Open Culture: “For those looking to boost their skills or explore new fields without breaking the bank, Class Central has done the heavy lifting. Known as a search engine for online courses, Class Central has compiled what might be the largest collection of free online certificates and badges available anywhere. From tech giants like Google… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking
Gerlich, M. AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking. Societies 2025, 15, 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006. Published: 3 January 2025. “The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has transformed numerous aspects of daily life, yet its impact on critical thinking remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between AI tool… Continue Reading
What Jack Smith Didn’t Say about the January 6 Investigation
Follow up to Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case – critical facts and extensive commentary documentation via Emptywheel – “As part of Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein’s summary of the Jack Smith report, they argued that “Smith [came] to Garland’s defense regarding his conduct of the January 6 investigation… Continue Reading
LinkedIn wants you to apply for fewer jobs
engadget: “If you know anyone in the job market right now, then you’ve probably heard stories about just how tough it can be to even land an interview. Part of the problem, according to LinkedIn, is that too many people are applying for jobs they aren’t actually qualified for, which makes it harder for good… Continue Reading
US sales of physical books rose in 2024 after three years of decline
“Industry figures showed that 782.7 million print books were sold last year, up 1% on 2023 although still nearly 40 million down from the peak of 2021. Growth was driven by fiction, especially fantasy, while adult nonfiction, the biggest category, fell slightly. Print editions have been challenged by both ebooks and audiobooks: The latter are… Continue Reading
Big 3 Pharmacy Benefit Manager charging enormous markups on dozens of lifesaving drugs
“The Federal Trade Commission today published a second interim staff report on the prescription drug middleman industry, which focuses on pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) influence over specialty generic drugs, including significant price markups by PBMs for cancer, HIV, and a variety of other critical drugs. Staff’s latest report found that the ‘Big 3 PBMs’—Caremark Rx,… Continue Reading
New NOAA dataset to help improve flood mitigation tools, flood-risk assessment
“The first modeled, historical water level and wave dataset for the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf coasts was released today by NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS). This comprehensive dataset — known as Coastal Ocean Reanalysis (CORA) — advances NOAA’s ability to better serve the nation’s coastal communities and lays the foundation for future NOAA coastal flooding… Continue Reading
How to Avoid the Top Internet Scams
Wrong Numbers, Fake Invoices, and Catfishing: If you’re online, you’re at risk. “We spoke to three security experts about what you can do to protect yourself…In a video call, Bogdan Botezatu, Bitdefender’s director of threat research, warned that despite the numerous ways scammers go after their targets, spam email remains the most prevalent. Using telemetry… Continue Reading
Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to quietly track driving behavior
Ars Technica: “Texas has sued insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like GasBuddy, Routely, and Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies. Allstate and Arity, a “mobility data and analytics” firm founded by Allstate in 2016, collected “trillions of miles worth… Continue Reading
How a major bank cheated its customers out of $2 billion
Popular Information: “An explosive new lawsuit filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) alleges that Capital One bank cheated its customers out of $2 billion. According to the lawsuit, Capital One deceived and abused its depositors, baiting them with promises of high interest rates before switching the terms and paying little interest. The CFPB… Continue Reading
‘TrueFood’ Research Database Offers Rankings for 50,000 Processed Foods
“The database, developed by researchers at Mass General Brigham and made available to the public, sheds light on the availability of processed foods at different grocery stores, highlighting the need for more understanding and regulation of the foods offered. A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham provides information to empower consumers and policymakers… Continue Reading
How to Browse All Digitized Titles in Chronicling America
“Chronicling America is in the process of transitioning from the legacy interface to a new interface and back-end search infrastructure. Read more about it. Through its enhanced search interface, the new Chronicling America offers more options to search the collection, as well as the ability to browse newspapers through the “All Digitized Titles” list and a new… Continue Reading
