Category «Search Engines»

Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads. Here’s what you need to know

Late last week, Google announced something called the Privacy Sandbox has been rolled out to a “majority” of Chrome users, and will reach 100% of users in the coming months. But what is it, exactly? The new suite of features represents a fundamental shift in how Chrome will track user data for the benefit of advertisers. Erica Mealy explains that Instead of third-party cookies, Chrome can now tap directly into your browsing history to gather information on advertising “topics.” Understanding how it works – and whether you want to opt in or out – is important, since Chrome remains the most widely used browser in the world, with a 63% market share as of May 2023.

Subjects: Privacy, Search Engines

The Case For Large Language Model Optimism in Legal Research From A Law & Technology Librarian

The emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) in legal research signifies a transformative shift. This article by Sean Harrington critically evaluates the advent and fine-tuning of Law-Specific LLMs, such as those offered by Casetext, Westlaw, and Lexis. Unlike generalized models, these specialized LLMs draw from databases enriched with authoritative legal resources, ensuring accuracy and relevance. Harrington highlights the importance of advanced prompting techniques and the innovative utilization of embeddings and vector databases, which enable semantic searching, a critical aspect in retrieving nuanced legal information. Furthermore, the article addresses the ‘Black Box Problem’ and explores remedies for transparency. It also discusses the potential of crowdsourcing secondary materials as a means to democratize legal knowledge. In conclusion, this article emphasizes that Law-Specific LLMs, with proper development and ethical considerations, can revolutionize legal research and practice, while calling for active engagement from the legal community in shaping this emerging technology.

Subjects: AI, KM, Law Librarians, Legal Research, Legal Research Training, LEXIS, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Westlaw

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 20, 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 increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Artificial Intelligence: Key Practices to Help Ensure Accountability in Federal Use; Don’t get scammed by fake ChatGPT apps: Here’s what to look out for; Apple Employees Forbidden From Using ChatGPT; and How to Enable Advanced Data Protection on iOS, and Why You Should.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, KM, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 7, 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 increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: You Can’t Trust Your Browser’s ‘Lock’ to Tell You a Website Is Safe; So long passwords, thanks for all the phish; Amazon Clinic patients must sign away some privacy rights under HIPAA; and Apple and Google Collaborate on Anti-Stalker Tech.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Criminal Law, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Health, KM, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 30, 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 increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Privacy Guides – Search Engines; The true numbers behind deepfake fraud; 6 riskiest medical devices for cybersecurity; and ‘As an AI language model’: the phrase that shows how AI is polluting the web.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, Government Resources, Internet Trends, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media

2023 Finding People MiniGuide

This guide by Marcus P. Zillman is a selected list of free and fee based (some require subscriptions), people finding resources, from a range of providers. A significant number of free sources on this subject matter are sourced from public records obtained by a group of companies who initially offer free information to establish your interest, from which point a more extensive report requires a fee to obtain. It is important to note that can be many errors in these data, including the inability to correctly de-duplicated individuals with the same common names. Also note that each service targets a different mix of identifying data such as: name, address, date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, relatives, education, employment, criminal records. social media accounts, income. As we conduct research throughout the day it is useful to employ both impromptu and planned searches about individuals that are referenced.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, KM, Public Records, Search Engines, Search Strategies

Algorithms are moulding and shaping our politics. Here’s how to avoid being gamed

In a recent paper, Prof. Chantelle Gray coined the term “algopopulism”: algorithmically aided politics. The political content in our personal feeds not only represents the world and politics to us. It creates new, sometimes “alternative”, realities. It changes how we encounter and understand politics and even how we understand reality itself.

Subjects: AI, Conflicts, Education, Search Engines, Search Strategies

The Efficacy of ChatGPT: Is it Time for the Librarians to Go Home?

In preparation for a presentation about race and academic libraries, Curtis Kendrick, formerly Dean and currently Binghamton University Libraries Faculty and Staff mentor, tried ChatGPT (Jan 9 version) to see what it (they?) had to say. He was curious about how it worked and how accurately it responded to queries. For our consideration, Kendrick offers his analysis of this interaction.

Subjects: AI, KM, Libraries & Librarians, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Technology Trends

ChatGPT: What It Is And Why It Matters To Lawyers

Attorney and legal technologist Nicole Black cautions user that ChatGPT is a great start, but that’s all it is. No matter what you’re using ChatGPT for, whether for personal or professional reasons, you’ll need to have a full understanding of the topic at hand and thoroughly review, edit, and supplement the draft language it provides you.

Subjects: AI, Education, KM, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Technology Trends

2023 Healthcare MiniGuide

Marcus P. Zillman’s guide addresses the challenging landscape of healthcare information that proliferates on the internet. A large measure of the information hosted on self described authoritative health and healthcare sites is grounded in speculative, e-commerce drive subject matter. Search engines drive traffic to these sites with no transparent and accountable data – the objective being SEO, web tracking and other revenue driven applications. This guide identifies reliable, accurate sites that publish data and research, as well as provide applications, on traditional western as well as some eastern medicine, sponsored and published by government, NGO/IGO, research and academic institutions, hospitals, subject matter journals – in the United States and abroad.

Subjects: Health, Healthcare, Internet Resources, Search Engines, Search Strategies