Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: July 17, 2022

Deleting a text may not mean it’s gone forever

Mashable: “When you delete a text message, is it truly gone forever? Given America’s willingness to spy on its citizens, simple common sense would suggest that no they’re not gone forever, and law enforcement agencies can use inexpensive consumer-grade software to recover at least some of your deleted text messages if they can get into your phone. But deleted text messages between two Secret Service agents have become the focal point of the House committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot because, for the moment, those messages are gone without a trace, and may or may not be able to be recovered. Messages between the agents in question on Jan 5 and 6 are nowhere to be found as the House committee examines whether or not those missing messages can be reconstructed, The Guardian reports. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, the watchdog of the Secret Service, told Congress this past Thursday that those records were deleted after his office had requested them. According to The Guardian, the Secret Service asserts that the messages “were lost during a pre-planned, agency-wide cellphone upgrade scheme in January 2021 because some agents apparently had not backed up messages as required.” The House committee is currently looking at ways to forensically reconstruct the deleted communications — communications from a government agency with “secret” right there in its name — as they believe they may provide “greater clarity on how security plans developed” in the days before and during the capitol insurrection, The Guardian reports. Multiple sources have reported on the role the Secret Service played in keeping then-President Donald Trump from returning to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse on Jan. 6…”

Texas House report – “Systemic failures” in Uvalde shooting went far beyond local police

Texas Tribune: “The 18-year-old who massacred 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde on May 24 had no experience with firearms before his rampage began. He targeted an elementary school with an active shooter policy that had been deemed adequate but also had a long history of doors propped open. No one was able to… Continue Reading

Light pollution is disrupting the seasonal rhythms of plants and trees, lengthening pollen season in US cities

Via LLRX – Light pollution is disrupting the seasonal rhythms of plants and trees, lengthening pollen season in US cities – City lights that blaze all night are profoundly disrupting urban plants’ phenology – shifting when their buds open in the spring and when their leaves change colors and drop in the fall. New research… Continue Reading

Meta launches Sphere, an AI knowledge tool based on open web content, used initially to verify citations on Wikipedia

TechCrunch: “Facebook may be infamous for helping to usher in the era of “fake news”, but it’s also tried to find a place for itself in the follow-up: the never-ending battle to combat it. In the latest development on that front, Facebook parent Meta today announced a new tool called Sphere, AI built around the… Continue Reading

Cryptomining Capacity in U.S. Rivals Energy Use of Houston, Findings Show

The New York Times: “…Earlier this year, a group of congressional Democrats launched an investigation into energy use at the country’s largest cryptomining companies. They asked seven cryptomining companies for data on their operations, and the group’s findings, issued Friday, are based on the companies’ responses. That data showed that the seven companies alone had… Continue Reading

Edelman Trust Barometer – The Power of Gen Z

“This isn’t the influencer generation. This isn’t the cancel generation. This isn’t even the TikTok generation. This is the generation of sensibility. Preceding generations have idolized the unrealistic, prioritizing aspirational objectives, and often overlooking basic elements like humanity, our planet, and at times the truth for the sake of self, innovation, wealth, and immediacy. In… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 16, 2022

Via LLRX –  Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 16, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weisshighlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading

Young women shifting how they live and love in the post-Roe era

The Generation Lab Report – “Young women will likely change their sexual behavior, their pregnancy prevention protocol and even where they live: “In the era when Roe reigned, a map of abortion access in the United States might have looked like a bird’s eye view of the Atlantic Ocean — some parts dark blue, some… Continue Reading

The Private Suppression of Constitutional Rights

Huq, Aziz Z., The Private Suppression of Constitutional Rights (April 1, 2022). Texas Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4072800 “On September 1. 2021, Texas’s abortion ban S.B.8 went into effect, not only prohibiting almost all abortions after six weeks but also allowing any private party to sue those who, knowingly or unwittingly, aid or… Continue Reading