“U.S. Sen. Bob Casey released his latest “greedflation” report on Wednesday, and this time it takes aim at popular streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and more. This time, Casey is highlighting what he calls “streamflation,” which happens when streaming platforms hike their profits by charging higher prices, despite offering less content and… Continue Reading
I Love Book Stores: “There are 6,001 bookstores in the United States. Well, not really. There are 6,001 non-chain bookstores in the United States. Again, not really accurate. There are, however, 6,001 bookstores on this map of bookstores in the United States. Quite a few caveats apply, but I’m going to run with that number… Continue Reading
Watch Duty, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, alerts you of nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts in real-time. Real-time Wildfire Map & Alerts. Receive notifications about the status and conditions on the ground as they change. Monitor Wildfires and Prescribed Burns. Know if that smoke in the distance is a fire you need to be worried about. Flight… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 9, 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 complex… Continue Reading
The Hill – “Companies are looking for innovative ways to collect data to feed their data-hungry artificial intelligence systems and create innovative applications. Fortunately, some do not have to go too far. Then, there are the companies that collect data from public records to share on the internet and run analytics. There are many compelling… Continue Reading
The Verge: “OpenAI has released its GPT-4o System Card, a research document that outlines the safety measures and risk evaluations the startup conducted before releasing its latest model. GPT-4o was launched publicly in May of this year. Before its debut, OpenAI used an external group of red teamers, or security experts trying to find weaknesses… Continue Reading
Ars Technica: “If you’ve searched your name online in the last few years, you know what’s out there, and it’s bad. Alternately, you’ve seen the lowest-common-denominator ads begging you to search out people from your past to see what crimes are on their record. People-search sites are a gross loophole in the public records system,… Continue Reading
Axios – The biggest weekend of the year for tax-free shopping has arrived with 10 states holding sales tax holidays in early August. Why it matters: It’s a rare tax break for families preparing for a new school year with many grappling with higher-priced school supplies and clothing. Dates and the items exempt from tax… Continue Reading
Rand Research Published Aug 8, 2024 -“The European Union (EU)’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act is a landmark piece of legislation that lays out a detailed and wide-ranging framework for the comprehensive regulation of AI deployment in the European Union covering the development, testing, and use of AI. This is one of several reports intended to… Continue Reading
PCWorld: “Security is essential for any laptop, whether you’re on a college laptop, a gaming laptop, or especially a business laptop. But college laptops face unique challenges. For example, if you’re a student and you’re connecting your own laptop to your school’s network — perhaps in a dorm — then you should really be using… Continue Reading
USAFacts: “The federal budget is a measure of how much the federal government spends and how much revenue it takes in. Typically, annual budgetary data is broken up into fiscal years, which run from October 1 to September 30. In fiscal year 2023, the US spent $6.16 trillion on public programs and generated $4.47 trillion… Continue Reading
Data is Plural: “Kangsan Lee et al. have compiled a dataset of “34,200 auction sales records, including images, artists’ attributes, and market information, encompassing 590 living contemporary artists spanning 17 years (1996 to 2012) across 23 countries.” It includes the artist’s name, nationality, and birth year; the artwork’s name, year, medium, and dimensions; the auction… Continue Reading