Saturday, August 14, 2021

Our Shared Future, Music Recommendations, Reddit, More: Saturday Evening ResearchBuzz, August 14, 2021

Our Shared Future, Music Recommendations, Reddit, More: Saturday Evening ResearchBuzz, August 14, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

BusinessWire: Smithsonian Launches “Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past” With a Virtual Forum (PRESS RELEASE). “The Smithsonian will kick off its new race initiative, ‘Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past,’ with a virtual forum Aug. 26. The initiative will bring together resources from across the Smithsonian to explore how Americans understand, experience and confront racism through several critical lenses like wellness, wealth and the arts. ‘Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past’ will include virtual and live events across the country as well as digital content, storytelling and learning resources for students and educators.”

Louder Sound: This website claims it can find your new favourite band. “Music-recommending website Sage claims that it can find you your new favourite band using artificial intelligence. All you have to do is type in your favourite band and least favourite band, and Sage will come up with a list of recommendations for you, with a match percentage for each one and a link to listen.” Your mileage may vary. When I was trying to enter music I like, Sage found bands like Ball Park Music and Lime Cordiale as well as individuals like Dallas Woods and Baker Boy, but couldn’t find Miiesha or Tierra Whack. What?

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Reddit is now valued at more than $10 billion. “Reddit, the self-declared ‘front page of the internet,’ says it is now valued at more than $10 billion after raising an additional $410 million in funding, with the final round expected to grow to up to $700 million. The company continues to build and sanitize its business, removing racist, misogynist, and otherwise controversial communities, as it prepares to go public at some point in the future.”

USEFUL STUFF

Bustle: Instagram Guides Are Way More Useful Than You Probably Think . “While you’re probably not as familiar with Guides as you are with Stories or IGTV, the feature can be incredibly useful: Even if you’re not an influencer or content creator, Guides can be a creative way to blog about your summer, shop products, or discover new trends. Instagram originally introduced Guides to exclusive creators in May 2020, but opened up the feature to all users in November of last year.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Tubefilter: #BookTok Is Boosting Sales For Brick-And-Mortar Bookstores. “TikTok’s crop of book lovers are boosting sales for Canada’s largest bookseller. In its second-quarter earnings report, Indigo Books and Music Inc. said that #BookTok is having a noticeable positive effect on demand, especially for older titles.”

Ars Technica: Excerpt: How Google bought Android—according to folks in the room. “Androids: The team that built the Android operating system is a new book from longtime Android engineer Chet Haase. Haase has been on the Android team since 2010, and he interviewed dozens of Googlers for this book, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at early Android development. With Haase’s permission, we’re giving readers a look at chapters four and five of the book, ‘The Pitch,’ and ‘The Acquisition.'”

DA NANG Today: Data on traditional festivals to go digital. “The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has given the green light to the implementation of a project on digitalising all types of Vietnamese festivals for the 2021-2025 period. They involve traditional and cultural ones, industry festivals, and those of foreign origin.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Daily Sabah: Turkey expedites efforts for new social media regulation. “The Turkish government has accelerated its efforts for a new social media regulation, in light of online manipulations and disinformation about recent incidents such as forest fires and tensions between locals and Syrian migrants in the capital Ankara’s Altındağ district.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Penn State: Seed grant to explore using AI to model subsurface rock formations. “It is difficult for geoscientists to map sedimentary rocks’ compositional and mechanical properties at high resolution, according to Yashar Mehmani, assistant professor in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. He recently received a seed grant from the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) to investigate using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a new method to model the Earth’s subsurface.”

University of Maine: Researchers assess whether open educational resources improved biology instruction. “The National Science Foundation awarded a nearly $2 million collaborative research grant for principal investigators from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Cornell University and UMaine to assess the effectiveness of open educational resources in teaching core biology concepts, facilitating student-centered learning and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. Funding for the five-year project derived from the NSF’s Vision and Change Program.” Good evening, Internet…

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August 15, 2021 at 05:32AM
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Oklahoma Child Care Jobs, Reddit, Twitter, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, August 14, 2021

Oklahoma Child Care Jobs, Reddit, Twitter, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, August 14, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

News on 6 (Oklahoma): Local Nonprofit Launches New Statewide Early Childhood Job Board. “A Tulsa nonprofit has launched a new online job board designed to help childcare facilities across the state find qualified workers. The new database allows job seekers to find an opportunity and childcare facilities to find the right candidates…. The database is free for employers to post open positions and for people looking for a job in childcare.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Reddit is quietly rolling out a TikTok-like video feed button on iOS. “From Instagram’s Reels to Snapchat’s Spotlight, most social media platforms are looking toward the TikTok boom for inspiration. Now, even Reddit, a discussion-based forum, is making short-form video more pronounced on its iOS app.”

CNET: Twitter once again pauses verification program to improve application process. “Twitter on Friday said it’s once again hitting pause on its verification program. The company reopened public applications for verification in May after a four-year shut down as it reevaluated its application process. Now, it appears the company has already run into more roadblocks.”

The Verge: Twitter is changing the contrast of buttons again after complaints of eye strain. “Twitter is readjusting the contrast on its buttons following feedback about its design updates from earlier this week. Some people have reported eye strain, headaches, and migraines due to the higher visual contrast in the colors of buttons and links, as well as the new font, Chirp.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

River City News: Three NKY Kroger Stores Part of New Pick-Up Partnership with Google Maps. “According to a news release, when groceries are ordered from Kroger via the grocer’s app, users will have the opportunity to add the order to Google Maps. When it is time to leave, Google Maps will send a notification which will let the user share the arrival time with the store.”

University of Texas at Austin: Archive of Tony Award-Winning Theater Designer Kevin Adams Comes to the Harry Ransom Center. “The archive of award-winning lighting designer Kevin Adams has been established at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, a key research destination for the study of theater and performance history.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: Trade Judge Says Google Infringed on Patents Owned by Sonos. “Google infringed on speaker-technology patents held by Sonos and should not be allowed to import products that violate Sonos’s intellectual property, a judge said in a preliminary finding by the United States International Trade Commission.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Carnegie Mellon University: CMU Misinformation Researchers Zero in on Climate Change. “To more effectively combat misinformation, climate change communicators need to focus their messaging on key conspiracy theories that gain the most traction, according to two researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. In a recent paper, CMU’s Aman Tyagi and Kathleen M. Carley look at the polarization of climate change beliefs on social media, and offer targeted approaches toward reshaping beliefs.”

Brookings Institution: Nigeria’s Twitter ban is a misplaced priority. “Political activists have the most dominant voice in the conversation while institutional actors and organizations have some of the smallest. While Nigerian citizens and activists continue to use the platform, the Nigerian government has effectively shut itself out from the conversation with only the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, still maintaining a presence on Twitter.”

OTHER STUFF I THINK IS COOL

Boing Boing: Fantastically surreal TikTok films about pay telephones. “Solopist makes wonderfully surreal short TikTok films all about pay telephones. The series reminds me of 2600 magazine’s ‘Payphones of the World’ backpage photos, only less real.” Are you a fan of BUTTERED SIDE DOWN or YOU SUCK AT COOKING? Here ya go. Good afternoon, Internet…

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August 15, 2021 at 12:28AM
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NYPD Misconduct, Olympics Content, Facebook Dating, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, August 14, 2021

NYPD Misconduct, Olympics Content, Facebook Dating, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, August 14, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Gothamist: Brooklyn DA Releases Massive Trove Of Internal Documents On NYPD Misconduct. “The records reveal a wide range of misconduct allegations and findings against NYPD officers ranging from dishonesty to brutality to inappropriate associations with criminals. The release consists of District Attorney’s office letters prepared for defense attorneys and defendants to inform them of past police conduct that could undermine the credibility of officers called to the stand.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Tubefilter: YouTube Viewers Watched 200 Million Hours Of Olympics Content, To The Tune Of 190 Million Daily Views. “According to the video giant, viewers watched 200 million hours of Olympics content this year, to the tune of 190 million daily views on average. (This includes footage from the Tokyo games and previous Olympics, YouTube said). In 2016, during the Rio games, viewers watched 29 million hours of Olympics content, clocking 24 million daily average views.”

The Verge: Facebook Dating is getting audio chats. “Facebook Dating, the company’s dating service, doesn’t appear to be as popular as other dating apps, but the company is introducing some new features to make it more useful for virtual dating, which has boomed during the pandemic.”

Search Engine Journal: LinkedIn Adds Ratings & Reviews to User Profiles. “An update to LinkedIn profiles will allow users to be rated and reviewed on the skills they offer as service providers. Reviews will be will be displayed in a new section on user profiles that have the services listings option enabled.”

USEFUL STUFF

The Vou: Best 12 Outfit Generator Apps And Websites Of 2021. “An outfit generator is an app or website designed to help users with their sartorial game by generating fresh outfits or combining existing clothes with future online purchases to create new styles. An outfit generator can be used for stylistic inspiration and as a wardrobe builder of custom outfits.” I love these things. I stare at them in awe. I’m like a fish looking at a rocketship.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Daily Beast: Trump’s Favorite Dictator Fueling New Pro-Hitler Movement. “The movement’s digital goosestepping is being led by a small handful of Nazis claiming connections to the Egyptian Armed Forces on Telegram, who are also attempting to build a community on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. At the center of the network is a branded, cloud-based storage drive being shared across a series of Telegram channels as well as Facebook pages and profiles, containing 16,922 multilingual pieces of Nazi footage, photos, text, and Holocaust denial videos, all meticulously ordered in 416 folders. Repeated calls to the Egyptian military’s media office went unanswered.”

Washington Post: Marginalized streamers beg Twitch to ‘do better’ in wake of hate raids, poor pay. “During an Aug. 6 broadcast, the Twitch streamer RekItRaven — who is Black and uses they/them pronouns — emotionally described a series of traumatic, real-life experiences that informed who they are today. In response, viewers in chat told Raven that they were ‘loved.’ This made what happened next especially hurtful. About 20 minutes later, Raven’s chat was suddenly flooded by dozens of users spamming the same message, which read in part: ‘This channel now belongs to the KKK.’ It was the second time that had happened in just one week.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Register: Dutch education IT crisis averted as Google agrees to ‘major privacy improvements’. “Google has agreed to ‘major privacy improvements’ following a threat to ban the use of Google Workspace in education by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA). In March, Privacy Company concluded that eight out of 10 high privacy risks in Google’s productivity suite, Workspace, remained. The Dutch educational institutions then asked the Dutch DPA for advice. At the end of May the DPA warned schools and universities to stop using Google Workspace for Education before the start of the new school year.”

Mashable: Scammers target YouTube’s smart TV activation sites with help from Google. “Mashable has uncovered a scam that weaponizes the YouTube activation screen on Smart TVs. And the scam would be impossible for the fraudsters to carry out without a huge assist from Google, YouTube’s parent company.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Tech Xplore: AI researchers trust international, scientific organizations most, study finds. “Researchers working in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence trust international and scientific organizations the most to shape the development and use of AI in the public interest. But who do they trust the least? National militaries, Chinese tech companies and Facebook.”

Michigan Daily: Dreaming through the screen. “I’ve always been someone that has appreciated silence and even sought it out. I prefer working at night when the noises around me are at a minimum. But when the silence on campus seemed suffocating, I would turn to cooking videos — something that I expect already to be silent. Even the slight punctuation of sounds are predictable and therefore somewhat grounding. These videos were the good types of quiet: anticipated and calm, not anxious or depressing.”

OTHER STUFF I THINK IS COOL

Ubergizmo: Animal Shelter Uses Tinder To Help Their Animals Find New Owners. “The Munich Animal Welfare Association recently decided to use Tinder as a platform to help them bring awareness to the various animals that they foster. They created profiles for their sheltered animals and put them on Tinder, using an advertising agency to help them snap some professional headshots for 15 cats and dogs.” 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!



August 14, 2021 at 05:31PM
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Friday, August 13, 2021

Solar Power Deployment, Facebook, Firefox, More: Friday Evening ResearchBuzz, August 13, 2021

Solar Power Deployment, Facebook, Firefox, More: Friday Evening ResearchBuzz, August 13, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Tech Xplore: An interactive map for solar panel deployment across the US. “A paper in Solar Energy, published this month… offers a detailed analysis of where (and how much) solar PV needs to be applied to firmly meet at least 50 percent of the energy demands for every state. Readers can use an interactive map to modify the numbers on a state-specific basis, based on the total percentage of load needed to be met by PV power, ground efficiency of PV panels, and various land controls to account for areas covered by open water, forested areas, etc.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

ZDNet: Does anyone really know what time it is? Facebook does. “Our technology can’t work worth a darn if the Network Time Protocol (NTP) isn’t keeping our servers and PCs coordinated with one another. Without it, backups would fail, financial transactions would go awry, and many fundamental network services wouldn’t work. To help with these issues, Facebook started making its internet clocks more accurate in 2020. Now, the social media giant is open-sourcing its technology, Time Appliances Project (TAP), and enabling anyone to turn a commodity server into a reliable NTP time appliance.”

BetaNews: Firefox 91 improves its Total Cookie Protection to block more third-party trackers. “Another month, another major Firefox update. This time, Firefox 91 brings with it two major changes of note: improvements to its Total Cookie Protection feature, and support for logging into Microsoft, work and school accounts through Windows single sign-on.”

USEFUL STUFF

Make Tech Easier: 6 Disposable and Throwaway Email Providers You Can Try. “Has your email address become a target for spam and scams? One solution is to create a temporary email address, one that you can use to register, shop, sign up, etc., without worrying about your real, permanent email address getting bombarded with junk. Fortunately, there are plenty of sources for disposable or throwaway email addresses that help you avoid the spam and scams.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

BuzzFeed News: The Cofounder Of The Fact-Checking Site Snopes Was Writing Plagiarized Articles Under A Fake Name. “David Mikkelson, the cofounder of the fact-checking website Snopes, has long presented himself as the arbiter of truth online, a bulwark in the fight against rumors and fake news. But he has been lying to the site’s tens of millions of readers: A BuzzFeed News investigation has found that between 2015 and 2019, Mikkelson wrote and published dozens of articles containing material plagiarized from news outlets such as the Guardian and the LA Times.”

Fast Company: Local food delivery companies say Google devastated their business. “Say you live in Asheville, North Carolina (like I do), and you get a hankering for some of the city’s beloved BBQ. You might start with a Google search, which provides plenty of options. Clicking on a specific BBQ joint brings up a box with handy information such as a star rating, the address, business hours, and phone number. These restaurant listings, which appear in search and Maps, also often include an item called ‘Order,’ with links to big-name delivery services such as DoorDash and Grubhub. What you probably won’t see are local services like Delivery Now or Takeout Central—companies that were delivering meals a decade or more before the national giants were a twinkle in a founder’s eye.

ZDNet: Say hello to the early days of web browsers. “Before Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Edge, there were Mosaic, Cello, and Viola.” A slideshow, but a – well, nostalgic for me. Might be ancient history for you.

SECURITY & LEGAL

Ars Technica: Google allegedly considered buying Epic Games to silence antitrust complaints . “Back in 2018, Google and Epic Games kicked off a years-old spat over Fortnite on the Play Store. Instead of distributing the game through Google Play, Epic decided that sideloading would be the way to get Fortnite on Android, thereby sidestepping Google’s 30 percent cut of sales. Epic would go on to file an antitrust complaint against Google, and newly unsealed court documents spotted by The Verge reveal an interesting solution that Google was kicking around at the time: the company was considering buying Epic.”

Publishers Weekly: Internet Archive Seeking 10 Years of Publisher Sales Data for Its Fair Use Defense. “In an August 9 filing, IA attorneys told the court it is seeking monthly sales data for all books in print by the four plaintiff publishers (Hachette, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Wiley) dating back to 2011. But the publishers, IA lawyers told the court, have balked at the sweeping request reportedly countering that the request is well beyond what the case calls for.”

OTHER STUFF I THINK IS COOL

Man of Many: ‘Nestflix’ is a Massive Fake Netflix for Made-Up Movies and Shows. “Jan Quadrant Vincent 16 is finally coming to streaming platforms…sort of. Web designer Lynn Fischer has just launched ‘Nestflix’, a streaming platform for movies that don’t really exist. The new service showcases fictional or ‘nested’ movies and shows that have appeared or been referenced in real-life media, rounding up the clips of flicks you wish were real.” Good evening, 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!



August 14, 2021 at 05:28AM
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Texas Floods, Medium, TikTok, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, August 13, 2021

Texas Floods, Medium, TikTok, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, August 13, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Texas Water Newsroom: TexasFlood.org provides information on emergency preparation for and recovery from flood events . “The redesign or refresh of our TexasFlood.org website is focused on making it easier to use, easier to understand the information. All Texans don’t have the ability to access information in the same way. And so we want to make it as broadly accessible to everybody in Texas as easily as possible…. We provide real-time estimates of what might be happening for a particular storm. And so you can look that up on a map view to see, okay, you know, storm front’s coming—what are the chances of the extensive flooding in a specific area? We also provide mapping information that shows, just in general, what the risks are.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Medium revamps its Partner Program, launching new eligibility requirements and referral bonuses . “Amid a year of editorial pivots and employee exits, Medium announced today that it will make significant changes to its Medium Partner Program, which allows writers on the platform to monetize their content.”

KnowTechie: TikTok will now stop sending your kids distracting notifications after 9pm. “TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the world, and recently the company has made an effort to make it a safer place for teens and kids. Now, that is expanding even more. Announced this week, the social giant is releasing a handful of features that are intended to keep kids safer on the platform, as well as a new feature that should help minimize their pop-up notifications at night.”

USEFUL STUFF

Lifehacker: Check These Settings Before You Lose Your iPhone so You Can Find It Later. “It sucks when you end up losing your iPhone. Maybe you forgot it at the cafe, or it was stolen from the train station. Fortunately, it can be easy to track your iPhone (as long as it’s juiced up, and active). And if you already have a passcode enabled, the Find My iPhone feature is enabled automatically. Here’s how to find your lost or stolen iPhone.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

PetaPixel: Glass is a Subscription-Based Photo Sharing App for Photographers. “In the light of Instagram’s recent statement that it is no longer a photo-sharing app, a new photography-focused, subscription-based community app has launched to support the art of photography through a distraction-free experience. Fresh out of its private beta, Glass is live in the App Store, but is currently only available to iOS users.”

CNN: Social media and messaging apps appear to be shutdown in Zambia on election day, Facebook says. “Social media and messaging apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter, appeared to be shutdown in Zambia on Thursday as the country voted in presidential and parliamentary elections, according to a Facebook spokesperson.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Motherboard: Google Bans Location Data Firm Funded by Former Saudi Intelligence Head. “Google has banned SafeGraph, a location data firm whose investors include a former head of Saudi intelligence, Motherboard has learned. The ban means that any apps working with SafeGraph had to remove the offending location gathering code from their apps. SafeGraph markets its data to government entities and a wide range of industries, but it also sells the data on the open market to essentially anyone.”

BBC: Google search led to arrest of cleared campaigner. “Police suspected Robert Hutchinson had breached the Computer Misuse Act by downloading board meeting minutes and other documents he found online. Mr Hutchinson says the Leathermarket Community Benefit Society (CBS) documents were publicly accessible. After an investigation, police found no offences had been committed.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Tech Xplore: Teaching AI to see depth in photographs and paintings . “Researchers in SFU’s Computational Photography Lab hope to give computers a visual advantage that we humans take for granted—the ability to see depth in photographs. While humans naturally can determine how close or far objects are from a single point of view, like a photograph or a painting, it’s a challenge for computers—but one they may soon overcome.”

EFF: It’s Time for Google to Resist Geofence Warrants and to Stand Up for Its Affected Users. “Authorities send Google geofence warrants precisely because Google’s devices, operating system, apps, and other products allow it to collect data from millions of users and to catalog these users’ locations, movements, associations, and other private details of their lives. Although Google has sometimes pushed back in court on the breadth of some of these warrants, it has largely acquiesced to law enforcement demands—and the number of geofence warrants law enforcement sends to the company has dramatically increased in recent years. This stands in contrast to documented instances of other companies resisting law enforcement requests for user data on Fourth Amendment grounds.” 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!



August 14, 2021 at 12:19AM
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Friday CoronaBuzz, August 13, 2021: 63 pointers to updates, health information, research news, and more.

Friday CoronaBuzz, August 13, 2021: 63 pointers to updates, health information, research news, and more.
By ResearchBuzz

Please stay safe. Please get vaccinated. Please wear a mask when you’re inside with a bunch of people. Much love.

UPDATES

New York Times: Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’. “At least two hospitals in Houston have been so overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this week that officials erected overflow tents outside. In Austin, hospitals were nearly out of beds in their intensive care units. And in San Antonio, a spike in virus cases reached alarming levels not seen in months, with children as young as 2 months old tethered to supplemental oxygen.”

Nola: COVID deaths surge, cases continue to rise in Louisiana as leaders fear ‘catastrophic situation’. “Hospitalizations, a harbinger of deaths to come, have hit new highs almost daily since Aug. 2, and the state now counts 2,835 inpatients with the coronavirus. Of those, 338 are on ventilators, the most serious level of care, a count not seen since the earliest weeks of the pandemic. The level is especially concerning given that doctors are now turning to ventilator use as a last resort, in contrast to the pandemic’s early days.”

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Broward County hospital admissions lead US, as Florida COVID cases hit another daily high at 24,753. “For the 11th straight day, Florida hospitals set records for the number of COVID patients they are treating, and on Wednesday the state set a new high for daily cases. On Wednesday, Florida hospitals had 15,449 patients a significant jump from just two days earlier when admissions surpassed 14,000 to set a record. The high count reached Wednesday occurred with only 230 of 261 hospitals reporting their COVID patients to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”

Deadline: Los Angeles Experiencing “Alarming Increase” In Covid Hospitalizations, With 8% Of Everyone Infected Now Requiring Admission. “With the bulk of new Covid-19 infections occurring among the unvaccinated, the pace of Los Angeles County residents being hospitalized due to the virus has begun rising at an equivalent rate of new cases, while the rate of people dying is also creeping higher, according to figures released today.”

MISINFORMATION / FACT-CHECKING

Vice News: This Woman Secretly Runs One of the World’s Biggest Anti-Vax Websites From Her House. “OpenVAERS, a site set up in early 2021 to spread vaccine misinformation by misusing federal data, is being operated by Liz Willner, 55, who lives in the wealthy enclave of Piedmont, a community completely surrounded by Oakland, California, according to new research conducted by AI-powered misinformation tracking group Logically, and shared exclusively with VICE News.”

Yahoo News: Yes, Florida hospitals did request hundreds of ventilators for COVID surge. “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Wednesday that it was sending 200 ventilators and 100 nasal breathing machines to Florida, where more than 10,000 people are hospitalized with coronavirus-related illnesses. Asked about the shipment on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that it had not taken place.”

SOCIETAL IMPACT

BBC: Weight Watchers shares dive as people put diets on hold. “Shares in WW International, formerly known as Weight Watchers, have dived 25% after the firm said people were putting diets on hold after lockdown. The weight loss firm, which is backed by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, had 4.9 million subscribers at the end of June, down from 5 million last year.”

University of Utah: How society’s inequalities showed up in COVID outcomes. “Racial minorities comprise around a quarter of Utah’s population but represent a third of COVID-19 cases in the state. A similar story has played out across the country. Why have racial minorities been unequally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Researchers are still working out the answer to this question, but a new study from University of Utah researchers including Daniel Mendoza and Tabitha Benney explores the hypothesis that variation in income and occupational status, on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood scale, may be the reason.”

ACTIVISM / PROTESTS

NBC News: As vaccine mandates spread, protests follow — some spurred by nurses. “A few hundred protesters lined the sidewalk Monday outside Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego to rally against California’s impending vaccination mandates for health care workers. And to the disappointment of many medical professionals, some of the protesters were nurses wearing hospital scrubs. It was the kind of protest that was common earlier in the pandemic but lost steam this year as restrictions eased. But a resurgent coronavirus and sluggish vaccine uptake have led to a push for vaccination mandates and masking rules — and renewed protests.”

HEALTH CARE / HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

The Atlantic: Vaccine Refusers Risk Compassion Fatigue. “Unlike during the pre-vaccine phase of the pandemic, the current upsurge of suffering isn’t one that humanity has to go through. People are choosing it. And intent matters. Intent is the difference between a child who goes hungry because their parent can’t afford dinner and the one who goes hungry because their parent won’t buy them dinner. Having the ability to provide relief but not do so is cruel. To many medical providers working today, the rejection of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines feels like a giant ‘Fuck you’ from 29 percent of American adults. We will keep providing the best care possible, but they are making our job much harder.”

ABC News: As US battles delta variant, tens of thousands of vaccine doses are set to expire. “As the delta variant continues to drive the nation’s latest coronavirus surge, tens of thousands of vaccines are set to expire in the coming weeks — with several states already reporting thousands of ‘wasted’ doses.”

Texas Tribune: Texas children and children’s hospitals are under siege from two viruses: RSV and COVID-19. “More children are being treated in Texas hospitals for COVID-19 than ever before. But there’s a second factor that is putting pediatric hospitals on the path to being overwhelmed: an unseasonable outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, a highly contagious virus that can require hospitalization mostly among children five years and younger and especially infants.”

NBCDFW: No Pediatric ICU Beds Available in North Texas as COVID-19 Cases Surge. “On Thursday, the DFW Hospital Council announced that there are no available pediatric ICU beds in North Texas. There are currently 73 confirmed COVID-19 pediatric patients hospitalized in the trauma service area E. That is the highest level of pediatric COVID-19 patients ever treated.”

CNN: Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging again, but they’re different this time. “Florida and Louisiana are now reporting a record number of Covid-19 hospital admissions, and other states are close. In Mississippi and Arkansas, daily admissions are at more than 87% of their earlier peak, and in Oregon, Alabama and Washington, daily admissions are at more than 75% of their peak. But patients hospitalized with Covid-19 this summer tend to be younger than in earlier surges. And with vaccines widely available, they’re mostly preventable, too.”

INSTITUTIONS

Variety: Gulf Coast Jam, Florida Country Fest Set for Labor Day, Canceled Due to Massive COVID Spikes. “In what many in the music industry fear is a harbinger of things to come, Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, a major country music festival set to go down Labor Day weekend in Florida, has been called off for this year due to record-breaking COVID spikes in the state.”

ABC 7: Coachella, Stagecoach festivals to require fans to show proof of vaccination in order to attend. “The Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals will require fans to show proof of vaccination in order to attend, festival organizers announced Thursday. AEG Presents said it will be requiring proof of vaccination for entry into its owned and operated clubs, theatres and festivals nationwide no later than Oct. 1 — including the Coachella Music & Arts Festival and the country-themed Stagecoach Festival in Indio.”

BUSINESS / CORPORATIONS

Washington Post: 27 people test positive for coronavirus on Carnival cruise ship. “A Carnival Cruise Line ship that left from Galveston, Tex., has 27 coronavirus-positive people on board, according to the Belize Tourism Board. The outbreak is among the highest number of publicly reported cases on a ship sailing from the United States since cruises restarted this summer. According to the statement from Belize tourism officials, 26 of the infected people are crew members and one is a guest. All are vaccinated, and most have either mild or no symptoms.”

ABC News: Demand for air travel flatlines amid delta variant surge. “The first signs are emerging that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is dampening demand for air travel: cancelations are rising, while passenger loads and air fare are on the decline. On Tuesday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 1.7 million people nationwide — the lowest number of passengers in nearly two months.”

WORLD / FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

CNN: HHS will require health care workforce to be vaccinated against Covid-19. “Covid-19 vaccinations will be required for the more than 25,000 health care staff and volunteers working at the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Xavier Becerra announced Thursday.”

NBC News: FDA poised to OK 3rd vaccine dose for immunocompromised people. “The Food and Drug Administration is poised to amend the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and the Moderna Covid-19 vaccines Thursday to allow people with compromised immune systems to get a third dose, according to two sources familiar with the plans.”

CNBC: Sydney seeks to tighten Covid-19 curbs while Australian capital Canberra prepares to lockdown. “Extra Australian military personnel may be called in to ensure compliance with lockdown rules in Sydney, the New South Wales state government said on Thursday, as the highly infectious delta coronavirus variant spreads into regional areas. The move comes as Australia’s capital, Canberra, 260 km (160 miles) southwest of Sydney, announced a snap one-week lockdown from Thursday evening after reporting its first locally acquired case of Covid-19 in more than a year.”

Politico: Round one of child tax credit payments slashed hunger rates, U.S. data shows. “The percentage of American families with kids who report not having enough to eat fell dramatically after the first child tax credit payments were distributed last month, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The government’s finding shows that the monthly payments are having a major and immediate impact on millions of households, potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s push to extend the tax credit past the end of this year, when it is set to expire.”

STATE GOVERNMENT

AP: Tennessee House GOP urges session to curb local COVID powers. “All 73 Tennessee House Republicans signaled their support on Wednesday for a special session to limit the authority of local officials to make rules aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, as lawmakers fumed over mask requirements in a handful of school districts.”

Washington Post: Ron DeSantis’s dumb attempt at smart sanctions. “Ordinarily the hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts tries to focus on U.S. foreign policy and international relations. The politics of federalism are beyond my area of expertise. However, when governors and their press secretaries start talking like foreign policy wonks, it means we have arrived at my punditry comfort zone.”

Texas Tribune: Texas warns Austin restaurants that their liquor licenses could be revoked for requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. “The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has warned two Austin restaurants that they could lose their liquor licenses for requiring their customers to provide proof of at least a first round of COVID-19 vaccinations before they would be served. The two restaurants, Launderette and Fresa’s, were first alerted by the TABC on Wednesday that they were in violation of Senate Bill 968, which passed during this year’s regular legislative session.”

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

New York Times: In Texas, a Quarantine Camp for Migrants With Covid-19. “Amid a ferocious resurgence of coronavirus infections in many parts of the country, some conservative politicians, including the governors of Texas and Florida, have blamed the Biden administration’s failure to halt the influx of migrants for the soaring case numbers. In fact, the massive operation in McAllen and others like it make that extremely unlikely, and public health officials and elected leaders here note that the region was facing rising case numbers even before the recent increase in border crossings.”

Nola: New Orleans to require COVID vaccines or negative tests for bars, Superdome, other venues. “The citywide vaccine mandate, one of the first in the United States, will take effect Monday and enforcement will begin Aug. 23. It comes amid a Louisiana surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations driven by the highly transmissible delta variant and the state’s low vaccination rate.”

INDIVIDUALS / BANDS / GROUPS

Washington Post: Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in company behind covid treatment. “Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday that his wife bought stock in Gilead Sciences — which makes an antiviral drug used to treat covid-19 — on Feb. 26, 2020, before the threat from the coronavirus was fully understood by the public and before it was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The disclosure, in a filing with the Senate, came 16 months after the 45-day reporting deadline set forth in the Stock Act, which is designed to combat insider trading.”

CNBC: Rand Paul’s wife bought shares in Covid treatment maker Gilead in early days of virus, the couple’s only individual stock purchase in years. “Republican Sen. Rand Paul and his wife had not bought or sold stock in an individual company in at least 10 years when Kelley Paul purchased shares of the drug company Gilead Sciences in early 2020. The purchase came early in the novel coronavirus’ initial wave through the United States — and one day after the first U.S. clinical trial began for Gilead’s remdesivir as a treatment for Covid-19, according to records reviewed by CNBC.”

WDSU: ‘I made peace with dying’: New Orleans father tests positive before getting vaccinated, urges others to get a shot. “A New Orleans father tested positive before getting vaccinated and encourages people not to wait to get a shot. Al Grandoit, 47, broke down into tears when he thought about his 10-year-old daughter growing up without her father. The New Orleans resident said for a few weeks, he thought it was going to be a reality after he tested positive for COVID-19.”

SPORTS

For the Win: The Cubs released Jake Arrieta after he told a reporter to take his mask off during press conference. “Arrieta had already opened the season with irresponsible anti-vaccine comments, so it wasn’t exactly surprising to see his thoughts on masks fall into the same realm. But when Arrieta chose to mock a reporter over wearing a mask after allowing 8 runs in four innings on Wednesday, it appeared to be the final straw for the Cubs.”

K-12 EDUCATION

National Education Association: NEA announces support for educator vaccine and testing requirement. “National Education Association President Becky Pringle issued the following statement today announcing NEA’s support for requirements that all educators receive a COVID-19 vaccination or submit to regular COVID-19 testing.”

ABC News: Schools fight back against GOP governors, defy bans on masks. “With the highly contagious delta variant fueling a surge in coronavirus cases just as students return to classrooms, major school districts in Arizona, Florida, Texas and beyond are increasingly defying Republican leaders who banned school mask mandates in several states.”

ProPublica: My Kids’ School Won’t Reinstate Masks Despite a Recent Surge in COVID Cases. Here’s What I Chose to Do.. “Georgia’s Cobb County School District had parents choose between virtual and in-person learning, then lifted its mask mandate. Many families are frantically figuring out how to navigate this reality. ProPublica reporter Nicole Carr is one of them.”

CBS News: 12-year-old writes viral letter asking Florida school board to require masks. “A 12-year-old girl is advocating for other children, urging her Florida school district implement masks in schools. Lila Hartley wrote a letter to the Duval County school board and superintendent last week, saying she is vaccinated, but she is concerned about her 10-year-old brother, who is ineligible at his age.”

The 19th: ‘We need every tool in our toolbox’: COVID-19 Delta surge threatens to overwhelm school nurses. “School nurses spent the past year mitigating in-school coronavirus spread and helping vaccinate staff and students. This year, many say they are burned out – just as COVID-19 cases surge once again.”

Axios: Over 800 physicians call on DeSantis to repeal anti-mask order in schools. “More than 800 physicians signed a letter on Thursday calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to repeal an executive order that prohibits local officials from requiring masks in school. Driving the news: DeSantis is threatening to withhold pay from superintendents and school board members who mandate face masks in schools, even as Florida experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations driven by the Delta variant.”

CNN: A parent sent their child to school after a positive Covid-19 test. More than 80 students may have been exposed, officials say. “More than 80 students were potentially exposed to Covid-19 on the first day of class in Reno, Nevada, on Monday after a parent sent their child to Marce Herz Middle School, despite both the parent and child receiving a positive Covid-19 test just two days earlier, Washoe County Health District officials said.”

Mississippi Free Press: Pearl River High School Quarantines 40% Of Students In First Week, District Going Virtual. “An entire Mississippi school district is going virtual after Pearl River Central High School ordered 40% of its student body to quarantine after just one week of school. Classes began at the Carriere, Miss., school on Aug. 5 with no mask mandates. Since then, the high school has quarantined 394 members of its roughly 1,000-member student body.”

CBS Miami: Four Broward County Educators Lose Battle With COVID-19 In Less Than 24 Hours. “When it comes to picking its victims, COVID-19 does not discriminate. The vicious virus, in less than one day this week, between Tuesday and Wednesday, claimed the lives of three Broward County school teachers and one of its assistant teachers.”

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: 440 students in Palm Beach County in quarantine two days into school year. “Most of the 440 have not tested positive for COVID, but they presumably were exposed to someone with the virus. The school district on Thursday reported only 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the school system — 37 students and 14 employees. Still, the widespread quarantine disturbs parents and disrupts students’ education at a time when teachers say they need to be in class to make up the ground they lost during remote learning in the last school year. Test scores dropped dramatically when students were allowed to learn at home.”

WBTV: 200 children in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 in Gaston County. ” Gaston County officials say there are about 200 children in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days. Officials say this increase in cases among children is proportional to the increase of total cases. Last August, county officials say about 16 percent of their cases were in children and this August the county is at 17 percent.”

HIGHER EDUCATION

Arkansas Tech University: ATU Implementing Mandatory Face Coverings Indoors. “Face coverings will be mandatory inside all Arkansas Tech University buildings effective Thursday, Aug. 12, and continuing until further notice. ATU students, faculty, staff and guests will be required to wear face coverings regardless of their vaccination status when indoors in a congregational setting, including classrooms, meeting rooms, building lobbies and hallways. Faculty and staff members who are alone in their offices and students who are in their residence hall rooms and on-campus apartments will not be required to wear face coverings.”

NBC News: Supreme Court rejects challenge to Indiana University’s vaccination requirement. “The Supreme Court refused Thursday to block Indiana University’s requirement that students be vaccinated against Covid-19 to attend classes in the fall semester. It was the first legal test of a Covid vaccination mandate to come before the justices. A challenge to the policy was directed to Amy Coney Barrett, the justice in charge of that region of the country, who denied it. There were no noted dissents from other justices.”

HEALTH

ABC News: Front-line workers warn of significant increase in pediatric COVID patients. “Since the onset of the pandemic, nearly 4.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, with infection rates growing exponentially in recent weeks. In the last week, 94,000 new pediatric COVID-19 cases were reported, representing 15% of all reported new infections. Similarly, pediatric COVID-19-related hospital admissions are at their highest level since the onset of the pandemic.”

Newswise: Youth, the Pandemic and a Global Mental Health Crisis. “An alarming percentage of children and adolescents are experiencing a global-wide mental crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to a new University of Calgary study published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. The UCalgary study is a meta-analysis, pooling together data from 29 separate studies from around the world, including 80,879 youth globally. The new findings show that depression and anxiety symptoms have doubled in children and adolescents when compared to pre-pandemic times.”

Washington Post: A majority of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in covid hot spots, Post analysis finds. “Two-thirds of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in coronavirus hot spots, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, as outbreaks of the highly transmissible delta variant — once concentrated in poorly vaccinated pockets — ignite in more populated and immunized areas still short of herd immunity. The Post analysis illustrates how rapidly the state of the pandemic changed in July from a problem for the unvaccinated to a nationwide concern.”

Los Angeles Times: Despite obstacles, Native Americans have the nation’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rate. “It’s not just the Fort Belknap reservation that has managed to protect itself. Experts say Native Americans have a higher vaccination rate than any other major racial or ethnic group. Those rates are difficult to determine, because many vaccine recipients do not provide their race or ethnicity when they get shots. But more than 100 million have done so. That data — collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — suggest that Native Americans are 24% more likely than whites to be fully vaccinated, 31% more likely than Latinos, 64% more likely than African Americans and 11% more likely than Asian Americans.”

ABC News: CDC strengthens recommendation that pregnant women get vaccinated. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday announced new evidence that it said strengthens its recommendation that pregnant people get vaccinated.”

NBC News: Higher vaccination rates in Texas and Florida could’ve saved 4,700 lives, study finds. “The study from the Commonwealth Fund, a private health care endowment, was conducted by an international team of epidemiologists and data scientists. The analysis compared the Covid hospitalization and death rates of a group of states like Vermont and Connecticut, which had fully vaccinated roughly 3 in 4 adults on average, with those of Florida and Texas, where roughly 1 in 2 adults are fully vaccinated.”

AP: Extra COVID vaccine OK’d for those with weak immune systems. “U.S. regulators on Thursday said transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to better protect them as the delta variant continues to surge.”

New York Times: Are Delta Symptoms Different?. “Early in the pandemic, we learned about the hallmark signs of infection, which can include loss of taste and smell, fever, cough, shortness of breath and fatigue. But what about now, more than a year later? Have symptoms changed given that the Delta variant is currently the most common form of the virus in the United States? There is little data on this question and much left to untangle.”

TECHNOLOGY

CNET: Delta variant meets ‘my fall plans’: The saddest, most relatable meme. “The coronavirus delta variant is serious stuff. It’s more contagious, causes more hospitalizations, and as of late July, it accounts for about 80% of COVID cases in the US Unsurprisingly, it’s also found its way into memes and jokes, as many people’s best-laid fall plans suddenly take a jolting turn. The variant isn’t funny, but some of these memes sure are.”

RESEARCH

Los Angeles Times: Column: Major study of Ivermectin, the anti-vaccine crowd’s latest COVID drug, finds ‘no effect whatsoever’. “Ivermectin, the latest supposed treatment for COVID-19 being touted by anti-vaccination groups, had ‘no effect whatsoever’ on the disease, according to a large patient study. That’s the conclusion of the Together Trial, which has subjected several purported nonvaccine treatments for COVID-19 to carefully designed clinical testing. The trial is supervised by McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and conducted in Brazil.”

Haaretz: U.S. Jews Are Most Pro-vaccine Religious Group in America, Poll Finds. “The poll, conducted in June 2021, found that 85 percent of Jewish Americans are likely to be vaccine acceptors. However, while all other religious groups surveyed saw at least a 10-point growth in likelihood of acceptance rates since March, the rate among Jews has generally stayed the same.”

Phys .org: Large number of Americans reported financial anxiety and stress even before the pandemic. “A substantial number of adults in the United States between the ages of 21 and 62 felt anxiety and stress about their personal finances well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published today. Researchers found that financial stress and anxiety are highly linked to low levels of financial literacy, problematic financial behaviors and decreased financial security.”

OUTBREAKS

KDVR: 12 COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths in outbreak at Nissan of Durango. “At least 12 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at Nissan of Durango, including three people who died. San Juan Basin Public Health said a fourth person died after contracting COVID-19, but the case did not meet the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s case definition to be added to the outbreak list. All four people who died were unvaccinated and ranged in age from 40s to 60s.”

CRIME / SECURITY / LEGAL

Newswise: Crowding in Prisons Increases Inmates’ Risk for COVID-19 Infections. “Crowding in prisons dramatically increases the risk for COVID-19 infections among inmates, according to a new study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The authors of the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, argue that policy changes are necessary to protect the vulnerable population of incarcerated men and women.”

NBC News: Prison suicides have been rising for years. Experts fear the pandemic has made it worse.. “Nationwide, prison suicides have been increasing for years, and some experts worry worsening conditions and staff shortages brought on by the pandemic may accelerate that rise. Delays in data reporting, though, make it difficult to tell: The most recent national figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed an 85 perccent increase in state and federal prison suicides from 2001 to 2018, but 2020 data won’t come out until next year.”

Los Angeles Times: LAPD officers are supposed to wear masks. They keep getting caught without them. “With coronavirus cases once again rising across Los Angeles and within the ranks of the city’s police, LAPD officers have been ordered to wear face masks ‘whenever in public or in the workplace.’ More than a few cops, however, are ignoring the directive — and getting caught.”

KSAT: Judge delivers blow to Texas Gov. Abbott’s ban on mandates, allows San Antonio to require masks in schools. “San Antonio leaders scored a victory in court against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday in the ongoing fight over mask mandates. A Bexar County Civil District Court Judge granted the city and Bexar County’s request for a temporary restraining order against Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates in schools.”

NBC News: Parent attacks teacher after mask dispute on first day of school in California district, official says. “A parent attacked a teacher following a mask dispute on the first day of school, a California superintendent said. The incident occurred about an hour after the first day ended at Sutter Creek Elementary School in Amador County, NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento reported.”

POLITICS

CNN: A tale of two Kentuckians: Paul and McConnell diverge as Covid cases rise. “Sen. Rand Paul just got temporarily kicked off YouTube for an inaccurate tirade against masks. Sen. Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, has been airing ads that urge people to go out and get the vaccine. The two Kentucky Republicans now perfectly exemplify the national divide over how to handle a deadly virus that is still ravaging the country — and they couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.”

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August 13, 2021 at 06:38PM
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100 Days of Dante, 2020 Census, Twitter Redesign, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, August 13, 2021

100 Days of Dante, 2020 Census, Twitter Redesign, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, August 13, 2021
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Aleteia: Take a trip through hell, purgatory and heaven with 100 Days of Dante. “100 Days of Dante is a new website through which modern seekers and pilgrims can follow the great epic poem with free video presentations three times a week. The journey begins on September 14, the date of Dante’s death in 1321, and concludes on Easter 2022. The three books of the Divine Comedy, known in Italian as Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, are divided into 33 chapters known as cantos. Each video will present one canto, with commentary on it from leading experts in Dante studies.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNET: US releases 2020 census data, revealing increase in diversity. “Key findings include a dramatic jump in the number of respondents who identified as multiracial, which surged from 9 million in 2010 to 33.8 million in 2020, an increase of 276%. The number of respondents identifying solely as white decreased by 8.8% over that same span, but that still represents the majority of Americans, at 204.3 million people, or 235.4 million when you add in respondents who identified as white in addition to another race or races. The total population of the US is now about 332.6 million, according to the Census Bureau’s population clock.”

Mashable: Twitter’s ‘follow’ button redesign is causing lots of confusion and unfollows. “In short: the ‘Following’ button is the same color of the apps background, which looks just like how “Follow” button used to look. That means lots of folks have now accidentally unfollowed people they already followed. It’s sort of a muscle-memory mistake because things look different at first glance.”

The Register: Thunderbird 91 lands: Now native on Apple Silicon, swaps ‘master’ for ‘primary’ password, and more. “Mozilla’s Thunderbird is a cross-platform, open-source email client. Its future looked uncertain in 2015 when Moz CEO Mitchell Baker said ‘sooner or later paying a tax to support Thunderbird will not make sense as a policy for Mozilla.’ Early last year, though, matters improved, with the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary, MZLA Technologies Corporation, to manage the project.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The Upcoming: Federico Fellini museum to open this month in Emilia-Romagna’s Rimini. “The seaside city of Rimini, in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, is welcoming a brand-new museum dedicated to Federico Fellini this month, allowing for an aftermath of last year’s centennial of the acclaimed Italian film director and screenwriter. The Federico Fellini International Museum is scheduled to open on 19th August, becoming the world’s largest museum devoted to the life and work of Fellini and his poetic heritage. It features drawings, costumes, exhibitions, film screenings, scenographic elements and multimedia presentations, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Fellini, who is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century.”

Indy Week: Her Take: Talking With North Carolina Hip-Hop Blogger Nancia Odom. “It has now been a year since this hip-hop column debuted. I have enjoyed every minute of my experience documenting hip-hop in the Triangle area, but I am not the first to do so…. Highpoint native Nancia Odom, a registered nurse by trade who now leads teams in support of clinical software, launched [her blog] in 2008. The blog made her one of the first people to document hip-hop in North Carolina, and the site is still active.”

TechCrunch: Felt raised $4.5 million to get you to ‘think in maps’. “Felt is a collaborative software company that wants to make it easier for people to build maps on the internet. It announced today that it has raised $4.5 million led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Designer Fund, Allison Pickens, Akshay Kothari (COO of Notion), Dylan Field (CEO of Figma) John Lily (former CEO of Firefox), Julia and Kevin Hartz, and Keval Desai.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

WRAL: NC town accused of hiding discriminatory billing by burying thousands of records in a field. “Some town leaders are suing the town, accusing them of burying the documents to hide a history of racially discriminatory billing practices. Whether or not the town is hiding a dark past, the buried documents pose a security risk, with personal information and even social security numbers clearly visible on the unearthed paper.”

CNN: Twitter blocks Indian opposition accounts for revealing identity of child allegedly raped and murdered. “The girl was a member of the Dalit community, the most oppressed group in India’s Hindu system of caste hierarchy. Four men have been arrested, though they have not yet been charged. The incident prompted a judicial inquiry and sparked days of protests from outraged villagers and activists who think Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not done enough to address longstanding sexual assault problems.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Search Engine Journal: Web Accessibility for the Human Experience: When We Can Help. “If you were talked into buying an accessibility automatic AI product by today’s version of a vacuum cleaner salesperson selling pink colored Kirby’s, you are making assumptions about the needs of persons with disabilities. The pushback by accessibility advocates and persons who find themselves facing interference by unwanted accessibility tools is intense and justified. The claim that one line of JavaScript inserted into a web page automatically fixes all accessibility issues and prevents an ADA lawsuit has been proven to be false.”

Harvard Gazette: How the government can support a free press and cut disinformation. “In a new book, ‘Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of Speech’ (Oxford University Press, 2021), Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard Law School, says the First Amendment not only does not preclude the federal government from protecting a free press in jeopardy, it requires that it do so. Minow spoke with the Gazette about some of the ways to potentially clean up social media and bankroll local news, and why arguing on Twitter isn’t a First Amendment right.”

NiemanLab: “No, nothing will be fine” — but could these misinformation games help at least a little?. “In the span of a decade, we’ve gone from a model where most people accessed information through trusted intermediaries, such as newspapers or the evening news, to now getting it through social media, he said. But that world is structured so that inaccurate information can become popular very easily and then ranking algorithms boost it even further. And platforms are constantly changing the rules and tweaking their secret algorithms, said [Professor Filippo] Menczer.” Good morning, Internet…

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August 13, 2021 at 05:39PM
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