Monday, November 25, 2013

Does this protect my encrypted files as well?
Password Protection Laws Could Protect Much More than Passwords
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on November 24, 2013
O’Donohue, Sarah, ‘Like’ it or Not, Password Protection Laws Could Protect Much More than Passwords (August 1, 2013). 20 J.L. Bus. & Eth. (February 2014, Forthcoming). Available at SSRN
“Employers and schools in several states are now prohibited from requesting access to the social networking accounts of their employees, students, and applicants as a result of the “password protection” laws that are sweeping the nation. These laws take an expansive view of the definition of privacy by implying that viewing content on a user’s restricted-access social networking profile without his consent constitutes an invasion of privacy. Courts have consistently held that the information users post on social networking websites is, in fact, not private. Further highlighting the contrast between legislative and judicial interpretations of privacy in the context of these new technologies, the express language in one of the password protection laws declares that all Internet users have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their social networking website communications and affairs. This Article argues that password protection laws should be interpreted narrowly as only prohibiting the invasive methods used by employers and schools to gather information from social networking profiles — not as establishing in all cases that communications to which access has been restricted are private. The reasonableness of a user’s expectation of privacy in the content of his social networking profile must be determined by courts on a case-by-case basis, informed by such factors as how many people he invites to view it, the relationship between the user and his chosen audience, the exact calibration of his privacy settings, and the degree to which his digital information is guarded by the website under its privacy and data use policies.”


How about that...
Evelyn B. Stacey reports:
After months of parent protests, Colorado’s Department of Education ended its contract with controversial technology organization inBloom in November, shortly after Jefferson County, Colorado’s school board cut ties with it for the same reason by a 7-1 vote.
This makes New York the sole remaining state to continue its relationship with inBloom, of an initial nine.
Read more on Heartland.org.


Remember the movie “The Day of the Jackal?” The police collected the cards and processed them manually back in 1973.
Simon Davies writes:
The next time you check into a hotel in any European country – or indeed in many countries outside the EU – chances are you’ll be required to fill out a guest registration form. At the very least this form will demand information such as passport number, nationality, home address, telephone number, gender and date of birth.
Most travellers are blissfully unaware that this information is an internationally available police and security resource required by law. Guests are rarely informed of the fact, despite the ubiquity of data protection laws in those countries.
Read more on Privacy Surgeon.


Never let another bureaucracy do what you could do with more people and a larger headcount.
Spencer Ackerman reports:
The deputy director of the National Security Agency on Friday sounded skeptical about permitting the FBI, DEA or other law enforcement agencies to directly search through the NSA‘s vast data troves, as a new bill would appear to permit.
A bill recently approved by the Senate intelligence committee on a 13-4 vote blesses the ability of law enforcement agencies to directly conduct “queries of data” from NSA databases of foreign-derived communications content “for law enforcement purposes”.
Read more on The Guardian.


We live in a changing world. Customers are trading expensive Cable/Internet contracts for Free WiFi – imagine that.
Commentary – TV Is Dying, And Here Are The Stats That Prove It
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on November 24, 2013
Business Insider – Jim Edwards: “The TV business is having its worst year ever. Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research. Media stock analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson recently noted, “The pay-TV industry has reported its worst 12-month stretch ever.” All the major TV providers lost a collective 113,000 subscribers in Q3 2013. That doesn’t sound like a huge deal — but it includes internet subscribers, too. Broadband internet was supposed to benefit from the end of cable TV, but it hasn’t… This is the macro problem: Ratings are falling across the board. They have been for years. It’s not too surprising that broadcast TV ratings are down. The major networks have faced increasing competition for years from niche-interest cable channels and the better-quality programming on places like AMC and HBO. But ratings for both cable and the broadcast networks are down.”


Yeah, I still don't get it. (Interesting poster though...)
Innovative Grammar Mind Map Is Perfect For Teaching English


If you have a few sites you search regularly.
– make a list of your favorite websites on any topic and Nuggety will generate a search list. A search list is a powerful way to search many websites from one page. With Nuggety it is simple to create a search vertical for something specific, like motorcycle parts. If you know of several websites for searching and buying motorcycle parts, you can build a search list that others can use as well.


For my presentations (and those of my students)
– is a completely new kind of presentation software. Whether it’s a breakthrough business idea, a photo slideshow for your blog, or a mini manifesto, we know you have amazing stories to tell and ideas to share. Haiku Deck helps you find your creative flow. Be inspired by the week’s best decks from a wide range of topics, hand-picked by our team, in our Featured and Popular Galleries.


For my Statistics students
Country statistical profiles: Key tables from OECD for the United States
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on November 24, 2013
Country statistical profile: United States – November 15, 2013, updated annually. DOI: 10.1787/20752288-table-usa
“This table includes data for United States on economy, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health, information and communication, labour, migration, R&D, trade and society. The table is part of the key tables collection on country statistical profiles.”


Dilbert explains why you should know a little bit about technology.

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