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Daily Archives: August 4, 2020

Remote work really does mean longer days and more meetings

Washington Post: ” The massive global shift to remote work since the pandemic began has led to some upsides: More flexibility, no commute, more comfortable pants. But those who sense this grand experiment in working from home also comes with plenty of downsides — longer days, more meetings and more email to answer — are now backed up by data from 3.1 million workers. The average workday lengthened by 48.5 minutes in the weeks following stay-at-home orders and lockdowns, and the number of meetings increased by 13 percent, a working paper published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed. The study, which examined the anonymous email and calendar data of more than three million users from an unnamed tech provider, also found significant increases in internal email and in meeting sizes…”

The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free

Current Affairs: “Paywalls are justified, even though they are annoying. It costs money to produce good writing, to run a website, to license photographs. A lot of money, if you want quality. Asking people for a fee to access content is therefore very reasonable. You don’t expect to get a print subscription  to the newspaper gratis, why would… Continue Reading

Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery: Responsibilities, Authority, and Appointment

CRS report via LC – Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery: Responsibilities, Authority, and Appointment. April 13, 2020: “The Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted on March 27, 2020(P.L. 116-136). The CARES Act provides over $2 trillion in relief to individuals; businesses; state, local, and tribal government; federal agencies; and industry… Continue Reading

UN – “The future of education is here”

Education During COVID-19 and Beyond: “Education is the key to personal development and the future of societies. It unlocks opportunities and narrows inequalities. It is the bedrock of informed, tolerant societies, and a primary driver of sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the largest disruption of education ever. In mid-July, schools were closed… Continue Reading

Poll – Despite Mask Wars, Americans Support Aggressive Measures To Stop COVID-19

NPR – “With the national death toll from COVID-19 passing the grim 150,000 mark, an NPR/Ipsos poll finds broad support for a single, national strategy to address the pandemic and more aggressive measures to contain it. Two-thirds of respondents said they believe the U.S. is handling the pandemic worse than other countries, and most want… Continue Reading

NSA – Limiting Location Data Exposure

NSA Cybersecurity Information: “Mobile devices store and share device geolocation data by design. This data is essential to device communications and provides features—such as mapping applications—that users consider indispensable. Mobile devices determine location through any combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) and wireless signals (e.g., cellular, wireless (Wi-Fi®1), or Bluetooth®2 (BT)). Location data can be… Continue Reading

Coronavirus Brings American Decline Out in the Open

Bloomberg Opinion – Noah Smith: Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades. “The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to. Americans drove past empty construction sites and didn’t even think about why the workers weren’t working, then wondered… Continue Reading