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Daily Archives: February 24, 2020

Artificial intelligence What Think Tanks are thinking

European Parliamentary Research Service Blog: “Artificial intelligence (AI) is usually understood as the ability for a machine to display human-like capabilities such as reasoning, learning, planning and creativity. The ‘Holy Grail’ for many governments and companies seeking to benefit from the digital revolution, the first to invent and apply true AI could achieve an enormous advantage in economic and military terms. However, there are serious ethical implications in such potential developments. Many aspects of AI have already been applied since the 2000s in machines with sufficiently fast processing speeds, equipped with learning techniques and fed large amounts of data. Current versions of AI help to drive cars, beat chess champions, and offer excellent medical diagnostics, to take a few examples. This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on AI and related issues…”

FDA Launches Searchable Purple Book

RAPS: “The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday unveiled the first version of its searchable online database of biological product information, known as the Purple Book. Building off the previous PDF lists of biological products, the database now allows for easier searches and includes information on product names (proprietary and proper), the type… Continue Reading

When Speakers Are All Ears

When Speakers Are All Ears – Understanding when smart speakers mistakenly record conversations. Daniel J. Dubois (Northeastern University), Roman Kolcun (Imperial College London), Anna Maria Mandalari (Imperial College London), Muhammad Talha Paracha (Northeastern University), David Choffnes (Northeastern University), Hamed Haddadi (Imperial College London) Last updated: 02/14/2020 Summary – Voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, OK… Continue Reading

The ends of the Earth are melting really fast. Here’s what you need to know

The Correspondent: “The ends of the Earth are melting at a rate not seen in at least 115,000 years. And over the past few months, there’s been increasing evidence that the changes we’re seeing at our planet’s poles are only growing more severe. On 1 August, the Greenland ice sheet lost 12.5bn tonnes of ice… Continue Reading

CA Auditor Damning Report About Law Enforcement’s Use of Automated License Plate Readers

EFF: “California police and sheriffs are failing to protect the privacy of drivers on city streets, the California State Auditor’s office determined after a seven-month investigation into the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by the Los Angeles Police Department and three other local law enforcement agencies. California State Senator Scott Wiener sponsored the… Continue Reading

MIT Open Courseware

“OCW is a free and open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum. That’s every MIT department and degree program, and ranging from the introductory to the most advanced graduate level. Each OCW course includes a syllabus, some instructional material (such as lecture notes or a reading list), and… Continue Reading

Mapping Wikipedia

The Atlantic – “An unprecedented data set shows where the encyclopedia’s editors are, where they aren’t, and why. A map of the United States shows the percentage of households editing Wikipedia by county. Analysis of Wikipedia IP editor activity.  Wikipedia matters. In a time of extreme political polarization, algorithmically enforced filter bubbles, and fact patterns… Continue Reading

Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE

Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE – total confirmed cases world wide as of 02/24/2020 – 79,554. Lancet Article: Here. Mobile Version: Here. Visualization: JHU CSSE. Automation Support: Esri Living Atlas team. Data sources: WHO, CDC, ECDC, NHC and DXY. Read more in this blog. Contact US. Downloadable database: GitHub: Here. Feature layer: Here. Point level: City level – US,… Continue Reading