New researches: July 2023

Monday, July 31, 2023

Digital Equity Dashboard, Donald Judd’s Books, Arc Browser, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 31, 2023

Digital Equity Dashboard, Donald Judd’s Books, Arc Browser, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 31, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

EdWeek: Ed-Tech Inequities Abound. A New Data Dashboard Seeks to Bring Them Into the Open. “The Digital Equity Dashboard, created by the Consortium for School Networking, consolidates national data sets into one resource, providing detailed information on tech access and other characteristics of communities, anonymized and broken down by county, school district, and zip code.”

Glasstire: Judd Foundation Launches Online Catalog of Donald Judd’s Marfa Library. “The books cover a wide range of topics such as art, architecture, philosophy, literature, anthropology, natural history, and world history. The catalog features a visual map of bookshelves in the library, and when a shelf is clicked, the site displays a photograph of the actual shelf. The bookshelves, built by local craftsmen, were designed by Mr. Judd in response to the dimensions of the room.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: The excellent Arc browser is now available for anyone to download. “Arc, the Mac and iOS browser from The Browser Company, is finally ditching its waitlist. The company has been testing the app for more than two years and has, until now, made every interested user sign up for a waitlist. But now, it’s launching for real. Arc’s version number just jumped to 1.0, and anyone who wants to use Arc can go to arc.net and get the browser.”

USEFUL STUFF

WIRED: How to Switch Browsers Without Losing Your Bookmarks and Passwords. “IF YOU’RE THINKING of switching browsers—maybe because you like the features in a different application, or you’re fed up with the one you’re using—all of your accumulated data, extensions, and bookmarks can feel like a reason to stay put. It doesn’t have to be, though: Getting your data out of one browser and into another isn’t as hard as you might think.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

WCAX: Vermont Historical Society creates flood archive. “The Vermont Historical Society is collecting photos, videos and more to memorialize the flood of 2023. In addition to creating this brand new archive V.H.S. is also re-vamping their online gallery of the flood of 1927. Juls Sundberg, the metadata librarian at the Vermont Historical Society says they hope having access to both collections can connect viewers to the past, and for those uploading their experiences — provide a little bit of catharsis.”

Engadget: Twitter’s rebrand to X is causing scam alerts on Microsoft Edge. “Twitters swift rebrand to X is generating yet another issue. As reported by Bleeping Computer, the social media platform is causing Microsoft’s Edge browser to throw up a warning, indicating some sort of security problem.”

Fast Company: ‘You cannot dunk on a public defender.’ Meet the extremely online lawyer-Twitter celebrity. “Lawyers themselves are not known for having great senses of humor, which is something Beth Bourdon considers a massive misconception. Most of the attorneys in her Central Florida office, for instance, trade dark jokes amongst themselves whenever possible. Anything to lighten up the bleak atmosphere that comes with striving to mitigate the death penalty for one’s clients.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Associated Press: Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ materials. “Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing ‘harmful’ materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday.”

Bleeping Computer: BreachForums database and private chats for sale in hacker data breach. “While consumers are usually the ones worried about their information being exposed in data breaches, it’s now the hacker’s turn, as the notorious Breached cybercrime forum’s database is up for sale and member data shared with Have I Been Pwned.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

New York Times: The Story of the Student Journalist and the Stanford President. “Absent public scrutiny, journals have been consistently slow to act on allegations of research falsification. In a field dependent on good faith cooperation, in which each contribution necessarily builds on the science that came before it, the consequences can compound for years.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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August 1, 2023 at 12:14AM
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Digital Citizenship in Africa, Henry Moore Art Exhibit Posters, Spanish-Language Audio and Braille, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, July 31, 2023

Digital Citizenship in Africa, Henry Moore Art Exhibit Posters, Spanish-Language Audio and Braille, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, July 31, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Institute of Development Studies: A new era of digital citizenship in Africa. “With contributions from scholars across the continent, Digital Citizenship in Africa illustrates how citizens have been using social media to run hashtag campaigns and VPNs, encryption and privacy protecting browsers to resist limits on their rights to privacy and political speech. In each chapter authors show how positive examples of digital citizenship are limited and constrained by new forms of digital authoritarianism: internet shutdowns, repressive laws, and by state surveillance and disinformation.”

The Guardian: Poster boy: Henry Moore exhibition art through the ages – in pictures. “Sunday 30 July is the 125th anniversary of artist Henry Moore’s birth. To celebrate, the Henry Moore Archive is unveiling a digitised collection of more than 400 posters featuring Moore’s many shows through the years.”

New-to-me, from Library of Congress: NLS Debuts Site for Spanish-Language Audio and Braille. “At the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), we’ve been delighted by the enthusiastic reader response to the rollout of a Spanish site at the top of our home page. Since the site’s February debut, readers have jumped at the chance to find the newest reading materials in Spanish-language audio and Braille. The new site also features Spanish-language guides to our most popular resources, including frequently-asked questions about our BARD Mobile reading app, information about our accessible music scores and details on how to obtain a free currency reader for blind and visually impaired users.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Bureau of Transportation Statistics: BTS Updates Datasets to National Transportation Atlas Database 07/28/2023. “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released its summer 2023 update to the National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, networks, and associated infrastructure.”

NBC News: Ye’s Twitter account is unsuspended months after it was banned over swastika post. “Ye’s account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, was unsuspended Saturday, more than six months after it was banned over a post showing an image of a swastika inside a Star of David.”

Ars Technica: Reddit calls for “a few new mods” after axing, polarizing some of its best. “Reddit is campaigning to replace numerous longstanding moderators who were removed from their positions after engaging in API protests. Over the past week, a Reddit employee has posted to subreddits with ousted mods, asking for new volunteers. But in its search, the company has failed to address the intricacies involved in moderating distinct and, in some cases, well-known subreddits. And it doesn’t look like the knowledge from the previous moderators is being passed down.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Tom’s Guide: Don’t ‘Bard it’ — Google says you should still Google it to be safe. “Google Bard may be competing with ChatGPT, but it’s also competing with Google Search. Plenty of people are turning to AI chatbots over traditional search engines, which is why Bing Chat and Google Search Generative Experience both exist as AI tools that blend generative AI with traditional search. But unfortunately, generative AI gets things wrong — a lot. So Google is reminding people that when in doubt, you should still Google it rather than Bard it.” Use the whizbang technology, but do not TRUST the whizbang technology. Instead, keep using the old technology, so that it takes twice as long to do a task. But whizbang technology! This is so stupid.

Techdirt: Techdirt Has Been Deleted From Bing And DuckDuckGo. “A few months ago, Jack Yan pointed out to me that if they did a search for Techdirt on DuckDuckGo, it showed only one single link which was (bizarrely) to a random story from like eight years ago. There were literally no other results for Techdirt. I replicated it, but was travelling, and by the time I went back to write about it a few days later, everything seemed back to normal (in the interim there were a few days where it just found a couple hundred Techdirt posts). Jack wrote a short blog post on his own site about it. This morning, however, someone alerted me to the fact that DuckDuckGo currently shows zero results for Techdirt. Not even some random old article. Zero. None. Zilch.”

Huffpost: There’s A Deadly Drinking Problem On TikTok. “While the app has strict rules prohibiting branded content promoting alcohol, creators are still allegedly making money drinking to excess — and at least one has died.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: Russia Takes Its Ukraine Information War Into Video Games. “These games and adjacent discussion sites like Discord and Steam are becoming online platforms for Russian agitprop, circulating to new, mostly younger audiences a torrent of propaganda that the Kremlin has used to try to justify the war in Ukraine. In this virtual world, players have adopted the letter Z, a symbol of the Russian troops who invaded last year; embraced legally specious Russian territorial claims in Crimea and other places; and echoed President Vladimir V. Putin’s efforts to denigrate Ukrainians as Nazis and blame the West for the conflict.”

Euractiv/Reuters: Sweden says it’s target of Russia-backed disinformation over NATO, Koran burnings. “Sweden is the target of a disinformation campaign by ‘Russia-backed actors’ intended to hurt the image of the NATO-candidate country by implying it supported recent burnings of the Koran, its Minister for Civil Defence said on Wednesday (26 July).”

RESEARCH & OPINION

North Carolina State University: Citizen Science Inspires Kids to Take Local Action. “North Carolina State University researchers recently found that a program designed to get Girl Scouts involved in citizen science – programs where members of the public can participate in real scientific research – not only taught girls about the process of science, but also motivated them to tackle scientific or environmental problems in their communities.” Good morning, Internet…

July 31, 2023 at 05:27PM
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Sunday, July 30, 2023

Smithsonian Podcast, Reddit, Photoshop, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023

Smithsonian Podcast, Reddit, Photoshop, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Smithsonian: Smithsonian Magazine Announces “There’s More to That,” a New Podcast in Partnership With PRX. “Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can—through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. On There’s More to That, listeners will meet the magazine’s journalists as they discover the forces behind some of the biggest issues of our time and give curious listeners a fresh understanding of the world we all inhabit.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Reddit is testing ‘official’ labels for profiles and making parts of its app compatible with screen readers. “Reddit is starting to test a new ‘Official’ label that will make it easier to spot if an account is authentic. The new label will appear sitewide, meaning that it won’t be up to the moderators of individual subreddits to have to verify specific accounts.”

TechCrunch: Photoshop’s new generative AI feature lets you ‘uncrop’ images. “Adobe is building on Firefly, its family of generative AI models, with a feature in Photoshop that ‘expands images beyond their original bounds,’ as the company describes it.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Rest of World: Indian politicians embrace influencers ahead of 2024 elections. “As the campaign for the 2024 elections in India goes digital, social media influencers have become a powerful tool to try and shape voter behavior.”

Associated Press: Saudi Arabia is spending billions to become a global gaming hub. Some fans don’t want to play. “Saudi Arabia, the new home of some of soccer’s biggest stars and a co-owner of professional golf, is proving to be no less ambitious when it comes to another global pastime – the $180 billion-a-year video game industry.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

WIRED: Code Kept Secret for Years Reveals Its Flaw—a Backdoor . “FOR MORE THAN 25 years, a technology used for critical data and voice radio communications around the world has been shrouded in secrecy to prevent anyone from closely scrutinizing its security properties for vulnerabilities. But now it’s finally getting a public airing thanks to a small group of researchers in the Netherlands who got their hands on its viscera and found serious flaws, including a deliberate backdoor.”

TorrentFreak: Turner Classic Movies Airs a Film With ‘Pirated’ Subtitles. “Turner Classic Movies is an invaluable institution for many film aficionados. The same is true for the private BitTorrent tracker Karagarga, which archives tens of thousands of films, many of which are not available through legal channels. While the latter operates without permission from rightsholders, it made a surprise appearance on Turner’s service recently in the form of ‘pirated’ subtitles.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Washington Post: The war in Ukraine is spurring a revolution in drone warfare using AI. “The design and software innovations, as well as mass dissemination of piloting know-how, are also likely to influence the way drones are used far beyond the war in Ukraine, with serious implications for governments confronting separatist militias, drug cartels and extremist groups seeking to gain a technological edge.”

NBC News: That sports broadcaster you hear could be AI. “Artificial intelligence commentators are edging into roles in sports broadcasting, with major competitions such as the Masters golf and Wimbledon tennis championships using the tech to automatically narrate certain highlight videos posted on the tournaments’ websites and apps.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Ars Technica: The IBM mainframe: How it runs and why it survives. “Mainframe computers are often seen as ancient machines—practically dinosaurs. But mainframes, which are purpose-built to process enormous amounts of data, are still extremely relevant today. If they’re dinosaurs, they’re T-Rexes, and desktops and server computers are puny mammals to be trodden underfoot.” Good afternoon, Internet…

July 31, 2023 at 12:07AM
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Coronavirus Data, Online Censorship, Google, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023

Coronavirus Data, Online Censorship, Google, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of California San Francisco: COVID Tracking Project Records and Resources Now Available. “The UCSF Library Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce that the COVID Tracking Project (CTP) records are available for research. The CTP is a crowdsourced digital archive that was managed by a group of journalists at The Atlantic and approximately 500 volunteers. This committed group gathered, cataloged, and published state-level COVID-19 data over the first fifteen months of the pandemic.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

New York Times: Russia’s Online Censorship Has Soared 30-Fold During Ukraine War. “To compile its findings, Citizen Lab analyzed more than 300 court orders from the Russian government against Vkontakte, one of the country’s largest social media sites, demanding that it remove accounts, posts, videos and other content. Before the war, Russia’s government issued internet takedown orders to Vkontakte, known as VK, once every 50 days on average. After the conflict began, that number jumped to nearly once a day, according to Citizen Lab.”

Search Engine Journal: Google Officially Rolling Out New Search Settings Interface. “Ashwarya, Google Search Community Manager, posted that Google Search will soon roll out ‘a new experience to make access to key items easier on the Search Results Page on the web.’ In short, it is a new way to access Google Search Settings on desktop and mobile.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

NPR: ‘X’ logo installed atop Twitter building, spurring San Francisco to investigate. “The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant ‘X’ sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform. City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.”

Deutsche Welle: Watchdog wants Russia out of UNESCO Heritage Committee. “It was time for humanity to take a stand against this barbarism, Stephan Dömpke, chairman of World Heritage Watch, told DW. Russia had forfeited any right to play a role in international bodies that advise or decide on the protection of cultural property, he said.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Record: Irish court ruling over Google ad practices could have global impact. “An Irish civil liberties group went to court late this week to accuse the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) — the national independent authority responsible for upholding data privacy rights across Europe — of failing to properly investigate Google’s online advertising system, which it says is responsible for the biggest data breach ever recorded. Because of the DPC’s position as an arbiter for data privacy practices across Europe, the court’s decision in the case, expected later this year, could potentially have a significant impact on online advertising practices worldwide.”

Radio Poland: EU sanctions Russian entities, individuals for propaganda in support of war on Ukraine . “The European Union has imposed sanctions on seven Russian individuals and five entities for disseminating propaganda in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, officials have said.”

9to5 Mac: App Store to require developers to describe why their apps use certain APIs. “The App Store review process is very strict to ensure that apps comply with Apple’s guidelines. And soon, this whole process will get even more strict. That’s because Apple recently announced that developers would be required to detail why their apps use certain APIs before submitting them to the App Store.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Carnegie Mellon University: Researchers Discover New Vulnerability in Large Language Models. “Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science(opens in new window) (SCS), the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute(opens in new window), and the Center for AI Safety in San Francisco(opens in new window) have uncovered a new vulnerability, proposing a simple and effective attack method that causes aligned language models to generate objectionable behaviors at a high success rate.”

WIRED: The AI-Powered, Totally Autonomous Future of War Is Here. “Autonomous systems with the capacity to kill already exist around the globe. In any major conflict, even one well short of World War III, each side will soon face the temptation not only to arm these systems but, in some situations, to remove human oversight, freeing the machines to fight at machine speed. In this war of AI against AI, only humans will die. So it is reasonable to wonder: How do these machines, and the people who build them, think?”

University of Oxford: Researchers successfully train a machine learning model in outer space for the first time . “For the first time, researchers have trained a machine learning model in outer space, on board a satellite. This achievement could enable real-time monitoring and decision making for a range of applications, from disaster management to deforestation.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Los Angeles Times: California’s free prison calls are repairing estranged relationships and aiding rehabilitation. “At a time when most consumers enjoy free or low-cost calling, prison phone calls at their peak in California cost more than $6 per 15 minutes via a private telecommunications provider. That allowed only hurried, superficial conversations between the siblings — with one eye always on the clock. This year California became the second state in the nation, and the largest to date, to mandate free calls in state prisons.” Good morning, Internet…

July 30, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Saturday, July 29, 2023

Heat.gov, Zorin OS, Google Street View, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023

Heat.gov, Zorin OS, Google Street View, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

NOAA: Biden Administration launches Heat.gov with tools for communities facing extreme heat. “Heat.gov will provide a one-stop hub on heat and health for the nation and is a priority of President Biden’s National Climate Task Force and its Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

OMG Ubuntu: Zorin OS 16.3 Released with Upgrade Tool, LibreOffice 7.5. “Zorin OS 16.3 introduces a number of refinements that, its developers say, help ‘elevate your computing experience even further’. On paper, the inclusion of the new Zorin OS Upgrader app is Zorin OS 16.3’s tentpole feature.”

Bloomberg: Google Street View to post first new pictures from Germany in a decade. “Alphabet Inc.’s update will start with new photos of the streets and landmarks of the country’s 20 largest cities and expand from there, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday. Google voluntarily suspended Street View photography in Germany in 2011, after an outcry from privacy advocates and opposition from regulators.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Organize Your Projects With Trello. “As useful as they are, sometimes the to-do list apps on your phone just won’t cut it. In the search for personal productivity apps, a key thing to remember is that project management software, like Trello, is not only for teams in offices. You can use it to manage your personal stuff too.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Media Matters: Crowdfunding platform Ko-fi has raised at least tens of thousands for QAnon figures. “The crowdfunding platforming Ko-fi is hosting and profiting from more than a dozen QAnon figures who have collectively raised at least tens of thousands of dollars on the platform. Several of these QAnon figures moved to Ko-fi after Media Matters’ reporting led to their ban from another crowdfunding platform, Buy Me a Coffee.”

Daily Beast: Twitter Removes Fact-Check on Musk’s Bronny James Vax Post. “A fact-check through the platform’s Community Notes feature soon appeared alongside Musk’s tweet noting that the risk of myocarditis, a rare condition characterized by inflammation of heart muscle, is much higher for patients after a COVID infection rather than after a COVID vaccine. Without explanation, the fact-checking post was deleted from Musk’s tweet, which as of Wednesday still remains on his newly rebranded X platform without any kind of qualification.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

North Carolina State University: Why Computer Security Advice Is More Confusing Than It Should Be. “If you find the computer security guidelines you get at work confusing and not very useful, you’re not alone. A new study highlights a key problem with how these guidelines are created, and outlines simple steps that would improve them – and probably make your computer safer.”

KSL TV: Salt Lake City tattoo shop warns of impersonator social media profiles and scams. “A Salt Lake City Tattoo shop is warning people about impersonator social media accounts after potential clients were swindled out of hundreds to thousands of dollars… The social media/marketing manager, Jackie, said recently several fake Facebook and Instagram accounts have been collecting tattoo deposits in the name of Big Deluxe artists.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

WIRED: They Didn’t Ask to Go Viral. Posting on Social Media Without Consent Is Immoral . “To be sure, crass and hateful public figures are worthy of ridicule. And we’ve been using the internet to judge strangers for as long as we’ve had the internet. But the common trait shared by much of the most obnoxious content today is that someone chose to elevate a stranger for no reason beyond their own gratification, attracting attention at a scale unimaginable in the days of relics like Hot or Not and People of Wal-Mart.” I have very strong feelings about this based on personal experience but I will spare you.

New York Times: Aided by A.I. Language Models, Google’s Robots Are Getting Smart. “Google has recently begun plugging state-of-the-art language models into its robots, giving them the equivalent of artificial brains. The secretive project has made the robots far smarter and given them new powers of understanding and problem-solving.” Powered by the knowledge of you and me and our intellectual output. Good afternoon, Internet…

July 30, 2023 at 12:00AM
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Coin Resource Center, Overture Maps Foundation, Online Reviews, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023

Coin Resource Center, Overture Maps Foundation, Online Reviews, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Stack’s Bowers Galleries: Stack’s Bowers Galleries Launches Coin Resource Center As A Premier Online Reference For Collectors . “The Coin Resource Center, available on the Stack’s Bowers Galleries website, is an in-depth digital archive of numismatic research including a detailed reference guide for all U.S. coins, historical backgrounds of each U.S. Mint, insightful Collector Guides explaining a variety of approaches to this fascinating hobby, and convenient tools for calculating the precious metal ‘melt’ value of popular gold and silver coins.”

TechCrunch: Meta, Microsoft and Amazon release open map dataset to rival Google Maps, Apple Maps. “A group formed by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and mapping company TomTom is releasing data that could enable developers to build their own maps to take on Google Map and Apple Maps. The group, called the Overture Maps Foundation, was formed last year. Today, the group has released it first open map dataset.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Roundtable: Google Categorizes Reviews By Type Of Reviewer. “Google seems to be testing categorizing the review by the type of review in the Google Maps and Local reviews section. So if you have a couple on vacation leaving a review versus a solo traveler or family, it will say so.”

The Verge: Google delays its upgraded, more expansive Find My Device network. “Google is delaying the broad expansion of its Find My Device feature, and it says it’s doing so with personal safety in mind since the industry spec proposed by itself and Apple isn’t quite ready yet.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

WSOC: ‘We don’t have phone books anymore’: Google listed business as permanently closed when it wasn’t. “The Yellow Submarine Restaurant in Hudson is open for business. In fact, there are open signs posted in at least three places on the property. But it didn’t say so in one place owner Kathy Norwood says really mattered: Google.”

ABC News (Australia): National Film and Sound Archive dusting off vintage video games so people born hundreds of years from now can play them. “From the Atari, to the Vic-20, the Sega and the Commodore 64, the NFSA has begun a project to tell the history of Australia’s computer industry – and the games that have kept generations entertained. Its collection even includes a 1991 game based on the soapie juggernaut Neighbours, where you can choose to play as Charlene or Henry, skateboarding through the streets of Erinsborough.”

Institute of Museum and Library Services: IMLS Announces $20 Million Investment in U.S. Library and Archive Initiatives. “The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced 64 awards totaling $20,363,297 to support libraries and archives across the country. The FY 2023 awards were made through National Leadership Grants for Libraries and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.”

Engadget: The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class puts TikTok on the road. “The E-Class is Mercedes’ first car with a selfie camera and the first car in the world that offers TikTok, WebEx, and Zoom right there in the dashboard. All that, paired with some advanced driver assistance on the highway plus all the luxuries you’ve come to expect from a Mercedes, creates a sedan that’s perhaps a bit too steady for some, but will be right on the money for many.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

EFF: FBI Seizure of Mastodon Server Data is a Wakeup Call to Fediverse Users and Hosts to Protect their Users. “We’re in an exciting time for users who want to take back control from major platforms like Twitter and Facebook. However, this new environment comes with challenges and risks for user privacy, so we need to get it right and make sure networks like the Fediverse and Bluesky are mindful of past lessons.”

Cornell University: That’s funny – but AI models don’t get the joke. “Large neural networks, a form of artificial intelligence, can generate thousands of jokes along the lines of ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ But do they understand why they’re funny?”

Dartmouth College: Researchers Examine ‘Like-Minded Sources’ on Social Media. “Seventeen academics from U.S. colleges and universities, including government professor Brendan Nyhan at Dartmouth, teamed up with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to conduct independent research on what people see on social media and how it affects them. To protect against conflicts of interest, the project built in several safeguards, including pre-registering the experiments. Meta could not restrict or censor findings, and the academic lead authors had final say over writing and research decisions.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

University of Reading: Kids’ summer salad problem solved with SEE & EAT solution. “The SEE & EAT books, launched by a team at the University of Reading, were created to encourage children to eat healthier. Research led by Professor Carmel Houston-Price has shown that pre-schoolers are more likely to eat vegetables at mealtimes if they are already familiar with what the vegetable looks like and where it comes from.” The ebooks are available for free. Good morning, Internet…

July 29, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Friday, July 28, 2023

Silent Film Scores, NASA+, Women’s Sports, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023

Silent Film Scores, NASA+, Women’s Sports, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Library of Congress: What’s new online at the Library of Congress – July 2023. ” This collection includes over 3,000 items published or created for use in silent film accompaniment between 1904 – 1927. These items include scores written for specific films, cue sheets that compile melodies for use at certain moments in specific films, and stock music composed or arranged for general use in silent film. Scores and arrangements included in this collection include piano scores, full or reduced orchestral scores, instrumental parts, or just melodic incipits.”

NASA: NASA Launches Beta Site; On-Demand Streaming, App Update Coming Soon. “Later this year, NASA also will launch its new streaming platform, NASA+., and upgrade the NASA app. Through the ad-free, no cost, and family-friendly streaming service, users will gain access to the agency’s Emmy Award-winning live coverage and views into NASA’s missions through collections of original video series, including a handful of new series launching with the streaming service.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Google Search is making it easier to find relevant information on women’s sports. “The search giant says it has expanded coverage of women’s competitions in the information boxes you see at the top of the results page to include over 380 leagues. Plus, Google has added more than 110 leagues across women’s soccer, cricket and rugby over the past year. It has also partnered with broadcasters and rights holders to provide easy access to live streams and highlights directly from the Search results page.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Variety: Alex Winter’s ‘The YouTube Effect’ Takes a Tough Look at Everyone’s Favorite Cat-Video Platform. “Most people know that social media has become a cesspool of disinformation, a digital hydra that feeds off toxicity and conspiracy theories. But somehow YouTube, the second-most-popular site in the world, has avoided the scrutiny that’s come Twitter and Facebook’s way. ‘The YouTube Effect,’ a new documentary from Alex Winter, could change that.”

WIRED: A Leaked Memo Shows TikTok Knows It Has a Labor Problem. “[TikTok] also uses outsourced moderators in Kenya, and in other countries in the global south, through a contract with Luxembourg-based Majorel. Leaked documents obtained by the NGO Foxglove Legal, seen by WIRED, show that TikTok is concerned it could be next in line for possible litigation.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Dallas Morning News: Anti-LGBTQ YouTubers trolled a progressive Plano church. It was firebombed weeks later. “Weeks before the Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano was damaged in a firebomb attack early Sunday, members of the church welcomed four strangers — one of them carrying a camera — with hugs, smiles and the promise of a judgment-free fellowship. They didn’t immediately know they were being trolled and baited by a group of influencers who frequently take videos of themselves pranking progressives and liberals. The video, titled ‘We acted LGBT at LGBT Church,’ has garnered nearly 200,000 views since it was posted to YouTube on July 12.”

Hollywood Reporter: Google Sued by Advertisers for Allegedly Inflating Video Ad Metrics. “If an advertisement autoplays for a bot on a site that’s not publicly listed or indexed by search engines, does anyone see it? According to Google, the answer is yes, which has led to a purported class action against the company that claims it overcharges advertisers for the ‘privilege of autoplaying their advertisements into the void.'”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Newswise: Robot preachers get less respect, fewer donations. “As artificial intelligence expands across more professions, robot preachers and AI programs offer new means of sharing religious beliefs, but they may undermine credibility and reduce donations for religious groups that rely on them, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.”

The Verge: What would the internet of people look like now?. “Google’s rotting? Bring back the webring. Broadcasting to the entire world sucks? Fuck it, group chat. Facebook? Baby doll, it is easier than ever to build your own website, and you don’t even need to know the basics required to rip someone else’s code.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Mercer University: Professor creates accessible weather device for visually impaired students. “Physics professor Dr. Matt Marone created the accessible technology — which converts data measurements to speech — for Georgia Academy for the Blind in the spring, and students used it in May to take their first temperature and humidity measurements for NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program.” Good afternoon, Internet…

July 29, 2023 at 12:14AM
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South Carolina State Museum, Wisconsin Affordable Internet, Google, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023

South Carolina State Museum, Wisconsin Affordable Internet, Google, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

South Carolina State Museum: South Carolina State Museum Launches its First-Ever Online Collection Database . “The South Carolina State Museum’s art collection is now available to explore online allowing educators, students, researchers and others to explore portions of the museum’s collection digitally for the first time. The art collection features more than 4,500 pieces of fine and folk art, historic and modern pottery and ceramics, sculptures, contemporary works, and even topiaries.”

State of Wisconsin: State Announces Launch of New Tool to Help Wisconsinites Find Free, Discounted Internet Service. “Gov. Tony Evers today, together with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), announced the launch of the Internet Discount Finder website to help Wisconsin households find and access affordable internet. The new tool can assist in finding free and discounted internet service available to eligible Wisconsin residents.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Associated Press: Google rebounds from unprecedented drop in ad revenue with a resurgence that pushes stock higher. “Google snapped out of an unprecedented advertising slump during its latest quarter, signaling a return to growth cycle needed to fuel investments in artificial intelligence technology that expected to reshape the competitive landscape.”

The Hacker News: Google Messages Getting Cross-Platform End-to-End Encryption with MLS Protocol. “Google has announced that it intends to add support for Message Layer Security (MLS) to its Messages service for Android and open source an implementation of the specification.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

WIRED: It’s Twilight of the Mods for Bluesky and Reddit. “THESE ARE STRANGE days for people who care about trust and safety on platforms. Historically, many people have suggested that either more effective central moderation (a platform owner intervening directly in policing the content of the platform) or better decentralized moderation (allowing users to curate their spaces through community-driven moderation) could pave the way to a better social media landscape—or, ideally, some alchemically balanced combo of the two. But, in true Silicon Valley fashion, one platform is centralizing in the worst way possible, while the other is decentralizing catastrophically.”

BBC: Google alert failed to warn people of Turkey earthquake. “Google says its alert system can give users up to a minute’s notice on their phones before an earthquake hits. It says its alert was sent to millions before the first, biggest quake. However, the BBC visited three cities in the earthquake zone, speaking to hundreds of people, and didn’t find anyone who had received a warning.”

Sydney Morning Herald: This athlete turned tech bro was chasing a start-up dream. Now he’s accused of faking a PhD. “The start-up world is full of entrepreneurs like [Steven] Leven, striving for dreams that others see as implausible. But while heroically optimistic forecasting and bombastic salesmanship are an accepted part of the industry – which is fond of quoting a 1997 Apple ad that declared “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do” – there are boundaries.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Los Angeles Times: Police like using Google data to solve crimes. Does that put your privacy at risk?. “After a man was shot dead outside a bank in Paramount in 2019, Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives turned to Google for help identifying suspects. Through a search warrant, detectives directed the tech giant to provide cellphone location data for people who were near places the man visited on the day he was killed. The data Google provided eventually led detectives to two suspects who are now in prison for the murder.”

State of Connecticut: Governor Lamont Commissions Independent Review of Falsified Reporting of Traffic Records by the State Police. “Governor Ned Lamont today announced that, based on a recent audit that revealed a troubling number of erroneous records in the Connecticut State Police records management system and the State of Connecticut’s traffic stop racial profiling database, he is commissioning an independent review to determine how and why this misconduct occurred, why it went undetected for so many years, and what reforms should be implemented to ensure that such misconduct does not reoccur.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

University of Wisconsin-Madison: New maps show antimicrobial resistance varies within Wisconsin neighborhoods. “Led by postdoctoral fellow Laurel Legenza, researchers at UW–Madison’s School of Pharmacy and State Cartographer’s Office worked with colleagues from three Wisconsin health systems to combine antibiotic resistance data from different locations throughout the state to gauge the effectiveness of a pair of common antibiotic treatments for Escherichia coli infections. The combination of data allowed the team to identify neighborhood-level patterns in how well the antibiotics treated E. coli.”

University of Texas at Austin: First Findings Shed Light on Role of Social Media Algorithms in 2020 Election. “The study, co-led by researchers Talia Stroud of The University of Texas at Austin and Joshua Tucker of New York University, found that algorithms have a tremendous impact on what people see in their feeds. Although changing fundamental parts of the algorithm affected the content people saw, it did not affect participants’ political attitudes.”

Cornell Chronicle: Analysis of court transcripts reveals biased jury selection. “In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers used natural language processing (NLP) tools to analyze transcripts of the jury selection process. They found multiple quantifiable differences in how prosecutors questioned Black and white members of the jury pool. Once validated, this technology could provide evidence for appeals cases and be used in real time during jury selection to ensure more diverse juries.” Good morning, Internet…

July 28, 2023 at 05:28PM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/kQNYBO7

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Hearing Health, Massachusetts Lawyers, Google Docs, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 27, 2023

Hearing Health, Massachusetts Lawyers, Google Docs, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 27, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Hearing Review: HearingYou.org Portal Provides Hearing Health Data to Public. ” It has been launched by the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA) to provide a global audience with information on all aspects of hearing health, including hearing loss prevention and rehabilitation, and to support effective policy measures against hearing loss. The centerpiece of the site is a data hub with the latest research, scientific evidence, facts, and figures on the prevalence of hearing loss; its economic impact; and how hearing loss is linked to chronic diseases such as dementia.”

Massachusetts Lawyer Weekly: Data on Mass. bar available in new online tool. “The Massachusetts Lawyers Census provides six dashboards that include demographic, employment, and professional characteristics of lawyers in Massachusetts presented in tables, charts, and a county-level map. The tool also compares Massachusetts’ lawyers with the general population of the commonwealth.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

9to5 Google: Google Docs adding support for line numbers. “After adding support for non-printing characters earlier this year, Google Docs is rolling out line numbers. Commonplace in legal documents, Google Docs will automatically calculate and show numbers next to each line in a document and appear when printed out. This can be set to show on just a specific section, page, or entire documents.”

Chrome Unboxed: Google Tasks officially freed from its side bar prison, can now be used standalone on the web. “In line with Google’s efforts to merge Reminders into Tasks, its web-based Assistant Reminders landing page evolved into a central hub for to-dos saved to your account. Recently, this page has undergone further transformation and now mirrors the aesthetics of the Google Tasks app and sidebar, logo and all!”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CODART: Virtual Couriering: An Alternative for More Sustainable Loans?. “As for any industry, sustainability is a pressing matter for museums and the art world. In a series of features, CODART will explore this topic and what museums and curators can do. For this article, CODART spoke to several people in the field about the overlooked aspects of virtual couriering and other ways in which museums can deal more sustainably with loan traffic.” I didn’t have a good understanding of virtual couriering, but this article from Artnet helped a lot.

New York Times: A Time Capsule of Human Creativity, Stored in the Sky. “Later this year, the Lunar Codex — a vast multimedia archive telling a story of the world’s people through creative arts — will start heading for permanent installation on the moon aboard a series of unmanned rockets. The Lunar Codex is a digitized (or miniaturized) collection of contemporary art, poetry, magazines, music, film, podcasts and books by 30,000 artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers in 157 countries.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: New Nitrogen malware pushed via Google Ads for ransomware attacks. “A new ‘Nitrogen’ initial access malware campaign uses Google and Bing search ads to promote fake software sites that infect unsuspecting users with Cobalt Strike and ransomware payloads.”

ProPublica: Senator Elizabeth Warren Probes Google’s Quest for Soldiers’ Medical Data. “Responding to a ProPublica report, the Massachusetts Democrat has begun investigating Google’s ‘aggressive’ pursuit of a biotechnology archive that could be used to build AI tools. She also faulted the Pentagon for favoring the tech giant.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Berkeley Engineering: Researchers create open-source platform for Neural Radiance Field development. “Just a few years ago, Berkeley engineers showed us how they could easily turn images into a 3D navigable scene using a technology called Neural Radiance Fields, or NeRF. Now, another team of Berkeley researchers has created a development framework to help speed up NeRF projects and make this technology more accessible to others.”

WIRED: The White House Already Knows How to Make AI Safer. “Legislation is needed to ensure that private companies live up to their commitments. But we should not forget the federal market’s outsize influence on AI practices. As a large employer and user of AI technology, a major customer for AI systems, a regulator, and a source of funding for so many state-level actions, the federal government can make a real difference by changing how it acts, even in the absence of legislation.” Good afternoon, Internet…

July 28, 2023 at 12:53AM
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Crop Rotation Patterns, Georgia Civil Rights History, Utah Property Values, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, July 27, 2023

Crop Rotation Patterns, Georgia Civil Rights History, Utah Property Values, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, July 27, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

US Department of Agriculture: USDA introduces geospatial data product to show crop rotation patterns. “[Crop Sequence Boundaries] is a cutting-edge map of agricultural fields that provides crop acreage estimates and historical planting decisions across the contiguous United States. The open-source product uses satellite imagery and other public data to allow users to analyze planted U.S. commodities, enhancing not only agricultural science and research, but providing producers an innovative resource to help make farming decisions.”

Digital Library of Georgia: Oral history interviews of W. W. Law, civil rights workers, and 20-century Savannah civil rights history are now available freely online . “The content for this project consists of oral history interview videos with W. W. Law and other Savannah, Georgia, community members involved in the Civil Rights movement. The tapes were shot just prior to Mr. Law’s death and are the longest and most detailed interviews he did on his life and career as a Civil Rights activist.”

State of Utah State Auditor: Office of the State Auditor Releases Tool Showing Property Values Across Utah (this link goes to a PDF file.) “This new tool contains data provided by many of these assessors – those interested in greater transparency for taxpayers. This tool helps taxpayers, policymakers, and regulators better understand property assessment in the State of Utah, allowing interested parties to examine parcel-level data across the State using different metrics.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Bing Chat is coming to Google Chrome and Safari. “Watch out Bard — Bing’s AI chatbot is rolling out on Google Chrome and Safari. As first spotted by Windows Latest (via 9to5Google), Microsoft is testing letting users on both browsers access the tool.”

Reuters: Alphabet rallies as Google Search unfazed by challenge from Microsoft’s Bing. “Alphabet rallied more than 5% on Wednesday on signs its dominant Google Search business was faring well in an uncertain advertising market and remained unscathed in the face of competition from an AI-powered Microsoft Bing.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Business Insider: Elon Musk will reportedly force brands to spend at least $1,000 on Twitter ads every month — or lose their gold checkmark. “Twitter’s ads business is in trouble — and the company is reportedly threatening to strip brands of verification if they don’t pitch in to help. Starting August 7, the platform, now called X, will strip brands of their gold checkmark verification if they haven’t spent at least $1,000 on ads in the previous 30 days or $6,000 in the past 180 days, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing an email sent to advertisers that it viewed.”

Mashable: Elon Musk and company take @x handle from its original user. He got zero dollars for it.. “So, Musk now has the @x handle. What happened? Did Musk reach out to [Gene X.] Hwang? Did Hwang cash in and get a paycheck from the company for the handle as some on social media have speculated? No, the company just took it from him.”

New York Times: Hollywood Strike Leaves Influencers Sidelined and Confused. “Despite not being in the actors’ union, many content creators are passing up deals to promote films or TV shows because they don’t want to be barred from the guild or face online vitriol.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Politico: Social media shutdowns? Don’t you dare, activists warn EU. “Dozens of international digital and human rights NGOs want the European Commission to firmly reject the possibility of its new content-moderation law being used to compel social media shutdowns.”

WIRED: Twitter Scammers Stole $1,000 From My Friend—So I Hunted Them Down . “After Tim Utzig lost $1,000 to a fraudster who tricked him using a hacked Twitter account, I asked an expert in social engineering and hunting scammers to help. Ultimately, we tracked down the suspected culprits and identified a network of apparent scammers and money mules expertly swindling people out of their savings. This scamming saga shows how fraudsters use social media, build a network of people to operate different payment accounts, and apply effective techniques to bilk their victims.”

Al Jazeera: Indonesia blocks Musk’s X.com under curbs on porn, gambling. “Elon Musk’s aspirations for X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, have hit a stumbling block in Indonesia after the site X.com was blocked under the country’s curbs on online pornography and gambling.” Regular reminder that Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world.

RESEARCH & OPINION

Tom’s Guide: I got suspended by Twitter X — and I have no idea why. “On Monday (July 24), at 10:53 a.m. ET, hours before the Twitter signage was taken down at its company headquarters, I found my own Twitter account taken down. Technically, I was suspended, by this company that was seemingly crumbling from within — as CEO Elon Musk had confusingly decided to rebrand to X.” Good morning, Internet…

July 27, 2023 at 05:31PM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/R0fo2xH

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

New Zealand Art, West Virginia Behavioral Health, ChatGPT, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 26, 2023

New Zealand Art, West Virginia Behavioral Health, ChatGPT, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 26, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

New Zealand Ministry for Culture & Heritage: New Zealand’s first national register of 20th Century public artworks goes live. “The website is a New Zealand first, providing a single place for New Zealanders to gain knowledge of 20th Century public artworks located in towns and cities across Aotearoa, including works that have been hidden, lost, destroyed, or deaccessioned. At launch the register contains over 380 works which can be searched by information about each of the artworks, the artists, and their locations.”

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources: DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health Announces Evidence-Based Behavioral Health Clearinghouse. “The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Behavioral Health (BBH) has launched the BBH Clearinghouse, an online database of evidence-based practices to help individuals, families, providers, schools, communities, and other partners make informed decisions about selecting effective prevention, early intervention, treatment, and recovery services.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNN: ChatGPT creator pulls AI detection tool due to ‘low rate of accuracy’. “Less than six months after ChatGPT-creator OpenAI unveiled an AI detection tool with the potential to help teachers and other professionals detect AI generated work, the company has pulled the feature. OpenAI quietly shut down the tool last week citing a ‘low rate of accuracy,’ according to an update to the original company blog post announcing the feature.”

BBC: TikTok adds text-only posts as social media battle escalates. “Chinese-owned video streaming app TikTok says it will offer text-only posts as competition between social media giants heats up.” Remember when everybody said video was going to kill text content on the Internet? lol.

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Ars Technica: Borax is the new Tide Pods, and poison control experts are facepalming. I’m facepalming too. When I was growing up Borax was a home remedy against mice. “In the latest health fad to alarm and exasperate medical experts, people on TikTok have cheerily ‘hopped on the borax train’ and are drinking and soaking in the toxic cleaning product based on false claims that it can reduce inflammation, treat arthritis, and ‘detoxify’ the body.”

9Honey: Australian grandmother’s fight to get life-changing drug snatched up by social media fad. “Ozempic, a brand name for the drug semaglutide, is typically prescribed for patients with Type 2 diabetes, but a new social media weight loss fad has caused a worldwide shortage. The shortage hit Australia last year after TikTok videos of women claiming to have achieved drastic weight loss with minimal effort on the drug went viral. It made global demand for Ozempic skyrocket, with thousands seeking the drug, but the subsequent shortage is putting Aussies like [Judith] Lipp at risk.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CNBC: Elon Musk’s rebrand of Twitter to ‘X’ could get him in legal trouble with Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft, experts say. “Elon Musk’s Twitter rebrand could land him in legal hot water with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and others, experts say. On Sunday, Musk announced that he was getting rid of the Twitter brand and logo. The social media platform is now known as ‘X,’ CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed on Sunday.”

Engadget: Mastodon’s decentralized social network has a major CSAM problem. “Of course, the big problem with unfederated social media platforms such as Mastodon is that no one company or entity controls everything on the platform. Every instance has its own administrators, and they are the ones who are ultimately responsible. However, those admins cannot control and moderate what goes on in other instances or servers. This isn’t uniquely a Mastodon problem, either.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

NPR: Firefighters and researchers are turning to AI to help fight fires. “Climate change. Firefighters and researchers hope to spot fires more quickly and cut response times using artificial intelligence. Zachary Wells is a deputy chief with the Kern County Fire Department in California’s Central Valley.” This is a transcript of a radio interview.

Beyond Search: And Now Here Is Sergey… He Has Returned. “My personal view is that item one, management’s inability to hit a three point shot, let alone a slam dunk over Sam AI-Man, requires the 2023 equivalent of asking Mom and Dad to help. Some college students have resorted to this approach to make rent, bail, or buy food. The return is not yet like Mr. Terminator’s, Mr. Man-with-No-Name’s, or Mr. Brady’s. We have something new. A technology giant with billions in revenue struggling to get its big tractor out of a muddy field. How does one get the Google going?” Good afternoon, Internet….

July 27, 2023 at 12:23AM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/X1Qyk0D

Mastodon, Snapchat, Cultural Heritage, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, July 26, 2023

Mastodon, Snapchat, Cultural Heritage, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, July 26, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: As Twitter destroys its brand by renaming itself X, Mastodon user numbers are again soaring . “As Twitter ditches its iconic branding in favor of owner Elon Musk’s favorite letter ‘X,’ its open source rival Mastodon is seeing usage numbers soar. According to a new post from Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko, the number of monthly active users for his Twitter alternative has been steadily climbing over the past couple of months to have now reached 2.1 million — or, as remarked Rochko, ‘not far off from our last peak.'”

CNBC: Snap shares plunge more than 17% on weak forecast. “Snap shares tumbled over 16% after the company reported guidance for its current quarter that missed analysts’ expectations.”

New York Times: Trump to Return Ancient Coins and Lamps to Israel’s Antiquities Agency. “Former President Donald J. Trump will return a set of ancient coins and ceramic oil lamps to Israel’s government after reports last week that Israeli officials were pressing to retrieve them.”

USEFUL STUFF

Lifehacker: Export Your Bookmarks So You Can Finally Quit Twitter. “If you want to quit Twitter for good but still have the option to return to your favorite tweets, you should know how to export them to another source. Twitter doesn’t make it easy, but there’s a solid option out there to help you break up with—shudder—X.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Inside Higher Ed: College ‘Email for Life’ at Risk for Many . “For years at Colgate University in New York, students getting an email address ‘for life’ was a given. Then, in February, an email portent arrived—by email, of course: alumni learned that their lifetime email addresses might be phased out next year.”

Daily Beast: JPMorgan Saw Epstein as ‘Advisor’ to Google Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. “According to bombshell legal filings, Epstein introduced JPMorgan honcho Jes Staley to Google co-creators Brin and Larry Page by 2003. By 2011, the sex-trafficker was considered the ‘biggest revenue producer’ for JPMorgan’s Private Bank and known as ‘the advisor to the Google founders,’ according to the document filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands government.”

Billboard: TikTok Sleuth Appears to Find Jim Crow Era News Story in Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Teaser. “In a TikTok posted on Saturday (July 22), former minor league baseball player Danny Collins did a deep dive on one of Aldean’s promotional TikToks for his controversial song released back in May. Zooming in on a newspaper article in the background of one of the video’s shots, Collins found that it appears to be a piece pulled from a since-discontinued small newspaper from Mississippi.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bloomberg: UK Pledges Crackdown on Harmful Ads on Google, Other Web Platforms. “The UK said it will force social media platforms and services like Alphabet Inc.’s Google Ads to stop scam advertisements, including fake celebrity endorsements, and take tougher action to prevent children from age-restricted ads for drinking and gambling.”

US Department of Justice: United States Returns Manuscript Signed by Conquistador Hernando Cortés in 1527 to Mexico’s National Archives . “A nearly 500-year-old manuscript signed by Conquistador Hernando Cortés in 1527 has been returned to the Archivo General de la Nación de México – Mexico’s national archives located in Mexico City. On July 19, 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, along with representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, participated in a formal repatriation ceremony at Mexico’s national archives, where the manuscript is believed to have been unlawfully removed from sometime before 1993.”

Washington Post: U.S. intelligence agencies reviewing evidence in Discord leak case. “Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guard member charged with sharing hundreds of classified documents with friends online, is unlikely to stand trial for several months owing to what federal prosecutors described Monday as the large amount of sensitive information related to the case.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Verge: People are using Google Maps to cut down tailpipe pollution. “Drivers are taking Google Maps’ advice for how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their trips, according to the company. In late 2021, Google debuted a feature in Google Maps that allows users to see the most fuel-efficient routes. The feature has since helped prevent around 1.2 million metric tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions, Google estimates in its latest environmental report released today.”

Essence: Does Personal Style Exist In The Age of Social Media?. “As an active TikTok user, I often find humor in how the platform’s ads influence my shopping decisions, especially when it comes to fashion. I’ve purchased numerous items from SSENSE after watching TikTok creators’ hauls and styling tips. Amidst my shopping spree, I couldn’t help but question if I’m gradually losing my sense of personal style, prompting me to investigate if others are experiencing the same phenomenon. With most of my peers working in the fashion industry in some capacity, I asked them to weigh in their thoughts.” Good morning, Internet…

July 26, 2023 at 05:31PM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/6ZY5pbf

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Rental Fee Transparency, Twitter, Age-Inclusive Design, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 25, 2023

Rental Fee Transparency, Twitter, Age-Inclusive Design, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 25, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

San Francisco Chronicle: Zillow and other rental websites agree to disclose ‘junk fees’ in deal with White House. “As rents and security deposits have climbed in recent years, so too have various fees that push renters’ monthly bills even higher — including charges for applications, trash collections and paying rent online. In an effort to bring more transparency to the shadowy costs to the rental market, major housing websites like Zillow and Apartments.com will make rental fees clearer and more prominent to help consumers more effectively comparison shop.”

TechCrunch: Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’. “Twitter has removed the iconic bird logo and adopted ‘X’ as its official logo. This move comes after Elon Musk announced the change over the weekend. The change is already live on the website. Notably, Musk tweeted that x.com now also redirects to twitter.com. In the post, Musk also called this an ‘interim’ logo, so we might see another logo change in the future.”

USEFUL STUFF

Smashing Magazine: Designing Age-Inclusive Products: Guidelines And Best Practices. “With an estimated one in every eight individuals worldwide surpassing the age of 60, who are actively adopting online shopping, the need for user-friendly interfaces tailored to their needs becomes apparent. Explore the guidelines to help you design inclusive products for all, particularly for an older audience and your future self.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

San Francisco Gate: Google software engineer got $605,000 bonus, plus more from massive salary leak. “Workers at the Mountain View-based tech giant compiled a spreadsheet with 12,000 entries, Insider reported Wednesday, containing self-volunteered pay details from full-time software engineers, salespeople, designers, product managers and other workers based in the United States. Eye-popping numbers abound; Google employees’ salaries are regularly five times larger than the national average.” I’m guessing this doesn’t include contract workers?

Axios: AI manipulation of Assassin’s Creed character’s voice stokes actors’ concerns. “Voice actor Victoria Atkin worked hard to record the voice of fictional 19th century freedom fighter Evie Frye for Ubisoft’s 2015 adventure, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. But, without Atkin’s involvement, someone using AI has now made Evie speak all the lead character’s lines in Bethesda’s 2011 epic The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: Amazon agrees to $25 million fine for Alexa children privacy violations. “The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Amazon has agreed to pay a $25 million fine to settle alleged children’s privacy laws violations related to the company’s Alexa voice assistant service. Amazon has offered Alexa voice-activated products and services targeted at children under 13 years old since May 2018.”

Arab News: Famous Turkish social media chef CZN Burak sues father for fraud . “Famous Turkish chef and social media sensation CZN Burak, whose real name is Burak Ozdemir, has taken legal action against his father, Hasan Ozdemir, accusing him of committing fraud to the tune of millions of dollars. Chef Ozdemir has gained widespread recognition through his viral videos showcasing his culinary skills, amassing an impressive 49 million followers on Instagram.”

CBC: Some advocates want residential school abuse records re-examined, archived as debate on their future continues. “Geraldine Shingoose was shocked when she opened a report probing what should be done to protect potential unmarked grave sites at former residential schools for Indigenous children. Of the thousands of former students who detailed the abuses they suffered to an adjudicator tasked with determining their eligibility for compensation under the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, only about 30 have sought to have copies of their words archived.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

University of Washington: With a new app, smart devices can have GPS underwater. “…a team at the University of Washington has developed the first underwater 3D-positioning app for smart devices. When at least three divers are within about 98 feet (30 meters) of each other, their devices’ existing speakers and microphones contact each other, and the app tracks each user’s location relative to the leader. This range can extend with more divers, if each is within 98 feet of another diver.”

Rice University: A “neuroshield” could protect citizens from artificial intelligence. “There’s an urgent need to support citizens with a system of digital self-defense, argues a neuroscience expert from Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy. Steps to regulate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-enhanced social media are needed to protect people from AI ‘hacking’ our interpersonal relationships and collective intelligence, says Harris Eyre, fellow in brain health at the Baker Institute.” Good afternoon, Internet…

July 26, 2023 at 12:57AM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/c6viuzT

Towards Truth, Medium, ChatGPT, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, July 25, 2023

Towards Truth, Medium, ChatGPT, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, July 25, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

National Indigenous Times (Australia): New website launched to drive national Truth-telling. “Towards Truth is a partnership between the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre (ILC), with significant support from pro bono partners across the legal field. The website compiles laws and policies that have impacted First Nations people from 1788 until today, as well as government documents, reports, media articles and case studies that show their practical effects.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Medium: New Partner Program incentives focus on high-quality human writing. “Changes are coming in August to the way we pay writers for great stories and which countries we support. Here’s what’s happening, why, and what it means for you.” I wrote about my weird Medium spam experience in January 2021..

The Verge: ChatGPT can now remember who you are and what you want. “The newest feature of ChatGPT is designed to help you type a little less. It’s called ‘custom instructions,’ and it gives you a place to tell your chatbot the things it should always know about you and how you’d like it to respond to your questions. The feature is in beta, works everywhere ChatGPT does — it should be particularly helpful on mobile devices — and is available today on an opt-in basis to ChatGPT Plus subscribers everywhere but the UK and EU. (Those are hopefully coming soon.)”

Search Engine Roundtable: How It’s Going After Removing Google AMP Pages 3 Weeks Ago. “On June 28th, three weeks ago, I removed the AMP pages from this site. Overall, I didn’t see overall traffic changes from the change. I did notice issues with this site in Google Discover, a spike in crawl rates, a jump in AMP errors and some more changes.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Reuters: OpenAI’s Sam Altman launches Worldcoin crypto project. “Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, launches on Monday. The project’s core offering is its World ID, an account that only real humans can get. To get a World ID, a customer signs up to do an in-person iris scan using Worldcoin’s ‘orb’, a silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb’s iris scan verifies the person is a real human, it creates a World ID.” I will not share my opinion on this endeavor with you because doing so would violate every obscenity ordinance in a 200-mile radius.

Boing Boing: TikToker calls out and publicly shames pickpockets in Venice, Italy. “Pickpockets in the tourist areas of Venice Italy aren’t taking kindly to a TikToker who records them on video and loudly shouts “Attenzione pickpocket!” (‘Attention, pickpocket!’) to warn people in crowded areas that fast-fingered fiends are in the vicinity.”

The Library of Congress Signal: Centering Digital Collection Users: An Interview with Lauren Algee. “I’m excited to share this interview with Lauren Algee, one of my colleagues in the Digital Services Directorate here at the Library of Congress. My hope that interviews like this help to spread awareness about the background, experience, and interests of the people that support the Library of Congress. Along with that, I think it’s really valuable to hear from members of our teams about how their thoughts on the work have changed and developed over time.”

Current: Digitization project will preserve decades of archival content for Arkansas PBS. “A digitization effort underway at Arkansas PBS will preserve more than 26,000 magnetic tapes in the station’s archives, going back to its first hour on the air in 1966. The tapes also include interviews with the Little Rock Nine, audio of Arkansas Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller’s service for Martin Luther King Jr., and several children’s programs from the 1970s previously thought to be lost. The collection also holds nearly 600 interviews with World War II veterans and 700 interviews with movie stars from Good Times Picture Show, a show that aired on the station for about 25 years.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Wall Street Journal: Schools Sue Social-Media Platforms Over Alleged Harms to Students . “Plaintiffs’ lawyers are pitching school boards throughout the country to file lawsuits against social-media companies on allegations that their apps cause classroom disciplinary problems and mental-health issues, diverting resources from education.”

Hindustan Times: Govt warned Twitter of ‘consequences’ for failing to block URLs during farmers’ protest. “In a significant move, the Union government has accepted that it sent out a notice to Twitter warning it of ‘significant consequences’ after the platform failed to block certain URLs during farmers’ protest.”

Reuters: Google owes $338.7 mln in Chromecast patent case, US jury says. “Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) violated a software developer’s patent rights with its remote-streaming technology and must pay $338.7 million in damages, a federal jury in Waco, Texas decided on Friday. The jury found that Google’s Chromecast and other devices infringe patents owned by Touchstream Technologies related to streaming videos from one screen to another.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Analytics India: When Google Thinks It Owns the Internet . “Google has introduced a new proposal ‘Web Environment Integrity Explainer’ drafted by four of its engineers, revolving around the fundamental idea of enhancing ‘trust and security’ in the client environment. It introduces a new API that enables websites to request a token, providing evidence about the client code’s surroundings. In short, Google is killing ad blockers. No matter how easy or a positive move it seems at first glance, it has sparked controversy in the tech community for being a huge red flag in privacy rights.” Good morning, Internet…

July 25, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Monday, July 24, 2023

Virginia Woolf, Project Gutenberg Audiobooks, Space Invaders, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 24, 2023

Virginia Woolf, Project Gutenberg Audiobooks, Space Invaders, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 24, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

BBC: Virginia Woolf: Personal copy of debut novel resurfaces. “Virginia Woolf’s personal copy of her debut novel, The Voyage Out, has been fully digitised for the first time. The book was rediscovered in 2021, having mistakenly been housed in the science section of the University of Sydney library for 25 years. It is the only publicly available copy of its kind and contains rare inscriptions and edits.”

Techdirt: New Project Uses AI To Turn Project Gutenberg Texts Into Free Audiobooks With Lifelike Voices — In 30 Seconds. “There are currently nearly 5,000 AI-voiced audiobooks, which can be accessed from a number of streaming services, via the Internet Archive, and directly. Listening to them, it is evident that they are a step up from previous computer-generated audiobooks, with a reasonably lifelike voice and some human-like inflections.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Gizmodo: Google and Taito’s Space Invaders AR Game Is Finally Available for Download. “Worried you’re going to be woefully ill-prepared for an inevitable attack by invaders from outer space one day? Google and Taito—the company who released the original version of Space Invaders back in 1978—have a new version of the game that brings the invaders into the real world using augmented reality tricks through your mobile device, and it will finally be available for download starting tonight.”

Stanford Daily: Sources refused to participate in Stanford investigation of president after they weren’t guaranteed anonymity. “Some witnesses to alleged incidents of research misconduct in Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s lab would not talk to the committee investigating his research after being told their anonymity was not guaranteed, The Daily learned. The Daily also obtained email records showing that the committee was aware of additional allegations that it did not disclose in its report, released Wednesday morning.”

Engadget: Google’s Nearby Share app for Windows PCs is now officially available. “Google says its Nearby Share app for Windows PCs is now officially available. A PC version of the app, which makes it a cinch to share files between devices like Android phones and Chromebooks, has been in beta for a few months, but it’s now ready for prime time.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNN: ‘It almost doubled our workload’: AI is supposed to make jobs easier. These workers disagree. “Ivana Saula, the research director for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said that workers in her union have said they feel like ‘guinea pigs’ as employers rush to roll out AI-powered tools on the job. And it hasn’t always gone smoothly, Saula said. The implementation of these new tech tools has often led to more ‘residual tasks that a human still needs to do.’ This can include picking up additional logistics tasks that a machine simply can’t do, Saula said, adding more time and pressure to a daily work flow.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Ars Technica: Microsoft to stop locking vital security logs behind $57-per-user monthly plan. “Microsoft will expand access to important security log data after being criticized for locking detailed audit logs behind a Microsoft 365 enterprise plan that costs $57 per user per month.”

HHS: HHS Office for Civil Rights and the Federal Trade Commission Warn Hospital Systems and Telehealth Providers about Privacy and Security Risks from Online Tracking Technologies. “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are cautioning hospitals and telehealth providers about the privacy and security risks related to the use of online tracking technologies that may be integrated into their websites or mobile apps that may be impermissibly disclosing consumers’ sensitive personal health data to third parties.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

WIRED: Why Generative AI Won’t Disrupt Books. “…for the most part, despite tech’s sometimes drastic (and often negative) effects on other industries, book- and reading-related startups failed to alter much at all. People are still buying books—in fact, they’re buying more than ever. Pandemic lockdowns brought a perhaps unsurprising boom in sales, and even though numbers slipped as restrictions lifted, print sales were still nearly 12 percent higher in 2022 than they were in 2019, and sales of audio books continue to increase dramatically year over year.”

ProPublica: A Scientist Said Her Research Could Help With Repatriation. Instead, It Destroyed Native Remains.. “Federal agencies have awarded millions of dollars to scientific studies on Native American human remains, undermining the goals of NAGPRA as tribes fight for repatriation.” Good afternoon, Internet…

July 25, 2023 at 12:21AM
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