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404 Media no paywall: “A data broker owned by major U.S. airlines is selling masses of customers’ travel data to the government. New documents we just got show this includes “5 billion ticketing records for searching capabilities.” Where people went, how they paid, and even where they plan to go in the future are all …
The New York Times – [no paywall]: “…Most of this material — gathered by social media analysis, drone surveillance and more — will never be reviewed by any court and will be entirely inaccessible to anyone outside of law enforcement. For almost 90 percent of the technologies it deploys, the department has stated that it …
How to Geek: “Common wisdom says that you should never write down your passwords, and for the most part I agree. Especially if you write it down on a sticky note attached to your screen bezel. However, lately I’ve found that I keep forgetting my passwords, because we’re asked to enter them much more rarely …
“For people to experience the full benefits of access, the Internet itself needs to be able to adapt to challenges. The Pulse Internet Resilience Index (IRI) tracks a range of indicators and assigns a weighted score for each country, measured out of 100. It’s a holistic score that measures how well an Internet connection can …
LitHub: “…In 2005 I auditioned for my first audiobook, a grand 500-page historical fiction retelling of the Robin Hood legend. I realized there was a whole industry out there featuring the beautiful yet simple combination of a voice and a story—I was hooked. I’ve narrated 800 titles now, for publishers large and small, in every …
The More You Automate, the Less You See: Hidden Pitfalls of AI Scientist Systems – Ziming Luo, Atoosa Kasirzadeh, Nihar B. Shah. September 10, 2025. “AI scientist systems, capable of autonomously executing the full research workflow from hypothesis generation and experimentation to paper writing, hold significant potential for accelerating scientific discovery. However, the internal workflow …
Quanta Magazine: “…For centuries, humans have sought to understand the intricate workings of our planet. As vulnerable critters, we crave some control over nature, or at least a handle on coming shifts in the weather and climate. But Earth is a chaotic beast, sensitive to innumerable tiny details; we can’t possibly keep track of every …
NYTco.com, Speaking to the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization, The New York Times Publisher and Chairman AG Sulzberger called for journalists to stand up for their rights: “…Democracy is in retreat across the world. Aspiring strongmen are undermining the laws, norms, and institutions that are the bedrock of free societies. A primary target of this …
MakeUseOf: “The reliability of your internet connection can make or break your day, whether you’re working from home, streaming your favorite shows, or gaming online. Yet, routers—the backbone of your Wi-Fi network—are often overlooked. If you’re experiencing issues with your network, the good news is you don’t need new hardware or expensive upgrades to see …
Via Beau (Beau HD) Hamilton: “The Internet Archive has reached a confidential settlement with Universal Music Group and other major labels, “ending a closely watched copyright battle over the nonprofit’s effort to digitize and stream historic recordings,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle. From the report: The case (PDF), UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Internet Archive, targeted …
Lewy body dementia promotion by air pollutants. Science. 4 Sep 2025 Vol 389, Issue 6764 DOI: 10.1126/science.adu4132 – “Air pollution was recently found to be associated with increased risk of developing dementia. Zhang et al. investigated the relationship between PM2.5, an index of particle pollution, and the development of Lewy body dementia (LBD), the second …
How People Use ChatGPT. Aaron Chatterji, Tom Cunningham, David Deming, Zo¨e Hitzig1, Christopher Ong, Carl Shan, Kevin Wadman. OpenAI. Duke University. Harvard University. September 15, 2025. “Despite the rapid adoption of LLM chatbots, little is known about how they are used. We document the growth of ChatGPT’s consumer product from its launch in November 2022 …
