Author archives

Introducing Acme Weather

Acme Weather: “Our homegrown forecasts are produced using many different data sources, including numerical weather prediction models, satellite data, ground station observations, and radar data. Most of the time, our forecast will be a reliable source of information (it’s better than the one we had at Dark Sky). But, crucially, we supplement the main forecast …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Internet, Search Engines

State legislative special elections, 2026

State legislative special elections, 2026 – As of February 2026, 59 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2026 in 22 states. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year. Seven special elections resulted in a change in party control of a state legislative seat in 2025: December 9: …

Subjects: Congress, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research

US libraries face funding, maintenance challenges

GAO – PUBLIC LIBRARIES – Many Buildings Are Reported to Be in Poor Condition, with Increasing Deferred Maintenance. A Government Accountability Office report reveals that about 70% of US libraries have deferred maintenance, with 39% facing backlogs of more than $100,000. The report highlights that 43% of libraries have accessibility issues and 61% report health …

Subjects: Economy, Government Documents, Libraries

Walkman Land

“WalkmanLand pays tribute to the pocket tape devices of yesterdays: the Walkmans [still have and use mine a well as Discman – what else can one do with 300 CDs but listen to them]. These analog machines are considered one of the devices that have most influenced the behaviour of people in modern societies. We …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Search Engines

Training for New ICE Agents Is ‘Deficient’ and ‘Broken,’ Whistle-Blower Says

“Today, U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released a memorandum and previously undisclosed documents revealing new details about drastic cuts the Trump Administration is making to the training and testing of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) officers. The documents were produced to Blumenthal via …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research

Tracking The Trackers: Commercial Surveillance Occurring on U.S. Army Networks

ARMY CYBER INSTITUTE TECHNICAL REPORT – Tracking The Trackers: Commercial Surveillance Occurring on U.S. Army Networks – May 4, 2025. “Despite current security implementations, Internet activity on DoD networks is susceptible to web trackers and commercial data collection, which have the potential to expose information about service members and unit operations. This report documents the …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

AI-Powered Epstein Files Research Databases and Data Explorers

AI-Powered Epstein Files Research Database – Search the complete DOJ production: ~1.4 million documents, ~2.8 million pages across 12 datasets — including transcribed audio & video, spreadsheets, and photographs, fully indexed. See also Epsteinalysis.com See also EPSTEIN Files Explorer – Full-Text Search. Search across 300,271 documents by content, names, dates, or Bates numbers See also …

Subjects: Congress, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 21, 2026

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 21, 2026 – 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, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

I switched everything to local AI and stopped sending my documents to the cloud

MakeUseOf: “For a long time, I didn’t think twice about pasting a contract into ChatGPT, uploading a confidential report to ask for a summary, or feeding a client proposal into a cloud AI tool. Then one day I actually stopped and read a terms of service document (something I’d been lazily skimming for years) and …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

It’s Time for Teachers to Break Up with Amazon

Institute for Local Self Reliance: “Here’s why teachers should break up with Amazon’s wish lists — and where to find better alternatives.  Teachers routinely spend their own money on school supplies. With public school district budgets being slashed nationwide, over 90 percent of public K-12 teachers now pay for classroom supplies out of their own pockets, …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Education, Financial System, Internet, Libraries