Duh: Contact-tracing apps have a trust problem
Experts believe that at least half the population needs to use contact-tracing apps for them to work. The challenge will be convincing the public to opt in after years of…
Experts slam UW’s IHME model, saying it should not be used for public policy
As I noted, every page on their web site should say “For Entertainment Purposes Only”: Epidemiologists are criticizing an influential coronavirus model as flawed and warning against relying on it…
Software: Why hiring professional software engineers might have been a good idea #IowaCaucus
Oh my: It wasn’t so much that the new app that the Iowa Democratic Party had planned to use to report its caucus results didn’t work. It was that people…
Increases in student loan availability lead to increases in tuition and fees
Increases in student loan availability are a cause of tuition hikes rather than in response to tuition hikes. This effect is also seen in housing (cheap loans made widely available)…
Health policy: “The U.S. can slash health-care costs 75% with 2 fundamental changes”
Adding price signaling to health care, and adopting Indiana's HSA deductible concept, would dramatically alter how health care works - and lead to lower prices. Ideas so good they will…
Business: San Francisco to require tech entrepreneurs to receive a permit from the city before launching their tech products
A new San Francisco city government office will be given authority over new product trials and product launches in San Francisco. Companies introducing new products will require approval and a…
A call for a code of tech ethics?
Some are calling for a "code of tech ethics", particularly regarding social media and privacy issues. Where this is logically headed is to Professional Engineer licensing for at least some…
“Algorithms have gotten out of control. It’s time to regulate them.”
Columnist proposes the establishment of a new government agency known as an "Algorithm Czar" to regulate all algorithms used in computing. The author is unaware that Courts have ruled algorithms…
When Women Stopped Coding : Planet Money : NPR
NPR makes an assertion that 1984 is when personal computers in the home emerged and that parents only bought personal computers for their sons. The first assertion is false and…
U.S. Copyright Office expands copyright exemptions for fair use, security research and other activities
U.S. Copyright Office gives okay to computer security researchers to thwart copyright protection systems for the purpose of good faith security research. This, and many other exemptions, have been added…