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Google’s Searchbot Could Put Me Out of a Job

The Atlantic [free link]: “Google Search, like the rest of the internet, is pivoting to generative AI. The first step is Search Generative Experience, an experimental tool currently available as a public beta. Instead of sending you off to other corners of the web, more search results appear within Google. Sort of like ChatGPT, it… Continue Reading

AP investigation into ethics practices of Supreme Court justices

“An Associated Press examination of the ethics practices of the U.S. Supreme Court relied on documents obtained from more than 100 public records requests to public colleges, universities and other institutions that have hosted the justices over the past decade. Here’s a look at how the reporting was done: To conduct its review, the AP… Continue Reading

Facebook could be tracking your online Plan B or HIV test purchases

Popular Science: “Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS’ website is not as private an experience as one might think. An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed. And CVS is not the only pharmacy… Continue Reading

Massive collection of 11 million postage stamps represents every life lost in Holocaust

Forward: “A teacher’s quest to help students understand the enormity of the Holocaust has culminated in a mind-boggling exhibition of 11 million postage stamps — one for each of the Nazis’ victims, including Jews and non-Jews. The project began when teacher Charlotte Sheer read the Newbery Award-winning children’s novel Number the Stars with her fifth… Continue Reading

The Coolest Library on Earth

Hakai Magazine:  “At the University of Copenhagen, researchers store ice cores that hold the keys to Earth’s climate past and future…Copenhagen is one of several places in the world where pieces of ice cores drilled from our planet’s extremities are kept safely cold. Other large research freezers are located in the United States, Australia, France,… Continue Reading

“Shadow libraries” at heart of mounting copyright lawsuits against OpenAI

Quartz: “…Shadow libraries are online databases that provide access to millions of books and articles that are out of print, hard to obtain, and paywalled. Many of these databases, which began appearing online around 2008, originated in Russia, which has a long tradition of sharing forbidden books, according to the magazine Reason. Soon enough, these… Continue Reading

America’s first law regulating AI bias in hiring takes effect this week

Quartz: “Artificial intelligence isn’t simply changing how we do our jobs: It’s also deciding whether we get jobs at all. Companies are increasingly incorporating algorithmic tools into their hiring processes, from software that reads our resumes to AI bots that score our first interviews. Now in New York City, new legislation is being used to determine… Continue Reading

Air Pollution in World: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map

“In July 2023, real-time Air Quality information is available for than 50,000 stations in 2000 major cities from 132 countries, thanks to the huge effort from the world EPAs (Environmental Protection Agencies). There are currently more than 50,000 known air quality monitoring stations in the world. In order to keep a high level on consistency,… Continue Reading