The Rise of the News Aggregator: Legal Implications and Best Practices

During the past decade, the Internet has become an important news source for the majority of Americans. According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, as of January 2010, nearly 61% of Americans got at least some of their news online in a typical day. This increased reliance on the Internet as a source of news has coincided with declining profits in the traditional media and the shuttering of newsrooms in communities across the country. Some commentators look at this confluence of events and assert that, in this case, correlation equals causation -- the Internet is harming the news business.One explanation for the decline of the traditional media that some, including News Corporation owner Rupert Murdoch and Associated Press Chairman Dean Singleton, have seized upon is the rise of the news aggregator. According to this theory, news aggregators from Google News to The Huffington Post are free-riding, reselling and profiting from the factual information gathered by traditional media organizations at great cost. Murdoch has gone so far as to call Google's aggregation and display of newspaper headlines and ledes "theft." As the traditional media are quick to point out, the legality of a business model built around the monetization of third-party content isn't merely an academic question -- it's big business. Revenues generated from online advertising totaled $23.4 billion in 2008 alone.But for all of the heated rhetoric blaming news aggregators for the decline of journalism, many are still left asking the question: are news aggregators violating current law?This white paper attempts to answer that question by examining the hot news misappropriation and copyright infringement claims that are often asserted against aggregators, and to provide news aggregators with some "best practices" for making use of third-party content

Development of a Web-based infrastructure management system for Oklahoma's general aviation airports, and, Exploring the use of spectral analysis of surface waves and impulse response for pavement health monitoring.

The transportation infrastructure of the United States consumes over 17% of its Gross National product annually and is currently valued at $1.75 trillion. With the interstate system now 50 years old, the emphasis of the transportation community has shifted from building new assets to maintaining and improving existing assets. Total Expenditures on highways and bridges remain at record levels -$147.5 billion in 2004.FHWA advocates the use of transportation asset management rationale in addressing pavement needs and improving customer satisfaction. Transportation asset management is not merely a Pavement Management (PMS) software, it is a decision making process that helps network administrators efficiently allocate limited resources for maximum benefit. The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC) felt the need for such a system to efficiently allocate scarce resources at Oklahoma's General Aviation airports.OAC teamed up with the University of Oklahoma's school of civil engineering and environmental science (CEES); the effort resulted in a web-based infrastructure management system (IMS). A far-cry from the previous ''squeaky wheel'' system, OAC's web-based IMS presents a vast storehouse of information---visual distresses, PCI ratings, results of nondestructive tests, geotechnical information, to stakeholders. CEES also felt the need to advance the existing PCI based PMS in use at the time. Accordingly, the Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW) method and the Impulse Response (IR) method were identified as potential tools for pavement health monitoring. The efficacy of these non-destructive test methods was rigorously investigated. SASW was found to be a potentially valuable tool to characterize pavement sections without core extractions. Low strain moduli for pavements with asphalt and portland cement concete surfaces estimated from SASW tests were observed to degrade with time and regression models for this deterioration were prepared and are presented. The ease of testing with the IR method and quick data analysis presents an opportunity for greater spatial coverage of pavements thereby providing a complete picture of the tested site to engineers. It was observed that the pavement section's dynamic stiffness estimated from IR tests degrades with age and regression models capturing this deterioration were prepared

Structural performance of approach slab and its effect on vehicle induced bridge dynamic response

Differential settlement often occurs between the bridge abutment and the embankment soil. It causes the approach slab to lose its contacts and supports from the soil and the slab will bend in a concave manner. Meanwhile, loads on the slab will also redistribute to the slab ends, which may result in faulting (or bump ) at the slab ends. Once a bump forms, repeating traffic vehicles can deteriorate the expansion joint in turn. In this case, the vehicle receives an initial disturbance before it reaches the bridge. This excitation introduces an extra impact load on the bridge and affects its dynamic responses. The present research targets at the structural performance of the approach slab as well as its effect on the vehicle induced bridge vibration. Firstly, the structural performance of the approach slab is investigated. Based on a parametric study, a correlation among the slab parameters, deflections, internal moments, and the differential settlements has been established. The predicted moments make it much easier to design the approach slab considering different levels of embankment settlements. While flat approach slab may be used for some short span applications, large span length would require a very thick slab. In such case, ribbed approach slabs are proposed, providing advantages over flat slabs. Based on finite element analysis, internal forces and deformations of ribbed slabs have been predicted and their designs are conducted. Secondly, a fully computerized vehicle-bridge coupled model has been developed to analyze the effect of approach slab deformation on bridges’ dynamic response induced by moving vehicles. With this model, the dynamic performance of vehicles and bridges under different road conditions (including approach slab deformation) can be obtained for different numbers and types of vehicles, and different types of bridges. A parametric study reveals that the deformation at the approach span causes significant dynamic responses in short span bridges. AASHTO specifications may underestimate the impact factors for short bridges with uneven joints at the bridge ends. Finally, this study investigated the possibility of using tuned mass damper (TMD) to suppress the vehicle-induced bridge vibration under the condition of uneven bridge expansion joints

Spartan Daily, November 8, 1990

Volume 95, Issue 50https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8049/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, November 8, 1990

Volume 95, Issue 50https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8049/thumbnail.jp

Advance control strategies for Maglev suspension systems

The Birmingham Maglev developed over fifteen years ago has successfully demonstrated the inherent advantages of low speed maglev over comparable wheeled systems. It remains the only commercially operational Maglev in the world today. To develop the next generation of Maglev vehicles which will overcome some of the limitations of the Birmingham system, such as chassis length and cost, the following issues are addressed in this thesis. 1) The possibility of interaction between the chassis resonant frequencies and the suspension control system causing poor ride quality and at worst instability, are formally analysed. In the Birmingham vehicle a stiff chassis (fundamental bending mode 40Hz) is used avoiding significant interaction with the suspension controller. Using advanced control strategies the low frequency chassis resonances can be controlled allowing a vehicle structure to be used with a fundamental bending mode of about 12Hz. 2) A modem control strategy is developed which delivers an improved ride quality compared with the present classical control system despite having to operate with a 'soft' chassis. Kalman filters are digitally implemented and conclusions drawn about their performance. The classical control strategy is also successfully demonstrated on a 3 m long 'flexible beam' rig. 3) An associated Maglev suspension problem for the response to ramp inputs such as the transition onto gradients which causes either a large steady state tracking error or a worsening ride quality is addressed by modern control theory using integral feedback techniques and classical theory using third order filters. These controllers are globally optimised by a multi-objective parameter optimisation system which formally considers the conflicts inherent in a suspension system between response to stochastic inputs and deterministic inputs

Spartan Daily, November 3, 2005

Volume 125, Issue 40https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/10183/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, March 18, 1991

Volume 96, Issue 34https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8102/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, May 7, 1991

Volume 96, Issue 63https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8131/thumbnail.jp