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Another FOIA project by researcher Michael Ravnitzky has yielded detailed information about the availability of several dozen topical legal research resources and guides authored by Justice Libraries staff. Specific titles, along with authors, annotations, and instructions on how to obtain copies of the materials, was posted by Mr. Ravnitzky early this morning to several law …
In Age of Security, Firm Mines Wealth Of Personal Data (reg. req’d): the Post provides an overview of ChoicePoint, described as a “little-known information industry giant.” However, many librarians and researchers are well acquainted with the company’s products, and it has been in the bulls-eye of privacy advocates for selling its vast databases of personal …
Survey: Web Sites Building Better Brand Loyalty Than Physical Stores
Joshua Tauberer, a grad student at U. Penn, has created an amazing legislative tracking service, GovTrack.us, which won the top prize in the Technorati Developer’s Contest. The site’s automated monitoring services are free, and the data is obtained from federal sources including THOMAS and the websites of the U.S. House and Senate. Users may track …
From EPIC: “Through the Freedom of Information Act, EPIC has obtained FBI reports to Congress stating that the agency did not use its DCS 1000 Internet monitoring system — formerly known as Carnivore — during fiscal years 2002 (pdf) and 2003 (pdf). According to the reports, the FBI used commercially available software to conduct court-ordered …
Inauguration 2005 (reg. req’d). See also the Post’s Inauguration Blog ’05.
Microsoft is done beta testing MSN search, and it is now “offically” live. Related news about MSN – Really Simple Syndication: Getting Started, is a useful guide to implementing news feeds on the My MSN service. See also MSN Removes Beta Tag from Search Site, which includes information on how this engine indexes content, as …
From This is London, via Om Malik and Andy Baio, important news that blinkTV has an agreement with the BBC, ITV, Sky and Fox to provide subscription access to a substantial archive of past content as well as programming from future broadcasts. Related reference: BBC Creative Archive pioneers new approach to public access rights in …
New Scientist provides a roster of RSS feeds (in a choice of Atom, RSS, XML and RDF), on breaking news, topical areas including Info-Tech, Health, and Being Human, as well as a range of special reports such as Motoring Technology (my favorite), Electronic Threats, and Climate Change. While you are on the site, take the …
From the press release: “Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed the state’s first lawsuit against one of the world’s largest spam operations in an effort to crack down on the massive flow of illegal e-mail into Texas consumers’ in-boxes.” Lawsuit Against PayPerAction Et Al. (16 pages, PDF) Consumer Tips on SPAM Prevention See also related …
Arriving this summer, significant improvements in the Regulations.gov website, detailed in this GovExec.com report. “For the first time, citizens will be able not only to comment on proposed regulations using the Internet – as they do now on the site – but also will have access to supporting agency documents, every public comment and rules …
Access to Government Information in the United States, updated January 7, 2005: “Throughout the first 150 years of the federal government, access to government information does not appear to have been a major issue among the three branches or for the citizenry. There were a few instances during this period when the President, for reasons …
