New researches

Monday, June 21, 2021

Community Archiving, Vegetation Worldwide, Older Adult Caregiving, More: Monday Evening ResearchBuzz, June 21, 2021

Community Archiving, Vegetation Worldwide, Older Adult Caregiving, More: Monday Evening ResearchBuzz, June 21, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

UNC University Libraries: New toolkit from University Libraries helps communities tell their stories. “Communities working to preserve their own histories—and the libraries and archives seeking to support them—have new tools in the form of a free web resource from the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill…. The new site brings together dozens of guides, tip sheets and instructional videos that the project team created over the course of the grant. UNC-Chapel Hill and community archivists also contributed reflections through blog posts and profiles.”

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg: Vegetation of planet Earth: Researchers publish unique database as Open Access. “It’s a treasure trove of data: the global geodatabase of vegetation plots ‘sPlotOpen’ is now freely accessible. It contains data on vegetation from 114 countries and from all climate zones on Earth. The database was compiled by an international team of researchers led by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).”

PR Newswire: New online library connects organizations to 300 resources that can help older adults and their caregivers during emergencies like COVID-19 (PRESS RELEASE). “A new online resource library, released today, connects organizations that serve older adults and their caregivers with existing programs and services in the U.S. that can help these populations during public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks like COVID-19, natural disasters, and severe weather.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Poynter: The lessons of Squash, the first automated fact-checking platform. “Today, Squash (our code name for the project, chosen because it is a nutritious vegetable and a good metaphor for stopping falsehoods) has been a remarkable success. It displays fact checks seconds after politicians utter a claim and it largely does what those readers wanted in 2007. But Squash also makes lots of mistakes.”

9to5Google: Google adding new ‘Insights’ tool for web creators powered by Search Console and Analytics. “Google is rolling out a new Search Console Insights tool that provides creators with an overview of how their content is performing. It’s meant to be an ‘easier way to understand how your content resonates with readers.'”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

UCLA: UCLA Library acquires new materials based on student proposals. “It’s been more than a year since the coronavirus halted physical access to the UCLA Library. Rather than seeing it as a hurdle, Matthew Fisher, associate professor of English, and Devin Fitzgerald, curator of rare books and the history of printing, devised a series of remote-learning alternatives for students to research, think and write about books and book collections in new ways, culminating in a final writing project that allowed students to explore an unfamiliar role: special collections curator.”

BBC: The relatives frozen in time on Google Street View. “Social-media users are sharing Google Street View images featuring friends and relatives who have since died. It was sparked by a post on the Twitter account Fesshole, which asks followers to submit anonymous confessions – many of which are explicit.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: One of Big Tech’s Biggest Critics Is Now Its Regulator. “[Lina Khan’s] fast ascent from researcher to leader of a large federal agency underscores the growing concerns about the power of the big tech companies — and big business in general — in Washington. In her new job, she will command more than 1,000 investigators, lawyers and economists who are responsible for policing the American economy.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Caltech: Computers Predict People’s Tastes in Art. “Do you like the thick brush strokes and soft color palettes of an impressionist painting such as those by Claude Monet? Or do you prefer the bold colors and abstract shapes of a Rothko? Individual art tastes have a certain mystique to them, but now a new Caltech study shows that a simple computer program can accurately predict which paintings a person will like.”

NiemanLab: Comment moderators should focus more on hate speech than profanity, a new study suggests. “News consumers and social media platform users prioritize the removal of hate speech over the removal of profanity, according to a new study by the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas, Austin.” Good evening, Internet…

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June 22, 2021 at 05:37AM
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Google Music Experiments, University of Oklahoma Newspapers, FaceTime, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, June 21, 2021

Google Music Experiments, University of Oklahoma Newspapers, FaceTime, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, June 21, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Google Blog: Exhibits and experiments that are music to your ears. “Today is World Music Day, also known as “Fête de la musique.” It’s an annual celebration of music that encourages amateur and professional musicians to play and perform outside in parks or in the streets. At Google Arts & Culture we took the name ‘Fête de la musique,’ which translates to ‘music party,’ literally, and made sure the internet also will celebrate, with music created by you. Our artists in residence at the Google Arts & Culture lab created two new experiments, ‘Paint with Music’ and ‘Assisted Melody,’ to offer you an easy and fun way to get creative with sound.”

NonDoc: Newly digitized OU Daily archives offer a window into university’s identity . “The University of Oklahoma’s student newspaper, long called The Oklahoma Daily and now simply The OU Daily, put out its first issue in 1897, making it one of the oldest publications in the state. Since its founding, the publication has chronicled the university’s greatest triumphs, its lighter moments and its most turbulent chapters. Now, that history is being fully archived and made available online through the Carl Albert Center’s Gateway to Oklahoma History portal.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNET: FaceTime is getting a bunch of upgrades, and I can’t wait to try them with my friends. “Not wanting Zoom to take all the success, Apple announced some key updates to FaceTime during its WWDC event. Some of the features do indeed go some way to make FaceTime more like Zoom, while other features — like SharePlay — are all new and could offer great new ways of virtually hanging out with friends.”

USEFUL STUFF

The Conversation: How to consume news while maintaining your sanity. “The amount and variety of news produced today often tests people’s ability to determine its value and veracity. Such a torrent of information threatens to drown news consumers in a river of confusion…. But techniques exist for ferreting out what we can trust and what we should question, and there are steps we can take to help determine where the news comes from.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Reuters: The race to save African-American cemeteries from being ‘erased’. “There are no national estimates on the number of Black cemeteries that are under threat from developers or have been abandoned. In Florida, where the governor this month signed a bill creating a task force to study the issue, lawmakers estimate there could be as many as 3,000. [Barbara] Heath and others have been supporting bills in Congress that would create a database of African-American cemeteries across the country and fund education and preservation programs.

Atlas Obscura: The Quest to Collect the Stories of Bengalis in Harlem . “ALAUDIN ULLAH HAS SPENT MORE than 20 years collecting untold or overlooked stories of the earliest South Asian immigrants to America, their Black and Hispanic wives, and their descendants, particularly in New York. It’s a research project, but also a personal one: The project has been a way for him to understand his own story, too—and his father’s.”

Washington Post: Accidents can happen: On the Internet, embarrassment is just one errant tap away. “Before the Internet, if you really wanted to embarrass yourself accidentally, you had to attend a swanky soiree with toilet paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe or bad-mouth your boss’s wife without knowing she was standing right behind you. But today, the possibilities are virtually endless — and endlessly virtual. We are all one errant keystroke away from cringe-inducing self-mortification.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New Castle News: Bill would force Pa. to post online how lawmakers spend tax dollars. “Millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded expenses incurred by state lawmakers each year would be required to be posted online under a bill being prepared for introduction in the Pennsylvania Senate, making the information easily accessible to the public for the first time.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Tech Xplore: Using large-scale dataset experiments and machine learning to discover new theories of decision-making. “A team of researchers from Princeton University along with one from Worcester Polytechnic Institute has developed a way to use large-scale dataset experiments and machine learning to discover new theories of decision-making.”

EurekAlert: Stanford researchers develop new software for designing sustainable cities. “New technology could help cities around the world improve people’s lives while saving billions of dollars. The free, open-source software developed by the Stanford Natural Capital Project creates maps to visualize the links between nature and human wellbeing. City planners and developers can use the software to visualize where investments in nature, such as parks and marshlands, can maximize benefits to people, like protection from flooding and improved health.” Good afternoon, Internet…

June 22, 2021 at 12:48AM
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Theater Diversity Data, Kansas City Roses, Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, June 21, 2021

Theater Diversity Data, Kansas City Roses, Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, June 21, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Backstage: Exclusive: Years of Theater Diversity Data Now Housed in 1 Place With Launch of Counting Together Website. “What is the racial and ethnic makeup of actors hired in theater? How many female playwrights have been produced on Broadway? Previously, if a person wanted the answer to those questions, they would have to use Google and ask other industry professionals. Now, a new website called Counting Together is gathering theater industry reports around gender, race, and disability in theater dating back to 2006 and putting them in one place.”

Fox 4: Kansas City’s famous rose garden goes high tech to celebrate 90th anniversary. “Visitors to the rose garden in Loose Park may notice something new as they stop to smell the flowers. The Kansas City Rose Society launched a new website that categorizes every variety in the garden by name, color and classification.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Songs, stories, pottery: Refugees preserve their heritage in digital archives. “Solima Khatun has been a refugee six times in her long life. She first left her home in Myanmar during the Second World War, and most recently in 2017 – when relatives had to carry her as they fled to Bangladesh with nearly one million other Rohingyas…. Khatun’s story – along with pictures of her and her loda – are among scores of exhibits featured in the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre (RCMC), a new digital archive of the art, literature and treasured belongings of refugees in Cox’s Bazar.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Facebook officially launches Live Audio Rooms and podcasts in the U.S.. “In April, Facebook announced a series of planned investments in new audio products, including a Clubhouse live audio competitor as well as new support for podcasts. Today, Facebook is officially rolling these products with the launch of Live Audio Rooms in the U.S. on iOS, starting with public figures and select Facebook Groups, and the debut of an initial set of U.S. podcast partners.”

Mashable: Google Assistant debuts new Black history feature for Juneteenth . “On Saturday morning, Google unveiled the addition of a Black history function, available to users of any Assistant-enabled smart speaker, smart display, or phone. Just ask ‘Hey Google, what happened today in Black history?’ and the voice assistant will recite daily history content curated by Google with the help of civil rights activist and scholar Dr. Carl Mack.”

Search Engine Journal: Google Announces New Ads Creative Studio. “Google announced the launch of a new tool for creative advertising tools, called ‘Ads Creative Studio’, which aims to unify multiple creative tools.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Europeana Pro: Curious, smart and resourceful: the BnF’s new digital roadmap. “The National Library of France (BnF) has recently launched a new digital strategy – we speak to Céline Leclaire, Strategic content production officer, to explore the strategy and what it means for the organisation’s digital transformation.”

Getty: Archive of Celebrated Stage Director Peter Sellars Comes to the Getty Research Institute. “For over 40 years, Peter Sellars has pushed boundaries within the theater and performing arts communities—from unconventional reimaginations of classic plays to politically charged operas, to festivals that celebrate art around the world. The acclaimed stage director, UCLA Distinguished Professor and MacArthur Fellow has donated his vast personal archive to the Getty Research Institute. Along with a related donation—the Los Angeles Festival records—his papers will greatly enhance the Research Institute’s holdings related to developments in the history of performing arts.”

Fashion United: When virtual fashion stands up to the physical world. “In the press and across social networks, the subject of virtual fashion is becoming increasingly more popular. But are these non-physical clothes the future of fashion? And where exactly can you find them? To find answers, FashionUnited took a look at the latest collection of Amsterdam-based digital fashion house The Fabricant.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CBC: Why an Italian museum unleashed bacteria on Michelangelo’s marble masterpieces. “When it came time to clean sculptures by Michelangelo at the Medici Chapels in Florence, Italy, conservators knew they needed a new approach. For nearly a decade, teams have been working to clean the marble works in the New Sacristy — searching for solutions that wouldn’t damage the fragile stone Michelangelo worked with to sculpt the room’s elaborate tombs. So rather than applying chemicals or using abrasives, the experts made a ‘bold decision’ to use bacteria-infused gel to clean away centuries worth of dirt and grime.”

Monga Bay: What’s the cost of illegal mining in Brazil’s Amazon? A new tool calculates it. “Illegal gold mining caused an estimated $429 million (2.2 billion reais) in social and environmental damages on the Yanomami Indigenous Reserve in Brazil’s Roraima state last year, according to a new impacts calculator launched this week by the Federal Public Ministry in partnership with the Conservation Strategy Fund Brazil (CSF-Brazil), the nonprofit organization responsible for the creation of the tool.”

Tech Xplore: Facebook to launch NetHack Challenge at NeurIPS 2021. “Due to its unforgiving nature requiring players to start an entire game over in a new dungeon once their characters die, many regard NetHack as one of the most challenging games out there. In fact, even at the expert level, successfully completing the game requires an average of 25-50 times more steps than a typical StarCraft II game. Furthermore, as players’ engagement with their environment and related objects are wholly intricate, users must often think outside the box or consult an outside source such as NetHack Wiki in order to win.” Been playing this game on and off for ~30 years and I’ve yet to win. Good morning, Internet…

June 21, 2021 at 08:57PM
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Saturday, June 19, 2021

California Wildfires, Wyoming Drought, Birds in Europe, More: Saturday Evening ResearchBuzz, June 19, 2021

California Wildfires, Wyoming Drought, Birds in Europe, More: Saturday Evening ResearchBuzz, June 19, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

KTVU: New tool consolidates fire information into zones for California residents. “As dry conditions lead to growing fear, a new tool is emerging to help first responders and the public: The real-time resource, called Zonehaven, is designed to be the single place for sending and receiving information during hazardous events.”

Local News 8: Wyoming launches new drought resources website. “The site provides resources and information for specific sectors impacted by drought, including agriculture, tourism, recreation, municipalities and water utilities. It also offers information on federal and state resources and assistance available to those impacted by drought. Information on wildfire conditions and restrictions plus links to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) drought disaster designations for Wyoming are also available on the website.”

Bird Guides: Website launched to track non-native birds across Europe. “The Introduced Bird Interaction Survey (IBISurvey) is a citizen science project from the University of Évora with the main objective of assessing the environmental, societal and economic impacts of introduced birds in European countries, with everyone encouraged to get involved.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Google Blog: Now it’s easier to show what your business offers on Google. “Last year, we added ways for you to change basic business information, message your customers and see detailed insights. And now, as we head into International Small Business Week, we have even more ways for you to update your Business Profile — all directly from Search and Maps.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Getty: How Getty Archivists Support Racial Justice. “As archivists at the Getty Research Institute, it’s our job to describe and organize the materials in Getty’s collection to make them easy for researchers, scholars, and historians to find. Our work largely takes place indoors, is often solitary, and far removed from the action of protests of social justice movements. But as we help shape the historical record, there is reparative work that we can do as archivists to support communities fighting for justice.”

Muslim Mirror: An Indo-American’s pursuit for vanishing Islamic heritage sites. “Chennai: Mr. Siraj Thakor, from Toronto, Canada, has undertaken the monumental task of creating an online database of all the Islamic Heritage Sites of India. He likes to preserve it digitally and make it available to all to cherish the Islamic past of this great country. Mr. Siraj is looking for volunteers to assist him with the information on Islamic Heritage Sites in India.”

NPR: Welcome To Froggyland, The Croatian Taxidermy Museum That May Soon Come To The U.S.. “The sounds of a lily pad pond piped through outdoor speakers greet visitors. Inside, it’s quiet, because the 507 frogs on display have been dead for more than a century. But they look very much alive, thanks to the work of Ferenc Mere, a mustached Hungarian taxidermist who lived from 1878 to 1947 and spent 10 of his years catching frogs, killing them and stuffing them — before arranging them into a variety of exhibits that showed them living out human lives.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Arab News: Fraudulent ad promoters on social media could face hefty fines, jail in Saudi Arabia. “Those who promote and advertise fraudulent goods on social media sites have been warned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution that they could face up to three years in prison or a SR1 million ($267,000) fine, or both.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

National Geographic: Virtual reality travel: is it more than just a gimmick?. “Being able to step into a 3D space, be it a hotel room or museum, natural beauty spot or city street, isn’t only a useful tool at the planning stage, but a means to augment your experience on the road, and a way to relive it afterwards. VR also offers opportunities to explore with a lighter carbon footprint and, right now, while international travel remains limited, it caters to both those hungry for new horizons and travellers seeking a way to revisit favourite haunts.”

Liam O’Dell: Hey Twitter, where are all the verified disabled people?. “I had already written about my hopes that impersonation would be an important factor for consideration when it comes to verification (after another account chose to impersonate me once I called out ableism), but in a Twitter Space on 4 June, an employee from Twitter’s trust team revealed that ‘impersonation is not something we’re taking into consideration’. This is despite the fact that this act of malice is often deployed against marginalised creators. Up until this point, this article may read as an exercise in self-pity, except it soon became clear that I wasn’t the only disabled person who had had their verification request rejected.” Good evening, Internet…

June 20, 2021 at 05:48AM
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Curvy Pattern Database, IEEE, LGBTQ TikTok, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, June 19, 2021

Curvy Pattern Database, IEEE, LGBTQ TikTok, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, June 19, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

New-to-me: the Curvy Pattern Database. From the About page: “I started sewing when I was young – my grandmother is an award winning quilter and my mother is a well versed garment sewer. I picked sewing back up in early 2020 (like many) and realized that garment patterns that I didn’t have to alter extensively to fit my body (most commonly by grading up a TON to fit my butt and belly) were very hard to find. When I did find a pattern or designer made to fit my body I started keeping it in a spreadsheet. Thus, the designer database was born!” The database is available in Imperial or Metric measurement and includes filters for bust, waist, and hip size. Excellent work.

IEEE Spectrum: Introducing the New IEEE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Website. “The platform lists a variety of IEEE resources such as its nondiscrimination policy, code of ethics, and accessibility statement. The new site also highlights ongoing efforts by various IEEE groups that are taking action toward building a diverse, equitable, and welcoming environment such as IEEE regions and geographic units, technical societies, the IEEE Board of Directors, Technical Activities Board committees, and IEEE Women in Engineering.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

San Francisco Chronicle: The pandemic hit LGBTQ youth hard. Many turned to TikTok. “Especially during the pandemic, TikTok — and the queer internet at large — have been lifelines for LGBTQ youth experiencing the most isolating effects of lockdown, according to research published last fall in the Journal of Adolescent Health and a more recent survey by the Trevor Project, which offers crisis services to LGBTQ youth.”

The College Post: Getty Images Offering $500,000 Toward HBCU Archive Digitization. “Getty Images will commit $500,000 to digitize the rich visual history of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The British-American visual media company will partner with philanthropic organization Stand Together to launch the ‘Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs.'”

HyperAllergic: Smithsonian Returns a Pre-Incan Gold Ornament to Peru. “In a ceremony today, June 15, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian returned a pre-Incan gold ornament from its collection to Peru’s government. The item, an ‘Echenique Disc,’ is recognized as the symbol of the city of Cusco in Peru, once the capital of the Inca Empire.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

AP: AP says it will no longer name suspects in minor crimes. “The Associated Press said Tuesday it will no longer run the names of people charged with minor crimes, out of concern that such stories can have a long, damaging afterlife on the internet that can make it hard for individuals to move on with their lives.”

Reuters: Exclusive: Google’s adtech business set to face formal EU probe by year-end – sources. “Alphabet unit Google could face its biggest regulatory threat, with EU antitrust regulators set to open a formal investigation into its lucrative digital advertising business before the end of the year, said people familiar with the matter.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Ricochet: Catholic Church residential school records belong to survivors and their families. “Beyond base self-preservation, we can imagine Church administrators assure themselves behind closed doors that the decision to keep the records private is morally defensible. Thorny issues of privacy and confidentiality, and the terrifying (if unsubstantiated) prospect of mob justice enacted upon named perpetrators, may foster a paternalistic desire to keep documents hidden. Better to keep the door locked than to expose survivors and staff alike to an onslaught of public scrutiny. But this is not a morally defensible position. These records belong to the people about whom they were written: residential school survivors and their families.”

Just Style: New tool assesses impact of apparel and footwear. “The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), along with its technology partner Higg, has announced the completion of a new tool that evaluates the comprehensive environmental impact of products. In addition to developing greener products, companies can also use the new tool to credibly communicate their performance, demonstrate progress towards sustainability and circularity goals, and address anticipated regulation.”

GPS World: Earth Archive project aims to create digital twin of entire planet. “The Earth Archive Initiative is an unprecedented scientific effort to create a digital twin of the entire surface of the Earth – and everything on it. By scanning the planet’s land surface with very high-resolution lidar, the Earth Archive will create a true three-dimensional digital twin of our world — an open source, digital record of the Earth that will reflect the landscape exactly as it was at the time of scanning.” Good afternoon, Internet…

June 19, 2021 at 11:53PM
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Government Spending, Carbon-Capturing Materials, Kosovo War Refugees, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, June 19, 2021

Government Spending, Carbon-Capturing Materials, Kosovo War Refugees, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, June 19, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of New Hampshire: New Mobile App from Carsey School Allows for Easy Exploration of Federal Government Spending. “Curious how much U.S. government spending goes toward the military, health care, or education? Want more information on how the federal budget breaks down and the programs funded by it? The newly released FedGovSpendTM Explorer App, available from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, offers a user-friendly interface that does exactly that – allows you to easily navigate U.S. federal spending by purpose and spending type. The app is available for free from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.”

DeZeen: “One tonne of olivine sand can take in up to one tonne of CO2” says Teresa van Dongen. “Dutch designer Teresa van Dongen has launched Aireal, an online library showcasing materials that can capture atmospheric carbon. The fledgling library contains images and descriptions of materials developed by companies and institutes around the world.”

Balkan Insight: Virtual Museum Preserves Kosovo War Refugees’ Memories . “A new online ‘museum’ showcases the stories of some of the hundreds of thousands of people who fled their homes to avoid violence during and after the Kosovo war in 1999-98.”

EVENTS

Getty: 24-Hour Performance T.V. to See the Sky, Inspired by Yoko Ono’s Sky T.V.. “In collaboration with Yoko Ono, the Getty Research Institute and the Feminist Center for Creative Work will join more than 50 arts institutions around the world to present a live 24-hour video streaming of the sky via Zoom to audiences at home in celebration of the Solstice and Strawberry Moon Eclipse.” The livestream will be available free on YouTube and starts early June 21.

USEFUL STUFF

Library Journal: Organizing the Books in Your Home, Part 1: How to Shelve Like a Librarian . “The following is the first of a multipart weekly series designed to help readers make the most of their home collections. This week, we look at the traditional Dewey Decimal Classification system and how it might work for you. Future installments will tackle the pros and cons of ‘genrefying’ fiction (separating distinct genres like romance, horror, sf/fantasy, etc.); how to ‘weed’ your collection, including when to throw away or recycle outdated information; and how to best organize books for young children.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Harvard Magazine: Can Disinformation Be Stopped?. “MISINFORMATION IS EVERYWHERE, an inherent part of communication that does not imply intent. Accidentally telling someone Independence Day falls on July 3 is misinformation. When misinformation becomes deliberate—deception on purpose—that’s disinformation. The purpose varies. Sometimes disinformation is spread for political or financial gain—convincing constituents that a rival candidate has a sordid history, or exploiting people’s interest in a made-up scandal to increase website traffic and sell merchandise. But often the reason is less clear: vague intentions to sow discord and muddy the waters around any given subject.”

Facebook: Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From Ethiopia. “We removed a network of accounts, Pages and Groups in Ethiopia for coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB). It targeted domestic audiences in its own country.”

NBC News: Colorado’s 1st LGBTQ curator is uncovering the state’s hidden queer history. “Since [Aaron Marcus] started the two-year position in October, he has collected more than 360 artifacts and other objects, as well as more than 24 hours of oral histories from LGBTQ Coloradans. His efforts — which are being funded by the Gill Foundation, a Denver-based LGBTQ fundraising organization — will culminate in a six-month exhibition scheduled to open next year at History Colorado’s main museum in Denver. A traveling version of the exhibit can be displayed throughout the state, Marcus said. And if the main exhibit proves popular enough, he said, it could become permanent.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Greek Reporter: Greek Antiquities Removed by Occupying Germany, US Archives Reveal. “A 47-page document in the US National Archives recently unearthed by an English historian reveals the damage caused to Greek antiquities during Germany’s occupation of the country in 1941-1944. The document, by the Directorate of Civil Affairs of the United States War Office was written between November 1944 and March 1945. It was discovered by Graham M. Simons, an English historian and author who has written well over sixty books on aviation history.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

South China Morning Post: Lost to China for decades, ancient classics get a new lease on life through artificial intelligence. “In China’s modern history, many precious classical texts were lost overseas during wars and turmoil, but many of these were preserved in research libraries and museums around the world.”

NASA: NASA Launches Mission Equity, Seeks Public Input to Broaden Access. “NASA is launching Mission Equity, a comprehensive effort to assess expansion and modification of agency programs, procurements, grants, and policies, and examine what potential barriers and challenges exist for communities that are historically underrepresented and underserved.”

EurekAlert: AI app could help diagnose HIV more accurately. “Pioneering technology developed by UCL (University College London) and Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) researchers could transform the ability to accurately interpret HIV test results, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Academics from the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL and AHRI used deep learning (artificial intelligence/AI) algorithms to improve health workers’ ability to diagnose HIV using lateral flow tests in rural South Africa.” Good morning, Internet…

June 19, 2021 at 05:41PM
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Friday, June 18, 2021

Benin Bronzes, Sammy Hagar, LGBTQ Travel, More: Friday Evening ResearchBuzz, June 18, 2021

Benin Bronzes, Sammy Hagar, LGBTQ Travel, More: Friday Evening ResearchBuzz, June 18, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

ARTNews: Germany Unveils Comprehensive Database of Its Benin Bronzes. “This week, Germany unveiled a digital database for its Benin Bronzes that offers provenance and images for more than 1,100 objects. Titled the German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts, it will continue to be updated, and is meant to offer greater transparency.”

106.3 The Buzz (no relation): Sammy Hagar + Michael Anthony Launch ‘Van Hagar’ Era Online Archive. “Former Van Halen members and current Sammy Hagar & The Circle rockers Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony have jointly launched an archival social media destination saluting their time together in Van Halen, the period known as the ‘Van Hagar’ era to fans of the rock band co-founded by the late Eddie Van Halen.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Travel Weekly: Orbitz users can now search for LGBTQ-friendly accommodations. “The tool highlights more than 35,000 independent, boutique and branded hotels that have signed an Orbitz Inclusivity Pledge against discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual identity. At a minimum, lodging partners that have signed this pledge are committed to enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for hateful, disrespectful or discriminatory behavior from staff at any level.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The Guardian: ‘This is our cultural heritage’: Spanish photographers seek national archive. “Spain’s best-known photographers have thrown their weight behind a new campaign to establish a national centre to catalogue, share, protect and promote the country’s rich and diverse photographic history.”

Nerdist: You Can Get Vintage Video Game Magazines Sent To Your Door. “Before the internet, gamers turned to magazine stands to learn more about their favorite titles. Now the world wide web has made it possible for you to own those retro publications again. The Video Game History Foundation is working to preserve vintage video game magazines with a subscription service that puts certified copies in your hands.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

TechRadar: Google Docs is being weaponized by hackers. “Web-based word processor Google Docs is being actively exploited to disguise dangerous web domains, security analysts have warned. As discovered by security firm Avanan, cybercriminals have found a way to conceal attacks behind standard Google Docs URLs, which can be delivered to victims via email without triggering security software.”

ShareCast: FCA warns Google to stop accepting scam adverts . “UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority has warned tech giant Google that it will take legal action if it continues to accept advertisements for online financial scams.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Tech Policy Press: Study of social media, collective behavior should be a “crisis discipline,” researchers say. “Social media, message apps and other digital communications technologies restructure the ways in which information flows, and thus how humans interact with one another, how they make sense of the world and how they come to consensus on how to deal with problems.”

CNBC: Google searches for new measure of skin tones to curb bias in products. “Alphabet’s Google told Reuters this week it is developing an alternative to the industry standard method for classifying skin tones, which a growing chorus of technology researchers and dermatologists says is inadequate for assessing whether products are biased against people of color.”

Daily Mail is not one of my usual sources, but I’ll make an exception. Daily Mail: Conservators find QUILL inside Queen Elizabeth I-era document. “A quill with ink still its nib has been found in between the pages of an official document dating from the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. The writing implement was discovered by conservators when they were carrying out repair work on the manuscript, a draft land lease agreement, at the National Archives’ headquarters in Kew, West London, yesterday.” Good evening, Internet…

June 19, 2021 at 06:26AM
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