Money and Computing
A Hearing on Women-Owned Small Businesses: Barbara Corcoran, "The startup game remains vastly male dominated"
"The lost decade, between Congress approving the [Women-Owned Small Business Procurement] program in 2000 and the Small Business Administration (SBA) rulemaking in 2011, translated to $94 billion in missed contracting opportunities for WOSBs [women-owned small businesses]. And while the percentage of prime contracts awarded to WOSBs increased following the program’s final implementation in 2011, the federal government has still yet to meet its five percent goal." more »
Is Your State Aging or Becoming Younger? The Census Reveals Two Booms
"We’re seeing the demographic impact of two booms," Census Bureau Director John Thompson said. "The population in the Great Plains energy boom states is becoming younger and more male as workers move in seeking employment in the oil and gas industry, while the US as a whole continues to age as the youngest of the baby boom generation enters their 50s." The nation’s 65-and-older population surged to 44.7 million in 2013, up 3.6 percent from 2012. By comparison, the population younger than 65 grew by only 0.3 percent. more »
Congressional Bills Introduced and An Update to the Secure Our Smartphones Initiative
A bill to enhance the consideration of sex differences in basic and clinical research; a bill to prevent domestic abusers from possessing or receiving firearms; a bill to provide authority for sole source contracts for certain small business concerns owned by women. Criminals now target smartphones not likely to be equipped with a kill switch, increasing the importance of implementing the technology across all manufacturers. more »
Betting Decisions and Dopamine Regulating Genes in Your Brain
"We know from brain imaging studies that when people compete against one another, they actually engage in two distinct types of learning processes. One type involves learning purely from the consequences of your own actions, called reinforcement learning. The other is a bit more sophisticated, called belief learning, where people try to make a mental model of the other players, in order to anticipate and respond to their actions." more »