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Prior Knowledge, Or He Isn't Going to Pick on the Baseball Study

Teacher question: You wrote recently that it was a good idea to teach comprehension skills, but our school district says we shouldn’t, that it’s prior knowledge that matters. Do you know the baseball study? Have you read Natalie Wexler’s research? It is really difficult to trust research when everyone tells us something different. Shanahan's response:  I feel your pain.




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Which Text Levels Should We Teach With?

Teacher question: I’m confused. I’ve worked with Lexiles for years and my district provided us with a chart showing the levels of books to use for each grade level. Then Common Core came along with a different chart that put different book levels with each grade level. I don’t live in a Common Core state, but I’m still not sure which chart to use. Can you help me? Shanahan's response:  It’s funny, but no one has ever asked me that before.




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Literacy for All: Equitable Practices for Reading and Dyslexia

Teaching students to read is the first job of our schools. How can we help all students become strong, confident readers? Literacy for All: Equitable Practices for Reading and Dyslexia was held on February 20, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland. The event was hosted by National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL), Decoding Dyslexia Maryland (DD-MD), and community partners. Reading experts from NCIL shared best practices in early screening and interventions supported by decades of reading research.




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OReilly announces certification guides for the most in-demand IT and professional certifications




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New Global OReilly Report Finds 85% of Organizations Are Evaluating or Using Artificial Intelligence in Production




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Practical Statistics for Data Scientists

Statistical methods are a key part of data science, yet few data scientists have formal statistical training. Courses and books on basic statistics rarely cover the topic from a data science perspective. The second edition of this popular guide adds comprehensive examples in Python, provides practical guidance on applying statistical methods to data science, tells you how to avoid their misuse, and gives you advice on what’s important and what’s not.




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Genomics in the Cloud

Data in the genomics field is booming. In just a few years, organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will host 50+ petabytes—or over 50 million gigabytes—of genomic data, and they’re turning to cloud infrastructure to make that data available to the research community. How do you adapt analysis tools and protocols to access and analyze that volume of data in the cloud? With this practical book, researchers will learn how to work with genomics algorithms using open source tools including the Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK), Docker, WDL, and Terra.




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Fin24.com | Top PIC executive axed over Ayo investment

The Public Investment Corporation has terminated the employment contract of Executive Head of Listed Investments Fidelis Madavo, it said in a statement on Monday.




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Fin24.com | OLX Brazil, which is part-owned by Prosus, buys competitor

OLX Brazil, the 50/50 joint venture between Naspers-owned Prosus and Adevinta, which is owned by Norway’s Schibsted, will buy its competitor Grupo Zap in a deal worth almost R10 billion.




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Fin24.com | MTN slashes data prices

MTN on Friday announced a drop in the price of monthly data bundles and customers will now pay R99 for 1GB, 33% lower than previously.




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Fin24.com | Icasa wants companies to lower data cost during coronavirus outbreak

The communications regulator is asking telecom companies to consider lowering the cost of data in a bid to ensure productivity during the period the coronavirus outbreak.




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Fin24.com | Jack Ma makes big donation to help African Union through coronavirus

The equipment donated includes 20 000 laboratory diagnostic test kits, 100 000 medical masks, and 1 000 protective suits and face shields.




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How to Knock Down Five Straw Man Arguments Against Phonics

Recently, The Washington Post published an article about the latest hostilities in the “reading wars.” I noticed it because the columnist, Jay Matthews, quoted from this blog.




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Prior Knowledge, Or He Isn't Going to Pick on the Baseball Study

Teacher question: You wrote recently that it was a good idea to teach comprehension skills, but our school district says we shouldn’t, that it’s prior knowledge that matters. Do you know the baseball study? Have you read Natalie Wexler’s research? It is really difficult to trust research when everyone tells us something different. Shanahan's response:  I feel your pain.




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Which Text Levels Should We Teach With?

Teacher question: I’m confused. I’ve worked with Lexiles for years and my district provided us with a chart showing the levels of books to use for each grade level. Then Common Core came along with a different chart that put different book levels with each grade level. I don’t live in a Common Core state, but I’m still not sure which chart to use. Can you help me? Shanahan's response:  It’s funny, but no one has ever asked me that before.




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Literacy for All: Equitable Practices for Reading and Dyslexia

Teaching students to read is the first job of our schools. How can we help all students become strong, confident readers? Literacy for All: Equitable Practices for Reading and Dyslexia was held on February 20, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland. The event was hosted by National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL), Decoding Dyslexia Maryland (DD-MD), and community partners. Reading experts from NCIL shared best practices in early screening and interventions supported by decades of reading research.





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Getting Snowflake (the open source graphical SSH/SFTP client) to run on macOS

I don't usually write similar blog posts, but I've been really enjoying Snowflake recently. What's Snowflake you ask? Well, it's a new open source graphical SSH/SFTP client which makes working with remote servers a breeze. It works like Panic's Coda when it comes to managing content on remote servers, e.g. browse files and have a terminal open at the same time. But most importantly, it's cross-platform. And I'd like to share with everyone how to easily get it to run on macOS.

 

At the time, Snowflake's developer has only released binaries for Windows and Debian/Ubuntu with a macOS version planned for the future.

However, since the app is based on Java, the developer also provides Snowflake as a .jar file which we can run anywhere, including macOS.

So here are the steps to get Snowflake to work on your Mac:

 

Step 1

Uninstall that outdated Java version on your Mac. Ironically the best guide is on Java.com, so follow it to the letter: https://www.java.com/en/download/help/mac_uninstall_java.xml

 

Step 2

If you currently go to Java.com, the available release for macOS is pretty outdated. And apparently it relates to recent changes in Java's licensing by Oracle.

So how do you get the most recent Java release for macOS? Well, you can either signup for an account at Oracle.com (the looooong, hard way) or just grab a ready-made binary for macOS, provided by AdoptOpenJDK (the easy way). AdoptOpenJDK is a new community effort (backed by the likes of Red Hat/IBM, Amazon, Microsoft to name a few) to create ready-to-install & cross-platform binaries from OpenJDK, the open source implementation of the Java platform.

You can download the most recent runtime for Java from AdoptOpenJDK (version 13 at the time of writing) here: https://adoptopenjdk.net/?variant=openjdk13&jvmVariant=hotspot (it's a .pkg file to install)

 

Step 3

After you install the related .pkg file, it's time to download Snowflake. Head over to https://github.com/subhra74/snowflake/releases and grab the .jar file from the latest release available (v1.0.4 at the time of writing - https://github.com/subhra74/snowflake/releases/download/v1.0.4/snowflake.jar).

Now we'll make a shortcut to easily launch Snowflake.

Create a folder called "Applications" (if it doesn't already exist) in your home directory and place the snowflake.jar file in there.

Then open up your terminal and do:

chmod +x ~/Applications/snowflake.jar
ln -s ~/Applications/snowflake.jar /Applications/Snowflake.app

That's it.

You'll now find "Snowflake" in your Mac's apps and you can easily launch the app from there, or just drag and drop its icon to your Mac's dock.

(If you get a security warning when you open the app the first time, it's because the app is not signed by Apple. Just go to Preferences and then "Security & Privacy" and you should see the option to allow the app to launch always.)

 




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Marketing Automation and Customer Service: How are they Connected?

Did you know that, on average, 51% of companies are currently using marketing automation, and more than half of B2B companies (58%) plan to adopt the technology? The statistic may be mind-boggling, but it is very much justified. Companies and marketers are always in search of ways that make things easy and convenient for them. Automating […]

The post Marketing Automation and Customer Service: How are they Connected? appeared first on ReadWrite.




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4 Unique Growth Tactics for 2020

Marketing tactics change constantly. Each year new tactics become more impactful, and old ones fade into obscurity. Sticking to the same tactics is stale for your current customers and potential customers, too. Instead of just running the same growth tactics for years on end, it’s time to make a switch in 2020. Here are four unique growth tactics […]

The post 4 Unique Growth Tactics for 2020 appeared first on ReadWrite.




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Shopify launches post-COVID POS, Yelp rolls out omnichannel tools for SMBs

The companies are part of a shift toward deeper integration between online and offline operations.

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.




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Shielding your business in a pandemic

SEO is one of the best channels to invest in right now to attract new customers and reinforce the loyalty of your existing client base.

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.




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Pro Tip: How to find and fix 404 errors that really matter to win your traffic back

External sources link to your website with the wrong URLs, here’s how you can fix that.

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.




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Now, Shopify merchants can quickly turn their catalogs into shoppable Pins

The new Pinterest app on Shopify is now available in the U.S. and Canada.

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.




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News24.com | Covid-19 wrap | China slams US after Trump virus 'attack' claim, India repatriation to begin and Poland, Syria postpone elections due to pandemic

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.




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News24.com | Trump calls HHS whistleblower disgruntled, politically motivated

Rick Bright, head of an agency tasked with developing coronavirus drugs, has said administration ignored his warnings.




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News24.com | Brave new world: could pandemic lead to positive change?

Major social advances have often emerged from the depths of disaster: the Black Death brought an end to serfdom, and Britain's welfare state emerged from the ruins of World War II.




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News24.com | International Covid-19 news: US job losses 'worst in history', 'critical' shortage of testing kits

All the latest Covid-19 updates from around the world.




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News24.com | China supports WHO-led review of global pandemic response

China says it supports a World Health Organisation-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but only "after the pandemic is over".




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News24.com | US vice president's spokesperson tests positive for Covid-19

The US vice president's spokesperson became the second White House staffer this week to test positive for the coronavirus.




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Easy Weeknight Chicken Ramen

A warm bowl of ramen need not be a big ordeal of time or fuss, as this weeknight chicken ramen attests. Boost store-bought chicken broth with some flavor enhancers and assemble your bowls in under 30 minutes.

Continue reading "Easy Weeknight Chicken Ramen" »




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Editors’ Picks: Kitchen Organizers

An organized kitchen doesn't have to be super minimal; it just has to function well. These editor-approved kitchen organizers help make the tools and ingredients in your kitchen more visible and accessible, so you can cook with more ease and joy!

Continue reading "Editors’ Picks: Kitchen Organizers" »





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Classic Mimosa

A mimosa, the classic combination of orange juice and sparkling wine, makes the perfect pick-me-up drink. It’s light, refreshing, and easy to make. Don’t have orange juice? Mix and match with any citrus fruit you have around.

Continue reading "Classic Mimosa" »




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BitTorrent Debuts P2P-Powered Social One-Click Hosting

BitTorrent’s new Project Chrysalis client now makes it possible to share files of unlimited size with your friends even when you’re not online. The company is caching files and using a revamped UI to make the facilitation of BitTorrent downloads much easier than before. Continue reading on NewTeeVee.


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Quick review: Amazon Kindle 3 e-reader

This morning I took (early) delivery of Amazon’s new Kindle 3 – I opted for the WiFi only version – a device that claims 50% better contrast than any other e-reader, a 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6″ size reading area, and a 20% increase in the speed of page turns. These are, [...]




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Kindle vs iPad: The case for the dedicated e-Reader

Over at TechCrunch I’ve penned an op/ed piece on why I’m in love with the Kindle. Or more specifically, why the dedicated e-Reader still has a role to play in the context of Apple’s iPad and competing multifunctional tablet computers, such as the plethora of Android-powered devices that are about to hit the market. I’m [...]




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Nokia World: Very quick hands-on impressions of Nokia’s three new smartphones

Yesterday was a really fun day spent at Nokia World, the Finnish handset maker’s annual shindig. Conveniently, this year it was held in my home city of London and I got to cover the event for TechCrunch Europe. On day one, Nokia unveiled three new smartphones running Symbian^3, the C6, C7 and E7, which I [...]




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Review: Nokia N8 and the Symbian 3 verdict

Announced back in July, Nokia’s new flagship N8 smartphone began shipping on the last day of September to those that had pre-ordered the device (it’s now available on most UK networks). As did the first review units sent out with almost military provision to chosen technology bloggers, this writer included. Having already declared “Nokia is [...]




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velocityconf: Free webcast w/ @jon lives http://t.co/TxL60Oagos 'Michelin Starred Cooking with Chef at Etsy' starting NOW. #velocityconf #devops

velocityconf: Free webcast w/ @jon lives http://t.co/TxL60Oagos 'Michelin Starred Cooking with Chef at Etsy' starting NOW. #velocityconf #devops




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velocityconf: Call for speakers and registration is open for @webperfdays in Silicon Valley http://t.co/cJKBmynkjI June 22, Google HQ (cc @sfwebperf)

velocityconf: Call for speakers and registration is open for @webperfdays in Silicon Valley http://t.co/cJKBmynkjI June 22, Google HQ (cc @sfwebperf)




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velocityconf: RT @OReillyAnimals Advice, please! Elephant Listening Project asks for ideas/solutions/help with 3 practical problems http://t.co/Y90YP3maoz

velocityconf: RT @OReillyAnimals Advice, please! Elephant Listening Project asks for ideas/solutions/help with 3 practical problems http://t.co/Y90YP3maoz




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Channel24.co.za | 'Resident Evil' stuntwoman wins court case following horrific accident on set

South African born stuntwoman, Olivia Jackson, who was injured in a horrific accident on the set of 'Resident Evil' in 2015 has won a legal case against the company involved in the film.




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Channel24.co.za | Ciara gives pregnant women advice during the Covid-19 pandemic

Ciara offers pregnancy advice to expecting moms during the Covid-19 pandemic




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Channel24.co.za | Famous magician Roy Horn, 75, dies of coronavirus complications

Roy Horn, half of Las Vegas illusionist duo Siegfried and Roy, has died of complications from the coronavirus.




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Channel24.co.za | Rock 'n' roll legend Little Richard, 87, dies

Little Richard, whose outrageous showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms intoxicated crowds in the 1950s with hits like 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Long Tall Sally', has died.




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News24.com | Man arrested for spate of lockdown robberies in Tshwane, 'accomplices' killed in shootout with cops

An alleged robber, who was wounded while his two suspected accomplices were killed in a shootout with police, has been arrested.




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News24.com | Covid-19: Five new cases among prisoners, 3 officials recovered

Five new Covid-19 cases have been recorded among prison inmates and three Department of Correctional Services officials have recovered.




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News24.com | LIVE | Covid-19: Ramaphosa to visit epicentre Western Cape, Global death toll passes 275 000

Stay up to date with the latest news, views and analysis as the number of coronavirus cases in SA increases.




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News24.com | Police must heed call on tackling crime in Durban's city centre

The author made sense in both the argument put forth as well as in accurately describing the actual policing festive season operations on the ground in the bustling and busy city centre of Durban.