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Category Archives: Internet

DPLA launches The Banned Book Club to ensure access to banned books

“Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched The Banned Book Club to ensure that all readers have access to the books they want to read. The Banned Book Club makes e-book versions of banned books available to readers in locations across the United States where titles have been banned. The e-books will be available to readers for free via the Palace e-reader app.

“At DPLA, our mission is to ensure access to knowledge for all and we believe in the power of technology to further that access,” said John S. Bracken, executive director of Digital Public Library of America. “Today book bans are one of the greatest threats to our freedom, and we have created The Banned Book Club to leverage the dual powers of libraries and digital technology to ensure that every American can access the books they want to read.”

Utilizing GPS-based geo-targeting, DPLA has established virtual libraries in communities across the United States where books have been banned. When a reader is within a community served by a library that has been forced to ban a book, they can visit TheBannedBookClub.info to see the exact books have been banned in their area. Then, they can download that book for free on any handheld device via the free Palace e-reader app.”

How to Delete Private Browsing History and Protect Your Privacy

MakeUseOf: “Most people use the incognito browsing mode when they want to keep their browsing history private. But did you know that incognito mode isn’t actually private? When using incognito mode in your web browser, you may think that your activities are completely anonymous and untraceable. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Your Internet… Continue Reading

TimelineJS

“Northwestern University Knight Lab’s TimelineJS is an open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines. Beginners can create a timeline using nothing more than a Google spreadsheet, like the one we used for the Timeline above. Experts can use their JSON skills to create custom installations, while keeping TimelineJS’s core functionality. Tips… Continue Reading

CDC punts on COVID 19 Public Health Data

CDC archives and ends the site Excess Deaths Associated with COVID-19 [why as the virus and deaths continue?] – and replaces it with this: “Welcome to CDC WONDER — Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research — an easy-to-use, menu-driven system that makes the information resources of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) available… Continue Reading

Twitter Ranked Dead Last on Climate Misinformation Scorecard

Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) Report: “Misinformation around climate change and disinformation fueled by the fossil fuel industry have stalled climate action for decades. Big Tech has become a complicit actor in climate denial’s resurgence—so much so that the International Governmental Panel on Climate Change publicly called out the problem in 2022. In addition, the… Continue Reading

Meet the Law Geeks Exposing Google’s Secretive Antitrust Trial

Wired – “A historic antitrust trial sees Google accused of unlawfully monopolizing search. A handful of antitrust activists are trying to make sure the world sees all the action.Google logo sign outside of a building on the Months out of law school, Yosef Weitzman already has a huge courtroom role in the biggest antitrust trial… Continue Reading

Disinformation and Civic Tech Playbook

Code for All: The misinformation management workflow Fact-checking Needs Assessment Funding Knowledge Exchange Globally distributed research partnerships Access to data Database analysis Platforms The specter of AI Acknowledgment The playbook includes: Directly applicable program ideas your organization can adopt Results of a needs assessment for civil society organizations fighting disinfo Access to an open collection… Continue Reading

New Privacy Badger Prevents Google From Mangling More of Your Links and Invading Your Privacy

EFF: “We released a new version of Privacy Badger that updates how we fight “link tracking” across a number of Google products. With this update Privacy Badger removes tracking from links in Google Docs, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Images results. Privacy Badger now also removes tracking from links added after scrolling through Google Search… Continue Reading

How commuter boredom turned audiobooks into a billion-dollar industry

Quartz: “Thomas Edison dreamed of audiobooks. When Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, he tested his new device by reciting the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” That wasn’t highbrow literature, but Edison felt that the recorded form would lend itself well to full-length books, too—and that some books, perhaps, were meant to be… Continue Reading

Update Everything: This Critical WebP Vulnerability Affects Major Browsers and Apps

MakeUseOf: “A major vulnerability, CVE-2023-4863, can give hackers remote access to your whole system. Here’s what to do. A critical vulnerability in the WebP Codec has been discovered, forcing major browsers to fast-track security updates. However, widespread use of the same WebP rendering code means countless apps are also affected, until they release security patches.… Continue Reading