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Monthly Archives: September 2007

Windows Live Translator Beta

Windows Live Translator Beta: “If you click on a “Translate this page” link in the Live Search results or enter a web address in the web page translation box on translator.live.com, translations will be presented to you in the Bilingual Viewer, providing easy access to the original web page and its translation. In the Bilingual… Continue Reading

DHS and DOD Fail Audits

AP: “Ten years after Congress ordered federal agencies to have outside auditors review their books, neither the Defense Department nor the newer Department of Homeland Security has met even basic accounting requirements, leaving them vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse. An Associated Press review shows that the two departments’ financial records are so disorganized and… Continue Reading

OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development Draft Report on Biofuels

“The OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development has just released a thorough 57-page study on the costs, efficiency and environmental impact of biofuels.” See Biofuels: is the cure worse than the disease? (57 pages, PDF): “136. There is little doubt that current patterns of fossil fuel-based energy use are unsustainable and that a change in… Continue Reading

Google Privacy Chief Calls for International Data Protection Standards

Heise Online: “The world’s number one search engine Google is calling for international standards for data protection. “Three quarters of the countries in the world have no privacy regimes at all”, Peter Fleischer, Google’s Privacy Chief, explained at a conference organized by UNESCO, the UN’s Education, Science, and Culture Organization, on the topic of “Internet… Continue Reading

Documents Describe Use of Satellites in Support of Civil Agencies

Press release: “Today the National Security Archive publishes a collection of documents concerning the use of U.S. reconnaissance satellites to collect data on targets within the United States over the last four decades. This new publication follows the August 15, 2007, revelation in the Wall Street Journal that the United States is planning to expand… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports on Motor Carrier Safety, Quadrennial Defense Review

Motor Carrier Safety: Federal Safety Agency Identifies Many High-Risk Carriers but Does Not Assess Maximum Fines as Often as Required by Law, GAO-07-584, August 28, 2007, Full Report (PDF, 67 pages) Quadrennial Defense Review: Future Reviews Could Benefit from Improved Department of Defense Analyses and Changes to Legislative Requirements, GAO-07-709, September 14, 2007, Full Report… Continue Reading

Google Calls for Global Online Privacy Standard

Google Calls for Global Online Privacy Standard: “Google envisions the policy to be a product of self-regulation by companies, improved laws and possible new ones.” Related, from EPIC: “As Google faces opposition to the proposed acquisition of Doubleclick, Google’s privacy counsel called for less restrictive global privacy standards. The company’s current privacy practices are under… Continue Reading

NRC Publishes Annual Security Inspection Report to Congress

“The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available to the public an unclassified version of an annual report to Congress outlining the previous year’s security inspection program. The report is required under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The report covers the security inspection program, including force-on-force exercises, for commercial power reactors and certain fuel… Continue Reading

Integrated Database on Trade Disputes for Latin American and the Caribbean

“The Division of International Trade and Integration of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is making the Integrated Database on Trade Disputes for Latin American and the Caribbean (IDATD) available to governments, the academic community, experts on trade policy and interested persons in general in both Spanish. This database pools information… Continue Reading