Does content curation by Facebook introduce ideological bias? by David Lazer, Published Online May 7 2015 Science DOI: 10.1126/science.aab1422: “Humanity is in the early stages of the rise of social algorithms: programs that size us up, evaluate what we want, and provide a customized experience. This quiet but epic paradigm shift is fraught with social… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: May 2015
State of the World’s Mothers 2015
“In commemoration of Mother’s Day, Save the Children is publishing its 16th annual State of the World’s Mothers report with a special focus on our rapidly urbanizing world and the poorest mothers and children who must struggle to survive despite overall urban progress. Every day, 17,000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday. Increasingly, these… Continue Reading
Kaiser Report – Medicaid at 50
Kaiser Foundation – Medicaid at 50 May 06, 2015 | Julia Paradise, Barbara Lyons, and Diane Rowland: “Medicaid’s most well-recognized role in our health care system is as a health coverage program for low-income pregnant women, children, and families. Currently, more than half the states provide Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women with incomes up to… Continue Reading
White House documents found to be altered
Via FGI – Free Government Information, by James R. Jacobs – “Researchers at the University of Illinois say they have found evidence on the Whitehouse Web site that suggests “a pattern of revision and removal from the public record that spans several years, from 2003 through at least 2005. Instead of issuing a series of… Continue Reading
ARL Joins Hague Declaration for Changes to Intellectual Property Law, Equal Access to Knowledge
ARL – “More than 50 organizations around the world—including ARL—have signed the Hague Declaration on Knowledge Discovery in the Digital Age, which calls for immediate changes to intellectual property (IP) law and the removal of other barriers preventing widened and more equal access to data. Improved treatments for diseases, answers to global issues such as… Continue Reading
Overcoming Barriers to Data Sharing in Public Health A Global Perspective
Research Paper – Jussi Sane and Michael Edelstein – Centre on Global Health Security | April 2015 •”The interaction between barriers to data sharing in public health is complex, and single solutions to single barriers are unlikely to be successful. Political, economic and legal obstacles will be the most challenging to overcome. •Public health data… Continue Reading
From Institutions to Financial Development and Growth: What are the Links?
Fernàndez, Andrés and Tamayo, César E., From Institutions to Financial Development and Growth: What are the Links? (March 2015). IDB Working Paper No. IDB-WP-565. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2603124 “This paper presents an integrated overview of the literature linking institutions, financial development and economic growth. From the large body of research on institutional development,… Continue Reading
NOAA Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide – All Time High
“The graph shows recent monthly mean carbon dioxide globally averaged over marine surface sites. The Global Monitoring Division of NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory has measured carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases for several decades at a globally distributed network of air sampling sites [Conway, 1994]. A global average is constructed by first fitting a smoothed… Continue Reading
GAO – Missile Defense – Opportunities Exist to Reduce Acquisition Risk and Improve Reporting on System Capabilities
Missile Defense: Opportunities Exist to Reduce Acquisition Risk and Improve Reporting on System Capabilities, GAO-15-345: Published: May 6, 2015. Publicly Released: May 6, 2015. “In fiscal year 2014, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) made some progress in achieving its testing and delivery goals for individual elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), but was… Continue Reading
What Every Librarian Needs to Know About HTTPS
EFF – “Librarians have long understood that to provide access to knowledge it is crucial to protect their patrons’ privacy. Books can provide information that is deeply unpopular. As a result, local communities and governments sometimes try to ban the most objectionable ones. Librarians rightly see it as their duty to preserve access to books,… Continue Reading
EIA’s CBECS – nation’s only comprehensive survey of commercial buildings
“The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is the only nationally representative source of statistical information on energy-related characteristics, consumption, and expenditures for the nation’s 5.6 million commercial buildings totaling 87 billion square feet of floor space. Building characteristics information from the 2012 survey is being released in stages through the… Continue Reading
CRS – An Introduction to Health Insurance: What Should a Consumer Know?
An Introduction to Health Insurance: What Should a Consumer Know? Carol Rapaport, Analyst in Health Care Financing. April 30, 2015. “Congress has seen a renewed interest in the market for private health insurance since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, as amended). This report provides an overview of… Continue Reading
