Bill Gates talks about the Khan Academy

11 Ways to Find free Classes Online

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A college education will get you far in business, but according to Bill Gates (a college dropout himself), a place-based college education system that is so prominent today will soon be shadowed by what you can teach yourself online. During a recent interview at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA, the former Microsoft CEO predicted that in the next five years, you'll be able to find the best educational lectures for free online, which will make the Internet "better than any single university."
I'd have to agree with him on one point — there are an amazing number of ways you can get a quality educational experience online, without ever having to fork over any cash. The cost of a college education is pretty remarkable these days, and not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree from an Ivy League school. But nearly everyone can afford the cost of an Internet connection, or even a library card. Here, I'll show you 11 places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle!
To see the list, just keep reading!

• MIT OpenCourseWare — With over 2,000 courses available at your fingertips, MIT OpenCourseWare should be your first (and maybe your only) stop in online learning.
• Online Education Database — This website offers up a list of 200 free classes you can take online. Take some physics classes and learn about the phenomenon of superconductivity, or retake that algebra class you struggled with in high school.
• OpenCulture — This website offers up a list of free classes from top universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and even some video lectures you can find on YouTube.
• UC Irvine OpenCourseWare — With free courses ranging from business management to social ecology, UC Irvine has you covered.
• The Open University — Based in the UK, this site offers up course materials along with forums so you can discuss the content with your fellow online learners.
• Open Learning Initiative — Free courses, along with self-guided materials, help you learn biology, chemistry, economics, and more at your own pace.
• UC Berkeley Webcasts — Skip the sky-high tuition and get free video and audio lectures from UC Berkeley professors.
• Free Online Classes — Get design and photoshop tutorials to help you in the digital space.
• LiveMocha — Learn a new language — from Afrikaans to Vietnamese — for free with this recognized community.
• OpenCourseWare Consortium — This website hosts thousands of classes in several languages. Learn at your own pace, and even scan the professors' notes, all for free!
• iTunes U — Hundreds of classes and audio books from several top universities are offered up on iTunes for free. Just download to your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Mac and learn on.

President Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero

Stephen Hawking: Abandon the Earth

Updated: Monday, 09 Aug 2010, 10:02 AM EDT


Published : Monday, 09 Aug 2010, 10:01 AM EDT



(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has some advice for the people of Earth - it's time to get off.



"I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space," Hawking said to Big Think , a global forum that includes interviews with experts.



"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load."



The physicist called humankind's survival "a question of touch and go" and referred to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963 as one time people narrowly avoided extinction. He also referred to the 22,600 stockpiled nuclear weapons, including 7,770 still operational, scattered around the planet.



If that doesn't drive us off, University of Sussex astrophysicist Dr. Robert Smith said global warming may reach a point "where all of Earth's water will simply evaporate." He said life will disappear on Earth long before the 7.6 billion years some say the aging sun will expand and destroy Earth.



CNet news said that Hawking has concerns about how humans "are eating up finite resources" and has claimed man's genetic code "carries selfish and aggressive instincts" that have helped humanity survive in the past.



Hawking suggests that if man can avoid disaster for the next two centuries "our species should be safe as we spread into space."



According to the Daily Mail , Hawking warned earlier this year that humans should be cautious in trying to contact other alien life forms because there is no way to know if they will be friendly.



"If we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy we should make sure we survive and continue," he said.



Vernos Branco, a Las Vegas Sun reader, suggested in a letter to the editor that it may not be that easy to escape. He wrote about how humans have continued to move from one place to another as they settle in an area, use all the resources, pollute the area and move on.



He said now that man has technology that can destroy the environment faster, we are running out of space to live in.



"The planet will be fine and heal; it is man who will vanish," he wrote. "... If we develop the technology for space travel, we will do the same to that environment, until we learn not to. Man will become extinct due to his greed."



It may not be that easy anyway to just hop to another planet. University of Michigan astrophysicist Katherine Freese told Big Think that the closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri. That's 4.2 light years away, which means man could reach the star in 4.2 years - if man could travel at the speed of light.



At this point man travels at about ten thousandth of light speed, which would make that journey about 50,000 years.



There is also the cosmic radiation danger unless man creates a warp drive or cryogenic freezing technology.



If man can develop the technology needed, she said, man could travel into the future.



Watch the clip of Hawking.

Q Good afternoon, Mr. President, your excellencies. I am from Somalia

Q Good afternoon, Mr. President, your excellencies. I am from Somalia. I came all the way here with one question, and that is, living in conflict in a country that has confused the whole world, and being part of the diaspora that went back to risk our lives in order to make Somalia a better place, especially with what we’re going through right now — how much support do we expect from the U.S.? And not support just in terms of financially or aid, but support as an ear, as a friend, as somebody who hears and listens to those of us who are putting our lives and our families at risk to defend humanity.




THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think you will have enormous support from the people of the United States when it comes to trying to create a structure and framework in Somalia that works for the Somali people.



Now, the history of Somalia over the last 20 years has been equally heartbreaking, if not more so. You have not had a effective, functioning government that can provide basic services. It’s been rife with conflict. And now the entire region is threatened because of radical extremists who have taken root in Somalia, taking advantage of what they perceive to be a failing state, to use that as a base to launch attacks, most recently in Uganda.



And obviously the United States expresses its deepest condolences to the lives that were lost in Kampala — at the very moment of the World Cup. And it offered two contrasting visions. You have this wonderful, joyous celebration in South Africa at the same time as you have a terrorist explosion in Kampala.



So we desperately want Somalia to succeed. And this is another example of where our interests intersect. If you have extremist organizations taking root in Somalia, ultimately that can threaten the United States as well as Uganda, as well as Kenya, as well as the entire region.



So right now you’ve got a transitional government that is making some efforts. I don’t think anybody expects Somalia anytime in the next few years to suddenly be transformed into a model democracy. Whatever governance structures take place in Somalia have to be aware of the tribal and traditional structures and clan structures that exist within Somalia. But certainly what we can do is create a situation where people — young people are not carrying around rifles, shooting each other on the streets. And we want to be a partner with Somalia in that effort, and we will continue to do so.



And some of it is financial, some of it is developmental, some of it is being able to help basic infrastructure. In some cases, we may try to find a portion of the country that is relatively stable and start work there to create a model that the rest of the country can then look at and say, this is a different path than the one that we’re taking right now.



But in the end, I think that this metaphor of the success of the World Cup and the bombing shows that each of you are going to be confronted with two paths. There’s going to be a path that takes us into a direction of more conflict, more bloodshed, less economic development, continued poverty even as the rest of the world races ahead — or there’s a vision in which people come together for the betterment and development of their own country.



And for all the great promise that’s been fulfilled over the last 50 years, I want you to understand — because I think it’s important for us to be honest with ourselves — Africa has also missed huge opportunities for too long. And I’ll just give you one example.



When my father traveled to the United States and got his degree in the early ’60s, the GDP of Kenya was actually on partner, maybe actually higher than the GDP of South Korea. Think about that. All right? So when I was born, Kenya per capita might have been wealthier than South Korea. Now it’s not even close. Well, that’s 50 years that was lost in terms of opportunities. When it comes to natural resources, when it comes to the talent and potential of the people, there’s no reason why Kenya shouldn’t have been on that same trajectory.



And so 50 years from now, when you look back you want to make sure that the continent hasn’t missed those opportunities as well. We want to make sure of that as well. And the United States wants to listen to you and work with you. And so when you go back and you talk to your friends and you say, what was the main message the President had — we are rooting for your success, and we want to work with you to achieve that success, but ultimately success is going to be in your hands. And being a partner means that we can be there by your side, but we can’t do it for you.



Okay, thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

Somalia's Primitive Tribes, Worst of All Being Secessionist One-Clan-Somaliland

The self explanatory Video above of David Logan on tribal leadership discusses his view of Modern World Tribes and how these are not everlasting tribes, but small groups moving through five stages, one step at a time, from one stage to another. Mr. David basically says, "... 2% is in stage one, this stage is for gangs and prisons...it’s a constant despairing hostility....while in stage five the highest, life is great...got 2% there as well... this 5th Stage is where the leaders who change the world to the better belong to....a good example of this stage is South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Process…the rest are in between…overall, these tribes are behind the phenomenal change and innovation we witness every day…"

No parallel can be drawn to compare the primitive, destructive, stagnant, and blind Somali tribes to what David Logan characterizes as existing world tribes! David’s tribes are small numbers associated together on the basis of values, principles, noble causes, and aspirations while they possess the ability of gradual graduation to the next stage. On the other hand, the primitive and blind Somali tribes claim kinship association and number in the millions without any possibility of opting out from this murderous large gang group. If we try to assess and evaluate them in order to assign them a stage, they are not any where close to Stage One . Actually, they fall in a negative territory, some where around Stage 5000 below zero.

But, if for the sake of argument, we significantly promote the so called Somali leaders such as, war criminal Ahmed Silaanyo in the north to Stage One, do you think that any work or change can be done? No, they are not leaders but in despairing hostility, and that is the problem! One wonders when the One-Clan-Somaliland secessionists claim that South Africa would give credence to a primitive mentality and recognize the secessionist enclave in North West Somalia! The secessionists ignore two important things:

1. The caliber of South Africa and how they managed to solve a very serious problem and a bitter history involving different ethnic groups through a Truth and Reconciliation Process. No body thinks that South Africa would believe cheap excuses for secession from the most homogeneous nation on earth - Somalia
2. How Somalia as a country and government stood by South Africa in the days they needed support, and in this day that Somalia is bleeding, the expectation is South Africa to reciprocate with their expertise in the Truth and Reconciliation Process and help Somalis put their house in order. South Africa will not support the dismemberment of Somalia

The sad part is, the Issak Somali tribe has proved to be the worst of these Primitive Somali Tribes, because they are extremely tribally radicalized and their tribal so called leaders have the ability to scare them, isolate them, and push them commit atrocities without asking questions. That said, it does not mean the Issak clan is all half-sleeping sheep to borrow from Mr. Seth Godin on the tribes we lead. But, the point is that regardless of an average person and /or the educated, elders, and religious leaders they all are more vulnerable to the primitive tribal culture than any tribe in Somalia. Think about the magnitude of disaster when you have a whole society 100% in Stage One and below!!! Remember those in Stage 1 are responsible for all the destruction that happens. Fortunately, in other countries just 2% are in Stage 1 and communities are able to manage them through law enforcement agencies and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, in Somalia everyone is in a stage below Zero, while the so called leaders are at the bottom of the list! Of course, other Somali primitive tribes are not much better and do all kinds of stupid things. Nonetheless, all the other Somali tribes are prepared for reconciliation and unity, which is exactly what matters at the end of the day.
The Somali younger generations, specially the so called Somaliland youth, need to break the status quo and challenge this primitive and useless culture of allegiance to an extended tribe by blood association, where you are required to spill blood for a wrong cause….they need to ask the hard questions that beg convincing answers and to lead a change and innovative life and systems. Young Somalis need to make the right choice either to remain and be stuck in the primitive useless tribes or move up and successfully integrate with the modern world tribes, wherever they happen to be, in Somalia and in the diasporas. We encourage the young Somalis to listen to David Logan and put into practice his concluding remarks…be a leader and something bigger than your tribe…think about the kind of impact you making,,,do not leave your tribes where you find them ,,, bridge them to other tribes, even with the primitive tribes….and ask yourself if your tribe is changing the world to the better….etc

Please watch both videos at www.ted.com or on youtube