Notes from the Electronic Cottage 9/03/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

There are lots of places on the Web where you can find stuff you probably wouldn’t think you could find. Inogolo and Spock are just two of them. And on your radio dial, there’s a place where you can hear a lot of stuff you wouldn’t think you’d hear on radio – that place, of course, is WERU. To keep it (and this program) going, make a secure online pledge at www.weru.org.

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 8/21/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Today, we take a few moments to answer some questions about the Electronic Cottage itself. Where does the name come from? Where is the program produced?   How long does it take to produce?   Then we get back to business and return to our discussion of the Customs and Border Protection policy on information searches of electronic equipment such as laptops and cell phones

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 8/14/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

As part of WERU’s 20 years in 20 days celebration, we return to October of 2003 for an edition on GPS, or Global Positioning Systems, which were just beginning to gain broad adoption at the consumer level. GPS is a great tool, but like all technology, it has its positive and negative applications. We look at few of them today since the issues raised in 2003 are still alive today.

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Notes From the Electronic Cottage 8/07/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Do you like to travel outside the U.S. Do you carry a laptop or cell phone or iPod when you do? If so, you might want to think about what’s on your personal electronic device. Why? U.S. Customs and Border Protection has
recently released a policy document called “Policy Regarding Border Search of Information” that makes it clear that border agents can “search, review, retain, and share” pretty much anything on your computer or cell phone
without your permission and with absolutely no requirement of suspicion or probable cause of a crime. Take a listen.

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 7/24/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Today, a few items from the ever growing digital pile at the Electronic Cottage: a look at the “anomaly” of unauthorized access to people’s passport records which emerged during the presidential primaries and which turns out to be not such an anomaly at all; how a GPS tracking device installed by his parents in his car saved a teenager from a big speeding ticket; and a look at the Save Christian Radio web site which is outraged at the FCC’s proposals to increase localism in radio that might require stations to have a community advisory board, and even require that there be a live human being at a radio station when it is on the air!

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 7/17/08

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Here are some “best of” sites on the Internet, as well as a couple that are just very handy to know about.

oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/skip-the-tuition:-100-free-podcasts-from-the-best

-colleges-in-the-world. (It’s URL says it all).

oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/200-free-online-classes-to
-learn-anything. (Same with this one – the address says it all.)

www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/06/19/100-useful-niche-search-engines-youve-
never-heard-of. (Another one where the name tells the story. Remember –
Google isn’t the only game in town!)

whyfiles.org. This site, operated by the University of Wisconsin,
looks at the scientific facts that underlie some of the stories we see in
the daily news, and you don¹t need to have a college degree to be able to
read and understand the science involved.

www.governmentattic.org. This site is dedicated to providing access to
government documents that your tax dollars paid for but which the government
chooses not to publish.

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