Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

During their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves (GWs) from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs). The combined results from two independent search techniques were used in this study: the first employs a matched-filter algorithm that uses a bank of filters covering the GW signal parameter space, while the second is a generic search for GW transients (bursts). No GWs from IMBHBs were detected; therefore, we constrain the rate of several classes of IMBHB mergers. The most stringent limit is obtained for black holes of individual mass 100 M ⊙, with spins aligned with the binary orbital angular momentum. For such systems, the merger rate is constrained to be less than 0.93 Gpc−3yr−1 in comoving units at the 90% confidence level, an improvement of nearly 2 orders of magnitude over previous upper limits

First low-frequency Einstein@Home all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO data

We report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. This search investigates the low frequency range of Advanced LIGO data, between 20 and 100 Hz, much of which was not explored in initial LIGO. The search was made possible by the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home project. We find no significant signal candidate and set the most stringent upper limits to date on the amplitude of gravitational wave signals from the target population, corresponding to a sensitivity depth of 48.7 [1/root Hz]. At the frequency of best strain sensitivity, near 100 Hz, we set 90% confidence upper limits of 1.8 x 10(-25). At the low end of our frequency range, 20 Hz, we achieve upper limits of 3.9 x 10(-24). At 55 Hz we can exclude sources with ellipticities greater than 10(-5) within 100 pc of Earth with fiducial value of the principal moment of inertia of 10(38) kg m(2)

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Peer reviewed: NoNRC publication: Ye

Software Support for Multi-Lingual Legislative Drafting

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) face a broad spectrum of barriers to effective transnational cooperation ( 3 Siochr\ufa 2003). One critical barrier is the lack of ready access to software tools that facilitate transnational, multi-lingual, collaborative work. As an example, Civil Society's drafting processes for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have been very complicated, tedious, and prone to error. Complicating the process further is the fact that NGO communities are now often distributed across multiple languages. There are, for example, six official languages in WSIS. Truly democratic debate over document revisions is severely hampered if translations are not available. This then negatively impacts the sustainability of such processes.A number of content management systems now exist that might be extended and adapted for this purpose, but no fully functional system as such exists that is accessible to the majority of NGOs. A critical factor here is the use of a free software model. Proprietary solutions are usually prohibitively expensive and, thus, are neither accessible nor sustainable with the NGO community. This paper will present the context in which advanced collaboration tools for NGOs is needed. It will also discuss general system requirements and provide technical background.Les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) sont confront\ue9es \ue0 un vaste spectre d'obstacles qui nuisent \ue0 une coop\ue9ration transnationale efficace ( 3 Siochr\ufa 2003). Un obstacle critique est constitu\ue9 par l'absence d'outils logiciels destin\ue9s \ue0 faciliter les travaux collaboratifs multilingues transnationaux. \uc0 titre d'exemple, pour l'organisation de la soci\ue9t\ue9 civile, le processus de r\ue9daction des documents \ue0 l'occasion du Sommet mondial sur la soci\ue9t\ue9 de l'information s'est r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 tr\ue8s compliqu\ue9, p\ue9nible et sujet \ue0 l'erreur. La situation se complique davantage du fait que les ONG sont maintenant souvent multilingues. Ainsi, au Sommet mondial sur la soci\ue9t\ue9 de l'information, il y a six langues officielles. Il est alors extr\ueamement difficile de mener des d\ue9bats v\ue9ritablement d\ue9mocratiques sur les diverses versions des documents en l'absence de traduction de ces derniers. Cette situation a \ue0 son tour des impacts n\ue9gatifs sur la possibilit\ue9 m\ueame de ce processus. Il existe maintenant un certain nombre de syst\ue8mes de gestion de contenu qui pourraient \ueatre \ue9tendus et adapt\ue9s \ue0 cette fin, mais il n'existe pas de syst\ue8mes enti\ue8rement fonctionnels qui soient accessibles \ue0 la majorit\ue9 des ONG. La possibilit\ue9 d'utiliser un mod\ue8le logiciel gratuit constitue ici un facteur critique. Les solutions propri\ue9taires se r\ue9v\ue8lent en g\ue9n\ue9ral prohibitivement co\ufbteuses et elles ne sont par cons\ue9quent ni accessibles ni utilisables dans le contexte des ONG. Cet article pr\ue9sente le contexte dans lequel des outils de collaboration \ue9volu\ue9s pour les ONG sont n\ue9cessaires. Il pr\ue9sente \ue9galement une \ue9tude des besoins g\ue9n\ue9raux auxquels ces outils doivent satisfaire, ainsi que leur situation technique.NRC publication: Ye

Knowledge Creation and Collective Memory in the Era of Web 2.0 and Network Non-Neutrality

This paper examines knowledge creation and ownership issues raised by the nexus of Web 2.0 technologies and business models, changes to network neutrality policy and operation, and the advent of next generation Internet architectures.Cet article examine les questions de cr\ue9ation et de propri\ue9t\ue9 du savoir soulev\ue9es par les liens qui existent entre les technologies du Web 2.0 et les mod\ue8les op\ue9rationnels, les changements apport\ue9s \ue0 la politique de neutralit\ue9 et \ue0 l'exploitation du r\ue9seau et l'av\ue8nement des architectures Internet de la nouvelle g\ue9n\ue9ration.NRC publication: Ye

Tools for Collaboration Between Transnational NGOs: Multilingual, Legislative Drafting

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) face a broad spectrum of barriers to effective transnational cooperation (y Siochr 2003). One critical barrier is the lack of ready access to software tools that facilitate transnational, multi-lingual, collaborative work. As an example, Civil Society's drafting processes for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have been very complicated, tedious, and prone to error. Inputs are received from many NGOs or caucuses composed of NGOs. These inputs may consist of commentary or specific recommendations for language in some consensus document. All such inputs must be reconciled for inconsistencies, debated, and placed into a structure for the overall document. Complicating the process further is the fact that NGO communities are now often distribute across multiple languages. There are, for example, six official languages in WSIS. Truly democratic debate over document revisions is severely hampered until translations of a draft have been produced.The goal of strengthening transnational networks within civil society must, therefore, include the development of ICT tool sets that solve both the technical and social problems involved in managing formal or semi-formal democratic processes. A number of content management systems now exist that might be extended and adapted for this purpose, but no fully functional system as such exists. A critical factor in providing this type of tool is the use of a free software model. Proprietary solutions to various aspects of the problems of collaboration and multi-lingual drafting exist, but they are expensive for most NGOs to acquire and operate. This paper will present the context in which advanced collaboration tools for NGOs is needed. It will discuss general system requirements and provide technical background. Some current technologies that provide parts of the functionality needed to support greater collaboration among NGOs will be discussed. The paper will conclude by presenting a high-level technical architecture for such a system.Les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) sont confront\ue9es \ue0 une multitude d'obstacles qui nuisent \ue0 une coop\ue9ration transnationale efficace ( 3 Siochr\ufa 2003). L'absence d'outils logiciels pour faciliter les travaux collaboratifs multilingues transnationaux constitue notamment un obstacle critique. \ue0 titre d'exemple, les processus de r\ue9daction des documents du Bureau de la soci\ue9t\ue9 civile, pour le Sommet mondial sur la soci\ue9t\ue9 de l'information, se sont r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9s tr\ue8s compliqu\ue9s, p\ue9nibles et sujets \ue0 l'erreur. Des informations sont reues de nombreux ONG ou caucus compos\ue9s d'ONG. Ces informations peuvent consister en commentaires ou en recommandations sp\ue9cifiques concernant la langue d'un document de consensus. Il faut coordonner toutes ces informations pour en \ue9liminer les incoh\ue9rences, en discuter et les structurer aux fins du document global. La situation se complique davantage du fait que les collectivit\ue9s des ONG sont souvent r\ue9parties entre des secteurs de langues diff\ue9rentes. Ainsi, au Sommet mondial sur la soci\ue9t\ue9 de l'information compte six langues officielles. Par cons\ue9quent, tant qu'une \ue9bauche n'a pas \ue9t\ue9 traduite dans les langues voulues, il est extr\ueamement difficile de mener des d\ue9bats v\ue9ritablement d\ue9mocratiques sur les r\ue9visions du document.L'objectif de renforcement des r\ue9seaux transnationaux dans la soci\ue9t\ue9 civile doit donc inclure le d\ue9veloppement d'ensembles d'outils TIC qui r\ue9solvent aussi bien les probl\ue8mes techniques que les probl\ue8mes sociaux associ\ue9s \ue0 la gestion des processus d\ue9mocratiques formels ou semi-formels. On dispose maintenant d'un certain nombre de syst\ue8mes de gestion de contenu, que l'on pourrait \ue9tendre et adapter \ue0 cette fin, mais il n' existe pas de syst\ue8me pareil qui soit enti\ue8rement fonctionnel. Un des facteurs essentiels pour procurer ce genre d'outil est l'utilisation d'un mod\ue8le de logiciel gratuit . On trouve des solutions propri\ue9taires pour divers aspects des probl\ue8mes de collaboration et de r\ue9daction multilingue, mais leur prix et leur cot d'exploitation sont trop \ue9lev\ue9s pour la plupart des ONG.Cet article pr\ue9sentera le contexte o des outils de collaboration d'avant-garde sont n\ue9cessaires. Il traitera des exigences g\ue9n\ue9rales en mati\ue8re de syst\ue8mes et donnera des renseignements g\ue9n\ue9raux d'ordre technique. Il abordera certaines technologies modernes qui procurent certains aspects de la fonctionnalit\ue9 n\ue9cessaire \ue0 une collaboration accrue entre les ONG. Il conclura en pr\ue9sentant une architecture technique de haut niveau pour un tel syst\ue8me.NRC publication: Ye

Technological Evolution and the Right to Communicate: The Implications for Electronic Democracy

This paper examines the co-evolution of information and communications technologies and communication rights. The emphasis is on the right to communicate. The paper provides a historical analysis through several generations of human rights developments of the interrelationships between technical advances that enabled new communication modalities and the subsequent social and organizational interests that evolved. These communication modalities include bi-directional, interpersonal communications supported by telegraphy and telephony unidirectional, mass communications made possible the broadcast technologies of television and radio; and bi-directional, many-to-many communications supported by the broadband technologies of satellite, the Internet, and the World-Wide Web. Three generations of human rights have been recognized in this context: Civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; and the emerging area of collective rights.Cet article examine la co \ue9volution des technologies de l'information et des communications d'une part, et des droits \ue0 la communication d'autre part. Il est ax\ue9 surtout sur le droit de communiquer. Il pr\ue9sente une analyse historique, sur plusieurs g\ue9n\ue9rations d'\ue9volution des droits de l'homme, des relations qui existent entre d'une part les avanc\ue9es techniques qui ont permis la r\ue9alisation de nouveaux modes de communications, et d'autre part les int\ue9r\ueats sociaux et organisationnels ult\ue9rieurs que ces modes ont suscit\ue9s. Ces moyens de communication comprennent les communications bidirectionnelles et interpersonnelles autoris\ue9es par la t\ue9l\ue9graphie et la t\ue9l\ue9phonie, les communications de masse rendues possibles par les technologies de la t\ue9l\ue9vision et de la radio; et les communications bidirectionnelles et multi intervenant autoris\ue9es par les technologies \ue0 haut d\ue9bit ou large bande du satellite, de l'Internet et du Web. Trois g\ue9n\ue9rations de droits de l'homme ont \ue9t\ue9 identifi\ue9es dans ce contexte : les droits civils et politiques; les droits \ue9conomiques, sociaux et culturels; et le domaine \ue9mergent des droits collectifs.NRC publication: Ye

Community-Oriented Technology Assessment

Technology assessment approaches have traditionally occupied organizational informatics and policy-making areas. Approaches tailored to the unique characteristics of and concerns within community-based projects are lacking. Formal technology assessment processes can provide a critical bridge between observational community informatics research and technology design and development processes. This paper presents a framework adapted to community-based technology assessment processes. A survey of the field is given with discussion of adaptations required for community contexts. Performing technology assessments in partnership with communities is also discussed.Les m\ue9thodes d'\ue9valuation technologique se retrouvent, traditionnellement, dans les secteurs de l'informatique organisationnelle et de l'\ue9laboration de politiques. Il manque des approches adapt\ue9es aux caract\ue9ristiques uniques des projets des collectivit\ue9s et aux pr\ue9occupations qu'ils v\ue9hiculent. Des processus officiels d'\ue9valuation de technologies peuvent procurer un lien, crucial, entre les processus de recherche informatique ax\ue9s sur l'observation de la collectivit\ue9 et les processus de conception et d\ue9veloppement de technologies. L'auteur pr\ue9sente dans cette communication un cadre adapt\ue9 aux processus d'\ue9valuation des technologies dans les collectivit\ue9s. Il \ue9tudie le domaine et discute des adaptations n\ue9cessaires pour les contextes collectifs. Il parle aussi de l'ex\ue9cution d'\ue9valuations technologiques en partenariat avec les collectivit\ue9s.NRC publication: Ye

Sovereignty and Communication Rights

This paper examines issues of national sovereignty in the context of a right to communicate. It first provides a historical and philosophical overview of the development of communication rights. It then focuses on exemplary cases involving the intersection of national sovereignty with communication rights. Emphasis is given to exploring the implications for democratic communication and political and cultural participation in communities.Cet article examine les probl\ue8mes de la souverainet\ue9 nationale dans le contexte des droits \ue0 la communication. Il pr\ue9sente tout d'abord un panorama d'ensemble historique et philosophique de l'\ue9volution des droits \ue0 la communication. Il se concentre ensuite sur des cas d'exemple de conflits entre la souverainet\ue9 nationale et les droits \ue0 la communication, en insistant tout particuli\ue8rement sur l'exploration des r\ue9percussions sur la communication d\ue9mocratique ainsi que la participation politique et culturelle des communaut\ue9s.NRC publication: Ye

Community intermediary organizations, community media and networking, and the Internet

Across Canada, thousands of community "intermediary" organizations act as links between the various levels of government and Canadians, often people experiencing poverty, health problems, social isolation and other forms of disadvantage. Community intermediary organizations produce community media to publicize to the larger society the issues and events they believe are important, and they network with each other and with their community members to share information. This research explores the community media and networking activities of four of these organizations in four different Canadian provinces, and the role of the Internet in these activities. For our analysis we draw on fieldwork data including transcripts from interviews and focus groups as well as content analysis of texts produced by the organizations. Our research situates these organizations as actors within wider social movements and considers their community media and networking activities in this context. The research contributes understanding about how the Internet is used by this specific group of social movement actors - community intermediary organizations - and the challenges and opportunities for and barriers to using the Internet for their community media and networking activities.D'un bout \ue0 l'autre du Canada, des milliers d'organisations communautaires \uab interm\ue9diaires \ubb servent de lien entre les diff\ue9rents paliers de gouvernement et les Canadiens, souvent des gens qui connaissent des probl\ue8mes de pauvret\ue9, de sant\ue9 et d'isolement social, ou qui sont d\ue9savantag\ue9s sous une autre forme. Les organisations communautaires interm\ue9diaires produisent des m\ue9dias communautaires qui servent \ue0 faire conna\ueetre \ue0 la soci\ue9t\ue9 en g\ue9n\ue9ral les questions et les \ue9v\ue9nements qu'elles jugent importants; elles cr\ue9ent des r\ue9seaux entre elles et avec les membres de la communaut\ue9 pour \ue9changer de l'information. Dans cette recherche, nous explorons les m\ue9dias communautaires et les activit\ue9s de r\ue9seautage de quatre de ces organisations dans quatre provinces canadiennes diff\ue9rentes, et le r\uf4le que joue Internet dans ces activit\ue9s. Pour notre analyse, nous nous sommes servis de donn\ue9es recueillies sur le terrain, notamment des transcriptions d'interviews et de rencontres de groupes de discussion, ainsi que d'une analyse de contenu des textes produits par les organisations en question. Aux fins de notre recherche, nous consid\ue9rons ces organisations comme des acteurs \ue0 l'int\ue9rieur de mouvements sociaux plus larges, et c'est dans ce contexte que nous \ue9tudions leurs m\ue9dias communautaires et leurs activit\ue9s de r\ue9seautage. Cette recherche nous permet de mieux comprendre comment Internet est utilis\ue9 par ce groupe pr\ue9cis d'acteurs des mouvements sociaux - les organisations communautaires interm\ue9diaires - et les possibilit\ue9s d'utilisation d'Internet pour leurs m\ue9dias communautaires et leurs activit\ue9s de r\ue9seautage, ainsi que les obstacles \ue0 son utilisation.NRC publication: Ye