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Category Archives: Social Media

Google’s Searchbot Could Put Me Out of a Job

The Atlantic [free link]: “Google Search, like the rest of the internet, is pivoting to generative AI. The first step is Search Generative Experience, an experimental tool currently available as a public beta. Instead of sending you off to other corners of the web, more search results appear within Google. Sort of like ChatGPT, it… Continue Reading

AP investigation into ethics practices of Supreme Court justices

“An Associated Press examination of the ethics practices of the U.S. Supreme Court relied on documents obtained from more than 100 public records requests to public colleges, universities and other institutions that have hosted the justices over the past decade. Here’s a look at how the reporting was done: To conduct its review, the AP… Continue Reading

Facebook could be tracking your online Plan B or HIV test purchases

Popular Science: “Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS’ website is not as private an experience as one might think. An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed. And CVS is not the only pharmacy… Continue Reading

How Threads’ privacy policy compares to Twitter’s (and its rivals’)

Ars Technica: “Here’s what is collected by Threads, as well as by Twitter, Bluesky, Mastodon, Spill, and Hive Social. Meta’s long-awaited Twitter alternative is here, and it’s called Threads. The new social media app launches at a time when alternatives, like Bluesky, Mastodon, and Spill, are vying for users who are dissatisfied with Elon Musk’s… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 8, 2023

Via LLRX –  Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 8, 2023 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading

Civic Information Handbook

Civic Information Handbook by Karen Kornbluh and Adrienne Goldstein, May 11, 2023. Offering insight on how to compete with coordinated deceptive information campaigns – created in collaboration with UNC Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life.  “This handbook aims to: Educate civic information providers about coordinated deceptive campaign…including how they build their audiences, seed compelling… Continue Reading

Open Science on Mastodon

Follow the Open Science Community on Mastodon. “Get in touch with the Open Science Community from around the world on Mastodon! This page lists accounts of people interested in Open Science, Metaresearch, Replication, Reproducibility, Open Educational Resources, Open Access, Open Data, Open Source, Open Hardware, Open Software, Open EVERYTHING. It also offers an easy method… Continue Reading

Google Says It’ll Scrape Everything You Post Online for AI

Gizmodo – “Google updated its privacy policy over the weekend, explicitly saying the company reserves the right to scrape just about everything you post online to build its AI tools. If Google can read your words, assume they belong to the company now, and expect that they’re nesting somewhere in the bowels of a chatbot.… Continue Reading

LLRX June 2023 Issue

LLRX June 2023 Issue – Articles and Columns for June 2023 Brevity is the Soul of Profit: What Lawyers Need to Know About Executive Summaries – Elizabeth Southerland – The purpose of an executive summary is to boil this down to a few sentences that tell the leader what they want to know. AI and… Continue Reading

TikTok Sells A Lot of Books. Now, Its Owner Wants to Publish Them, Too.

The New York Times [and free link] – “As ByteDance launches a publishing company, many in the book world wonder if it will create an uneven playing field by boosting its own authors at the expense of others…Even under increased regulatory scrutiny over concerns it could be influenced by the Chinese government, ByteDance can reach… Continue Reading

The Scarcest Thing in the World

The Honest Broker – Ted Gioia: “Everybody is trying to kill it—criminals, technocrats, politicians, you name it. Not long ago, Disney was the only company selling a Fantasyland, but now that’s the ambition of every tech empire. The trust crisis could hardly be more intense. But it’s hidden from view because there’s so much information… Continue Reading

Conspiracy theories aren’t on the rise – we need to stop panicking

Via LLRX – Conspiracy theories aren’t on the rise – we need to stop panicking – Several polls in the past couple of years (including from Ipsos, YouGov and most recently Savanta on behalf of Kings College Policy Institute and the BBC) have been examining the kinds of conspiratorial beliefs people have. The findings have led… Continue Reading