Author archives

AI Scraping Bots Are Breaking Open Libraries, Archives, and Museums

404 Media: “This is a moment where that community feels collectively under threat and isn’t sure what the process is for solving the problem.” “Popular Information AI bots that scrape the internet for training data are hammering the servers of libraries, archives, museums, and galleries, and are in some cases knocking their collections offline, according …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Digital Rights, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

65 Percent of People Taken by ICE Had No Convictions, 93 Percent No Violent Convictions

CATO Institute: “New nonpublic data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicate that the government is primarily detaining individuals with no criminal convictions of any kind. Also, among those with criminal convictions, they are overwhelmingly not the violent offenses that ICE continuously uses to justify its deportation agenda. ICE has shared this data with people …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

The crisis in American science

Open Access. The crisis in American science. Sage Journals. History of Science. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6827-2892, Volume 63, Issue 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/00732753251343655 Abstract – “The second regime of Donald J. Trump has decimated federal science and federally supported science to a greater degree than his first regime, unleashing an unprecedented crisis. The authors in this roundtable take a close …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Education, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Health Care, Knowledge Management, Microsoft

Where did billions in climate and infrastructure funding go?

Grist: “By the time President Donald Trump retook office, lawmakers had announced nearly $700 billion in funding for infrastructure- and climate-related projects under two bills passed during Joe Biden’s administration — the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law. That money was promised to all sorts of community and local projects, from clean energy …

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

Plastic bag bans and fees reduce harmful bag litter on shorelines

Science. 19 Jun 2025. Vol 388, Issue 6753. Bianca Lopez: “Plastics large and small have become a concerning source of pollution in our waters. Policies to reduce plastic bag consumption are one approach that states and nations have used to curb plastic waste. Using community-collected data from shoreline cleanups, Papp and Oremus assessed the effects …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

Which Brands Make the Best Cars?

“Every year, Consumer Reports publishes a car brand report card. We rank automakers based on their vehicles’ average Overall Score—a combination of our road-test scores, safety ratings, and predicted reliability and owner satisfaction data. This provides a definitive number to help consumers see which brands shine and which might be best avoided.  We also present …

Subjects: Economy, Transportation

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 21, 2025

Via LLRX– Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 21, 2025. Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, 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: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Say Goodbye to YouTube Ads Forever

This Gizmodo article over promises and has other issues, but it is worth the read. The referenced actions also work with ProtonVPN. I do not have YouTubePrime but am otherwise unable to access any videos while using an  AdBlocker, with no subscription access. “Without YouTube Premium, you’re doomed to watch ads every few minutes, sometimes …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Privacy

DuckDuckGo Browser’s Scam Blocker Expands to Include Protection from More Threats

The DuckDuckGo browser’s built-in Scam Blocker guards against phishing sites, malware, and other common online scams. It’s on by default, so you’re protected as soon as you open the browser. NEW: Scam Blocker now also covers sham e-commerce sites, fake cryptocurrency exchanges, “scareware” that falsely claims your device has a virus, and other sites known …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines