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

Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici

Why Are American Drivers So Deadly?

The New York Times [read free]: After decades of declining fatality rates, dangerous driving has surged again. “…In the fall of 2022, Dr. Deborah Kuhls attended the annual meeting of the Governors Highway Safety Organization, in Louisville, Ky. In conversations with other researchers, she learned that the same behavioral patterns she had observed back in… Continue Reading

EFF Unveils Its New Street Level Surveillance Hub

“The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today unveiled its new Street Level Surveillance hub, a standalone website featuring expanded and updated content on various technologies that law enforcement agencies commonly use to invade Americans’ privacy. The hub has new or updated pages on automated license plate readers, biometric surveillance, body-worn cameras, camera networks, cell-site simulators, drones… Continue Reading

The New Digital Dark Age

Wired: Online trust will reach an all-time low thanks to unchecked disinformation, AI-generated content, and social platforms pulling up their data drawbridges. “For researchers, social media has always represented greater access to data, more democratic involvement in knowledge production, and great transparency about social behavior. Getting a sense of what was happening—especially during political crises,… Continue Reading

An environmental and socially just climate mitigation pathway for a planet in peril

PHSY.org: An environmental and socially just climate mitigation pathway for a planet in peril, Environmental Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad059e “Oregon State’s William Ripple, former OSU postdoctoral researcher Christopher Wolf and collaborators argue their scenario should be included in climate models along with the five “shared socioeconomic pathways,” or SSPs, that are used by the… Continue Reading

Research on Crime and Public Safety in 2023

“This research, Findings and Recommendations from Survey About Crime and Public Safety, December 2023, explores public attitudes related to crime and potential policy solutions to improve public safe. Center for American Progress staff. Over the past three years, crime and public safety have lingered as important concerns for voters. This survey by the Center for… Continue Reading

The International Court of Justice in the Hague – South Africa v Israel

Hearing at the International Court of Justice in the case South Africa v. Israel – Oral argument of South Africa began this morning: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k11/k11g Summary – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case South Africa v. Israel… Continue Reading

Hackers can infect network-connected wrenches to install ransomware

Ars Technica – Researchers identify 23 vulnerabilities, some of which can exploited with no authentication. “Researchers have unearthed nearly two dozen vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to sabotage or disable a popular line of network-connected wrenches that factories around the world use to assemble sensitive instruments and devices. The vulnerabilities, reported Tuesday by researchers from… Continue Reading

HP sued (again) for blocking third-party ink from printers, accused of monopoly

Ars Technica: “HP has used its “Dynamic Security” firmware updates to “create a monopoly” of replacement printer ink cartridges, a lawsuit filed against the company on January 5 claims. The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action certification, represents yet another form of litigation against HP for bricking printers when they try to use ink that doesn’t… Continue Reading

AI-powered misinformation is the world’s biggest short-term threat, Davos report says

World Economic Forum – “The Global Risks Report explores some of the most severe risks we may face over the next decade, against a backdrop of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, a warming planet and conflict. As cooperation comes under pressure, weakened economies and societies may only require the smallest shock to edge past the… Continue Reading

How to use Google’s AI-powered NotebookLM to organize your research

ZDNET: “Gathering and managing research for any type of project can be a daunting task as you have to try to organize the different kinds of information you collect. One tool that aims to ease the process is Google’s NotebookLM. Using AI, NotebookLM will collate the various sources of information you add, summarize the key… Continue Reading

Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement

Via LLRX – Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement. The shocking events of Jan. 6, 2021, signaled a major break from the nonviolent rallies that categorized most major protests over the past few decades. What set Jan. 6 apart was the president of the United States using his cellphone to direct an attack… Continue Reading