CQ Politics | Innovations - Technology: June 2008 Archives

The E-Verify System: Protection or Hindrance?

June 30, 2008 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Continue reading The E-Verify System: Protection or Hindrance?.

Who Should Be Obama's Tech Czar?

June 30, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

New Test Could Determine Toxicity of Nanoparticles

June 27, 2008 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

Will VoIP Kill the Telephone?

June 26, 2008 5:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

Integrated Technology Acquisition Plan Suggested for DHS

June 26, 2008 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Continue reading Integrated Technology Acquisition Plan Suggested for DHS.

Web Picks: Science Debate Needed, Tech Advisor Says

June 26, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Web Pick: Visa Rules Leaving Jobs Unfilled

June 25, 2008 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

Senate's NASA Bill Would Delay Shuttles' Retirement If Missions Remain

June 23, 2008 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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).

Continue reading Senate's NASA Bill Would Delay Shuttles' Retirement If Missions Remain.

Your Insecurity Card

June 23, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Continue reading Your Insecurity Card.

Web Pick: (Totally) Electric Cars Coming to America

June 20, 2008 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"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

Web Pick: Doctors Don't Use Electronic Records

June 20, 2008 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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 nation's doctors have adopted electronic records. A big part of the problem is that small, private practices don't want to spend the $15,000 to $20,000 per doctor it would take to make the conversion.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

NASA Bill Would Fund Science as Well as Spacecraft

June 19, 2008 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kathryn A. Wolfe, CQ Staff

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.

Continue reading NASA Bill Would Fund Science as Well as Spacecraft .

WiMAXed Out: Why One WiFi Option Hasn't Lived Up To Its Hype

June 19, 2008 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Ellen Perlman, Governing

It's easy to see why some people call WiMAX, a form of wireless broadband, "Wi-Fi on steroids." Rather than hotspots of connectivity -- a dot of Wi-Fi in a park here or a library there -- WiMAX promises to create a giant hotspot, large enough to cover an entire city. Wireless Internet access on such a massive scale would be valuable to governments, especially municipalities that could use it to remotely read utility meters or stream crime-scene video to police in their squad cars. So ever since state and local officials began hearing about WiMAX in 2001, they've been wondering when this ballyhooed technology would be ready for prime time.

They're still wondering.

Continue reading WiMAXed Out: Why One WiFi Option Hasn't Lived Up To Its Hype.

Solution for Those Seeking a Way to Find Firefighters

June 18, 2008 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff

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.

Continue reading Solution for Those Seeking a Way to Find Firefighters.

Google Promotes Electric Cars

June 16, 2008 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com

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.

Human Error Causes Most Data Breaches

June 16, 2008 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Behavior Changes Can Reveal Worms (the Digital Kind)

June 16, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com

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.

Report Suggests Steps to Keep US Ahead in Science

June 16, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com

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.