open Access is a growing international movement that uses the Internet to throw open the locked doors that once hid knowledge. It encourages the unrestricted sharing of research results with everyone, everywhere, for the advancement and enjoyment of science and society. Open Access is the principle that all research should be freely accessible online, immediately after publication, and it’s gaining ever more momentum around the world as research funders and policy makers throw their weight behind it. The Open Access philosophy was firmly articulated in 2002, when the Budapest Open Access Initiative was introduced. It quickly took root in the scientific and medical communities because it offered an alternative route to research literature that was frequently closed off behind costly subscription barriers.” [1]

SPARC. The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is administered by The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to correct imbalances in the scholarly publishing system. Developed by the Association of Research Libraries, SPARC has become a catalyst for change. Its pragmatic focus is to stimulate the emergence of new scholarly communication models that expand the dissemination of scholarly research and reduce financial pressures on libraries. Action by SPARC in collaboration with stakeholders – including authors, publishers, and libraries – builds on the unprecedented opportunities created by the networked digital environment to advance the conduct of scholarship. According to the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), “we do not get access to all of the over $60 billion of research that we, as students and taxpayers, pay for every year.” [2]

ATA. The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is a coalition of patient groups, physicians, researchers, educational institutions, publishers, and health promotion organizations that support barrier-free access to taxpayer-funded research. [3]

ATA Campaign. The ATA TaxpayerAccess.org campaign is an effort to ensure and enforce taxpayer access to publicly funded research through the Federal Research Public Access Act.

Every year, the federal government funds tens of billions of dollars in basic and applied research. Most of this funding is concentrated within 11 departments/agencies (e.g., National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy). The research results typically are reported in articles published in a wide variety of academic journals. From NIH funding alone, it is estimated that about 65,000 papers are published each year. The Federal Research Public Access Act proposes to make manuscripts reporting on federally funded research publicly available within six months of publication in a journal. [4]

ATA Principles. ATA is directed by the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an alliance of academic and research libraries and organizations committed to the promotion of systems that capitalize on the networked environment to disseminate research. The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is committed to the following four general principles:

1. American taxpayers are entitled to open access on the Internet to the peer-reviewed scientific articles on research funded by the U.S. Government.
2. Widespread access to the information contained in these articles is an essential, inseparable component of our nation’s investment in science.
3. This and other scientific information should be shared in cost-effective ways that take advantage of the Internet, stimulate further discovery and innovation, and advance the translation of this knowledge into public benefits.
4. Enhanced access to and expanded sharing of information will lead to usage by millions of scientists, professionals, and individuals, and will deliver an accelerated return on the taxpayers’ investment.
5. ATA advances these principles through advocacy of US Government-wide public access and other policies that support the sharing of science made possible by the Internet and taxpayer investments. [5]

Open Society Institute. The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities. [6]

__________

1. OpenAccessWeek.org

2. ALR.org

3. TaxpayerAccess.org

4. TaxpayerAccess.org

5. TaxpayerAccess.org

6. Soros.org

Summary. Symantec Endpoint Security can sometimes become corrupted to the point that it produces error messages yet can’t be uninstalled automatically by Windows. Symantec is aware of this issue.

Removal Instructions. A four page fine-print manual removal procedure document is available on the Symantec website. The instructions include about 139 steps or points that need to be completed in order to remove their software. This includes searching the Windows registry to remove entries relating to Symantec.

Damage Assessment. Depending on the hourly rate paid for computer support, the cost of removal could be $100 or more. For legal reasons, it would be advisable for any retailer selling this product to include a disclaimer with the product indicating that the store is not liable for damages resulting from a corrupted installation.

Alternative Products. Because these kinds of problems are not uncommon for Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, and other expensive retail products, it’s difficult to know what product one should use. Fortunately, the best antivirus solution is also free. The AVG Antivirus software is the most popular downloaded antivirus software at Download.com and also the most popular program in general for all categories of Windows software downloads. With over 2.4 million downloads as of November 2009, the product is being used by millions of people. Over 19,000 people have rated the software giving it an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars. The AVG software was produced by AVG Technologies (formerly Grisoft). A paid version of AVG is also available and offers a few more features than the free product.

Summary. When editing and then saving text files using the Apple TextEdit program, once viewed with Windows Notepad, the added lines will appear to have been appended to the end of the previous line with no line break (carriage return line feed). This is because the codes used for Apple Carriage Return Line Feed (line break) are not recognized by Windows.

Windows WordPad. To fix the file in Windows, simply open it with WordPad, then save it as text. When the file is opened in Notepad, the text will display as expected with line breaks restored. Windows WordPad apparently repairs the line break problem.

Apple Encoding Options. Apple TextEdit offers various text encoding options such as: Non-lossy ASCII, Western ASCII, Western DOS Latin 1, Western Mac OS Roman, Western Unicode UTF 16, and Western Windows Latin 1. Regardless of the text encoding used, after saving, any new line feeds (carriage returns) were not recognized by Windows. If the text file originated in Windows, only the new line breaks added by Apple will be ignored by Windows. The line breaks originally created in Windows will be retained.

Virtual Windows Computer on Apple. To edit text files in the Apple environment, using a virtual computer with VM Ware Fusion on the Apple will work fine. Note that this isn’t necessary in most instances. Only when issues arise with editing text files.

Microsoft Word as a Text Editor on Apple. Using Microsoft Word as a text editor will work well when needing to edit files between the Apple and Windows platforms. Word has the ability to preserve the CR/LF (Carriage Return / Line Feed).When saving the document, simply choose Plain Text as the format. After clicking the save button, you will be prompted for specific settings for your file. Choose MS-DOS Latin-US (DOS) as the text encoding. The default setting for ending lines will be CR/LF (to end the lines with a Carriage Return and Line Feed).

Text Files as Data Files. Sometimes text files are used as data files for programs to read and write to. In such cases, it’s common to use Tab characters to mark the end of fields and CR (carriage return) to mark the end of a record. For this reason, a file with a Carriage Return only (and no line feed) may look messy, but a program can still read it and determine where one record ends and another begins.

Summary. The Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce has created a new initiative with a publicity website called What Is The Spark.

Sidewalk Chalk. The promotional campaign began in October 2009 with the somewhat mysterious appearance of chalk drawings on the sidewalks of downtown Iowa City. Colorful asterisks were drawn, sometimes accompanied by words such as Service, Knowledge, or Connect. The photo shown here was taken on 26 October 2009.

Spark Leadership Award. On 5 November 2009, the ICACC announced winners of a Spark Leadership Award.

No US Bank Affiliation. Because a well known US Bank campaign refers to Five Stars of Service, it was thought that this campaign may have been something instigated by US Bank. However, it seems this isn’t true.

Official Website. The WhatIsTheSpark.com website (registered to the ICACC) offers the following list that describes what the Spark is and does.

• Nurtures leadership in Johnson County
• Represents all sectors of our community
• Contributes to the vision of Coralville, Iowa City, North Liberty and Solon
• Equips leaders with skills to mobilize positive change
• Reaches decision-makers and influences policy
• Builds relationships to share innovative ideas, viewpoints and approaches
• Promotes collaboration and resource sharing
• Creates opportunities to champion a cause
• Engages established and emerging leaders
• Raises awareness of the critical issues and systems that make up Johnson County
• Develops open-minded, proactive leaders
• Provides dynamic, meaningful and relevant partnerships
• Serves as an invaluable resource to your community
• Introduces individuals to diverse community themes including arts & culture, health care, government, economics, agriculture, human services, education
• Inspires participants to become actively engaged in their own city
• Provokes intellectual curiosity and debate
• Educates constituents about the power they have to make an impact
• Encourages participants to get involved
• Generates dialogue about key issues

More Information. If you have more information about the Spark campaign, please contact us so we can update this page.

Summary. Audacity is a free audio recording, editing, and production software program that allows for saving audio files in various formats including MP3.

Export to MP3. Follow the instructions below to save in MP3 format.

1. The Audacity software should be installed and the separate Lame MP3 encoding files should be placed in a folder called lame inside of the folder where the Audacity program is located.
2. The first time an export to MP3 is attempted, the Audacity software will ask you to locate the lame library file. Simply navigate to the lame folder and click on the file. On Windows this will be in the Program Files > Audacity folder. For Apple, this will be in Applications > Audacity.
3. Because the Audacity software is not currently a multi-user program, even if one user on the computer has exported to MP3, others will still need to go through the instructions described in step #2 above.

Summary. Food Inc., available on DVD or Blu-ray, is a documentary about the production of food in the United States.

Overview. The movie shares startling facts about the corporate ownership of genetically modified soybeans that represent 80% of the soybeans in the nation. Those who grow these soybeans without authorization, will be prosecuted. Those who speak out against the potential dangers of meat consumption, are also prosecuted. The film also details the political leaders who are regulating the companies they previously worked for.

Commentary. Gregory Johnson describes it as, “Muckraking that’s breathtaking. The visuals, graphics. and authenticity are amazing. Not for the faint of heart. An excellent example of documentary that offers discouraging truths, yet hopeful and practical action points people can take to make a difference. What’s most startling is that a company like Monsanto can own the patent to a genetically modified soybean plant, and then prevent anyone from growing it. Presumably this could happen with animals and other life forms. What’s even more disconcerting is that our government is helping defend Monsanto. The agricultural industry also receives substantial government funding. This tax payer funded support of the agriculture industry ends up being a hidden cost we don’t see in the grocery store. This results in nutritious foods being costly while fast food and processed foods are inexpensive. We’re essentially creating a socialist state where we all help fund the meat industry and Mc Donald’s is the one to benefit.”

Official Website. More information is available at FoodIncMovie.com. Below are some excerpts from the website.

Food, Inc. exposes America’s industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers’ rights. … High calorie, sugar laden processed foods coupled with our sedentary lifestyles is growing our waistlines and contributing to serious health issues like diabetes, heart ailments and cancers. One-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. Tell Congress that kids should be served healthy meals, not soda and junk food. … Approximately 10 billion animals (chickens, cattle, hogs, ducks, turkeys, lambs and sheep) are raised and killed in the US annually. Nearly all of them are raised on factory farms under inhumane conditions. These industrial farms are also dangerous for their workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system and contribute significantly to global warming.

Summary. This page offers simple setup instructions for the Sanako / Tandberg Educational Lab 100 external cassette tape deck drive. For more reading, Wikipedia has additional information about Sanako and Tandberg Educational. The following lengthy PDF manuals are also available:

• Sanako Lab 100 User Guides – Page 149 in the English guide has instructions about cassette deck installation.
• Sanako Lab 100 Master Cassette Tape Drive Deck Documentation

Instructions. Here are the simple instructions for cassette tape deck/drive installation. If these don’t work, it may be necessary to refer to the full set of instructions linked above.

1. Exit out of all software and programs on the teacher station (Windows computer) where the Lab 100 software is normally running.
2. Turn off the System Connection Unit. It is the box with lots of CAT5 (like networking cable) ports on the back. It is typically sitting on top of the MSU.
3. Plug the CAT5 cable from the cassette deck to the back of the System Connection Unit. Choose an available port and note the number of that port. Don’t choose any port that has a special designation written next to it. Just choose one of the numbered ports like 20. The CAT5 cable will serve as the audio connection and power cord for the cassette deck.
4. Start the Lab 100 Config software. If you get a System Manager Error, the Lab 100 software may not have exited fully. Click the No button. Then restart the Lab 100 Config software. Once the Config program has started properly, the student station’s may be gray with a yellow box and wrench symbols next to them. This can happen with some Lab 100 installations. If this happens, click the Find Workstations button. Then walk around to each student workstation and, using the number keys, enter the two digit number for that station. Once complete, click the Save button in the Config software. All stations should have green boxes now.
5. Click on the Set Audio Sources button found in the right side of the screen.
6. In the resulting window, you’ll see some audio sources listed under Source Type. This is where you’ll be adding the Cassette Deck as an External Source.
   1. Find the next available blank entry on the list, and choose External Source from the drop-down menu.
   2. Provide a Source Name for the device such as Cassette External.
   3. Under the Port Number heading the Current box will be blank. From the Set drop down menu, choose port 20 (assuming that’s the port you plugged the cassette deck into).
   4. For Video Source, leave this as No Video.
7. Click the Okay button to save the Audio Sources settings you’ve entered for the cassette deck.
8. Now, when using the Sanako Lab 100 software, the Cassette External will show up as an available audio source for activities such as Listening Comprehension.

Problem Summary. Gmail does not have an easy or intuitive method for recovering deleted messages. This page explains the details of this problem and the solution to recovering deleted messages from Gmail.

Quick Fix. These are the simple step 1, 2, 3 instructions for quickly and easily recovering deleted Gmail messages.

1. In very small print, at the top of the Gmail page when you are logged in, you’ll see a link that says Show search options. Click this link, then choose Trash from the drop down next to Search and then click the Search Mail button. This will show all of the messages in your Trash.
2. If you have too many emails in the trash to easily find what you are looking for, you can actually search the Trash for something in specific.
3. Once you find what you are looking for, select it, and then click the Move to Inbox button.

Alternate Methods. Instead of implementing a simple and intuitive method for recovering deleted messages, Gmail has chosen to leave their system confusing, complicated, and difficult to figure out, and they have written up difficult to find help pages. This is similar to putting a sign along the road that says “bump ahead” instead of fixing the bump in the road.

• Gmail has a help page for deleting and recovering messages.
• There is also a Gmail help page with instructions on searching Trash for messages that may have been deleted.

Problem Details. When using the web interface for Gmail, the Trash folder doesn’t show up in the left navigation bar. However, email client software running on your computer, such as Thunderbird or Apple Mail, when configured to access GMail via the IMAP protocol, will show hidden folders on Gmail including the Trash folder. You’ll see All Mail, Drafts, Sent Mail, Spam, Starred, and Trash. The Trash folder is where deleted messages go. If you see a Deleted Messages drop-down in the web version of Gmail, this may have been created by the Apple Mail client. It is a different folder than the Gmail Trash. This may be a result of the client having it’s own method of marking messages as deleted.

Summary. Scanning of books and bound documents can be difficult and time consuming since they must be scanned manually on a flat-bed scanner. The following instructions offer a faster method for some situations.

The method suggested here would probably not be applicable for valuable or rare books. Also, before spending time scanning documents, it’s best to make every effort to find searchable PDF versions of documents of them online.

Scanned documents converted to PDF, even after OCR has been performed, are never quite as accurate or clear as the original digital PDF versions.

Scanning Process. That said, here is a suggestion for reducing the scan time of bound documents.

1. Remove Binding. Most copy centers have bulk paper cutting equipment. A bulk paper cutter is able to cleanly cut through large stacks of paper at one time. For smaller booklets, it may be possible to a standard office paper cutter, or box cutter. Avoid anything that would tear the paper or create dust from fine paper cuttings.
2. Scan Pages. Once the document has had the binding removed, then the sheets can be fed into a paper feeding scanner. The Fujitsu ScanSnap series of scanners can scan both sides of a page at one time, significantly reducing scan time. The Neat Company offers smart document scanners that feed pages through the scanner a single page at a time. The included software performs OCR on the pages, resulting in searchable PDF files.

Summary. On 2 October 2009, the Pusack-Otto Lecture Series at the University of Iowa hosted an event with Richard Schmidt of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa speaking on linguistics. The event took place at the historic Old Capitol of Iowa.

In this presentation, Schmidt examines how the cognitive paradigm of language learning compares to the sociocultural paradigm of language learning.

Schmidt covers the major points of difference between these two views, while at the same time offering insights into how these two views are interrelated. The presentation slides are available for download as a PowerPoint.

Video. Below is a video of the presentation. Due to a technical problem at the time of recording, only the audio is available for the introductory message.

Alternate Viewing Locations. The above video is also available directly at Blip.tv and Vimeo, although we encourage people to link to this page as the permalink for this event information and video since these other locations contain links to irrelevant videos.