ars technica: “Apple Maps has been slowly expanding regional coverage for its Google Street View-like Look Around feature, and now MacRumors forum members have spotted rollouts for the feature in the US cities of Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, DC. Look Around was added as a feature in iOS 13 last September, but it launched with coverage only in or near San Francisco. Like Google Street View, the feature allows users to zoom in to street-level photography of most streets in an urban area. Apple displays Yelp listings and other data on real-world buildings and monuments in the viewport when Look Around is displayed in full screen. Generally, we have observed that the resolution and quality of the photography is better than what we’ve usually seen in Google’s version, and Apple applies some slick animations and parallax effects to make the view more immersive and natural-looking…”
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Monthly Archives: February 2020
Firefox enables network privacy feature for users in US
CNET – “Mozilla has begun enabling a Firefox privacy feature for everyone in the US that should make it harder for ISPs or others to track you online. The technology, called DNS over HTTPS — DOH for short — protects a crucial internet addressing technology with encryption. Testing has been underway for months, but on… Continue Reading
Pedestrian traffic deaths increased by more than 50 percent since 2009
“GHSA’s annual spotlight report, “Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2019 Preliminary Data,” offers a first look at state and national trends in 2019 pedestrian deaths. The report projects 6,590 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads in 2019, the highest number in more than 30 years. GHSA’s projection represents a 5% increase from 2018 in the number of pedestrian fatalities. The report… Continue Reading
Use of facial recognition app is ubiquitous in all sectors
BuzzFeedNews: “Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, And The NBA – A BuzzFeed News review of Clearview AI documents has revealed the company is working with more than 2,200 law enforcement agencies, companies, and individuals around the world.” The United States’ main immigration enforcement agency, the Department… Continue Reading
Cartographers Have Been Hiding Covert Illustrations Inside of Switzerland’s Official Maps
For Decades, Cartographers Have Been Hiding Covert Illustrations Inside of Switzerland’s Official Maps – They’ve eluded one of the most rigorous map-making institutions in the world to do so: “The first three dimensions—length, height, and depth—are included on all topographical maps. The “fourth dimension,” or time, is also available on the website of the Swiss Federal Office… Continue Reading
Printing’s Not Dead The $35 Billion Fight Over Ink Cartridges
Bloomberg – America’s onetime innovation icons are wrestling over their biggest remaining piles of money: “The HP 63 Tri-color ink cartridge retails for $28.99 at Staples. Stuffed with foam sponges drenched in a fraction of an ounce of cyan, magenta, and yellow dyes, this bestseller, model No. F6U61AN#140, can spray 36,000 drops per second in… Continue Reading
When AI Can’t Replace a Worker It Watches Them Instead
Wired – Whether software that digitizes manual labor makes workers frowny or smiley will come down to how employers choose to use it….”Many jobs in manufacturing require dexterity and resourcefulness, for example, in ways that robots and software still can’t match. But advances in AI and sensors are providing new ways to digitize manual labor.… Continue Reading
New database aims to expose companies that make employees arbitrate sexual harassment claims
Washington Post – “Using the same spreadsheet-style activism she did with #GrabYourWallet, Shannon Coulter emailed some 500 companies, asking detailed questions about their forced arbitration policies for sexual harassment, which require employees to resolve complaints out of court. She and her partners, social impact investor Rachel Robasciotti and principal Iris Kuo, then published their answers… Continue Reading
Brave Browser Integrates Wayback Machine to View Deleted Web Pages
Bleeping Computer – “Brave Browser has now integrated the Wayback Machine to display web pages that have been removed from a web site or not available due to a web site issue. The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the web that is operated by the nonprofit organization Archive.org. Using the Wayback Machine you… Continue Reading
New Online Resource: War Powers and Presidential Practice
Just Security – “Today we are excited to announce the release of the War Powers Resolution Reporting Project, a product of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. (Bridgeman is the project’s lead author and researcher; Goldbrenner is the executive director of the Reiss Center.) Intended for use by policymakers,… Continue Reading
Overview of U.S. Domestic Response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
EveryCRSReport.com – Overview of U.S. Domestic Response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus – (2019-nCoV) February 10, 2020 R46219 – “This report discusses selected actions taken by the federal government to quell the introduction and spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States. 2019-nCoV is causing the third serious outbreak of novel coronavirus in… Continue Reading
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): A Legal Overview
EveryCRSReport.com: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): A Legal Overview, February 24, 2020 – “Originally enacted in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) establishes a three-part system that requires federal agencies to disclose a large swath of government information to the public. First, FOIA directs agencies to publish substantive and procedural rules, along with certain… Continue Reading
