Monthly archives: December, 2020

Gifts From Cyberspace

The New York Times -“Searching for a last-minute gift … that may take months to arrive? Here’s an alternative gift guide, to delight and surprise.” There are some odd items here – but who cares – it has been an odd year!

Subjects: E-Commerce

How can I find out which company makes my generic drug?

Katherine Eban – investigative journalist, Vanity Fair contributor and Andrew Carnegie fellow (also see her TEDMED Talk here). “A: Typically, the manufacturer name will be listed on the pill bottle’s dispensing label. However, this isn’t always the case. If you can’t find the name of the manufacturer on the packaging, call your pharmacist and ask …

Subjects: Food and Nutrition, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline

The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline, CRS In Focus, October 22, 2020.”Every four years, the election process for President and Vice President follows a familiar timeline of events. At the same time, a related series of procedures governing electoral college actions proceeds on a parallel track.This report focuses on the electoral college timeline …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research

They’re Among the World’s Oldest Living Things. The Climate Crisis Is Killing Them

The New York Times – California’s epic wildfires in 2020 took deadly aim at the state’s most beloved trees. “In a relative instant, countless ancient redwoods, hundreds of giant sequoias and more than one million Joshua trees perished. The blackened wreckage sends a clear message. These trees are in the fight of their lives. “It’ll …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Academic and Public Library Budgets

The Scholarly Kitchen: “The pandemic has wrought profound disruption on the academic sector. In the United States, impacts on face-to-face instruction and the residential model have resulted in substantial challenges to the student experience, while setbacks to scientific research and researchers themselves are no less significant. Increasing costs of retooling campuses and declining revenues from …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Libraries

List of Lists – The Best Books of 2020

The Best Books of 2020 posted by Jason Kottke – “As I’m sure it is for many of you, a big part of my “getting the lay of the land” w/r/t books is seeing what my favorite bookstores were putting on their front tables — and that’s been difficult for the past several months. Looking …

Subjects: Libraries

U.S. Schools Are Buying Phone-Hacking Tech That the FBI Uses to Investigate Terrorists

Gizmodo: “In May 2016, a student enrolled in a high-school in Shelbyville, Texas, consented to having his phone searched by one of the district’s school resource officers. Looking for evidence of a romantic relationship between the student and a teacher, the officer plugged the phone into a Cellebrite UFED to recover deleted messages from the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, E-Records, Education, Legal Research, Privacy

Your guide to every Google app’s privacy settings

Popular Science – You have the power to limit Google’s snooping. “It’s difficult to avoid Google apps, but using them doesn’t necessarily mean handing over all your data and online activity to the tech giant—you can still work within the Google ecosystem while maintaining a respectable level of privacy. Your options vary depending on the …

Subjects: Internet, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media