Author archives

The Atlantic’s Guide to Privacy

The Atlantic’s Guide to Privacy [read free]: “In 2023, digital privacy is, in many ways, a fiction: Knowingly or not, we are all constantly streaming, beaming, being surveilled, scattering data wherever we go. Companies, governments, and our fellow citizens know more than we could ever imagine about our body, our shopping habits, even our kids. …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Internet, Privacy

Z-Library Opens ‘Z-Points’ Around the World to Share Paper Books

Torrent Freak: “Z-Library, which is commonly known as a pirate ebook repository, has opened up 11 physical book distribution points around the world. From the United States to South Sudan, there are Z-Points in every inhabited continent. The ultimate goal is to broaden the library’s scope to the physical realm, further promoting book sharing. With …

Subjects: Education, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Law Schools: Want to Help Bend the Arc of the Moral Universe Toward Justice? Hire Law Professors with Public Service Experience

Kincaid, Rachel, Law Schools: Want to Help Bend the Arc of the Moral Universe Toward Justice? Hire Law Professors with Public Service Experience (September 5, 2023). University of Richmond Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4562584 “We are living in momentous times. Social justice and the legitimacy of our political systems are at the forefront …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Education, Environmental Law, Legal Research

An Ed-Tech Tragedy?

UNESCO – “A new book about experiences with educational technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications for the future of learning. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed education from schools to educational technologies at a pace and scale with no historical precedent. For hundreds of millions of students formal learning became fully dependent on technology – …

Subjects: Education, Health Care

Bike Index

“Cofounded by Seth Herr and Bryan Hance in 2013, Bike Index is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It is the most widely used and successful bicycle registration service in the world with over 1,132,000 cataloged bikes, 1,570 community partners and tens of thousands of daily searches. Seth built Bike Index when he was a bike mechanic because …

Subjects: Transportation

Modeling the Demand for Electric Vehicles and the Supply of Charging Stations in the United States

CBO – Modeling the Demand for Electric Vehicles and the Supply of Charging Stations in the United States: Working Paper 2023-06 By David Austin. “This paper presents a simulation model of the markets for light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) and the associated public charging infrastructure, as well as the network interactions between them. It illustrates the …

Subjects: Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Transportation

OpenAI admits that AI writing detectors don’t work

Ars Technica – “No detectors “reliably distinguish between AI-generated and human-generated content. Last week, OpenAI published tips for educators in a promotional blog post that shows how some teachers are using ChatGPT as an educational aid, along with suggested prompts to get started. In a related FAQ, they also officially admit what we already know: …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management

COVID vaccines may roll out within days

NYT via Chicago Tribune – “The latest COVID-19 boosters are expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as early as Monday, arriving alongside the seasonal flu vaccine and shots to protect infants and older adults from RSV, a potentially lethal respiratory virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to …

Subjects: Health Care, Medicine

6 Best Free Photoshop Alternatives

How to Geek – Photoshop is expensive but these tools can be used for free. “You shouldn’t need to spend Adobe money to edit images and photos. Fortunately, free alternatives exist that can help you complete basic image editing operations, process RAW photos, and more.”

Subjects: Internet

The Pirate Preservationists

Reason – When keeping cultural archives safe means stepping outside the law “…Countless companies specialize in finding forgotten music, often released by regional or local labels that went out of business long ago, and repackaging it for modern listeners. Countless crate-diggers do essentially the same thing, but they post their finds on blogs, on YouTube …

Subjects: Copyright, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Confessions of a McKinsey Whistleblower

The Nation – Inside the soul-crushing, morally bankrupt, top-secret world of our most powerful consulting firm. “…What does McKinsey do? Generally, it deploys teams of sleep-deprived, overeducated young people to solve tough problems for organizations—typically for-profit businesses, though the firm also serves many governments and large nonprofit organizations. If you’re a CEO who wants help …

Subjects: Legal Research