The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the US
An investigation reveals missed signals, slow responses and a continuing underestimation of the seriousness of a campaign to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
December 2016
Ahead of Trump meeting, tech leaders prioritize civil liberties
A coalition of tech entrepreneurs and investors called for a “safeguarding of civil liberties”, ahead of a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump.
In the letter, startup founders, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists say civil liberties are “inextricably linked with our global competitiveness and success.” Citing “recent incidents of harassment in diverse communities that could lead to a brain drain of much needed talent,” the business leaders pledged to “protect people from the erosion of their civil liberties;” to “refuse to contribute skills or platforms to any effort that infringes on civil liberties by any government agency;” and to “accept a responsibility to partner with communities where the effects of rapidly changing technologies have hurt all Americans.” The letter -- signed by the leaders of Shift, Comfy, HelloVote, Willpower Labs, Kiva and The Westly Group, among others -- argues that preservation of such liberties is essential for the advancement of American business. Top officials from major tech organizations such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Tesla are expected to attend the tech meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York. Jobs will likely be the focal point of the conversation.
Investor Peter Thiel Is Helping Mold Tech’s Ties to Donald Trump
Now as one of the tech industry’s main bridges to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel is playing a central role in helping shape the relationship with a president most tech titans didn’t want.
Michael Hiltzik: Donald Trump's market-moving tweets are a huge scandal waiting to happen
Submitted by benton on Wed, 12/14/2016 - 07:04Trump takes more meetings with celebrities than he does intelligence briefings
Submitted by benton on Wed, 12/14/2016 - 07:04How Trump is paving the way for a revival of the ‘religious left
Submitted by benton on Wed, 12/14/2016 - 07:04An Obama-Backed Change At Voice Of America Has Trump Critics Worried
Some Democrats and journalists are raising concerns about a new law they say could give incoming President Donald Trump great propaganda powers abroad, through such famous broadcasters as the Voice of America, Radio Marti and Radio Free Europe.
The law strips away a governing board over the government-funded broadcasters, which are intended to provide reliable news reports in countries without a viable independent media and to promote democratic values abroad. Those outlets instead would answer to a chief executive nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Obama Administration embraced the changes, promoted by congressional Republicans before the November elections. It was passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate as part of a much larger and essentially unrelated bill, which awaits Obama's signature or veto.
Sen John Thune is prairie player in tech world
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) has made himself into an indispensable player in debates over the future of technology policy and its ripple effects around the economy.
His education on technology issues began when he unexpectedly became the committee’s ranking member after then-Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) left the Senate to become the head of the conservative Heritage Foundation. When he became chairman in 2014, Thune said in a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute that lawmakers should work to free up government-owned spectrum — the invisible frequencies that carry signals to mobile devices — for private use. Chairman Thune released a bill to carry through that pledge, though it did not make it out of Congress. He’s found bipartisan ground on a bill to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission, which would give Congress another chance to weigh in on the goings-on at the agency. That bill, however, also failed to make it through Congress. “He knows the facts, he knows the background, he knows where the policy challenges are and he knows what needs to be done,” said Andy Halataei, senior vice president for government affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council. “And I think the other thing that gives us confidence is the way he conducts the debate is that it’s usually pretty open, transparent, it’s pretty thoughtful and it lends itself to a bipartisan result.” Even some who disagree with Thune sing his praises.
Books or Laptops? The Cost-Effectiveness of Shifting from Printed to Digital Delivery of Educational Content
Information and communication technologies, such as laptops, can be used for educational purposes as they provide users with computational tools, information storage and communication opportunities, but these devices may also pose as distractors that may tamper with the learning process. This paper presents results from a randomized controlled trial in which laptops replaced traditional textbook provision in elementary schools in high poverty communities in Honduras in 2013 through the program Educatracho. We show that at the end of one school year, the substitution of laptops for textbooks did not make a significant difference in student learning. We additionally conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis, which demonstrated that given the low marginal costs of digital textbook provision, the substitution of three additional textbooks in the program (for a total of five) would guarantee computers to be more cost-effective than textbooks. Therefore, textbook substitution by laptops may be a cost-effective manner to provide classroom learning content.