Business & management:
• An interview with a team collaboration expert shows that the “command and control“ style of team or team leadership is not the only way to run effective teams, whether virtual or not. “Bioteaming” is a way to learn from nature's teams in terms of our organizational teams and our networks.
• There are concerns in the UK about future agricultural production, as heavy machinery, drier summers and changing growing seasons are all taking their toll on the soil.
• BSI British Standards will be managing the UK’s new standard (PAS 2050), that allows UK firms to measure the size of their goods' carbon footprints.
• “E-billing” is a green practice that customers generally prefer, and can save money for companies while improving their sustainability and environmental practices. A US survey shows that 85 percent of identity theft cases (one concern about online security) are from paper transactions like lost checkbooks and statements.
• KPMG has found that nearly three-quarters of the top 100 U.S. companies by revenue reported sustainability data this year, twice as many as three years ago.
Education
• Sex education will be compulsory in all UK schools in the future (including religious schools), starting with teaching about body parts and the fact that animals reproduce at the age of 5, puberty and intercourse at 7, and contraception and abortion from the age of 11. Effective drug and alcohol education in schools is also under review.
• Research has discovered that distance learning courses consume nearly 90% less energy and produced 85% fewer CO2 emissions than conventional campus university courses.
• Academics and educators are asking about the way students use the Internet for research. Is the vast amount of information at students' fingertips changing the way they gather and process information for the better--or for worse?
• As part of a debate over degree standards, 77% of UK academics surveyed recently say pressure on them to give better marks had increased, and 78% believed that student plagiarism was an increasing problem in their institution.
• Officials in Australia report a 66% drop in applications for naturalisation to the country, within 3 months of the introduction of basic English exam to the application process. The head of the evaluation team for the test said the level of English requires was higher than basic, and the structure of the test was flawed.
Environment & sustainability:
• Talk of greenhouse gases makes most people think of the need to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. What is not so well known, is the role that nitrogen trifluoride plays as a greenhouse gas, and the fact that its presence in the atmosphere is sharply rising.
• Companies in Australia have partnered with Better Place to have a subscription-based scheme for users to recharge their electric vehicles. Over 200 000 charging stations will be built in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
• The U.S. Department of the Interior has decided to offer up leases for geothermal development on 190 million acres of Federal land, estimating that up to 5,540 megawatts of power could be generated from these lands by the middle of the next decade.
• The Water Footprint Network is a new global organisation formed to foster sustainable water management and help individuals and producers accurately measure use by developing standards and tools.
• Aggressively replacing the world's incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) could reduce lighting energy demand by nearly 40 percent and cut greenhouse gas emissions from day one
Law & Government:
• Amongst a number of reports released in the UK about the impacts of childhood poverty, is one that outlines the extra cost to public services of child poverty
• A UK financial journalist points out to a local council, the value of using plain English in its communication with its local community.
• Virtual worlds are sparking off their own crimes – a woman is in jail in Japan awaiting charges for data crimes after she illegally accessed login details of the man playing her husband, and killed off his character because he divorced her in the online game without warning.
• On Nov 12th, there is a Brookers Environmental Law Seminar at the Auckland District Law Society. Information about other Brookers events (they are the providers of our law databases on Citynet) is available.
• Argentina’s government is the first in the world to require that companies involved in potentially hazardous activities purchase insurance covering environmental damage to the country.
• A review of New Zealand's electoral administration is underway and is now seeking the views of the public.
• A US federal judge has ruled that homeless voters can use park benches and other places that aren't buildings as addresses on their voter registration.
People, culture & diversity:
• A survey of 10-15 year-olds in the UK has discovered that half of those surveyed said that their futures are now a major concern compared with just 30% in last year’s survey, while a third admitted to having been drunk, and drugs and bullying impact on many.
Science, technology & transport:
• Attitudes to using public transport in some US cities seem to be very different to the general attitude in NZ. In some states, people are allowed by law to carry concealed weapons, and the opinion has been expressed in Minnesota, that the new Minneapolis light rail system might not work that well because “Minnesotans' are not comfortable riding in closed vehicles with people they do not know.”
• People who have mobile phones with a good enough data transmission plan in their contract can now use video streaming technology to broadcast out on the Internet whatever they are doing – and one company is about to make it possible for people to stream their live video from their phone straight to their Facebook profile.
• Australia has already trialled an Internet content filtering system it plans to introduce, that will be mandatory for all users. Online libertarians are concerned about how the filtering could be expanded to cover controversial topics, and there’s concern that some users may believe that the opt out options provide for no content filtering, which will not be the case.
• All of which get interesting now that Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have signed a global code of conduct (known as the Global Network Initiative) promising to offer better protection for online free speech and against official intrusion in countries censoring the Internet.
• Microsoft has launched Windows 7 and its new Azure platform, described as "Windows for the cloud".
• The UK is investing in algae-based biofuels in the hope that the country can reduce automotive and aviation emissions by 2030, and cut overall emissions by 80% by 2050.
• From next month, Nissan is running a trial in Japan test an intelligent transportation system that has the primary focus of safety and improved traffic flow. The big side benefit of such systems is reduce fuel consumption and pollution.
• Cost rather than environmental factors are more important to drivers in the UK when they are purchasing more energy-efficient cars. 75% of motorists there would only purchase a low-emission car if it saved them money.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Thursday, 23 October 2008
From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 23/10):
Business & management:
• The UN was warning last week, that the global tourism industry is already feeling the effects of the economic downturn, and is predicting an even more sharp downturn during the rest of this year.
• The ILO has published a report: World of Work Report 2008: Income inequalities in the age of financial globalization. The report shows that in spite of strong economic growth producing millions of jobs since the 1990s, the income gap between rich and poor has grown dramatically in most of the world, and can only get worse due to the global financial crisis.
• The OECD has released: Growing Unequal? Income distribution and poverty in OECD countries. The report covers all 30 countries, and a range of areas often excluded from conventional discussion about the distribution of economic resources among individuals and households.
• A leading retirement policy expert says that recent research already shows 75% of large employers operating private superannuation schemes would, in retrospect, not start one again, and that sentiment seems to be increasing.
• Job seekers are being warned to take greater care when sending their CVs to employer websites or online employment agencies. An experiment has shown how easy it is to lure people into sending CVs to a fake website, leaving them open to identity theft from the information obtained.
Education
• A UK government think tank said in a recent report, that it was vital to exploit the "mental capital" of mature adults and nation needs to invest much more in the ability of older people to make best use of their brains. Little money has gone into anything other than leisure classes, with scant evidence of how useful they are.
• 18 British universities are trialling the removal of the 200 year old degree classification scheme and its replacement with “achievement reports” that would cover more than just academic passes.
Environment & sustainability:
• The UN atomic agency says that there is growing interest in nuclear power to generate electricity. A decade ago, the popularity of nuclear power was in question, but now many countries are expanding or expressing interest in starting nuclear power generation, especially in developing countries.
• An assessment of the per capita carbon footprint of Britain’s local authorities, shows that the residents with the largest carbon footprints are the affluent ones. This produces challenges for both local and central government in implementing carbon reduction policies.
Health & wellbeing:
• An East London council plans to ban new takeaways opening within 400 meters of schools, youth centers and parks to help combat child obesity and promote healthy eating.
• The 2008 fireworks safety campaign has been launched, and as in the previous 2 years, the sale period only extends from the 2nd to the 5th of November, and the minimum age for purchasing is 18. New regulations have been introduced limiting the explosive sound levels of retail fireworks.
• Britons are again debating the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia, after the death by assisted suicide in Switzerland, of a 23 year old UK man paralysed as a result of a rugby accident.
Law & Government:
• A website has been launched on the Internet, allowing anyone in the world to “vote” informally in another country’s presidential or parliamentary elections. Results are listed by the country of the voter, and progress can be monitored.
• Some councils in the UK are being accused of using a disability discrimination act as “an excuse” to shut down some public toilets, rather than adapting them to become accessible.
People, culture & diversity:
• The number of asylum seekers in industrialized nations rose by 9% from 2006 to 2007, and Iraqis make up the largest number of claims by far.
• The NZ Institute of Economic Research was commissioned by Family First NZ to research the fiscal value of family: The Value of Family: fiscal benefits of marriage and reducing family breakdown in New Zealand.
• A UK professor of sociology continues the discussion about modern 'social evils' on the theme of 'the absence of society'. These 'ills' are products of the withdrawal of the traditional conception of 'society' and are rooted in the way of life of today's individualised society of consumers.
• An examination of territorial behaviour among young people in disadvantaged areas of British cities shows the huge impact on teenagers and their safety and freedom, and the public policy implications of recognising territoriality as an important social force.
• Controversial new research says that cartoon violence on television can teach pre-school children to be less aggressive.
• 75 libraries in the UK closed last year, visits are steadily falling, and in the face of modern media and technology choices, budgets for children’s books are shrinking. A review has just been announced to consider how best to modernize libraries, hinting not merely at rebranding but also at a radical rethink of their contemporary purpose.
• A recent Pew Internet report shows that rather than driving people apart, mobile phones and the Internet are helping them maintain social ties, increasing family time spent together and allowing for new kinds of connectedness.
Science, technology & transport:
• Research recently published from the University of Otago shows that Hector and Maui dolphin are being killed off at a rate that can’t be sustained by the current numbers.
• Computer criminals may soon be able to work out what someone is typing by analysing the electromagnetic signals produced by every key press. Security researchers are saying that keyboards are "not safe to transmit sensitive information".
• At the same time security experts are warning that spam and virus attacks on mobile devices will rise, and that the increasing availability of financial and payment data via smartphones will be a draw for cybercriminals.
• A group in China has produced a small car that runs on power from the solar panels on its roof. The solar panels are still inefficient at transforming solar energy to electricity, but 10 of the cars have been produced for sale.
• A US company manufacturing buses has been producing them as hybrid vehicles for a while. However, they are now moving into production of buses that use a far more advanced battery system and include the use of micro turbines, meaning that the buses can spend a third of their time running on only electricity, and the rest using whichever fuel of a wide range that might be selected to save energy and costs.
• A landscaping business in Florida has planted 22 acres of land in a biofuel crop to eventually be able to save money on its annual diesel bill.
• The UN was warning last week, that the global tourism industry is already feeling the effects of the economic downturn, and is predicting an even more sharp downturn during the rest of this year.
• The ILO has published a report: World of Work Report 2008: Income inequalities in the age of financial globalization. The report shows that in spite of strong economic growth producing millions of jobs since the 1990s, the income gap between rich and poor has grown dramatically in most of the world, and can only get worse due to the global financial crisis.
• The OECD has released: Growing Unequal? Income distribution and poverty in OECD countries. The report covers all 30 countries, and a range of areas often excluded from conventional discussion about the distribution of economic resources among individuals and households.
• A leading retirement policy expert says that recent research already shows 75% of large employers operating private superannuation schemes would, in retrospect, not start one again, and that sentiment seems to be increasing.
• Job seekers are being warned to take greater care when sending their CVs to employer websites or online employment agencies. An experiment has shown how easy it is to lure people into sending CVs to a fake website, leaving them open to identity theft from the information obtained.
Education
• A UK government think tank said in a recent report, that it was vital to exploit the "mental capital" of mature adults and nation needs to invest much more in the ability of older people to make best use of their brains. Little money has gone into anything other than leisure classes, with scant evidence of how useful they are.
• 18 British universities are trialling the removal of the 200 year old degree classification scheme and its replacement with “achievement reports” that would cover more than just academic passes.
Environment & sustainability:
• The UN atomic agency says that there is growing interest in nuclear power to generate electricity. A decade ago, the popularity of nuclear power was in question, but now many countries are expanding or expressing interest in starting nuclear power generation, especially in developing countries.
• An assessment of the per capita carbon footprint of Britain’s local authorities, shows that the residents with the largest carbon footprints are the affluent ones. This produces challenges for both local and central government in implementing carbon reduction policies.
Health & wellbeing:
• An East London council plans to ban new takeaways opening within 400 meters of schools, youth centers and parks to help combat child obesity and promote healthy eating.
• The 2008 fireworks safety campaign has been launched, and as in the previous 2 years, the sale period only extends from the 2nd to the 5th of November, and the minimum age for purchasing is 18. New regulations have been introduced limiting the explosive sound levels of retail fireworks.
• Britons are again debating the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia, after the death by assisted suicide in Switzerland, of a 23 year old UK man paralysed as a result of a rugby accident.
Law & Government:
• A website has been launched on the Internet, allowing anyone in the world to “vote” informally in another country’s presidential or parliamentary elections. Results are listed by the country of the voter, and progress can be monitored.
• Some councils in the UK are being accused of using a disability discrimination act as “an excuse” to shut down some public toilets, rather than adapting them to become accessible.
People, culture & diversity:
• The number of asylum seekers in industrialized nations rose by 9% from 2006 to 2007, and Iraqis make up the largest number of claims by far.
• The NZ Institute of Economic Research was commissioned by Family First NZ to research the fiscal value of family: The Value of Family: fiscal benefits of marriage and reducing family breakdown in New Zealand.
• A UK professor of sociology continues the discussion about modern 'social evils' on the theme of 'the absence of society'. These 'ills' are products of the withdrawal of the traditional conception of 'society' and are rooted in the way of life of today's individualised society of consumers.
• An examination of territorial behaviour among young people in disadvantaged areas of British cities shows the huge impact on teenagers and their safety and freedom, and the public policy implications of recognising territoriality as an important social force.
• Controversial new research says that cartoon violence on television can teach pre-school children to be less aggressive.
• 75 libraries in the UK closed last year, visits are steadily falling, and in the face of modern media and technology choices, budgets for children’s books are shrinking. A review has just been announced to consider how best to modernize libraries, hinting not merely at rebranding but also at a radical rethink of their contemporary purpose.
• A recent Pew Internet report shows that rather than driving people apart, mobile phones and the Internet are helping them maintain social ties, increasing family time spent together and allowing for new kinds of connectedness.
Science, technology & transport:
• Research recently published from the University of Otago shows that Hector and Maui dolphin are being killed off at a rate that can’t be sustained by the current numbers.
• Computer criminals may soon be able to work out what someone is typing by analysing the electromagnetic signals produced by every key press. Security researchers are saying that keyboards are "not safe to transmit sensitive information".
• At the same time security experts are warning that spam and virus attacks on mobile devices will rise, and that the increasing availability of financial and payment data via smartphones will be a draw for cybercriminals.
• A group in China has produced a small car that runs on power from the solar panels on its roof. The solar panels are still inefficient at transforming solar energy to electricity, but 10 of the cars have been produced for sale.
• A US company manufacturing buses has been producing them as hybrid vehicles for a while. However, they are now moving into production of buses that use a far more advanced battery system and include the use of micro turbines, meaning that the buses can spend a third of their time running on only electricity, and the rest using whichever fuel of a wide range that might be selected to save energy and costs.
• A landscaping business in Florida has planted 22 acres of land in a biofuel crop to eventually be able to save money on its annual diesel bill.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 16/10):
Business & management:
• An article from a London School of Economics publication looks at a possible new way to measure inflation, given the British public’s increasingly sceptical view about official inflation numbers reflecting the true rise in the cost of living.
• The UN Climate Change Secretariat has announced that it is on track for the Kyoto Protocol emissions trading system to go live.
• The rise of the electric car industry is going to result in an increase in niche industries needed to support it.
• Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria were announced at an international conference last week, that set standards for eco-friendly and socially responsible business operations in the industries catering to travelers.
Education
• The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand has launched a programme for schools and is inviting them to take part. The programme aims to provide guidance for schools to recognise dyslexia, and to outline their strategy and to take action to implement the strategy.
• A new state law in Florida requires school districts to create their own full-time virtual schools, collaborate with other districts or contract with providers approved by the state, so that students could earn their public school diploma from kindergarten through to the 12th grade without physically attending school.
Environment & sustainability:
• A small community in Denmark is now a world leader in sustainable alternative energy, becoming carbon neutral in 2007 by producing 10 percent more than its 6,000 residents use each year so that it now exports energy to Norway.
• The 2009/10 funding round for the Ministry for the Environment’s Sustainable Management Fund has just opened, looking for community driven projects.
• NIWA is running trials using watercress in waterways, to see whether the plant removes nutrients from waterways, especially nitrate and phosphate.
• British Waterways, a public body in charge of waterside land, wants to add wind turbines and small-scale hydroelectric turbines along canals & rivers to generate electricity for up to 45000 homes. Money raised will be used to maintain the waterways.
• Almost 200 countries signed up to an agreement to curb loss of biodiversity by 2010, but the world’s government’s are expected by experts, to fail to reach that target.
• In the next week or so, a Spanish solar thermal storage plant will begin generating power that takes its energy from the solar collectors and stores it in molten salt, allowing the plant to continue to generate power overnight.
Health & wellbeing:
• International research highlighted by a UK foundation indicates links between higher levels of trust and better mental health in more equal societies, and greater levels of fear, distrust and poor mental health in societies with large wealth gaps.
• British researchers say that people on lengthy sick leave for psychiatric illness are twice as likely to die from cancer than healthy employees.
• Doctors have safety concerns about a growing trend amongst people like students or shift workers to use prescription drugs like Ritalin, Provigil (modafinil) or beta-blockers for non-medical reasons such as boosting alertness and brain power.
• A UCLA research team has found that using the Internet may boost the brain power of middle aged and older people.
• An EU study has found that 10% of people listening to MP3 or CD players could suffer permanent hearing loss because their music is too loud.
Law & Government:
• British councils, police authorities, fire services, universities and charities (as well as Transport for London) have been caught out by the collapse of Iceland’s banks, but while Britain has used anti-terror laws against Iceland, and had advised councils in 2004 to spread their investments across a “wide range of banks”, the government has refused to commit to guaranteeing council’s savings.
• As part of the Statistics NZ ongoing programme of making statistics freely available via their website, the new Infoshare database has been launched, providing a wide range of statistics in a time-series data format. (Some of the data sets are available down to territorial authority area, but not all.)
• The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage will enter into force in January 2009, aiming to safeguard over 3 million shipwrecks and submerged ruins around the world.
People, culture & diversity:
• Another article from the London School of Economics publication mentioned above, highlights how attitudes about the differences between the rich and the rest have been changing.
• A UK conference on the care and conservation of cemeteries, graveyards and memorials is raising awareness that the resources to maintain this part of British heritage are tight and there are concerns that the day will come when inscriptions will no longer be legible due to gradual decay.
• Virtual worlds are already evolving to try to attract users other than gamers or the highly tech-savvy. For example, Twinity is a virtual world that allows avatars to move around inside an accurate virtual version of a real city – Berlin. London, Singapore and New York are to follow. Or you could learn something about the culture and history of China by visiting the virtual Forbidden City.
Science, technology & transport:
• ITC technologies produce a lot of greenhouse emissions in their production and use. However, it is possible for these technologies to reduce more emissions than they produce. (This article is from McKinsey Quarterly – if you aren’t on the distribution list for the journal, but still want to see a copy of this article, let the LOGIS Librarian know.)
• Robots that can think like humans still sounds like science fiction to most people, but the technology is coming closer, as recent experiments in the UK have shown.
• The Smart car has become popular in NZ cities and ads – a new electric version has been on trial in London, but there seem to be some reservations about the car’s battery performance.
• Some futurists are predicting a form of transport on electric monorail-like systems, called Personal Rapid Transit.
• An article from a London School of Economics publication looks at a possible new way to measure inflation, given the British public’s increasingly sceptical view about official inflation numbers reflecting the true rise in the cost of living.
• The UN Climate Change Secretariat has announced that it is on track for the Kyoto Protocol emissions trading system to go live.
• The rise of the electric car industry is going to result in an increase in niche industries needed to support it.
• Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria were announced at an international conference last week, that set standards for eco-friendly and socially responsible business operations in the industries catering to travelers.
Education
• The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand has launched a programme for schools and is inviting them to take part. The programme aims to provide guidance for schools to recognise dyslexia, and to outline their strategy and to take action to implement the strategy.
• A new state law in Florida requires school districts to create their own full-time virtual schools, collaborate with other districts or contract with providers approved by the state, so that students could earn their public school diploma from kindergarten through to the 12th grade without physically attending school.
Environment & sustainability:
• A small community in Denmark is now a world leader in sustainable alternative energy, becoming carbon neutral in 2007 by producing 10 percent more than its 6,000 residents use each year so that it now exports energy to Norway.
• The 2009/10 funding round for the Ministry for the Environment’s Sustainable Management Fund has just opened, looking for community driven projects.
• NIWA is running trials using watercress in waterways, to see whether the plant removes nutrients from waterways, especially nitrate and phosphate.
• British Waterways, a public body in charge of waterside land, wants to add wind turbines and small-scale hydroelectric turbines along canals & rivers to generate electricity for up to 45000 homes. Money raised will be used to maintain the waterways.
• Almost 200 countries signed up to an agreement to curb loss of biodiversity by 2010, but the world’s government’s are expected by experts, to fail to reach that target.
• In the next week or so, a Spanish solar thermal storage plant will begin generating power that takes its energy from the solar collectors and stores it in molten salt, allowing the plant to continue to generate power overnight.
Health & wellbeing:
• International research highlighted by a UK foundation indicates links between higher levels of trust and better mental health in more equal societies, and greater levels of fear, distrust and poor mental health in societies with large wealth gaps.
• British researchers say that people on lengthy sick leave for psychiatric illness are twice as likely to die from cancer than healthy employees.
• Doctors have safety concerns about a growing trend amongst people like students or shift workers to use prescription drugs like Ritalin, Provigil (modafinil) or beta-blockers for non-medical reasons such as boosting alertness and brain power.
• A UCLA research team has found that using the Internet may boost the brain power of middle aged and older people.
• An EU study has found that 10% of people listening to MP3 or CD players could suffer permanent hearing loss because their music is too loud.
Law & Government:
• British councils, police authorities, fire services, universities and charities (as well as Transport for London) have been caught out by the collapse of Iceland’s banks, but while Britain has used anti-terror laws against Iceland, and had advised councils in 2004 to spread their investments across a “wide range of banks”, the government has refused to commit to guaranteeing council’s savings.
• As part of the Statistics NZ ongoing programme of making statistics freely available via their website, the new Infoshare database has been launched, providing a wide range of statistics in a time-series data format. (Some of the data sets are available down to territorial authority area, but not all.)
• The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage will enter into force in January 2009, aiming to safeguard over 3 million shipwrecks and submerged ruins around the world.
People, culture & diversity:
• Another article from the London School of Economics publication mentioned above, highlights how attitudes about the differences between the rich and the rest have been changing.
• A UK conference on the care and conservation of cemeteries, graveyards and memorials is raising awareness that the resources to maintain this part of British heritage are tight and there are concerns that the day will come when inscriptions will no longer be legible due to gradual decay.
• Virtual worlds are already evolving to try to attract users other than gamers or the highly tech-savvy. For example, Twinity is a virtual world that allows avatars to move around inside an accurate virtual version of a real city – Berlin. London, Singapore and New York are to follow. Or you could learn something about the culture and history of China by visiting the virtual Forbidden City.
Science, technology & transport:
• ITC technologies produce a lot of greenhouse emissions in their production and use. However, it is possible for these technologies to reduce more emissions than they produce. (This article is from McKinsey Quarterly – if you aren’t on the distribution list for the journal, but still want to see a copy of this article, let the LOGIS Librarian know.)
• Robots that can think like humans still sounds like science fiction to most people, but the technology is coming closer, as recent experiments in the UK have shown.
• The Smart car has become popular in NZ cities and ads – a new electric version has been on trial in London, but there seem to be some reservations about the car’s battery performance.
• Some futurists are predicting a form of transport on electric monorail-like systems, called Personal Rapid Transit.
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