March 10, 2004

Child Left Behind?

Curious as to the success (or failure) of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act? School Results is a public-private collaboration to provide data from the first rounds of NCLB initiatives and standardized testing. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Though the existing data is slim at the moment (only seven states are currently available, and 2/5 of the individual schools I checked lacked sufficient data to provide analysis), this is exactly the kind of use of the web to provide tangible evidence of the results of legislative actions. NCLB was proposed to achieve certain goals, with this data resource easily available, it should now be easier to determine whether those goals are being achieved.

Posted by michael at 12:26 PM

December 24, 2003

NoRAD Tracks Santa

As they do every year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is tracking Santa Claus' progress across the globe. NORAD used their sophisticated radar and web of satellites to track the progress of Santa Claus, and provides access to both on their website.

Merry Christmas.

Posted by michael at 8:58 AM