Author archives

What Is Google Socratic and How Does It Work?

MakeUseOf: “Need detailed or specialized information? Google Socratic is the scholar’s Google, and here’s how it works…Google Socratic helps connect students to helpful educational resources from all over the web through a mobile phone app for free. Using technology like text-to-speech and photo analysis, Socratic uses artificial intelligence to enhance its search capabilities to help …

Subjects: Education, Internet, Search Engines

Exponential, book review: Technology acceleration and its impact on society

ZDNet: “An “exponential gap” is opening up between our understanding of our world, which updates slowly, and new technologies, which change faster than we can cope with, argues Azeem Azhar… The exponential growth of computer power led the inventor Ray Kurzweil to propose the Law of Accelerating Returns and predict that by 2045 machine intelligence will pass that of …

Subjects: Health Care, Knowledge Management, Recommended Books

You’ve decided to quit Facebook. Here’s how to migrate your online life elsewhere

Washington Post: ‘Every time there’s a Facebook scandal, you may have thought about quitting the social network, and this time for real. But you run into the same problem every time: Where exactly should you go? After a rough month of revelations about Facebook’s business practices, culminating with a whistleblower testifying in front of lawmakers …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

6 Tips to Help You Start the Best Virtual Book Club

MakeUseOf: “If you want to gather like-minded folk together to discuss books virtually, here’s how to get started with creating an excellent virtual book club…Book clubs have been around for a long time, creating meaningful opportunities for bibliophiles to come together to exchange insights and make lasting connections. However, it’s not always convenient to travel …

Subjects: Knowledge Management, Libraries

If 100 companies are responsible for 70% of emissions, what can you do?

Fast Company: “Corporations and governments have known about the risk of climate change for about half a century. It first appeared on Exxon’s radar in 1981. Two years prior, a group of scientists had created the Charney Report, which assessed the effects of rising amounts of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere (and correctly predicted how …

Subjects: Climate Change, Congress, Energy, Environmental Law, Legal Research

NOAA upgrades climate website amid growing demand for climate information

“NOAA’s Climate Program Office today launched a newly redesigned version of Climate.gov, NOAA’s award-winning, flagship website that provides the public with clear, timely, and science-based information about climate. The redesign expands the site’s already significant capacity to connect Americans with the resources they need to understand and plan for climate-related risks. Americans are facing increasingly …

Subjects: Climate Change, E-Government, Education, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research

65 Things You (Probably) Shouldn’t Pay For

Via the Washington Post article – Consumers’ Checkbook – 65 Things You (Probably) Shouldn’t Pay For – “Let’s face it: We often waste money on stuff we don’t really need. Five-dollar lattes. Top-of-the-line appliances and granite countertops to plate up takeout and microwave frozen meals from Trader Joe’s. Golfing gear. Home theaters. Designer clothes, shoes, and …

Subjects: Economy, Energy, Health Care, Internet, Medicine, Transportation

Climate and energy choices this decade will influence how high sea levels rise for hundreds of years

Climate Central: Which future will we choose? Search VisualsView risk maps for 180 cities around the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, South America). Media Type – Photorealistic Image, Flyover Video, Google Earth Image, Animated GIF. Present-day sea level 1.1°C, 1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C, 4°C. View risk maps| See the research

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Legal Research, Search Engines

The First Amendment Does Not Protect Replicants

Lessig, Lawrence, The First Amendment Does Not Protect Replicants (September 10, 2021). Social Media and Democracy (Lee Bollinger & Geoffrey Stone, eds., Oxford 2022), Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3922565 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3922565 “As the semantic capability of computer systems increases, the law should resolve clearly whether the First Amendment protects machine speech. This essay argues it …

Subjects: AI, Free Speech, Legal Research