Persistent Contextual Values as Inter-Process Layers

Mobile applications today often fail to be context aware when they also need to be customizable and efficient at run-time. Context-oriented programming allows programmers to develop applications that are more context aware. Its central construct, the so-called layer, however, is not customizable. We propose to use novel persistent contextual values for mobile development. Persistent contextual values automatically adapt their value to the context. Furthermore they provide access without overhead. Key-value configuration files contain the specification of contextual values and the persisted contextual values themselves. By modifying the configuration files, the contextual values can easily be customized for every context. From the specification, we generate code to simplify development. Our implementation, called Elektra, permits development in several languages including C++ and Java. In a benchmark we compare layer activations between threads and between applications. In a case study involving a web-server on a mobile embedded device the performance overhead is minimal, even with many context switches.Comment: 8 pages Mobile! 16, October 31, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherland

Fighting Terrorism in an Electronic Age: Does the Patriot Act Unduly Compromise Our Civil Liberties?

The USA PATRIOT Act is tremendously controversial, both lauded by law enforcement and decried by civil liberties groups. This iBrief considers two of the Act\u27s communications monitoring provisions, concluding that each compromises civil liberties to a greater degree than is necessary to combat terrorism. Accordingly, Congress should revise the USA PATRIOT Act, bringing it into line with the Constitution

Cunningham v. California

In Cunningham v. California, the United States Supreme Court voted 6-3 to invalidate California\u27s determinate sentencing law ( DSL ) as violative of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court held that, notwithstanding the California Supreme Court\u27s determination to the contrary, the DSL conflicted with prior Supreme Court precedent by placing sentence-elevating factfinding within the judge\u27s province, thereby violat[ing] a defendant\u27s right to trial by jury safeguarded by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments

New England Overview: A Guide to Large-Scale Energy Infrastructure Issues in 2015

The report outlines how regional electricity and natural gas infrastructure decisions are made. It examines the current proposals to expand electricity transmission lines and natural gas pipelines into New England, as solutions to electricity and gas price and reliability issues, and briefly discusses the major implications of both

Excessive CEO Pay: Background and Policy Approaches

[Excerpt] During the past several decades, average pay for non-management workers has stagnated, after adjustment for inflation, falling slightly since the early 1970s. In contrast, compensation of top corporate executives has risen dramatically. Supporters of current CEO pay levels argue that executive compensation is determined by normal private market bargaining, that rising pay reflects competition for a limited number of qualified candidates, and that even the richest pay packages are a bargain compared with the billions in shareholder wealth that successful CEOs create. Others, however, cite instances in which executive pay appears to be excessive. Some see a social equity problem in which CEO pay is seen to embody a troublesome rise in income and wealth inequality. Others see excessive pay as a form of shareholder abuse made possible by weak corporate governance structures and a lack of clear, comprehensive disclosure of the various components of executive compensation. This report describes the major legislative and regulatory proposals that have sought to remedy these perceived problems. It will be updated as events warrant