If you’ve ever looked for a quick, simple answer from a professional, maybe you’ve stumbled across JustAnswer. I first used the website after my cat had surgery and I wanted to ask a few follow-up questions after the veterinarian’s office had already closed. Recently, I signed up again just to see what new users can […]

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It’s estimated that 27% of people in America live in a condo or homeowner’s association (HOA) property. If you’re one of them, then you’re all too familiar with the double-edged sword that is your HOA. On the one hand, your HOA can ensure that your community is kept to a certain standard. On the other […]

The post What Condo Owners Need To Know About Insurance appeared first on Clark Howard.

With more than 67 million beneficiaries, around one in five Americans is enrolled in Medicare. The federal health insurance program has helped ensure adults over 65 and individuals with disabilities have access to health insurance since 1965. But with regular changes to the program — and our health system at large — it’s no wonder […]

The post Medicare: 10 Things To Know appeared first on Clark Howard.

Some credit cards pay you back when an item you've purchased with that card goes on sale later.

The post Everything you need to know about credit card price protection appeared first on Clark Howard.

If you’re looking for cheap flight options in the United States or around the world, there are some discount airlines you need to know about.  They may be “flying beneath your radar” because they’re relatively new or they service routes that aren’t at the mega-airports. In this article, I’ll fill you in on where these […]

The post 5 Discount Airlines You Need To Know About appeared first on Clark Howard.

Jitterbug makes both flip phones and smartphones for seniors. Take a look at the product line, monthly costs, device activation and actual customer reviews.

The post 6 Things To Know Before Buying a Jitterbug Phone on Lively appeared first on Clark Howard.

If you’re tired of paying a big cable bill each month, you may find that cutting the cord and subscribing to Hulu + Live TV is a great money-saving solution in 2024. This live TV streaming service is an option for people looking to leave the cable company behind for good. Others include Sling TV and YouTube TV. In this article, I’ll […]

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Philo is a cable and satellite TV alternative that caters to cord cutters who are serious about keeping their costs down. We tried it out!

The post 4 Things To Know Before You Sign Up for Philo appeared first on Clark Howard.

Mint Mobile relies on T-Mobile's towers to provide customers with the same coverage at a cheaper price, but is it worth the savings?

The post Mint Mobile Review: 6 Things To Know Before You Sign Up appeared first on Clark Howard.

Red Pocket Mobile provides low-cost cell phone plans and lets you choose your network. Read our review before you sign up!

The post RedPocket Mobile: 6 Things To Know Before You Sign Up appeared first on Clark Howard.

Tags: openscholar

With no public or private school available, Safarabad's residents look to an informal school to fill the gap

Privacy: Our analog parents had the ability to read news anonymously, however they wanted, wherever they wanted, and whenever they wanted. For our digital children, a government agent might as well be looking over their shoulder: the government knows what news sources they read, what articles, for how long, and in what order.

For our analog parents, reading the news was an affair the government had no part of, or indeed had any business being part of. Our analog parents bought a morning newspaper with a few coins on the street corner, brought it somewhere quiet where they had a few minutes to spare, and started reading without anybody interfering.

When our digital children read the news, the government doesn’t just know what news source they choose to read, but also what specific articles they read from that news source, in what order, and for how long. So do several commercial actors. There are at least three grave issues with this.

The first is that since the government has this data, it will attempt to use this data. More specifically, it will attempt to use the data against the individual concerned, possibly in some sort of pre-crime scheme. We know this that since all data collected by a government will eventually be used against the people concerned, with mathematical certainty.

In an attention economy, data about what we pay attention to, how much, and for how long, are absolutely crucial predictive behaviors. And in the hands of a government which makes the crucial mistake of using it to predict pre-crime, the results can be disastrous for the individual and plain wrong for the government.

Of course, the instant the government uses this data in any way imaginable, positive or negative, it will become Heisenberg Metrics — the act of using the data will shape the data itself. For example, if somebody in government decides that reading about frugality probably is an indicator of poverty, and so makes people more eligible for government handouts, then such a policy will immediately shape people’s behavior to read more about frugality. Heisenberg Metrics is when a metric can’t be measured without making it invalid in the process.

(The phenomenon is named after the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which is traditionally confused with the Observer Effect, which states you can’t measure some things without changing them in the process. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is actually something else entirely; it states that you can’t measure precise momentum and position of a subatomic particle at the same time, and does not apply at all to Heisenberg Metrics.)

The second issue is that not only government, but also other commercial actors, will seek to act on these metrics, Heisenberg Metrics as they may be. Maybe somebody thinks that reading fanzines about motorcycle acrobatics should have an effect on your health and traffic insurance premiums?

The third issue is subtle and devious, but far more grave: the government doesn’t just know what articles you read and in what order, but as a corollary to that, knows what the last article you read was, and what you did right after reading it. In other words, it knows very precisely what piece of information leads you to stop reading and instead take a specific action. This is far more dangerous information than being aware of your general information feed patterns and preferences.

Being able to predict somebody’s actions with a high degree of certainty is a far more dangerous ability than being vaguely aware of somebody’s entertainment preferences.

Our analog parents had the privacy right of choosing their information source anonymously with nobody permitted (or able) to say what articles they read, in what order, or for what reason. It’s not unreasonable that our digital children should have the same privacy right, the analog equivalent privacy right.

Privacy remains your own responsibility.

"Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5 -- but that doesn't mean we'll know who won the election on that date. With each passing election, more and more Americans are casting mail-in ballots, which take longer to count than in-person votes because they need to be opened and verified. That means that finding out the winner on election night may be a thing of the past," advises ABC News in a brief analysis.

Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook sets out key steps to harness IT and open data to inform better decisions

Copenhagen, Denmark – A new initiative launched today (2 Oct) aims to coordinate global efforts and funding to deliver the best possible information about life on Earth, and our impacts upon it.

The Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook sets out a framework to harness the immense power of information technology and an open data culture to gather unprecedented evidence about biodiversity and to inform better decisions.

The framework is outlined in a document and website entitled Delivering Biodiversity Knowledge in the Information Age, inviting policy makers, funders, researchers, informatics specialists, data holders and others to unite around four key focus areas where progress is needed.

The focus areas, each consisting of several specific components, are:

• Culture – promoting practices and infrastructure for sharing data, using common standards and persistent archives, backed up by strong policy incentives and a community of willing specialists;
• Data – addressing the need to transform all data about species, past and present, into usable and accessible digital formats; from historic collections and literature to citizen science observations, remote sensors and gene sequencing;
• Evidence – organizing and assessing data from all sources to provide clear, consistent views giving them context; including taxonomic organization, integrated occurrences in time and space, capturing information about species interactions, and improving data quality through collaborative curation; and
• Understanding – building models from recorded measurements and observations to support data-driven research and evidence-based planning, including predictive tools, better visualization and feedbacks to prioritize new data capture.

The document is being promoted through a number of upcoming events this month, including the Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD SBSTTA) where it forms part of the discussion on meeting global targets to end biodiversity loss.

The framework arose from the Global Biodiversity Informatics Conference which gathered around 100 experts in Copenhagen in July, 2012, to identify critical questions relating to biodiversity and tools needed answer them. Workshop leaders at that conference went on to draw up and author the current document.

The Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook includes examples of projects and initiatives contributing to its objectives, and the accompanying website www.biodiversityinformatics.org invites feedback from others wishing to align their own activities to the framework.

A deck of slides for presentations about GBIO is available at http://www.slideshare.net/GBIF/global-biodiversity-informatics-outlook

A recent paper by Duccio Rocchini et al. (2015) has been classified as the fourth hottest article in Ecological Informatics. The paper is part of the EU BON project, and discusses from a conceptual point of view, the potential of remote sensing in estimating biodiversity using various diversity indices, including alpha- and beta-diversity measurements. 

Abstract:

Many geospatial tools have been advocated in spatial ecology to estimate biodiversity and its changes over space and time. Such information is essential in designing effective strategies for biodiversity conservation and management. Remote sensing is one of the most powerful approaches to identify biodiversity hotspots and predict changes in species composition in reduced time and costs. This is because, with respect to field-based methods, it allows to derive complete spatial coverages of the Earth surface under study in a short period of time. Furthermore, remote sensing provides repeated coverages of field sites, thus making studies of temporal changes in biodiversity possible. In this paper we discuss, from a conceptual point of view, the potential of remote sensing in estimating biodiversity using various diversity indices, including alpha- and beta-diversity measurements.

Original source:

Rocchini D, Hernández Stefanoni JL, He, KS (2015) Advancing species diversity estimate by remotely sensed proxies: a conceptual review. Ecological Informatics, 25: 22-28. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.10.006

Engagement with relevant political authorities and other stakeholders is of crucial importance for a research project, making sure its objectives are in tune with the real-world problems and its results provide adapted solutions. Now EU BON shares the outcomes, lessons learned and conclusions from a series of three roundtable meetings designed to identify stakeholder needs and promote collaboration between science and policy.

The collection of EU BON stakeholder roundtable reports provides a summarized overview of shared experiences gained in the three different workshops that were organized from 2013-2016. With more than 100 participants from over 20 countries altogether, the roundtable reports provide insights and exchange of ideas on highly relevant issues concerning policy, citizen science and local/regional stakeholders and its networks.

Simplified workflow from data mobilization via processing to stakeholders from the practice; Credit: Vohland et al.

The roundtables seek to build up a stakeholder dialogue with exemplary sector-specific user communities to incorporate feedback loops for the products of EU BON, as well as to develop improvements of existing biodiversity data workflows. Being published via the innovative Research Ideas & Outcomes (RIO) journal conclusions, derived knowledge and results are now made available for other projects and the wider community to ensure their re-use.

The three roundtable papers report on conclusion on highly relevant issues related to biodiversity information and its open-access and availability, data workflows and integration of citizen science as well as science-policy interfaces.

"In each of the three detailed reports of the roundtables we outline its aims, intentions, as well as results and recommendations, that were drafted based on the roundtable discussions, world café sessions and working groups. Such project results are now published for the first time in the new series of EU BON results, featured in RIO, providing a unique new medium to share experiences, outcomes and conclusions," comments Dr. Katrin Vohland, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin.

"The three reports were published as workshop report provided by the Research Ideas & Outcomes (RIO) journal. This allows readers to publish, distribute and computationally analyse myriads of workshop reports that otherwise often get forgotten or just lost," comments Prof. Lyubomir Penev, co-founder and publisher of RIO.

Original Sources:

Rationale of the roundtables

Wetzel F, Hoffmann A, Häuser C, Vohland K (2016) 1st EU BON Stakeholder Roundtable (Brussels, Belgium): Biodiversity and Requirements for Policy. Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e8600. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e8600

Vohland K, Häuser C, Regan E, Hoffmann A, Wetzel F (2016) 2nd EU BON Stakeholder Roundtable (Berlin, Germany): How can a European biodiversity network support citizen science? Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e8616. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e8616

Vohland K, Hoffmann A, Underwood E, Weatherdon L, Bonet F, Häuser C, Wetzel F (2016) 3rd EU BON Stakeholder Roundtable (Granada, Spain): Biodiversity data workflow from data mobilization to practice. Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e8622. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e8622

General synthesis and lessons learnt from the three EU BON stakeholder roundtables

The 11th European Projects GEO Workshop took place between 19-21 June 2017, in Helsinki, Finland, bringing together European stakeholders interested in and actively contributing to the Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS).

Alongside the plenary (see presentations here), the conference featured 20 sessions looking at various aspects GEOSS, its objectives and their implementation.

Among those EU BON took part in a dedicated session titled ‘How Ecosystem and Biodiversity data and knowledge can support the GEO objectives’, alongside fellow projects and initiatives, and associated partners ECOPOTENTIAL, LTER-Europe, GLOBIS-B, EKLIPSE and ENEON.

Credit: F. Wetzel

The session aimed to inform about recent developments of relevant projects that focus on Ecosystems and Biodiversity and also outline how the generated data and knowledge can support the GEO objectives and inform relevant policies on a European and global scale.  

.@ft_wetzel explaining the @EUBON1 approach to mobilising linked and standardised data #EGW2017 #citizenscience #harmonisation #biodiversity pic.twitter.com/jJJ5jADAzG

— Scent (@SCENT_EU) June 20, 2017

EU BON, as a now completed project, opened the session by presenting its major products in particular the European Biodiversity Portal and how current and future projects can build on the outcomes achieved.

Overall, the session gave the opportunity to learn about the different approaches of selected EU-projects that address the mobilization, integration and analysis of biodiversity and ecosystem data, their current achievements and existing barriers. Here are some of the Key Messages that emerged from the session: 

• For biodiversity and ecosystem approaches, European level efforts are needed to achieve comprehensive data coverage and full open access, especially for in situ data integration.
• Existing European-level data portals and information platforms need to be sustained and considered as integration points for national and local data hubs. 
• Systematic approaches for biodiversity are needed, which means linking biotic and abiotic data and improving harmonization efforts for the whole data cycle/ workflows from data collection, analysis and dissemination for different disciplines (SBAs). 
• Essential (Biodiversity) Variables (EBVs) are a key concept / framework especially for monitoring / long-term observations that should be applied for all available biodiversity/ecosystem data fields.
• Use examples from existing projects and networks as successful blueprints for bottom-up/user-driven approaches in GEOSS that relate to knowledge and user needs at the local scale. 

A new EU BON derived paper looks at the dynamics of science - policy dialogue, offering tips for improving the uptake of scientific knowledge.

Scientific knowledge is considered to be an important factor (alongside others) in environmental policy-making. However, the opportunity for environmentalists to influence policy can often occur within short, discrete time windows. Therefore, a piece of research may have a negligible or transformative policy influence depending on when it is presented.

These ‘policy windows’ are sometimes predictable, such as those dealing with conventions or legislation with a defined renewal period, but are often hard to anticipate. We describe four ways that environmentalists can respond to policy windows and increase the likelihood of knowledge uptake: 1) foresee (and create) emergent windows, 2) respond quickly to opening windows, 3) frame research in line with appropriate windows, and 4) persevere in closed windows. These categories are closely linked; efforts to enhance the incorporation of scientific knowledge into policy need to harness mechanisms within each.

In their new reseach the authors illustrate the main points with reference to nature conservation, but the principles are widely applicable. The open access paper is available here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901117302095

Read also the article published on it by the British Ecological Society: http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/windows-opportunity-influence-policy-four-tips-improve-uptake-scientific-knowledge/

The Open Knowledge Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2013 Open Knowledge Conference (OKCon) will take place in Geneva, Switzerland on 17th-18th September.
The world’s leading open data and open knowledge event, OKCon is the latest in an annual series run since 2005. Last year’s installment in Helsinki had more than 1000 participants from over 50 countries and was the largest event of its kind to date.
Find out more about the conference here.
Registration and tickets are already available here.

The FP7 Coordination action BiodiversityKnowledge on "designing a network of knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services to inform decision-making in Europe" is organizing its second international conference on September 24th to 26th in Berlin.
The objective of this second conference is to discuss and finalize the recommended design of a future Network of Knowledge (NoK) on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe.
Considering the importance of this future Network of Knowledge, representatives of the biodiversity and ecosystem service knowledge community - from practitioners, researchers to policy makers - are warmly invited to actively participate in this conference and to contribute to the design process of a European Network of Knowledge during 2013.
Event web page: Biodiversity Knowledge 2nd Conference

On the 1st of April, between 9:30 and 16:30, the BiodiversityKnowledge project organises a conference where outcomes will be presented and widely discussed with policy makers, science and other stakeholders at the European parliament in Brussels. As final result, BiodiversityKnowledge will present a stakeholder’s document outlining a recommended design on how such a Network of Knowledge could operate and produce added value.

EU BON will be also presented at the confernce as one of the knowledge providers of the Network of Knowledge.

To counteract biodiversity loss, efforts have considerably increased over the past years to strengthen the science-policy-society interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services. There is indeed an active landscape of projects, institutions, organisations and individuals in Europe involved in this interface, all aiming to improve the knowledge flow so that decisions at different policy levels (from European, to national and local levels) are based on the best available knowledge.

With the 7th Environmental Action Programme and the start of Horizon2020 and its focus on innovative solutions for society, the need for more concerted activities in this context become even more important.

In this context, BiodiversityKnowledge (FP7 KNEU), an EU-funded coordination action has been set up to help to map, mobilise and organise this landscape focusing on the knowledge holders’ community. For this the project has been developing and testing a prototype Network of Knowledge since 2011 with more than 300 active participations of representatives of the biodiversity and ecosystems services knowledge community. Stakeholders involved ranged from practitioners and researchers to policy-makers.

Please find the conference agenda attached below.

The "Open Science at the Global Scale: Sharing e-Infrastructures, Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Progress" conference will take place on March 31, 2015 in Brussels, Belgium. The conference is organized under the aegis of the European Commission (DG CONNECT) to bring together policy and research stakeholders from all the regions targeted by the project (Asia, Africa, Arabia, India, Europe and Latin America) to discuss major developments and perspectives in the field of global e-Infrastructures for Research and Education.

The main outcomes of the CHAIN-REDS project will be also presented on this occasion:

• The development of a Distributed Computing Infrastructure interoperation model between Europe and other regions
• The promotion of international standards and technical guidelines for interoperability of cloud services across continents
• One of the largest existing e-Infrastructure-related digital information systems, the CHAIN-REDS Knowledge Base
• A complete methodology for better sharing and using scientific data
• The CHAIN-REDS Science Gateway: a single portal for accessing remote computing and data services anywhere in the world
• The support of the creation of Identity Federations to make Authentification and Authorisation easier for users and service providers worldwide
• The main outcomes of the six awareness-raising workshops organised by CHAIN-REDS in Asia, Africa, Arabia, and Latin America

For Registration and more information, please visit the oficial conference webpage: https://agenda.ct.infn.it/event/1110/

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was widely misunderstood in life, and perhaps even more so in death. How much do you know about the great composer? ... Read more

The post How Well Do You Know Tchaikovsky? Take the Quiz! appeared first on CMUSE.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner is one of the most controversial figures in the history of classical music, and for good reason. How well do you know ... Read more

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How well do you know the King of the Blues? How well do you know the King of the Blues?

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Classic FM has posted what it believes to be the hardest classical music quiz online, allowing you to test out your knowledge and brag about ... Read more

The post Feel like testing your classical music knowledge? Take this quiz appeared first on CMUSE.

Everything to know about visiting Salem in October, including parking info, the best restaurants, Salem Witch Trials activities, and a full guide to Halloween celebrations.

The post Everything you need to know about Halloween season in Salem appeared first on Boston.com.

There's so much history to be discovered right in the heart of Boston.

The post 5 things you didn’t know about the Boston Public Library appeared first on Boston.com.

“There’s no story quite like the Boston Celtics.”

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Emerging in the middle of the 18th century, the symphony has been one of classical music’s most vibrant forms for over 300 years. With that ... Read more

The post Top 10 Symphonies Everyone Should Know appeared first on CMUSE.

Sex therapists — including the one in today’s episode of the Love Letters podcast — say that a lot of people don’t really understand the range of the work.

The post I didn’t know enough about sex therapy, either appeared first on Boston.com.

Find out about fall activities, prices, and more.

The post Want to visit New England’s largest corn maze? Here’s what you need to know. appeared first on Boston.com.

"Here's a little fun fact: That guy right there grabbing Mookie Betts' glove was my friend in college."

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Chickens outnumber people 4:1, they have more in common, anatomically, with dinosaurs than humans, you can mail order up to 350 different varieties of chicks, and roosters really are much meaner than hens.

The post Book Review: Sy Montgomery shares ‘What the Chicken Knows’ in new mini hardcover appeared first on Boston.com.

Jim is a security specialist who trains in anti-terrorism. He has found CBN News to be an essential source of reliable information, helping him navigate a dangerous world. He and his wife, Karen, became CBN partners-find out why.

The women of Afghanistan are elected officials, school teachers, actors, TV contest winners, ancient rug weavers, and whisperers of forbidden poetry. The Taliban are starting to put down their thumb. But these women want you to know they are more than the timid victim under a burqa.

Original Air Date: October 02, 2021

Guests: 

Humaira Ghilzai — Eliza Griswold — Anna Badkhen — Rafia Zakaria

Interviews In This Hour: 

What's the future of culture in Afghanistan? — For Afghan weavers, the world is a carpet — Generations of Afghan women sharing the landay — How Afghanistan became America's 'first feminist war'

WHAT IS METABOLIC FLEXIBILITY? While most people have heard the term metabolism, the majority of them likely can’t explain what it means, Dr. Ian says. “Your metabolism is the collective effort of billions of cells in your body that are carrying out chemical processes (work) every second of your life – even when you’re sleeping -- that allow you to live and function and be who you are.”   Dr. Ian says metabolism basically involves the breakdown of food into small, simple nutrients, and the...

Tips to keep in mind about window installation.

Be informed on contractors’ rules if you are selling a product to them.

How Florida lawmakers’ attempt to make property insurance more affordable could affect your business.

As some of you know, I grew up in a little town in northwestern Nebraska. Chadron was your stereotypical Andy-of-Mayberry town with only one stoplight and still only has one to this day. Frankly, it was a great place for a kid to grow up.

The purpose of this article is to simply differentiate “exit planning” and “succession” and outline the main points for a CEO to remember when succession planning.

Registration is open for the fourth 24 Hours of Concrete Knowledge, a free, virtual conference organized by the American Concrete Institute that will begin at 2 p.m. EDT on July 9.