Author archives

Global publisher – Google traffic dropped by a third in 2025

Press Gazzette. “Google’s search traffic to publishers declined globally by a third in the year to November, according to new Chartbeat data. In addition, referrals to more than 2,500 publisher websites from Google Discover, a feed served to users on Google’s native mobile apps and within its Android operating system, were down 21% year on …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

The Top Ten Policies Your State Can Use to Target Monopoly Harms

Institute for Local Self Reliance: “State leaders are increasingly standing up for small businesses, workers, and citizens by taking on overreaching corporate power. While some states are pursuing legislation to update their broad state-level antitrust laws, this fact sheet spotlights 10 targeted antimonopoly policies across states. For more information, check out ILSR’s resources or contact …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

10 DOJ Prosecutors Resign Over Renee Godd Murder; ICE Is Okay With Renee Good’s Killing

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office left after pressure to investigate the widow of a woman slain by an ICE officer. [no paywall] “Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned today over the Justice Department’s handling of the Renee Good shooting, bringing the total to ten after four Civil Rights Division prosecutors walked out yesterday. The …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

I turned off these Google settings to improve privacy

MakeUseOf: “I use Google for almost everything. Search, email, maps, videos, documents, even my calendar. The biggest advantage here is convenience. I don’t have to create dozens of accounts and manage them separately. But it also means I’m giving way too much data to a single company. That’s not exactly a smart thing to do …

Subjects: E-Mail, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home

“The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices. The …

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

From sea slugs to sunflowers, California Academy of Sciences described 72 new species in 2025

Mongabay  California Academy of Sciences researchers and collaborators described 72 new-to-science species in 2025, including a bird, fish, plants, sea slugs, and insects found across six continents, from ocean depths to national parks. The discoveries include the first new plant genus found in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years — a fuzzy wildflower …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

EPA to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution

The New York Times Gift Article [no paywall] – “In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show. For decades, the Environmental Protection Agency has calculated the health benefits of reducing air pollution, using the cost …

Subjects: Climate Change, Courts, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

The Looming Data Loss That Threatens Public Safety and Prosperity

EOS – Cuts to funding and staff needed to maintain trusted datasets of reference Earth system observations could limit their availability and quality, undermining hazard predictions and risk assessments. From farming and engineering to emergency management and insurance, many industries critical to daily life rely on Earth system and related socioeconomic datasets. NOAA has linked …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Transportation

I analyzed 750,000 academic citations to find out what “recent” actually means in different fields

Data is Beautiful – JoonSimJoon: “When researchers write “recent studies show…” – how recent is recent, really? I scraped 749,853 references from 19,108 papers across 200 academic fields using OpenAlex data to find out. TL;DR: Average “recent” = about 5 years Virology/Pandemic research: 2 years (half their citations are from the last 2 years!) Philosophy/History: …

Subjects: AI, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management

Trump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted

Washington Post [no paywall]: “Five years ago, President Donald Trump pressured Republican county election officials, state lawmakers and members of Congress to find him votes after he lost his reelection bid. Now, he’s seeking to change the rules before ballots are cast. Trump, openly fearful that a Congress controlled by Democrats could investigate him, They …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research