Day archives: July 8th, 2025

In the fight against foreign information manipulation, the US can’t afford to disarm

Atlantic Council: “As its adversaries wage an information war, the United States is retreating from the front lines. Washington has dismantled key programs for countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Foreign Influence Task Force. This leaves a dangerous vacuum in the US national defense posture. If left …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

This Old Music App Is Still Miles Better Than Spotify For Finding New Music

MakeUseOf: “Coming back to Last.fm after being away for years felt like stepping into a familiar space that had somehow gotten better with age. The magic of Last.fm lies in its transparent and organic approach to finding the music you like. Unlike Spotify’s black-box algorithm, Last.fm shows me exactly how its recommendations work. When I …

Subjects: Internet, Search Engines

What are free trade agreements and how do they affect trade?

USAFacts: “The US has 14 agreements covering trade with 20 countries. Free trade agreements are strategic partnerships between countries that trade with each other by reducing barriers to entry to the international market for producers, standardizing labor practices, and ensuring affordability and safety for consumers, and more. Compared to a trade war, free trade agreements …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

AALL State of the Profession Report – How Law Libraries Are Navigating AI, Hybrid Work, and Expanding Roles

LawSites, Bob Ambrogi: “Law libraries across academia, private practice, and government are contending with rapid changes in technology, staffing, and service delivery, according to the 2025 State of the Profession report released this week by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). Based on survey responses from 510 legal information professionals across the United States, …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

NYT to start searching deleted ChatGPT logs after beating OpenAI in court

Ars Technica: “Last week, OpenAI raised objections in court, hoping to overturn a court order requiring the AI company to retain all ChatGPT logs “indefinitely,” including deleted and temporary chats. But Sidney Stein, the US district judge reviewing OpenAI’s request, immediately denied OpenAI’s objections. He was seemingly unmoved by the company’s claims that the order …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Courts, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

The U.S. government is failing on vaccine policy

STAT – The Vaccine Integrity Project is here to help: “Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services floated new standards for vaccine approvals, rescinded longstanding Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, and fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee. These actions represent a …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, Health Care, Medicine

U.S. funding cuts threaten academic science jobs at all levels

Science: “…The federal government has paused or terminated billions of dollars of grants, proposed slashing research funding by more than 40% for key research agencies in the next fiscal year, and tried—so far without success—to cut overhead payments to universities. Numbers released in May by the National Science Foundation (NSF) indicate that if Congress approves …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Education, Health Care, Legislation, Medicine