Thomas.gov set to retire this summer

http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/it/2016/04/28/thomas-gov-retire/83645430/

The Library of Congress announced plans to finally retire the Thomas.gov web portal this summer after almost 21 years of public service. Library staff have finished migrating the site’s data over to the newer Congress.gov and plan to turn off the old site on July 5.

Early analysis of Seattle’s $15 wage law: Effect on prices minimal one year after implementation | UW Today

http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-seattles-15-wage-law-effect-on-prices-minimal-one-year-after-implementation/

Most Seattle employers surveyed in a University of Washington-led study said in 2015 that they expected to raise prices on goods and services to compensate for the city’s move to a $15 per hour minimum wage.

But a year after the law’s April 2015 implementation, the study indicates such increases don’t seem to be happening.

What the world thinks about climate change in 7 charts | Pew Research Center

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/18/what-the-world-thinks-about-climate-change-in-7-charts/

On April 22, leaders and representatives from more than 150 countries will gather at the United Nations to sign the global climate change agreement reached in Paris in December. Pew Research Center’s spring 2015 survey found that people around the world are concerned about climate change and want their governments to take action.

What Miles Davis Taught Herbie Hancock: In Music, as in Life, There Are No Mistakes, Just Chances to Improvise | Open Culture

http://www.openculture.com/2016/04/what-miles-davis-taught-herbie-hancock-about-mistakes-and-improvising.html

In this very short video based around an interview with pianist Herbie Hancock, the master improvisor Miles Davis honored Hancock’s mistake as a hidden intention by playing along with it. It’s both a surprising look into the arcane world of jazz improvisation and a revealing anecdote of Davis, usually known as a difficult collaborator.

“It taught me a very big lesson not only about music,” says Hancock, “but about life.”

Universities, inequality, and the overtime rule | Economic Policy Institute

http://www.epi.org/blog/universities-overtime-rule/

This is a consequential move, which will improve the lives of many working people in a number of ways. Millions of employees who work long hours will get paid overtime for the first time. Millions of other workers who have been working long hours, at a cost to their health and their families, will have their hours reduced to 40 hours a week. Millions more will get a raise above the threshold, because their employer can continue to avoid paying overtime. And hundreds of thousands of people will get jobs because employers will reduce the hours of some employees to avoid paying overtime and hire additional people to do the work at straight time wages.

Pocket Points pays to not use phone – Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/pocket-point-pays-to-not-use-phone-2016-4

While in class, everyone was looking at their phones, texting, and doing whatever, with "no one paying attention to the teachers" as Gardner recalls.

The more they talked about it, the more annoyed they were. If technology could cause that kind a phone addiction, then it could also solve it, too, they thought.

So they built an app called Pocket Points that rewards students for not using their phones while in class.

Using "geo-fencing," (a GPS "fence" around the campus), the app can sense when a student is on campus and automatically lock the phone down. Students earn points while they are on campus with the app on/phone locked. When the student leaves campus, the phone unlocks and texting and Snapchatting can commence.

Points can then be cashed in for rewards at local businesses, like pizza, food, coffee, yogurt.

Congress Has a Worse Track Record on Following Advice to Cut Waste Than Agencies Themselves – Oversight – GovExec.com

http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2016/04/congress-worse-track-record-following-waste-cutting-recs/127467/

Federal agencies are making progress on addressing the duplication and overlap identified by independent auditors, but more than half of the total recommendations made since 2011 have not been fully addressed.