The National Conference of State Legislatures has an excellent resource for anyone trying to keep track of state breach disclosure laws:
At least 43 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted legislation requiring notification of security breaches involving personal information.
Arizona | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 44-7501 (2007 S.B. 1042, Chapter 23)
Arkansas | Ark. Code § 4-110-101 et seq.
California | Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.82
etc.
Rebecca Herold picked up a humorous story about HIPAA in her Realtime IT Compliance blog:
The robbery note was written on the back of a doctor’s stationery, and it had the name and address of the suspect. The police went to the address a little later in the day and indeed found the robber.
The police are quoted as concerned about HIPAA rules. Rebecca attempts to set them straight by pointing out that police are not considered a covered entity. After all, when was the last time you went to the police for health care? But seriously, would it not be nice to know police care about maintaining the privacy of your personal health information even if you are a suspected robber?
I know, I should be excited about fuel cells. The Governor of California says it is important, but I honestly do not see them playing any significant role for many decades to come. The AP has posted a story that includes the bad news with the good:
The biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles are cost and the dearth of hydrogen fuel stations. For the Clarity’s release in California, Honda said it received 50,000 applications through its website but could only consider those living near stations in Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine.
Initially, however, the Clarity will go only to a chosen few starting July and then launch in Japan this fall.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a statewide network of hydrogen stations, but progress has been slow.
No kidding. He might as well have called for statewide adoption of unicorns. Where are these expensive hydrogen stations going to come from? Big oil? Energy companies? Ha.
The state has also recently relaxed a mandate for the number of zero-emission cars it aims to have on roads. By 2014, automakers must now sell 7,500 electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, a reduction of 70 percent.
Talk is cheap, obviously. Why reduce the pressure for demand? Hydrogen is a pipe dream since it requires a massive investment in infrastructure technology that does not even exist yet. Diesel, on the other hand, could achieve similar results with technology that is present today and does not require a change of heart for the oligopoly of big energy companies. Perhaps I should say oil-gopoly?
The US energy department paints a pessimistic picture for hydrogen fueling stations:
If hydrogen were priced to provide cost parity with conventional vehicles, most hydrogen infrastructure stakeholders could turn a profit in the long run, but break-even would not be achieved for many years.
Unconventional approaches are needed to improve capacity factors and reduce the capital cost of the hydrogen infrastructure, especially in the early years of infrastructure development.
Here is a real shocker, for example:
Utilizing existing excess hydrogen capacity can result in significant capital investment reductions in the early years. These cost reductions need to be examined on a regional basis, for example, in the Midwest, 50 percent of the population is within 100 miles of an existing hydrogen plant.
If you want the fuel, you will have to live in low-value industrial regions like those favored by giant chemical plants (e.g. ammonia). Sound like a good trade-off to you? Do you want to live next to an oil refinery to get petroleum into your car? No, of course not. Again, diesel needs only natural sources of oil such as plants, animals and minerals nearby. Imagine living near a forest, or restaurants, or a coast-line with algae, or even a desert with algae for that matter. I see the hydrogen generation/transportation problems many decades away from being solved, or presenting a suitable model.
I did not notice the whining about fuel economy in 2003 by Dale Earnhardt Jr., as captured by NASCAR.com – Fuel strategy gives Earnhardt Jr. top five – July 28, 2003:
Earnhardt indicated next weekend’s Brickyard 400 would be the same story, exacerbated by two-and-four-tire strategies and the specter of fuel mileage, another issue he said he’s had enough of.
“Tony (Eury) Jr. is always on me about fuel,” Earnhardt said of his car chief, who calls his races from atop the pit box in conjunction with his father, crew chief Tony Eury. “It’s never close, it’s always short.”
Junior said after his last pit stop the crew told him he was “about a gallon short” of having enough fuel to make it to the finish.
“He (Eury Jr.) said ‘Don’t scrub your tires and you’ll save some fuel.’ I said, ‘man, I’ve been through this too many times with you.’ I’m getting tired of hearing it from my guys when they tell me that I need to save fuel.
“There is no book on how to save fuel. I mean, every time they say ‘save fuel’ I say, ‘all right, tell me how to do that again?’ I’ve been around this sport a long time — I don’t think anybody really knows.”
Well, apparently Junior has figured it out and is all the better for knowing. The big news today is that he has won a race in Michigan by applying fuel conservation. The articles I have read point out that stopping for fuel would have dropped the driver 25 places! Big kudos to Tony for his sensible energy strategy:
The most popular driver in NASCAR won this one by gambling, going the last 55 laps on the 2-mile oval, including three laps of overtime, without stopping for gas.
He gave most of the credit for his first win in more than two years to crew chief Tony Eury.
“We came in on that last stop and we were going to be about six laps short, and I saved six laps of gas,” Earnhardt said. “So, (we were) just real lucky. I have to hand it to Tony Jr. for being a risk-taker. … He’s done a good job this year getting us good finishes, better finishes than we should probably have.”
Perhaps Eury could consult with Bush and Cheney now and give them some tips on how to keep America from falling behind; better security and more success from higher availability. Imagine a Dick-infomercial where the VP says “Be a winner. Conserve energy.”
Or perhaps Eury could now convince Earnhardt to drive a diesel race car.