Money and Computing
Working in Your Best Interest: A Proposal to Protect Consumers From Conflicts of Interest in Retirement Advice
"This boils down to a very simple concept: if someone is paid to give you retirement investment advice, that person should be working in your best interest," said Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "As commonsense as this may be, laws to protect consumers and ensure that financial advisers are giving the best advice in a complex market have not kept pace. Our proposed rule would change that. Under the proposed rule, retirement advisers can be paid in various ways, as long as they are willing to put their customers' best interest first." more »
A Small Town Feel and The Santa Fe Effect: Returning to the Exurbs as Rural Counties Are Fastest Growing
Santa Fe, New Mexico, a remote town of about 70,000 that became the darling of urban expats in the early parts of the last century, thanks to its beautiful mountain vistas and pueblo-style architecture. Artists and nuclear scientists alike came and decided they never wanted to leave. Today, Santa Fe is a foodie haven, home to a world-class opera, a booming arts scene and quirky shops. Other exurban outposts looking to establish themselves could learn from this "Santa Fe effect," Garreau said. "You've got to give them a reason to stay." more »
Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview 2015: Some 68% Go Online at Least Daily; The Platforms Are Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat
Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92% of teens report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online "almost constantly," according to a new study from Pew Research Center. More than half (56%) of teens — defined in this report as those ages 13 to 17 — go online several times a day, and 12% report once-a-day use. Just 6% of teens report going online weekly, and 2% go online less often. Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone, while just 12% of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell phone of any type. more »
The Scout Report for a Spring Break: Loneliness; On Broadway; Biomedical Engineering; The Most Dangerous World Ever?; Killer Digital Libraries; Landscape Architecture; The Muse, a Free Job Hunting Service
Some of the topics covered: Researchers think it's time to treat loneliness as a serious public health issue; official site of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, with much to offer for K-12 educators, parents, and generally curious; nearly 13,000 viewers have subscribed to the National Science Foundation's YouTube channel; a list of over 250 excellent digital libraries and archives; curators collected social media posts related to Broadway, a narrow 13.5-mile slice of Manhattan over a period of 158 days, creating an interactive digital installation; in addition to jobs, The Muse features profiles of each company, which include video interviews with employees, office photographs and descriptions of the company culture. more »