Author archives

What we know about why some people never get covid

Quartz: “Americans who haven’t had covid-19 are now officially in the minority. A study published this week from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 58% of randomly selected blood samples from adults contained antibodies indicating that they had previously been infected with the virus; among children, that rate was 75%. …

Subjects: Health Care

Prevalence of Long Covid is now estimated to be 51-80% across all infections including asymptomatic, mild and severe.

Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome (PACS) in Adults, Published: April 2022. “Introduction – Public Health Ontario (PHO) is actively monitoring, reviewing and assessing relevant information related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This rapid review concentrates on results from systematic reviews and meta-analyses, updating the evidence on the prevalence of …

Subjects: Health Care, Knowledge Management, Medicine

National Intelligence Report Shows FBI Warrantlessly Searched Americans’ Data Millions Of Times Last Year

Tech Dirt: “Eight years ago, prompted by the Snowden revelations (and Senator Ron Wyden’s persistent questions), then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper finally provided the public with some insight into the FBI’s warrantless searches of Americans’ data collected (supposedly inadvertently) by the NSA. The report delivered to Sen. Wyden was surprisingly redaction-free. But that didn’t mean …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

SWC’s 2022 Digital Hate Report Exposes Widespread Russian Disinformation

Grades threats from social media and gaming platforms – “On April 28th, the Simon Wiesenthal Center released its 2022 annual Digital Terrorism and Hate Report at a press conference at New York City Hall hosted by New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and seven other influential Council leaders who represent the Big Apple’s diverse …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media

The Pandemic Gave Scientists a New Way to Spy on Emissions

Wired – “Researchers have struggled to quantify in real time how much carbon dioxide humans spout. Lockdowns presented a unique opportunity to get a clearer picture…But now the Covid-19 pandemic has, oddly enough, helped give scientists a better top-down tool for estimating minute changes in fossil fuel emissions. A team of researchers used the UK’s …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

Facebook Papers – Here’s What They Say About the Ranking Algorithms That Control Your News Feed

This piece is part of Gizmodo’s ongoing effort to make the Facebook Papers available to the public. See the full directory of documents here. “…Today, as part of a rolling effort to make the Facebook Papers available publicly, Gizmodo is releasing a second batch of documents—37 files in all. In our first drop, we shared …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

Neutral bots probe political bias on social media

Chen, W., Pacheco, D., Yang, KC. et al. Neutral bots probe political bias on social media. Nat Commun 12, 5580 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25738-6 [Open Access] “Social media platforms attempting to curb abuse and misinformation have been accused of political bias. We deploy neutral social bots who start following different news sources on Twitter, and track them …

Subjects: Congress, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 30, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 30, 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 complex …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Privacy, Search Engines

Citizens’ Images of Potential War Crimes in Ukraine Flood the Internet, but Might Not Hold Up in Court

WSJ – Open-source data offers a trove of possible evidence, but it is untested at the International Criminal Court – “Each morning as he sips his coffee, Giancarlo Fiorella opens Telegram, a social-media app popular in Ukraine, and starts scanning for videos of potential war crimes—attacks on schools, or use of cluster munitions. When he …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media