Government, businesses, and universities have reported a record-breaking number of break-ins to their databases. The Washington Post's Security Fix blog says that the Identity Theft Resource Center tracked 342 reports of data breaches between January 1 and June 27. That's a 69 percent increase over the same period last year.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Caitlin Webber, CQ Staff

The debate over the E-Verify program is less one about statistics, or even policy, than it is about two states of mind.

One says nobody should have to prove to the government that they are qualified to work in the United States. The government should have to prove they are not.

The other says that people have to be sorted out in order to enforce the law, and both must be examined to separate the legal from the illegal.

Those points of view aren't even mutually exclusive. But neither side gives the other an inch.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are being promoted as a way to help the planet, since they use so much less electricity than ordinary bulbs. But the downside has been their mercury content, which can spread if the bulb breaks. Now, UPI reports that researchers at Brown University have come up with a material that absorbs the mercury in case of a break.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

by Mark Stencel, Governing

Where is the best place on the Web to post a series of instructive videos for state officials about Internet security? On YouTube, of course.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers did exactly that earlier this year. Just one problem: Iowa technology leader John Gillispie, the association's president, couldn't watch the videos. State employees in the offices where he works are blocked from accessing YouTube on their work computers; it is classified as an "entertainment" Web site.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has proposed creating a Cabinet-level position for a chief technology officer. Washingtonian.com finds the idea intriguing, and reviews some of the names being kicked around among techies. Should the czar be Google's Vint Cerf, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, or someone else? Author Garrett Graff says the push for a national CTO comes at a time when Washington and Silicon Valley are trying to develop closer relationships

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

In a sign that the market for photovoltaics may be about to take off, three computer heavyweights that promoted the development of the PC over the past three decades are moving into the solar cell business, says Scientific American. IBM announced it will begin making solar panels based on chemical thin films. Intel spun off a new solar tech company. And Hewlett-Packard started licensing technology to a company that makes rooftop solar systems.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Meghan McCarthy, CQ Staff

The Association of American Universities, a coalition of 60 research universities, has written a letter to Reps. Anna G. Eshoo , D-Calif., and Joe L. Barton , R-Texas, in support of the lawmakers' legislation that would create an approval pathway for follow-on biologics (HR 5629). The letter highlights the bill's proposed data exclusivity period as essential to funding the creation of new biologic products.

Materials engineered to be smaller than the wavelength of visible light are finding increasing applications in medicine, engineering, even consumer products like face cream, but no one quite knows what impact they might have on human health. Now researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a way to test the effects of nanoparticles on human cells, according to the Wired Science blog. They also found that if they coated certain particles with a gel, they could make them less toxic.

Web Pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

It's going to take a major effort for the United States to use renewable sources for a quarter of its energy needs by 2025, a new report says. The study, from the RAND Corporation, was commissioned by the non-profit Energy Future Coalition, which has set a "25 by '25" goal for renewables, according to Science Daily. The study warns that, if done wrong, a conversion to that much renewable energy could be expensive and have a negative impact on land use.

Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Daniel Fowler, CQ Staff

Local and federal officials participating in a Congressional hearing on nuclear terrorism disagreed about how prepared the country is to respond to an attack.

Administration representatives ranked the preparations higher than the lone local official testifying.

The government must take steps to push the availability of broadband Internet access if the U.S. is to remain competitive, a telecom law firm is recommending. The Baller Herbst Law Group, in a report to a North Carolina agency, calls for 100 megabits per second of affordable access for all Americans by 2012, with 1 gigabit per second service three years later, Ars Technica reports. Like electrification, it will require government action to ensure poorer and more rural areas get service, the report says.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain this week suggested offering $300 million to the person who can build the next generation of battery for plug-in hybrid automobiles. Technology Review asks a pair of MIT battery experts what they think of the idea. While one says the prize will focus attention on a key problem, the other feels that, without benchmarks, the idea is mainly a political stunt.

Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

The companies that offer phones calls using Voice-over-Internet Protocol, such as Skype and Vonage, currently piggyback on telephone networks when one of the parties to a call doesn't have a VoIP device, a strategy that brings the VoIP companies revenue. But an essay at GigaOm argues that this model won't last forever, as VoIP achieves greater penetration. In the long run, the writer argues, the telephone companies may go the way of the Dodo.

Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Daniel Fowler and Rob Margetta, CQ Staff

A Homeland Security Advisory Council task force is recommending that the Department of Homeland Security create a new technologies acquisition strategy for the entire department and a plan for implementing it -- an idea popular with contractors and the department.

The recommendation was part of an Essential Technology Task Force report that the full council adopted at its meeting Wednesday.

Toyota will offer two new hybrid models in 2010, including a new plug-in hybrid, AutoWeek reports. To that end, the company is ramping up production of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for the cars. It's also investing in new battery technology, considering possible chemistries that include a metal-air battery.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama ought to have a debate focusing on science and technology policy, a former White House technology advisor says. Mike Nelson, who worked in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under Bill Clinton, tells Wired's Threat Level blog that the topics should include universal broadband Internet access. But he'd reframe a debate on science as a debate about America's future, Nelson said.

To help frame the debate on science, TechCrunch, which has been covering the just-finished Personal Democracy Forum in New York City, offers a poll to find out what technology policies its readers would give priority to. Among the choices, "mandate net neutrality," "promote renewable energy," and "appoint an engineer to the FCC." Netscape creator Mark Andreessen suggests "brain draining the world" by offering work visas to anyone with a college education.

Related Story: Clinton, Obama Surrogates Debate Science Policy

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

An insufficient number of work visas and green cards is forcing foreign students educated in the United States to take their skills and go home, leaving "a tremendous number of unfilled jobs," warns an industry trade group. The New York Times reports that a technology industry trade association, AeA, has released a report, Cybercities 2008, saying the US is not producing enough of its own technology graduates to fill its needs.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Danielle Parnass, CQ Staff

Public and private anti-fraud organizations announced a new initiative Tuesday focused on fighting medical insurance fraud nationwide.

Called the Consortium to Combat Medical Fraud, the new entity is a partnership between the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA), the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. The Consortium will also work with the FBI and the Department of Justice.

The quality and accessibility of broadband in the U.S. is falling behind that of Europe and Asia, groups from the ACLU to Google believe. So the groups have joined together in a campaign called "Internet for Everyone," to urge the next administration to make universal broadband access a priority. The Google Public Policy blog explains the company's reasons for joining the push.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

by Zack Beauchamp, CQ Staff

Since September 11, 2001, the government, the press and think tanks have talked about how to fix the intelligence failures preceding the attacks. Poor cooperation and communication between intelligence agencies inhibited analyses that could have "connected the dots" well before that horrific day.

John McLaughlin, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 2000-2004, says though some of the criticisms of intelligence community exaggerate the number and significance of the failures, agency interoperability was and still is a significant concern for the American intelligence services. But there may be a fix in store.

Wind and solar power are all well and good, but unless there's a way to transmit their electricity from, say, the middle of the Mojave Desert to a home in the Dallas suburbs, they won't make much difference.

Speakers at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum said there's a real need to fund and build high-power transmission lines in the parts of the country where wind farms and solar installations would work best, which tend to be less inhabited, according to the Environmental News Network.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer

For the past few years, Jola Bicki has dutifully brought her two sons to the local Polish language school in New Britain, Conn., for 33 Saturday mornings. For their four-hour-a-week commitment, her boys received no payback other than nurturing a link to their family's heritage.

"When other kids sleep or play or do different programs, I have to drag my kids to school, and they didn't like it," said Bicki, who is on the language school's Board of Directors. "I pay for school, they study language and they get nothing."

But that's about to change, thanks in part to Polish Language School Inc., where Bicki's sons studied.

Alternative energy and conservation aren't the only responses to climate change. Another approach policy makers should consider is geo-engineering, changing the Earth to control the environment, an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times suggests. Actions such as putting particles into the atmosphere to reflect more sunlight away from the planet could buy us time as we switch to alternative fuels, argues Samuel Thernstrom of the American Enterprise Institute.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

A two-day conference in New York City this week is looking at the interaction of the Web and the political process, reports Ars Technica. At the Personal Democracy Forum's confab, researchers presented tools for mapping and modeling the blogosphere. One speaker suggested that online fundraising is not as important a use of the Internet as finding new ways to create civic institutions. New ways to conceive of bloggers and institutional relationships will aid that quest. And another noted that traditional media outlets are challenging bloggers with their own offerings during this campaign.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Can public safety officials get emergency help where it's needed in a more timely manner? That's the question researchers at Cornell are examining. Science Daily tells us the researchers have a National Science Foundation grant to perfect a computer program that will tell city managers where to place ambulances across a city for maximum availability at all times.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

The Securities and Exchange Commission will examine whether peer-to-peer lending embedded on a site like Facebook is a good idea, Tech Crunch reports. Lending Club, originally launched as a Facebook application, has filed registration forms with the government. The company suspended operations in April after the SEC told it it required regulatory approval to act as the middleman in lending deals.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

The poisonous seeds of a fast-growing weed called jatophra could make the friendly skies a little greener, the Los Angeles Times reports. Researchers from the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center are working with companies like Boeing to develop the oil from the seeds into a plant-based jet fuel. The fuel could produce about half the carbon emissions of fossil fuel, researchers say.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Kathryn A. Wolfe, CQ Staff

The Senate will begin on Tuesday to move its version of a NASA reauthorization, which is expected to be similar to one the House passed last week.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will mark up a draft NASA reauthorization bill that aides said will reauthorize the space agency at $20.2 billion in fiscal 2009, echoing the scope and length of the House bill (HR 6063).

Finding new sources of energy is important, but so is cutting back energy use at power-hungry facilities like computer data centers. CNET News brings us the story of a startup, Power Assure, which has developed so-called Holistic Power Management. The company says it can reduce data center power by up to 80 percent.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

With oil prices soaring and concern about global warming spreading, alternative energy could well be a booming market in the next few years. But will the winner be biodiesel, wind power, solar energy, or even new nuclear power? A special report in the Economist looks at a variety of technologies being developed around the world.

The authors say: "Any transition from an economy based on fossil fuels to one based on renewable, alternative, green energy--call it what you will--is likely to be slow, as similar changes have been in the past. On the other hand, the scale of the market provides opportunities for alternatives to prove themselves at the margin and then move into the mainstream, as is happening with wind power at the moment.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff

The Department of Homeland Security will take the second step in its process to regulate facilities that use and store hazardous chemicals this week, sending out letters to 7,000 sites to tell them they have been designated "high risk."

The letters represent the advancement of DHS' plan to improve chemical security across the board. Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection Robert Stephan said he wants to eliminate any perception among terrorists that American chemical facilities are soft targets.

The way we think about fuel efficiency could be undermining our ability to actually figure out how much a car can save us in gas costs, researchers at Duke University suggest.

New Scientist reports that a study found that people think doubling the miles per gallon of a compact car has the same effect on overall fuel consumption as doubling it in an SUV: that is, going from 10 to 20 mpg saves five gallons per 100 miles, while going from 25 to 50 mpg saves only two. The scientists want to flip the Environmental Protection Agency's standard on its head, from miles per gallon to gallons per (100) miles, which they say would make the picture clearer. In this case, 100 miles in the more efficient compact would "cost" 2 gallons, as opposed to 5 gallons in the more efficient SUV.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Mark Stencel, CQ Columnist

Calling my local cable provider for technical support is an all too frequent annoyance, made more so by the automated process by which the company tries to determine that I am, in fact, me. After matching my home phone number to my account, a recorded voice asks for one more piece of identifying information: "To ensure the privacy of your account, please enter or say the last four digits of the primary account holder's Social Security number."

Asking for any part of a Social Security number is, needless to say, the worst possible way to ensure anyone's privacy, especially when companies misuse those ubiquitous numbers by pretending that they can safely serve as a kind of secret password.

Ninety-nine large businesses from all over the world, including ALCOA and Shell, want global leaders to get together on greenhouse-gas targets and an international carbon market, Bloomberg says.

The statement, prepared by the World Economic Forum, was presented ahead of next month's meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. The U.S. has said it won't agree to any binding targets unless China and India do also.

Bloomberg quotes Paris-based International Energy Agency as saying earlier this month that "Oil, power and metal industries are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. To cut their output in half by 2050, an extra $45 trillion must be invested in clean-air technologies."

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

The continued use of certain drugs, known as contrast agents, to improve echocardiogram (ultrasound) images of the heart is leading to deaths, the Food and Drug Administration says.

An AP story on Forbes.com reports that the FDA put out a warning in October, but since then has received four reports of patients dying after being injected with Definity, a drug formerly marketed by Bristol Myers Squibb.

Researchers are always trying to develop agents that are easier to see on ultrasound or MRI scans as a way to spot hard-to-find defects.

"Think," a Norwegian company that makes cars that run only on electricity, has opened a North American division and hopes to start-selling its autos in the U.S. in 2009, Business Week reports.

The Think Ox is about the size of a Prius, runs for 125-155 miles per charge on rechargeable lithium ion batteries, and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. One wonders if the Ox name, presumably designed to evoke clean air, will have the same effect on sales that the Chevy Nova---"no go" in Spanish---legendarily had on sales in Latin America.

Posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

By Adrianne Kroepsch, CQ Staff

A bill that would tweak digital TV transition assistance for some broadcast stations passed the Senate late Thursday by unanimous consent.

The bill (S 2607) would speed federal grant money to TV stations that broadcast low-power signals. It passed along with a substitute amendment authored by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye , D-Hawaii.

Digitizing health records can improve the quality of medical care by speeding access to information and reducing errors. But the New York Times reports that a new study shows fewer than 20 percent of the n