We’re happy to report that you can now follow our posts on Twitter. We have two feeds at the moment:

1) Combined ResourceShelf and DocuTicker feed at http://www.twitter.com/resourceshelf.

2) DocuTicker ONLY feed at: http://www.twitter.com/docuticker.

We hope you find them useful , thanks again for all of your support, and make sure to tell your Twittering friends about the new feeds. (-:

Also, Gary and Shirl are doing the Facebook thing these days and would welcome RS and DT users as friends. Just hop on over here for Gary & here for Shirl and make the request.

Almost forgot, if you’re not a ‘Twitterer’ and prefer RSS, we also have RSS feeds available. DocuTicker RSS ||| ResourceShelf RSS

From the News Release:

The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) announced today that it has released its Report to the President for Fiscal Year 2008.

The Report profiles data about the Government-wide security classification program during Fiscal Year 2008.

Highlights from the Report

Classification

+ Executive branch agencies reported 4,109 original classification authorities.

+ Agencies reported using the ten-year-or-less declassification instruction for 58 percent of original classification decisions.

+ Executive branch agencies reported 23,217,557 derivative classification decisions.

+ Agencies reported 23,421,098 combined classification decisions.

+ Sixty-seven percent of the classification guides reported as being currently in use had not been updated within the past five years as required by E.O. 12958, as amended.

Read the rest of this entry »

+ Spell it out voice texts (via Sacramento Business Journal)

California motorists can’t text and drive anymore, but a Sacramento startup is getting around that legal roadblock with new technology.

SayType.com’s patent-pending voice-to-text system allows cell phone users to send text and e-mail messages while behind the wheel. SayType owner John Kent said it’s as easy as leaving a voice mail. The service is offered in English and Spanish.

“We’re trying to provide a hands-free service that works on everybody’s phone that recognizes everybody’s voice,” Kent said.

See Also: Direct to SayType (Free Service)

+ Web Search: Say Hello to the MelZoo Split-Screen (via itBusiness.ca.)

+ Spain’s Prado Teams Up With Google Earth (via AP)

+ Joshua Schachter, the Founder of Delicious, Now Working at Google
Note: Yahoo acquired Delicious in 2005.

+ UK: 192.com Adds 2009 Electoral Database to Offerings

• 22 million names and addresses that have just been added
• 3.5 million of these are for people that registered at a new address last year
• Plus, a final release of an additional 3 million records will be available next month!

+ DiscountMore.com Re-Launches Comparison Shopping Search Engine
Federated search across 26 shopping sites.

Are Social Networking Sites Discoverable?

Because traditional tort law does not recognize invasions of privacy that occur in public, arguments that information posted on social networking sites should not be discoverable because it is “private” face an uphill battle. To determine whether a litigant has an expectation of privacy in an Internet posting, courts will generally first ask whether the person had a “subjective expectation of privacy.” In trying to prove a subjective expectation of privacy in a user’s profile, the inherent nature of the profile or its everyday use works against any notion of an expectation of privacy.

Source: Legal Technology (Law.com)

Peace Corps Announces Top 25 Volunteer Producing Schools

The Peace Corps is proud to announce the top colleges and universities on their annual list of “Peace Corps Top Colleges and Universities” for 2009.

For the third consecutive year, the University of Washington is No. 1 on the undergraduate list in the large schools category, with 104 alumni serving as Peace Corps Volunteers. The University of Colorado-Boulder has risen dramatically from sixth place last year to claim the No. 2 in the large schools category, with 102 Volunteers. Michigan State University has also risen up two spots from fifth place last year to take the No. 3 rank among the country’s large schools, with 89 currently-serving Volunteers.

In the medium schools category, George Washington University captured the No. 1 spot this year with a total of 57 alumni serving as Volunteers. The University of California-Santa Cruz takes the No. 2 honors this year with 52 Volunteers, while American University comes in quite closely behind UC Santa Cruz to garner the No. 3 spot with 51 Volunteers.

Among small schools, the University of Chicago tops the list at No. 1 for the second consecutive year in a row, with 35 Volunteers. St. Olaf College rose significantly this year from ninth place last year to take the No. 2 spot with 26 Volunteers, edging out a three-way tie for the No. 3 spot, which is shared this year by Middlebury College, Smith College, and the University of Puget Sound, with 21 alumni serving respectively as Volunteers.

In the graduate schools rankings, Boston University garners the No. 1 spot this year, up from third place last year with a total of 17 graduate alumni serving as Peace Corps Volunteers. The No. 2 rank is shared this year by New York University and Ohio State University, with both schools fielding 16 Volunteers each.

+ Complete list (PDF; 53 KB)

Source: Peace Corps

Three charts that might be of value to you.

+ U.S. Domestic Airline Fee Chart

+ Airline Carry-On Baggage Chart

+ Frequent Flier Award, Redemption and Fee Chart

Source: RickSeaney.com

From the News Release:

The National Archives announced today the year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary. Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 19, 1934, the legislation established a National Archives to preserve the permanently valuable papers of the Federal government. Today the institution has become a cornerstone of our democracy, making billions of documents created by Federal officials available for inspection, thereby holding public officials accountable for their actions.

Direct to NARA’s 75th Anniversary Web Site

Source: NARA

In this issue:

-Part II of the Digitiziation Guidelines article series

-The Library of Congress on SourceForge.net

-Recent meeting reports

Direct to LC Digital Preservation News Update (1/2009)

+ Direct to: Executive Summary (5 pages; PDF)

+ Direct to: Full Text Report (278 page; PDF)

+ Review Appendices
Source: Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States

Source: Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States

The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was created in February 2008 in accordance with the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace. The scope of the Task Force’s inquiry was to consider those technologies that industry and end users - including parents - can use to help keep minors safer on the Internet.

Click here for a calendar of when 2009 “State of the State” speeches will be delivered in all 50 states. You’ll also find links to each speech soon after it’s delivered.

See Also: Archived “State of the State” Speeches back to 2000

Source: Stateline.org

From the Cornell Law School Web Site:

Need to find case law from Peru, Nauru, or Vanuatu? Statutory law from Serbia, South Africa, or Saint Lucia? The new Foreign and International Law Guide is the place to begin. Every country in the world is included in the Foreign Law Sites section, which provides links to the top four online resources for foreign law research, a list of Law Library resources, and links to current research guides on how to navigate the legal system and find the law. US Government Resources, Transnational Organizations, and Topical Guide sections are current and the guide is continually update

Direct to Foreign and International Law Guide

Source: The Primary Source, Cornell Law School

+ World: Rabies, countries or areas at risk (2008)

+ World: Poliomyelitis (as of 01 Nov 2008)

+ World: HIV, estimated prevalence, 2007

+ World: Tuberculosis, estimated new cases, 2006

+ World: Cholera, countries reporting outbreaks and imported cases, 2006-2008 (as of 01 Nov 2008)

+ World: Chikungunya, countries or areas at risk (as of Dec 2008)

Source: WHO (via ReliefWeb)

Distracted Driving

Includes four maps of the U.S. that show where cell phones are outlawed while driving. Current through October, 2008.

Source: National Safety Council

Direct to Color Map

Source: UNOSAT (via ReliefWeb)