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Monthly Archives: May 2014

NYT – N.S.A. Collecting Millions of Faces From Web Images

“The National Security Agency is harvesting huge numbers of images of people from communications that it intercepts through its global surveillance operations for use in sophisticated facial recognition programs, according to top-secret documents. The spy agency’s reliance on facial recognition technology has grown significantly over the last four years as the agency has turned to new software to exploit the flood of images included in emails, text messages, social media, videoconferences and other communications, the N.S.A. documents reveal. Agency officials believe that technological advances could revolutionize the way that the N.S.A. finds intelligence targets around the world, the documents show. The agency’s ambitions for this highly sensitive ability and the scale of its effort have not previously been disclosed. The agency intercepts “millions of images per day” — including about 55,000 “facial recognition quality images” — which translate into “tremendous untapped potential,” according to 2011 documents obtained from the former agency contractor Edward J. Snowden. While once focused on written and oral communications, the N.S.A. now considers facial images, fingerprints and other identifiers just as important to its mission of tracking suspected terrorists and other intelligence targets, the documents show.”

Paper – World Family Indicators

World Family Indicators – Laura H. Lippman, W. Bradford Wilcox, and Renee Ryberg, May 2014. Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), asbl “The indicators section of the 2014 World Family Map report provides information on 16 indicators of family well-being in four areas—family structure, family socioeconomics, family process, and family culture—across 49 countries, representing a majority of the world’s population. The… Continue Reading

My Brother’s Keeper Task Force Report to the President

“For decades, opportunity has lagged behind for boys and young men of color. But across the country, communities are adopting innovative approaches, opening doors, strengthening supports, and building ladders of opportunity for young people, including boys and young men of color, to help put them on the path to success. President Obama wants to build… Continue Reading

EDP Open survey reveals Learned society attitudes towards Open Access

“EDP Open, the Open Access publishing arm of EDP Sciences, has today released the results of a survey to appraise attitudes toward Open Access amongst learned society publishers. The survey was answered by 33 learned societies and the results were further supplemented by a focus group held at the annual UKSG meeting in Harrogate in April.… Continue Reading

Google Workforce Report Omits Any Mention of Age

Follow up to precious posting – Google Posts About Lack of Diversity in their Workforce, more information on another group that is not represented in the company’s workforce due to their, age!   See Google’s So-Called Diversity Makes No Mention of Age  “Google shared their EEO-1 report (PDF link), a survey the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires big employers to… Continue Reading

Graduate Education, Enrollment, and Degrees in the United States

National Science Foundation – Graduate Education, Enrollment, and Degrees in the United States Graduate Enrollment in S&E S&E Master’s Degrees S&E Doctoral Degrees “Graduate education in S&E contributes to global competitiveness, producing the highly skilled workers of the future and the research needed for a knowledge-based economy. In 2009, the Council of Graduate Schools and the… Continue Reading

Massive 3D-printed model shows off San Francisco in amazing detail

Via The Verge – 115 blocks of a neighborhood undergoing constant change “Virtual 3D models of cities are nothing new, but bringing one into the physical world is a bit more challenging. AutoCAD maker Autodesk and creative marketing agency Steelblue did just that, however, with this massive, incredibly detailed 3D print of San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood.… Continue Reading

ALA Strategic Technology Directions 2014-2017 & Technology Roadmap

Via Jenny Levine – ALA Strategic Technology Directions 2014-2017 & Technology Roadmap “The ALA Information Technology & Telecommunication Services (ITTS) unit presented the ALA Strategic Technology Directions 2014-2017 to the ALA Executive Board in April 2014.  It provides a good foundation to understand how technology is implemented to meet the goals of the organization and explains the role… Continue Reading

GAO Report – Agencies Need to Improve Cyber Incident Response Practices

INFORMATION SECURITY: Agencies Need to Improve Cyber Incident Response Practices, GAO-14-354: Published: Apr 30, 2014. Publicly Released: May 30, 2014. “Twenty-four major federal agencies did not consistently demonstrate that they are effectively responding to cyber incidents (a security breach of a computerized system and information). Based on a statistical sample of cyber incidents reported in fiscal year 2012,… Continue Reading

What Have We Learned About Austerity Since the Great Recession?

Michael Madowitz, What Have We Learned About Austerity Since the Great Recession?, May 2014. “There are three major lessons for policymakers from this research: Direct government intervention during recessions, either through deficit-financed tax cuts or deficit-financed increases in government spending, is a more powerful tool for fighting recessions than we realized before the Great Recession. In a slack… Continue Reading

The Texas Tribune and Oyez® to launch multimedia site for Texas high courts

IIT Chicago Kent College of Law – “Texas will soon benefit from an online archive for its two highest courts, launched through a partnership between The Texas Tribune and Oyez®, a free law project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Amidst a scarcity of news coverage about… Continue Reading