New Sunshine Week report shares best practices to maximize the power of FOIA – “In response to a growing culture of government secrecy, people are seeking new ways to defend their right to information and combat intensifying threats to transparency and accountability. Openness advocates, journalists, litigators and grassroots organizations working on a range of policy… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2018
Report Documents Google’s Academic Influence in Europe
From the Campaign for Accountability Report: “Over the past decade, Google has invested heavily in European academic institutions to develop an influential network of friendly academics, paying tens of millions of euros to think tanks, universities and professors that write research papers supporting its business interests. Those academics and institutions span the length and breadth… Continue Reading
Implications of Cambridge Analytica scandal widen in scope as do responses – updated
Numerous follow-ups to my posting yesterday – NYT, Guardian – How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions – UK Channel Four Television has a report on the widening depth and breath of this scandal – An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News reveals how Cambridge Analytica secretly campaigns in elections across the world.… Continue Reading
Paper – Law, Metaphor, and the Encrypted Machine
Gill, Lex, Law, Metaphor, and the Encrypted Machine (March 12, 2018). Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper No. 72, Volume 13, Issue 16, 2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3138684 “The metaphors we use to imagine, describe and regulate new technologies have profound legal implications. This paper offers a critical examination of the metaphors we choose to describe… Continue Reading
30 Companies Getting the Most From the Government
24/7 Wall St: “As an economic power, the U.S. government is a juggernaut without equal. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. government spent $4.0 trillion in 2017. While the largest shares of the federal government’s annual expenditures go towards benefit programs like Social Security and Medicaid, hundreds of billions of federal dollars also… Continue Reading
NYT, Guardian – How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions
During the election cycle in 2016, my FB page was routinely slammed with hateful and biased ads. This made no sense at the time, as I was not affiliated with any groups online, I did not opine about the candidates, and I did not “like” or “share” posts, and I do not use apps. I… Continue Reading
Ongoing series of nonverbal algorithm assembly instructions based on IKEA methodology
“IDEA is a series of nonverbal algorithm assembly instructions by Sándor P. Fekete, Sebastian Morr, and Sebastian Stiller. They were originally created for Sándor’s algorithms and datastructures lecture at TU Braunschweig, but we hope they will be useful in all sorts of context. We publish them here so that they can be used by teachers,… Continue Reading
Inside the Comics Collection of the World’s Largest Medical Library
Hyperallergic – “In 2016, the National Library of Medicine started collecting “graphic medicine” — materials that use comics to teach the public about illness and health. Millions of books, journals, manuscripts, and images fill the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest medical library, on the grounds of the National Institutes of Health. The documents cover the long… Continue Reading
Circulating Ideas: The Library Interview Podcast
Circulating Ideas: The Library Interview Podcast – “Circulating Ideas facilitates conversations about the innovative people & ideas allowing libraries to thrive in the 21st century. Brought to you with support from listeners like you.” These free podcasts engage librarians who work in all sectors of our profession, and share their knowledge and perspectives on a wide… Continue Reading
Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plant
“New computer screenshots released by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday made clear that Russian state hackers had the foothold they would have needed to manipulate or shut down power plants.” Nicole Perlroth and David Sanger in the NYT: Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plants. “The Trump administration accused Russia… Continue Reading
Preaching to the choir – Why Reading Books Should be Your Priority, According to Science
Inc., Christina DesMarais: “More than a quarter–26 percent–of American adults admit to not having read even part of a book within the last year. That’s according to statistics coming out of the Pew Research Center. If you’re part of this group, know that science supports the idea that reading is good for you on several… Continue Reading
Why do people go to Wikipedia? A survey suggests it’s their desire to go down that random rabbithole
NeimanLab: “What’s motivated people to visit the Wikipedia pages they’re reading? Wikipedia recently tried to answer that question at scale by asking a sample of Wikipedia readers last June, “Why are you reading this article today?” It seems a lot of people go to Wikipedia for earnest, serious, information-seeking reasons. The study collected 215,000 responses… Continue Reading
