Eastland, Craig, The Legal Research Landscape: From Abridgements to AI (February 10, 2024). Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4723343 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4723343 – “The landscape of legal research has become a bit bewildering. Fifty years ago, there was one way to do legal research, but competition and computers have created… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Researchers Warn Arctic Ocean could be ‘ice-free’ within the decade
Los Angeles Times: “The loss of Arctic sea ice has long been a graphic measure of human-caused climate change, with wrenching images of suffering polar bears illustrating a worsening planetary crisis. Now, new research has found that Arctic Ocean sea ice is shrinking even faster than previously thought — and that the Arctic may start… Continue Reading
How much money has each country spent, each year, on its military?
Data is Plural: “Different datasets have different answers, cover different timeframes, and use different methodologies. Miriam Barnum et al.’s Global Military Spending Dataset attempts to bring them together. By uniting “76 variables from 9 dataset collection projects,” the authors write, “we provide the most comprehensive and complete set of published datasets on military spending ever… Continue Reading
Almost 500 Etchings by Rembrandt Now Free Online
Open Culture – Courtesy of the Morgan Library & Museum: “Seventeenth-century Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn may have more name recognition than nearly any other European artist, his popularity due in large part to what art historian Alison McQueen identifies in her book of the same name as “the rise of the cult of Rembrandt.”… Continue Reading
Teachers are embracing ChatGPT-powered grading
Axios: “A new tool called Writable, which uses ChatGPT to help grade student writing assignments, is being offered widely to teachers in grades 3-12. Why it matters: Teachers have quietly used ChatGPT to grade papers since it first came out — but now schools are sanctioning and encouraging its use. Driving the news: Writable, which… Continue Reading
Amicus Lobbying: Friends of the Court or Friends of the Industry?
Bunting, William and Stein, Tomer, Amicus Lobbying: Friends of the Court or Friends of the Industry? (January 29, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4708986 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4708986 – “This Article reveals that lobbying has a vast and outsized impact on the development of judge-made business law. Lobby groups have taken control of the amicus curiae filing process… Continue Reading
Recycling robot is saving millions of bottles from the landfill
Fast Company: “If you throw a plastic water bottle or yogurt cup in a recycling bin, it might not necessarily be recycled.Inside sprawling warehouses that the industry calls “MRFs” or materials recovery facilities, machines and workers often sort through hundreds of tons of waste a day. The process is imperfect, and valuable recyclables can often… Continue Reading
FTC Cracks Down on Mass Data Collectors: A Closer Look at Avast, X-Mode, InMarket
“Three recent FTC enforcement actions reflect a heightened focus on pervasive extraction and mishandling of consumers’ sensitive personal data. Proposed Settlements with Avast X-Mode and InMarket. In mid February, the FTC announced a proposed settlement to resolve allegations that Avast, a security software company, unfairly sold consumers’ granular and re-identifiable browsing information—information that Avast amassed… Continue Reading
Deciphering the FAA’s wildly complex aviation maps
Fast Company: “Among all of the visual information published by the U.S. government, there may be no product with a higher information density than the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) aviation maps. Intended for pilots, the FAA publishes free detailed maps of the entire U.S. airspace, and detailed maps of airports and their surroundings and updates them… Continue Reading
AI And Plagiarism Detection Tools
Journalist’s Tool Box – AI And Plagiarism Detection Tools: “I post this here as a warning. There are tools such as AI Undetect and Humanize AI Text, rewrite tools that offer an AI detection remover service. They can fool GPTZero, ZeroGPT, Copyleak, etc.” Continue Reading
Wyden’s Gets FTC To Protect Data Of 1.6 B People Tracked By Now-Bankrupt Data Broker
TechDirt: “There are two major reasons that the U.S. doesn’t pass an internet-era privacy law or regulate data brokers despite a parade of dangerous scandals. One, lobbied by a vast web of interconnected industries with unlimited budgets, Congress is too corrupt to do its job. Two, the U.S. government is disincentivized to do anything because it exploits… Continue Reading
Fetal personhood laws, explained
Vox: “The Alabama Supreme Court touched off a nationwide furor in February when it ruled that frozen, fertilized embryos legally count as “children.” The ruling upended the lives of patients undergoing IVF in Alabama and opened up a new front in the post-Dobbs battle over abortion rights. It also revived interest in — and concern… Continue Reading
