Washington Post – “The novel coronavirus is changing how we live our lives, and our readers have questions. The Washington Post has catalogued and organized 13,202 questions about the pandemic and provided a guide to help you find the answers. Many of the questions fall into common themes, and this guide provides links to reporting that holds answers in those frequently referenced topic areas. This guide is updated twice a day and reordered with the most frequently asked-about subject areas, from how covid-19, the disease the coronavirus causes, affects individuals to the broad impact on society as we know it. You can keep asking us questions here…”
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Daily Archives: November 9, 2020
Biden may have trouble unearthing Trump’s national security secrets
Politico: “From tearing up documents and hiding transcripts of calls with foreign leaders to using encrypted messaging apps and personal email accounts for government business, the Trump White House’s skirting of records preservation rules could limit the incoming Biden administration’s visibility into highly sensitive foreign policy and national security secrets….The Presidential Records Act, which requires… Continue Reading
This free service is a genius way to foil spam and protect your privacy
Fast Company – “Over the summer, I came across an online store that was promising big discounts on All-Clad cookware, but with a catch: You had to hand over an email address just to see what the deals were. This would have given me pause if not for a secret weapon: I loaded up a… Continue Reading
Google Streetview shows social importance pedestrian friendly environment
University of Amsterdam – With Google Streetview and Deep Learning, researchers at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Twente identified how the urban environment is linked to the vitality of social organisations and neighbourhoods. They conclude that, if an environment provides more space to pedestrians, this will be conducive to neighbourhood-based social organisations’… Continue Reading
Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition
AP: “The Trump administration threw the presidential transition into tumult on Monday, Attorney General William Barr authorizing the Justice Department to probe allegations of voter fraud and President Donald Trump firing the Pentagon chief and blocking government officials from cooperating with President-elect Joe Biden’s team. Despite little evidence of fraud, Barr signed off on investigations… Continue Reading
Day and night, under historic scrutiny, the nation’s vote counters carried on
Washington Post – ‘We will not allow anyone to stop us’: Day and night, under historic scrutiny, the nation’s vote counters carried on -“…Long before the fall, elections officials were quietly preparing for what was to come. “We knew we would be under a microscope from day one,” said Peter Antonacci, the election supervisor in… Continue Reading
‘They Might Be Giants’ rock out about the role electors play in US presidential elections
CNN – “Indie rock legends They Might Be Giants explain the Electoral College in their music video. Watch the video and follow along with the lyrics…” Continue Reading
Am I wasting my time organizing email?
Am I wasting my time organizing email? A study of email refinding. Steve Whittaker, Tara Matthews, Julian Cerruti, Hernan Badenes, John Tang IBM Research – Almaden San Jose, California, USA – “We all spend time every day looking for information in our email, yet we know little about this refinding process. Some users expend considerable… Continue Reading
Out of sight and out of mind: Bookmarks are created but not used
Bergman, O., Whittaker, S., Schooler, J. (2020). Out of Sight and Out of Mind: Bookmarks are Created but not Used. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, DOI: 10.1177/0961000620949652/ [paywall] – “Users commonly report problems in refinding important websites. To address this, some create Bookmarks (also called web Favorites) to improve the refinding of these websites.… Continue Reading
Coronavirus won’t disappear, even with a vaccine
Axios – “Pfizer yesterday took a giant step toward a COVID-19 vaccine, reporting that its vaccine candidate was effective in over 90% of uninfected clinical trial patients. Reality check: It’s a giant and welcome development, but the pandemic will be with us long after vaccine distribution begins. The Pfizer vaccine is not a silver bullet.… Continue Reading
The intriguing maps that reveal alternate histories
BBC Future – “In these times of turbulence and upheaval, I have often found myself turning to fiction – and particularly to alternate history. These are the “what if” stories that ask us to imagine our world on a different path: what if a battle, election or assassination had gone the other way, or a… Continue Reading
2020’s record voter turnout in the US is still lower than many other countries
Quartz: “At least 158.8 million people voted in this year’s US presidential election. That’s some 20 million more than the 137.5 million Americans who voted in 2016, and 25 million more than the 132.9 million who voted in 2012. The big difference in this election was that close to 102 million people voted early—either in person… Continue Reading
