The Times does mention that reputable organizations including the Huffington Post, The Atlantic and Business Insider all use branded content. (In fact The Atlantic apologized for one instance of sponsored content from the Church of Scientology in January). The Times suggests the reason for this shift in advertising technique below,
“Publishers are largely being driven to support the use of sponsored content because of fewer people clicking on banner ads, the abundance of advertising space and other factors make it more difficult to make money from traditional online advertising. As advertising technology becomes more sophisticated, ads can be bought and sold at cheaper rates across the Web. Often they are ignored by the very customers advertisers are trying to reach.”
My (new) colleagues at the University of Chicago recently launched a new and exciting program called “Data Science for Social Good”. The program, which launches this summer, will bring together dozens top-notch data scientists, computer scientists an social scientists to address major social challenges. Advisors for this initiative include Eric Schmidt (Google), Raed Ghani (Obama Administration) and my very likable colleague Jake Porway (DataKind). Think of “Data Science for Social Good” as a “Code for America” but broader in scope and application. I’m excited to announce that QCRI is partnering with this important new program given the strong overlap with our Social Innovation Vision, Strategy and Projects.
Could New York Run On Renewable Energy Alone? MARK FISCHETTI – Salon/Scientific American
An important interview with Mark Jacobson, one of the most original thinkers in energy transition. It is well worth your time.
I consider what is being described here as extremely good news. Finally a discussion is emerging about what would really be involved in giving up carbon energy. And, it turns out, its not so scary to accomplish as one might think. You pull back the curtain, and it is the Wizard of Oz. All that is keeping us from making this transition is carbon energy's control of the American government.
Click through to see the important graphics.
Three times now, Mark Jacobson has gone out on the same limb. In 2009 he and co-author Mark Delucchi published a cover story in Scientific American that showed how the entire world could get all of its energy – fuel as well as electricity – from wind, water and solar sources by 2030. No coal or oil, no nuclear or natural gas. The tale sounded infeasible – except that Jacobson, from Stanford University, and Delucchi, from the University of California, Davis, calculated just how many hydroelectric dams, wave-energy systems, wind turbines, solar power plants and rooftop photovoltaic installations the world would need to run itself completely on renewable energy.
“Fairfax County claims to be one of the greatest school systems in the country, but it can’t take a child in kindergarten who happens to be Latino or black or poor and prepare them to be ready for TJ,” Hone said.
ROBERT STEELE: Now that my clearances have been restored I am trying to get the best paying clearance job I can, ideally in Latin America or Africa supporting SOF, but I want to say that being a substitute teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has been a personal joy. Nothing could have given me more hope for the future of the Republic than the chance to interact with these “digital natives” that are the first generation that is “not like us.” I think of them as “Generation Truth, the Sharing Generation” and I believe they will overcome all of the disadvantages we have created for them.
We are long overdue — a decade overdue — for a complete re-visioning of OSINT as OSC/M4IS2, ideally under the dual sponsorship of NATO, White SOF, and the regional (continental) associations.
