Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 22, 2019 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: September 2019
AAP Suit Seeks to Block Implementation of Audible Captions
Publishers Weekly – “The Association of American Publishers filed suit on August 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a bid to stop Audible from moving ahead with its plans to implement its Audible Captions program. Under Captions, Audible will transcribe a book’s audio in order to create… Continue Reading
Secret F.B.I. Subpoenas Scoop Up Personal Data From Scores of Companies
The New York Times – “The F.B.I. has used secret subpoenas to obtain personal data from far more companies than previously disclosed, newly released documents show. The requests, which the F.B.I. says are critical to its counterterrorism efforts, have raised privacy concerns for years but have been associated mainly with tech companies. Now, records show… Continue Reading
Edward Snowden’s First Adventures in Cyberspace – An excerpt
The Nation – Exclusive: Edward Snowden’s First Adventures in Cyberspace An excerpt from the whistleblower’s new memoir. Excerpted from Permanent Record, by Edward Snowden, published September 17, 2019, by Henry Holt and Company. Copyright © 2019 by Edward Snowden. All rights reserved. “…Nowadays, connectivity is just presumed. smartphones, laptops, desktops, everything’s connected, always. Connected to… Continue Reading
Da Vinci’s Mechanical Lion Recreated
History Mystery Stream: “A mechanical lion made by Leonardo da Vinci which once paid dazzling homage to the King of France has been recreated 500 years after the master’s death. The wood, metal and rope lion is 6’7″ high and 9’10” long is now on display at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris. The lion… Continue Reading
How to Unlock Your Phone on Any Major Carrier
Consumer Reports – [Note – this is FYI only, not a recommendation or advice] – Here’s what you need to do to make a clean break with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon – “If you’re looking to save money, shopping for a new cell-phone plan is a great way to do it. As I discovered… Continue Reading
Steal This Book? There’s a Price
The New York Times – I have about 400 offers to buy illegal copies of my own work. Something is very wrong – “Most of them, it turns out, are phishing scams, asking gullible users to hand over credit card information before proceeding to their ostensibly free copy. The real theft happens elsewhere, though, according to… Continue Reading
A facial recognition ban is coming to the US, says an AI policy advisor
MIT Technology Review: “San Francisco and Oakland, California, and Somerville, Massachusetts, have outlawed certain uses of facial recognition technology, with Portland, Oregon, potentially soon to follow. That’s just the beginning, according to Mutale Nkonde, a Harvard fellow and AI policy advisor. That trend will soon spread to states, and there will eventually be a federal ban… Continue Reading
Why Americans Don’t Fully Trust Many Who Hold Positions of Power and Responsibility
Members of Congress and technology leaders are rated lower in empathy, transparency and ethics – “Public gives higher scores to military leaders, public school principals and police officers…” “People invest their trust in institutions and those who have power for a variety of reasons. Researchers have found that people’s confidence in others and organizations can… Continue Reading
Be Prepared: Find the ER You Want to Go to Before an Emergency Happens
ProPublica: “To be prepared in the event of an emergency, you can use our newly updated ER Inspector (formerly called ER Wait Watcher) to help you evaluate the emergency rooms near you. Using data from the federal government, our interactive database lets you compare ERs on both efficiency measures, including how long patients typically spend… Continue Reading
3 Billion North American Birds Have Vanished: ‘It’s Just Staggering’
The New York Times – “The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29 percent since 1970, scientists reported on Thursday. There are 2.9 billion fewer birds taking wing now than there were 50 years ago. The analysis, published in the journal Science, [thank you Barclay] is the most exhaustive… Continue Reading
Facebook plans launch of its own “Supreme Court” for handling takedown appeals
ars technica – Surely this initiative will create meaningful change…”Facebook, which has managed to transcend geographic borders to draw in a population equal to roughly a third of all human life on Earth, has made its final charter for a “Supreme Court” of Facebook public. The company pledges to launch this initiative by November of… Continue Reading
