Sarah Frier – “Twitter Inc. has struck a deal with Google Inc. to make its 140-character updates more searchable online. In the first half of this year, tweets will start to be visible in Google’s search results as soon as they’re posted, thanks to a deal giving the Web company access to Twitter’s firehose, the stream of data generated by the microblogging service’s 284 million users, people with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday. Google previously had to crawl Twitter’s site for the information, which will now be visible automatically. The agreement underscores the progress that Twitter Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo is making in getting tweets seen by more non-users and generating more advertising revenue from a larger audience. Twitter, which also provides data to Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search service and Yahoo! Inc., is aiming to draw more people to its site as user growth slows. Twitter this week announced deals to show advertising in Flipboard Inc.’s mobile application and with Yahoo Japan Corp.”
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Daily Archives: February 5, 2015
Understanding the Federal Government’s IT Insecurity Crisis
A February 5, 2015 Report From the International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers – “U.S. taxpayers have paid $59 billion for data protection since Fiscal Year 2010, including $10.3 billion in the most recent year under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). This week, the Obama Administration proposed a $14 billion cybersecurity budget… Continue Reading
EFF – In a First, Government Acknowledges the Limits of Section 215
“Following EFF’s victory in a four-year Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the government released an opinion, written by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in 2010, that concluded that Section 215—the provision of the Patriot Act the NSA relies on to collect millions of Americans’ phone records—does have a limit: census date The Commerce Department… Continue Reading
Poverty in the United States: 2013
CRS Report – Poverty in the United States: 2013. Thomas Gabe, Specialist in Social Policy, January 29, 2015. “In 2013, 45.3 million people were counted as poor in the United States under the official poverty measure—a number statistically unchanged from the 46.5 million people estimated as poor in 2012. The poverty rate, or percent of… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – HHS and Programs related to mental illness, Violation of Anti-Lobbying Provision and the Antideficiency Act
HHS Leadership Needed to Coordinate Federal Efforts Related to Serious Mental Illness, GAO-15-113, Published Dec 18, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 5, 2015: ““Agencies identified 112 federal programs that generally supported individuals with serious mental illness in fiscal year 2013. The majority of these programs addressed broad issues, such as homelessness, that can include individuals with… Continue Reading
Who Regulates Whom and How? An Overview of U.S. Financial Regulatory Policy for Banking and Securities Markets
Who Regulates Whom and How? An Overview of U.S. Financial Regulatory Policy for Banking and Securities Markets. Edward V. Murphy, Specialist in Financial Economics. January 30, 2015. “Financial regulatory policies are of interest to Congress because firms, consumers, and governments fund many of their activities through banks and securities markets. Furthermore, financial instability can damage… Continue Reading
Bitcoin: Questions, Answers, and Analysis of Legal Issues
CRS – Bitcoin: Questions, Answers, and Analysis of Legal Issues. Craig K. Elwell, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy; Maureen Murphy, Legislative Attorney; Michael V. Seitzinger, Legislative Attorney, January 28, 2015 “Bitcoin first appeared in January 2009, the creation of a computer programmer using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. His invention is an open-source (its controlling computer code… Continue Reading
Legislation Email Alerts on Congress.gov
News release via Andrew Weber – Moving from a 20-year-old system to our new, modern Congress.gov platform has many advantages. One of these is that, starting today, email alerts are available on Congress.gov. There are three different types of alerts in this initial release: Member of Congress, legislation, and the Congressional Record. Bill and member… Continue Reading
The US Treasury’s Credit Rating Agency Exercise
The US Treasury’s Credit Rating Agency Exercise – First Steps Out of the Private-Label Securities Desert. Laurie Goodman, Jim Parrott. Feburary 5, 2015. “As part of an effort to revive the moribund private-label securities (PLS) market, the US Treasury Department recently conducted an exercise with the major credit rating agencies. This exercise was intended to boost… Continue Reading
Child Poverty Pervasive in Large American Cities, New Census Data Show
Commentary and statistics from National Center for Children in Poverty: “Years after the end of the Great Recession, child poverty remains widespread in America’s largest cities. Nearly three children in five living in Detroit are poor, according to the most recent Census figures, a rate that has grown by 10 percentage points since the onset… Continue Reading
