TI-83 and TI-83+ Calculator Tutorials

Here are some TI-83 and TI-83+ tutorials on solving cash flow problems and other equations:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=48461049

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=46765698

SAT Redesigned for 2016

According to the College Board, the SAT will be redesigned for 2016:

 https://www.collegeboard.org/delivering-opportunity/sat/redesign

It will be going back to two sections instead of the current three, and the essay will be optional. There will be 8 key changes:

1. Relevant Words in Context - no more memorizing esoteric SAT word lists
2. Command of Evidence - a common theme across reading, writing, and essay
3. Essay Analyzing a Source - read a passage, analyze  and explain how the author builds an argument (similar/along the line of essays in AP English)
4. Focus on Math that Matters Most - focus on 3 areas: problem solving/data analysis, linear algebra, and advanced math
5. Problems Grounded in Real-World Contexts - more real world based questions
6. Analysis in Science and in History/Social Studies - applying reading, writing, language, and math skills to answer questions in science, history, and social studies
7. Founding Documents and Great Global Conversation - more reading passages from US founding documents (such as Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers, etc.) as well as texts from so-called Great Global Conversations (words from the likes of Edmund Burke, Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Barbara Jordan, and Martin Luther King Jr)
8. No Penalty for Wrong Answers - guessing is OK

Stock Market Trends

*January Effect: 1/2 - 2/3  up
                           3/10 - 3/31 up or down
*                         4/10 - 4/15 down
                           4/15 - 4/21 up
                           5/15 - 6/15 up
*                         6/21 - 7/21 drift down
                           8/1 - 9/15 side-way then up
*                         9/15 - 10/21 drift down
*Santa Claus      11/1 - 12/20 up
  Tax /Dressing   12/26 - 12/30

Google Glass Selling Price: $4800 in China

Taobao sellers selling Google Glass for 30,000 Yuan:

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/us/2014-04/18/content_17444123.htm?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=909325&utm_campaign=0

Children's Hospital Patients Visit Zoo-Google Glass Explorer Program

Nice use of Google Glass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG9oN4hJUQ0#t=126

Spend Your Tax Refund on Google Glass

Looks like Google is encouraging you to spend your tax refund on a pair of Google Glass--
the company is opening up the Glass Explorer Program on April 15th:

http://glassmorgasbord.blogspot.com/2014/04/google-glass-explorer-program-limited.html?view=classic

Saving For Kid's College Tuition

Nice article on saving for kid's college:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/parents-youre-saving-for-college-all-wrong-2014-04-10?siteid=yhoof2

Some tips:
1) When a kid is born, estimate college cost by multiplying current cost by a factor of 3., then shoot to save 1/3 of that (currently that amounts to about $250-$500 per month).
2) Use 529s, state prepaid tuition plans, and Upromise.

Also tone town expectations about where your kid might attend college (most likely your kid will not make it into a top college):

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/parents-and-their-kids-need-to-chill-out-about-college-174506880.html