Posts with keyword: public+policy

7 entries

Barnett's Grand Unifying Theory

Fri Apr 6 17:07:00 2007

Thomas Barnett, who I interviewed on IT Conversations 18 months ago is in Alaska and writing some very good stuff. I love to see his spin on the news--of course that's because I agree with him so often! The very definition of genius. Just read a few of the postings from April 4th. For example: Those who protest Nixon's trip to China... Plant the flag and give 'em the vector Economic freedom trumps political freedom As I've said before (I think) Barnett's work provides a backdrop on which you can pin a ton of seemingly unrelated global events and
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Are You Over 21? Attributes and Identity

Sat Mar 17 08:19:00 2007

Utah Driving Privilege Card(click to enlarge) This story from the Salt Lake Tribune about driving privilege cards and getting into bars is a good example of the issues surrounding identity, attributes, and authorization. For some background, a few years ago, Utah passed a driving privilege card (DCP) law that gave undocumented workers a legal way to drive without issuing them a drivers license. A drivers license has legally mandated identity functions for the federal, state, and local governments that extend beyond authority to drive--voter registration, as one example. The reasoning for issuing any card at all to undocumented individuals
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The Cost of DST Changes

Wed Mar 14 21:38:00 2007

One of the conversational topics I ran into over and over the first of this week was "what does all this DST patching cost?" Larry Dignan has an estimate and the numbers aren't pretty. By Larry's estimate we spent $1 billion in IT costs and saved $360 million. Sounds like the kind of investment that the Feds make all day long.
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Why You Should Love CALEA

Fri Mar 2 11:51:00 2007

I published a show from Emerging Telephony on IT Conversations that consisted of three lightening talks by Bill Weinberg, Brad Templeton, and Johannes Ernst. Bill gave a good talk about open phones and why we don't have one yet. Open phones are a subject I care about, so I enjoyed that. Johannes gave one of the best short presentations I've heard on the multiple identifier problem. But Brad really entertained with his talk on why you should love CALEA. Brad's talk starts about 15 minutes in. Actually, I should clarify. Brad didn't really give the presentation, rather it was
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Jim Harper Testifying Tomorrow

Mon Feb 12 15:01:00 2007

Jim Harper, who spoke in Utah last November will be testifying before the Utah Government Operations Committee at 8:15 in Room W010 of the Capitol. I'm sure his testimony will be in regard to this resolution against the RealID Act. Jim's an advocate of states taking a firm stance in opposition to the Federal government on the RealID act. He makes very good points about why the RealID act is ill-conceived and will be as ineffective at stopping terrorism as it is effective at invading the privacy of everyone else.
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The Longtail of Banking

Thu Jan 18 16:42:00 2007

This article from the Economist on the unbanked doesn't use the term, but what they're talking about is th long tail of retail banking. I have a friend who, a while back, didn't have any bank accounts. His life wasn't pretty. I've always had a jaundiced view of check cashing establishments--they seem to prey on the poor (and mathematically challenged). On the other hand, I have a friend who runs an emergency dental outfit and many of their customers are "unbanked." Teaming up with a check-cashing outfit allowed them to offer services to these folks--who usually don't have the
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Jim Harper Audio On Identity

Mon Dec 11 13:54:00 2006

I just posted Jim Harper's talk on identity at IT Conversations. It's a good talk and well worth listening to if you've got any interest in identity and public policy. Unfortunately, we didn't have a mic for the audience, so the Q&A session didn't make it. That's too bad since there was some really good interaction.
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