Author archives

Gender Diversity in Legal Writing: Pronouns, Honorifics, and Gender-Inclusive Techniques

Law Institute, British Columbia, Gender Diversity in Legal Writing: Pronouns, Honorifics, and Gender-Inclusive Techniques (June 27, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4161161 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4161161 – “Like the law, language and styles of writing evolve over time to meet the needs of new generations. One such shift is towards language that reflects a modern understanding of gender …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Google Maps rolls out location sharing notifications, immersive views and better bike navigation

TechCrunch: “Google — facing increasing competition from other apps like Instagram and TikTok when it comes to consumers searching for things — wants to be the first place people go for discovery and planning pastimes. In aid of that, today the company announced three new features for its star navigation app, Google Maps: aerial and …

Subjects: Internet, Privacy, Search Engines, Transportation

DOJ investigating Trump’s actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe

Washington Post: “The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked …

Subjects: Congress, E-Mail, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research

Tracking Heat Metrics

Center for Data Innovation: “Researchers at Boston University have created a dataset tracking heat metrics across the contiguous United States from 2000 to 2020. The dataset contains daily estimates of each counties’ minimum and maximum temperatures as well as dew-point temperatures, heat indexes, and wet-bulb globe temperatures, which are metrics that use data on factors …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Environmental Law, Knowledge Management

Gmail is getting a machine learning boost for smarter searches

TechRadarPro: “Searching for emails in Gmail is due to get “more accurate and circumstantial… suggestions.” Previously, search results have relied on things like chips, filters, and operators to help you find that elusive email, but machine learning is soon to make it easier to find what you need. This can be great if you know …

Subjects: AI, E-Mail, Internet, Search Engines

Incognito Mode Isn’t As Incognito As You Might Think

The New York Times Wirecutter: “You’ve seen the prompt: If you’re using a shared or public computer, use incognito mode. It gives you a sense of security knowing that whatever sites you visit or passwords you type won’t be saved to the device—like skulking around in an invisibility cloak. But of course, nothing you do …

Subjects: Internet, Privacy, Search Engines

The future of remote work, according to 6 experts

Vox – Make the case for working remotely — but not so much that your job gets outsourced. “Whether you’re a remote work booster or a skeptic, there are lots of unanswered questions about what happens next for remote work, especially as Covid-19 restrictions continue to fade and as fears of a recession loom. How …

Subjects: Economy, Housing, Knowledge Management, Transportation

Congress.gov July 2022 New, Tip, and Top – Part II

In Custodia Legis – July 25, 2022 by Robert Brammer – “In early July, Andrew wrote about feedback driven improvements that have been added to Congress.gov, such as adding the ability to browse committee hearing transcripts. In this release, the Congress.gov team continues the work of improving the accessibility of Congress.gov. Now, when you access …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

The Counter-Revolutions Driving Politics & Policy

Backlash – Memehlman Castagnetti slide deck: “Politics and policy move in cycles. The pendulum swings from growing government to conservative retrenchment, less regulation to stronger oversight, Democratic leadership to Republican. Momentum is shifting again. There are four key backlashes to recent trends that businesses and investors must understand and navigate to succeed in 2023-24…”

Subjects: Congress

Paper books linked to stronger readers in an international study

The Hechinger Report: “An Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study across approximately 30 countries found that teens who said they most often read paper books scored considerably higher on a 2018 reading test taken by 15-year-olds compared to teens who said they rarely or never read books. Even among students of similar socioeconomic …

Subjects: Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Congress Should Codify Same-Sex Marriage

Via Axios: “Ted Olson, who was solicitor general under President George W. Bush, and former RNC chair Ken Mehlman write in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, “Congress Should Codify Same-Sex Marriage”: “The Respect for Marriage Act has already been approved by a strong bipartisan majority in the House, and it should now be promptly …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legal Research

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