8/30/08
6/19/08
Oregon Disclaims ORS Copyright.
I attended a hearing today where the Oregon Legislative Counsel Committee voted unanimously to disclaim any future copyright claims on the Oregon Revised Statutes.
My prior post with background leading up to this decision is HERE.
My prior post with background leading up to this decision is HERE.
6/17/08
Sunlight Foundation Picks Up on My Prior Highlighting of a YouTube Post.
The [highly recommended] Sunlight Foundation Blog, in a "Local Sunlight " post, picked up on one of my recent posts about a House Small Business Committee upload of a RESPA hearing onto YouTube.
This Sunlight Foundation Blog post, which includes other "Local Sunlight" examples can be found HERE.
This Sunlight Foundation Blog post, which includes other "Local Sunlight" examples can be found HERE.
6/2/08
Creative Open Government: U.S. House Committee Posts RESPA Hearing Video on YouTube.
The House Small Business Committee recently held a hearing on proposed HUD rules for the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act, AKA "RESPA".
In addition to the usual posting of written testimony from various government and housing industry officials, the Committee has posted a number of videos on YouTube of hearing testimony and question and answers HERE.
Staff took the time to break up a long video into a number of shorter videos to allow viewers to focus on speakers of interest. Kudos to the Committee and staff for their efforts in making the video of this hearing available to the public in a timely, easy to use fashion.
Below is one of the hearing videos featuring an official from the Center for Responsible Lending:
In addition to the usual posting of written testimony from various government and housing industry officials, the Committee has posted a number of videos on YouTube of hearing testimony and question and answers HERE.
Staff took the time to break up a long video into a number of shorter videos to allow viewers to focus on speakers of interest. Kudos to the Committee and staff for their efforts in making the video of this hearing available to the public in a timely, easy to use fashion.
Below is one of the hearing videos featuring an official from the Center for Responsible Lending:
5/31/08
Copenhagen Consensus 2008 Results: Vitamin/Mineral Supplements Came Up As Top Priority.
I previously posted about the 2008 Copenhagen Consensus process HERE.
The 2008 process is now complete and the panel [which included 5 Nobel laureate members] considering various options to spend $75 Billion over a 4 year period came out with their list of the top 30 priorities. You can see the list of 2008 priorities they chose HERE; the logic for the top priority reads like this:
"Providing micronutrients for 80% of the 140 million children who lack essential vitamins in the form of vitamin A capsules and a course of zinc supplements would cost just $60 million per year, according to the analysis. More importantly, this action holds yearly benefits of more than $1 billion.
In effect, this means that each dollar spent on this program creates benefits (in the form of better health, fewer deaths, increased future earnings, etc) worth more than 17 dollars."
The 2008 process is now complete and the panel [which included 5 Nobel laureate members] considering various options to spend $75 Billion over a 4 year period came out with their list of the top 30 priorities. You can see the list of 2008 priorities they chose HERE; the logic for the top priority reads like this:
"Providing micronutrients for 80% of the 140 million children who lack essential vitamins in the form of vitamin A capsules and a course of zinc supplements would cost just $60 million per year, according to the analysis. More importantly, this action holds yearly benefits of more than $1 billion.
In effect, this means that each dollar spent on this program creates benefits (in the form of better health, fewer deaths, increased future earnings, etc) worth more than 17 dollars."
5/26/08
State Assertion of Copyright for Oregon Revised Statutes.
A battle simmering for the last couple of months looks like it will reach a new stage in June. The battle is over the State of Oregon's attempt to assert copyright over the Oregon Revised Statutes.
Complainants include Justia and PublicResource.Org, which also includes in their post on this topic a "Paper Trail" of many of the documents associated with this issue.
A summary of the battle to date can be found at Ars Technica HERE.
While a court filing is possible in early June, Oregon seems to be backing off a bit with a letter last week HERE, requesting that the complaintants present their objections to a legislative committee in mid June.
Complainants include Justia and PublicResource.Org, which also includes in their post on this topic a "Paper Trail" of many of the documents associated with this issue.
A summary of the battle to date can be found at Ars Technica HERE.
While a court filing is possible in early June, Oregon seems to be backing off a bit with a letter last week HERE, requesting that the complaintants present their objections to a legislative committee in mid June.
5/23/08
Copenhagen Consensus to Rank Cost/Benefits Of Solving Global Problems Next Week.
Interesting WSJ story HERE about effort to rank cost/benefits of solving a wide range of global problems. Effort is called Copenhagen Consensus; Wikipedia page about Copenhagen Consensus, with all of the usual caveats and a current focus on earlier conference held in 2004, is HERE.
Another story HERE reports on findings of one related study about cost/benefits on war on terrorism.
Copenhagen Consensus 2008 web site is HERE. (Appears that 2008 conclusions will be announced next week, look for additional news stories then).
Another story HERE reports on findings of one related study about cost/benefits on war on terrorism.
Copenhagen Consensus 2008 web site is HERE. (Appears that 2008 conclusions will be announced next week, look for additional news stories then).
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