Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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.
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
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.
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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).
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Fearing the country isn't producing enough scientists and engineers to keep the US competitive with the rest of the world, the National 4-H Council went to Washington this week to lobby members of Congress to promote science to youngsters, says the Wall Street Journal.
4-H wants funding for programs that give kids hands-on experience with science, such as building rockets. The council pledges to prepare one million of the nation's youth for science careers by 2013.
posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Scientific American reports that the project cost $500,000, of which $400,000 came as grants from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Whether such a setup could be made economically feasible in subdivisions around the country is an open question.
posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com
The House Wednesday passed a bill to reauthorize NASA for one year and continue the agency's ambitious plans to send astronauts back to the moon and to Mars.
The $20.2 billion measure (HR 6063) passed 409-15. Lawmakers began debating it June 12, but a vote on final passage was delayed by unexpectedly long consideration of other bills and the vagaries of the congressional calendar.
House members adopted two amendments to the measure.
Just about every flashy piece of high-tech piece first-responder gear the Department of Homeland Security is working on was packed into a Dirksen Senate Office Building room Wednesday. There was the radio that can communicate with just about all emergency frequencies, the flashlight that can temporarily blind and nauseate suspects and the air supply tank that weighs one-third of those on the market now. One Massachusetts state trooper walked around in mock-ups of next-generation body armor.
And, dangling from a tripod in one corner of the room was a small backpack, looking like the kind mountain bikers might keep a water supply in, with a series of circuit boards and wires protruding from its top.
Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say the manure from a single pig could yield 21 gallons of crude oil. Wired Science reports though the pig-based fuel is not yet ready for use in your road hog, the analysis tells researchers how they can improve it. More important, says Wired, is that in doing this study, NIST developed a measurement technique that can be used in analyzing all sorts of fuels.
"Jury duty." Two simple words that bring an irritated sigh from bosses, sympathy from co-workers and and a sinking feeling that you'll waste a whole day cooling your heels in a waiting room. But an online innovation in jury selection, called I-Jury is lessening the cringe and inconvenience factor in Travis County, Texas.
I-Jury replaces the traditional juror assembly room, where prospective jurors sit and wait - sometimes for hours - before being assigned to a courtroom. Sometimes people don't get called into a courtroom at all to see if they could potentially serve on a case.
It's not just the SUV that have America's highways contributing to global warming. Making asphalt requires heating it to 300°F, which means burning energy and emitting carbon. The Environmental News Network reports a University of Wisconsin scientist is studying materials he could mix in with the tar to make low-temperature asphalt.
Even with greener asphalt, the vehicles traveling our highways are still a major source of greenhouse gases. Google's Public Policy Blog thinks plug-in hybrids may provide one way of reducing emissions. Along with the Brookings Institution, they're sponsoring a conference called "Plug-in Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington," to discuss how the federal government can encourage such cars.
posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com
High-tech attacks notwithstanding, an analysis by Verizon's Business Risk team found the vast majority of data losses come down to sloppy security. The Wall Street Journal says that over half of the attacks the team studied were committed by people with minimal technical skills. They say stupid mistakes are so common that forensics work is getting boring.
A new model for monitoring the Internet to identify computer infected with worms could reduce the threat of worms such as Code Red, which caused $2.6 billion in damages. Technology Review reports that researchers found they could catch worms earlier if they looked at the number of times a machine scans the Internet looking for new hosts. The key was finding the scanning rate high enough that it indicated infection without catching uninfected computers just going about their business.
A report from the RAND Corp. says the US is still the world leader in science and technology, despite worries about falling behind. But it also finds there is increasing competition from Europe and Asia, and recommends some steps to stay in the lead, Science Blog reports. Among the suggestions: Make it easier for foreigners who earn degrees here to stay here, and establish a group to keep an eye on how US science and technology stacks up.
Shortfalls in the blood supply are a chronic public health problem, especially in the summer months. Science Daily reports that a UCLA clinical trial of a blood substitute, derived from cows, found the substance was relatively safe in patients under 80 who needed up to about three pints of blood. The substitute can be stored for three years at room temperature and doesn't need to be matched to a patient's blood type.
Vehicles account for about 30 percent of Denver's greenhouse-gas emissions. That's one reason the city has agreed to participate in a new public-private initiative, Driving Change. Sponsored by EnCana Oil and Gas, the pilot program seeks to demonstrate once and for all that there is a correlation between driving behaviors and CO2 emissions -- and, along the way, persuade drivers to change their aggressive-driving ways.
Starting May first, devices in 400 cars -- 200 driven by city and county employees and 200 by volunteers -- began tracking how driving patterns such as speeding, idling and fast stopping affect fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. The devices wirelessly transmit the data to a secure Web site where drivers can see how much greenhouse gas emissions their vehicles generate. The site suggests strategies tailored to each driver's habits to improve their behavior and reduce their emissions. The primary goal of the pilot is to produce up to a 20 percent reduction in CO2 from each pilot vehicle.
You can find anything on Google Maps (okay, not anything). But you might not be able to find the town of North Oaks, Minnesota. The St. Paul suburb of 4,500 is in a unique situation -- its streets are all privately owned by the residents.
The rest of the story at Governing Magazine.
To appeal to a new generation, some libraries are positioning themselves as places to create content.
Shalique Edmond has come to the Loft at Charlotte's children's library, as he does nearly every Saturday, to record a hip-hop song. In the library's new music and animation studio, a round room jammed with computers, microphones and movie-making equipment, Shalique, who is 14, cuffs earphones over his braids while his friend, Kyree Crawl, mixes beats on a Macintosh. The boys giggle as the track comes together, but as Shalique prepares to rap over it, he puts on a serious air. "If I'm comfortable with the words, it will work the first time," he says, sounding cocky. "I'm a professional."
Music, Shalique explains, is in his blood. His father was a music producer and his uncle was a singer. Shalique once had a place in his home where he would make music, but he couldn't share his work because he didn't own a CD burner. He had pretty much stopped rapping altogether until he discovered "Studio i" at the library. Shalique started cutting CDs, and after a brief attempt at trying to sell them, he began giving them away to schoolteachers or anyone else who might have a listen. He also began uploading tunes to his MySpace page, so that anyone in the world could hear him on the Internet. "You go to the library to read," he says. "But they have the whole package here."
The librarians at the Loft don't necessarily love Shalique's music. What they do love is that he, like a growing number of other teenagers, thinks to come to the library at all. The draw for Shalique may be making music, but while he's around, he also spends time on the computers. Other kids at the Loft use the library's equipment to create animated videos and upload them to YouTube, take pictures of themselves to put on Facebook and play video games such as Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band and all the Wii sports games. A few teens are even known to read books here, sinking into one of the Loft's plush orange chairs, or burrowing into one of the cozy booths where there are no rules against putting their feet up on the furniture. "It's a bit like Wal-Mart," says Robin Bryan, a library technology manager. "They come in for one thing and discover something else."
Find the full story at Governing Magazine.
By Leah Nylen, CQ Staff
Nield has worked inthe aerospace field for 30 years -- for the Air Force, then NASA and now for the Federal Aviation Administration, where last month he took over the office that licenses and regulates commercial space flight.
Q. How soon until we see regular commercial flights into space?
A. It's quite likely we will see flights in the next five years. Several companies are hoping to start test flights next year, with regular operations beginning as soon as 2010.
Q. Will commercial development of space interfere with President Bush's proposal to send astronauts back to the moon and eventually to Mars?
A. Not at all. Once NASA has retired the space shuttle, it will be relying on commercial operators to help service the space station. That will allow NASA to concentrate on more challenging endeavors.
