Nautilus: “…Evolutionary progress can be propelled both by the competitive struggle to adapt to an environment, and by the relaxation of selective forces. When natural selection on an organism is relaxed, the creative powers of mutation can be unshackled and evolution accelerated. The relief of an easier life can inspire new biological forms just as… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: August 2019
New laws give victims more time to report rape or sexual assault – even Jeffrey Epstein’s
Via LLRX– New laws give victims more time to report rape or sexual assault – even Jeffrey Epstein’s – Jane E. Palmer is a scholar of gender-based violence currently studying the legal needs of survivors of sexual assault. In this article Palmer examines why someone might wait decades to report a sexual assault, why sexual offenders… Continue Reading
Trump Allies Target Journalists Over Coverage Deemed Hostile to White House Image
The New York Times – “A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists. It is the latest step in a long-running effort by Mr. Trump and his… Continue Reading
NYT – I Visited 47 Sites. Hundreds of Trackers Followed Me.
Farhad Manjoo and Nadieh Bremer: “Earlier this year, an editor working on The Times’s Privacy Project asked me whether I’d be interested in having all my digital activity tracked, examined in meticulous detail and then published — you know, for journalism. “Hahaha,” I said, and then I think I made an “at least buy me… Continue Reading
The Emoluments Clauses of the US Constitution – updated CRS report
CRS Report updated August 23, 2019 – The Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution – “Recent litigation involving President Trump has raised a number of legal issues concerning formerly obscure constitutional provisions that prohibit the acceptance or receipt of “emoluments” in certain circumstances. This In Focus provides an overview of these constitutional provisions, highlighting several… Continue Reading
The Internet’s Invisible Cleanup Crew
Jacobin – Review of Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media, by Sarah T. Roberts (Yale University Press, 2019). “Commercial content moderation, or CCM, describes one of the dirtier jobs on the corporate internet: reviewing and removing violent, racist, and disturbing content posted to social media sites like Facebook and YouTube… Continue Reading
Deconstructing Google’s excuses on tracking protection
Freedom to Tinker By Jonathan Mayer and Arvind Narayanan – “Blocking cookies is bad for privacy. That’s the new disingenuous argument from Google, trying to justify why Chrome is so far behind Safari and Firefox in offering privacy protections. As researchers who have spent over a decade studying web tracking and online advertising, we want… Continue Reading
The Big Business of Scavenging in Postindustrial America
The New York Times Magazine – The U.S. produces more garbage than any other nation in the world per capita. Here’s how scrappers are turning that waste into a $32 billion business. “The recycling of scrap metal is a $32 billion business in the United States, according to IBISWorld. As virgin materials become increasingly difficult… Continue Reading
Crisis Text Line Text from anywhere in the USA to text with a trained Crisis Counselor.
Crisis Text Line – Text from anywhere in the USA to text with a trained Crisis Counselor. “Every texter is connected with a Crisis Counselor, a real-life human being trained to bring texters from a hot moment to a cool calm through active listening and collaborative problem solving. All of Crisis Text Line’s Crisis Counselors are… Continue Reading
As Search Engines Increasingly Turn To AI They Are Harming Search
Forbes – “For more than half a century our digital search engines have relied upon the humble keyword. Yet over the past few years, search engines of all kinds have increasingly turned to deep learning-powered categorization and recommendation algorithms to augment and slowly replace the traditional keyword search. Behavioral and interest-based personalization has further eroded… Continue Reading
Social Security Terms in Plain Language
“Some of the terms and acronyms (an abbreviation of the first letters of words in a phrase) people use when they talk about Social Security can be a little confusing. We’re here to help you understand all you need to know. Social Security employees strive to explain benefits using easy-to-understand, plain language. In fact, The… Continue Reading
How to Turn an iPhone Into a Work-Only Tool
The New York Times – To prevent distractions, Conor Dougherty, an economics writer, dumped social media and anything fun — even his browser — from his smartphone. “…I cover California and the economy and have to read news for work, so the mental bargain I’ve made with myself is that I can use my phone… Continue Reading
