Category «Transportation»

Trump Gutted Key Aviation Safety Committee Before D.C. Plane Crash

The New Republic: “Last week, just days after his inauguration, Donald Trump eliminated the membership of a key committee that handles aviation security. And on Wednesday night,  a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter in the Washington, D.C., area.  On Tuesday, January 22, the Aviation Security Advisory Committee’s members received a memo from the …

Subjects: Government Documents, Legal Research, Transportation

Trump Executive Order Tracker

“The Trump Administration’s executive orders cut across dozens of industries. This searchable tool breaks down the orders and their impact. Akin will update the Tracker as orders are published and provide in-depth analysis of specific orders. Visit Akin’s Trump Executive Order Overview to view a summary. Use the menu below to filter by topic. Subscribe …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research, Search Engines, Transportation

Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard, guts key aviation safety advisory committee

AP News: “President Donald Trump moved quickly to remake the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday, firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard before their terms are up and eliminated all the members of a key aviation security advisory group.Trump’s immigration policy changes drew the most attention at DHS, but he is …

Subjects: Congress, Transportation

It’s pretty easy to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, actually

Pluralistic: “If Elon Musk wants to cut $2t from the US federal budget, there’s a pretty straightforward way to get there – just eliminate all the beltway bandits who overcharge Uncle Sucker for everything from pharmaceuticals to roadworks to (of course) rockets, and then make the rich pay their taxes. There is a ton of …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Securities Law, Transportation

A real-time map of trains in North America

Trains.FYI is a real-time map of passenger trains in North America. Started out of frustration with constant delays from freight priority in Canada, trains.fyi has grown into the leading real-time train tracking website. Real-Time Train Statistics – These statistics are updated in real-time based on current train data. Select a city to view real-time train …

Subjects: Internet, Transportation

Trump Orders Federal D.E.I Efforts to Shut Down by Wednesday Night

The New York Times [unpaywalled]: The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered that officials overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across federal agencies be placed on leave and to take steps to close their offices by Wednesday evening. In a memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the heads of departments and agencies were ordered to …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research, Transportation

The Powerful AI Tool That Cops (or Stalkers) Can Use to Geolocate Photos in Seconds

404 Media: “A powerful AI tool can predict with high accuracy the location of photos based on features inside the image itself—such as vegetation, architecture, and the distance between buildings—in seconds, with the company now marketing the tool to law enforcement officers and government agencies. Called GeoSpy, made by a firm called Graylark Technologies out …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Transportation

Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to quietly track driving behavior

Ars Technica: “Texas has sued insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like GasBuddy, Routely, and Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies. Allstate and Arity, a “mobility data and analytics” firm founded by Allstate in 2016, collected “trillions of miles worth …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy, Transportation

California wildfires map

The Los Angeles Times has this amazing interactive map, based on real-time open data provided by CalFire and the Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination. See also Analysing satellite imagery of the Jan 2025 Southern California wildfires: “3.9 micron data from the GOES-16 East and GOES-18 West satellites on the January 2025 Southern California fires. We download the …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Housing, Transportation

Inside the Black Box of Predictive Travel Surveillance

Wired – “Behind the scenes, companies and governments are feeding a trove of data about international travelers into opaque AI tools that aim to predict who’s safe—and who’s a threat… In Europe, at least four technology companies—Idemia, SITA, Travizory, and WCC—offer governments around the world software that uses algorithms on traveler data to profile passengers. …

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

NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter

This tool converts letters and numbers into the NATO phonetic alphabet, which is used to clearly communicate spelling over radio, phone, or in any situation where clarity is crucial. For example, “BAT” becomes “Bravo Alpha Tango”. This helps avoid confusion between similar-sounding letters like ‘B’ and ‘P’ or ‘M’ and ‘N’.  Important: This is an …

Subjects: Climate Change, Education, Transportation