Mental Floss: “You might think of your dog as the best dog of all. One medieval dog owner “actually called theirs that. No, literally—the dog’s name was Beste-of-all. Per Open Culture, the moniker comes from a 15th-century manuscript containing a list of more than 1000 names of hounds (specifically hunting dogs). David Scott-Macnab, an English… Continue Reading
The Historical Marker Database – “A catalog of public history cast in metal, carved on stone, or embedded in resin. This website is an illustrated searchable online catalog of historical information viewed through the filter of roadside and other permanent outdoor markers, monuments, and plaques. It contains photographs, inscription transcriptions, marker locations, maps, additional information… Continue Reading
The New York Times: “…The conservative justices applied the history-and-tradition test in three major rulings decided in the space of a week in June 2022. First, they struck down a New York restriction on gun ownership for being out of line with the nation’s “historical tradition” around regulating guns. Next, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s… Continue Reading
From the you have never been to my house department…Despite viral claims, Americans buy over a billion books a year [you bet we do…used books…from bookstores…and we read them too…so there]: “…How many books are sold in the United States? The only tracker we have is BookScan, which logs point of sale—i.e., customer purchases at… Continue Reading
404 Media: “Russia has replaced Wikipedia with a state-sponsored encyclopedia that is a clone of the original Russian Wikipedia but which conveniently has been edited to omit things that could cast the Russian government in poor light. Real Russian Wikipedia editors used to refer to the real Wikipedia as Ruwiki; the new one is called… Continue Reading
Center for Data Innovation – “Political scientists from various U.S. universities have compiled a dataset called “border crossings of the world” to help researchers understand how different countries use physical infrastructure to enforce control of their territories. The researchers used satellite imagery to identify and geolocate border infrastructure—gates, border walls, checkpoints, etc.—that countries have built… Continue Reading
“Most think social media companies have too much influence in politics and censor political viewpoints they object to – both sentiments are growing among Democrats. Most Americans are wary of social media’s role in politics and its overall impact on the country, and these concerns are ticking up among Democrats, according to a new Pew… Continue Reading
Nature – Browser plug-in alerts users when studies — or their references — have been posted on a site known for raising integrity concerns. “A free online tool released earlier this month alerts researchers when a paper cites studies that are mentioned on the website PubPeer, a forum scientists often use to raise integrity concerns… Continue Reading
Washington Post: “One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found. At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than… Continue Reading
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 27, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading
NBC News: “Supporters of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are sharply divided across all sorts of lines, including the sources they rely on to get their news, new data from the NBC News poll shows. Biden is the clear choice of voters who consume newspapers and national network news, while Trump does… Continue Reading
“NIST GenAI is a new evaluation program administered by the NIST Information Technology Laboratory to assess generative AI technologies developed by the research community from around the world. NIST GenAI is an umbrella program that supports various evaluations for research in Generative AI by providing a platform for Test and Evaluation. These evaluations will inform… Continue Reading