EPIC – “A federal appeals court heard arguments today in FTC v. Wyndham, an important data privacy case. Wyndham Hotels, which revealed hundreds of thousands of customer records following a data breach, is challenging the FTC’s authority to enforce data security standards. In an amicus brief joined by legal scholars and technical experts, EPIC defended… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2015
Robust Methods for the Analysis of Images and Videos for Fisheries Stock Assessment
“The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s living marine resources and their habitat. As part of this charge, NMFS conducts stock assessments of the abundance and composition of fish stocks in several bodies of water. At present, stock assessments rely heavily on human data-gathering and analysis. Automatic means… Continue Reading
EPA Approves New Climate-Friendly Refrigerants
“As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is increasing the options for refrigerants used in various kinds of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in the United States that offer better climate protection without harming the ozone layer. This final action addresses refrigerants under the Climate Action Plan that… Continue Reading
Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure, 1956 to 2014
“Public spending—spending by federal, state, and local governments—on transportation and water infrastructure totaled $416 billion in 2014. Most of that spending came from state and local governments: They provided $320 billion, and the federal government accounted for $96 billion. This report provides information on spending for six types of transportation and water infrastructure: Highways, Mass… Continue Reading
New Census Bureau Report Analyzes U.S. Population Projections
“A new U.S. Census Bureau report released today provides an in-depth analysis of the nation’s population looking forward to 2060, including its size and composition across age, sex, race, Hispanic origin and nativity. These projections are the first to incorporate separate projections of fertility for native- and foreign-born women, permitting the Census Bureau to better account… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Comparative Effectiveness Research, Internal Revenue Service
Comparative Effectiveness Research: HHS Needs to Strengthen Dissemination and Data-Capacity-Building Efforts, GAO-15-280: Published: Mar 3, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 3, 2015. Internal Revenue Service: Observations on IRS’s Operations, Planning, and Resources, GAO-15-420R: Published: Feb 27, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 3, 2015. Continue Reading
14 Consumer Groups Outline Shortcomings In WH Privacy Legislation
“Consumer Watchdog today joined 13 other public interest groups in a letter to President Obama outlining the shortcomings of the draft Consumer Privacy Bill Of Rights Act and pledging to work with the Administration and Congress to strengthen the “In 2 2012, you released your vision of the founding principles of consumer privacy — the… Continue Reading
New Google Contacts: Bringing everyone together
Official Gmail Blog: “From email to Hangouts to a good ol’ fashioned phone call, you’ve got a lot of options to get in touch with someone. But keeping all those options organized for all your contacts…well, it can be a pain, especially when you need to find that information in a hurry! So today we’re… Continue Reading
NASA satellite project maps rain and snow around the world
“Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is an international satellite mission to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the GPM Core Observatory satellite on February 27th, 2014, carrying advanced instruments that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space. The data they provide… Continue Reading
A bibliometric mapping of open educational resources
A bibliometric mapping of open educational resources, Airton Zancanaro, José Leomar Todesco, Fernando Ramos, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) Vol. 16, No. 1 (2015) “Open educational resources (OER) is a topic that has aroused increasing interest by researchers as a powerful contribution to improve the educational system quality and… Continue Reading
Estimating the Global Magnitude of Visits to Protected Areas
Balmford A, Green JMH, Anderson M, Beresford J, Huang C, et al. (2015) Walk on the Wild Side: Estimating the Global Magnitude of Visits to Protected Areas. PLoS Biol 13(2): e1002074. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002074 – “How often do people visit the world’s protected areas (PAs)? Despite PAs covering one-eighth of the land and being a major focus… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Antipsychotic Drug Use, Defense Acquisitions, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Federal Research, Information Security, Medicaid Information Technology
Antipsychotic Drug Use: HHS Has Initiatives to Reduce Use among Older Adults in Nursing Homes, but Should Expand Efforts to Other Settings, GAO-15-211: Published: Jan 30, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 2, 2015. Defense Acquisitions: Better Approach Needed to Account for Number, Cost, and Performance of Non-Major Programs, GAO-15-188: Published: Mar 2, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar… Continue Reading
