TorrentFreak – Authors & Copyright Scholars Back ‘Internet Archive’ in Landmark Legal Battle

Dec 252023
 

The Internet Archive (IA) is a non-profit organization that aims to preserve digital history for generations to come.
The digital library is a staunch supporter of a free and open Internet and began meticulously archiving the web over a quarter century ago.
In addition to archiving the web, IA also operates a library that offers a broad collection of digital media, including books. Staying true to the centuries-old library concept, IA patrons can also borrow books that are scanned and digitized in-house.
Publishers vs. Internet Archive
The self-scanning service is different from the licensing deals other libraries enter into. Not all publishers are happy with IA’s approach which triggered a massive legal battle two years ago.
Publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, John…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://torrentfreak.com/authors-and-copyright-scholars-back-internet-archive-in-landmark-legal-battle-231222/

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Ars Technica – Corvids seem to handle temporary memories the way we do

Dec 252023
 

Enlarge / A jackdaw tries to remember what color it was thinking of. (credit: Frans Buiter / 500px)
Humans tend to think that we are the most intelligent life-forms on Earth, and that we’re largely followed by our close relatives such as chimps and gorillas. But there are some areas of cognition in which homo sapiens and other primates are not unmatched. What other animal’s brain could possibly operate at a human’s level, at least when it comes to one function? Birds—again.
This is far from the first time that bird species such as corvids and parrots have shown that they can think like us in certain ways. Jackdaws are clever corvids that belong…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1992736

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Richard Stallman’s Political Notes – Facial recognition being used on customers

Dec 252023
 

Albertsons and Macy’s uses facial recognition on customers, but this article gives us little information on how.

We must reject the idea that businesses deserve the freedom to do
facial recognition on video images in and around their premises, or
the freedom to make videos and transmit them elsewhere, or regularly
save them for more than a few weeks, This supposed freedom conflicts with the privacy that humans beings deserve, and it facilitates the repression
than US cities and agencies are already eager to commit. These include
Atlanta
and Florida.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://stallman.org/archives/2023-sep-dec.html#24_December_2023_(Facial_recognition_being_used_on_customers)

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Hackaday – Absorbing Traffic Noise With Bricks Using Helmholtz Resonators

Dec 252023
 

One inevitable aspect of cities and urban life in general is that it is noisy, with traffic being one of the main sources of noise pollution. Finding a way to attenuate especially the low-frequency noise of road traffic was the subject of [Joe Krcma]’s Masters Thesis, the results of which he gave a talk on at the Portland Maker Meetup Club after graduating from University College London. The chosen solution in his thesis are Helmholtz resonators, which are a kind of acoustic spring. Using a carefully selected opening into the cavity, frequencies can be filtered out, and extinguished inside the cavity.
Basic functionality and formula used to determine the dimensions of a Helmholtz Resonator.
As examples of existing…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2023/12/24/absorbing-traffic-noise-with-bricks-using-helmholtz-resonators/

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