January 2015

Why You Should Live in Ammon, Idaho

[Commentary] Why should you live in Ammon, Idaho? Because it has a dark fiber network -- thin, flexible strands of glass that are capable of carrying an unlimited amount of information in the form of pulses of light, but haven't yet been "lit" by the electronics that trigger lasers to create those pulses and transmit them through the glass. Once installed, upgrades to dark fiber come in the form of the electronics that create and receive those pulses of light; the strands of glass themselves won’t have to be replaced for many decades. Dark fiber is like a street grid: Towns and cities with unlit fiber networks in place are creating a fertile field for private competition, innovation, economic growth, and social justice without providing end-user services themselves. Once in place, dark fiber is like an inexhaustible natural resource, enriching both citizenry and commerce.

[Susan Crawford is the author of "The Responsive City"]

Social Media and the Cost of Caring

Overall, frequent Internet and social media users do not have higher levels of stress. In fact, for women, the opposite is true for at least some digital technologies. Holding other factors constant, women who use Twitter, e-mail and cellphone picture sharing report lower levels of stress. At the same time, the data show there are circumstances under which the social use of digital technology increases awareness of stressful events in the lives of others. Especially for women, this greater awareness is tied to higher levels of stress and it has been called “the cost of caring.”

Stress is not associated with the frequency of people’s technology use, or even how many friends users have on social media platforms. But there is one way that people’s use of digital technology can be linked to stress: Those users who feel more stress are those whose use of digital tech is tied to higher levels of awareness of stressful events in others’ lives. This finding about “the cost of caring” adds to the evidence that stress is contagious. In sum, social media users are not any more likely to feel stress than others, but there is a subgroup of social media users who are more aware of stressful events in their friends’ lives and this subgroup of social media users does feel more stress.

Vice President Biden Announces $25 Million in Funding for Cybersecurity Education at HBCUs

Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and White House Science Advisor John Holdren are announcing that the Department of Energy will provide a $25 million grant over the next five years to support cybersecurity education.

The grant will support the creation of a new cybersecurity consortium consisting of 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, two national labs, and a k-12 school district. The announcement builds on President Barack Obama's proposals on cybersecurity, focusing on the critical need to fill the growing demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals in the US job market, while also diversifying the pipeline of talent in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Study finds software can’t replace spy agency data gathering

According to a new analysis from the National Research Council, software won’t be able to fully replace intelligence agencies’ bulk collection of communications. While the new report throws cold water on the idea that the National Security Agency could use software to replace the bulk collection of people’s communications, researchers said that it could still help reduce that data gathering.

“From a technological standpoint, curtailing bulk data collection means analysts will be deprived of some information,” said Robert Sproull, the head of the study committee. Still, “a reduction in bulk collection can be partially mitigated by improving targeted collection, and technologies can improve oversight and transparency and help reduce the conflict between collection and privacy,” he said.

Verizon Releases Transparency Report for Second Half 2014

During the second half of 2014, Verizon received almost 140,000 demands for customer information from United States law enforcement, a number that is generally comparable to the almost 150,000 demands we received in the first half of 2014. Although we continue to receive large numbers of demands, the overall percent of our customers affected remains very small.

A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Internet of Things

At its very basic level, the Internet of Things refers to the connection of everyday objects to the Internet and to one another, with the goal being to provide users with smarter, more efficient experiences.

The broad idea behind these buzzwords is that a whole constellation of inanimate objects is being designed with built-in wireless connectivity, so that they can be monitored, controlled and linked over the Internet via a mobile app. The types of objects span a wide range of categories, from wearables to light bulbs to home appliances (like the coffee maker, washing machine, and even your car) -- really, anything. IoT is also being applied to vertical markets like the medical and health-care industry and to transportation systems.

‘Selma’ Snub Means Diversity Is Still Sparse in a White Hollywood

[Commentary] The Motion Picture Academy snubbed “Selma”, one of the movies that seemed to have passion, momentum and the weight of history on its side. Yes, I know the film won a Best Picture nomination, but it was snubbed in the writing, directing and acting categories. That’s a surprise. The Academy missed a chance to nominate an African-American woman director -- which would have been a first.

Why the snub in a year after “12 Years a Slave” made it all the way to win Best Picture? It could not have helped that Paramount never got the screeners to the voters. It’s also worth considering that the Academy is made up almost entirely of elderly white men. And as we know, diversity is a total stranger in its membership halls. We’re talking 90-something percent white. That can only change when the industry itself changes -- opens its arms to the diversity of experience, art, culture and voices of what America has become.

Expanding FCC Use of Electronic Communications

More is needed to reduce the Federal Communications Commission’s reliance on the United States Postal Service.

The right thing to do is to embrace electronic technology and set it as the default for any communication or action by the FCC, thereby saving a bit of money and promoting efficiency. In the end, the FCC has the responsibility to update its procedures to ensure better interactions with the licensing community and save taxpayers money. Chairman Tom Wheeler set the FCC on the right path on this particular item, but now we need to follow through at a much swifter pace.

Who needs lobbyists? See what big business spends to win American minds

Forget lobbying. When Washington, DC’s biggest trade associations want to wield influence, they often put far more of their money into advertising and public relations, according to a new Center for Public Integrity investigation.

It’s been well-publicized how much industry spends on lobbying the government, but little is known about how much money goes toward influencing the public. Of $3.4 billion in contracts reported by the 144 trade groups from 2008 through 2012, more than $1.2 billion, or 37 percent, went toward advertising, public relations and marketing services, more than any other category. The second-highest total, $682.2 million, or 20 percent of the total, was directed toward legal, lobbying and government affairs.

UK rural companies warn of poor broadband links

Half of the UK’s small rural companies are unhappy with their broadband provision according to research by the Federation of Small Businesses.

They were almost twice as dissatisfied as their urban peers. The FSB predicted the problem would become worse over the next two years as technology advances and high-quality broadband connections become more important to doing business. The FSB said the lack of broadband infrastructure for small companies “threatens the expansion of the £400bn rural economy”, which includes more than one million small businesses. The FSB research highlighted particular concerns over reliability, upload and download speeds." This research paints a worrying picture of a divided business broadband landscape in the UK, and unless addressed highlights a clear obstacle to growth,” said Mike Cherry, national policy chairman at the FSB.

Benton

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