expert

20Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

A Constitutional Law Expert Explains What The Criminal Referral Of Trump Means

After 18 months investigating, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol held its final public meeting on Dec. 19, 2022. The panel recommended that the U.S. Department of Justice bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The House committee recommended that the Justice Department pursue four main charges against Trump – obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make a false statement and inciting or assisting an insurrection. The committee also recommended that the House Ethics Committee sanction four Republican members of Congress who refused the committee’s subpoena requests to provide information about the ev...

A social media Expert Explains How The ‘Federated’ Network ‘Mastodon’ Works And Why It Won’t Be A New Twitter

19Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, IN OTHER NEWS

A social media Expert Explains How The ‘Federated’ Network ‘Mastodon’ Works And Why It Won’t Be A New Twitter

In the wake of Elon Musk’s noisy takeover of Twitter, people have been looking for alternatives to the increasingly toxic microblogging social media platform. Many of those fleeing or hedging their bets have turned to Mastodon, which has attracted hundreds of thousands of new users since Twitter’s acquisition. Like Twitter, Mastodon allows users to post, follow people and organizations, and like and repost others’ posts. But while Mastodon supports many of the same social networking features as Twitter, it is not a single platform. Instead, it’s a federation of independently operated, interconnected servers. Mastodon servers are based on open-source software developed by German nonprofit Mastodon gGmbH. The interconnected Mastodon servers, along with other servers that can “talk” to Mast...

Here’s What I Learned As An Election Law Expert Who Ran A Polling Station This Election – The Powerful Role Of Local Officials In Applying The Law Fairly

10Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Here’s What I Learned As An Election Law Expert Who Ran A Polling Station This Election – The Powerful Role Of Local Officials In Applying The Law Fairly

Derek Muller is a nationally recognized expert in election law at the University of Iowa College of Law, where he studies and teaches about the role of states in the administration of federal elections. In late October he submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on a case that could drastically reshape U.S. elections, addressing the independent state legislature theory. But Muller doesn’t just understand election law from an ivory tower perch. On Election Day, he was a precinct chair in Iowa City, running a polling station inside the University of Iowa. The Conversation U.S. asked him to reflect on what it’s like to be both a election law scholar and an election worker. You occupy a pretty high place in the world of election law scholars. But here you are, participating at the...

A Cybersecurity Expert Explains A Whistleblower’s Claims – Did Twitter Ignore Basic Security Measures?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

A Cybersecurity Expert Explains A Whistleblower’s Claims – Did Twitter Ignore Basic Security Measures?

Twitter’s former security chief, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2022, accusing the microblogging platform company of serious security failings. The accusations amplified the ongoing drama of Twitter’s potential sale to Elon Musk. Zatko spent decades as an ethical hacker, private researcher, government adviser and executive at some of the most prominent internet companies and government offices. He is practically a legend in the cybersecurity industry. Because of his reputation, when he speaks, people and governments normally listen – which underscores the seriousness of his complaint against Twitter. As a former cybersecurity industry practitioner and current cybersecurity researcher, I believe that Zatko’s most d...

An Online Media Expert Explains – What Are Dark Patterns?

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, VIDEO REELS

An Online Media Expert Explains – What Are Dark Patterns?

Jasmine McNealy, University of Florida Dark patterns are design elements that deliberately obscure, mislead, coerce and/or deceive website visitors into making unintended and possibly harmful choices. Dark patterns can be found in many kinds of sites and are used by several kinds of organizations. They take the form of deceptively labeled buttons, choices that are difficult to undo and graphical elements like color and shading that direct users’ attention to or away from certain options. Dark patterns in subscriptions are a common example of these kinds of design choices, given the ubiquity of online subscriptions and free trials for all kinds of products and services. This kind of dark pattern might make it difficult for a user to unsubscribe, or it might automatically convert a free t...

A Finance Expert Explains The ‘Poison Pill’ The Anti-Takeover Tool That Twitter Hopes Will Keep Elon Musk At Bay

19Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, IN OTHER NEWS

A Finance Expert Explains The ‘Poison Pill’ The Anti-Takeover Tool That Twitter Hopes Will Keep Elon Musk At Bay

Takeovers are usually friendly affairs. Corporate executives engage in top-secret talks, with one company or group of investors making a bid for another business. After some negotiating, the companies engaged in the merger or acquisition announce a deal has been struck. But other takeovers are more hostile in nature. Not every company wants to be taken over. This is the case with Elon Musk’s US$43 billion bid to buy Twitter. Companies have various measures in their arsenal to ward off such unwanted advances. One of the most effective anti-takeover measures is the shareholder rights plan, also more aptly known as a “poison pill.” It is designed to block an investor from accumulating a majority stake in a company. Twitter adopted a poison pill plan on April 15, 2022, shortly after Musk un...

An Expert Explains What Aphasia Is – The Condition Forcing Bruce Willis To Retire From Acting

1Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CELEBRITY NEWS, TOP FOUR

An Expert Explains What Aphasia Is – The Condition Forcing Bruce Willis To Retire From Acting

Actor Bruce Willis, 67, is “stepping away” from his career in film and TV after being diagnosed with aphasia, his family announced on March 30, 2022. In a message posted on Instagram, his daughter, Rumer Willis, said that the condition was “impacting his cognitive abilities.” Swathi Kiran, director of the Aphasia Research Laboratory at Boston University, explains what aphasia is and how it impairs the communication of those with the condition. What is aphasia? Aphasia is a communication disorder that affects someone’s ability to speak or understand speech. It also impacts how they understand written words and their ability to read and to write. It is important to note that aphasia can take different forms. Some people with aphasia only have difficulty understanding language – a result o...

Gun Sales And Gun Violence In Pandemic America – An Expert Weighs In On The Latest Trends

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IMPACT, VIDEO REELS

Gun Sales And Gun Violence In Pandemic America – An Expert Weighs In On The Latest Trends

Gun sales have risen in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Feb. 28, 2022, SciLine interviewed Garen Wintemute – an emergency medicine physician at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center and director of the California Firearm Violence Research Center – about what’s driving this change and what gun usage and culture looks like in America two years into the pandemic. The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, which have been edited for brevity and clarity. What does the research tell us about who owns guns in the United States and why? Garen Wintemute: The traditional population of gun owners are white, non-Hispanic men. But for several years, the demographic profile of gun owners in the United States ha...

An Agriculture Expert Explains What Bio-engineered Food Is

21Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

An Agriculture Expert Explains What Bio-engineered Food Is

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines bioengineered food as food that “contains detectable genetic material that has been modified through certain lab techniques that cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature.” If that definition sounds familiar, it is because it is essentially how genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are defined – common vocabulary many people use and understand. On Jan. 1, 2022, the USDA implemented a new U.S. bioengineered food disclosure standard. Shoppers are seeing labels on food products with the terms “bioengineered” or “derived from bioengineering” printed on a green seal with the sun shining down on cropland. More than 90% of U.S.-grown corn, soybeans and sugar beets are genetically modified. This means that many processed foo...

A Waste Expert Explains What Pay-As-You-Throw Means

5Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

A Waste Expert Explains What Pay-As-You-Throw Means

Pay-as-you-throw is a policy that charges people for the amount of trash they toss out. It’s also sometimes called variable-rate pricing or pay-as-you-waste. Many cities and towns around the world, including over 7,000 in the U.S., have pay-as-you-throw waste policies. Examples include Seattle, Berkeley, Austin and Portland, Maine. Large cities often require residents to purchase special trash bags or stickers so that they pay separately for every bag of trash. Or people may have to sign up for a certain level of waste collection service, which limits how much garbage they can set out on the curb. Pay-as-you-throw is one of local governments’ most effective tools for reducing waste, controlling waste disposal costs and giving residents an incentive to participate in recycling and compos...