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Filling out the Census online is quick, easy and important
The turn of a decade. An election year. 2020 is significant for many reasons, and it's also time for the US government to conduct its decennial (that is, every 10 years) census. The nationwide survey is an attempt to better understand all the people that live within the country's borders, and this year marks the first time it's available online. With everyone's minds preoccupied by the global pandemic and the related anxiety and uncertainty, though, filling out a form is far from being a priority. But this is a task that must be done.
Facebook removes Trump campaign's 'census' ads
Facebook has removed more than a thousand of Donald Trump's campaign ads for breaking its rules prohibiting misinformation related to the 2020 U.S. census. The ads, which were first reported by journalist Judd Legum, urged users to participate in the "Official 2020 Congressional District Census," and redirected to a survey on the Trump campaign website.
Facebook bans misinformation related to the 2020 US census
Facebook and Instagram have banned misinformation related to the 2020 census. They won't allow posts or ads with false information about when, where and how people should participate in the census, who can do so or what information and materials people need to take part.
Facebook will fight misinformation linked to the 2020 US census
Facebook isn't just limiting its anti-interference efforts to elections. The social network has published a second updated on its civil rights audit, and with it news that the company plans to treat the 2020 US census as if it were a vote. It will have a team dedicated to fighting misinformation surrounding the census, a policy to crack down on fake census-related stories and partnerships with non-partisan groups to foster participation. AI will help enforce the policy, Facebook said.
Recommended Reading: Building a life in 'World of Warcraft'
My disabled son's amazing gaming life in the 'World of Warcraft' Vicky Schaubert, BBC News This is an amazing story from parents about their son who suffered from a rare degenerative muscular disorder. After his passing, they discovered that Mats had lived a full life through video games. He made friends all over Europe in the process, rather than being confined to an isolated existence due to his medical condition.
Mobile phone data could replace census questionnaires in the UK
Every 10 years since 1801, England and Wales have conducted a census, which gives the government and its associated authorities an up-to-date picture of the population. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) -- joined by independent Scottish and Northern Irish agencies -- typically ask householders for their age, address, occupation, nationality, marital status, religion and other personal information. For the most part, the ONS has tallied that information via paper questionnaires that have been sent in the post. However, as part of a new trial, the agency has begun using mobile phone data to track where people live and work.
Trump's quiet war on data begins
Two months into the Trump presidency, there's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the new administration. One big area of concern is how the executive branch will deal with the vast amounts of data collected by the government. Federal agencies like NASA and EPA conduct countless studies crucial to understanding our impact on climate change. Labor Department surveys are vital to determining the economic health of the country. Will the administration manipulate data that contradicts its political views? Will information become a tool of oppression? Turns out there's a simpler, but potentially just as troublesome possibility: The White House could simply make it disappear.
2020 US Census expected to move online, catch up with 2010
The US Census is an expensive beast to run when paper is involved: multiply the $96 per household of the 2010 Census by millions of households and you'll feel the government's pain. When the mandate is to keep those expenses in check for the 2020 study, it's almost no surprise that the Census Bureau is now telling the Washington Post that it expects to rely on the internet for its next decennial survey in the wake of smaller-scale trials. The anticipated move is about more than just cutting the costs of lengthy forms and postage stamps, though. While frugality is the primary goal, joining the modern era should also reduce the need for follow-ups -- the Bureau would know as soon as we were done, after all. There's no question that an online Census is overdue when swaths of the US government (and society) can already skip traditional paperwork, but we still appreciate having a tentative schedule for one of the last great digital transitions. [Image credit: USDA, Flickr]
Census Bureau releases first mobile app, offers real-time stats on the US economy
The US Census Bureau just released its first public API last month, giving web and mobile app makers access to its vast stores of statistics, and it's now also gone the extra mile by releasing its first mobile app. Dubbed America's Economy, the app draws on data from the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor to provide a real-time picture of the US economy, offering details on everything from the country's gross domestic product to housing sales to the unemployment rate (all presented with the requisite charts and graphs). That's available for Android smartphones and tablets right now, while an iOS app promised in the "coming weeks." It's also the first of three planned apps from the Bureau -- the others are said to be coming over the next several months (both of which will also be available for both Android and iOS).
US Census Bureau posts its first API, allows smartphone apps for the stat-obsessed
As much as the US Census Bureau has worked to embrace the digital space, its sea of data has been largely locked away from developers not keen on doing much of the heavy lifting. As of late last week, however, there's now a public app programming interface (API) for quickly putting all of that knowledge to work. Both mobile and web apps can hook into either the complete 2010 census or the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, bringing in basic demographics as well as more complicated subjects such as commuting habits and education. The Bureau sees the API leading to not just a more informed public, but to smarter government as well -- imagine a state government that knows the income levels by county through a custom smartphone app. Budding statistics hounds can request a key for API use right away, but if you'd rather just see what public access will mean in practice, you can check out an app gallery at the second source link below.
Study: many new US iPads activated in coastal states
Here's an unsurprising piece of news -- people in states with higher median income levels tend to purchase iPads more than those who are in less affluent states. This nugget of important information comes from online ad network Chitika, which is tracking where third-generation iPads are being activated in the United States. Chitika mixed its data showing new iPad activations (currently at about 10.1 percent of all iPad traffic) with U.S. Census Bureau data. They found that the top areas with new iPads are California, Hawaii (probably due to Doc Rock's influence), Nevada, Washington D.C., and Washington state. Chitika noted that those areas are considered states of high median income levels, and that they are categorized as "coastal" states. Ergo, the richer coastal states are gobbling up the new iPads at a higher rate than inland states. Another research firm, Stevall Skoeld & Co., found a similar trend in China, where more than half of all iOS devices were found in the heavily industrialized (and more affluent) coastal regions of the country.
Visualized: Google charts the rise and fall of United States revenues
Where would we be without Google? Well, we wouldn't have pretty charts to gawk at, for starters! The Mountain View squad has pulled 10 years' worth of fiscal data from the US Census Bureau and compiled it into some gorgeous, infinitely sortable, and re-organizable graphs. They inspire both our admiration and apprehension, as their lines illustrate most starkly the shrinkage that replaced US economic growth over the latter half of the last decade. We've only picked out a few of the big states here, but all 50 are in Google's public database -- why not hit the source link and check up on your local governors' pecuniary (mis)management skills, eh?
How far have you progressed in Cataclysm?
The other day, I logged on to an old realm of mine to chat for a bit with a few friends and old guildmates. (I do this periodically, since I'm not a big fan of using Real ID for anyone other than very close friends.) Whenever I'm there, I casually poke around on a character that was once my prized raiding toon in early Wrath of the Lich King. "Poking around" consists of organizing my bank and doing about three to five quests. I figure it would be nice to have another 85 that I could play casually, but I lose interest in it too quickly. Anyway, at some point in the middle of a conversation with a mage friend, I said, "At a rate of three quests per night that I actually log in, I should be 85 in two years." "It really gives you some perspective on how much you have to play this game, doesn't it?" he responded. I hadn't been serious about the statement I made, but it made me think about the hours I had to play to get to 85 on my main. It occurred to me that if you only play WoW for an hour or so every few days, it would probably take a couple months to get to level 85 from 80, and that's only if you're completely focused each time you log in. This got me wondering how far into Cataclysm everyone else is. %Poll-60657%
CMU's first ever robot census: 547 (and counting)
Sure, we've seen an incredible amount of cool tech from Carnegie Mellon (usually on our way to a kegger on Beeler St.), but you might wonder exactly how many robots they have on campus. Well, maybe you don't -- but a first year doctoral student named Heather Knight does. A recent transplant from MIT, she's counted 547 robots so far -- but since these guys are all over campus, from the Robotics Institute to the theater and art departments, getting an accurate head count might take a while. But the project most likely won't stop there: upon completion of the university-wide project, Knight would like to see a nationwide census take place. We only hope this happens before it's too late. Update: The CMU Robot Census form is available here.
Game census concludes that minorities under-represented in games
Even though you've seen CJ gangbanging in GTA: San Andreas and Faith gallivanting across a vast urban landscape in Mirror's Edge, it doesn't mean minorities and women are finally getting a fair shake in gaming. According to a census of video game characters conducted by SoCal researcher Dmitri Williams (via NewScientist), it's still an area largely dominated by white men. Gasp! Of course, with an undertaking as huge as checking every character in every game ever, this data of Williams and company comes with a few caveats. First of all, the census went down in February of 2006 and has only surfaced recently thanks to NewScientist. Second, the only systems and games combed include the top 150 titles sold on Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation, PS2, PSP, GameCube, GBA, DS and PC. Still, it's a lot to sift through and -- when the dust settled -- Williams and the gang came up with a couple of charts and some data to back up their claim. [Via Game Politics]
Which class gets invited as what?
Veritable Avarice, a new blog on moneymaking in WoW, took a break from financial discussion and looked at class representation in tank, DPS, and healing roles by filtering and comparing data available from WoW Popular. Spec population was then checked against class population data available from Warcraft Realm's census and three live realms. Data differences, according to VA, weren't statistically relevant, and he/she is pretty sure that the numbers are at least a ballpark representation of which class is most likely to be filling a particular role within a group. I play a Druid, so that's really what I feel comfortable commenting on here. While I can't speak to the ultimate accuracy of the numbers, I do a lot of pugging and have to admit that VA's data seems pretty close to what I've seen on my own server. The tank numbers are also consistent with a few things Ghostcrawler's mentioned recently concerning the overwhelming population advantage still held by Warrior tanks, although I wonder whether the Feral statistics are somewhat inflated here by the overlap between Bear and Cat specs. Feral tanks have all but vanished from 5-mans on my server, and it's not uncommon for me to get comments from healers that I'm the first Bear they've healed in months. Less surprising is the representation advantage held by Druid healers. Trees are insanely good in Ulduar, and between this, the rise of the Death Knight, and the de-suckaging of the Protection Warrior spec, that probably accounts for the gradual disappearance of the Bear. Also thought-provoking is just how few Druids hold a share of the DPS pie.I'd love to hear from members of other classes on the data and how closely it dovetails into their own experience. There's a quick note for Warrior players (or anyone interested in the DPS graph) past the cut, as there's a small mistake on the relevant graph.
Government working exclusively with Sprint for 2010 Census
Screw the Pre -- government contracts are where the real action is at, and Sprint's got to be thrilled to know that it's the first, the last, and the only carrier to be used by the US Census in its 2010 once-per-decade review of the nation's denizens. We've known for some time that HTC would be supplying custom hardware to data collection folks in the field -- a device cleverly codenamed Census -- and indeed, Sprint's press release makes mention of the fact that about 140,000 workers started using the Harris-branded devices with integrated fingerprint readers and GPS back in April of this year. Sprint's also supplying a bit of infrastructure and about 1,500 wireless data cards, all told making this by far the most wireless Census in history. Makes you wonder what kind of equipment they're going to use in 2020, doesn't it?
The ninth Vana'diel census tells you everything you need to know and more
Very few games release population numbers for their game, let alone full workups on class combinations, the amount of endgame weaponry in the population, the percentage of the population that is a specific type of craftsman, and the average weekly income of the population. But this is the Vana'diel census, and it's ready to tell you all of the intricate details of Final Fantasy XI.The census is a yearly workup of the data that the FFXI servers collect, combined with a survey taken by all players during the anniversary ceremonies. The census is always more than just a simple retelling of a few numbers -- going into detail with things like colors of linkshells that never appear in the game, popular subjobs and job pairings, and GM call peak times.The full census, all 11 pages of the document, are available for browsing at Final Fantasy XI's homepage, PlayOnline.
The Queue: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Ah, another Sunday afternoon! Well, technically this was posted precisely at noon, which isn't the afternoon. But you're probably not reading it at the exact second It was posted, so you are reading it in the afternoon. Right? Right. Now, with that settled...Vinicius O. E. asked... What happened to the dance studios?
Habbo census reveals PS3 to be 'Console of Choice' for teens
Those enlightened individuals who have experienced the rapidly metastasizing MMO hotel sim/social networking site known as Habbo (formerly Habbo Hotel) are already aware that the community for this "hangout for teens" is sizable, to say the least. Thus, when the Pixelated Nation of Habbonia endorses one of the current-gen consoles as being the "Console of Choice" for the teenaged, it resounds like the voice of a small nation -- albeit a nation of furniture-hording hotel dwellers.Nearly 57,000 Habbonians took part in the survey late last year, where 69 percent of the pixelated participants gave the PlayStation 3 "great or good" rankings, followed by 64 percent for the Wii, and 58 percent for the Xbox 360. The Global Habbo Youth Survey went on to show that females preferred the Wii and Habbonians located in the Americas were more favorable to the Xbox 360 than their Eastern Hemisphere suitemates. Not exactly new information, but it is an excellent excuse for us to repeatedly type the word Habbonian.
