News as Surveillance

As inhabitants of the Information Age, we are increasingly aware of the amount and kind of data that technology platforms collect on us. Far less publicized, however, is how much data news organizations collect on us as we read the news online and how they allow third parties to collect that personal data as well. A handful of studies by computer scientists reveal that, as a group, news websites are among the Internet’s worst offenders when it comes to tracking their visitors. On the one hand, this surveillance is unsurprising. It is capitalism at work. The press’s business model has long been advertising-based. Yet, today this business model raises particular First Amendment concerns. The press, a named beneficiary of the First Amendment and a First Amendment institution, is gathering user reading history. This is a violation of what legal scholars call “intellectual privacy”—a right foundational to our First Amendment free speech rights. And because of the perpetrator, this surveillance has the potential to cause far-reaching harms. Not only does it injure the individual reader or citizen, it injures society. News consumption helps each of us engage in the democratic process. It is, in fact, practically a prerequisite to our participation. Moreover, for an institution whose success is dependent on its readers’ trust, one that checks abuses of power, this surveillance seems like a special brand of betrayal. Rather than an attack on journalists or journalism, this Essay is an attack on a particular press business model. It is also a call to grapple with it before the press faces greater public backlash. Originally given as the keynote for the Washburn Law Journal’s symposium, The Future of Cyber Speech, Media, and Privacy, this Essay argues for transforming and diversifying press business models and offers up other suggestions for minimizing the use of news as surveillance

Food for Thought: Linking Caloric Intake to Behavior via Sirtuin Activity

Sirtuins are thought to form crucial links between energy levels and cellular metabolism. Libert et al. now provide evidence that SIRT1 activity in the brain modifies mammalian emotional behavior via monoamine signaling and that changes in this pathway might contribute to human affective disorder

Detrending and the Distributional Properties of U.S. Output Time Series

We study the impact of alternative detrending techniques on the distributional properties of U.S. output time series. We detrend GDP and industrial production time series employing first-differencing, Hodrick-Prescott and bandpass filters. We show that the resulting distributions can be approximated by symmetric Exponential-Power densities, with tails fatter than those of a Gaussian. We also employ frequency-band decomposition procedures finding that fat tails occur more likely at high and medium business-cycle frequencies. These results confirm the robustness of the fat-tail property of detrended output time-series distributions and suggest that business-cycle models should take into account this empirical regularity.Statistical Distributions, Detrending, HP Filter, Bandpass Filter, Normality, Fat Tails, Time Series, Exponential-Power Density, Business Cycles Dynamics

Autonomous Systems as Legal Agents: Directly by the Recognition of Personhood or Indirectly by the Alchemy of Algorithmic Entities

The clinical manifestations of platelet dense (δ) granule defects are easy bruising, as well as epistaxis and bleeding after delivery, tooth extractions and surgical procedures. The observed symptoms may be explained either by a decreased number of granules or by a defect in the uptake/release of granule contents. We have developed a method to study platelet dense granule storage and release. The uptake of the fluorescent marker, mepacrine, into the platelet dense granule was measured using flow cytometry. The platelet population was identified by the size and binding of a phycoerythrin-conjugated antibody against GPIb. Cells within the discrimination frame were analysed for green (mepacrine) fluorescence. Both resting platelets and platelets previously stimulated with collagen and the thrombin receptor agonist peptide SFLLRN was analysed for mepacrine uptake. By subtracting the value for mepacrine uptake after stimulation from the value for uptake without stimulation for each individual, the platelet dense granule release capacity could be estimated. Whole blood samples from 22 healthy individuals were analysed. Mepacrine incubation without previous stimulation gave mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values of 83±6 (mean ± 1 SD, range 69–91). The difference in MFI between resting and stimulated platelets was 28±7 (range 17–40). Six members of a family, of whom one had a known δ-storage pool disease, were analysed. The two members (mother and son) who had prolonged bleeding times also had MFI values disparate from the normal population in this analysis. The values of one daughter with mild bleeding problems but a normal bleeding time were in the lower part of the reference interval

It’s Not Just About Civility: How Procedural Fairness and Social Capital Can Cure Congressional Gridlock

Undeniably, our country has reached a moment of heightened partisan competition. Political polarization, negative partisanship, the disappearance of institutionalism, and the tribal nature of our two-party system all point to the dysfunction that Congress currently experiences. Some have called for a restoration of civility in both political rhetoric and actions, yet civility might just be the ultimate lost cause in Washington. Congressional gridlock cannot be cured with civility as niceness. Looking at how Jim Wright (D) and Newt Gingrich (R) conducted their political business, each while Speaker of the House, serve as case studies that provide an understanding of how our government has reached the current period of cutthroat politics. While their rhetoric was divisive, their actions that defied institutional rules and signaled a breach of regular order were more astounding. Hence, a restoration of civility is still not the appropriate remedy. Reinstituting procedural fairness and efforts to increase social capital among members of Congress represent the two-pronged solution that will cure Congress’s current crisis. These solutions aim to restore Congress’s effectiveness and bolster elements of cooperation and compromise among Members

Comparing Comparatives in Artificial Languages / Komparado de komparativoj en artefaritaj lingvoj

It is possible to classify Artificial Languages as well as Natural Languages into three main types, according to the forms of comparative adjectives. Artificial Languages can form the comparatives using only a synthetic strategy, or only an analytic strategy, or both of them accordingly. Artificial Languages that use only a syntetic strategy can be classified further according to the rules in choosing one strategy or the other. Some evidence shows that a large proportion of Artificial Languages have both analytic and synthetic comparatives, as in some natural languages. The formation of comparatives results to be an interesting area of morphology, where there is room for choice, also for Artificial Languages. Eblas klasifiki artefaritajn kaj naturajn lingvojn laŭ tri tipoj, depende al la formoj de komparativaj adjektivoj. Artefaritaj lingvoj povas formi komparativojn uzante nur sintezajn formojn, nur analizajn formojn, aŭ ambaŭ formojn laŭkaze. Artefaritajn lingvojn kiuj uzas nur sintezan strategion oni povas klasifiki plue per la reguloj elekti unu aŭ la alian strategion. Ia evidenco montras, ke granda parto de artefaritaj lingvoj havas ambaŭ analizan kaj sintezan komparativojn, kiel en kelkaj naturaj lingvoj. La formado de komparativoj rezultas esti interesa areo de morfologio, en kiu eblas elekti, eĉ kaze de artefaritaj lingvoj

Third-Party-Elemente in deutschen Bibliothekswebseiten

4753 Webseiten wurden mit der Open-Source-Software webXray auf die Einbindung von Elementen untersucht, durch die Dritte über den Abruf einer Webseite durch einen Browser von einem Server informiert werden können. 54,77 % der analysierten Webseiten wiesen solche Third Party Elements (TPE) auf. 18,94 % setzten Cookies ein, 44,81 % banden Javascript von Drittanbietern ein. Google-Services dominieren die TPE-Anbieterliste, sie werden in 30,02 % der untersuchten Webseiten verwendet

Learning lessons in sepsis from the children

Sepsis research has had relatively limited therapeutic success so far. In their recent study, Kobzik and colleagues (Joachim etal, ) identify novel drug-sensitive pathways in sepsis, derived exclusively from patient data. Their strategy is based on the analysis of a naturally sepsis-resistant population (pre-puberty children) and on the implementation of a novel-rich Pathway Drug Network, constructed from human gene expression data enriched in drug-pathway-gene clusters

Weak Planning Process Frustrates Protection of Puerto Rico’s Threatened Coastline

The critically endangered leatherback returns each year to nest on the beach, which is one of only three significant nesting sites left in the United States. Leatherbacks are especially vulnerable to the effects of development activity such as beach renourishment and artificial lighting. In response to a petition from the Sierra Club in August 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressed its intent to review and revise the designated critical habitat for the leatherback, and possibly add the NEC as a critical habitat. This review process, however, will likely take several years, and would only afford protection from Federal actions, leaving the NEC vulnerable to private development