TechDirt: “The quickest way to a warrantless search is obtaining consent. But consent obtained by officers isn’t always consent, no matter how it’s portrayed in police reports and court testimony. Courts have sometimes pointed this out, stripping away ill-gotten search gains when consent turned out to be [extremely air quotation marks] “consent.” Such is the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Search Engines
Amazon Puts Its Own “Brands” First Above Better-Rated Products
TheMarkUp – “The online giant gives a leg up to hundreds of house brand and exclusive products that most people don’t know are connected to Amazon… An investigation by The Markup found that Amazon places products from its house brands and products exclusive to the site ahead of those from competitors—even competitors with higher customer… Continue Reading
Government Secretly Orders Google To Identify Anyone Who Searched A Sexual Assault Victim’s Name, Address And Telephone Number
Forbes: “The U.S. government is secretly ordering Google to provide data on anyone typing in certain search terms, an accidentally unsealed court document shows. There are fears such “keyword warrants” threaten to implicate innocent Web users in serious crimes and are more common than previously thought…It’s a rare example of a so-called keyword warrant and,… Continue Reading
What Is Google Socratic and How Does It Work?
MakeUseOf: “Need detailed or specialized information? Google Socratic is the scholar’s Google, and here’s how it works…Google Socratic helps connect students to helpful educational resources from all over the web through a mobile phone app for free. Using technology like text-to-speech and photo analysis, Socratic uses artificial intelligence to enhance its search capabilities to help… Continue Reading
You’ve decided to quit Facebook. Here’s how to migrate your online life elsewhere
Washington Post: ‘Every time there’s a Facebook scandal, you may have thought about quitting the social network, and this time for real. But you run into the same problem every time: Where exactly should you go? After a rough month of revelations about Facebook’s business practices, culminating with a whistleblower testifying in front of lawmakers… Continue Reading
Climate and energy choices this decade will influence how high sea levels rise for hundreds of years
Climate Central: Which future will we choose? Search VisualsView risk maps for 180 cities around the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, South America). Media Type – Photorealistic Image, Flyover Video, Google Earth Image, Animated GIF. Present-day sea level 1.1°C, 1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C, 4°C. View risk maps| See the research Continue Reading
Find Your Ancestors Quickly Using FamilySearch’s New Discovery Search Experience
FamilySearch: “If you find yourself struggling to know how to find your ancestors, FamilySearch has a new search experience that can help you find your ancestors in a quick and easy way without having to sign in. The FamilySearch Discovery Search experience provides a way to quickly search select databases on FamilySearch—the tree, records, memories,… Continue Reading
Google tests ways to showcase breaking news in Twitter-like move
BNN Bloomberg – “Alphabet Inc.’s Google is trying to make search more of a go-to destination for breaking news and live events – moving directly onto Twitter Inc.’s turf. In recent years, Google has placed a carousel of links to news sites at the top of search results for certain events such as the recent… Continue Reading
Google launches new features to help users shrink their carbon footprints
The Verge: “Google announced a suite of new features that it says will help people who use their platforms make more sustainable choices. The new services focus on reducing planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions and are primarily found on Search, Maps, Travel, and Nest. But before we get into the details of how their new tools… Continue Reading
We don’t know where all the lead pipes are. This tool helps find them
Fast Company – “President Biden wants to replace all the lead pipes left in the U.S. The only problem is we have very little idea where they are…That means that cities typically have to dig to figure out whether a pipe buried underground is lead or copper—and each dig can cost thousands of dollars. Schwartz,… Continue Reading
There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Location Data
The MarkUp – A huge but little-known industry has cropped up around monetizing people’s movements – “Companies that you likely have never heard of are hawking access to the location history on your mobile phone. An estimated $12 billion market, the location data industry has many players: collectors, aggregators, marketplaces, and location intelligence firms, all… Continue Reading
How to Get Google Search Results That Are Actually Useful
Wired: Here’s how to cut through the sponsored listings and ads—and get back to the good stuff….To get good results out of Google, you need to go beyond simply typing out a few keywords and hoping for the best. Using the tips we’ve outlined below, you should be able to find what you’re after faster… Continue Reading
