Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: June 7, 2017

Google mapping remote parts of the world in innovative ways

Mike Cherney, WSJ.com: “…Google is coming across some unusual challenges as it seeks to capture eye-level imagery of the most remote parts of the globe. In a recent foray into the Australian outback, Google’s amateur cartographers used a backpack to lug bulky camera equipment around Uluru, a popular tourist site also known as Ayers Rock. One hitch: they had to avoid photographing certain parts of the red rock formation that are especially sacred to the local Aboriginal people. Having taken shots of many of the world’s streets using cameras on vehicles, Google is moving to more difficult locations. On the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, where it captured images of a volcano, the company sought to photograph lava without any of its cameras falling in. And in Cambodia, monkeys destroyed its equipment…”

EFF Sues DOJ For Records on Procedures for Ending National Security Letter Gag Orders

EFF news release:  “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the Justice Department today to obtain records that can shed light on whether the FBI is complying with a Congressional mandate that it periodically review and lift National Security Letter (NSL) gag orders that are no longer needed. The FBI has issued as many as 500,000… Continue Reading

Office of Government Ethics – Waivers for Executive Branch Officials

“Today, OGE released the waivers and authorizations collected from executive branch agencies pursuant to its April 28, 2017, data call. Consistent with the information policies applicable to these types of ethics documents, the documents within this collection are available through different mechanisms. For a detailed discussion of our approach to the release of these documents,… Continue Reading

FY2018 Budget Documents: Internet and GPO Availability

CRS Report via FAS – FY2018 Budget Documents: Internet and GPO Availability, Jared C. Nagel, Senior Research Librarian. June 1, 2017. “Every year the President submits a series of volumes to Congress containing the President’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The President’s submission is required on or after the first Monday in January,but… Continue Reading

Sjoerd Koopman Library Postcard Collection

“The Sjoerd Koopman Library Postcard Collection includes pictorial and photographic postcards of libraries all over the world. The ALA Archives holds digital copies of approximately 1,000 cards from this collection depicting libraries throughout the United States; several hundred of these are also available as physical objects. Subjects include public libraries, private libraries, academic libraries, library… Continue Reading

CRS Annual Report 2016

The CRS Anual Report 2016 was issued in January 2017 and posted by FAS today: “Major legislative issues this fiscal year included comprehensive energy legislation, defense reform, federal health insurance programs, immigration, Middle East turmoil, privacy, the Zika outbreak, student financial aid, and water quality. Throughout these debates and more, Congress relied on CRS expertise,… Continue Reading

OCLC and Wikipedia Library link citations to millions of library materials

News release: “OCLC and the Wikimedia Foundation’s Wikipedia Library are working together to make it easy for editors to link citations in Wikipedia to millions of library materials represented in WorldCat, the world’s most comprehensive database of information about library collections. References and reliable sources help Wikipedia editors verify facts included in articles. They also… Continue Reading

James Comey’s testimony to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Follow Up

Opening Statement – Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, June 8, 2017. [Bloomberg Will Livestream James Comey’s Testimony on Twitter] From Comey’s testimony this morning: “There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did… Continue Reading