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San Francisco Chronicle: “In the first few weeks of the pandemic, the familiar options of everyday life narrowed to almost nothing. The Bay Area largely hunkered down and stayed home while the coronavirus numbers climbed. Decisions had been made for us: School and work were closed, travel and socializing designated unsafe by health officials. The …
MakeUseOf: “Torrent” is the byword for downloading pirate content. Despite the fact you can legally download all manner of large files using a torrent, the link to illegal content is very strong. You’ve probably downloaded something via a torrent at some point. Many internet users have. But do you know what a torrent is? Like, …
MIT Technology Review: “If America’s politicians really care about the damage online platforms can do, they should look at online conspiracy theories—and how they’re made worse by the design of social media sites…Platforms have too much power to sway public opinion and influence behavior—and that directly affects our capacity to engage in deliberative debate and …
“There’s a lot that we know or are learning about the coronavirus, but two seemingly basic questions are still difficult to answer: How many people have been infected with the virus and how many have been killed by it? That’s where Jacqueline Dupree comes in. Dupree, a technologist on The Post’s News Logistics team, has …
Inside Higher Education: “Since the novel coronavirus struck, scientific research has been shared, and built upon, at an unprecedented pace. An open and deeply collaborative academic enterprise has emerged, with scientists from around the world sharing data and working together to map the SARS-CoV-2 genome and develop the first vaccines. During normal times — when …
Wired: “When pundits and researchers tried to guess what sort of manipulation campaigns might threaten the 2018 and 2020 elections, misleading AI-generated videos often topped the list. Though the tech was still emerging, its potential for abuse was so alarming that tech companies and academic labs prioritized working on, and funding, methods of detection. Social …
Neowin: “Tech giants have been constantly providing information from health authorities regarding ways to help curb the spread of COVID-19 as well as reminders to practice the minimum health standards amid the pandemic. Google, for example, has already been working with local publishers to highlight COVID-19 updates in its News app and Google Maps added …
Wired – A disinfo operation broke into the content management systems of Eastern European media outlets in a campaign to spread misinformation about NATO. “Over the past few years, online disinformation has taken evolutionary leaps forward, with the Internet Research Agency pumping out artificial outrage on social media and hackers leaking documents—both real and fabricated—to …
Internet Archive responds to publishers’ lawsuit: “Yesterday, the Internet Archive filed our response to the lawsuit brought by four commercial publishers to end the practice of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL), the digital equivalent of traditional library lending. CDL is a respectful and secure way to bring the breadth of our library collections to digital learners. …
“Those who rely on social media for news are less likely to get the facts right about the coronavirus and politics and more likely to hear some unproven claims. The rise of social media has changed the information landscape in myriad ways, including the manner in which many Americans keep up with current events. In …
Macworld: “Just because you’re working from home now doesn’t mean you’re off the hook when it comes to meetings. And just because you don’t have a spare webcam around doesn’t mean you need to peel back the tape that’s covering your laptop’s camera—as long as you have an iPhone or an iPad, you can easily …
The Atlantic – Xi Jinping is using artificial intelligence to enhance his government’s totalitarian control—and he’s exporting this technology to regimes around the globe. “…Xi’s pronouncements on AI have a sinister edge. Artificial intelligence has applications in nearly every human domain, from the instant translation of spoken language to early viral-outbreak detection. But Xi also …
