Author archives

The data on 40 years of California wildfires is alarmingly clear

Quartz: “Wildfires in northern and central California increased fivefold between 1971 and 2021, according to a new study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The scientists behind the study found that those fires were mostly caused by anthropogenic climate change, the kind accelerated by human actions like burning fossil fuels …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law

Purdue Plant Doctor

 Purdue Plant Doctor – Enter the name of the plant, plant problem, pest, or disease, or click your way to identify and manage your pest or disease. “The Purdue Plant Doctor was a collaboration between Dr. Janna Beckerman (Department of Botany and Plant Pathology) and Dr. Cliff Sadof (Department of Entomology), who contributed equally to …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2023

“Business leaders everywhere are prioritising transformation, but what if your most skilled people are more reinvention ready than your company culture is? And what if your employees say they are even more likely to quit now than they were last year—back when everyone thought the “great resignation” was at its peak. This is the complicated—and …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Financial System, Knowledge Management

Suicide Hotlines Promise Anonymity. Dozens of Their Websites Send Sensitive Data to Facebook

The Markup – This article was copublished with STAT, a national publication that delivers trusted and authoritative journalism about health, medicine, and the life sciences. “Websites for mental health crisis resources across the country—which promise anonymity for visitors, many of whom are at a desperate moment in their lives—have been quietly sending sensitive visitor data …

Subjects: E-Records, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Marketing, Medicine, Privacy, Social Media

How Your New Car Tracks You

Wired (free link) -” Vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and more can collect huge volumes of data. Here’s what the companies can access…In May, US-based automotive firm Privacy4Cars released a new tool, dubbed the Vehicle Privacy Report, that reveals how much information on your car can be hoovered up. Much like Apple and Google’s privacy …

Subjects: E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media, Transportation

Saving the News from Big Tech

EFF, Cory Doctorow [23 pages]: “Media is in crisis: newsrooms all over the world are shuttering and the very profession of journalism is under sustained ideological and physical assault. Freedom of the press is a hollow doctrine if the only news media is written or published by independently wealthy individuals who don’t need to get …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

These ten books are considered pornography in Ron DeSantis’ Florida

Popular Information: “On March 8, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) conducted a press conference in which he purported to debunk the “book ban hoax.” During the event, DeSantis claimed that Florida schools, under his leadership, were not banning educational materials. Rather, they were simply removing “pornography” from school libraries and classrooms. DeSantis claimed the notion …

Subjects: Censorship, Education, Free Speech, Government Documents, Libraries

FTC Action Against Amazon for Enrolling Consumers in Amazon Prime Without Consent

“The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Amazon.com, Inc. for its years-long effort to enroll consumers into its Prime program without their consent while knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime. In a complaint filed today, the FTC charges that Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Financial System, Legal Research

Gen-Z Is Taking Courses On How To Send An Email and What To Wear In the Office

Business Insider: “Recent graduates from Generation Z, who have primarily experienced virtual classes and remote internships during college, may need to improve their soft skills such as email writing, casual conversation, and appropriate work attire. According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, companies like KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC are offering training programs …

Subjects: Knowledge Management

The Nation’s Report Card

2023 Long-Term Trend (LTT) Age 13 Reading and Mathematics Highlights: “The nation’s 13-year-olds showed the largest declines ever recorded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend assessment (LTT) in mathematics, according to results released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The average mathematics score for 13-year-olds declined 9 points …

Subjects: Education, Libraries

Living Planet Report

“This year’s Living Planet Report is filled with ground-breaking figures, with most of the indicators describing a tremendous decline in ecosystem health. The calculation of the Living Planet Index shows an average 69% decline in population sizes of monitored mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish since the year 1970. Just as the R-number in epidemiology …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

New York Passes Bill to Shield Abortion Providers Sending Pills Into States With Bans

The New York Times: “The New York State Legislature gave final approval on Tuesday to legislation that provides legal protection for New York doctors to prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states that have outlawed abortion. The measure, along with similar new laws in several other states controlled by Democrats, could significantly expand …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Legislation