Daylight Savings Time - Just call it Summer Time

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extends Daylight Savings Time beginning this year.

Dr. David Prerau has written the definitive book on the story of DST, Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. Check out the Seize the Daylight web site to read some interesting facts about Daylight Savings Time, for example did you know that Benjamin Franklin, living in Paris, first conceived the notion of daylight saving time. And Europe just calls it "Summer time".

Other web sites with information about daylight savings time include:
The California Energy Commission - with facts related to the energy saved
And of course, good old Wikipedia

40th Super Bowl

Super Bowl XLI will be played Feb. 4 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. It marks the 40th anniversary of the first AFL-NFL championship game, in which the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles. To commemorate this occasion, the Census Bureau has compiled a collection of facts examining how life in the United States has changed since Super Bowl I. This fact sheet also examines the demographics of the host city, as well as the cities represented by the contenders, in this year’s edition of our nation’s most celebrated sporting event. Unless otherwise indicated, the data come from the 2005 American Community Survey.

North Carolina Employment Rates

North Carolina’s employment increased in December for the sixth consecutive month and remained at a record level, according to statistics released on Jan 19 by the state’s Employment Security Commission. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent for the month.

The next release of data will be on January 26, for December employment rates.

Ask X

Ask X is getting some great reviews from researchers. Check it out.

NC DOT contacts

Rock reporter, Gerald Witt sent along this web link for Division 7 (Guilford, Rock, and Alamance) DOT contacts - email address and phone numbers.

The state directory has a list by department, including Division 7.

Thanks, Gerald!

State Center for Health Statistics

Staff reporter, Amy Dominello sent me the following research resources:

Vital Statistics:
North Carolina Reported Pregnancies for 2005

North Carolina Vital Statistics, Volume 2: Leading Causes of Death,
2005

North Carolina's total and cause-specific deaths at the state and county level.
Child Deaths in North Carolina 2005

North Carolina Vital Facts for 2005

Detailed Mortality Statistics, North Carolina Residents, 2005

Deaths of residents classified by cause, age, race, and sex.
Infant Mortality Statistics 2005

Basic Automated Birth Yearbook (BABYBOOK) - 2005
Statewide and county counts for 2005 resident live births classified
by selected infant and maternal characteristics.

BRFSS:
2005 BRFSS Data for Adults in North Carolina Enrolled in Medicaid
Health Risks Among North Carolina Adults: 2005

Central Cancer Registry:
NC Cancer Projections for 2006

These tables include projected new cancer cases and deaths for selected sites.
PRAMS:
2004 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Survey Results

Special Studies and Reports:
Statistical Brief 30: Hospice Care in North Carolina

Searching for Videos on the Web

Wall-Street Journal article: Finding Tom Cruise(Not Cruise Missiles)
As Web Video Grows, Search Engines Race to SolveProblem of Locating Content That Has No Text
By JESSICA E. VASCELLAROO ctober 12, 2006; Page D1

This article explains the new technologies and lists a few of the new Web sites that will search videos. You can also upload your video.

Blinkx searches 6 million hours of content
Pure Video searches billions of videos and 100s of sites (it is still in Beta)
Pixsy searches millions of photos and videos
Meta Cafe searches video hosted on its site

My favorite: Search for Video