October 2010

Obama's chief scientist pushes national broadband plan

The White House's top science and technology adviser, John Holdren, is putting his weight behind the development of the controversial national broadband plan. Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and technology, said the national broadband plan has a lot to recommend it. "I am convinced that it would be of benefit in many different respects," he said. "There would be an improvement in the productivity of the science and engineering enterprises, but I can't say by how much and I don't know if anybody can."

His comments come on the back of a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which said any attempt to implement the national broadband plan would be "challenging" despite other countries having similar goals. "Actions will be required by governments at all levels and the private sector," the report said. "Implementing the plan's recommendations will require coordinating the work of multiple stakeholders and obtaining sufficient funding, among other actions." While Holdren said the plan would boost the populations and productivity levels of rural and regional areas, he said he was unable to provide quantitative estimates as it wasn't his field of expertise. "I would guess it is [worth billions of dollars] because the leverage is probably very substantial," he claimed. "But when it comes to budgets, this is a delicate matter because we have very difficult financial constraints and I don't want to endorse a particular number or version of the plan. "

Can the Social Network Predict Winners in the 2010 Midterms?

In Nevada, Republican challenger Sharron Angle is not only leading Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the polls, she's also far ahead on the social nets. Angle's Facebook page had 104,059 fans vs. a mere 14,348 for Reid. Angle is also leading when it comes to voter sentiment -- by four points, according to the latest Rasmussen poll. And Facebook's public policy team says that Angle is piling on new supporters at a faster rate than Reid. In the last two weeks, Angle's Facebook fan base grew by 10,500, vs. just 921 for Reid.

So does that mean Angle will knock Reid out of the Senate on election day next Tuesday? It's anyone's guess. No one's taken a hard look at the correlation between activity on Facebook and victory at the polls. But based on some of the primary races Facebook looked at, Sen Reid might want to start harvesting Farmville for friends. "Many candidates who won their primary races had more Facebook fans than their opponents and actively posted campaign updates on their Facebook Pages," Facebook's manager of public policy communications Andrew Noyes said.

How Lady Gaga's One Billion YouTube Views Changes the Music Industry

Which metric more fully captures Lady Gaga's global superstardom: the 15 million albums she's sold to date, or the one billion views she reached this week on YouTube?

Though CDs are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, replaced by digital music, physical album sales still remain the gold standard for the industry. Isn't it time that metric is updated to include the wealth of ubiquitous digital platforms? "The notion of tracking sales and correlating that to success is a bit antiquated," says Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff. "There's no single indicator you can look at now--you must look at everything." That means measuring not just physical but digital album and single sales, and pulling data from a variety of non-traditional platforms. The record industry must track downloads on iTunes and Amazon, fans on Facebook, followers and mentions on Twitter, streams on Pandora and MySpace, views on Vevo and YouTube and MTV, ticket sales on Ticketmaster -- to name a few.

Center for Public Integrity shifts strategy

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization launched decades before the decline of traditional journalism outlets made such organizations the rage, is planning a strategic overhaul aimed at matching donations with earned income in hopes of charting a more sustainable path for nonprofit journalism.

The new strategy, unanimously approved by the Center's board last Friday, will seek to make the Center's website a high-traffic destination that can generate revenue through underwriting (nonprofit speak for ads) and membership (nonprofit speak for subscriptions). Until now, the Center has focused on partnering with other media outlets, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and POLITICO, to get its stories to the wider public.

Kill Screen

Is the new crop of hyperrealistic military video games driving home the reality of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, or simply exploiting them?

Adrian's telepharmacy: just one example of stimulus' positive results in rural Minnesota

[Commentary] These are difficult economic times for everyone, but economic challenges are magnified in rural areas. The good news is that, thanks in part to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have made significant strides in getting our economy back on the right track. Recovery Act investments have not only helped Minnesota's rural economy in the short term, but will also continue to pay off well into the future.

The city of Adrian, located in Nobles County in the far southwestern corner of the state, recently used Recovery Act funds to establish a telepharmacy. For most of its 130-year existence, Adrian enjoyed the services of a hometown pharmacy. Unfortunately, the pharmacy closed in 2008. A hometown pharmacy meant that seniors in the town of 1,250 people did not have to travel far to fill prescriptions. It also helped draw people to other local businesses downtown. Using a $100,000 Recovery Act grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development mission area, Adrian was recently able to establish a telepharmacy downtown. Using video, audio and data technology, a pharmacist at a central location in nearby Worthington oversees the filling and verifying of prescriptions by a technician at the telepharmacy in Adrian. Images captured at the remote location allow the pharmacist to review, approve and document all transactions. One-on-one patient consultations are also conducted using the ScriptPro Telepharmacy technology. [Landkamer is the state director of USDA Rural Development in Minnesota.]

Baltimore County installs new public broadband system

Baltimore County unveiled an $18.5 million plan that officials said will vastly improve the local Internet system, provide quicker links among public safety agencies, schools, hospitals and libraries, and enhance connections to statewide networks.

The funding comes from the $115 million in federal stimulus money awarded to Maryland last month for broadband upgrades. The county will add $4 million in local spending to its $14.5 million share of the stimulus grant. County Executive James T. Smith Jr. called the broadband technology program "a real game-changer, both for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of critical government operations and also for helping to create jobs," during a news conference at the Baltimore County Public Safety Building. "This project will dramatically expand broadband capability in this county and state, and position our country for prosperity into the 21st century," Smith said.

The London Public Library: An Example of The New Mega-Library

The London Public Library opened its doors on Nov. 26, 1895, in London, Ontario Canada, under the Free Public Libraries Act of 1882. Since that time it has grown to include 16 branches, special programs for kids and teens, computer equipment for people with special needs, a visiting library, and a free tutoring program for children struggling with literacy, among other things. With information easily accessible on home computers, you would think libraries would be a thing of the past, but mega-libraries like these are not your grandma's library.

The London Public Library offers author readings, discussion groups and book clubs, computers and technology, movies, shows and concerts, workshops and classes, and extensive collections of material for enjoyment, learning and growth. Its goal is to be the community hub with resources to help you, "whether you are looking for parenting advice, need to know how to build a deck, or need a quiet place to read or connect with people." As engaging and helpful as the London Public Library branches are, in today's fast-paced life style, many people enjoy the convenience of downloading information for use at home or on the road, and find libraries, therefore, an antiquated resource. With a growing collection of free downloadable media, the London Public Library not only meets these needs, it exceeds it by supplying links to resource material and informative web sites as well.

Public Libraries -- Use Them or Possibly Lose them!

Public libraries in the UK are under threat due to cost cutting by local councils. However, they play an essential educational and leisure role -- and they can you save you money!

The Museums, Libraries and Archives have listed ways that your public library can save you dosh - for example, by borrowing rather than buying books, CDs, DVDs and magazines. Endless reading material! Whether you want the latest best seller, an obscure volume of Italian poetry or the latest glossy Nigella cookbook then your local public library can oblige. Never mind that bookshop 3 for 2 offer; I can borrow 20 books at a time. Public libraries play a vital role in literacy and reading development. Use a computer and access the Internet. For the millions of people in the UK who have no Internet access at home this is a vital service - whether for teenagers doing their homework or adults job hunting or doing other research. For beginners or those keen to advance their IT skills, libraries also offer learning sessions. Take your children. From tots to teen there are a multitude of books to choose from. In addition, libraries organise storytelling sessions and themed events during school holidays.

Concern over public library funding

Harden Library along with 54 other libraries across NSW Australia, most in country areas, are set to receive less funding than they did last year. Public Libraries NSW-Country, the peak association representing public libraries across rural and regional NSW, has expressed concern over the continued decline in the value of state government funding to public libraries. Chairman of the association, councillor Graham Smith said Minister for Arts Virginia Judge, has confirmed this year's allocation of funds to local councils for public library purposes, and once again the total amount of state funding has remained almost static. "There was a minuscule increase of $10,000, which we believe was caused by a drafting error in the budget papers," Cr Smith said.

Benton

Search