Author archives

The Copyright Holdout Problem and New Internet-Based Services

Cross, John T. and Yu, Peter K., The Copyright Holdout Problem and New Internet-Based Services (July 29, 2016). EXPLORING SENSIBLE MECHANISMS OF PAYING FOR COPYRIGHT, Liu Kung-Chung and Reto M. Hilty, eds., Springer, 2016. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2815825 “This chapter examines the holdout problem involving a copyright holder’s refusal to license digital content …

Subjects: Copyright, Government Documents, Intellectual Property, Internet, Legal Research, Libraries

The world produces enough food to feed everyone. So why do people go hungry?

“Poverty and hunger are intimately connected, which is why the SDGs target elimination of both. For someone living at the World Bank’s poverty line of $1.90 per day, food would account for some 50-70% of income. The Bank estimates that almost four-fifths of the world’s poor live in rural areas, though those areas account for …

Subjects: Economy, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Poverty

Understanding Health Research – A tool for making sense of health studies

“Understanding Health Research is a tool designed to help people understand and review published health research to decide how dependable and relevant a piece of research is. The tool guides users through a series of questions to ask about specific types of health research, and helps users to understand what the answers to those questions …

Subjects: Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

New Google Chrome 55 will boost use of HTML5 over Adobe Flash

Flash and Chrome – August 9, 2016. “Adobe Flash Player played a pivotal role in the adoption of video, gaming and animation on the Web. Today, sites typically use technologies like HTML5, giving you improved security, reduced power consumption and faster page load times. Going forward, Chrome will de-emphasize Flash in favor of HTML5. Here’s …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Search Engines, Social Media

Household Debt Balances Increase Boosted by Growth in Auto Loan Credit Card Balances

Federal Reserve Bank of New York – “Aggregate household debt balances grew slowly in the second quarter of 2016. As of June 30, 2016, total household indebtedness was $12.29 trillion, a $35 billion (0.3%) increase from the first quarter of 2016. Overall household debt remains 3.1% below its 2008Q3 peak of $12.68 trillion, but is …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

FHFA Announces Results of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Dodd-Frank Act Stress Tests

“The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released a report providing the results of annual stress tests Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) are required to conduct under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).  The Dodd-Frank Act requires certain financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets to …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

GAO Report – DOE Project Management

DOE Project Management: NNSA Needs to Clarify Requirements for Its Plutonium Analysis Project at Los Alamos, GAO-16-585: Published: Aug 9, 2016. Publicly Released: Aug 9, 2016. “The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) defined requirements for the revised Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) project to provide plutonium analysis equipment at its …

Subjects: Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents

Article – International shipping touches 90% of everything we buy

Via Fast co.exist: “The climate deal made in Paris last November didn’t include cargo ships—despite the fact that shipping emits roughly as much climate pollution as the entire country of Germany (and more pollution than the 160 least-polluting countries to sign the agreement, combined). A visualization from researchers at University College London and the digital …

Subjects: Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Transportation

Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010

Via Fast co.exist: “You’re 25 Times More Likely To Be Shot To Death In America Than Any Other Developed Nation…In a study based on World Health Organisation (WHO) data from 2010, by Erin Grinshteyn and David Hemenway, researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno have detailed the absurd risks of guns in the U.S. The study …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

The Atlantic – Is America Any Safer Post 9/11?

Since 9/11, the United States has spent $1 trillion to defend against al-Qaeda and ISIL, dirty bombs and lone wolves, bioterror and cyberterror. Has it worked? -“… over the past 15 years, the American government has spent $100 billion to $150 billion on failed or unworthy homeland-security programs and on acquiring and maintaining equipment that …

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents, Legal Research

FTA Releases WMATA Track Integrity Investigation Report – Safety Directive to Correct Systemic Track Safety Problems

“The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today issued a Safety Directive to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) requiring the transit agency to complete 12 actions to correct track integrity deficiencies in the Metrorail system.  The Safety Directive is based on 12 significant findings set out in a Track Integrity Investigation …

Subjects: Government Documents, Transportation

Born digital news collections: New formats, new approaches

Born Digital News Collections: New Formats, New Approaches Elisa Villanueva, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands); Jasper Faase, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands), IFLA 2016. “Nowadays most newspapers (or almost all of them) have a digital version or are definitely turning to digital. Furthermore, there are many news websites which provide news …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries