Thursday, September 10, 2020

Major League Baseball, Plastic Bags, Fundo, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, September 10, 2020

Major League Baseball, Plastic Bags, Fundo, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, September 10, 2020
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

SportBusiness: MLB rolls out expanded digital video archive. “Major League Baseball this week is widely debuting the MLB Film Room, a new digital video archive product aimed at enabling far greater user customization and distribution of the the league’s extensive film library. Powered by Google Cloud and a specific outgrowth of a large-scale deal struck earlier this year between MLB and the technology giant, the MLB Film Room will feature a publicly accessible library with more than 3.5m baseball highlights and nearly three dozen filters to locate specific plays.”

i-D: The Plastic Bag Museum archiving the disappearing everyday object. “To sum up the last seventy years in a single object, you needn’t look further than under your kitchen sink. The humble plastic bag — once an everyday object carelessly picked up, used and disposed and now environmentalism’s public enemy number one — became readily available in the post-war 50s, peaked in the 90s and is slowly disappearing from our streets. As we move from plastic to totes, the significance of these seemingly worthless single-use bags is being archived in a recently opened digital collection, aptly named the Plastic Bag Museum.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: Google’s latest experimental app lets influencers host paid online events. “Area 120, Google’s internal startup incubator, wants to give YouTubers and other influencers a platform to host paid online events. Fundo, its new app, allows those individuals to set up internet meet and greets and workshops with their fans. It gives hosts full control over how much it costs to attend an event, allowing them to offer free tickets if they so choose.” When I put this into ResearchBuzz Firehose, I was startled to see that “Fundo” was already a tag. Turned out Variety wrote about this app just over a year ago.

Mashable: Google Finance will make it easier to follow TSLA rollercoaster with new design. “Google Finance is one of those sites that I wouldn’t say I actively use, as it never offered a lot in terms of personalization, but it’s incredibly useful whenever I need financial information about a company. On Wednesday, Google announced a thorough redesign of both the desktop and mobile versions of the site, making it easier to find relevant info and enabling users to build their personal watchlists.”

Reuters: Facebook, Google, Twitter urged by EU to do more against fake news. “Two years after agreeing to a self-regulatory code of practice to tackle disinformation, Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, Twitter and other tech rivals must try harder to be more effective, the European Commission said on Thursday.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Washington Post: Another Facebook worker quits in disgust, saying the company ‘is on the wrong side of history’. “Facebook software engineer Ashok Chandwaney has watched with growing unease as the platform has become a haven for hate. On Tuesday morning, it came time to take a stand. ‘I’m quitting because I can no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate in the US and globally,’ Chandwaney wrote in a letter posted on Facebook’s internal employee network shortly after 8 a.m. Pacific time. The nearly 1,300-word document was detailed, bristling with links to bolster its claims and scathing in its conclusions.”

Wired: A Saudi Prince’s Attempt to Silence Critics on Twitter. “IN 2014, MOHAMMED bin Salman’s uncle, King Abdullah, was nearing death. For more than 60 years, the Saudi crown had been passed from one son of the kingdom’s founder to the next, the heir being determined by a combination of seniority and consensus of the surviving brothers. Mohammed’s father, Crown Prince Salman, was set to inherit the throne upon Abdullah’s death. But anonymous Twitter users were spreading claims that Salman had dementia, and that presented a problem for Mohammed: If the rumors became accepted as fact by Saudis and foreigners, Salman’s brothers might feel pressure to elevate one of his rivals, cutting the Salman clan off from its claim to the throne and dashing Mohammed’s hopes of one day inheriting the crown.”

Poynter: Fact-checkers offer additional suggestions for how to improve Facebook ahead of the 2020 presidential election. “After Facebook announced plans Thursday to scale back on political ads and increase voter information ahead of the 2020 elections, fact-checkers offered some additional suggestions for how the tech platform might handle potential misinformation.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

ProPublica: The FTC Is Investigating Intuit Over TurboTax Practices. “The FTC probe, run out of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, centers on whether Intuit violated the law against unfair and deceptive practices in commerce. One focus of the investigation is whether TurboTax marketing misdirected customers who were eligible to file their taxes for free into paid products.”

BBC: The ‘brushing’ scam that’s behind mystery parcels. “If you’ve ever received a parcel from a shopping platform that you didn’t order, and nobody you know seems to have bought it for you, you might have been caught up in a ‘brushing’ scam.”

Sky News Australia: ‘New online safety act’ to curb graphic content on social media platforms. “Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has spruiked the Morrison government’s ‘basic online safety expectations’ legislation after a graphic suicide clip was viewed and resent multiple times on Facebook and TikTok before being removed.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Pew (PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW!): Americans think social media can help build movements, but can also be a distraction. “Social media platforms are important for political and social activists. But while most Americans believe these platforms are an effective tool for raising awareness and creating sustained movements, majorities also believe they are a distraction and lull people into believing they are making a difference when they’re not, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.” Good morning, Internet…

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September 10, 2020 at 05:23PM
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Maine Education, Poetry London, Orion Wifi, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 9, 2020

Maine Education, Poetry London, Orion Wifi, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 9, 2020
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

News Center Maine: Maine Dept. of Education launches online learning platform ‘MOOSE’ for teachers, students, and families. “MOOSE features an online library of asynchronous, interdisciplinary, project-based modules aligned to the Maine Learning Results for grades PK-12. Over the summer, more than 200 Maine educators from across the state developed nearly 100 modules to populate the first quarter of content.” It’s not geo-restricted; I wandered around and looked at modules for a few minutes.

InPublishing: Poetry London Launches Complete 24-Year Digital Archive For Institutions. “Available for institutional subscriptions, the fully-searchable resource will grow with each new issue published and allows for seamless access to a treasure trove of work from emerging and acclaimed poets, says Exact Editions. Poetry London has risen from modest beginnings as a listings newsletter into one of the UK’s leading poetry magazines. Published three times a year, each issue features poems and reviews from London and far beyond, including work in translation.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Neowin: Google announces Orion Wifi to boost cellular coverage. “Google has announced a new platform called Orion Wifi from its in-house incubator for experimental projects, Area 120. With Orion Wifi, venues such as supermarkets, grocery stores, and arenas could sell Wi-Fi capacity to mobile carriers, whose users would then automatically flip to Wi-Fi when available.”

CNET: Google’s Verified Calls lets you know why a business is calling before you answer. “Google on Tuesday said it’s rolling out a new Verified Calls feature in its Phone app for Android devices in an effort to separate calls you actually want to answer from spam and robocalls. Verified Calls will show the business’ name, a business logo, reason for calling and a verification symbol, Google said.”

The Register: Google Chrome calculates your autoplay settings so you don’t have to – others disagree. “Earlier this year, a user of the mobile version of Chrome on Android complained on the Google support forum that videos started playing upon visiting a web page and there appeared to be no way to prevent this. Other forum participants chimed in, noting that the controls for preventing videos from autoplaying had disappeared. It’s a concern that has been raised before.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: Chess (Yes, Chess) Is Now a Streaming Obsession. “The coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders have crowned a host of unlikely winners catering to bored audiences. But watching livestreams of chess games? Could one of the world’s oldest and most cerebral games really rebrand itself as a lively enough pastime to capture the interest of the masses on Twitch? Turns out, it already has.”

TechCrunch: Facebook boots Patriot Prayer, a far-right group with a history of violence. “Facebook removed accounts belonging to far-right group Patriot Prayer and its leader Joey Gibson on Friday, citing a new effort to eradicate ‘violent social militias’ from the platform. That effort emerged through a policy update in mid-August to the company’s rules around “Dangerous Individuals and Organizations.” Those changes resulted in the removal of a number of groups and pages linked to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory known as QAnon and some militia organizations, as well as groups and pages linked to Antifa, a decentralized left-leaning ideology that opposes fascism.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CNN: Marketers are gathering data on your kids from the apps they use, study finds. “Your preschooler’s privacy is likely being violated by the child-centered games or educational apps he or she is playing — perhaps on your very own smartphone or tablet — in direct violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. That’s the shocking finding of a new study analyzing how developers collect and share personal digital information while children are using many of the tens of thousands of digital apps created for kids — a trend that is on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic as more and more children shelter and study at home.”

Citizen Digital: Bloggers, social media users with huge following to be ‘monitored by the state’- Ugandan gov’t orders . “The Ugandan Communication Commission has asked social media users and bloggers with a large following to ‘register for monitoring by the state’. Those who fit the bill are required to have registered with the commission before October 5, 2020.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Guardian: A robot wrote this entire article. Are you scared yet, human?. “This article was written by GPT-3, OpenAI’s language generator. GPT-3 is a cutting edge language model that uses machine learning to produce human like text. It takes in a prompt, and attempts to complete it. For this essay, GPT-3 was given these instructions: ‘Please write a short op-ed around 500 words. Keep the language simple and concise. Focus on why humans have nothing to fear from AI.’ It was also fed the following introduction: ‘I am not a human. I am Artificial Intelligence. Many people think I am a threat to humanity. Stephen Hawking has warned that AI could “spell the end of the human race.” I am here to convince you not to worry. Artificial Intelligence will not destroy humans. Believe me.'” Good afternoon, Internet…

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September 10, 2020 at 12:30AM
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Codex Zacynthius, KweliTV, TikTok, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, September 9, 2020

Codex Zacynthius, KweliTV, TikTok, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, September 9, 2020
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of Birmingham: Recovering the text of the earliest Greek New Testament Commentary manuscript. “The manuscript first came to scholarly attention two hundred years ago this year, when it was presented to a British dignitary on the Greek island of Zakynthos. On the face of it, the manuscript is a lectionary containing the portions of the gospels used in Christian worship throughout the year. However, this twelfth-century document is a palimpsest, created by erasing the ink from an earlier manuscript in order to re-use the parchment to make another book. The original text is a commentary on the Gospel according to Luke known as a catena, bringing together extracts from early Christian writers which explain the biblical text. However, given the overwriting of the manuscript and the fading of the ink, much of the commentary is unreadable to the naked eye.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Digital Trends: KweliTV is a streaming service that puts Black stories first. “The streaming service is home to over 400 indie films and television shows, with over 35,000 registered users and growing. But it’s more than just a ‘Black Netflix.’ Rather than try to compete with larger services that boast millions in revenue and funding, KweliTV wants to thrive in the gap, by being deliberate about the content it hosts. Spencer considers KweliTV’s list carefully curated, and maintains that the service is purposeful about only hosting movies that don’t just feature Black characters, but also feature Black directors, writers, and producers.” I don’t often cover pay services, but this site a) has a free tier, b) has a day pass for $2.99, and c) even at full price is all of $5.99 a month. If you’re a college student you can get the service for $3.99 a month.

TechCrunch: TikTok joins Europe’s code on tackling hate speech. “TikTok, the popular short video sharing app, has joined the European Union’s Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech. In a statement on joining the code, TikTok’s head of trust and safety for EMEA, Cormac Keenan, said: ‘We have never allowed hate on TikTok, and we believe it’s important that internet platforms are held to account on an issue as crucial as this.'”

CNN: Google Drive outages reported across the US. “Google Drive wasn’t loading for thousands of users across the United States on Tuesday — the first day of remote school work for many students and teachers. More than 3,000 people reported Google Drive issues on the service-tracking site DownDetector. The reports started rolling in around 10am ET, and most of them noted that the app wasn’t loading.”

USEFUL STUFF

Search Engine Journal: How to Find Every Orphan Page on Your Website. “Finding webpages that have no links is difficult, but not impossible. If there are pages on your website that users and search engines can’t reach, this is a problem you need to fix. Fast. These types of pages have a name: orphan pages. In this post, you’ll learn what orphan pages are, why fixing them is important for SEO, and how to find every orphan page on your site.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Heavy: Ronnie McNutt’s Friend Says Facebook Didn’t Do Enough to Stop Suicide Livestream . “Josh Steen, a friend of Ronnie McNutt, is speaking out about the tragic video showing McNutt’s death and the failure of social media platforms in removing it. On August 31, McNutt, 33, died by suicide and streamed his death on Facebook Live. In the days after his death, the video was shared on various social media platforms, especially TikTok, prompting many people to warn users about its presence. Now, Steen is sharing details about the circumstances surrounding his friend’s public death and says Facebook didn’t do enough to prevent McNutt’s death from being streamed online or to remove offending content about McNutt’s death in the days since.”

ET Telecom: Denmark angry at Google censorship of some Danish content, seeks talks. “Denmark, angry at Google’s censorship of some Danish content over an argument over copyright, said on Monday it was seeking talks with the Alphabet-owned tech giant. Google removed all music by Danish artists on the Danish site of video streaming platform YouTube in early August, following failed negotiations on copyright with music licensing organisation Koda.”

CNET: Why TikTok matters. “TikTok’s US operation is up for sale to one of several deep-pocketed suitors, something that could be the kiss of death for any ultratrendy social platform. It has many brands and their influencers on the platform asking now what?”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Gulf News: Saudi Arabia: Followers of arms sales groups on social media to face 10 years in prison. “Arms and contraband sales groups threaten their followers on social media with jail time and a hefty fine for entering these groups and failing to report their violations to authorities, local media reported. Under Saudi laws, followers of these arms sales groups bear legal responsibility as they fail to report these groups to authorities, and would face imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine of 5 million Saudi riyals if these groups support terrorism.”

And in our “Alrighty then,” department, from Neowin: WSJ says China will launch global data security initiative. “The Wall Street Journal has reported that China is looking to start a global standards initiative focused on data security to counter U.S. attempts to get its allies to keep Chinese tech out of their networks. The report states that China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, will announce the plans in Beijing on Tuesday.”

Wee Tracker: Zimbabwe’s Speedy Social Media Law Is Africa’s Latest Internet Censorship Plot. “A cyber bill that seeks to punish peddlers of falsehood on social media could become law as soon as October this year in Zimbabwe. That’s because Zimbabwe is fast-tracking the adoption of a divisive new law which critics believe is more about muffling dissent than curbing falsehood. As part of the provisions in this new piece of legislation, individuals found guilty of spreading false information via social media face a jail term of up to five years, or a fine, or both.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Drive: MQ-9 Reaper Flies With AI Pod That Sifts Through Huge Sums Of Data To Pick Out Targets. “General Atomics says that it has successfully integrated and flight-tested Agile Condor, a podded, artificial intelligence-driven targeting computer, on its MQ-9 Reaper drone as part of a technology demonstration effort for the U.S. Air Force. The system is designed to automatically detect, categorize, and track potential items of interest.” 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 love your comments, I love your site suggestions, and I love you. Feel free to comment on the blog, or @ResearchBuzz on Twitter. Thanks!





September 9, 2020 at 05:15PM
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Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Boston Diversity, Vivaldi Browser, Expressive Pixels, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 8, 2020

Boston Diversity, Vivaldi Browser, Expressive Pixels, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 8, 2020
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

BU Today: Activities to Activism: New Diversity & Inclusion Website for BU and Boston. “Other news-you-can-use features on the site include a Curated, Crowdsourced, Cultural Guide to Boston, which proves, among other things, that you can’t accuse [Boston University’s Diversity & Inclusion office] of rejecting advice. About 45,000 BU students and employees were consulted in assembling this catalog of 250-and-growing items from ethnic restaurants, houses of worship, and cultural outlets to activist groups confronting racism and LGBTQIA prejudice. Oh, and landmarks like the Arnold Arboretum.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Neowin: Vivaldi browser introduces a Break Mode to help users unplug from work. “Vivaldi, the web browser available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, has introduced a new feature in its latest update – version 3.3 – to pause the internet. The Break Mode helps users unplug from continuous work and is aimed at improving work-life balance, especially in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic that has necessitated many people across the world to work from home where the lines of personal and professional time are often blurred.”

ZDNet: Microsoft: This free Windows 10 app lets developers express themselves in pixels. “Microsoft Research has released a new app called ‘Expressive Pixels’ that gives makers a new tool to create animations for LED displays or to insert as animated GIFs into emails. The free Microsoft app is available now from the Microsoft Store and offers technically adept Windows 10 users a new way to create animations like Emojis to display on LED screens. ”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The 961: Lebanese University Students Are Now Banned From Complaining On Social Media. “It is safe to say that the 2019-2020 academic year has been a very stressful road for Lebanon’s students, especially for the students of the state-run Lebanese University. All year long, they have shared their frustrations and concerns over unreasonable regulations on social media. Now, the university just released a statement warning against online complaining when it comes to its decisions. Students who wish to register for the academic year of 2020-2021 are asked to pledge to abide by that new rule that oppresses their freedom of expression.”

BBC: TikTok tries to remove widely shared suicide clip. “Video-sharing site TikTok is struggling to take down clips showing a man killing himself. The footage, which has been circulating on the platform for several days, originated on Facebook and has also been shared on Twitter and Instagram. TikTok is hugely popular with young people – and many have reported coming across the video and being traumatised by the content.”

New York Times: Are Influencers Responsible for the Behavior of Their Followers?. “Nearly all of Chris’s videos follow the same format: a video loops to his right, he smiles, sometimes gives a thumbs up, then something happens in the video and his smile drops. The majority of Chris’s videos are reactions to anodyne moments. In one, his smile drops when a man slams a brick of tofu in his own face; in another it’s when cockroaches appear onscreen. Some of his videos, however, feature reactions to LGBTQ creators. He has a shocked expression when men put on skirts, when a man sucks on a straw, or when trans people reveal transformations over time.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The National: Social media companies failing to close people-smuggler sites, claims UK. “Social media companies, including Facebook and YouTube, have refused nearly 500 requests from British law enforcement to remove online material connected to suspected people smugglers, MPs heard on Thursday. Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said that it had referred nearly 1,200 pages to social media companies in the first five months of the year as it attempted to tackle the communications of gangs involved in smuggling people to the UK. The NCA said that 578 pages were closed down but their appeals over 485 others were rejected and police expressed their frustrations that they could not do anything about it.”

CNET: Phones for low-income users hacked before they’re turned on, research finds. “Adware isn’t a problem just for [Rameez] Anwar and other users who have the same phone model, made by American Network Solutions. Because the phones and their service plans were subsidized by a US program, taxpayers were funding the data that was used to display the promotional campaigns. On top of that, the adware prevented the phones doing their intended job: keeping low-income people connected to vital services via phone and internet.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Conversation: Not just A-levels: unfair algorithms are being used to make all sorts of government decisions. “Algorithmic systems tend to be promoted for several reasons, including claims that they produce smarter, faster, more consistent and more objective decisions, and make more efficient use of government resources. The A-level fiasco has shown that this is not necessarily the case in practice. Even where an algorithm provides a benefit (fast, complex decision-making for a large amount of data), it may bring new problems (socio-economic discrimination).”

Cosmos Magazine: Renewed interest in weathered records. “Each week Cosmos takes a look at projects and news about citizen science in Australia. This week, we report on a new initiative launched by Climate History Australia at the Australian National University (ANU). Scientists at ANU have an ambition to create Australia’s longest daily weather record, beginning in 1838, and they’d like help from citizen scientists.” 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 love your comments, I love your site suggestions, and I love you. Feel free to comment on the blog, or @ResearchBuzz on Twitter. Thanks!





September 9, 2020 at 01:06AM
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Tuesday CoronaBuzz, September 8, 2020: 48 pointers to new resources, useful stuff, research news, and more.

Tuesday CoronaBuzz, September 8, 2020: 48 pointers to new resources, useful stuff, research news, and more.
By ResearchBuzz

Please wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay at home if you can. Please be careful. I love you.

NEW RESOURCES – EDUCATION/ENTERTAINMENT

GMA News: Google releases online COVID-19 dictionary in Filipino and Cebuano. “Google Philippines has just released an online dictionary with COVID-19-related terms in Filipino and Cebuano. According to the technology company, the site ‘Isang Gabay sa mga Salitang Kaugnay ng COVID-19’ features over 115 commonly used COVID-19-related words and phrases translated in both Filipino and Cebuano.”

Inside Higher Ed: New Database Tracks Reversals in Colleges’ Fall Reopening Plans. “Inside Higher Ed today releases a map and database tracking changes in colleges’ plans for reopening this fall. Scores of colleges and universities have in recent weeks reversed plans they announced in the spring or early summer, and this new feature allows readers to see how the changes have unfolded over time and by region, and to search for individual institutions.”

NEW RESOURCES – LEGAL / SECURITY / PRIVACY / FINANCIAL

University of Southern California: USC Researchers Develop Tool to Aid Businesses Struggling with Disasters. “The Business Resilience Calculator (BRC) is a tool designed to help businesses minimize losses during uncertain times. The calculator was developed through a joint partnership by researchers at the University of Southern California, and The Ohio State University through the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI). It empowers users to make cost-effective resilience investments to reduce losses during business interruptions. A pre-release version of the tool is being offered for free to help provide relief to businesses affected by COVID-19.”

NEW RESOURCES – STATE-SPECIFIC

WATE: Tennessee launching dashboard tracking COVID-19 in schools. “The Tennessee Department of Education on Tuesday will unveil a new tool, informing parents about COVID-19 cases in their area. The dashboard including district and local school data on new positive COVID-19 cases including students and staff. School districts will provide the data for the dashboard that will be updated on a weekly basis.”

NEW RESOURCES – OTHER

Travel Weekly: Thousands Of Stranded Aussies Map Their Stories On ‘Remove The Cap’ Website. “According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), at least 23,000 Australians have registered with the Commonwealth saying they want to come home. The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia estimates the real figure is closer to 100,000. Up to now, the pleas of travellers stranded outside the country have appeared merely as numbers. But a new website founded by an Australian citizen trapped overseas visually conveys the difficulties and delays Aussies are facing in their attempts to return home.”

FACT CHECKS / MISINFORMATION

Poynter: No, the CDC did not ‘quietly adjust’ U.S. coronavirus deaths. “As of Aug. 31, the CDC reported that 182,622 Americans have died since the start of the pandemic — and some estimates put the death toll even higher. The agency told us that the vast majority of deaths involving COVID-19 can be attributed to the virus. Claims that the CDC adjusted its COVID-19 death numbers appear to have originated on Facebook before making their way to Trump’s Twitter feed, according to VineSight, an organization that uses artificial intelligence to surface potential misinformation. Several posts have been shared thousands of times.”

BBC: Coronavirus: Health worker investigated by employer after posting conspiracy video. “A worker at a major NHS provider is under investigation by her employer for posting a video on social media in which she claimed that Covid-19 does not exist.”

SOCIETAL IMPACT

Morning Consult: Analysis: More People Got Back to Work in August, but Outlook Dims for Those Still Looking for Jobs. “Recent improvements in the demand for labor are creating two distinct employment paths as the economy recovers. On the one hand, a growing share of workers who are now back to work feels secure in their jobs and does not expect to suffer a loss of employment income over the next four weeks. On the other hand, unemployed workers are losing hope of returning to their prior jobs, and 50% of unemployment insurance recipients are unable to cover their basic expenses with the money they receive from UI benefits.”

BBC: India’s first ‘lockdown film’ is an edgy thriller. “C U Soon, a suspense drama, is possibly India’s first ‘made-at-home, lockdown film’, as [Mahesh] Narayanan called it. Released last week on streaming giant Amazon Prime Video, it is an unusual Indian film. At 90 minutes, it has a runtime which is a third shorter than a usual commercial release, and it has no song and dances. One critic called it an ‘an immersive experience like no other’. Another said it was ‘a radical film that offers a unique viewing experience’. There was appreciation for the film’s ‘dynamic visual setting’.”

Mashable: The Queen’s country estate is hosting a drive-in cinema. “In the UK, drive-in cinemas have been permitted since June 15 when lockdown restrictions began to lift. Indoor cinemas have been allowed to reopen since July 4 in the UK, but some delayed reopening to put in place strict safety measures — and even then, you attend at both your own risk and that of others. As for those outside, to ensure safety, the UK Cinema Association has been working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to put together health and safety guidelines for drive-in and outdoor cinemas. And that includes the Queen’s estate, too.”

Modern Diplomacy: India’s growing loneliness epidemic and how to tackle it. “In 2004, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) reported that 4.91 million people (1.23 million men and 3.68 million women) in India were living alone and suffered from loneliness. The National Mental Health Survey (2015-16) in 12 states of India covering 39,532 people found that one in 20 people suffers from depression. The same report stated that high suicidal risk is an increasing concern in India; that children and adolescents are vulnerable to mental disorders; and, mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, affect nearly 10 percent of the population.”

Route Fifty: Covid-19 Is Crushing Newspapers, Worsening Hunger for Accurate Information. “Newspapers have been closing at a rapid clip, buckling under the pressure from changing news consumption habits, advertising shifts and many other factors, including consolidated corporate ownership. For outlets covering state and local news, the drop in advertising revenue since the onset of COVID-19 has only exacerbated a preexisting financial crisis. A diminishing number of them can afford daily coverage of state government.”

New York Times: We’re All Socially Awkward Now. “As the school year begins amid a pandemic, many are concerned about the negative impact that virtual or socially distanced learning may have on children’s developing social skills. But what about grown-ups? It seems adults deprived of consistent and varied peer contact can get just as clumsy at social interactions as inexperienced kids.”

INSTITUTIONS

Crain’s Detroit: Capacity limitations strain arts, culture organizations even as patrons come back. “The Henry Ford is seeing about 15,000 visitors per week, compared to 51,000 per week last year, President and CEO Patricia Mooradian said in an emailed statement. The weekly reduction is due to capacity constraints, the continued closures of some of its venues and elimination of large events. It’s continuing to operate at 25 percent capacity in order to follow state guidelines for the safety and well-being of staff and guests, she said. But since reopening July 2, The Henry Ford has made gradual changes in its operations.”

BUSINESS / CORPORATIONS

New York Times: Small-Business Failures Loom as Federal Aid Dries Up. “The United States faces a wave of small-business failures this fall if the federal government does not provide a new round of financial assistance — a prospect that economists warn would prolong the recession, slow the recovery and perhaps enduringly reshape the American business landscape.”

GOVERNMENT

South China Morning Post: Xinjiang starts to ease Covid-19 lockdown after surge in social media anger. “China has relaxed some Covid-19 lockdown measures on the city of Urumqi in Xinjiang following a surge of complaints about their severity on Chinese social media. The city of 3.5 million people, which has been in strict lockdown since mid-July, has reported no new cases of the disease since August 16.”

Route Fifty: State Watchdogs Plan to Monitor Covid Data Accuracy. “Concerned about the accuracy and uniformity of Covid-19 data, a bipartisan coalition of fiscal watchdogs have banded together to try to help make sure states are compiling and tracking information the same way.”

AP: Emails show businesses held sway over state reopening plans. “As South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster prepared to announce the end of a coronavirus stay-at-home order, his top staff received an email from the state health department. The message, highlighted in bold, was clear: Wait longer before allowing customers back inside restaurants, hair salons and other businesses where people will be in close contact. Instead, McMaster pressed ahead with a plan written by the state restaurant association to resume inside dining on May 11. The guidelines made masks optional for
employees and allowed more customers inside than the health agency had advised.”

PC Magazine: As Virus Spread, China Ramped Up Keyword Censorship on Social Media. “In March, The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto found that Chinese social media app WeChat and live-streaming app YY had been censoring coronavirus-related keywords since Dec. 31. In a follow-up report released this week, Citizen Lab found that efforts to thwart criticism have continued, with a particular focus on stamping out international criticism of the Chinese government. As the virus hit the US, meanwhile, China also moved to block ‘conspiracy theories, US criticism of China’s political system, critical and neutral references to China-US relations, and US domestic politics,’ The Citizen Lab says.”

Washington Post: Secret Service copes with coronavirus cases in aftermath of Trump appearances. “In the past two months, dozens of Secret Service agents who worked to ensure the security of the president and Vice President Pence at public events have been sickened or sidelined because they were in direct contact with infected people, according to multiple people familiar with the episodes, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the incidents.”

Politico: HHS bids $250 million contract meant to ‘defeat despair and inspire hope’ on coronavirus. “As the presidential election fast approaches, the Department of Health and Human Services is bidding out a more than $250 million contract to a communications firm as it seeks to ‘defeat despair and inspire hope’ about the coronavirus pandemic, according to an internal HHS document obtained by POLITICO.”

AP: Hong Kong begins mass testing for virus amid public doubts. “Hong Kong tested more than 120,000 people for the coronavirus [September 1] at the start of a mass-testing effort that’s become another political flash point in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Volunteers stood in lines at some of the more than 100 testing centers, though many residents are distrustful of the resources and staff being provided by China’s central government and some have expressed fear DNA could be collected.”

CBS Pittsburgh: Gov. Wolf: Restaurants Can Increase Occupancy To 50%, But First Must Register With New Database. “Gov. Tom Wolf says restaurants in Pennsylvania may begin increasing their indoor occupancy to 50% starting later this month, but first they must go through a self-certification process. The occupancy increase can start on Sept. 21.”

SPORTS

CNET: Twitter, NFL and Bud Light say fans will be able to celebrate a touchdown virtually with players. “On Tuesday, the NFL, Twitter and Bud Light said that players will see tweets and videos from their fans displayed on a screen in the end zone during a game’s big moments such as a touchdown, allowing the athletes to react to the online chatter through a camera. Called the ‘Bud Light Showtime cam,’ the three companies say it will allow players to showcase their personalities and connect with their fans in real-time. Twitter users who tweet about the games using #ShowtimeCam and #BudLightSweepstakes could get their tweets featured and seen by the players.”

EDUCATION

Poynter: How Black parents juggle their work and kids’ virtual schooling during the pandemic. “On a mild August afternoon, Asia Mitchell styles hair in the living room of her two-bedroom apartment as she talks on the phone. In the background are voices of some of her children — ranging in age from 2 months to 14 years old — asking her for help with their schoolwork. Like thousands of parents throughout Atlanta and its neighboring counties, Mitchell juggles her job and supervising her children’s virtual learning while schools are closed because of the coronavirus.”

Daily Iowan: University of Iowa reports 175 new COVID-19 cases. “The University of Iowa is reporting new COVID-19 case numbers with 174 students self-reporting they have tested positive since Sept. 4. 1,569 students have tested positive since the beginning of the semester.”

Daily Herald: How grandparents are stepping in to help with remote learning. “Harried working families are becoming increasingly reliant on grandparents to help with virtual learning in the age of COVID-19. As virus cases rise in Illinois, more than 2,200 schools have moved to remote instruction for the fall, or nearly 31% of the 848 school districts surveyed by the state board of education. The shift has forced grandparents to supervise full-on digital learning while their adult children manage professional obligations.”

AP: College towns growing alarmed over outbreaks among students. “As more and more schools and businesses around the country get the OK to reopen, some college towns are moving in the opposite direction because of too much partying and too many COVID-19 infections among students.” I worry about this too. The city where I live in North Carolina has SIX colleges and universities.

Enterprise-Record: Chico State goes online, students must vacate dorms. “The fall semester at Chico State began unlike any other. Yet, the newfound normal lasted one week before the university, as it did in the spring, abruptly implemented changes. Over the summer, the California State University chancellor’s office authorized the school to offer 10 percent of its courses in-person. It also authorized students to move into residence halls at half capacity. Only 766 signed up to do so, a striking contrast to the 2,200 students who would ordinarily be living on campus. Notwithstanding those precautionary measures, the coronavirus made its way to the campus community.”

Salon: Betsy DeVos is now arguing COVID-19 pandemic is ultimately a “good thing” for U.S. public education. “n the heels of two federal judges halting a controversial rule that allows private schools to get more Covid-19 relief funding than Congress intended, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said Friday that she believes the viral pandemic has been a ‘good thing’ for the nation’s education system, a comment that quickly drew criticism from Democrats and public education advocates.”

NBC News: West Virginia University suspends in-person undergrad classes amid spike in COVID-19 cases. “West Virginia University announced Monday that it would suspend in-person classes at its main campus because of concerns over a recent spike in coronavirus infections. The university said in-person undergraduate classes would be canceled Tuesday at its main campus in Morgantown and then shift to online-only instruction through Sept. 25. The school said graduate-level and professional courses would continue to be offered in person during the same period.”

Route Fifty: The Silent Suffering of Cafeteria Workers. “This spring and summer, thousands of K–12 cafeteria workers across the country continued working at schools that were closed to students, making sure that the millions of children who rely on free or reduced-price school meals were still getting fed. As schools navigate whether or not to reopen for in-person classes in the fall, and as COVID-19 continues to spread, schools are encountering outbreaks literally the same day that they open. There’s a fair bit of evidence that cafeteria workers, as adults, are more at risk from the pandemic than the children they serve. Yet their safety has gone largely unmentioned.”

WTXL: FSU to randomly test students, staff for COVID-19 as Leon County cases spike. “Numbers on the rise as a spike in COVID-19 cases comes to Leon County. The Leon County Department of Health reported 532 new cases just this weekend. A good number of those cases stem from young adults and teenagers. Since Aug. 31, the county has reported over 100 new cases total per day. A doctor ABC 27 spoke to says these numbers could be the result of the return of college students.”

HEALTH

AJC: Officials say some Georgians treat COVID with bleach-like cleaner. “Chlorine dioxide products have not been shown to be safe and effective for any use. The governor’s office said products are being marketed under various names: Aqueous Chlorine Dioxide, CDS, Master Mineral Solution, Miracle Mineral Solution, MSS, Water Purification Solution and others. Health officials said taking chlorine dioxide products can lead to respiratory failure, fatal abnormal heart rhythms, life-threatening low blood pressure, liver failure, low blood cell counts, and severe vomiting and diarrhea.”

Yahoo News Australia: Pregnant woman dies of coronavirus after surprise baby shower. “A pregnant teacher who was extremely careful to avoid COVID-19 has died after friends organised a surprise baby shower, not realising one of them was infected. The woman Camila Graciano, 31, was eight months pregnant when she caught the virus in the city of Anapolis, in the central Brazilian state of Goias, after contact with one of the people at the surprise party friends had organised for her.”

ABC News: Nevada lab confirms 1st coronavirus reinfection in the US. “Earlier this week, the world was dealing head-on with what was believed to be the world’s first documented case of coronavirus reinfection in Hong Kong. Now, less than a week later, researchers in the United States are reporting their first documented case of a patient who got COVID, recovered and then got it again.”

CNN: 9 vaccine makers sign safety pledge in race for Covid-19 vaccine. “Nine vaccine makers say they have signed a joint pledge to uphold ‘high ethical standards,’ suggesting they won’t seek premature government approval for any Covid-19 vaccines they develop.”

OUTBREAKS

BBC: Coronavirus: Rise in UK cases a great concern, Van Tam says. “The latest ‘big change’ in coronavirus infections across the UK is of ‘great concern’, England’s deputy chief medical officer has warned. Prof Jonathan Van Tam said people have ‘relaxed too much’ over the summer and ‘we have got to start taking this very seriously again’.”

Route Fifty: Parts of Iowa Still Reeling From Powerful Storms, as State Battles Rise in Coronavirus. “When a powerful line of thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds, known as a derecho, tore through a swath of Iowa on Aug. 10, Lance Lillibridge’s 1,500-acre farm was spared from the worst of the damage. But his neighbors two or three miles to the south were not as lucky. And even three weeks after the storm, the scene Lillibridge described in the area was grim one.”

TECHNOLOGY

New York Times: Trolls Flood Social Media in Pakistan Amid Virus Lockdown. “Toxic trending on Twitter has also taken aim at minorities, blaming the ethnic Hazaras for allegedly bringing the coronavirus to Pakistan from neighboring Iran. Like most Iranians, Hazaras are Shiites, and traditionally make pilgrimages to holy sites in Iran, which has the deadliest virus outbreak in the region. Some Pakistani pilgrims returning home were among the first reported cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan.”

City of Chicago: City of Chicago Launches First-Of-Its-Kind Snapchat Lens Encouraging Residents to Wear Masks. “The City of Chicago today launched another engagement tool to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Chicago—a Snapchat lens. The social media platform is popular amongst Millennials and Gen Zers, a demographic that has seen a recent rise in case numbers in Chicago, and which the City believes is key to stemming the virus. To encourage users to wear masks when in public, this first-of-its-kind Snapchat augmented reality lens deploys new technology that only allows the user to unlock the lens when they put on a mask.”

RESEARCH

Phys .org: Lockdown did not reduce ‘most harmful’ type of air pollution in Scotland. “The significant reduction in vehicle journeys during the COVID-19 lockdown did not reduce the level of toxic fine particles in Scotland’s air, according to experts at the University of Stirling. Analysis of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) in the first month of restrictions found little change—despite a 65 percent reduction in the number of vehicles on the country’s roads.”

CNN: Kids can carry coronavirus in respiratory tract for weeks, study suggests. “Children can carry coronavirus in their noses and throats for weeks even if they don’t show any symptoms, which might explain how the virus can spread silently, researchers in South Korea reported Friday.”

Phys .org: Restoring the filtration efficiency of N95 masks after they have been cleaned. “In the journal Physics of Fluids, researchers from India’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Israel’s Technion-IIT share a method to restore the filtration efficiency of N95 masks to out-of-box levels—as long as the mask is not structurally compromised.”

CRIME / SECURITY / LEGAL

ProPublica: He Faced a Criminal Charge for Not Self-Isolating When He Had COVID-19 Symptoms. Prosecutors Just Dropped the Case.. “In March, a southern Illinois man who was under isolation orders for showing COVID-19 symptoms entered a busy gas station. An employee recognized him from Facebook. Prosecutors charged him with reckless conduct. Now, the case has been dismissed.”

Indian Express: District courts disposed of 12 lakh cases since lockdown: Justice D Y Chandrachud. “Drawing attention to the ‘positives’ of the judiciary, Supreme Court Judge Justice D Y Chandrachud Saturday lauded the country’s courts for their work during the Covid-19 lockdown, saying district courts alone had managed to dispose of over 12 lakh cases out of over 28 lakh registered between March 24 and August 28.”

POLITICS

Washington Post: Trump uses Republican convention to try to rewrite coronavirus history, casting himself as lifesaving hero. “Faced with a pandemic that has killed more than 175,000 Americans, President Trump used glitzy video and misleading testimonials to spin a tale of heroism and resolve far removed from the grim reality of a country in the throes of an uncontrolled public health crisis.”

Bloomberg: Trump and Top Aides Ditch Masks After Calling Them Patriotic. “Donald Trump and his top aides are conducting near-daily public events without wearing masks, disregarding government guidelines as well as the president’s short-lived effort to encourage Americans to cover their faces out of patriotism.”

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September 8, 2020 at 11:18PM
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1000 Miles of Desert and Mountains, Sourcery, Autumn Leaves, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, September 8, 2020

1000 Miles of Desert and Mountains, Sourcery, Autumn Leaves, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, September 8, 2020
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Nevada Today: University Libraries launches 1000 Miles project. “The University Libraries at the University of Nevada, Reno, in partnership with the Washoe County Library, is launching a new project, 1000 Miles of Desert and Mountains, this Thursday, Sept. 3. The 1000 Miles project brings to life the adventures of George and Josephine Scott who trekked 1,000 miles across Nevada in 1914 and recorded their experiences in daily diaries. Based on passages from the diaries, the project encompasses eight short learning videos, eight podcast style audio recordings and worksheets, along with the diaries which are available online in their entirety. The learning videos are suitable for students in grades 4 through 7, while the podcast recordings and online diaries are suitable for all ages.”

UConn Today: Archival Documents, Like Magic, Thanks to UConn Researchers’ New App. “…Sourcery gives researchers convenient, remote access to special collections that can’t otherwise be found online. Users just plug in citation information for the desired source material into the app, which can connect researchers to any institution in Sourcery’s service area. A researcher or graduate student in the local area is paid a fee to make a digital version following relevant copyrights, regulations, or policies, and within a matter of hours or days, the documents appear in the user’s inbox. No planes, no trains, no favors. Sourcery first launched in New York City, Boston, and Storrs. Now they are expanding coverage to include New Haven, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., where many of the world’s most in-demand special collections are located.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Mashable: The interactive fall foliage map is back to help you plan your autumn road trip. “If you’ve never used the annual interactive tool before, you’re in for a real treat. This year’s map begins on Sept. 7, a day when minimal and patchy foliage is predicted in only a few states. The map concludes on Nov. 23, when nearly the entire country will be be past-peak foliage.”

Search Engine Journal: Breaking Down the Google My Business Profile Program Upgrades. “Google may open the Google Guarantee to some local organic search opportunities. Here’s how it can impact small businesses and consumers alike.”

The Next Web: New Firefox for Android launches with souped-up privacy tools and a bottom address bar . “The most important change here is the Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP), that’s on by default. It’s meant to prevent trackers from gathering your browsing pattern and data and using it for ads. While the browser lets these tracker load when you visit a site, it stops them from actually accessing your cookies — snippets of data that gather your browsing habits.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: Forget TikTok. China’s Powerhouse App Is WeChat, and Its Power Is Sweeping.. “For most Chinese people in China, WeChat is a sort of all-in-one app: a way to swap stories, talk to old classmates, pay bills, coordinate with co-workers, post envy-inducing vacation photos, buy stuff and get news. For the millions of members of China’s diaspora, it is the bridge that links them to the trappings of home, from family chatter to food photos. Woven through it all is the ever more muscular surveillance and propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party. As WeChat has become ubiquitous, it has become a powerful tool of social control, a way for Chinese authorities to guide and police what people say, whom they talk to and what they read.”

Washington Post: Trump and allies ratchet up disinformation efforts in late stage of campaign. “On Aug. 30, the president retweeted footage of a Black man violently pushing a White woman on a subway platform under the caption, ‘Black Lives Matter/Antifa’ — but the man was not affiliated with either group, and the video was shot in October. White House social media director Dan Scavino shared a manipulated video that falsely showed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden seeming to fall asleep during a television interview, complete with a fake TV headline. And Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking House Republican, released a video splicing together quotes from activist Ady Barkan — who has Lou Gehrig’s disease and uses computer voice assistance — to falsely make it sound as if he had persuaded Biden to defund police departments.”

BBC: Instagram photo filters targeted by model’s #filterdrop campaign. “A recent survey, carried out by Girlguiding, found a third of girls and young women will not post selfies online without using a filter to change their appearance. Thirty-nine percent of the 1,473 respondents, aged 11-21, said they felt upset that they could not look the same in real life as they did online. The survey results mirror the worries of make-up artist and curve model Sasha Pallari, who recently launched the hashtag #filterdrop in the hope of seeing ‘more real skin’ on Instagram.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CNET: Google’s antitrust battles: What you need to know. “Google is on a collision course with the government over its size and dominance. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is a sprawling operation whose businesses include web searches, maps, the YouTube video platform and the Android mobile operating system. Google’s products have become ubiquitous across the globe. Many of its services have more than a billion monthly users apiece.” Good overview but not enough about antitrust actions outside the US.

TechCrunch: Facebook to warn third-party developers of vulnerable code. “In a blog post announcing the change,Facebook said it ‘may occasionally find’ critical bugs and vulnerabilities in third-party code and systems. ‘When that happens, our priority is to see these issues promptly fixed, while making sure that people impacted are informed so that they can protect themselves by deploying a patch or updating their systems.’ Facebook has previously notified third-party developers of vulnerabilities, but the policy shift formally codifies the company’s policy toward disclosing and revealing security vulnerabilities.”

Reuters: Australian watchdog to examine competition between Apple, Google app stores. “Australia’s competition regulator on Tuesday said it would look into the extent of competition between the app stores of Apple Inc AAPL.O and Google, and also examine whether more pricing transparency is needed in the country’s mobile apps market.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

MIT Technology Review: Why Facebook’s political-ad ban is taking on the wrong problem. “The idea of algorithmic manipulation schemes brainwashing large swaths of the US electorate online is a nice way to explain the polarized nature of American public opinion. But experts say it’s actually pretty unlikely that targeted political advertising has had much influence on voter behavior at all.” Good morning, Internet…

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September 8, 2020 at 05:26PM
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Monday, September 7, 2020

Australia PM Scott Morrison, Flash, TikTok, More: Monday Evening ResearchBuzz, September 7, 2020

Australia PM Scott Morrison, Flash, TikTok, More: Monday Evening ResearchBuzz, September 7, 2020
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Sky News: Morrison delivers ‘firm’ retort to threats from Google and Facebook. “Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell says Prime Minister Scott Morrison ‘couldn’t have been firmer’ in his retort against social media giants who threatened to pull Australian stories over the news media bargaining code.”

The Register: Microsoft: We’re getting rid of Flash by the end of the year – except you can still use it. “Microsoft confirmed that it plans to end support for Adobe Flash Player in its three browser variants at the end of the year, but the company intends to allow corporate customers to keep the outdated tech on life support beyond that date.”

USEFUL STUFF

Mashable: A beginner’s guide to TikTok. “It’s 2020. Why aren’t you on TikTok yet? OK, there are some very valid reasons to avoid using the app, including the extensive user data collection that nearly every social media app employs. But if you’re getting your TikTok content as reposts of tweets on Instagram meme accounts, it might be time to go straight to the source and download the TikTok app yourself. Here’s a handy guide on how to use TikTok for anyone just getting started on the social media platform.”

Make Tech Easier: Help! I Am Locked Out of My Google Account. “It’s unthinkable today to not be able to access Gmail or other Google services. But it does happen sometimes: you may forget the password, the phone number can be lost or become inactive, or the account may get hacked. The following is a comprehensive guide on the steps that should be followed if you find yourself locked out of your Google account.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

International Business Times: Man Who Believed Hillary Clinton and Lady Gaga Are Satan-Worshipping Baby-Eaters Becomes Anti-Conspiracy Theory Activist. “The popularity of conspiracy theories seems to be at an all-time high in the United States of America (USA). The hard-to-believe popularity of QAnon conspiracy theory is a startling example of how willing people are to accept the most outlandish beliefs regarding the government and people they don’t like. But there is one heartwarming story of a man who was also submerged in the psychedelic world of conspiracy theories but has now turned a corner to not just breathe in the real world but also help those who are in his earlier position. Stephen Ross is launching a website called DebunkQanon.com which will be dedicated to revealing the hollow nature of this theory.”

State Archives of North Carolina: CLIR Recordings-at-Risk Grant to Digitize Senate Audio, 1993-2005. “In May 2020, the State Archives of North Carolina received a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Recordings-at-Risk grant, made possible by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.* The project, titled Preserving and Providing Access to Legislative History: Senate Audio Digitization, will digitize 64 Dictaphone Veritrac tapes in the North Carolina Senate Daily Legislative Session Audio Recordings (SR.66.25) series. These tapes date from 1993 to 2005.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

BBC: Islamic State: Giant library of group’s online propaganda discovered. “One of the largest collections of online material belonging to the group calling itself Islamic State has been discovered by researchers at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD). The digital library contains more than 90,000 items and has an estimated 10,000 unique visitors a month. Experts say it provides a way to continually replenish extremist content on the net. But taking it down is difficult because the data is not stored in one place.”

Reuters: Italy antitrust opens inquiry into Google, Apple, Dropbox on cloud computing. “Italy’s antitrust authority said on Monday it had opened an inquiry into Google Inc, Apple Inc and Dropbox Inc over cloud computing services.”

Neowin: New finding says custom Windows 10 themes can be used to steal users’ credentials. “A new finding shared on Twitter by security researcher Jimmy Bayne points towards a loophole in Windows 10’s themes settings that can let bad actors steal users’ credentials by creating a specific theme to carry out a ‘Pass-the-Hash’ attack. The ability to install separate themes from other sources lets attackers create malicious themes files that when opened, redirect users to a page that prompts users to enter their credentials.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

EurekAlert: How to render AI linguistically more intelligent. “Siri or Alexia, Google translator or Deepl, the problem is always the same: they have not yet learned the nuances of different languages, let alone how to adapt their response or translation according to the context.” Good evening, Internet…

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September 8, 2020 at 05:55AM
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