Day archives: September 4th, 2024

Got a Change Healthcare letter about a data breach? Here’s what to do

Washington Post [gift article]: “After Change Healthcare, a technology company owned by UnitedHealth Group, reported a giant ransomware attack, you may have received a letter by mail letting you know your data has been compromised. But you get a lot of random stuff in the mail, too. How can you determine if the letter is …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Health Care, ID Theft, Internet

The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year

“A new study from the University shines a light on the enormous scale of uncollected rubbish and open burning of plastic waste in the first ever global plastics pollution inventory. Researchers used A.I. to model waste management in more than 50,000 municipalities around the world. This model allowed the team to predict how much waste …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law, Health Care

Study suggests gun-free zones do not attract mass shootings

PHYS.org: “Gun-free zones have often been blamed for making schools, malls and other public areas more attractive to shooters; however, there have been no quantitative studies examining those claims. Now, in a first of its kind study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, researchers at UC Davis Health and other institutions have shown …

Subjects: Education, Health Care, Legal Research

How publishers are experimenting with Reddit even without a formal publisher program

DIGIDAY: “While it hasn’t formally launched a publisher program, over the last 18 months Reddit has been steadily rolling out products and resources aimed at courting media companies to increase their presence on the platform. And according to audience development leads from publishers including Newsweek, The Hill and Wirecutter, those efforts have helped pivot focus …

Subjects: Internet, Marketing, Social Media

How to Convert PDF to Google Docs

Make Tech Easier: “While we consider PDFs as the gold standard for professional documents, they often present challenges when it comes to editing. One easy way for you to edit a PDF file is to convert it to Google Docs. Once you have edited it, you can then export it to PDF. Here is how …

Subjects: E-Records, Internet

Findings Report: Governance on Fediverse Microblogging Servers

Erin Kissane and Darius Kazemi with the support of the Digital Infrastructure Insights Fund August 20, 2024 [PDF version / web version] [Quick-Start Guide to Fediverse Governance Decisions] [Fediverse Governance Opportunities for Funders & Developers] Project Introduction – We proposed this project in the fall of 2023 based on our shared sense that the Fediverse’s …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Ginni Thomas Privately Praised Group Working Against Supreme Court Reform

ProPublica – “Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, privately heaped praise on a major religious-rights group for fighting efforts to reform the nation’s highest court — efforts sparked, in large part, by her husband’s ethical lapses. Thomas expressed her appreciation in an email sent to Kelly Shackelford, an influential litigator whose …

Subjects: Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case

Wired unpaywalled: “The Internet Archive has lost a major legal battle [The case is Hachette Book Group Inc. v. Internet Archive, 2d Cir., No. 23-1260, 9/4/24.]—in a decision that could have a significant impact on the future of internet history. Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled against the long-running digital …

Subjects: Copyright, Digital Rights, Education, Internet, Legal Research, Libraries