Can the Web Make You More Productive?

Every weekday, I get an e-mail from About.com containing links to some thematic area. Might be about film, or health, or holidays. I've ound it at least interesting and occasionally useful. An e-mail from last week posed the question of the title above.

The first link was to Top Ten Productivity Web Sites. A number of them are organizational tools. I have a Gmail account, useful for a number of functions, including this blog. My favorite tool in this grouping is TinyURL., where you go to tinyurl.com/create.php and plug in a URL that goes to the second line of an e-mail you're sending and make the URL much shorter.

The second link was to Tips for Searching Effectively with Google. Look near the bottom to see how to find synonyms and searching within a range of numbers, things I've done in the past but had forgotten.

The final link is to How to Do Everything in Mozilla Firefox. I use Firefox at homwe, though not at work, and I like it better than Explorer; your experience may vary.

epodunk.com

E Podunk is a useful tool to find a bunch of stuff (sorry for using such a technical term) about a place. For instance, one can search for, say, Binghamton, and it'll give you all the places called Binghamton. As it turns out, there's a town and a city, both in Broome County, NY. Let's look at the listing for the city of Binghamton, NY. One will find tidbits about the place, such as:
With Endicott and Johnson City, known as the Tri-Cities.
Binghamton is a city in Broome County.
It is the county seat.
The community was named for an early landholder, Philadelphia merchant William Bingham.
The latitude of Binghamton is 42.098N. The longitude is -75.918W.
Binghamton is at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers.
Then, as it does for other locations, it lists information both demographic and cultural.

The thing I've used the page most for, though, is ancestry. We often get requests for the concentration of, e.g., Cambodians in the U.S. From here, I can see that, according to the Census 2000, it's:
Lowell, MA city 10.37
Signal Hill, CA city 8.27
Bayou La Batre, AL city 5.84
White Center, WA populated place 4.61
Long Beach, CA city 4.39
Cascade, MN township 4.24
Lynn, MA city 4.21
Stockton, CA city 4.19
Revere, MA city 2.57
Providence, RI city 2.16
Tenino, WA city 2.14
Wheatland, CA city 2.11
Lexington, NC city 1.93
Tacoma, WA city 1.84
Tukwila, WA city 1.67
Roseland, CA populated place 1.63
Garland, UT city 1.6
Attleboro, MA city 1.53
Modesto, CA city 1.52
Holland, MI township 1.52
Fall River, MA city 1.46
Riverdale, GA city 1.44
Springvale, ME populated place 1.4
Rosemead, CA city 1.35
Kingston, RI populated place 1.27
Cranston, RI city 1.25
Raymond, WA city 1.24
Danbury, CT city 1.21
Sanford, ME town 1.13
Savage, MN city 1.11
SeaTac, WA city 1.11
Holland, MI city 1.1
Rochester, MN city 1.1
East Lansdowne, PA borough 1.08
Fresno, CA city 1.06
Lakewood, CA city 1.03
Bristol, IN town 1.01
Inman, SC city 1.01
Woodlynne, NJ borough 1

A Rose by Any Other Name...

And they say the Census Bureau doesn't have a sense of humor...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-01-07-bevis-lake_x.htm

Farms, farms, everywhere...

Just had a request for data that the Census USED to collect but has now been taken over by the Department of Agriculture and their National Agriculture Statistical Service. One of the handy things I found while searching for the state of farms in our counties was a pdf file listing some basic data (sort of like our Census Primary Profiles) for each county in New York. Their website is http://www.nass.usda.gov/index.asp .

The Agriculture Census data is located at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Census_of_Agriculture/index.asp .

Our graphic (very near) future

A really cool Photosynth demo and our interconnectedness:

Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation. Its architect, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, shows it off in this standing-ovation demo.

NY Governor's Commission on Public Higher Education

Since many of you are involved with colleges and universities:

To whom it may concern -
Governor Spitzer is examining the potential for major changes in the CUNY and SUNY systems which will allow them to compete on a national level and educate students who do the same. As part of this initiative, he has asked his Senior Policy Advisor, Lloyd Constantine to visit CUNY and SUNY campuses around the state to get a first hand look at the assets and opportunities involved. As part of that effort, he would like to speak with as many students as possible. Should you be interested in meeting with the governor's Senior Advisor and contributing to this vital higher education
initiative, please send an email to Daniel.Doktori@chamber.state.ny.us

In order to be eligible for this opportunity, you must either (1) Be on campus over the summer; (2) be somewhere near campus where you could stop by campus for approximately 1 hour during the day; (3) be in New York City and able to take 1 hour out of your day to travel to midtown for a meeting in the Governor's offices there. Your input will be considered seriously and will likely have a tangible effect on the Governor's strategy for CUNY and SUNY reform. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Sincerely,
Daniel Doktori
Deputy Policy Advisor
Executive Chamber
New York State
Ph: (518) 486-9824

LUCA apparently has nothing to do with Suzanne Vega

Part of what I try to do is share with my folks at the NYS SBDC what I've learned at the State Data Affiliates meetings. For instance, here's my piece LUCA. You'll note I, er, appropriated that famous photo. You might think it's a little simplistic - and for you data mavens, I'm sure it is - but for a general population, I think it's about right.

Here's the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released this past week:
2010 Census: Census Bureau Has Improved the Local Update of Census Addresses Program, but Challenges Remain. GAO-07-736, June 14."
Highlights.

Oh, and Suzanne Vega sang about Luka, not LUCA.

Take the Money and Don't Run

Last Monday's Wall Street Journal had an interesting article in the Regional Economic Roundup (A Special Report): Take the Money and Don't Run; States continue to lure businesses with promises of tax breaks and grants; But now the deals come with a catch: You don't get the cash until we get the jobs. by Conor Dougherty. WSJ. (Eastern edition). June 11, 2007. pg. R.1

Here's the abstract:
Now governments are making sure that their incentive plans come with a catch. Many are using "clawback" provisions that let governments recover their money if companies leave town or go belly-up. In other cases, governments don't pay companies until they actually create jobs. One city is even proposing a "no poaching" agreement to get more leverage over businesses, where neighboring cities promise to limit the use of incentives to lure companies from each other.

"It's a 'united we stand' kind of approach," says Charles Bichara, director of economic development for Middleburg Heights.

"No one can predict or guarantee economic conditions, which will ultimately determine the long-term viability of any business venture," says Jay Biggins, executive managing director at Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co., which represents companies in negotiating incentive packages. If a project doesn't meet expectations, and a clawback becomes necessary, Mr. Biggins says, "that's the system working."

To get the full-text article, you can go to a database that contains the WSJ, such as ABI/Inform Global. That includes the New York State Library, if you have a P card. If you don't have access, let me know , and I'll see what I can do.
***
The WSJ's video about Naugatuck, CT's plan to use a new transit system to "breathe life into the city's economy." (3:11, after a 0:15 commercial.)

The Pew News IQ Quiz

Since you're all information folks. thought you might like to find out: What's Your News IQ? Then see What Americans Know.

Alternate Energy Blogs

I found a new gateway to a number of alternative energy blogs. The gateway is named AlternativeEnergyBlogs, which links to these sites:

The Bioeconomy Blog is devoted to the promotion of all key literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel.
It will focus on the economic, environmental, medical, political, and social aspects of bioeconomy initiatives. The Bioeconomy Blog is a companion to The Bioenergy Blog, which is devoted to the technical aspects and technologies associated with production.

The Bioenergy Blog is devoted to the documentation of key literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel. It is focused on the technical aspects and technologies associated with the production of these fuels. The Bioenergy Blog is a companion blog to The Bioeconomy Blog, which is focused on the non-technical aspects of bio-based fuels.

The Geothermal Energy Blog is devoted to the documentation of key monographic literature relating to all aspect of geothermal energy.

The Wind Energy Blog is devoted to the promotion of all key literature relating to wind energy and wind turbines and related technologies. It will also focus on non-technical issues as well.

User-Generated Emotions

I received an e-mail from something called ICG Weekly Perspective. The writer, Joan, is a big fans of rating systems. She believes "they add useful and easily digestible value to otherwise pedestrian data content, and help effectively deal with the 'option overload,' so well described in the book The Paradox of Choice." She then reviews a couple sites that are heavily dependent on ratings.

The first site, TheFunded.com lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists. Quoting Joan: "Let's just say the process of asking people for millions of dollars to fund your dream and in most cases being rejected is a process that creates strong emotions. Various blogs written by and for venture capitalists quickly took strong exception to the site, claiming it was a pointless service: those who got funding tended to love those who funded them; those who were turned down were invariably filled with vitriol." You can only join this if you're an entrepreneur, and they have some sort of vetting process.

The other site is a new legal directory site Avvo. It rates "lawyers through a computerized assessment of 'various factors' that the company does not reveal, coupled with the ability of consumers to post comments." One can select a specific lawyer, or sort by geography
and/or specialty. Again, a bad outcome, even losses in unwinable cases, might well skew the results. I joined for free, which will allow me to post.

Joan: "The bottom line on ratings and user commentary is that to be valuable they need to be rational, and we need to tread cautiously in areas where emotions run high."

Rep. Maloney Applauds FY08 Census Funding for SIPP and Partnership

What I find remarkable about the reinstatement of the SIPP money is the comforting knowledge that there are people out there who actually READ the budget lines. The Commerce, Justice, et al. Appropriations bill is notoriously massive omnibus legislation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Meghan O'Shaughnessy (202) 225-7944
June 13, 2007

WASHINGTON - Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), a long-time champion of the Census and former ranking member on the Government Reform Census Subcommittee, today praised the inclusion of full funding for the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), and funding for the 2010 Census Partnership Program, in the Fiscal Year 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The Bush Administration left the funding for these important Census programs out of its original budget proposal, and Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) was instrumental in securing this appropriation.

"I commend my friend and colleague Mr. Mollohan for his foresight in fully funding the SIPP, an essential survey tool that helps analyze the effects of public policy on American families. I know how difficult it can be to find funding in this tight budget, but Rep. Mollohan recognized that good data makes good policy. I also applaud the funding for the Census Partnership Program, which is essential to obtaining the most accurate census count possible," said Maloney. "My hope is that the Administration will now get behind this effort and support Mr. Mollohan's fully funding the SIPP and funding the Partnership Program."

The Bush Administration originally planned to end the SIPP, with the intent to replace it with a redesigned survey later on. After reevaluating their plan and receiving negative feedback from members of Congress and policy stakeholders, the Administration acknowledged that the timeline for ending the SIPP and beginning its replacement would not only yield a disastrous data gap, but an unworkable survey tool. The Administration changed course and decided to continue the SIPP.

The Census Partnership Program was integral to the success of the 2000 Census. It partners the Census Bureau with community leaders who help stress the importance of the census to their constituencies. There was no funding included for this program in the President's budget proposal, which would make it impossible for the program to achieve the same level of success as it did in 2000, when it had over two years to build community relationships.

Background:

The SIPP was created by the Census Bureau in 1984 to gather more detailed information about the impact of government aid on people's lives and how people move in and out of government programs. Rather than just capturing information at a point in time, the SIPP is unique because it questions thousands of the same people every few months for several years, providing a greater understanding of transitions into and out of government programs.

The rich and detailed data generated by this survey allow researchers and lawmakers to examine the real-world impact of a wide variety of government programs, such as welfare reform, Medicaid, child-support enforcement, and unemployment insurance. The survey provides essential information on the extent to which programs meet families' basic needs and promote upward mobility. The SIPP also provides more in-depth information than other government surveys on work-family issues, such as maternity leave, child care usage and costs, and the work schedules of couples.

Taxable Sales & Purchases - County & Industry Data for March 2004 - February 2005

From your state tax department:

Article 29 of the Tax Law authorizes counties, cities and some school districts to impose a local sales tax as a complement to the statewide tax. This report presents statistical information on taxable sales and purchases subject to the county or the New York City (NYC) sales tax. Taxable sales include nearly all retail sales of tangible personal property and certain services. Taxable purchases represent the value of tangible personal property or services purchased for use in business operations (which would otherwise be subject to tax) on which no sales tax was previously paid.


To download the entire publication and statistical tables, please go here.

Economic History

On a listserv I monitor, someone asked last week about historic exchange rates, and was directed to the section on the EH.net site, How Much Is That?, which includes The Value of Money; Growth Rates, GDP and Earnings; and Financial Indicators, all in time series. Useful. But what I found really interesting on the site were the databases, "an on-line location for researchers in economic history to make their data series available to other professionals and interested scholars. Several data series have been given to EH.Net and are available as downloadable files, while many other titles may be accessed through our Database Directory."
# Weekly Data on the Confederate Grayback Note Price of a Gold Dollar in Richmond and Houston
# Developing Country Export Statistics: 1840, 1860, 1880 and 1900
# Early Forward Exchange Markets: Vienna, 1876-1914
# Early U.S. Securities Prices, 1790-1860
# Global Financial Data, 1880-1913
# Greenback Series
# Historical Labor Statistics Project Series
# U.S. Customs House Data, 1854-59
# U.S. National Bank Notes, 1864-1935
# U.S. Population Series
# U.S. Public Debt Issues, 1775-1976
# Unskilled wage index, U.S.
# Weekly Data on Confederate Cotton Bond Prices in London and Junk Bond Prices in Amsterdam
# Wheat Prices in France, 1825-1913
# U.S. Agricultural Workforce,1800-1900
This latter form describes, among other things, the number of agricultural slaves, by state, in 1800-1860.
I haven't even explored the Encyclopedia and Related Sites. Good stuff.

Of course, there are inherent difficulties in comparing salaries and money back in time, as this article notes. Also, here is a link to many links about the Current Value of Old Money.

Strange Maps

The map above is from Strange Maps for June 10, "US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs". If you go to the website, if the map is covered by the sidebar, just click on the map. A lot more cartographic weirdness where this came from.
I'm not attesting to the accuracy of the data - which is true in all cases, anyway - but particularly here.

Wind Maps

As wind energy becomes more popular, there are now wind maps for much of the world.

"The New York wind map was funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and validated by consulting meteorologists."

Speaking of the state agency, here is a NYSERDA report on large wind turbines (PDF).

Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Review

Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council Celebrates its 30th Anniversary of serving the Region.

Summer 2007 edition of the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Review (PDF) – Newsletter of the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council (G/FLRPC).

This issue includes:
*Thoughts from G/FLRPC Spring Regional Roundtable: Environmental Preservation?
*Optimizing Transportation Through Effective Land Use
*2007 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Update
*State Funding to Assist Municipalities to Develop Agricultural & Farmland Protection Plans
*Local Update of Census Addresses (additionally please visit here for updated information)
*Honeoye Lake Watershed Management Plan
*G/FLRPC Assists with Canandaigua’s Infotonics Commercialization Center $3 Million Award
*Spring Local Government Workshop Re-Cap
*A Sense of Place: Silver Lake
*Upcoming Events
*Recent G/FLRPC Publications
*Recent G/FLRPC Presentations
*Planning Leads to Results
*Chair and Staff Coming and Going
*G/FLRPC Revolving Loan

Analysis of 2004 NY State Personal Income Tax Returns by Place of Residence

From the state tax dept:

This annual study provides statistical information on 2004 New York State personal income tax returns that were timely filed during 2005. The data are from full-year resident, full-year nonresident, and part-year resident returns. The report categorizes returns as either taxable or nontaxable, depending on the presence or absence of taxable income and income tax liability. Data presented include the distribution of New York adjusted gross income and tax liability by residence and the value of deductions, exemptions, and taxable income by income class.

To download the entire publication and statistical tables, please visit here.

Ring Studies No Longer So EASI?

For some demographic reports, notably ring studies, I've used Easy Analytic Software Inc. (EASI). Registration is required but it's free. Ring studies based on the 2000 Census are free, and you can pay for more up-to-date (2004) data. The correct longitude and latitude for the address is required, but the database can provide that. There are also maps and other features that I haven't used much.

But, in testing the site for this post, I've found that, while the longitude and latitude pops up quickly, an actual report doesn't get created. Instead, the page times out. Anyone else using this product?

Temporary Travel Flexibility Permitted Within Western Hemisphere

As you probably know, the government is now requiring U.S. citizens to use passports when they travel by plane to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. This has led to a huge backlog in the passport application process, doubling the time of routine processing from six weeks to nearly three months, jeopardizing summer 2007 travel plans.

The U.S. Department of State announced on Friday that that citizens flying to those locations who have applied for but not yet received passports can, between now and September 30, enter and depart from the United States by air with a government issued photo identification and Department of State official proof of application for a passport. One can get that proof online by going here.

See the video on the State Department web page.