Author archives

Visualizing Congressional Productivity

Center for Data Innovation: The Economist has created a visualization tracking productivity in the U.S. Congress. The visualization shows the number of major bills passed in every session of Congress from 1947 to 2023 as well as the party that held control over the House, Senate, and presidency during each session. In the visualization, bills …

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

How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World

Pro Publica: “In one instance, Google continued to place ads on a publication in Bosnia and Herzegovina for months after the U.S. government officially imposed sanctions on the site. Google stopped doing business with the site, which the U.S. Treasury Department described as the “personal media station” of a prominent Bosnian Serb separatist politician, only …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Commerce, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Securities Law

Database States – No database is neutral

The Baffler -Sanjana Varghese: The UK, as it turns out, is not particularly adept at securing its data. In 2009, a group of British academics released a report calling the UK a “database state,” citing the existence of forty-six leaky databases that were poorly constructed and badly maintained. Databases that they examined ranged from one …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

USITC Launches New Investigations Database System

“The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) today deployed the Investigations Database System (IDS), an innovative new data management tool that captures, manages, and displays USITC investigation-related information. Users are encouraged to visit the USITC website at https://ids.usitc.gov to explore this new tool. A major new feature is the ability to conduct quick searches and …

Subjects: E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 14, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 14, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly …

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Education, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Transportation

How ChatGPT Hijacks Democracy

The New York Times: “Launched just weeks ago, ChatGPT is already threatening to upend how we draft everyday communications like emails, college essays and myriad other forms of writing. Created by the company OpenAI, ChatGPT is a chatbot that can automatically respond to written prompts in a manner that is sometimes eerily close to human. …

Subjects: AI, Congress, E-Mail, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Artificial intelligence deep learning model for mapping wetlands yields 94% accuracy

PHYS.org: “Chesapeake Conservancy’s data science team developed an artificial intelligence deep learning model for mapping wetlands, which resulted in 94% accuracy. Supported by EPRI, an independent, non-profit energy research and development institute; Lincoln Electric System; and the Grayce B. Kerr Fund, Inc., this method for wetland mapping could deliver important outcomes for protecting and conserving …

Subjects: AI, Climate Change, Environmental Law

How Policymakers Can Thwart the Rise of Fake Reviews

Center for Data Innovation: As businesses compete for customers in the digital economy, some use deceptive tactics to manipulate consumer reviews about their goods or services, or those of their competitors, including by posting fake reviews. These fake reviews can damage honest companies’ reputation and deceive consumers into purchasing goods or services of substandard quality. …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Intellectual Property, Legal Research, Legislation

Are book bans discrimination?

Washington Post – Biden administration to test new legal theory: “The federal government has opened an investigation into a Texas school district over its alleged removal of books featuring LGBTQ characters — marking the first test of a new legal argument that failing to represent students in school books can constitute discrimination. The Education Department’s …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries