Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: October 16, 2022

Effective Activist

Effective Activist – An Evidence-Based Guide to Progressive Social Change: “Introduction: Why Read the Effective Activist Guide? Why do we engage in activism? For most of us, something that we love has been stolen. Climate change is ravaging the natural world and our communities. Jails are filled with Black and Brown men2whose only crime was being born of a different skin color. Our environment is filled with harmful chemicals that poison all living beings, with 95% of humans living in areas with unhealthy air. One in five women have been the victim of attempted or completed rape, and over 80% have been sexually harassed. Billions of animals endure a torturous existence in factory farms every year. Immigrant communities are torn apart by detentions and deportations. Schools in low-income neighborhoods are funneling children of color into the criminal justice system for minor offenses. The richest 1% of the world’s population owns almost half of the wealth. We feel unsafe when we go outside. We are worried for the well-being of our families and our neighbors. We miss being able to see the stars at night, to take a deep breath of fresh air, to sip clean water from our local stream. We watch the news in fear, anxiously awaiting the day another decision will be made that will further strip us of our rights. Today, 150 species of plants and animals will go extinct. Today, 2,000 people will commit suicide. Today, in the world’s poorest countries, 15,000 children under the age of five will die from a preventable illness. Today, 2,000 of those children will die from diarrhea, lacking access to the simple and enormously cheap treatment of water mixed with salt and sugar.

And today, the five highest earning CEOs will each earn almost $200,000—more in one day than 99.9% of the world earns in one year.1 Today, the 200,000 richest individuals in the world will spend $100 million just on jewelry, watches, sunglasses, and handbags—an amount that could save tens of thousands of lives if it was donated to charity instead. We engage in activism because we are tired of this. We engage in activism because we want to live in a better world, because we want to restore our planet, our neighborhoods, our connection with nature, and our lives. We engage in activism because we want the world to be governed by community and care, not by wealth and violence. This guide will tell you how to reclaim what you love…”

Rent Going Up? One Company’s Algorithm Could Be Why

Pro Publica: “Texas-based RealPage’s YieldStar software helps landlords set prices for apartments across the U.S. With rents soaring, critics are concerned that the company’s proprietary algorithm is hurting competition…For years, RealPage has sold software that uses data analytics to suggest daily prices for open units. Property managers across the United States have gushed about how… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cybersecurity issues – October 15, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cybersecurity issues – October 15, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading

Visualizing Countries’ Climate Risks

Center for Data Innovation: “Datawrapper, a data visualization creation company based in Germany, has created a visualization comparing countries’ risks from climate change. The visualization contains a horizontal axis representing countries’ vulnerability and a vertical axis representing countries’ readiness. It places each country into a quadrant and displays a correlating color for that quadrant. The… Continue Reading

More Than Half of People are Frustrated by Digital Government Services

GovExec: “People want an easy-to-use digital government customer service experience, according to an Accenture report released Wednesday, as more than half of respondents found it frustrating to access government services. According to the report, people want their government service experiences to be simple, secure and have a human element. Specifically, respondents said it should be… Continue Reading

Data Protection and Privacy Law: An Introduction

CRS in Focus – Data Protection and PrivacyLaw: An Introduction, Updated October 12, 2022 – “Recent controversy surrounding how third parties protect the privacy of individuals in the digital age has raised national concerns over legal protections of Americans’ electronic data. The current legislative paradigms governing cybersecurity and data privacy are complex and technical and… Continue Reading

Access to Knowledge Coalition Website on Copyright Laws

“The A2K Coalition calls for a fair and balanced international copyright system that is underpinned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights….This map shows the status of copyright exceptions for key activities related to education, research and cultural heritage…” “Access to knowledge is not enjoyed equally across the world. Crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and… Continue Reading

Securing the U.S. Electricity Grid from Cyberattacks

GAO Blog: “Reliable electricity is essential to the conveniences of modern life and vital to our nation’s economy and security. But the electricity grid is an attractive target for cyberattacks from U.S. adversaries—such as nations like China and Russia, as well as individual bad actors, such as insiders and criminals. So, how is the electricity… Continue Reading

Hackers have stolen record $3 billion in cryptocurrency this year

CBSNews: “Hackers have stolen more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency so far this year, shattering the previous record of $2.1 billion set in 2021, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. A big chunk of that $3 billion, around $718 million, was taken this month in 11 different hacks, Chainalysis said in a series of tweets… Continue Reading