“Human actions have pushed extinction rates to 1,000 times faster than the natural rate, but a new Duke University-led study finds that emerging technologies could give scientists and policymakers a more efficient way to identify the species at greatest risk and take steps to protect them before it’s too late. “Online databases, smartphone apps, crowd-sourcing and… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
LexisNexis – Study tells a Story about Law Firm File Sharing
LexisNexis Survey of Law Firm File Sharing in 2014 – “This study found that file sharing is increasingly important in law firm collaboration and while those firms are keenly aware of the consequences of IT security risks, unencrypted email – reinforced with a statement of confidentiality – remains the primary mechanism for sharing files. See… Continue Reading
Community Fiber in Washington, D.C., Seattle, and San Francisco
Fiber by cities: Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle May 28, 2014 by susan crawford Developments and Lessons Learned – “This report provides detailed accounts of planning carried out in connection with community fiber networks in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, and Seattle, WA. It includes information about existing fiber assets that the cities identified, funding mechanisms that were… Continue Reading
Internet Trends 2014 – Code Conference
Slides: Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report for 2014 (PDF version) – [snipped] – “High Level User / Usage Trend • Internet Users <10% Y/Y growth & slowing…fastest growth in more difficult to monetize developing markets like India / Indonesia / Nigeria • Smartphone Subscribers +20% strong growth though slowing…fastest growth in underpenetrated markets like China / India… Continue Reading
Free Speech Groups Issue New Guide to International “Necessary & Proportionate Principles”
News release: “As the global debate over the intelligence programs revealed by Edward Snowden approaches its first anniversary, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and ARTICLE 19 today published a new legal analysis of the Necessary & Proportionate Principles, a guiding framework for countries to apply international human rights law to communications surveillance. Currently, there are few legal… Continue Reading
DHS Privacy Complaints Increase in 2013, Many Databases Kept Secret
EPIC – “The Department of Homeland Security Quarterly Report to Congress details programs and databases affecting privacy. According to the agency, DHS received 964 privacy complaints between September 1, 2013 and November 30, 2013. By contrast, DHS received 295 privacy complaints during the same period in 2011. According to the report, most DHS systems complies with Privacy Act notice… Continue Reading
Restoring Accountability for Labor Standards in Outsourced Work
National Employment Law Project – WHO’S THE BOSS: – Restoring Accountability for Labor Standards in Outsourced Work. Catherine Ruckelshaus, Rebecca Smith, Sarah Leberstein, Eunice Cho. May 2014. “Business outsourcing is on the rise, through practices such as multi-layered contracting, use of staffing or temp firms, franchising, misclassifying employees as independent contractors, and other means. The label on a worker’s… Continue Reading
Report collects and analyses data on cycling fatalities
Outside Magazine – “Why and how do cyclists die on the road? What’s the fallout? Who’s to blame, and how bad are the consequences? The League of American Bicyclists collected information on cycling fatalities from February 2011 to February 2013, and has released the most detailed analysis of these tragedies currently available as part of its Every Bicyclist Counts initiative. The National Highway Traffic… Continue Reading
Crisis Standards of Care – Institute of Medicine
“Catastrophic disasters occurring in 2011 in the United States and worldwide–from the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the earthquake in New Zealand–have demonstrated that even prepared communities can be overwhelmed. In 2009, at the height of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – 2013 Sequestration, Lobbying Disclosure, Emergency Transportation Relief, Surface Transportation
EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION RELIEF: Agencies Could Improve Collaboration Begun during Hurricane Sandy Response, GAO-14-512: Published: May 28, 2014. Publicly Released: May 28, 2014. 2013 LOBBYING DISCLOSURE: Observations on Lobbyists’ Compliance with Disclosure Requirements, GAO-14-485: Published: May 28, 2014. Publicly Released: May 28, 2014. 2013 SEQUESTRATION: Selected Federal Agencies Reduced Some Services and Investments, While Taking Short-Term Actions to Mitigate Effects, GAO-14-452: Published: May… Continue Reading
Federal pain research database launched
“The Interagency Pain Research Portfolio (IPRP), a database that provides information about pain research and training activities supported by the federal government, has been launched by six federal agencies. Pain is a symptom of many disorders; chronic pain can present as a disease in of itself. The economic cost of pain is estimated to be hundreds of billions… Continue Reading
How Millennials Could Upend Wall Street and Corporate America – Brookings
“Among the many eye-popping findings in Morley Winograd and Mike Hais’ new paper on the millennial generation is that their attitudes towards the banking industry make it number one on a list of industries likely to experience severe disruption in its business model in the future. Their paper, the third is a series of Brookings’ papers on 21st Century… Continue Reading
