Your Life Torn Open, essay 1: Sharing is a trap This article was taken from the March 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online. The author of The Cult Of The Amateurargues that if we lose our privacy we sacrifice a fundamental part of our humanity. Every so often, when I'm in Amsterdam, I visit the Rijksmuseum to remind myself about the history of privacy. I go there to gaze at a picture called The Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, which was painted by Jan Vermeer in 1663. Today, as social media continues radically to transform how we communicate and interact, I can't help thinking with a heavy heart about The Woman in Blue. On this future network, we will all know what everyone is doing all the time. Every so often, when I'm in London, I visit University College to remind myself about the future of privacy. Unfortunately, Bentham's panopticon was a dark premonition.
Create a Petition to Congress Petitions Hosted Here Are: Completely Free There is no cost to create or maintain your petition. Have No Advertising Your petition isn't cluttered with distracting ads. More Effective Unlike other petitions, these petitions let users actually send emails to Congress. Have No Spam We protect your privacy. Who We Are Petition2Congress is a service of Rally Congress, a full-featured petition system used by large organizations. Launch a powerful online petition to rally supporters for your cause. Check out a live petition in action.
Delivers Pilot-Scale Validation | Genomatica For Immediate Release Genomatica Delivers Pilot-Scale Validation in Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing Technology platform drives readiness for commercial scale-up in only 2 ½ years SAN DIEGO, June 29, 2010 – Genomatica announced today that it has achieved two key commercialization milestones ahead of schedule. First, the company achieved pilot-scale validation, at 3,000 liters, of the manufacturability and commercial viability of a ‘green’ version of 1,4-butanediol (BDO), its first commercial product. And second, the company confirmed the accelerated development time and reduced development and production costs made possible through use of its technology platform, from concept to commercialization. Pilot Validation for BDO Drives Readiness for Commercial Scale-up and Production Genomatica’s first planned commercial product is a ‘green’ BDO, made from renewable feedstocks rather than crude oil or natural gas. Unique Development Platform Slashes Time to Market Significance to the Industry
Federal Election Commission Home Page San Diego County Works To Improve Food Program For Poor Audio Aired 3/15/11 San Diego County Supervisors will listen to recommendations from the community on how to improve the food stamp program, now known as Cal Fresh. The board is working to change its reputation as the county with the lowest food stamp participation rate in the nation. San Diego County Supervisors will listen to recommendations from the community on how to improve the food stamp program, now known as Cal Fresh. The county says it has increased enrollment in Cal Fresh by 70 percent, and that 90 percent of people who apply for food aid get it within 30 days. John Lucero Criswell of the Hunger Coalition said there have been improvements. “It had the adverse effect of forcing people to not apply for Cal Fresh benefits until they were really destitute and had to get rid of their car and spend all their savings,” he said. Now, Criswell said, people are not disqualified for having savings.
Congressional Pig Book | Citizens Against Government Waste Watch the latest video at <a href=" Introduction For the second time since Congress enacted an earmark moratorium beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2011, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has found earmarks in the 12 appropriations bills funding the federal government. While a single earmark violates the moratorium, at least the number and cost of the earmarks contained in H.R. 3547, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, decreased from FY 2012, the last time Congress passed the spending bills. The 2012 Pig Book noted that although there were fewer earmarks than in prior years, the projects involved larger amounts of money and included fewer details. The 2014 omnibus package was certified as earmark-free by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio). The projects in this year’s Congressional Pig Book Summary symbolize the most blatant examples of pork. I. III. IV. V.
How Open Is Government In San Diego? Audio Aired 3/16/11 It's Sunshine Week, but it has nothing to do with the weather. We'll find out how San Diego rates on open government and about efforts currently underway in here to support open government and access to information. Event The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Chapter will honor Donna Frye, on Wednesday March 16, with a Sunshine Award for her efforts in supporting transparency in government. Democracy is something we fight for and sing about in the United States. This is Sunshine Week in California, which honors efforts to open up the doors of government and get information out. Guests Donna Frye is a former San Diego City Councilwoman and board member for Californians Aware, an organization devoted to open government that provides information, guidance and initiatives in public forum law. Read Transcript This is a rush transcript created by a contractor for KPBS to improve accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. FRYE: Good morning, how are you?
Astroturf Astroturf refers to apparently grassroots-based citizen groups or coalitions that are primarily conceived, created and/or funded by corporations, industry trade associations, political interests or public relations firms. Definitions Campaigns & Elections magazine defines astroturf as a "grassroots program that involves the instant manufacturing of public support for a point of view in which either uninformed activists are recruited or means of deception are used to recruit them." Journalist William Greider has coined his own term to describe corporate grassroots organizing. He calls it "democracy for hire." Unlike genuine grassroots activism which tends to be money-poor but people-rich, astroturf campaigns are typically people-poor but cash-rich. Astroturf techniques have been used to: Sometimes genuine grassroots organizations are recruited into corporate-funded campaigns. NeoCon Astroturf Libertarian Astroturf Coal industry Astroturf ACCCE and Bonner & Associates FACES of Coal References
Genomatica Turns Sugar And Trash Into Wearable Items Audio Aired 3/10/11 A local biotech firm is working with a major trash company to turn landfill waste into green chemicals used to make everyday items. As part of his doctoral research at UCSD, Christophe Schilling and a team of researchers developed computer modeling and simulation technology capable of engineering organisms to produce chemicals. Enlarge this image Photo by Padma Nagappan Above: Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling explains how the 50 liter agitator works. Enlarge this image Above: Sugar from agricultural waste being converted into Butanediol at Genomatica's lab. That technology is now the platform for his Sorrento Valley biotech firm Genomatica. Schilling and the company’s scientists explored several options to commercialize the technology which can be used in many medical and industrial biotech applications. The microbial organism Genomatica developed can convert sugars extracted from agricultural waste into chemicals used to make everyday items.
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