November 2016

While the word "literacy" alone generally refers to reading and writing skills, when you tack on the word "digital" before it, the term encompasses much, much more. Sure, reading and writing are still very much at the heart of digital literacy. But given the new and ever-changing ways we use technology to receive and communicate information, digital literacy also encompasses a broader range of skills—everything from reading on a Kindle to gauging the validity of a website or creating and sharing YouTube videos.

The term is so broad that some experts even stay away from it, preferring to speak more specifically about particular skills at the intersection of technology and literacy. The American Library Association's digital-literacy task force offers this definition: "Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills." More simply, Hiller Spires, a professor of literacy and technology at North Carolina State University, views digital literacy as having three buckets: 1) finding and consuming digital content; 2) creating digital content; and 3) communicating or sharing it.

[Commentary] Donald Trump’s victory poses a serious and immediate threat to our friends and families, our loved ones and neighbors. We started Free Press to fight for your rights to connect and communicate — and that’s exactly what we intend to do. Here’s what we will do next:

Resist. We intend to be vigilant watchdogs in our corner of the world, exposing and disrupting any attempts to take away your freedoms or silence dissenting voices.
Rethink. We’re living with the results of the corporate media’s utter failure in 2016. Instead of accepting the status quo, we must reimagine and recreate a media that is more focused on serving communities than cozying up to power.
Rebuild. We’re committed to strengthening our organization to meet the challenges in front of us. That means bringing on more organizers and advocates, redoubling our commitment to racial equity, and networking with allied groups dedicated to transforming our democracy and society.

The Federal Communications Commission is alerting consumers to be on the lookout for callers pretending to be utility company employees demanding immediate payment, often by prepaid debit cards, credit cards, or gift cards. As American consumers prepare for winter months when many people would be endangered by an interruption to heating fuel, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wanted to make consumers aware of this scam and prepared to protect themselves.

Key Consumer Tip: If consumers receive a call warning them of a balance they do not believe they owe their utility, they should hang up, independently look up their utility company’s phone number on a recent statement or legitimate website, and call that number to verify the legitimacy of the call.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says US regulators didn't pay proper attention to Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn, which he sees as a grab for data, not an acquisition of a social network. Salesforce entered Microsoft’s territory when it acquired Quip, a word processing app, earlier in 2016. “Microsoft wants to maintain their monopoly, and doesn’t want innovation in that area,” said Benioff. “So they’re going to say, ‘Now we’re going to integrate all this LinkedIn stuff into Office, so why would you want Quip?’”

Benioff said he pressed the Federal Trade Commission to review Microsoft’s LinkedIn deal for potential antitrust violations, but the agency decided not to investigate. Benioff, of course, made his own play for LinkedIn but failed to reach a deal. The European Commission, however, is looking into it. In Oct, the antitrust authority at the European Commission sent questionnaires to Microsoft’s competitors as they review the merger. Benioff contends the acquisition is anticompetitive because Microsoft can hinder access to LinkedIn’s data, making it harder for competitors.