Day archives: February 27th, 2014

UK – Measuring National Well-being – Governance, 2014

“This article is published as part of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Measuring National Well-being Programme. The programme aims to produce accepted and trusted measures of the well-being of the nation – how the UK as a whole is doing. This article explores in more detail aspects of governance considered important for understanding National …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

Wandering in the footsteps of the polar bear with Google Maps

Google Official Blog: “This guest post is from Krista Wright, the executive director of Polar Bears International. We’ve partnered with PBI to share a fascinating look at polar bears in the wild using Google Maps. -Ed. In Inuit poetry, the polar bear is known as Pihoqahiak, the ever-wandering one. Some of the most majestic and elusive creatures in the …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

FDA proposes updates to Nutrition Facts label on food packages

News release: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today proposed to update the Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect the latest scientific information, including the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease. The proposed label also would replace out-of-date serving sizes to better align with how much people …

Subjects: Government Documents, Health Care

Education Dept. Releases New Guidance on Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services

“The U.S. Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) released new guidance today to help school systems and educators interpret and understand the major laws and best practices protecting student privacy while using online educational services. The guidance summarizes the major requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Education, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy

Guardian – Yahoo webcam images from millions of users intercepted by GCHQ

Spencer Ackerman and James Ball – The Guardian: “Britain’s surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Privacy

FTC Announces Top National Consumer Complaints for 2013

News release: “Identity theft continues to top the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints, and American consumers reported losing over $1.6 billion to fraud overall in 2013, according to the FTC’s annual report on consumer complaints released today. “Americans of all ages are vulnerable to identity theft, and it remains the most common consumer …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Government Documents, ID Theft, Internet, Privacy

New GAO Reports – Critical Infrastructure Protection, Defense Transportation, Electronic Health Records, Internet Pharmacies, Oil and Gas Mgmt, School Lunch

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION: Observations on DHS Efforts to Identify, Prioritize, Assess, and Inspect Chemical Facilities, GAO-14-365T: Published: Feb 27, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2014. DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION: DOD Can Better Ensure That Federal Agencies Fully Reimburse for Using Military Aircraft, GAO-14-189: Published: Feb 27, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2014. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: VA and DOD Need to Support Cost and …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Defense, E-Commerce, E-Records, Economy, Health Care, Internet, Medicine

New York Public Library Supporter Spreads Word About His Cause in Innovative Way

The Atlantic – Svati Kirsten Narula: “On Saturday, he spent five hours handing out flyers on the street and talking to people about the library—specifically, the NYPL’s plan to renovate the main branch and sell two other branches, which Zadrozny thinks will be “a disaster.” He was recruiting participants for the “work-in” protests he’s started organizing on behalf of the grassroots Committee …

Subjects: Blogs, Economy, Education, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries