404 Media: “Amazon’s recent decision to stop allowing people to download copies of their Kindle e-books to a computer has vindicated some of my longstanding beliefs about digital media. Specifically, that it doesn’t exist and you don’t own it unless you can copy and access it without being connected to the internet. The recent move… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2025
The Biodiversity Collections Crisis
The Biodiversity Collections Crisis – “You might be familiar with the concept of the present “biodiversity crisis“. There is an increasing consensus in the ecological research community that the current loss of species this planet is experiencing is not sustainable, in the sense that the loss of some species may precipitate the loss of more, in… Continue Reading
89% of enterprise AI usage is invisible to the organization
Help Net Security: “71% of connections to GenAI tools are done using personal non-corporate accounts. Among logins using corporate accounts, 58% of connections are done without Single-Sign On (SSO). These interactions bypass organizational identity and access management (IAM) systems, leaving security teams blind to how GenAI tools are used and what data is being shared.… Continue Reading
New Articles and Columns – LLRX February 2025 Issue
Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired, Colleges Erase Programs and Research – “Colleges have been a conservative target for years. Under President Trump, it’s total warfare on all aspects of higher education — from student life to hiring to athletics.” This March 2, 2025 update by Sabrina I. Pacifici chronicles Trump’s… Continue Reading
Global AI Regulation Tracker
techie_ray: “An interactive world map that tracks AI law, regulatory and policy developments around the world. Click on a region (or use the search bar) to view its profile. Other features are also available to support your research of AI regulation (including an AI governance library, country comparison tool, live AI newsfeed and export report… Continue Reading
Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries
Wired – no paywall: “Engineers and executives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing healthy taxpayer-funded salaries—sometimes from the very agencies they are cutting. Some staffers at Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing robust taxpayer-funded salaries from the federal agencies they are slashing and burning, WIRED has learned. Jeremy Lewin,… Continue Reading
DOGE eliminates critical federal employees, cancels leases on government office buildings across America
TMP Looting Watch by Josh Marshall – In case you didn’t hear the GSA today announced it’s going to sell off many if not all of the central buildings making up the headquarters of the American republic. Those buildings include FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, the buildings which are the headquarters of the DOJ, HHS,… Continue Reading
Cool Tools Omnilist
These are all the products we’ve mentioned since 2020 in Recomendo, Cool Tools, our YouTube channel, podcast, and other newsletters, including Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper and Book Freak. Please share suggestions, corrections, and other feedback to [email protected]. Continue Reading
CDC Staff Prohibited From Co-Authoring Papers With World Health Organization Personnel
HuffPo: “Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been prohibited from co-authoring publications with World Health Organization staff, dealing a blow to global research efforts and continuing the Trump administration’s aggressive attack on government-funded science. “CDC staff should not be co-authors on manuscripts/abstracts with WHO staff,” an interim guidance document dated Thursday… Continue Reading
Timeline: Politicization and Weaponization of Justice Department in Second Trump Administration
Just Security: “What follows is a timeline of actions that highlight the alarming level of politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice under the second Trump administration. Politicization includes the misuse of the Department’s powers for political purposes rather than the independent and impartial enforcement of the laws. Weaponization includes a deliberate and systematic… Continue Reading
A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying
EFF: “At EFF we spend a lot of time thinking about Street Level Surveillance technologies—the technologies used by police and other authorities to spy on you while you are going about your everyday life—such as automated license plate readers, facial recognition, surveillance camera networks, and cell-site simulators (CSS). Rayhunter is a new open source tool… Continue Reading
Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not)
TechDirt: “While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold — a playbook we’re all too familiar with. We’ve seen how technology can be wielded to consolidate power, how institutional guardrails can be circumvented through technical and… Continue Reading
