American Libraries – Library patrons with disabilities face compounded challenges. “…Even in non-pandemic times, many NLS (National Library Service) users experience isolation because of age, ability, and health status. “We hear all the time that our materials are lifelines for our patrons,” Fernekes says. “We take that very seriously.” That’s why, she says, as soon… Continue Reading
Tech Republic – “Confusing websites and wait times of up to 60,000 minutes sabotage user confidence and slow down progress toward herd immunity. The COVID-19 vaccine process is literally all over the map. New York State has an “Am I eligible?” app. California has a “My Turn” website. Texas has a collection of 79 vaccine… Continue Reading
Wasserman, Howard, Zombie Laws (February 2, 2021). Florida International University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 21-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3778122 “Zombie laws” are the statutory remainder from constitutional litigation. Neither a judicial declaration of constitutional invalidity nor an injunction prohibiting enforcement removes or erases a challenged law from the books. The court stops the defendant… Continue Reading
Barrett, Lindsey and Liccardi, Ilaria, Accidental Wiretaps: The Implications of False Positives By Always-Listening Devices For Privacy Law & Policy (February 8, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3781867 “Always-listening devices like smart speakers, smartphones, and other voice-activated technologies create enough privacy problems when working correctly. But these devices can also misinterpret what they hear, and thus… Continue Reading
FactChec.org – “The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the third COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. Here, we give a rundown of basic facts about the vaccine and an overview of how it works. More than two months after its last COVID-19 vaccine authorization, the FDA authorized for emergency use… Continue Reading
CNET – “…Best practices to keep annoying robocalls at bay – According to the FCC, there are some easy steps you can take to help reduce robocalls: Don’t answer calls from blocked or unknown numbers. Don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize. Don’t assume an incoming call is really from a local number just… Continue Reading
“A new report from the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession called “Men in the Mix: How to Engage Men on Issues Related to Gender in the Legal Profession,” looks at how male colleagues can become allies in the ongoing journey to reach gender equity. The report is based on research gathered from focus… Continue Reading
MakeTechEasier: “For the past several years, online privacy has been a prominent theme. Google, in particular, dominates almost all aspects of the Internet, which considering its business model, isn’t compatible with user privacy. As such, many are looking for Google alternatives, especially when it comes to search engines. In this post, we look at some… Continue Reading
Gizmodo: “It’s hard to feel connected to someone who’s gone through a static photo. So a company called MyHeritage who provides automatic AI-powered photo enhancements is now offering a new service that can animate people in old photos creating a short video that looks like it was recorded while they posed and prepped for the… Continue Reading
Health Analytics – “A team from Johns Hopkins has created a data dashboard that shows how states are prioritizing people with disabilities in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The tool can also help people with disabilities determine when they’re eligible for shots, and provide policymakers with data to improve the system. Created by researchers, students, and… Continue Reading
The New York Times: “It has only 500 subscribers. And yet Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, a 15-year-old quarterly run by a three-person staff out of a small office blocks from the White House, may be one of the most influential publications of the post-Trump era. Six of President Biden’s 25 Cabinet-level officials and appointees,… Continue Reading
The New York Times -“The C.D.C. is urging communities to reopen schools as quickly as possible, but parents and teachers have raised questions about the quality of ventilation available in public school classrooms to protect against the coronavirus.We worked with a leading engineering firm and experts specializing in buildings systems to better understand the simple… Continue Reading