“The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate. That’s a quote from Thomas Jefferson, and it’s super-relevant to our situation today. Our schools aren’t doing enough to create an educated electorate, and most of our journalists are doing a terrible job. This is terrifying, because the 2024 elections could be the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Knowledge Management
Mainframes Find New Life in AI Era
WSJ via MSN: “Banks, insurance providers and airlines still find uses, including artificial intelligence, for the large computers that have been around for decades The industrial-strength mainframe computer, invented decades ago for heavy-duty data processing, is proving its staying power even as next-generation artificial intelligence takes center stage. The two are interconnected: Banks, insurance providers… Continue Reading
The mining of the public domain
Jessamyn West, Librarian.net – “Public.work is a search engine for public domain content.” The site claims to have over 100,000 public domain images. This in and of itself is not that special, but the interface is. It’s gorgeous, a fun and engaging discovery layer where every search becomes a URL that can be shared [example]… Continue Reading
I Love Book Stores
I Love Book Stores: “There are 6,001 bookstores in the United States. Well, not really. There are 6,001 non-chain bookstores in the United States. Again, not really accurate. There are, however, 6,001 bookstores on this map of bookstores in the United States. Quite a few caveats apply, but I’m going to run with that number… Continue Reading
OpenAI says its latest GPT-4o model is ‘medium’ risk
The Verge: “OpenAI has released its GPT-4o System Card, a research document that outlines the safety measures and risk evaluations the startup conducted before releasing its latest model. GPT-4o was launched publicly in May of this year. Before its debut, OpenAI used an external group of red teamers, or security experts trying to find weaknesses… Continue Reading
It’s not worth paying to be removed from people-finder sites
Ars Technica: “If you’ve searched your name online in the last few years, you know what’s out there, and it’s bad. Alternately, you’ve seen the lowest-common-denominator ads begging you to search out people from your past to see what crimes are on their record. People-search sites are a gross loophole in the public records system,… Continue Reading
Artificial Intelligence Impacts on Privacy Law
Rand Research Published Aug 8, 2024 -“The European Union (EU)’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act is a landmark piece of legislation that lays out a detailed and wide-ranging framework for the comprehensive regulation of AI deployment in the European Union covering the development, testing, and use of AI. This is one of several reports intended to… Continue Reading
A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs
TechCrunch: “The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024.… Continue Reading
Scientists are falling victim to deepfake AI video scams here’s how to fight back
Nature: “…But lately the attacks have become more sophisticated, and harder to debunk. “With AI, they can make an image look and speak exactly like me, with my mannerisms,” he says. In one video, he is depicted as saying that people could live to 100 years if they take a certain herbal product. Such videos… Continue Reading
Utah outlaws books by Judy Blume and Sarah J Maas in first statewide ban
The Guardian: “Books by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Rupi Kaur and Sarah J Maas are among 13 titles that the state of Utah has ordered to be removed from all public school classrooms and libraries. This marks the first time a state has outlawed a list of books statewide, according to PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman,… Continue Reading
How to Find the Source of a Video on the Web
MakeUseOf: “If you’ve ever wanted to find the source of a video you’ve watched online, you’ll know it’s no easy feat. Even after a lot of searching, you may not turn up results. Here’s how to search for the full video from a clip you’ve seen online. There are many reasons you might want to… Continue Reading
Everyone Can Benefit From These 7 Mac Accessibility Features
How to Geek: Quick Links Customize the Font Size Customize the Pointer Size Reduce Motion Zoom on Everything VoiceOver Increase the Contrast Reduce Transparency Your Mac comes packed with a long list of accessibility features that support your vision, mobility, hearing, and speech. Accessibility benefits everyone, and I’ve found that this rings true with these… Continue Reading
