Vox: “New college admissions data for the first group of admitted students since the US Supreme Court sharply limited affirmative action last year suggests that the decision has had a negative impact on Black enrollment at some universities. While some colleges have seen major fluctuations in the enrollment of students of color in the class… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: September 2024
Google’s new tool lets large language models fact-check their responses
MIT Technology Review: “As long as chatbots have been around, they have made things up. Such “hallucinations” are an inherent part of how AI models work. However, they’re a big problem for companies betting big on AI, like Google, because they make the responses it generates unreliable. Google is releasing a tool today to address… Continue Reading
Where Are the Trees?
JSOR Daily: “Trees are more than just a pretty sight in urban environments. Nestled amidst sidewalks, pavement, and concrete, the sight of an oak or maple tree has always been a refreshing touch of home for me in a bustling city. Beyond their aesthetic value, trees provide numerous tangible benefits to the holistic environmental health… Continue Reading
Klobuchar and Warren want generative AI investigated before it kills journalism
“U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN) sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter and Federal Trade Commission… Continue Reading
What to Do When Your Printer Won’t Print: Try These 10 Troubleshooting Tips
PC Mag: “Technology is weird sometimes. I can control my thermostat with my voice, but sometimes my printer can feel just as confusing and unreliable as they were 15 years ago. If your printer is throwing you an error (or just ignoring your demands entirely), there can be any number of reasons. Unfortunately, just figuring out the… Continue Reading
U.S. Landslide Inventory and Susceptibility Map
“Landslides are a damaging, disruptive, and potentially deadly geologic hazard. While landslides occur in every U.S. State, their impacts are often a localized and episodic phenomenon, plus landslide types and triggering mechanisms vary widely across the country. Looking at past incidents help us to understand and prepare for landslides, but information about historic landslide events… Continue Reading
WayBack Machine – Access Archived Webpages Directly Through Google Search
Internet Archive Blogs: “In a significant step forward for digital preservation, Google Search is now making it easier than ever to access the past. Starting today, users everywhere can view archived versions of webpages directly through Google Search, with a simple link to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. How It Works To access this new… Continue Reading
5 Free Reverse Phone Lookup Sites to Find Out Who Called You
MakeUseOf: “Calls from unknown numbers are frustrating, especially when they don’t seem to stop. Using a reverse phone number lookup tool, you can take power back from anonymous callers. Here are some of the best free tools you can use to identify these callers.” Continue Reading
Traffic safety for all road users
Traffic safety for all road users: A paired comparison study of small & mid-sized U.S. cities with high/low bicycling rates – Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research Volume 2, December 2024, 10001. “Cities with high levels of bicycling tend to be some of the safest cities for all road users. This paper investigates why this… Continue Reading
Selling a Mirage – The world is drowning in plastic
ProPublica: “Last year, I became obsessed with a plastic cup. It was a small container that held diced fruit, the type thrown into lunch boxes. And it was the first product I’d seen born of what’s being touted as a cure for a crisis. Plastic doesn’t break down in nature. If you turned all of… Continue Reading
FactChecking the Harris-Trump Debate
FactCheck.org: “In their first debate, and first meeting, the presidential candidates attacked each other on the economy, taxes, immigration and abortion. By Eugene Kiely, Robert Farley, D’Angelo Gore, Lori Robertson, Jessica McDonald, Saranac Hale Spencer, Alan Jaffe, Kate Yandell, Ben Cohen, Logan Chapman, Sarah Usandivaras and Ian Fox. Posted on September 11, 2024. The highly… Continue Reading
Why the gun from a Georgia school shooting could be used to kill again
Washington Post: “…According to Senate Bill 350, passed in 2012 by the GOP-controlled General Assembly, the gun cannot be destroyed. Cities and counties must auction off the guns confiscated by local law enforcement during criminal investigations within six months. Municipalities cannot go through the motions, holding the auctions but rejecting all bids. Unlike its victims,… Continue Reading
