FCC FAQ: “You may be one of many consumers who have received emails saying you’re about to be assaulted by unwanted telemarketing calls to your wireless phone. Rest assured that placing telemarketing calls to wireless phones is – and always has been – illegal in most cases. Contrary to what some email campaigns are saying,… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Stanford Medical School – Seeking a Path to Health on Rosebud Indian Reservation
BY TRACIE WHITE – ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFFREY DECOSTER “Cursed with some of the highest suicide rates in the country, tribal leaders declared a state of emergency here back in 2007 making headlines in The New York Times. But today, six years later, not much has changed. Across the United States, American Indian and Alaska Native youth ages… Continue Reading
NYT – No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A.
Via Scott Shane this investigative report – “From thousands of classified documents, the National Security Agency emerges as an electronic omnivore of staggering capabilities, eavesdropping and hacking its way around the world to strip governments and other targets of their secrets, all the while enforcing the utmost secrecy about its own operations. It spies routinely on friends as well as… Continue Reading
2012 sees slowdown in the increase in global CO2 emissions
Trends in global CO2 emissions: 2013 Report and the Link to the interactive presentation “Actual global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached a new record of 34.5 billion tonnes in 2012. Yet, the increase in global CO2 emissions in that year slowed down to 1.1% , which was less than half the average annual increase of 2.9%… Continue Reading
Urbanisation in emerging markets: boon and bane for insurers
“The world’s urban population is forecast to grow by about 1.4 billion to 5 billion between 2011 and 2030, with 90% of the increase coming in the emerging markets. Swiss Re’s latest sigma study Urbanisation in emerging markets: boon and bane for insurers reviews the rapid growth of towns and cities in emerging markets. It… Continue Reading
Mind the risk – A global ranking of cities under threat from natural disasters
“For the first time in human history more people live in cities than in rural areas. The United Nations expects 6.3 billion people or 68% of the world’s population to be living in urban areas by 2050, with the highest increase occurring in high growth markets. Many of these cities are located on the coast and are threatened by… Continue Reading
Transforming cities with transit
Suzuki, Hiroaki; Cervero, Robert; Iuchi, Kanako. 2013. Transforming cities with transit: transit and land-use integration for sustainable urban development. Urban development. Washington, DC: World Bank. November 2013 “This study explores the complex process of transit and land-use integration in rapidly growing cities in developing countries. It first identifies barriers to and opportunities for effective coordination of… Continue Reading
Annenberg Learner helps teachers and students increase their knowledge
“Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation’s goal of encouraging the… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Central America, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Biomedical Research, Personnel Security Clearances
Central America – U.S. Agencies Considered Various Factors in Funding Security Activities, but Need to Assess Progress in Achieving Interagency Objectives, GAO-13-771, Sep 25, 2013 Intelligent Transportation Systems – Vehicle-to-Vehicle Technologies Expected to Offer Safety Benefits, but a Variety of Deployment Challenges Exist, GAO-14-13, Nov 1, 2013 Biomedical Research – NIH Should Assess the Impact… Continue Reading
Waste Lands – America’s forgotten nuclear legacy
WJS.com: “During the build-up to the Cold War, the U.S. government called upon hundreds of factories and research centers to help develop nuclear weapons and other forms of atomic energy. At many sites, this work left behind residual radioactive contamination requiring government cleanups, some of which are still going on. The Department of Energy says… Continue Reading
Healthcare.gov and the Inevitably Digital Future of American Governance
It’s remarkable how inexperienced Washington is when it comes to developing complicated technology unrelated to national defense. by Zachary Karabell “It’s safe to say that Congress has never before passed a federal law whose primary mode of delivery is a web portal that will be used by tens of millions of people. And not just… Continue Reading
The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machines
Nicholas Carr – We rely on computers to fly our planes, find our cancers, design our buildings, audit our businesses. That’s all well and good. But what happens when the computer fails? “The experience of airlines should give us pause. It reveals that automation, for all its benefits, can take a toll on the performance… Continue Reading
