StateScoop: “The California Government Operations Agency last week launched a new website that will eventually host the state’s open-source software projects, allowing agencies, the technology industry and citizens to collaborate on the development of software used by the state government. The website, Code California, follows the state Department of Technology’s May order calling for the… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2018
California Knew the Carr Wildfire Could Happen. It Failed to Prevent it.
ProPublica: “Dozens of interviews and a review of local, state and federal records show that virtually every aspect of what came to be known as the Carr Fire — where it ignited; how and where it exploded in dimension and ferocity; the toll in private property — had been forecast and worried over for years.… Continue Reading
Mass Shootings and Mindfulness
WhoWhatWhy: “As of December 16, 2018, there had been 333 mass shootings so far this year, or almost one a day, according to the Gun Violence Archive (which defines a mass shooting as having four or more victims, killed or injured). You have to wonder why so many young men (almost always) see this as… Continue Reading
New New York Times
“A twitter bot that records the first time The New York Times says a new word.” Continue Reading
A People’s Guide to AI
“Systems that use artificial intelligence are quietly becoming present in more and more parts of our lives. But what does this technology really mean for people, both right now and in the future? Written in 2018 by Mimi Onuoha and Mother Cyborg (Diana Nucera), A People’s Guide to AI is a comprehensive beginner’s guide to… Continue Reading
Merry Christmas – DOJ issues reg banning Bump Stocks
CNN – “The Trump administration rolled out a new federal regulation Tuesday officially banning bump-fire stocks: “Those who possess the devices, which make it easier to fire rounds from a semi-automatic weapon by harnessing the gun’s recoil to “bump” the trigger faster, will have 90 days to turn in or otherwise destroy them from the… Continue Reading
Evaluating Shepard’s, KeyCite, and Bcite for Case Validation Accuracy
Paul Hellyer, Evaluating Shepard’s, KeyCite, and Bcite for Case Validation Accuracy, 110 Law Libr. J. 449 (2018), https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/LLJ_110n4_02_hellyer.pdf “This study evaluates and compares how accurately three legal citators (Shepard’s, KeyCite, and BCite) identify negative treatment of case law, based on a review of 357 citing relationships that at least one citator labeled as negative. In… Continue Reading
Essay – It’s Time for a Bill of Data Rights
“This essay argues that “data ownership” is a flawed, counterproductive way of thinking about data. It not only does not fix existing problems; it creates new ones. Instead, we need a framework that gives people rights to stipulate how their data is used without requiring them to take ownership of it themselves. The Data Care Act, a bill introduced… Continue Reading
Music Therapy Can Rewire a Broken Brain
WhoWhatWhy: “Nothing brings out the grinch in some like the early debut of seasonal music when the season hasn’t even started. Reactions can of course go the other way — people weep with joy at memories attached to a song from their past. Whatever the reaction, music is powerful. Now, a small company in Massachusetts… Continue Reading
US nuclear tests killed far more civilians than we knew
Quartz: “When the US entered the nuclear age, it did so recklessly. New research suggests that the hidden cost of developing nuclear weapons were far larger than previous estimates, with radioactive fallout responsible for 340,000 to 690,000 American deaths from 1951 to 1973. The study, performed by University of Arizona economist Keith Meyers, uses a novel method (pdf)… Continue Reading
Why the US Needs a National AI Strategy and What It Should Look Like
Joshua New, senior policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation – “The United States is the global leader in developing and using artificial intelligence (AI), but it may not be for long. Succeeding in AI requires more than just having leading companies make investments. It requires a healthy ecosystem of AI companies, robust AI… Continue Reading
Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year 2018
“Our Word of the Year for 2018 is justice. It was a top lookup throughout the year at Merriam-Webster.com, with the entry being consulted 74% more than in 2017. The concept of justice was at the center of many of our national debates in the past year: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, economic justice.… Continue Reading
