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Monthly Archives: March 2022

Everything you should know about getting a second COVID booster

Popular Science: “This week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines for older people and some immunocompromised people who received their first booster at least four months ago. Under the new guidance, the agency said, all adults 50 and older and individuals 12 and older who have received an organ transplant or have an equivalent level of immunocompromise may receive the additional booster of an mRNA vaccine.

“What data we have suggests that the more comorbidities that you have—the higher the risk that you are of having severe disease—the more benefit you will have from a second booster,” Li says. “I would urge people who are eligible–those who are older, those who are immunosuppressed—really to take advantage of this and to get the second booster when you can.”

Dictionary.com’s latest update addresses social justice issues, accessibility tech, and the global climate crisis

Mashable: “Dictionary.com‘s latest batch of updates just dropped, and they cover a wide range of timely social and cultural topics, including accessibility, homelessness, and the global climate crisis. Announced on March 29, the website’s professionals (known as lexicographers) updated more than 2,400 entries, which include the 235 new entries, 72 new definitions in existing entries,… Continue Reading

What makes writing more readable?

Pudding – Story by Rebecca Monteleone and Jamie Brew; Design + code by Michelle McGhee “Writing text that can be understood by as many people as possible seems like an obvious best practice. But from news media to legal guidance to academic research, the way we write often creates barriers to who can read it.… Continue Reading

The Fourth Amendment Limits of Internet Content Preservation

“Every year, hundreds of thousands of Internet accounts are copied and set aside by Internet providers on behalf of federal and state law enforcement. This process, known as preservation, ordinarily occurs without particularized suspicion. Any government agent can request preservation of any account at any time. Federal law requires the provider to set aside a… Continue Reading

The Razor’s Edge of A Warming World

“As we hurtle toward an ever-hotter future, GQ spotlights eight places whose very identities depend on a simple calculation: If we limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, these places could be saved. In a 2-degree scenario, they would be irredeemably lost…Julia Baum, a marine biologist at the University of Victoria, in British… Continue Reading

1950 Census data to be unveiled Friday, after 72 years under wraps

Washington Post: “On April 1, 1950, an army of 140,000 census enumerators, equipped with fountain pens and government forms, started fanning out across the country to paint a portrait of the United States. Knocking on doors, asking questions about marriage, divorce, race and income, they gathered the personal details of life for 151 million Americans… Continue Reading

Chrome’s “Topics” advertising system is here, whether you want it or not

Ars Technica: “…With 82% of Google’s empire based on ad revenue, this latest development in Chrome shows that Google is not keen on any moves to threaten their main money maker. Google continues to argue that it is mandatory that it builds a user tracking and advertising system into Chrome, and the company says it… Continue Reading

Google Search’s new highly cited label helps you get to the source of a story

The Verge: “Google is adding a new “highly cited” label to search results frequently sourced by other publications, the company is announcing today. Anything from local news stories, to interviews, announcements, and even press releases will be eligible for the new label being added to the search result’s preview image, so long as other websites… Continue Reading

Spring Is Here – Here’s How to Spot the Seasonal Scams

The New York Times: “Fraud is a year-round activity, but tax season brings an uptick in calculated schemes to steal money and personal information through spoofed messages and other means. Cybersecurity firms have also reported an increase in fraud attempts that exploit the conflict in Ukraine — a situation that has increased fears of potential… Continue Reading

Google Using New AI to Better Detect Searches Made by People During Personal Crises

CNET: “Google is using new artificial intelligence designed to understand the intent behind search inquiries, technology the search giant hopes will deliver more relevant results for people seeking help during personal crises. On Wednesday, Google said in a blog post it would begin implementing MUM, an AI model that more accurately detects “a wider range… Continue Reading

Democracy Report 2022 – Autocratization Changing Nature?

“Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) produces the largest global dataset on democracy with over 30 million data points for 202 countries from 1789 to 2021. Involving over 3,700 scholars and other country experts, V-Dem measures hundreds of different attributes of democracy. The level of democracy enjoyed by the average global citizen in 2021 is down to… Continue Reading