Invisible terrain of wifi networks
apropos of nothing, but check out this project which explores the invisible terrain of WiFi networks in urban spaces by light painting signal strength in long-exposure photographs. There's more on this project here and here and check out the flickr photos. Enjoy!
Immaterials: Light painting WiFi from Timo on Vimeo.
Congressional Redistricting: Mapping, Documenting, Planning
It's time for redistricting and the Columbia Law School has new tool that will help.
- DrawCongress.org DrawCongress.org represents the first attempt to create an internet depository for nonpartisan congressional maps for the entire country. DrawCongress.org is an outgrowth of the "Redistricting and Gerrymandering" course at Columbia Law School. At this website you will find a series of student-drawn nonpartisan redistricting plans, which will culminate in a complete map of all 435 congressional districts.... This website and associated project have three goals. First, the project seeks to educate both the students involved and the general public about the redistricting process. We hope that the maps and redistricting plans contained here depict what is possible in the current round of redistricting and what nonpartisan plans might look like. Second, we hope that these plans serve as a benchmark against which incumbent-drawn plans can be assessed. While not passing judgment on the plans states adopt this redistricting cycle, we hope that the plans contained here illustrate alternative paths not taken and therefore, both the promise and potential pitfalls of nonpartisan redistricting. Finally, for those states that fail to craft redistricting plans, this website provides ready-made legally defensible congressional plans. We also encourage others to submit plans to be posted to this website. Students in similar classes at other universities will be posting plans here later in the redistricting cycle.
2011 Report on Link Rot
How reliable are those URLs in your OPAC? The Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive which harvests and preserves relevant digital information from the web, has been producing reports on "link rot" for several years. They define link rot as "a URL that no longer provides direct access to files matching the content originally harvested from the URL and currently preserved in the Chesapeake Project's digital archive." Their new report is now available:
- Breaking Down Link Rot: The Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive's Examination of URL Stability, By Sarah Rhodes, LLRX (March 1, 2011).
The 2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines
[from The 2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines One Version of the [U.S.] Federal Poverty Measure]: There are two slightly different versions of the federal poverty measure: * The poverty thresholds, and * The poverty guidelines. The poverty thresholds are the original version of the federal poverty measure. They are updated each year by the Census Bureau (although they were originally developed by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration). The thresholds are used mainly for statistical purposes — for instance, preparing estimates of the number of Americans in poverty each year.... The poverty guidelines are the other version of the federal poverty measure. They are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The guidelines are a simplification of the poverty thresholds for use for administrative purposes — for instance, determining financial eligibility for certain federal programs. The Federal Register notice of the 2011 poverty guidelines is available. The poverty guidelines are sometimes loosely referred to as the “federal poverty level” (FPL), but that phrase is ambiguous and should be avoided, especially in situations (e.g., legislative or administrative) where precision is important.
- Federal Register Notice, January 20, 2011 — Full text (also: pdf version)
- Prior Poverty Guidelines and Federal Register References Since 1982
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Further Resources on Poverty Measurement, Poverty Lines, and Their History
- Computations for the 2011 Poverty Guidelines
Public comments and response to Ithaka S+R Models draft report
March 1, 2011 / 2 Comments on Public comments and response to Ithaka S+R Models draft report
We have sent Ithaka S+R our comments for the draft directions and draft models documents (as well as comments on the other draft documents), but feel that a more in-depth analysis and response is warranted. While there is much to like about this draft -- as other commenters have rightfully pointed out -- it has some serious gaps that could have potentially dire consequences for the future of the FDLP. The main strength of the report is that it explicitly recognizes the need for digital preservation beyond the confines of GPO. The report says: