Friday, January 26, 2024

West Virginia Magistrate Courts, Google SEO, Twitter, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 26, 2024

West Virginia Magistrate Courts, Google SEO, Twitter, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 26, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

The Dominion Post: Newly launched online magistrate court database brings court info home. “In an effort to make court records more accessible, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Chief Justice Tim Armstead announced the new online database Thursday afternoon in a brief press conference…. Armstead said residents are now able to easily search magistrate court records back to 2003 or earlier for all 55 counties simultaneously, thanks to the internal efforts of I.T. staff for the court system.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Journal: Google’s SEO Starter Guide Set For A Major Update. “Google’s SEO Starter Guide, a critical resource for search engine optimization professionals, is undergoing a significant revision. The impending update was announced on the latest episode of ‘Search Off The Record,’ a podcast featuring Google’s Search Relations team members.”

USEFUL STUFF

EFF: Save your Twitter Account. “In the battleground of history, archival work is cultural defense. Luckily, digital media can be quickly and cheaply duplicated and shared. In just a few minutes of your time, the following easy steps will help preserve not just your history, but the history of your community and the voices you supported.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Euractiv / AFP: Germany uncovers Russian disinformation campaign on X. “Germany has uncovered a major ‘pro-Russian disinformation campaign’ using thousands of fake accounts on X to try and stir anger at Berlin’s support for Ukraine, a media report said on Friday (26 January).”

Bloomberg: Supermarkets turn to AI to sell near-expired goods, tap into overlooked discount revenue. “TGTG’s software factors in customer behaviour, seasonality and other considerations to estimate how likely a product is to sell in a store at any given time, then suggests a discount rate as the item approaches its expiration date. The tool also helps workers track expiry dates such that staff only need to manually check one per cent to seven per cent of products… And it flags when food could be donated or sold at a steep discount through Too Good To Go’s eponymous app.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

FTC: FTC Launches Inquiry into Generative AI Investments and Partnerships. “The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it issued orders to five companies requiring them to provide information regarding recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers.”

Billboard: Google Trained Its AI on Copyrighted Music, Sources Say — Now It’s Trying to Make Deals. “While some of the major labels are touting YouTube as an important partner in the evolving world of music and AI, not everyone in the music industry has been as enthusiastic about these new efforts. That’s because Google trained its model on a large set of music — including copyrighted major-label recordings — and then went to show it to rights holders, rather than asking permission first, according to four sources with knowledge of the search giant’s push into generative AI and music.”

WIRED: ‘Stablecoins’ Enabled $40 Billion in Crypto Crime Since 2022. “By analyzing blockchains, Chainalysis determined that stablecoins were used in fully 70 percent of crypto scam transactions in 2023, 83 percent of crypto payments to sanctioned countries like Iran and Russia, and 84 percent of crypto payments to specifically sanctioned individuals and companies. Those numbers far outstrip stablecoins’ growing overall use—including for legitimate purposes—which accounted for 59 percent of all cryptocurrency transaction volume in 2023.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Korea Herald: Korea Film Archive recovers movies from 1960s, 70s. “The Korean Film Archive said Friday that it recovered 16 Korean movies from the 1960s and 70s that were previously unavailable for viewing due to lost sound and deleted scenes. These movies are meaningful as they are from the Korean film industry’s so-called ‘first renaissance,’ KOFA explained.”

New York Times: That Smartphone in Your Hand Changes How You Walk. “One study found that participants were half as likely to notice a clown on a unicycle — a cheeky touch — while walking and talking on a phone. But that screen in your hand isn’t just diverting your attention. It also changes your mood, your gait and your posture — and hinders your ability to get from point A to point B without running into trouble.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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January 27, 2024 at 02:03AM
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Wyoming School Curricula, California Privacy Rights, California State Worker Pay, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, January 26, 2024

Wyoming School Curricula, California Privacy Rights, California State Worker Pay, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, January 26, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Wyoming Tribune Eagle: WDE website will make local school curricula accessible to all. “The Wyoming Department of Education unveiled a new website Tuesday that will make public school curricula from districts across the state easily accessible from a central location. The website, called ‘curriculum transparency,’ is intended to make it easier for people to access the materials schoolchildren use. The program is entirely optional.”

California Privacy Protection Agency: California Launches privacy.ca.gov, a Website Dedicated to Privacy Information. “The California Privacy Protection Agency has just launched a new resource dedicated to informing Californians about their privacy rights. The website, https://privacy.ca.gov is designed to be a central resource to help Californians understand their rights, including protections under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the actions they may take on a host of privacy concerns.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Sacramento Bee: California state worker pay database updated with 2023 wages, overtime for civil servants. “The Sacramento Bee’s State Worker pay database has been updated with data for 2023. The state paid roughly 266,000 civil service employees a total of about $24.4 billion in the 2023 calendar year, according to updated pay data from the State Controller’s Office. That includes full-time, part-time and intermittent workers, and excludes employees at the California State University and the University of California.”

Kaggle: Publish your models on Kaggle Models. “You’ve likely seen our growing Models effort, allowing Kagglers to find and use all the best open models easily and quickly. But of course Kaggle is more about using resources like models or datasets – our community is founded on ideals of sharing and collaborating. So I am delighted to say that the team has hit a fantastic milestone, and starting today, anyone can now share and publish their models on Kaggle Models.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

The Hill: OpenAI bans developer of Dean Phillips bot, its first known political restriction. “ChatGPT creator OpenAI banned the developer of a bot imitating Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn), the company’s first known restriction on using its artificial intelligence (AI) tools by a political campaign or committee.”

BBC: Ugandan internet propaganda network exposed by the BBC. “A BBC investigation has uncovered a network of fake social media accounts in Uganda. Under false identities, they spread pro-government messaging and target critics with threats. But who are the people behind it?”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Los Angeles Daily News: Hackers post gory videos on Discord groups at UC Irvine, causing mental trauma. “Hackers last week attacked Discord online groups used by students, instructors and alumni at UC Irvine, posting gory videos of human and animal mutilation that reportedly sent some viewers to the hospital and caused a lot of ‘vomiting and tears.'”

Associated Press: YouTuber accused topping 150 mph on his motorcycle on Colorado interstate wanted on multiple charges. “[Rendon] Dietzmann, who is known as Gixxer Brah on YouTube, has posted multiple similar videos from different parts of the country. He is wanted on charges of menacing, engaging in a speed contest, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, speeding 40 mph (64 kph) over the limit, engaging in an exhibition of speed and driving without license plates attached.”

CNN: Explicit, AI-generated Taylor Swift images spread quickly on social media. “The fake images of Taylor Swift were predominantly circulating on social media site X, previously known as Twitter. The photos – which show the singer in sexually suggestive and explicit positions – were viewed tens of millions of times before being removed from social platforms. But nothing on the internet is truly gone forever, and they will undoubtedly continue to be shared on other, less regulated channels.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

University of Waterloo: Using AI to empower art therapy patients. “Researchers have created a new AI-assisted digital art tool designed to help art therapy patients better express themselves while maintaining the efficacy of the process. The tool, dubbed DeepThInk, was designed by computer science researchers at the University of Waterloo and the Southern University of Science and Technology in collaboration with art therapists. DeepThInk grew out of the challenges the therapists faced when the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to conduct their work virtually.”

Schneier on Security: Don’t Talk to People Like They’re Chatbots.
“The other direction these chatbots may take us is even more disturbing: into a world where our conversations with them result in our treating our fellow human beings with the apathy, disrespect, and incivility we more typically show machines.” I’m nice to chatbots! There is no immediate way to tell if you’re talking to a meat person or an AI person online, so to me it seems the correct thing to do is assume they’re all meat until told otherwise.

University at Buffalo: Study links social media use to increased inflammation over time. “A University at Buffalo social scientist has extended a line of research that has already suggested an association between social media use and inflammation with a rigorous new study that showed that same association over time.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 26, 2024 at 06:31PM
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Thursday, January 25, 2024

Pennsylvania Social Services, Wyoming Jobs, Political Blogging, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 25, 2024

Pennsylvania Social Services, Wyoming Jobs, Political Blogging, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 25, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

StateScoop: Pennsylvania launches new website to find food, housing, childcare services. “On Tuesday, Pennsylvania launched PA Navigate, a new website that connects residents to community organizations, government agencies and health care providers for access to resources for basic needs, such as food, housing and childcare.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

County 17: Wyoming’s revamped online job board launches Thursday. ” The Department of Workforce Services announced Wednesday that its new online job board… is set to go live Thursday. The upgraded site aims to improve user experience and site performance with new features for job seekers and employers, as well as present a more straightforward and intuitive design.”

Associated Press: Liberal blogger granted press credentials in Iowa House days after filing lawsuit. “A liberal journalist who blogs about Iowa politics was granted press credentials for the Iowa House of Representatives Wednesday, days after she filed a lawsuit alleging the Republican-controlled House was denying her her First Amendment rights.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Sky News: DPD customer service chatbot swears and calls company ‘worst delivery firm’. “DPD has disabled its artificial intelligence (AI) online chatbot after a customer was able to make the bot swear and write a poem criticising the parcel delivery company.”

Fast Company: How Twitch lost its way. “In trying to figure out where things went wrong, I spoke to Twitch employees, past and present, to find out. They painted a picture of a company that has never quite understood what its users wanted, caught in a constant cycle of trying to break into the mainstream, failing, and circling back to a core gamer demographic. A company that fumbled its biggest opportunities, alienated its top creators, and allowed itself to be outpaced by its competitors.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CBS News: NYC issues public health advisory about social media, designates it an “environmental health toxin” due to its impact on kids. “New York City is issuing an health advisory about social media due to its impact on children. The city is designating social media an ‘environmental health toxin.'”

Kotaku: Ubisoft Wants You To Be Comfortable Not Owning Your Games. “With the pre-release of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown started, Ubisoft has chosen this week to rebrand its Ubisoft+ subscription services, and introduce a PC version of the ‘Classics’ tier at a lower price. And a big part of this, says the publisher’s director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, is getting players ‘comfortable’ with not owning their games.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Search Engine Land: 75% of top brands fall victim to fraud in Google Search Ads. “Three-quarters of leading brands in the US and UK reportedly fall victim to identity theft in Google Search Ads. Consequences range from financial losses for the targeted business to customers becoming victims of fraud, according to a new report by search marketing security firm, Marcode.”

Centre for Economic Policy Research: Paying for news: What Google and Meta owe publishers. “What would Meta and Google owe US publishers under a fair payment for the use of their content? The authors of this blog estimate that the tech platforms should be paying a total of between $11.9 and $13.9 billion annually.”

Nature: Dana-Farber retractions: meet the blogger who spotted problems in dozens of cancer papers. “The prestigious Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in Boston, Massachusetts, acknowledged yesterday that it would seek retractions for six papers and corrections for an additional 31 — some co-authored by DFCI chief executive Laurie Glimcher, chief operating officer William Hahn and several other prominent cancer researchers. The news came after scientific-image sleuth Sholto David posted his concerns about more than 50 manuscripts to a blog on 2 January.” Good afternoon, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 26, 2024 at 01:42AM
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Apple Macintosh Photography, Agricultural Weeds, Fact-Checking, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, January 25, 2024

Apple Macintosh Photography, Agricultural Weeds, Fact-Checking, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, January 25, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Cult of Mac: New website showcases high-quality photos of every Mac released. “To celebrate the Macintosh’s 40th birthday, the author of a celebrated book about Macs created a website featuring photos of every Mac ever released. Jonathan Zufi, author of Iconic: A Photographic Tribute To Apple Innovation, just launched… a new website with more than 1,000 photos of every Mac, ever.”

University of Sheffield: World’s largest database of weeds lets scientists peer into the past, and future, of global agriculture. “The database is the culmination of 30 years of collaborative research from archaeologists and ecologists working at the Universities of Sheffield and Oxford. It catalogues nearly 1000 species of weeds growing in traditional agricultural regimes in Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.” The database is open access.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Poynter: How fact-checking is evolving — and having a real impact on the world. “‘Fake news’ loves a crisis. It’s clear now that false information has played a role in recent events around the world from divisive elections to the COVID-19 pandemic to the conflict roiling Israel and Gaza. It is important to counter false claims and false narratives. And research now shows a lot more clarity about how to do this.”

Business Insider: Google’s efforts to shrink its workforce in Korea have hit a snag as some employees are refusing to go. “About 10 Google employees from its office in Seoul had accepted the company’s suggestion to resign, the outlet reported. But according to the Korean labor-law firm KangNam, the law doesn’t allow employers with five or more workers to dismiss them without just cause.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

The Verge: Google Pixel users are again suffering from a storage bug. “Multiple Google Pixel owners are reporting issues with their devices after installing the new January 2024 Google Play system update, resulting in access issues to data kept on internal storage. Symptoms include crashing apps, an inability to play music or videos, and being unable to access the phone camera.”

Fast Company: Groove, an app that lets people find coworking partners, emerges from beta “Many office workers have rejoiced in the ability to work from home in the post-pandemic years, but for those who miss the camaraderie of an office or coworking space, a startup called Groove lets people find coworking partners by the hour.”

New York Times: Why Making Face Computers Cool Isn’t Easy. “Broadly speaking, the problem with headsets has less to do with technology and more to do with behavior: People quickly get tired of wearing a computer on their face, the devices end up in closets, and software developers lose interest in making apps. Sales of mixed reality and virtual reality headsets fell 8.3 percent last year, according to the research firm IDC, though they may rebound this year with Apple entering the market.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

404 Media: Inside a Global Phone Spy Tool Monitoring Billions. “Hundreds of thousands of ordinary apps, including popular ones such as 9gag, Kik, and a series of caller ID apps, are part of a global surveillance capability that starts with ads inside each app, and ends with the apps’ users being swept up into a powerful mass monitoring tool advertised to national security agencies that can track the physical location, hobbies, and family members of people to build billions of profiles, according to a 404 Media investigation.”

The Root: Oh.My.God:Police Say Clout Chasing Youtuber Tortured Animals in Videos . “A woman from Upper Darby, Pa. has been slammed with multiple charges stemming from a series of complaints made about her YouTube channel. She wasn’t spreading lies about celebs or pretending to be an AI robot – the police say she was torturing animals.” This article is extremely disturbing and if you want to skip it I don’t blame you.

RESEARCH & OPINION

WIRED: Most Top News Sites Block AI Bots. Right-Wing Media Welcomes Them. “New data shows that over 88 percent of top-ranked news outlets in the US now block web crawlers used by artificial intelligence companies to collect training data for chatbots and other AI projects. One sector of the news business is a glaring outlier, though: Right-wing media lags far behind their liberal counterparts when it comes to bot-blocking.”

University of Missouri: The more the merrier: Research shows online interventions with social support help middle-aged adults with obesity lose weight. “As many make — and often fail to keep — New Year’s resolutions about exercise and weight loss goals, University of Missouri researcher Mansoo Yu has completed a long-term study that highlights which specific features of online weight loss interventions are most likely to lead to long-term weight loss and maintenance. Yu found that counseling with professional health coaches and social support from other users are the two most beneficial features of online weight-loss programs for middle-aged adults (ages 35-55) with obesity or overweight.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

George Mason University: New video camera system captures the colored world that animals see. “A George Mason University scientist and team of researchers developed a new camera system that allows ecologists and filmmakers to produce videos that accurately replicate the colors that different animals see in natural settings, according to a report in the open access journal PLOS Biology.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 25, 2024 at 06:31PM
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Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Utah Entrepreneurs, Social Media Legislation, Google Chrome, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 24, 2024

Utah Entrepreneurs, Social Media Legislation, Google Chrome, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 24, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of Utah: New Resource Launched For Utah Entrepreneurs. “The Utah Founders website is now live, and it lists resources to help founders launch a company anywhere in Utah. Resources include incubators, coworking spaces, funding opportunities, government agencies, university programs and more.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

KSL News Radio: Utah’s social media child protection law put on hold. “Utah’s new social media law has been put on hold. The Utah Social Media Regulation Act, designed to focus on child protection on online platforms, won’t take effect until October 1st. It was originally scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2024.”

TechCrunch: Google Chrome gains AI features, including a writing helper, theme creator, and tab organizer. “Google’s Chrome web browser is getting an infusion of AI technology in the latest release. The company announced today it’s soon adding a trio of new AI-powered features to Chrome for Mac and Windows, including a way to smartly organize your tabs, customize your theme, and get help when writing things on the web — like forum posts, online reviews, and more.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Korea JoongAng Daily: Korea begs citizens to stop eating fried toothpicks for viral trend. “The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety warned citizens against eating toothpicks made of starch as they are ‘not food’ and not safe for consumption, after videos of people eating fried toothpicks went viral online.”

Pune Pulse: Kayani Bakery Cyber Scam: Several duped due to fake website & Google listing. “In order to pull off a significant con, cybercriminals are said to have imitated the famous Kayani Bakery in Pune’s website and made a phony Google listing under the bakery’s name. Individuals who have been using the phony website and the mobile phone numbers listed on Google listings to place online orders for different Kayani Bakery products have been losing thousands of rupees.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Reuters: Google settles AI-related chip patent lawsuit that sought $1.67 billion. “Google on Wednesday reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit over chips that power the company’s artificial-intelligence technology, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.”

CNN: Republican AGs back Texas and Florida social media regulations at US Supreme Court. “Social media companies should be treated as utilities such as telephone or telegraph companies, a group of states led by Republican attorneys general told the US Supreme Court on Monday. In a friend-of-the-court brief, 19 states and the state legislature of Arizona wrote that the Supreme Court should uphold laws passed by Texas and Florida that restrict companies including Meta, YouTube, X and others from moderating the content that their users post online.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

London School of Economics and Political Science: How refugee sector organizations represent refugees on Instagram, and why this matters for humanitarian communication. “Sites and platforms like Instagram play key roles in shaping public understandings of issues and events, while also providing ways for a host of messengers—be they laypeople, influencers, or professional voices—to quickly reach and curate their target audiences at scale. Yet this raises political questions about how messengers represent marginalized groups, and what they aim to achieve by doing so.”

Bloomberg: Google DeepMind Scientists in Talks to Leave and Form AI Startup. “A pair of scientists at Google DeepMind, the Alphabet Inc. artificial intelligence division, have been talking with investors about forming an AI startup in Paris, according to people familiar with the conversations.”

Northern Arizona University: How well does American AI understand Korean slang?. “Can an AI tool developed by an American engineer accurately assess meanings and nuances in other, unrelated languages? That’s at the heart of research that Scott Jarvis, applied linguistics professor at NAU, is tackling with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Minerva Initiative.” Good afternoon, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 25, 2024 at 01:13AM
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Maps.com, iOS, AI Hiring Laws, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, January 24, 2024

Maps.com, iOS, AI Hiring Laws, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, January 24, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

BusinessWire: Esri Launches Maps.com, a Content Platform for Creators Demonstrating the Power of Maps (PRESS RELEASE). “Created by Esri, the global leader in mapping and location intelligence software, the new website is a platform for sharing and discussing visually engaging maps that inspire, challenge, educate, reward, and provoke across a range of topics and formats. The site will serve as a celebration of science and art, presenting maps that captivate not only with their insights but also with their aesthetics.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: iOS 17.3 is out, adding Stolen Device Protection for your iPhone. “iOS 17.3 is out, and it comes with a new security feature that’s supposed to prevent thieves from taking your iPhone and quickly taking over access to anything stored in iCloud as well as other important accounts like your bank or email.”

Wall Street Journal: New York City Passed an AI Hiring Law. So Far, Few Companies Are Following It.. “It has been six months since New York City began enforcing the nation’s first law requiring companies to disclose how algorithms influence their hiring decisions. So far, disclosures are rare. The law requires employers that use software to assist with hiring and promotion decisions—including chatbot interviewing tools and résumé scanners that look for keyword matches—to audit those tools annually for potential race and gender bias, and then publish the results on their websites.”

CNBC: New details emerge about SEC’s X account hack, including SIM swap. “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday that a SIM swap attack was to blame for the breach of its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier this month.”

USEFUL STUFF

Lifehacker: The Best Ways to Make Your Own GIFs. “Perhaps you’ve found the perfect snippet of video to express your thoughts in a second or two, and you need it in the GIF format. In that case, you can make your own GIF, often in just a few minutes. The best way of making a GIF depends on what you’re creating it out of, whether that’s a YouTube video or a series of your own photos. I’ll run down the most important options, and how to work through them.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Moscow Times: Tech Giant Yandex Gets New Russian Owner Ahead of Restructuring. “A Russia-based company has become the legal owner of tech giant Yandex as it prepares to separate from its Dutch parent company, the state-run Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.”

University of Wisconsin-Madison: UWM researchers win grant to digitally map racially restrictive housing covenants. “Two UWM researchers have won a federal grant of nearly $150,000 to continue their research into restrictive racial covenants in Milwaukee County. The grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will help Anne Bonds, professor of geography, and Derek Handley, assistant professor of English, to develop a digital platform to map and visualize racial covenants in early 20th-century Milwaukee.”

ABC News (Australia): Inside the world of Indonesia’s social media ‘buzzers’ cashing in from pushing 2024 election propaganda. “Buzzing is a fast-growing industry in Indonesia and across South-East Asia, which involves individuals and groups being paid to create and share political propaganda online. Over the past decade, armies of buzzers have been promoting candidates and party issues, or creating hoaxes and disinformation. But Robert, who has been moonlighting as a buzzer since Indonesia’s 2014 elections, says this year the industry has become much slicker and professional.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Guardian: Grieving Louisiana father faces $18,000 bill to access state records of son’s case . “A Louisiana state prosecutor who declined to file a murder charge in connection with a man’s drugging and robbery death in 2017 has demanded more than $18,000 for the victim’s grieving father to obtain public records related to the case.”

Daily Beast: Is This Russia’s Dumbest Propaganda Fail?. “The photos showed [Volodymyr] Zelensky’s hand circled in red ink as it was first shown on U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s shoulder, followed by a close-up of the tattoos, and then a third photo … showing Zelensky clear across the room from that tattooed hand supposedly belonging to him.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Stony Brook University: SoCJ’s Li to Study Impact of AI-Generated Science and Health Misinformation on Racial Minorities. “…racial groups whose health is already vulnerable, including Black and Hispanic populations, are most likely to be harmed as AI-generated misinformation is created particularly to engage — and mislead — them. All of this seems clear from a growing body of research. What is less clear is what can be done about it.”

Tim Bray: Mourning Google. “It’s not just Google · The last two decades of my career featured the arcing then crashing of popular regard for Big Tech. It’s hard to believe now, the years when those lovably nerdy Bay Area kids were leading humanity to a brighter, better-lit future; our leaders were lionized and when people found out you actually worked for Google, their eyes widened and you could feel the focus. These days, Big Tech features in hostile congressional hearings, mass layoffs, and messy antitrust litigation. It offers few experiences that can be uncritically enjoyed.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 24, 2024 at 06:31PM
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Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Civil War Records, Texas Respiratory Diseases, Twitter, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 23, 2024

Civil War Records, Texas Respiratory Diseases, Twitter, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 23, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Fold3: New Civil War Records: National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. “We are pleased to announce the addition of records for soldiers who resided in National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938. This free collection contains records for twelve National Homes where disabled soldiers and sailors could live following the Civil War.”

Texas Department of State Health Services: Tools Provide the Public with a View of Diseases Affecting the State. “The Texas Department of State Health Services has launched new data tools to let people keep tabs on respiratory viruses in Texas. A respiratory virus dashboard accessible through DSHS’s Texas Health Data site shows trends in illnesses from influenza, COVID-19 and RSV, the ‘big three’ respiratory viruses most likely to cause serious disease at this time of year. Data includes emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Mashable: MrBeast earns more than $250,000 on video uploaded to Elon Musk’s X. “MrBeast said the video upload was a test to compare his X earnings with his YouTube payouts and that he’d publicly share how much he made. Well, he has just delivered. According to MrBeast, X’s analytics show that he will make $263,655 off his video. The creator shared the information in a tweet on Monday and included a screenshot of his account’s analytics as proof.” I used to work as an ad buyer for a retail business, which meant I spent a lot of time calculating cost per thousand (CPM), cost per click (CPC), etc. If I calculated it correctly (it’s been several years), then Mr. Beast got a payment of about 16 cents CPM (16 cents per thousand impressions.) If Twitter paid out all creators like that I imagine it would be broke.

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Reuters: Olympics-Google Maps and other apps asked to restrict route options during Paris Games. “Navigation applications, such as Google Maps, have been asked by Paris’s public transport authority to restrict suggested routes to the ones prepared for travellers during the 2024 Olympic Games, the body’s chief executive said.”

University College Cork: Bonar Law Collection acquired by National Library of Ireland. “An Tánaiste, Micheál Martin TD, and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, have today announced the acquisition by the State of the Bonar Law Collection, the most complete visual record of Ireland, in map and print form, ever assembled by an expert private collector. In extent, the Bonar Law Collection comprises close to 10,000 maps and approximately 9,000 prints, which include caricature prints and ballad sheets, many of which are unique to this collection.”

University of Central Florida: PRINT Project Receives Funding to Revolutionize Migration Research. “PRINT is a collaborative project dedicated to mapping the communication networks of early modern European religious minorities and tracing their influence on the dynamic patterns of migration in the Atlantic world. Originally evolving to address issues of religious intolerance, the connections took on a life of their own as people with different interests used them to funnel information about the logistics of movement and mobility. PRINT explores history through the lens of interconnectedness and resilience.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Crikey: How one man’s pay-to-use toilet gag revealed Google Maps can be used to track people. “When Will added his share house as a pay-to-use toilet on Google Maps, he didn’t expect that it would accidentally reveal how the service could be used to track someone’s movements without their knowledge.”

CBS News: Swatting calls target more than a dozen public officials since Christmas. One says, “This is an assassination attempt.”. “More than a dozen public officials have been targeted by attempted ‘swatting attacks’ in the weeks since Christmas, according to a review by CBS News. The calls have targeted judges overseeing cases against former President Donald Trump, politicians of both parties, a prosecutor, and even the White House — part of a growing and alarming number of swatting incidents nationwide.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

New York Times: Our Rodent Selfies, Ourselves . This link is to a gift article. “A photographer trained two rats to take photographs of themselves. They didn’t want to stop.” The pictures are adorable.

University of Southampton: Citizen scientists needed to discover elusive black holes . “Could you help our scientists uncover the mysterious world of invisible black holes? Become a Black Hole Hunter and you’ll be taking part in scientific research that has the potential to reveal more about one of space’s most intriguing aspects.” Good afternoon, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 24, 2024 at 01:02AM
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VMA Veterinary Career Center, Local Google Search, Microsoft Copilot, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, January 23, 2024

VMA Veterinary Career Center, Local Google Search, Microsoft Copilot, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, January 23, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

American Veterinary Medical Association: Find a veterinary job that fits you with AVMA’s new data tool. “AVMA JobFIT, a resource in the AVMA Veterinary Career Center (VCC), pulls together information about U.S. communities to help job seekers learn about specific areas and find jobs there. The AVMA JobFIT tool is powered by data and integrated with the VCC job board—our profession’s largest and most active job board—so you can explore the job market in a new way. See available veterinary jobs side by side with local data like housing costs, cost of living, and more.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Roundtable: Google Search Local “Nearby Events And Deals”. “For the past few weeks Google has been testing out a new local search box titled ‘Nearby events and deals.’ This box contains links to local stores and places that have events and/or deals in the area.” Remember when you could search Google News by state?

CNBC: Microsoft brings Copilot AI assistant to small businesses and launches a premium tier for individuals. “Microsoft said on Tuesday that small businesses can now subscribe to its Copilot virtual assistant in the company’s productivity apps. Consumers who pay for the Microsoft 365 software can sign up for a new paid version of Copilot.”

Bloomberg: Alphabet’s Moonshot X Lab Cuts Staff, Turns to Outside Investors. “Alphabet Inc.’s lab for pioneering technology is laying off dozens of employees as it turns to outside investors to help fund its ventures. The division, known as X, has in recent months ramped up discussions on funding with venture capitalists and other investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named as it is private.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

NBC News: Fake Joe Biden robocall tells New Hampshire Democrats not to vote on Tuesday . “A prominent New Hampshire Democrat plans to file a complaint with the state attorney general over an apparent robocall that appears to encourage supporters of President Joe Biden not to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary. The voice in the message is familiar — even presidential — as it’s an apparent imitation or digital manipulation of Biden’s voice.”

Search Engine Land: Google to cut thousands of search quality rater jobs after dropping contract with Appen. “Appen, an Australian data services company that Google contracted with for a large number of its third-party search quality raters, was notified by Google that its contract is ending on March 19, 2024. Appen said it had no prior notice and the cancellation would result in a loss of $82.8m of revenue at a gross margin of 26% for the company.”

NPR: How social media algorithms ‘flatten’ our culture by making decisions for us. “In his new book, Filterworld, [Kyle] Chayka examines the algorithmic recommendations that dictate everything from the music, news and movies we consume, to the foods we eat and the places we go. He argues that all this machine-guided curation has made us docile consumers and flattened our likes and tastes.” That excerpt makes it sound like you don’t have a choice. Reminder that you do.

SECURITY & LEGAL

BBC: Cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs files for bankruptcy in US. “The cryptocurrency company behind the crashed TerraUSD and Luna tokens has filed for bankruptcy in the US. Terraform Labs’ tokens collapsed in May, losing $40bn of their value and contributing to the so-called ‘cryptocrash’ of 2022. Co-founder Do Kwon is currently in jail in Montenegro after having been found guilty of forging documents.”

Reuters: Global watchdog to report in October on how social media fuels bank runs. “Global financial regulators will present the G20 in October their findings from a ‘deep dive’ on how social media can speed up bank deposit outflows and whether changes to liquidity rules are needed, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said on Monday.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Stanford Medicine: ‘Smart speaker’ shows potential for better self-management of Type 2 diabetes. “…researchers from Stanford Medicine have created a voice-based artificial intelligence application that runs on a device already familiar to tens of millions of Americans: a ‘smart speaker,’ commonly used to play music and check the weather. The app tells patients the correct insulin dose without requiring them to contact their doctor’s office or wait for an appointment.”

Ars Technica: Top Harvard Cancer researchers accused of scientific fraud; 37 studies affected. “The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is seeking to retract six scientific studies and correct 31 others that were published by the institute’s top researchers, including its CEO. The researchers are accused of manipulating data images with simple methods, primarily with copy-and-paste in image editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Core77: The HoloTile Floor: Disney Imagineer Invents Omnidirectional Treadmill Surface. “Inventor Lanny Smoot, a Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer, has invented something incredible: The HoloTile floor, an omnidirectional walking surface that could be one of the breakthroughs for truly immersive VR experiences.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 23, 2024 at 06:31PM
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Monday, January 22, 2024

Parasitology Specimens, MIT Press, National Library of Wales, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 22, 2024

Parasitology Specimens, MIT Press, National Library of Wales, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 22, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Nebraska Today: Gardner digitizing parasite samples for scientists everywhere. “Scott L. Gardner, curator of parasitology for the University of Nebraska State Museum, has hundreds of thousands of parasite samples at his fingertips — mites, ticks, lice, fleas, tapeworms, trematodes and more. They’re on slides in cabinets, in vials of ethanol, in tubes in ultra-low temperature freezers — and now some are available via online database.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

MIT Press: MIT Press’s Direct to Open reaches annual funding goal, opens access to full list of 2024 monographs . “Now in its third year of operation, Direct to Open (D2O) is proud to announce that it has reached its full funding goal in 2024 and will open access to 79 new monographs and edited book collections this year. What makes this year noteworthy is that this is the first year in which D2O has been fully funded by its November 30 deadline and will not require an extension through the end of the fiscal year.”

Cambrian News: Extension granted on National Library archives plan over lack of funding. “The National Library of Wales has been granted an extension to begin work on multi-million pound plans to house the BBC Wales archives at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth that were paused due to a lack of funding. The National Library applied to Ceredigion County Council for a time extension to previously-granted plans for the scheme to house BBC Wales archives in a special extension, as funding was lost as a result of the Covid pandemic.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: Are Premium AI Prompts Worth the Money? . “The rise of generative AI tools has taught us one thing: the results you get from AI tools are only as good as the prompt you provide. However, crafting AI prompts that produce awesome results requires creativity, time, and technical know-how. That’s why AI prompt marketplaces have sprung up, offering unique AI prompts crafted by experts, selling you their AI wisdom. So, is it worth buying an AI prompt?” It’s interesting to me that no matter how oriented to replacing humanity a technology is, it will develop a human economy layer almost instantly.

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Asharq Al-Awsat: Saudi Private Sector Abroad: New Database in the Works. “The Saudi Ministry of Investment is currently compiling information on foreign investments by private companies and creating a database for investment data in the Kingdom. This initiative aims to be a central platform for relevant information.”

Balkan Insight: AI-Generated Video Targets Istanbul Mayor Ahead of Elections. “A manipulated video of Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor praising President Erdogan’s party, spread ahead of critical local elections, shows how disinformation is increasingly drawing on the latest technology, such as AI-generated videos.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Washington Post: Why Jan. 6 insurrections sent a letter to the Folger Shakespeare Library. “While insurrectionists were plotting to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, they took time to write and send a letter to an institution two blocks from their target: the Folger Shakespeare Library, the world’s largest collection of material related to the English playwright. ‘We will be blocking access to your building … to prevent our persons of grievance from using you as a loophole,’ read the insurrectionists’ letter, which circulated on a pro-Trump message board called TheDonald before the insurrection and was published this month in the Folger’s online archive.”

Vice: Leaving The Real World: How I Escaped Andrew Tate’s Get Rich Quick ‘Cult’. “While much has been made of the toxic influence of Tate’s misogynistic attitudes on a generation of impressionable young men, former Tate supporters and critics have spoken out to VICE News to warn of another dimension of the threat he poses: that his latest business endeavour, in their view, is scamming his own fans. The Real World, they say, is a cynical and ingenious grift – with the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme – that targets teenagers to financially exploit them, while using them as drones to power Tate’s formidable social media PR machine.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Washington University in St. Louis: New research creates framework for large-scale geospatial exploration. “When combatting complex problems like illegal poaching and human trafficking, efficient yet broad geospatial search tools can provide critical assistance in finding and stopping the activity. A visual active search (VAS) framework for geospatial exploration developed by researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis uses a novel visual reasoning model and aerial imagery to learn how to search for objects more effectively.”

Stat News: The FDA and FTC need to crack down on TikTok and Instagram influencers pitching prescription drugs. “Following past instances of successful collaboration on matters such as biosimilar misinformation, the FDA and FTC should formalize their partnership and jointly address the escalating impact of social media advertisements and influencer-driven promotions of prescription medications. Regulatory agencies should collaborate with independent patient organizations to provide guidance on appropriate disclosures and ethical practices for influencer-sponsored prescription advertisements.” Good afternoon, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 23, 2024 at 01:13AM
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DISCMASTER, Brave Browser, Authy Alternatives, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, January 22, 2024

DISCMASTER, Brave Browser, Authy Alternatives, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, January 22, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Internet Archive Blog: DISCMASTER Rises Again. “In October of 2022, the DISCMASTER site arrived, providing amazing semantic search of thousands of shareware and compilation CD-ROMs at the Internet Archive…. Unfortunately, the site went down in June of 2023, due to a number of factors, the most pressing of which was a need to switch hosting and administration duties. (It is not run by Internet Archive and is not hosted at Internet Archive’s datacenters.) However, DISCMASTER HAS RETURNED!”

Bleeping Computer: Brave to end ‘Strict’ fingerprinting protection as it breaks websites. “Brave Software has announced plans to deprecate the ‘Strict’ fingerprinting protection mode in its privacy-focused Brave Browser because it causes many sites to function incorrectly. Fingerprinting protection in Brave Browser is a feature designed to enhance user privacy by preventing websites from tracking users through a technique called fingerprinting.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: The 6 Best Alternatives to Authy’s Desktop App. “With the discontinuation of Authy’s desktop app in January 2024, thousands of users are looking for a 2FA desktop replacement. Thankfully, there are heaps of excellent authenticator applications and browser extensions that you can use to replace Authy.”

Mashable: Your kid saw something totally inappropriate online. Here’s what to do next.. “Young people may see something that causes a profound sense of worry about their safety in the world or is ‘radically out of alignment’ with what they’ve previously observed or considered, [Dr. Janis] Whitlock says….In order to prepare yourself (and a parenting plan) for a delicate but necessary conversation with a kid or teen who has seen something awful online, consider these tips from Whitlock.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

The Verge: I literally spoke with Nvidia’s AI-powered video game NPCs. “Let me be clear: the characters I spoke to were effectively generative AI chatbots. They didn’t feel like real people — we’ve got a ways to go before voices, facial expressions, and body language catch up to what’s expected of a real-life interaction…. But many of today’s biggest video games already set a pretty low bar for NPCs. Saddling up to the bar of a cyberpunk ramen shop to ask real questions with my real voice — it exceeds what I expect from the average denizen in The Elder Scrolls or Assassin’s Creed.”

TechCrunch: What happened to Artifact?. “Last week, Artifact, a buzzy news app from Instagram’s co-founders, announced it was shutting down after failing to gain critical mass. The news came as a surprise, as the app was generally well-received by its core audience; smartly leveraged AI to power recommendations, summarize news, and rewrite clickbait; and featured a clean and modern design that made it easy to use. So what went wrong?”

The Mainichi: Yokohama library system introduces Japan-1st AI book search . ” Aiming to offer new discoveries for booklovers, the municipal library system here on Jan. 15 unveiled an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search service that suggests items when users enter a word or sentence — the first of its kind countrywide.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Politico: Both of these agencies want a piece of Microsoft’s Open AI partnership. “The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are deep in discussions over which agency can probe OpenAI, including the ChatGPT creators’ involvement with Microsoft, on antitrust grounds. The FTC initiated talks with the DOJ months ago to figure out which one can review the matter, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.”

Washington Post: How the internet is erasing the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. “The Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack is among the most well-documented in history. A crush of evidence from smartphone cameras and GoPros captured Hamas’ breach of the border — a strike Israel says left some 1,200 dead, the most deadly onslaught in the country’s history. But Oct. 7 denial is spreading. A small but growing group denies the basic facts of the attacks, pushing a spectrum of falsehoods and misleading narratives that minimize the violence or dispute its origins.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Bloomberg: Attacks on renewable energy are proliferating on YouTube. “The nature of climate misinformation on Google-owned YouTube is evolving, according to a new report. Videos espousing climate denial are declining across nearly 100 YouTube channels, while videos attacking solutions such as wind and solar are proliferating.”

University of Exeter: Wrongly-enforced rules over “digital surrogates” by museums censors research and creative use, study warns. “Cultural institutions are censoring research, learning and creativity because of the way they police the reuse of digital copies of out-of-copyright artworks and artefacts, a new study warns.”

Android Authority: Sorry, Google: After Assistant’s chaotic evolution, I can’t believe in Bard. “I just can’t get excited about Bard. … I can’t get excited about it because I’m becoming more and more distrustful of Google’s vision — and is there even a vision at this point? Or are we just reacting to the competition? If you remember, Google Assistant was a reaction to Apple’s Siri, while Bard is a reaction to ChatGPT. Neither of them has been an original, well-thought-out project with a clear long-term plan.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 22, 2024 at 06:31PM
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Sunday, January 21, 2024

East London History, Nightshade, Reading Coach, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 21, 2024

East London History, Nightshade, Reading Coach, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 21, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Newham Recorder: East Londoners recall culture, racism and discrimination. “East Londoners have shared their experiences of racism and discrimination in a new online archive. Voices of East Bank, created this year, consists of more than 100 audio recordings chronicling the diverse heritage, languages, and culture of east London from the 20th century to the present day.”

VentureBeat: Nightshade, the free tool that ‘poisons’ AI models, is now available for artists to use. “It’s here: months after it was first announced, Nightshade, a new, free software tool allowing artists to ‘poison’ AI models seeking to train on their works, is now available for artists to download and use on any artworks they see fit.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Microsoft makes its AI-powered reading tutor free. “Microsoft today made Reading Coach, its AI-powered tool that provides learners with personalized reading practice, available at no cost to anyone with a Microsoft account. As of this morning, Reading Coach is accessible on the web in preview — a Windows app is forthcoming. And soon (in late spring), Reading Coach will integrate with learning management systems such as Canva, Microsoft says.”

Japan Today: Social media firms bolster monitoring of Japan quake misinformation. “Social media platforms are strengthening their monitoring of misinformation on their platforms concerning a recent powerful earthquake that hit central Japan, as the government asks them to take specific measures to prevent such posts from hampering rescue efforts, the communications ministry said Friday.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

GQ: How one writer escaped the algorithm: “My wife had to tell me that the Queen had died”. “[Kyle] Chayka, who writes about technology and culture on the internet for The New Yorker, never even bothered set up the screen time function on his phone, because, well, who wants to know? But while researching his new book, Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, which charts how algorithms have come to dominate modern culture, he embarked on something drastic: a months-long ‘algorithm cleanse’ during which he avoided all computer-generated content feeds. ‘We have this sense that we don’t exist if we’re not online, which isn’t true,’ he says. ‘But I think the cleanse truly helped me reset my relationship to the internet.'”

Associated Press: Online rumors partially to blame for drop in water pressure in Mississippi capital, manager says. “Law enforcement agencies are investigating whether social media rumors about a potential water outage prompted people to quickly fill bathtubs with tap water in Mississippi’s capital during a cold snap and cause a drop in pressure that temporarily made faucets run dry for thousands of customers of the city’s long-troubled system.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

AFP: Academia warned to guard ‘crown jewels’ after British Library hack. “While cyber-attacks on banks, utilities and media platforms may grab the most attention, the hacking of the British Library has led to warnings that academia has become an easy target.”

Bleeping Computer: BreachForums hacking forum admin sentenced to 20 years supervised release. “Conor Brian Fitzpatrick was sentenced to 20 years of supervised release today in the Eastern District of Virginia for operating the notorious BreachForums hacking forum, known for the sale and leaking of personal data for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Techdirt: Americans Received 55 Billion Robocalls In 2023, A 9% Jump From 2022. “There is some good news: according to data from the YouMail Robocall Index, U.S. consumers received just under 3.8 billion robocalls during the month of December, a 16.3% decrease from the month before. The bad news: that November to December decrease usually happens (predatory scumbags take breaks over the holidays like everybody else) and may not be fully representative of a meaningful trend.”

International Journalists’ Network: To combat disinformation targeting Asian Americans, center language and communities. “Mis- and disinformation within Asian American communities spreads widely on the radio, Youtube and popular apps such as WeChat and WhatsApp. WeChat, which is used by about 60% of the Chinese American community, is particularly vulnerable to misinformation, due to a hyper-partisan, conservative ecosystem that rewards sensationalist content. To learn more about disinformation’s impact on Asian American communities and how to combat it in effective, culturally conscious ways, I reached out to Nick Nguyen, the co-founder and research lead of Viet Fact Check, and Kyle Van Fleet, a strategic communications associate for APIA Vote and head of APIA Vote’s disinformation monitoring program.” Good afternoon, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 22, 2024 at 01:29AM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/ysV0Giz

Respiratory Illness, Google Meet, LinkedIn, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, January 21, 2024

Respiratory Illness, Google Meet, LinkedIn, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, January 21, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Laboratory Equipment: NYC Database Sheds Light on Increasing Respiratory Illness Severity. “Since the pandemic, respiratory infections have worsened in severity and spread, becoming a significant public health concern. But even before that respiratory infections were a huge health problem, especially for the young, elderly and those with preexisting conditions. Trying to get a better handle on the infections, researchers at Columbia University have used longitudinal cohort data to create an interactive, publicly available website to visualize cohort characteristics, infection events and illness severity factors.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

How-To Geek: Google Meet Has New Effects and Lighting Features. “The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge for better videoconferencing tools. Suddenly, there was a lot of competition in the segment, as more people had to use them with remote and hybrid work (and to socialize outside of work). Google Meet became one of the better options, for its versatility and customization options. Now, the app is getting even better with the addition of several new customization options.”

Search Engine Land: LinkedIn launches sponsored articles. “LinkedIn has introduced sponsored articles, providing marketers with an additional tool that may contribute to enhancing brand awareness, increasing engagement, and driving lead generation.”

USEFUL STUFF

Larry Ferlazzo: This Week’s Free & Useful Artificial Intelligence Tools For The Classroom. “At least, for now, I’m going to make this a weekly feature which will highlight additions to THE BEST NEW – & FREE – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS THAT COULD BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Daily Beast: Think Deepfakes Are Bad? ‘Cheapfakes’ Are Far More Dangerous. “You’ve likely already been schooled on how to spot a deepfake, a dangerous but relatively immature artificial intelligence tool. Are there odd shadows or glares? Are the lips synced up with the audio? Are there too many or too few fingers on the hands? But as Israel and Hamas wage war on both a physical and digital battlefield, disinformation experts are ringing the alarm about deepfakes’ easier-to-deploy and far more ubiquitous cousin: cheapfakes.”

Ars Technica: Google lays off “hundreds” more as ad division switches to AI-powered sales. “In December, we heard that job cuts might be coming for Google’s ad sales division, and it’s here. Business Insider reports Google is laying off ‘hundreds of employees’ from the ad sales team. The cuts are mostly in the ‘Large Customer Sales’ (LCS) team, which serves the company’s biggest advertising clients.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Krebs on Security: Canadian Man Stuck in Triangle of E-Commerce Fraud. “A Canadian man who says he’s been falsely charged with orchestrating a complex e-commerce scam is seeking to clear his name. His case appears to involve “triangulation fraud,” which occurs when a consumer purchases something online — from a seller on Amazon or eBay, for example — but the seller doesn’t actually own the item for sale. Instead, the seller purchases the item from an online retailer using stolen payment card data.”

Irish Times: Google begins High Court case against Irish data regulator. “Google has started a High Court case against Irish data regulator Helen Dixon over a new privacy investigation into the company, taking the unusual step of initiating a legal challenge before any determination is made in the case. The judicial review by the web search engine giant is linked to an inquiry by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) into the procedures for opening Google accounts on its website and apps.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Jeff Jarvis: Make Bell Labs an internet museum. “Bell Labs, the historic headwaters of so many inventions that now define our digital age, is closing in Murray Hill, its latest owners moving to more modern headquarters in New Brunswick. The Labs should be preserved as a historic site and more. I propose that Bell Labs be opened to the public as a museum and school of the internet.”

Schneier on Security: Zelle Is Using My Name and Voice without My Consent. “Okay, so this is weird. Zelle has been using my name, and my voice, in audio podcast ads—without my permission. At least, I think it is without my permission. It’s possible that I gave some sort of blanket permission when speaking at an event. It’s not likely, but it is possible.”

Library of Congress: FADGI Report on Software Accessibility for Open-Source Digital Preservation Applications. “As first discussed in a previous blog post, the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) AudioVisual Working Group partnered with consultants at AVP to spearhead a project aimed at enhancing accessibility in open-source desktop applications for the digital preservation community. FADGI has produced free and open-source desktop tools for years and is committed to being a responsible steward regarding accessibility. In spring and summer 2023, FADGI engaged AVP and selected three open-source desktop software applications for evaluations.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

University of Wisconsin-Madison: Knowing what dogs like to watch could help veterinarians assess their vision. “Ever wonder what kind of TV shows your dog might choose if they could work the remote control? New research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine provides some answers, but the study was more interested in solving a longstanding problem in veterinary medicine than turning canine companions into couch potatoes.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 21, 2024 at 06:31PM
via ResearchBuzz https://ift.tt/mS8kGPj

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Twitter, Davos, Google, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 20, 2024

Twitter, Davos, Google, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, January 20, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Mashable: X appears to be juicing MrBeast’s views as Elon Musk tries to woo the YouTuber to the platform. “MrBeast, the most popular creator on YouTube, uploaded his latest YouTube video to Elon Musk’s X for the first time. According to MrBeast, he was “curious” about “how much ad revenue” he would make from the upload, so he uploaded the video directly to the platform as a ‘test.’ Now, X users are reporting that MrBeast’s post containing the video upload is being forced into their feed multiple times a day as an unlabeled advertisement.”

Futurism: Global Elites Suddenly Starting to Fear AI. “This time last year, the billionaires at the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland were impossibly gung-ho about artificial intelligence. But now cracks are forming, and they sound somewhat concerned. As the Washington Post and other outlets report, this year’s gathering at Davos has featured a decidedly shifted tone as the world’s most influential movers and shakers start to see just how dangerous AI might be.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Business Insider: Googlers are realizing layoffs are ‘just business’ — and they’re starting to fight back. “In 2012, Larry Page stressed how important it was that Google acted like a ‘family.’ The search giant had become famous at the time for its perks such as snacks and massages. To Page, then Google’s CEO, treating people well translated to ‘better productivity.’ More than a decade later, Googlers can be forgiven for wondering where that family spirit has gone.”

International Journalists’ Network: Innovating to reach deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with the truth. “After attending ICFJ’s Disarming Disinformation Empowering the Truth Global Summit in March 2023, [Willy] Chowoo developed an idea to leverage smartphones to generate multimedia content that would help deaf audiences become more aware of the overwhelming presence of disinformation. ‘We use sign language to “disarm disinformation.” It is a very powerful tool when it is properly used among the deaf community,’ he said.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: Docker hosts hacked in ongoing website traffic theft scheme. “A new campaign targeting vulnerable Docker services deploys an XMRig miner and the 9hits viewer app on compromised hosts, allowing a dual monetization strategy. 9hits is a web traffic exchange platform where members can drive traffic to each others’ sites.”

New York Upstate: Two Upstate NY poachers busted after using fake social media profiles to target big deer. “New York State Department of Environmental Conservation investigators used search warrants to seize the poachers’ hunting equipment, clothes, and cell phones, revealing the full picture of their elaborate poaching activities. Phone records uncovered a scheme where the two men conspired with a network of poachers who posted on hunting and wildlife photography sites to target large bucks in suburban and urban areas closed to hunting, DEC said.”

San Francisco Standard: Google Engineer Beat His Wife to Death, Santa Clara Police Say. “A Google worker is facing a murder charge for beating his wife to death this week in an attack that left their bedroom covered in blood, prosecutors say. Liren Chen, 27, allegedly punched his wife in the head repeatedly at their home on Valley Way in Santa Clara, police said in court records.” I would not normally include something like this. Unfortunately there’s a lot of misinformation about this case circulating and I wanted to index a news report about it.

RESEARCH & OPINION

Ruhr-Universität Bochum: How Does Materialism in Social Media Trigger Stress and Unhappiness?. “Clothes, cars, travel, followers: People with a materialistic mindset always want more and, above all, more than others. Social media provides them with ideal opportunities to compare themselves with others, which makes them susceptible to passive and addictive user behavior. This stresses them out and, ultimately, leads to low life satisfaction. This downward spiral, which turns materialists into less happy people, was identified by researchers from Bochum in an online survey of over 1,200 participants.”

The Wire (India): How Important are Social Media Influencers in Indian Elections?. “This post highlights the significance of the social media influencers who are crucial in Indian elections due to their wide reach, accessibility, and ability to engage diverse demographics, especially the youth. They play a pivotal role in digital campaigning, amplifying political messages, and providing real-time coverage. These influencers contribute to image building through endorsements and also shape public opinions during election times.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

This is from several years ago but I just learned about it today, and I’m so delighted I’m sharing it with you. Colossal: A 3D Printed Sundial Displays Time Like a Digital Clock. “Using a clever mix of 3D printing and a few well-placed shadows, this sundial designed by Mojoptix projects the actual time as if displayed on a digital clock. The plastic component that casts the shadow—called a gnomon— is printed with extremely tiny holes that create pinpoint dots of light in the form of digits as the sun shines through during the day.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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January 21, 2024 at 01:28AM
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Maine French-Acadians, Hallé Orchestra, Thomas Jefferson Building, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, January 20, 2024

Maine French-Acadians, Hallé Orchestra, Thomas Jefferson Building, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, January 20, 2024
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

News Center Maine: UMFK’s Acadian Archives digitizes much of its collections of Maine’s French-Acadians. “Even though northern Maine is still the most Francophone region of the state, there’s been an effort in the past few years to help preserve and teach our state’s Acadian history throughout Maine. To do that, different federal agencies, state officials including Gov. Janet Mills, and the Maine State Library are all working together to digitize historical records focused on French heritage in Maine.”

The Hallé: The Hallé’s brand new digital repertoire database – now live!. “Over 20 years in the making, the Hallé is the only UK orchestra to have produced such a database to date. This fully searchable online tool contains over 40,000 listings of individual works, artists, soloists, concert halls and much more from 1858 to 1990, allowing everyone to become a community archivist. This database will continue to develop and grow but already allows the Hallé to share its history – from schools concerts to international tours and everything in between – far and wide.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Library of Congress: More Jefferson Building Drawings Digitized. “The Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building celebrated its 125th birthday in November of 2023. To support research interest in the building and to mark the occasion, we digitized nearly 1000 architectural drawings documenting its construction.”

USEFUL STUFF

How-to Geek: How to Go Frame by Frame on YouTube. “If you want to watch your favorite YouTube video one frame at a time, it’s possible to do that for both downloaded and online YouTube videos. We’ll show you how to use that feature on your device.” One of those rare things that you do on desktop instead of mobile.

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Variety: Film Curator, Programmer and Archivist June Givanni to Receive BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award. “June Givanni, film curator, writer and programmer of African and African diaspora cinema and founder of The June Givanni PanAfrican Archive, will be presented with BAFTA’s Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award at the BAFTA Film Awards in February.”

University of Texas at Arlington: Rangers’ World Series Title Made History. UTA Seeks To Preserve It.. “The UTA Libraries Special Collections Department is seeking community donations of digital materials documenting the Texas Rangers’ 2023 World Series run and celebration. Items of interest include digital photographs, videos, artwork, and more relating to the Rangers’ playoff games, community gatherings and celebrations. These materials will be preserved and made accessible through the UTA Libraries Digital Archive.”

University of Southern California: USC Annenberg and Scripps Howard Fund launch open-source investigative journalism program. “With an investment of up to $300,000 from the Scripps Howard Fund, the USC Annenberg School of Journalism is building America’s premier open-source investigative reporting education program. USC Annenberg Associate Professor of Journalism Mark Schoofs and adjunct instructor Kevin Reyes will lead the initiative aimed at supporting the next generation of investigative journalists and innovating journalism education.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

US Department of State: The Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation. “Foreign information manipulation and interference is a national security threat to the United States as well as to its allies and partners. Today, the U.S. Department of State is announcing an important new tool for addressing this problem: The Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation. This Framework seeks to develop a common understanding of this threat and establish a common set of action areas from which the United States, with its allies and partners, can develop coordinated responses to foreign information manipulation and protect free and open societies.”

US Government Accountability Office: The Effectiveness of Economic Sanctions At Risk from Digital Asset Growth. “Economic sanctions are an important foreign policy tool that the U.S. uses to try and deter foreign states that are acting contrary to our interest or engaging in behavior such as human rights abuses. But increasingly, foreign states facing U.S. sanctions—including Iran and North Korea—are using digital assets to evade the impacts of those sanctions. Today’s WatchBlog post looks at our new report on how digital assets are being used to evade U.S. sanctions and what the federal government is doing about it.”

PC Magazine: Google: Russian Hackers Using Encrypted PDFs as a Ploy to Spread Malware. “Google says a group of Russian state-sponsored hackers are sending encrypted PDFs to trick victims into running a decryption tool that’s actually malware. On Thursday, the company published a blog post documenting a new phishing tactic from Coldriver, a hacking group that the US and UK suspect works for the Russian government. A year ago, news emerged that Coldriver targeted three US nuclear research laboratories.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Stanford Business: How Much Is Your Favorite Free App Worth to You?. “How much would someone have to pay you to stop using Facebook for a month: $5? $10? $100? That’s the question Erik Brynjolfsson and his fellow researchers posed to nearly 40,000 Facebook users from 13 countries. It turned out that less than one-fifth would stay away in exchange for five bucks, while more than three-fourths would abstain for $100.”

InfoWorld: What is RAG? More accurate and reliable LLMs. “Retrieval-augmented generation draws upon external data sources to address two shortcomings of large language models, out-of-date training sets and limited context windows.” Good morning, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at WikiTwister, SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Mastodon Gizmos, and MegaGladys.



January 20, 2024 at 06:31PM
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