News release: “UNODC’s Afghanistan Opium Survey 2008 shows a 19% decrease in opium cultivation to 157,000 hectares, compared to the record harvest of 193,000 in 2007. Owing to a higher yield of 48.8 kg/ha (up from 42.5 kg in 2007), opium production has dropped less dramatically, down 6% from 8,200 to 7,700. According to the… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: August 2008
Hurricane Protection System Improvements – Southern Louisiana
U.S. Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District – Hurricane Protection System Improvements: “This page contains a computer animated overview and specific information about improvements that USACE is making to the Southern Louisiana Hurricane Protection System (HPS).” Related postings on Katrina Continue Reading
Bankruptcy Filings Near Million Mark for 12-Month Period Ending June 30, 2008
U.S. Courts: “In the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008, there were 967,831 bankruptcy cases filed, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That is a 28.9 percent increase compared to filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2007, when cases totaled 751,056. Historic data on bankruptcy filings… Continue Reading
ABA Ethics Committee Opinion Detailing Lawyer Responsibilities When Outsourcing Legal Work Domestically or Internationally
News release: “U.S. lawyers are free to outsource legal work, including to lawyers or nonlawyers outside the country, if they adhere to ethics rules requiring competence, supervision, protection of confidential information, reasonable fees and not assisting unauthorized practice of law. Those are the conclusions of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional… Continue Reading
Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Released
“Features include significant security, privacy and developer tools updates.” Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Fact Sheet Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Images Continue Reading
New: Congressional Committee Prints Browse Feature
GPO Access: “To browse the current catalog of Congressional Committee Prints – available from 110th Congress, 1st Session (2007-2008) forward, click here. Links are included with each Congressional Committee print listed in the catalog, which retrieve the text of the corresponding document as an ASCII text or PDF file.” Continue Reading
Government Computer News Highlights Top 10 E-Gov Sites
Great .gov Web sites, by Joab Jackson: “These 10 sites show agencies putting the power of the Web to work. Government agencies are finally catching on to the World Wide Web. Ten years ago, most government executives saw the Web as a sort of electronic brochure. Now they have come to realize that the Web… Continue Reading
Arctic sea ice now second-lowest on record
The National Snow and Ice Data Center: “Sea ice extent has fallen below the 2005 minimum, previously the second-lowest extent recorded since the dawn of the satellite era. Will 2008 also break the standing record low, set in 2007? We will know in the next several weeks, when the melt season comes to a close.… Continue Reading
Foreclosure Fallout: An Analysis of Foreclosure Auctions in the Chicago Region
Woodstock Institute – Foreclosure Fallout: An Analysis of Foreclosure Auctions in the Chicago Region: Huge inventory of foreclosed properties and fewer bidders means lenders on the hook for billions in Chicago region, says new report. “The following report examines the results of foreclosure auctions in the Chicago region. While previous Woodstock Institute research has focused… Continue Reading
Improving Technology Utilization in Electronic Government around the World, 2008
Brookings Governance Studies: Improving Technology Utilization in Electronic Government around the World, 2008 – Darrell M. West “This report reviews the current condition of electronic government and makes practical suggestions for improving the delivery of information and services over the Internet. Using a detailed analysis of 1,667 national government websites in 198 nations around the… Continue Reading
NARA issues records management information for e-mail
USA.gov: “The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) issued e-mail archiving applications guidance July 31 for certain e-mails that are considered records under the Federal Records Act. The bulletin informs agencies that e-mail archiving technologies may not necessarily meet all of the Federal Records Act requirements.” Continue Reading
Recent Trends in Home Prices: Differences across Mortgage and Borrower Characteristics
Recent Trends in Home Prices: Differences across Mortgage and Borrower Characteristics, August 2008 – “This Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) research paper analyzes differences in recent price trends for homes with different types of financing and borrower characteristics. The work follows preliminary research published in January that uncovered relative price weakness for homes… Continue Reading
