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Daily Archives: June 19, 2024

Stop Giving Companies Your Real Email—Do This Instead

HowToGeek: ”

  • Websites may sell your email address to spammers or leak your address in a data breach.
  • An email alias service hides your real email address and makes it easier to curb spam.
  • Choose an email alias service like Proton Mail for top-notch encryption, or AnonAddy for easy, on-the-fly alias generation.

You can’t increase your privacy or security without changing your habits. Using your real email address to sign into websites is one such habit—you’ve spent decades typing the same email address into every website, and you’ve made yourself vulnerable to both spammers and hackers in the process. Thankfully, this habit is very easy to correct. You just need to use email aliases…”

An elite handful of analysts, actuaries, and accountants have mastered Excel

The Verge – “…arguably the most important software in the business world. So what do they do in Vegas? They open a spreadsheet…Competitive Excel has been around for years, but only in a hobbyist way. Most of the people in this room full of actuaries, analysts, accountants, and investors play Excel the way I play… Continue Reading

Top 10 Generative AI Models Mimic Russian Disinformation Claims A Third of the Time

Citing Moscow-Created Fake Local News Sites as Authoritative Sources – “NewsGuard audit finds that 32% of the time, leading AI chatbots spread Russian disinformation narratives created by John Mark Dougan, an American fugitive now operating from Moscow, citing his fake local news sites and fabricated claims on YouTube as reliable sources. Submitted (with companies named)… Continue Reading

Something’s Rotten About the Justices Taking So Long on Trump’s Immunity Case

The New York Times Opinion – Law Professor Leah Lipman [unpaywalled]: “…As of Tuesday, 110 days had passed since the court agreed to hear the Trump immunity case. And still no decision. This court has lost the benefit of the doubt for myriad reasons, including its willingness to act quickly in cases that benefit Republican… Continue Reading

Most downloaded US news app has Chinese roots and ‘writes fiction’ using AI

Reuters: “Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak a free app with roots in China that is the most downloaded news app in the United States, published an alarming piece about a small town shooting. It was headlined “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.” The problem was, no such shooting… Continue Reading

Proton Drive Can Now Replace Google Photos on iPhone

HowToGeek: “Step aside, Google Photos. Proton Drive now offers automated photo backup with end-to-end encryption on iOS. This feature is available to both free and paid Proton Drive users. Proton Drive photo backup initially launched in December 2023 as an Android-exclusive feature. The new iOS implementation is practically identical to what we saw on Android—stored… Continue Reading

One in Four US Households Likely Exceed New Soil Lead Guidance Levels

Gabriel M. Filippelli, Matthew Dietrich, John Shukle, Leah Wood, Andrew Margenot, S. Perl Egendorf, Howard W. Mielke. One in Four US Households Likely Exceed New Soil Lead Guidance Levels. GeoHealth, 2024; 8 (6) DOI: 10.1029/2024GH001045 “Lead exposure has blighted communities across the United States (and the globe), with much of the burden resting on lower… Continue Reading

COVID Data Report is a daily resource to stay safe and informed

BoingBoing: “COVID-19 is definitely on the rise again across the United States. Dr. Michael Hoerger, who tracks COVID-19 data, shared yesterday that currently: about 1.2% of the U.S. population is actively infectious, which is quite high for the summer, when COVID is not consciously in everyone’s thoughts. We’re talking about 4 million U.S. infections per week,… Continue Reading

How Black Librarians Helped Create Generations of Black Literature

The New York Times [unpaywalled] – “Recent scholarship is uncovering the role of the women who ran libraries during the Harlem Renaissance where they built collections and, just as important, communities of writers and readers…“Mr. Schomburg’s collection is really the seed,” said Joy Bivins, the current director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,… Continue Reading