• 9TO5MAC.COM
    Do people really want the iPod back? Probably not
    From time to time, I see some nostalgic posts about the good old days when iPods were everywhere. Personally, the iPod was responsible for getting me to like Apple products. But years after the iPod was discontinued, I dont think people really want the iPod back even though they claim they do and heres why.The iPod brand was officially killed in 2022 when Apple officially discontinued the iPod touch with a press announcement saying that music lives on. However, I think the iPod was dead long before that. More specifically, in 2017, when the company discontinued the iconic iPod nano and shuffle.Now that the iPod is gone, some people naturally miss it and say Apple should bring it back. To be honest, while I understand the sentiment, I also think the idea of an iPod no longer makes sense.A recap of the iPods historyFirst, lets recap the history of the iPod. The first iPod was introduced in 2001, at a time when computers were clunky, sound systems werent exactly portable, and phones werent smart. The idea of having a super portable device that could fit a thousand songs in your pocket was incredible. Ill never forget the feeling when I used an iPod for the first time.As technology evolved, Apple also introduced different versions of the iPod. Years later, the company launched the even smaller iPod nano and the tiny iPod shuffle. And iPod sales grew significantly, accounting for 40% of Apples revenue in 2006 but the world was about to change, and Apple knew it.Phones were becoming smarter, gaining more features. It wouldnt be long before iPods were no longer needed. When Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone in 2007, he often said that the iPhone would be the best iPod. After all, it combined all the good things users already loved about the iPod with a smartphone. And time has shown that Jobs was right.I was one of the people who used to carry both an iPhone and an iPod with me in the early days. The iPhones built-in storage was quite limited at the time, so for a while it still made more sense to keep a specific device for listening to music. But the iPhone evolved, the era of streaming came along, and most people no longer felt the need to have a device solely for that.iPod sales peaked in 2008 with almost 60 million units sold and began to fall in 2009, two years after Apple introduced the first iPhone. In 2014, the last year in which Apple revealed iPod figures as a separate category, the company had sold just 14 million units. Year after year, people stopped buying iPods until they disappeared.Do people really want the iPod back? I dont think soSome of the people who want the iPod back argue that Apple is losing money by not reviving such an iconic product. The thing is, I think Apple knows that it probably wouldnt sell that much iPod if it was ever relaunched.Think about the iPhone mini there were a lot of people who said they loved smaller phones and wanted them back. Apple listened to these people, but the figures showed that the vast majority of people didnt care for the iPhone mini. Sales were quite low compared to other models, and the iPhone mini was also eventually discontinued.I carry around an upgraded iPod Classic ocasionally. It is a pain carrying a bunch of devices, but I love that the iPod has zero distractions. It does a single thing - play music. The best part is its music I own. Theres no monthly fee involved, no bluetooth or wifi to track me, no phoning home.I know its not perfect because I end up having my phone on me, and I like having my Apple watch on me. But at least my iPod cant hurt me. View all commentsSure, a new iPod would certainly sell well at first, since a lot of people would buy it just for nostalgias sake. But its no longer a long-term business.Again, I understand the nostalgia factor. I still keep my 3rd generation iPod nano on my office desk to remind me of the good memories. Its nice to turn it on and listen to music on it sometimes, but every time I do, I also understand why the iPod is gone. In todays world, what we really want is a device that does everything.And as Apple said, the iPod concept lives on in other devices. Not just on the iPhone, but also on our iPads, HomePods, and Apple Watch. If you think about it, Apple Watch is essentially a modern-day iPod nano. You can put music on it and use it without your iPhone nearby. And to be honest, even though I have a cellular Apple Watch, I never leave home without my iPhone.But what about you? What are your thoughts on the iPod? Let me know in the comments section below.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel
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  • FUTURISM.COM
    Trump Admin Orders Deletion of Information About Climate Change From Government Websites
    The US Department of Agriculture under Donald Trump is taking a bold new stance toward climate change: out of sight, out of mind.A new report byPolitico reveals a concerted effort to scrub any mention of "climate change" from the USDA website. On Thursday, a memo circulated instructing site managers to "identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change," according to Politico. It also mandated that employees identify web content related to climate change and document it for further inspection.The move could lead to the deletion of information from the Forest Service, Rural Housing and Utility Services, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, among other subagencies. The memo has also circulated to the EPA, according to reporting by JacobinIt's a particularly troubling sign as our climate shows signs it is buckling under the weight of our carbon footprint, increasing everything from the severity of wildfiresto the frequency of major hurricanes. That our new executives are scrubbing all proof that the US government once acknowledged those dangers is pretty disturbing, to say nothing of the laws they're looking to pass.With every new administration comes a host of small style changes to government sites, which can indicate policy directions under newly appointed agency heads. Not content just to rearrange some copy, though, Trump has taken to altering entire landing pages and scrubbing information that doesn't align with his agenda.The DHS site, for example, has scrubbed mentions of Ukraine, information on Border Security office and enforcement locations, and tabs regarding EEO/Diversity, Ethics/Standards of Conduct, as well as Civil Rights and Civil Liberties relating to Customs and Border Patrol.Since he's taken office, Trump has also removed the Spanish-language translation of the White House site, along with disclaimers and accessibility options for the disabled. That site also got a fancy new landing page, proclaiming "AMERICA IS BACK" under a prominent profile of Trump.But not every government site has removed information. Soon after his inauguration, Trump's team added an official DOGE site, populated with AI-generated slop art and copy that reads: "Department of Government Efficiency. The people voted for major reform."And backin meatspace, the Trump admin has also taken to pulling down portraits of previous Secretaries of State, including the two who served under Trump's first term. In the US Agency of International Development, staffers were baffled to discover Trump staffers had removed all pictures of federal aid programs, leaving only empty frames lining the halls.It's a fitting analog to the kind of cuts the president is making to outsource, downsize, and otherwise end long-standing federal functions.On Wednesday, Trump had security officers forcibly remove the inspector general of the USDA from her office, after she challenged her firing as unlawful. That office, conveniently, had been investigating Musk's Neuralink venture, as well as issues of animal abuse and food safety.She's just one of 17 inspectors to be sacked by the new administration, and it remains to be seen who if anyone Trump will appoint to take their place. If his recent moves are any indication, it might be a 21-year-old Musk intern whose favorite word is "yes."Share This Article
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  • FUTURISM.COM
    Quartz Just Published an AI-Generated Article That Absolutely Butchers the Situation With Boeings Stranded Astronauts
    Earlier this month, as Aftermath first reported, the G/O Media-owned business news website Quartzquietly started churning out a huge number of AI-generated news articles. Surprise: its news bot is already publishing outrageous errors.For example, the publication's AI-powered "Quartz Intelligence Newsroom" byline pushed out an article yesterday confidently declaring that NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have now been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for months due to the extraordinary failure of Boeing's Starliner, are still in space because their mission was intentionally "prolonged" so they could conduct maintenance on the ISS."Their mission, originally intended for a shorter duration, was prolonged to accommodate a series of crucial maintenance tasks outside the ISS," reads the AI-generated news hit.As anyone with a passing interest in NASA or the private space sector knows, this is completelyand utterly wrong.Though Williams and Wilmore, who were originally meant to be in space for about a week, are assisting other ISS crewmates with research and maintenance spacewalks, their many-months-longer-than-expected stay wasn't at all intentional.Instead, their return has been repeatedly postponed because of colossal failures on Boeing's behalf. In short, their protracted ISS visit wasn't necessary for "maintenance tasks." It's all the result of a massive Boeing screwup that stranded two humans in orbit.But you wouldn't know that from Quartz's AI-generated article, which completely bungles the facts of the astronauts' situation and incredibly ignores Boeing's central role in the debacle entirely.Even the headline of the AI-generated article, "The Boeing Starliner astronauts took their first spacewalk," is incorrect. Yes, the duo conducted their first spacewalk together yesterday. But both astronauts are spacewalk veterans. Williams, in fact, set the new record as the woman with the most minutes in the vacuum of space on this most recent adventure; she even took part in a previous spacewalk to conduct maintenance on the ISS just two weeks ago.In addition to all that blatantly inaccurate information, there are subtler errors in the article as well.Each Quartz AI post includes a list of citations at the very top, which in theory provides important context for readers. But instead, the bot mangles the credit by saying the piece "incorporates reporting" from a person named "Bill McEwen," linking back to a website called GV Wire. And while there is a Bill McEwen listed as an editor of GV Wire, the article itself is actually by theAssociated Press meaning it's the AP's reporting,which should have been given the credit, instead of slapping the name of a random employee on it. (That AP article, by the way, seems to be where the error about the "first" spacewalk came from; the Quartz AI basically stole it and took out the word "together," rendering it no longer accurate.)In other words, from top to bottom, this article is a confident-sounding mess of AI slop. And though the website does include a wretched disclaimer at the foot of each AI-spun article noting that the AI is "experimental" and will probably make mistakes, it forces the question: what purpose does this thing really serve that doesn't outweigh the reputational harm it's incurring?In reality, it's obviously a traffic play. G/O's executives want clicks, and they don't care if they're spreading blatant misinformation to get them. In their mind, throwing other people's journalism into a woodchipper and publishing whatever paraphrased chum comes out the other side is a viable business strategy.If that sounds unfair, remember that this is just the latest of many attempts by G/O to push AI products onto its various websites, which have repeatedly ended in preventable, embarrassing errors and incurred rage by the company's human journalists. As those human employees have made very clear, the staff at G/O publications want to do journalism and, in turn, do right by readers.We reached to G/O Media with questions, but haven't heard back.Share This Article
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  • WWW.INFORMATIONWEEK.COM
    How AI, Energy Requirements Are Shaping Data Center Investment
    TechTarget and Informa Techs Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Techs Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.How AI, Energy Requirements Are Shaping Data Center InvestmentHow AI, Energy Requirements Are Shaping Data Center InvestmentAs Microsoft invests $80 billion to build out AI-powered data centers, tech companies face energy challenges in the cost of AI infrastructure.Brian T. Horowitz, Contributing ReporterJanuary 31, 20251 Min ReadTanapong Sungkaew via Alamy StockEarlier this month, Microsoft announced it would invest about $80 billion indata centerspowered by AI. As part of its golden opportunity for American AI, the company willtrain AI models and roll out AI and cloud-based applications with this investment.In FY 2025, Microsoft is on track to invest approximately $80 billion to build out AI-enabled data centers to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications around the world, wrote Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, in aJan. 3 blog post. More than half of this total investment will be in the United States, reflecting our commitment to this country and our confidence in the American economy.Last year, Microsoft said it would invest more than $35 billion across 14 countries within three years to construct AI and cloud data center infrastructure. It is also collaborating withBlackRock and MGXto form an international investment fund that contributes up to an additional $100 billion for AI infrastructure and the AI supply chain, Smith wrote.Microsoft is all-in on AI much like they were with the cloud, and AI has eclipsed their cloud efforts much like the cloud eclipsed Windows, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, via email.Tony Harvey, a senior director analyst at Gartner, also sees the investment as a sign that Microsoft is committed to AI and must invest to lead the market in this area. He expects Microsofts investments in AI data centers to focus on many large language models (LLMs) and then include AI agents.Read the Full Article on Network ComputingAbout the AuthorBrian T. HorowitzContributing ReporterBrian T. Horowitz is a technology writer and editor based in New York City. He started his career at Computer Shopper in 1996 when the magazine was more than 900 pages per month. Since then, his work has appeared in outlets that include eWEEK, Fast Company, Fierce Healthcare, Forbes, Health Data Management, IEEE Spectrum, Mens Fitness, PCMag, Scientific American and USA Weekend. Brian is a graduate of Hofstra University. Follow him on Twitter: @bthorowitz.See more from Brian T. HorowitzNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports
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  • WWW.CNET.COM
    How Accurate Is Groundhog Day? Experts Grade the Woodchucks
    Groundhog Day is coming on Sunday, Feb. 2. It's a time when we look to a sleepy woodchuck (or other animal) to tell us how much more winter we have to endure before spring arrives. In fact, an opposum named Sand Mountain Sam in Boaz, Alabama is getting to the job a little early. Sam predicts the end of winter every year around Feb.2, and this year he didn't see his shadow, predicting an early spring.Sam has his own opinions, but more people may be more familiar with Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous groundhog prognosticator in history. Soon, Phil will emerge from his Pennsylvania burrow with some human assistance. If Phil sees his shadow, then we're supposedly in for six more weeks of winter. But there are some questions about Phil's accuracy.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration checkedPunxsutawney Phil's track recordlast year and found the fuzzy ambassador's predictions lacking. This year, NOAA took a deeper dive into Groundhog Day results andgraded the work of 19 groundhogsand groundhog surrogates to determine the accuracy of their predictions. Spoiler: Phil came in 17th. Enlarge Image A groundhog nibbles on some vegetation in Virginia. NPSNOAA ranks the groundhogs Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. NOAA set a few ground rules. The groundhogs and "alternative groundhogs" must have been prognosticating for at least 20 years and must also have been active as of Feb. 2, 2024. The competitors included 13 groundhogs, three taxidermied groundhogs, one never-seen creature presumed to be a groundhog, a prairie dog statue and a tortoise.NOAA used data from its National Centers for Environmental Information, which maintains an archive of ocean, weather and climate data. The agency compared the groundhogs' track records with US March temperature averages from 2005 to 2024.All hail Staten Island Chuck, a woodchuck at the Staten Island Zoo in New York City. Chuck, also known as Charles G. Hogg, topped the rankings with 85% accuracy. He famously bit the mayor in 2009 when Michael Bloomberg attempted to coax him out for a Groundhog Day ceremony.The next-best groundhog was General Beauregard Lee from the Dauset Trails Nature Center in Jackson, Georgia with 80% accuracy. Third place belongs to Lander Lil, a bronze statue of a prairie dog in Lander, Wyoming. Lander Lil came in at 75% accuracy. Groundhogs don't live in Wyoming, but prairie dogs do. The prognostication principles are the same. If Lander Lil "sees" a shadow on Groundhog Day, then more winter is expected.How Punxsutawney Phil fared Enlarge Image Mojave Max is a desert tortoise like the one pictured here in a National Park Service image. NPSOverall, 14 of the groundhogs had 50% accuracy or better. Poor Punxsutawney Phil managed only 35% accuracy, landing him near the bottom of the rankings. At least he's more accurate than Mojave Max, a desert tortoise at the Springs Preserve in Nevada who took the last spot with 25% accuracy.The ranking might not be fair to Mojave Max, though. The tortoise doesn't get paraded around on Groundhog Day. His predictions are based on when he emerges from brumation (like hibernation for reptiles). Max gets up sometime between February and April each year."Warmer temperatures, longer daylight hours and his own internal clock are factors known to contribute to his emergence every year," the Clark County Desert Conservation program said. His appearance marks the unofficial start of spring for southern Nevada.Groundhog Day has been a tradition at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania since the late 1800s and it's still going strong. NOAA's debunking of woodchuck weather forecasting doesn't detract from the fun of the celebration. What Phil lacks in accuracy he makes up for in sheer fame, cuteness and charisma. So go ahead and cheer for Phil, but maybe base your spring plans on a rodent from Staten Island rather than Punxsutawney.
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  • WWW.CNET.COM
    After DeepSeek R1's Release, ChatGPT Offers Free Trials for o3-mini
    OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT,has fully released its o3-mini model to all paid tiers, including a trial to free users, the company announced Friday. The launch comes at the end of a week in whichDeepSeek R1, a Chinese-made, freely available and open-source "reasoning" AI model, sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley.OpenAI's o3-mini model is a lighter version of o3, a "reasoning" model that takes longer to develop answers but can deal with more complex information for greater outputs. OpenAI says o3-mini excels in math, science and coding at faster speeds, especially when compared to its top-tier o1 model.The o3-mini model supports function calling for outside data like stock prices and can produce responses in a specific format like JSON or XML. It also supports developer messages and allows for streaming, which is the incremental delivery of results so you can see them faster. Unlike o1, o3-mini doesn't support vision capabilities, meaning you can't have it analyze pictures.The sudden release of o3-mini is likely in response to DeepSeek R1, a reasoning model out of China that vaulted onto the internet last weekend and sent tech stocks spiraling downward when markets opened Monday. DeepSeek says it found a way to develop a reasoning model that'sfar cheaper and more efficient while also using older Nvidia hardware. DeepSeek hasn't been entirely transparent on how it landed on its training costs, but R1 is available now, and people are using it. It's competitive with OpenAI's o1 model, which is remarkable considering o1 is part of ChatGPT's $200 pro tier. Watch this: What Is DeepSeek AI? Everything to Know About the Popular New AI 01:25 DeepSeek's release completely upended the current paradigm in Silicon Valley, where conventional wisdom said more money and computing power were necessary to create the next wave of AI models. It's why Big Tech has been pouring billions into AI development. For a company like Nvidia, which makes the hardware powering the AI revolution, investors were spooked to learn that powerful models could be made using older hardware.Along with the release of o3-mini, OpenAI will increase the usage rates for its more powerful o1-mini model. The o3-mini model can also connect to the internet to find up-to-date information.
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  • WWW.ARCHITECTURALDIGEST.COM
    25 Best Candles to Give as Gifts for All Occasions in 2025
    Notes: berries, black currant, roseApotheke Bitter Cherry Classic CandleCherry, arguably the sexiest of all fruits, is the main character here, made only more alluring with its bitter complexity. The sweet and tart smell is deepened with patchouli, cardamom, warm oud, and tonka bean. This is most certainly a dinner-date candle, a shaved-my-legs candle, a sleepover candle.Notes: black cherry, cardamom, sweet patchouli, sandalwood, tonka beanD.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain CandleAny scent that can bring us that windows-down feeling is an instant add to cart. Its easy to feel like a Californian coasting down Highway 1 with this votivethe smell of wet, effusive eucalyptus, and what they call young green shoots, long spears, and russet underbrush.Notes: coastal rain, eucalyptus shoot, magnolia, pacific sprayLe Labo Petit Grain 21 CandleA small grain, this candle is both herbaceous and floralvery Mediterranean orchard-smelling. The orange blossom is grounded in green and earthy smells, making it a perfect choice for creating an unobtrusive and calming scent experience.Notes: orange-blossom, bergamot and white floralFlamingo Estate Roma Heirloom CandleThis candle smells more like a tomato vine than a tomato vine doesand it really packs a punch. After this candle was lit for 5 minutes, my entire living room was subsumed with the lush and peppery smell of tomato, says commerce writer Julia Harrison. For the herbalists, the chefs, the gardeners, or the garden-missing, this is the perfect gift.Notes: Tomato Vine, Holy Basil, Black PepperMalin + Goetz Strawberry CandleLooking to capture summer year-round? This candle brings peak produce to the darkest hours, with notes of fresh bergamot and pink pepper with warm musks, jasmine petals, and soft orris root. I also own the fragrance version of this candleI cant get enough of the scent. Its light, not overly sweet, and super refreshing, says Audrey.Notes: sparkling bergamot, mara strawberry, pink pepperAesop Ptolemy Aromatique CandleGone viral many a time for their perfumes, Aesop is a master of aromatherapy. This candles notes of cedar, cypress, and vetiver are for bringing the outdoors in, a forest bathing technique for the city-dweller.Notes: Cypress, Cedar and VetiverTOM FORD Ebene Fume CandleThis is a candle for the spiritually inclinedmindfulness meets opulence, they call it. Its scent profile of palo santo, cistus, and ebony wood is both meditative and transcendent. Light this candle, start your chant playlist, criss-cross applesauce and let your mind wander.Notes: palo santo, leather, woodsNEST New York Driftwood & Chamomile CandleThe title says it all, really. This one smells of driftwood and chamomile, but it includes undertones of vanilla bean and sandalwood to sweeten and deepen the smell. Were also very tempted to purchase this one because of its cute reusable glass containerit would make a good-looking bedside water glass.Notes: chamomile, vanilla bean, sandalwood, driftwoodJoya x Brooklyn Museum "Purple Wisteria" (Winter) CandleJoya always nails its collabstheres one from A24 we also love farther down this list. This launch was to celebrate the work of Japanese print designer Utagawa Hiroshiges 100 Famous Views of Edo. The candle itself smells of Japanese forestdamp, herbaceous, chilly. The top notes here are laurel leaf, basil, ice and wild mint, but below that lies a bed of musk, moss, and florals.
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  • WWW.ARCHITECTURALDIGEST.COM
    Will Arnett Lists Contemporary Beverly Hills Manse for $22.5 Million
    Actor Will Arnett is letting go of his customized Beverly Hills house, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Bojack Horseman star has listed the 10,300-square-foot contemporary dwelling for $22.5 million. His listing agent told the outlet that the bicoastal actor is selling because he has been spending more time in New York.Arnett, who co-hosts the popular SmartLess podcast alongside his Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman and Will & Grace star Sean Hayes, had a professional sound booth installed on the half-acre parcel to record voiceovers and podcasts from the comfort of his home. He was the first resident of the new build when he bought it for $16.4 million in 2021. He then spent millions more tweaking it to his liking; in addition to the sound booth, the Toronto native revamped the backyard, added built-ins, and switched out the lighting, plumbing fixtures, and hardware.A black pivot-entry front door opens into the homes double-height foyer, which features a sculptural floating staircase leading up to the bedroom level. The primary suite comes equipped with a modern fireplace and a luxurious bathroom with vaulted ceilings, treetop views, a massive glass-walled shower for two, and a soaking tub. The upper level also features a balcony overlooking the homes resort-like backyard, which boasts a cold plunge, meditation area, sauna, and a vegetable gardenin addition to the typical outdoor amenities of an eight-figure Beverly Hills listing, including a swimming pool, a barbecue area, and an alfresco dining setup. More entertaining spots can be found on the pads lower level, which hosts a game room, a gym, and an especially cozy-looking film screening spot with tiered seating, wood paneling, and extra-deep sofas.Join NowBecome an AD PRO member for only $25 $20 per month + receive an exclusive toteArrowArnett apparently has a thing for bespoke homes. He previously owned a custom-built Beverly Hills Post Office mansion, which he sold for $7.85 million in 2021.
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  • WWW.THEVERGE.COM
    Donald Trumps data purge has begun
    Key resources for environmental data and public health have already been taken down from federal websites, and more could soon vanish as the Trump administration works to scrap anything that has to do with climate change, racial equity, or gender identity.Warnings floated on social media today about an impending purge at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), spurring calls to save as much data as soon as possible. The CDC shares data on a wide range of topics, from chronic diseases to traffic injuries, tobacco use, vaccinations, and pregnancies in the US and its just one of the agencies in the crosshairs. Researchers have been archiving government websites for monthsFortunately, researchers have been archiving government websites for months. This is typical with every change in administration, but there was even more imperative with the return of Donald Trump to office. Access to as much as 20 percent of the Environmental Protection Agencys website was removed during the first round of Trumps deregulatory spree. And now, it seems, similar moves are happening fast.The CDCs social vulnerability index and environmental justice index tools that could show whether particular populations might face disproportionate health risks have both been taken offline within the past week. In 2007, during the Bush administration, social scientists, geographers, and statisticians started developing the social vulnerability index (SVI), which incorporated demographic and socioeconomic factors including poverty, race, and ethnicity over the years. The Biden administration launched the environmental justice index (EJI) in 2022. Too many communities across our nation, particularly low-income communities and communities of color, continue to bear the brunt of pollution. Meeting the needs of these communities requires our focused attention and we will use the Environmental Justice Index to do just that, then Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a press release at the time.Since stepping into office, Trump has tried to undo previous administrations work to address health disparities when it comes to race and gender. In an executive order Trump signed to undo Biden-era policies, the president wrote that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has corrupted government institutions. He also claimed that climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation. During his first term in office, there was a near 40 percent decline in the term climate change across websites for federal environmental agencies. Its too soon to know what the damage might be this time around, but some webpages have already vanished. The US Department of Transportations priorities website has removed pages on both climate and sustainability and equity. It follows an internal memo sent this week instructing USDOT operating administrations to identify and ultimately terminate Biden-era activities relating to climate change and DEI.Donald Trumps efforts to limit foreign aid seem to have also led to information being taken down on HIV and AIDS. The data webpage for the US Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) was taken down this week. PEPFAR has been around since 2003 and helped more than 20.6 million people get access to antiretroviral therapy in 2024 alone, according to a snapshot of the website taken by the Wayback Machine on January 26th, before it was taken down.The End of Term Web Archive project has saved content on federal government websites during every presidential transition since 2008. The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) that formed after Trump was first elected also documents changes to government websites and works to make archived datasets available elsewhere. It has backed up data from the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index and Environmental Justice Index and shared it on a webpage for The Public Environmental Data Project.Yet even if these datasets have been archived, they arent as helpful when they arent updated. Any dataset has a lifespan of utility, says Dan Pisut, senior principal engineer at GIS software company Esri. Aging datasets might not fully represent whats actually happening on the ground, so people have to be careful about how they use them, Pisut points out. It could be risky, he says, but better than nothing.See More:
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