Author archives

NYT launches a free, geo-targeted extreme weather newsletter

NiemanLab: “As the warming climate causes extreme weather events to become more frequent and severe, your everyday concern about weather risks may be growing. And you might not only be preoccupied with the chances of extreme weather where you live, but also in places you’re traveling, or where your friends and loved ones reside. What …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Internet, Knowledge Management

How AI could take over elections and undermine democracy

Archon Fung, Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government, Harvard Kennedy School and Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard University – The Conversation: “…Imagine that soon, political technologists develop a machine called Clogger – a political campaign in a black box. Clogger relentlessly pursues just one objective: to maximize the chances that its candidate – …

Subjects: AI, Congress, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research

Teachers’ Views on School Safety

Rand Corporation – Consensus on Many Security Measures, But Stark Division About Arming Teachers: “Shooting incidents at kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) schools in the United States, including mass attacks like the one that killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, have sparked calls to increase security or adopt …

Subjects: Education, Government Documents

Library strategy and Artificial Intelligence

“On April 20th 2023 the Information School, University of Sheffield invited five guest speakers from across the library sectors to debate “Artificial Intelligence: Where does it fit into your library strategy?” The speakers were: Nick Poole, CEO of CILIP Neil Fitzgerald, Head of Digital Research, British Library Sue Lacey-Bryant, Chief Knowledge Officer; Workforce, Training and …

Subjects: AI, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Struggles With Air Quality in Federal Offices Put Occupants At Risk of COVID Exposure

Office of Audits, Office of Inspector General, U.S. General Services Administration A201018/P/4/R2308. Audit of GSA’s Response to COVID-19: PBS Faces Challenges to Meet the Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality Standard in GSA-Owned Buildings. GovExec: “The federal government’s landlord has struggled to maintain air quality standards in its buildings thus putting occupants at risk for …

Subjects: Environmental Law, Government Documents

Lawyer cites fake cases invented by ChatGPT, judge is not amused

Simon Willison’s Weblog: “Legal Twitter is having tremendous fun right now reviewing the latest documents from the case Mata v. Avianca, Inc. (1:22-cv-01461). Here’s a neat summary: So, wait. They file a brief that cites cases fabricated by ChatGPT. The court asks them to file copies of the opinions. And then they go back to …

Subjects: AI, Courts, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Awesome Privacy Guides

Awesome Privacy – List of free, open source and privacy respecting services and alternatives to private services, such as those provided by Google/Alphabet. Anonymity, Privacy, and Security are often used interchangeably, but they actually represent distinct concepts. It is important to understand the differences between them. Read more in this section below.The primary focus of …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Mail, Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Search Engines

Inside Snopes: the rise, fall, and rebirth of an internet icon

Fast Company: “America’s premier fact-checking site was failed by the two men who had charge of it, critics say. As Snopes turns a corner, here’s the tale of what went so right—and so wrong….Snopes predated FactCheck.org, created by the Annenberg Public Policy Center in 2003, and PolitiFact.com, created in 2007 by the Tampa Bay Times—now …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

How The Economist reached 2.7 mln subscribers with its LinkedIn newsletter

Mapping Journalism, Francesco Zaffarano – Q&A: How The Economist built one of its most successful newsletters on LinkedIn. For this issue, I spoke with Aaron Coultate, head of newsletters at The Economist. Aaron is responsible for a rich portfolio of newsletters, but there is one I was particularly interested in. One year ago, he worked …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Florida Higher Ed Faces an Ideologically Driven Assault Unparalleled in US History

American Association of University Professors: “Earlier this year, the AAUP established a special committee to review the apparent pattern of politically, racially, and ideologically motivated attacks on public higher education in Florida. Today, after interviewing dozens of faculty members at multiple public colleges and universities in the state, the committee has released a preliminary report …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Office of Civil Rights Issues Guidance on HIPAA Compliant Use of Meta Pixels

ABA: “A Meta Pixel is a code embedded in websites that tracks users’ online activities and sends such activities as discrete packets of user data to Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The Meta Pixel can track “users as they navigate through a website, logging which pages they visit, which buttons they click, and certain …

Subjects: E-Records, Government Documents, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Medicine, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media