“Mass collaboration is revolutionizing not only the way we work, but the way we live, learn, create and care for each other. Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, authors of Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World, analyze some of the trends reshaping our world. Today: Journalism in the age of user-generated content and Wikileaks – “It turns out people will not pay for news as a commodity. In an age of Twitter, bloggers, WikiLeaks and social networks, people can find the news without buying a paper. As one youngster said, If the news is important it will find me. The Internet has destroyed the business model for print. Print publications will survive, but not in the long term, and this has big implications for journalism. Compared to the massive physical assets of, say, The New York Times, online newspaper The Huffington Post has almost zero printing and distribution costs. The New York Times employs more than a thousand people in its editorial department alone. The Huffington Post employs 60 and a volunteer roster of thousands of writers. The site is thriving, with 20 million readers.”
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Monthly Archives: December 2010
Nearly 1 Million White House Visitor Records Online
White House Blog: “In September 2009, the President announced that for the first time in history the White House would routinely release visitor records. Today, the White House releases visitor records that were generated in September 2010. Todays release also includes several visitor records generated prior to September 16, 2009 that were requested… Continue Reading
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences RFI – Enterprise IT Services Support
Federal Computer Week: “The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is seeking ideas for a hybrid performance-based contract, in which a contractor potentially could provide enterprise IT services through a variety of procurement approaches. In a request of information, NIEHS, part of the National Institutes of Health, is asking potential bidders to identify which services… Continue Reading
WaPo: WikiLeaks cable dump reveals flaws of State Department's information-sharing tool
Follow up to previous postings on WikiLeaks, via WaPo’s Joby Warrick: “Investigations into the attacks concluded that government agencies had failed to share critical information that could have helped uncover the Sept. 11 plot. Because of that lapse, Congress tasked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence with pressuring key government agencies – including… Continue Reading
NYT Charts Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the Air – 1960-2010
New York Times Graphics – An Ominous rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the 1950s. “China recently overtook the United States to become the largest emitter of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels.” A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning: “When Dr. Keeling, as a young researcher, became the first person in the… Continue Reading
EPA Issues National Guidance to Address Proper Maintenance, Removal, and Disposal of PCB-Containing Fluorescent Lights
News release: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released guidance recommending that schools take steps to reduce potential exposures to PCBs from older fluorescent lighting fixtures. The guidance, part of EPAs ongoing efforts to address potential PCB exposures in schools, is based on evidence that the older ballasts contain PCBs that can leak when… Continue Reading
Secretary of Interior Issues Order on Policy to Identify and Protect "Wild Lands"
News release: “A secretarial order issued [December 23, 2010] by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar restores balance and clarity to the management of public lands by establishing common-sense policy for the protection of backcountry areas where Americans recreate, find solitude, and enjoy the wild. Secretarial Order 3310 directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),… Continue Reading
Radon is 2nd leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. Act now to reduce risk
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has created several free, publicly-available graphics about radon and a new public service announcement campaign for print, television, and radio at http://www.epa.gov/radon. EPAs newest campaign is Living Healthy & Green. We want Americans to know that a big part of living green is breathing clean, healthy indoor air. One of… Continue Reading
WaPo: Air traffic controllers made record number of mistakes in 2010, data show
Ashley Halsey III: “The air traffic controllers in the Washington region, who direct more than 1.5 million flights, have made a record number of mistakes this year, triggering cockpit collision warning systems dozens of times. Errors recorded by air traffic controllers have increased by 51 percent nationwide, and the Federal Aviation Administration this week cautioned… Continue Reading
Help Net Reports Significant Decline of Spam
Help Net: “In October Commtouch reported an 18% drop in global spam levels (comparing September and October). This was largely attributed to the closure of Spamit around the end of September. Spamit is the organization allegedly behind a fair percentage of the worlds pharmacy spam. Analysis of the spam trends to date reveals a further… Continue Reading
A recent study finds a decline in empathy among young people in the U.S
Scientific American, What, Me Care? A recent study finds a decline in empathy among young people in the U.S., by Jamil Zaki “The types of information we consume have also shifted in recent decades; specifically, Americans have abandoned reading in droves. The number of adults who read literature for pleasure sank below 50 percent for… Continue Reading
2010 Trend Watch Update: Global Internet Censorship
Peter Eckersley: “At the beginning of this year EFF identified a dozen important trends in law, technology and business that we thought would play a significant role in shaping digital rights in 2010, with a promise to revisit our predictions at the end of the year. Now, as 2010 comes to a close, we’re going… Continue Reading
