From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 19/12):

Business & management:
• If the GM, Chevrolet and Ford companies go out of business, not just American jobs would be affected. A new study in Canada indicates that half a million jobs there would also be at risk in the next 6 years.
• Research published in the UK by a drugs think tank (“Working towards recovery: getting problem drug users into jobs”) suggests that anti-discrimination laws might be needed to boost the chances of job-seeking former addicts, and that firms might be more willing to employ them in return for tax breaks.

Environment & sustainability:
• 2008 is likely to rank as the 10th warmest year on record since the beginning of the instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organization.
• The UK’s Public Interest Research Centre has published “Climate safety: in case of emergency…”. It’s a simple summary of the latest science that explains the science behind climate change and explains the actions needed.
• The planned Wembley City development is huge - 4,200 homes as well as retail and commercial property over an 85-acre site. Once complete the whole site will be served by a system of underground vacuum pipes that transport rubbish from strategically positioned bins to a single sorting station.
• A North Carolina, US energy company is planning to pay businesses, schools and homeowners to rent their rooftops or ground area, so that solar arrays can be installed to generate power.

Health & wellbeing:
• A nation-wide long-term study in the US reveals that trucking workers with an estimated 20 years on the job have an increased risk of lung cancer.
• Medical teams working at some of the UK’s busiest music festivals noticed that as soon as a young patient was well enough to text their friends, they were generally well enough to rejoin the action. The test could work in busy A&E units, for assessing whether a patient could be discharged.
• Unsurprisingly, US researchers have found that there is a strong link between “active transportation” such as walking, cycling or using mass transit systems, and reducing the incidence of obesity in the population.

Law & Government:
• The UN has launched “Data against natural disasters: establishing effective systems for relief, recovery, and reconstruction.” The guidelines aim to help states pre-emptively amass the data vital for effective relief operations that will enable them to avoid compounding the original catastrophe.
• The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks will enter into force on 16 March 2009, since Australia became the 10th country to ratify the agreement adopted by member States of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization in 2006. The Treaty standardizes procedural aspects of trademark registration and licensing and takes advantage of efficiencies in using modern communications technologies.
• The Law Commission’s latest report “Presentation of New Zealand Statute Law” notes that the law is often difficult to find, and difficult to understand when it has been found.
• A series of papers for consultation on the UK government’s policy commitments set out in their White Paper, “Communities in control: real people, real power” are being released. A recent consultation paper looks at proposals to make it easier to get local leaders to hold a referendum on their leadership structure: “Changing Council Governance Arrangements: Mayors and Indirectly Elected Leaders - A Consultation”.
• A member of the UK think tank Demos, argues for updating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a declaration of digital rights.
• The Australian government’s attempts to have ISPs block or filter over 10 000 web sites believed to hold illegal content, are running into difficulties.

People, culture & diversity:
• Freedom of expression on the Internet is not possible in more than 20 countries around the world, and for the first time, online writers have become the largest group among imprisoned journalists.
• In the UK, the “No One Left Out Strategy” is an approach to reducing rough sleeping (London has been having its rough sleeping conference this week). The Homeless Link website provides resources and examples of good practice in handling this issue, via its Rough Sleeping Portal, and lays out the 15 Actions of the strategy.
• Uncritical users may think that Google is a service providing them with greater access to information. Americans have discovered since the settlement of the 3-year lawsuit between Google and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Authors Guild, that their access via Google to all those books scanned from the collections of great American libraries is not that universal – even for the libraries whose books were scanned.

Science, technology & transport:
• Internet NZ has released research that concludes that utility expansion provides the best opportunity for dramatic improvement of NZ's broadband infrastructure.
• 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky. Amongst the many projects going on, Jennie McCormick of Auckland is the coordinator on the Task Group of the 100 Hours of Astronomy IYA2009 Cornerstone Project.
• In the US, a recent survey shows that consumer preferences for community design is shifting away from suburban areas and towards infill sites with better access to public transportation options.
• A referendum in Manchester has seen the rejection by voters of the proposal to bring in a congestion tax.
• A storm of protest in the UK over the blocking of access to controversial Wikipedia pages, has resulted in the block being lifted again. It has been pointed out that due to the Internet Watch Foundation blocking access, the image that they were concerned about is now getting more hits than previously.
• The latest forecast from the Pew Internet / American Life Project, “The Future of the Internet III” shows that it’s expected that major technical advances will become an everyday part of life, and the architecture of the Internet will improve. But the experts disagree on how this will impact on social tolerance, human relations and home life.
• The International Correspondence School based in Glasgow, is offering a 300-hour accredited course in ethical hacking.
• After users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer were urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw had been fixed, Microsoft rushed out a patch to fix it.
• A tidal turbine near the mouth of Strangford Lough has begun producing electricity at full capacity for the first time.
• The French government is being accused of suppressing a report on electric vehicles. The report is said to warn that the cost of all-electric cars, roughly double that of conventional cars, is not economically viable, and it points to limited driving range and performance, and unsatisfactory battery technology, as major obstacles.