Canadian Social Research Newsletter

Welcome to the weekly Canadian Social Research Newsletter,
a listing of the new links added to the Canadian Social Research Links website in the past week.

The e-mail version of this week's issue of the newsletter is going out to 1980 subscribers.

1. Federal Government websites: "HTTP Error 404. Please update ALL your links"
2. Jobless rate shows EI reform needed (Toronto Star) - February 7
3. First Peoples Child & Family Review - Volume 4, Number 1, 2009 (First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada) - February 6
4. December 2008 Report of the Auditor General of Canada - February 5
5. United Nations Human Rights Council (Geneva) : Universal Periodic Review of Canada - February 3
6. National Anti-poverty Organization (NAPO) re-named Canada Without Poverty, new website - February 3
7.What's New in The Daily (Statistics Canada):
--- Labour Force Survey, January 2009 - February 6
--- Employment, Earnings and Hours, November 2008 - February 5
8. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - February 4

9. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
10. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
11. CRINMAIL (January 2009) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

NOTE : You'll forgive me, I hope, for the following extended rant.
On my website, I've collected thousands of links to content from many federal government websites over the years.
Most of those links are dead ("404") now, so I need to vent.
It also affects you if you maintain a collection of links to federal govt. site content (reports, etc.)
To avoid my whining, please feel free to skip down to the next red bar on this page.

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If you do any research on federal government websites using:
(1) your own existing collection of links (Favorites/Bookmarks) to specific reports or studies, or
(2) a directory-style website such as Canadian Social Research Links,
...you'll no doubt be painfully familiar with the "Error 404" message that you've been seeing more and more often of late. That's because most federal government websites were required to change their URLs to implement the federal Treasury Board's Common Look and Feel Standards Version 2 [see the link to CLF 2.0 below] as of December 31, 2008. I didn't know this last week, when I complained in my newsletter about finding over 4,000 (recently-)broken links to StatCan products on my site. Then I noticed similar problems with my links to the websites of Justice Canada and Status of Women Canada - "Error 404". And that, as it turns out, was just the beginning.

Since then, I've systematically checked all of the links on the federal government pages of my site, only to discover that thousands of federal government links in this site are now broken or redirecting to a search engine link --- and it looks like the departments whose links aren't broken on the pages of my site are merely a little further behind the rest in upgrading their site URLs.

Common Look and Fail, or
Like a dog chasing its own tail in the Tower of Babel...
Some personal thoughts on CLF:

Global Search-and-Replace? FUGGEDABOUTIT.
I thought I could use my web editing software to fix broken govt. of Canada links using global search-and-replace, but my cursory analysis of the types of changes that are going on would indicate that many of the federal sites are also being "cleaned up" at the same time, e.g., bilingualizing text in URLs (I think this was actually the basis of a court challenge by the Société St. Jean-Baptiste a few years ago), changing the location of the language code in the URL and other tricks. The net result is that I'd have way too many links for one person to update manually, one at a time, before the friggin' things change again (And we ALL know they will)!

* ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH - my links!
I'm not sure at this point how to deal with the thousands of broken federal govt. links on my site.
I may just delete all of the broken ones (except for the key links, which I'd update manually).
I have time to think about it, though, since many federal departmental websites are still obviously working feverishly to "meet" the December 31, 2008, deadline for upgrading their existing sites.

* CLF Reality check.
The federal government has been online since the mid-1990s, and I remember (because I worked in the federal government then...) that the federal government sites were supposed to have the same look and feel "within short order" or words to that effect. Well, it didn't work back then, and I don't think it'll work today. Like the dog that chases its tail, federal government Web designers are constantly playing catchup to conform with this or that new directive to apply to all government websites. By the time a govt. website is launched or re-launched, the site's technical presentation is often out-of-date with the latest standards, or the department's portfolio changes, or there's an election and a whole new Cabinet and portfolios and more major website changes are queued up.

* Help me out here.
Ironically, there's no common approach to helping website visitors who arrive on a federal government website via an outdated link . Depending on which departmental site you're on, you receive more or less assistance to find what you're looking for. For example, the broken link error message on the website of Status of Women Canada states bluntly : "HTTP Error 404 - Not Found. The Web server cannot find the file or script you asked for. Please check the URL to ensure that the path is correct." The least they could offer would be a link to the Status of Women website's home page. A better approach is the Statistics Canada error message, which offers a link to the StatCan home page AND to the search engine. A full notch above that is the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada error message, where you'll find links to the INAC search engine, the Google.ca search engine, an A-to-Z Index, a Site Map and Subject areas, as well as an email address for direct contact with someone in the Department. Now, THAT's helpful!

* A word about search engines:
Not all departmental search engines are created equal.
My old Department, Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC), has one of the most pitiful search engines I've had the misfortune to use - or should I say *try* to use.
If you're looking for a report on the HRSDC website, my experience-based advice is to use Google.ca - seriously. That advice also applies to other depts...

* Auto-redirect!
One way that federal website re-designers could alleviate the pain of this transition for the average visitor is an auto-redirect that automatically takes the person to the new URL.
Here's an example of that from the Finance Canada website:
http://www.fin.gc.ca/news07/07-075e.html
If you click on that link, the page that opens is the correct page in its new location, but with its new URL:
http://www.fin.gc.ca/n07/07-075-eng.asp
(I realize that this poses a challenge for the long term, but it would certainly help site visitors during this period of upheaval, and it would help people to update their links collections...)

* Permanent Stable URLs
A large number of universities and other organizations use database engines in their web presentation, and many of those offer stable (permanent) URLS specifically so their visitors can bookmark a particular report or other item. Surely, the federal government could explore the possibility of including stable URLs for researchers who wish to link to a particular file without having to worry that the URL will change by the next time they try to access the item...

The Bottom Line:
If you or your organization have a collection of links to
products (reports, studies) located on federal government sites, "Please update your links."

A permanent location for this rant:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fed_clf.htm
I created this special CLF page because even though this rant didn't fit (yet) within an existing theme on this site, I wanted to have a place where I can vent about the federal govenrment's Common Look and Feel initiative. I expect that I'll have more thoughts to add to that page as the process unfolds. For now, though, it contains the same text and links as above..

Jobless rate shows EI reform needed
Editorial
February 7, 2009
With the loss of 129,000 jobs across Canada in January – a record for a single month – the spotlight has returned to the federal stimulus package and whether it goes far enough to address the current crisis. The $35 billion package, released as part of the federal budget on Jan. 27, contains some funding to help the jobless by enhancing skills training and extending Employment Insurance benefits for an extra five weeks. Unfortunately, however, a majority of unemployed Canadians are not eligible for Employment Insurance, often because they work on contract or part-time or in seasonal jobs that don't last long enough for them to qualify.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Table of Contents for this issue:
* Foreword
* Editorial
* YOUTH PERSPECTIVE: Reflections on Racism
* POEM: Can You Hear me Through the White Noise?
* Going Back to the Roots: Using the Medicine Wheel in the Healing Process
* Mental Health Promotion as a Prevention and Healing Tool for Issues of Youth Suicide in Canadian Aboriginal Communities
* Occasional Evil of Angels: Learning from the Experiences of Aboriginal Peoples and Social Work
* Utilization of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect in First Nations Child Welfare Agencies in Ontario
* Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Standards: Supporting Children in the Care of Children’s Services
* One Indigenous Academic’s Evolution: A Personal Narrative of Native Health Research and Competing Ways of Knowing
* Metaphorical Reflections: The Colonial Circus of the Drunken Indian and the Kidney Machine
* COMMENTARY: Knowledge Mobilization for the Real World - Seeking Wisdom
* THE LAST WORD: After the Residential School Apology: Why all Canadians Should Care about a Racial Equality Case Before the Canadian Human Rights Commission

2008 December Report of the Auditor General of Canada
February 5, 2009
* Matters of Special Importance—2008
* Chapter 1—A Study of Federal Transfers to Provinces and Territories (See below*)
* Chapter 2—Governance of Small Federal Entities
* Chapter 3—Contracting for Professional Services—Public Works and Government Services Canada
* Chapter 4—Managing Risks to Canada's Plant Resources—Canadian Food Inspection Agency
* Chapter 5—Managing Information Technology Investments—Canada Revenue Agency
* Chapter 6—Use of New Human Resources Authorities—Canada Revenue Agency
* Chapter 7—Economy and Efficiency of Services—Correctional Service Canada
* Chapter 8—Reporting on Health Indicators—Health Canada (See below**)
Appendices
* Appendix A—Auditor General Act
* Appendix B—Reports of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to the House of Commons, 2007–08
* Appendix C—Report on the audit of the President of the Treasury Board's report, Tabling of Crown Corporations Reports in Parliament
* Appendix D—Costs of Crown corporation audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

* Chapter 1:
A Study of Federal Transfers to the Provinces and Territories
December 2008
"(...) The federal government uses a number of mechanisms to transfer funds to the provinces and territories for general areas of spending such as health or for specific purposes such as improving infrastructure. In 2006–07, these federal transfers amounted to approximately $50 billion, or just under 23 percent of federal spending. Our study examined the three main mechanisms used by the federal government to transfer funds to the provinces and territories. We also looked at the nature and extent of conditions attached to these transfers."

News Release:
Auditor General’s study sheds light on how
the federal government transfers funds to provinces and territories
(Chapter 1—A Study of Federal Transfers to the Provinces and Territories - December 2008 Report of the Auditor General)
February 5, 2009
Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s Report, tabled today in the House of Commons, contains a study [see the link immediately below] of the three main mechanisms used by the federal government to transfer funds to the provinces and territories. In 2006–07, these transfers amounted to about $50 billion, just under 23 percent of federal spending. They are major sources of funds for services provided to Canadians in areas such as health and post-secondary education.

**Chapter 8:
Reporting on Health Indicators—Health Canada
In 2000, the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments reached an historic agreement on health that set out a vision, principles, and an action plan for health system renewal. The First Ministers' commitments on health also called for improvements in accountability and reporting to Canadians and directed federal, provincial, and territorial health ministers to develop indicators that could be compared across jurisdictions and over time to measure progress on renewal. All jurisdictions later committed to public reporting every two years on a number of health indicators—for example, wait times and patient satisfaction with health services. First Ministers' agreements in 2003 and 2004 further reiterated reporting requirements.

News Release:
Report on health indicators is of limited value to Canadians
(Chapter 8—Reporting on Health Indicators—Health Canada - December 2008 Report of the Auditor General)
February 5, 2009
Health Canada has published health indicator reports as a result of commitments made by First Ministers in 2000, 2003, and 2004, says the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, in her Report tabled today in the House of Commons. However, these reports do not meet the broader intent of providing Canadians with information on the progress of health care renewal.

AG says that feds hand out big bucks with no control
February 5, 2009
Ottawa has little control over billions of dollars in federal finances which are regularly transferred to the provinces for specialized programs like housing and transportation, Canada's auditor general said. Sheila Fraser's latest report to Parliament, released Thursday, states that Ottawa uses trusts to funnel money to the provinces, but once the money is sent, the provinces are free to spend it as they see fit.
- incl. links to four related articles.
Source:
CTV News

Feds hand out billions with little control over where it's spent: auditor
February 5, 2009
OTTAWA — The federal governments hands billions of dollars to the provinces and territories for various programs, but lacks any way to ensure the money is actually spent on those programs, the auditor general reported Thursday. In one of her regular reports to Parliament, Sheila Fraser said Ottawa often uses trusts to earmark money for things such as housing or transit. However once that money is handed over to the provinces and territories, she said Ottawa has no say in where or how it's spent.
Source:
Canadian Press

UN panel calls for better treatment of Canada's Aboriginals, immigrants
February 6, 2009
GENEVA — A United Nations panel is calling on Canada to improve the treatment of its Aboriginal people and other disadvantaged groups such as new immigrants and minorities. The UN Human Rights Council mentions in particular the need to protect Aboriginal women who face discrimination in various areas including "employment, housing, education and health care." The council also points out the "inequalities" that exist between Aboriginals, recent immigrants and other Canadians. Canada's human rights record came under review in Geneva this week with a Canadian government delegation appearing before the 47-country council for several hours Tuesday. It took just 15 minutes Thursday for the council to adopt a report containing 68 points based on concerns voiced by dozens of UN member countries about the situation in Canada.
Source:
Google.ca News / Canadian Press

Universal Periodic Review - Canada
3 February 2009
The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its fourth session from 2 to 13 February 2009. The review of Canada was held at the 3rd meeting on 3 February 2009.

National report (PDF - 91K, 41 pages)
January 5, 2009
[ Each country under review must submit a written report to the Council in advance of the review; this is Canada's report for the Feb. 3/09 review. ]
- prepared in collaboration by the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada

Compilation of UN information (PDF - 94K, 19 pages)
The present report is a compilation of the information contained in the reports of treaty bodies, special procedures, including observations and comments by the State concerned, and other relevant official United Nations documents.

Summary of stakeholders' information (PDF - 87K, 18 pages)
NOTE : scroll down to "Related links" below for the actual text of each of the 50 submissions

Universal Periodic Review
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.
[ More Basic facts about the UPR ]

Stakeholders’ information - links to all 50 submissions from Canadian NGOs.
Highly recommended reading --- insights into Canadian human rights issues from, among many others:
* Canadian Human Rights Commission * Assembly First Nations * Amnesty International * Council of Canadian with Disabilities * Charter Committee on Poverty Issues * Canadian Coalition for the rights of Children * Canadians For Choice * Citizens for Public Justice * Center on Research Action on Racial Relations * Disability Right Promotion International Canada * EGALE - Egale Canada * Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action * International Center for Transitional Justice * Independant Living Canada * Womens Housing Equality Network * British Columbia Universal Periodic Review Coalition * KAIRO * Ligue des Droits et Libertés * National Union of Public and General Employees * Native Womens Association of Canada * Pivot Legal Society * Wellesley Institute * more...
Source:
UPR Info
UPR-info.org is a creation of UPR Info, a Geneva-based Non-profit and Non-governmental Organisation aiming at promoting and strengthening the Universal Periodic Review by raising public awareness and facilitating the participation of delegations and the civil society.
- incl. links to : * Home * UN System * UPR Process * Countries * NGOs * Documents * Media Centre * About us * Links

Canada's Universal Periodic Review
Canada's review under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is taking place on February 3, 2009. Under the UPR, Canada must submit a written report (see "National Report" link above), with information on the promotion and protection of human rights in Canada, including achievements, best practices, and challenges. In addition, the report must include initiatives and commitments to address any challenges and improve human rights situations on the ground. Federal, provincial and territorial government officials worked together to identify the principal themes/issues that were to be addressed in Canada’s report. The issues that were included in Canada's report are available in the report outline.
- includes background information on the UPR, info on the UPR Process and a few links to related content
Source:
Canadian Heritage

Canada Without Poverty
On Tuesday February 3rd 2009, at an evening event in Ottawa, the National Anti-Poverty Organization unveiled our new name - Canada Without Poverty - and logo. These changes are part of our repositioning for the strongest possible contribution to combating poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Canada. Our new name is meant to keep our focus squarely on the ultimate goal, and to inspire others. (...) "National Anti-Poverty Organization" remains our formal name until it can be legally changed to Canada Without Poverty, per amendment procedures as stated in our by-laws (in progress).
- incl. links to : News - Current Poll - Poverty in Canada - Voices of Courage - About Us - Support Us - Contact Us.

Speech on the Occasion of the Name Change from the
National Anti-Poverty Organization to Canada Without Poverty (PDF - 51K, 5 pages)
By Rob Rainer, Executive Director
February 3, 2009
This speech provides historical context leading up to this moment, and introduces the new Dignity for All Campaign - of which more information will shortly be posted on this site.Any contributions to our work, made by cheque, are to be made in the name of the National Anti-Poverty Organization.

February 6, 2009
Labour Force Survey, January 2009
Employment fell by 129,000 in January (-0.8%), almost all in full time, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.6 percentage points to 7.2%. This drop in employment exceeds any monthly decline during the previous economic downturns of the 1980s and 1990s.
- includes two charts on employment and unemployment rates, along with tables showing:
* Labour force characteristics by age and sex * Employment by class of worker and industry (based on NAICS) * Labour force characteristics by province * Labour force characteristics by province
[ Labour Force Information, January 11-17, 2009 ]

February 5, 2009 (under "New Products")
Employment, Earnings and Hours, November 2008 (PDF - 2.3MB, 477 pages)
The monthly Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is designed to provide monthly estimates to measure levels and month-to-month trends of payroll employment paid hours and earnings. The data are compiled at detailed industrial levels for Canada, provinces and territories.

The Daily Archives - select a year and month from the drop-down menu to view releases in chronological order

8. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - February 4

From the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU):

February 4, 2009

Daycare crisis? A single-parent speaks out
4 Feb 09
- Posting from a single mother on the CBC News Citizen Bytes blog describing her experience with childcare subsidy.

Developing early literacy
4 Feb 09
- Literature review from the National Early Literacy Panel on early literacy instruction in the preschool years to determine how best to prepare young children for literate lives.

Next steps for early learning and childcare: Building on the 10-year strategy
4 Feb 09
- Report from the Department for Children, Schools, and Families, Government of Great Britain, reviewing the progress of the 10-year strategy since 2004.

Mental health problems in early childhood can impair learning and behavior for life
4 Feb 09
- Working paper from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University addressing emotional and behavioural problems in the early years and implications for policy.

The child care transition: A league table of early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries
11 Dec 08
- UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 8 compares ECEC in wealthy countries; Canada ranks at the bottom of 25 countries, meeting only one of ten key benchmarks.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· Funding shortfall threatens thousands of daycare spaces [CA-ON]
4 Feb 09

· Call for childcare industry shakeup [AU]
3 Feb 09

· European Parliament urges member states to fulfill their goals on childcare [EU]
3 Feb 09

· Parenting guru Penelope Leach’s new book ‘Child Care Today’ [US]
3 Feb 09

· Report: Early child care vital for economic success [US-WV]
29 Jan 09

· Labour, women's groups slam federal budget [CA–NB]
29 Jan 09

more CC IN THE NEWS »

Subscribe to the CRRU email announcements list
Sign up to receive email notices of updates and new postings on the CRRU website which will inform you of policy developments in early childhood care and education, new research and resources for policy, newly released CRRU publications, and upcoming events of interest to the child care and broader community.

CRRU Publications - briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications
ISSUE files - theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info

Poverty Dispatch (U.S). ===> the content of this link changes twice a week
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches twice a week. Each issue of the dispatch provides links to U.S. web-based news items dealing with topics such as poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media.

February 5, 2009
* Joblessness and Unemployment
* State TANF Programs - Florida, Pennsylvania
* Food Assistance Programs
* State Medicaid Programs - Wisconsin, Rhode Island
* Aging Out of Foster Care - Missouri
* Children's Savings Accounts
* Economic Stimulus Package
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Home Foreclosures and Renters
* Faith-based Initiatives

February 2, 2009
* State TANF Programs and Policies
* Hunger and Food Assistance
* Nationwide Homeless Count
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* State Health Care Programs - Wisconsin, Colorado
* Child Care Subsidies - Oregon, Illinois
* Job Loss and Health Insurance Coverage
* Economic Stimulus and Spending on the Poor
* Reports: Racial Disparities in Quality of Life - Mississippi, Minnesota
* Refugees Living in the U.S. and the Recession
* Earned Income Tax Credit and Tax Preparation

If you wish to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail,
please send a request to rsnell@ssc.wisc.edu

APO Weekly Briefing
The content of this page changes each week, and it includes links to a few book/report reviews, about two dozen new reports, a few job ads and 60 events (mostly conferences) of interest to social researchers...
Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO) - home page
With nearly 120 member centres and institutes, Australian Policy Online offers easy access to much of the best Australian social, economic, cultural and political research available online.
NOTE: the APO home page includes links to the five most popular reports on the APO website, and this list is updated each week.

APO Archive
The APO archive is grouped into 23 subject areas, with entries appearing in reverse chronological order.
* Ageing *Asia and the pacific * Citizenship and the law * Disability * Economics and trade * Education * Employment and workplace relations * The environment * Foreign policy and defence * Gender and sexuality * Health * Housing * Families and households * Immigration and refugees * Income, poverty and wealth * Indigenous * Media, communications and cultural policy * Politics and government * Population, multiculturalism and ethnicity * Religion and faith * Rural and regional * Science and technology * Social policy * Urban and regional planning * Youth

5 February 2009 - CRINMAIL 1056
* CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS: Committee on the Rights of the Child issues recommendations to States Parties [news]
* FINLAND: New child protection law forces children into court [news]
* NIGERIA: US court reinstates Nigerian lawsuits vs Pfizer drug firm [news]
* VIEWPOINT: “Children should not be treated as criminals”, says Europe Commissioner [publication]
* EUROPE: International court rules photo breached child's privacy [news]
* HUNGARY: Report from the 5th European NGO Forum for national child rights coalitions [publication]
* EMPLOYMENT: EURONET
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

3 February 2009 - CRINMAIL 1055
* GLOBAL: Food aid must change to suit children [news]
* EGYPT: New child participation law decides custody battle [news]
* NORTH KOREA: Children exploited by state, says report [news]
* UN: Intersex persons' rights must be respected, demands association [news]
* NETHERLANDS: Seminar - ILO C182 and Girl Child Labour [event]
* NGOs: International NGO Journal call for papers
* AWARD: Best practices in child abuse protection and prevention
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 300* earlier weekly issues, many of which are special editions focusing on special themes, such as the 45th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Disclaimer/Privacy Statement

Both Canadian Social Research Links (the site) and this Canadian Social Research Newsletter belong solely to me, Gilles Séguin.

I am solely accountable for the choice of links presented therein and for the occasional editorial comment - it's my time, my home computer, my experience, my biases, my Rogers Internet account and my web hosting service.

I administer the mailing list and distribute the weekly newsletter using software on the web server of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Thanks, CUPE!

If you wish to subscribe to the e-mail version of newsletter, go to the Canadian Social Research Newsletter Online Subscription page:
http://lists.cupe.ca/mailman/listinfo/csrl-news

You can unsubscribe by going to the same page or by sending me an e-mail message [ gilseg@rogers.com ]

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Privacy Policy:
The Canadian Social Research Newsletter mailing list is not used for any purpose except to distribute each weekly issue.
I promise not share any information on this list, nor to send you any junk mail.

Links presented in the Canadian Social Research Newsletter point to different views about social policy and social programs.
There are some that I don't agree with, so don't get on my case, eh...

To access earlier online HTML issues of the Canadian Social Research Newsletter, go to the Newsletter page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/news.htm

Please feel free to distribute this newsletter as widely as you wish, but please remember to mention Canadian Social Research Links when you do.

Cheers!
Gilles

E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com

How to Write Good

Is Your Printer Spying On You?
Forensic watermarking:
printer tracking dots in colour laser printers
Imagine that every time you printed a document, it automatically included a secret code that could be used to identify the printer - and potentially, the person who used it. Sounds like something from an episode of "Alias," right? Unfortunately, the scenario isn't fictional. In a purported effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information.
Source:
Electronic Frontier Foundation (U.S.)
When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people's radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today.