New researches

Friday, April 8, 2022

Dropbox Shop, Google Lens, Twitter, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, April 8, 2022

Dropbox Shop, Google Lens, Twitter, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, April 8, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Dropbox Shop launches in open beta to allow creators to sell digital content. “Dropbox Shop, a platform that allows creators to sell digital content directly to their customers, is now available in open beta, Dropbox announced on Tuesday. The company is also introducing new updates to the platform and adding tipping capabilities. You can now also customize your storefront and URLs and embed HTML codes.”

UPI: Google Lens to roll out multi-search feature on iOS and Android. “Google Lens is rolling out a multi-search feature to search for words and images combined in the Google app on iOS and Android. On Thursday, the company launched a U.S.-only beta for the multi-search feature using artificial intelligence that it previewed last September at its Search On event.”

Engadget: Twitter test lets you ‘unmention’ yourself in tweets. “Twitter might not have an edit button just yet, but it’s still delivering at least one useful feature this week. The social network is now rolling out a previously hinted-at ‘Unmention’ feature that lets you remove yourself from a conversation.”

USEFUL STUFF

Hongkiat: Best Tools to Convert HEIC to JPG . “Currently, Android and Windows users have two options to view HEIC pictures. They may either install HEIC image reader tools or convert HEIC pictures to a common and widely used image format such as JPG. Once the HEIC images are converted to JPG format, they can easily be viewed on Android, Windows, or any other platform. Before jumping into the list of best tools to convert HEIC image format to JPG, let’s first define what HEIC image format is.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Boing Boing: Watch the beauty of Reddit’s r/place. “Through community coordination and unbridled creativity, some of Reddit’s most passionate fandoms and subcultures started to emblazon their logos and art on the canvas. Since space was limited on the canvas, communities had to battle others to control the area they chose to draw on. The end result was a beautiful tapestry of pixel art that captured the beauty of having a community online.” I have been accidentally picking up a lot of /r/place posts via my IFTTT recipes, but I don’t mind — they’re interesting and the posts I’m getting as the project winds down are mostly rather sentimental.

CNET: Antiwordle Turns Wordle Around, Rewards You for Guessing Wrong. “Antiwordle sounds mind-boggling until you actually play it. It looks a lot like classic Wordle, the daily word-guessing game that’s swept the internet. But the idea is to not guess the right word so you make as many attempts as possible while avoiding the correct answer. There are rules in place that make the goal challenging.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Motherboard: Police Records Show Women Are Being Stalked With Apple AirTags Across the Country. “Attach an AirTag to your purse, keys, wallet, or even your car, and if you lose it, the device will ping every nearby Apple product with Bluetooth turned on to triangulate its location. Those devices send its location back to you on a map, showing where the AirTag has been and its current location. Police records reviewed by Motherboard show that, as security experts immediately predicted when the product launched, this technology has been used as a tool to stalk and harass women.”

Protocol: Google bans popular Android apps that were secretly harvesting data. “Google has booted dozens of Android apps from the Google Play store after finding the apps included a line of code that was discreetly harvesting user data. According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the now-banned apps were Muslim prayer apps downloaded more than 10 million times. A popular highway speed trap detection app and a QR-code-reading app were also found to include the data-scraping code.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

AgriLife Today: New veterinary app, website to track disease symptoms. “With the touch of a smartphone button, veterinarians will be able to check online to determine if what they see in the field is unique to their area or part of a greater pattern, thanks to a new veterinary app and website created by a group of Texas A&M AgriLife faculty.” This is a project limited to a three-state area (New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas.

Washington Post: Internet ‘algospeak’ is changing our language in real time, from ‘nip nops’ to ‘le dollar bean’. “Algospeak refers to code words or turns of phrase users have adopted in an effort to create a brand-safe lexicon that will avoid getting their posts removed or down-ranked by content moderation systems. For instance, in many online videos, it’s common to say ‘unalive’ rather than ‘dead,’ ‘SA’ instead of ‘sexual assault,’ or ‘spicy eggplant’ instead of ‘vibrator.'”

WBTV: North Carolina named most social media obsessed state in the U.S.. “The study analyzed the number of Google searches for social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter in each state to see which ones had the most searches per month for every 1,000 people. It found that North Carolina was the most social media obsessed state, with over 9-million social media searches per month. When measured against the state’s population this results in an average of 867.87 social media related searches for every 1,000 people.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Vox: One Good Thing: An unsolicited dik-dik pic . “Few experiences are more jarring than opening your phone to find an image of genitalia that you didn’t request — an unsolicited dick pic. Such an occurrence is diametrically opposite, I’d argue, to getting an unsolicited dik-dik pic. Dik-diks are tiny antelopes that are no larger than an overfed house cat.” Good evening, Internet…

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April 9, 2022 at 05:07AM
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Cultural Heritage, Information Warfare, Memes, More: Ukraine Update, April 8, 2022

Cultural Heritage, Information Warfare, Memes, More: Ukraine Update, April 8, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

EVENTS

MIT Sloan: In Russia-Ukraine war, social media stokes ingenuity, disinformation. “The war has taken a vast human toll, with the United Nations estimating more than 1,400 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 4 million people have fled the country as of April 2. It is also taking place in a world where social media is ubiquitous, video and images can be quickly uploaded and shared worldwide, and both sides are using social media to rally support and spread information and disinformation. At the Social Media Summit @ MIT on March 31, a panel of experts discussed how the war is playing out, and even being shaped by, social media platforms.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

C4ISRNet: Intelligence agencies accelerate use of commercial space imagery to support Ukraine. “Since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, space imagery, remote sensing and communications satellites have been informing the public and helping keep Ukrainian forces and civilians connected. Because of its partnerships with commercial industry, the U.S intelligence community was positioned to quickly leverage those capabilities to increase its own support in the region, accelerating several in-the-works acquisition efforts and increasing the capacity of planned procurements.”

Ars Technica: Apple defies Russian government, restores opposition voting app. “Apple has restored an app sponsored by Alexei Navalny, a prominent leader of Russia’s political opposition, to the company’s Russian app store. Apple took down the app last September, days before Russia’s legislative elections, under pressure from the Russian government.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Washington Post: What’s so funny about a Russian invasion?. “Since the Kremlin’s attack began in February, Ukraine’s official Twitter account, @Ukraine, has been poking fun at the invader, even as it highlights the brutalities Russia is inflicting upon the country. Why? Wars are ugly and certainly no laughing matter. But Ukraine’s approach isn’t new. According to a 2017 NATO strategic communications study, Ukraine has used memes, caricatures, parodies and satirical TV shows as buffers against the Kremlin’s propaganda since the annexation of Crimea. The post-invasion tweets are a continuation of that counter-propaganda campaign.”

Washington Post: Russian influencers cut up Chanel handbags, claiming ‘Russophobia’. “Russian influencers are cutting up their Chanel handbags on social media in angry protest over restrictions imposed by the luxury French fashion label that mean they can no longer buy its products abroad.”

Boston Globe: As the war unfolds, this Boston Public Library curator is helping preserve Ukraine’s cultural treasures. “Deliberately destroying cultural heritage sites or property is much more than collateral damage: It constitutes a war crime. ‘Erasing people’s identity, you’re able to control them further, and to control the narrative,’ said Kristin Parker, Boston Public Library’s lead curator and manager of the arts. ‘In times of war, it’s a tactic.’ Parker is a lead trainer in an international volunteer network of what she calls ‘cultural heritage first responders’ organized by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative.”

Independent: Speaking of history: Soviet-era film archive helps Ukrainians find hope and sense of identity in wartime. “There have been no film screenings in Ukraine for more than six weeks now, at least not above ground. However, at the request of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, Ukraine’s biggest film archive has screened a series of Soviet-films in metro stations in cities from Kyiv to Kharkiv, where residents have sought refuge while Russian bombs rain down from above. The showings are one element of the Ukrainian resistance against Vladimir Putin’s war, which has seen regular civilians stealing tanks, making Molotov cocktails, and confronting soldiers.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: U.S. Says It Secretly Removed Malware Worldwide, Pre-empting Russian Cyberattacks. “The United States said on Wednesday that it had secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world in recent weeks, a step to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks and send a message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.”

Washington Post: Finland seizes Russian artwork worth $46 million under sanctions. “Finnish Customs has seized artwork en route to Russia as part of sanctions imposed by the European Union. The paintings, sculptures and antiquities are worth 42 million euros ($46 million), the agency said.”

CNET: Meta: Attacks ‘Intensifying Sharply’ Since Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine . “Facebook parent company Meta says attacks on internet freedom and access to information have been ‘intensifying sharply’ since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the first three months of the year, the social media giant also saw a rise in domestic threats, such as people hacking the accounts of other people in their country, running disinformation campaigns or filing false reports to silence critics.”

New York Times: Facial Recognition Goes to War. “Services that put a name to a face, including Clearview AI, are being used to identify Russian soldiers, living or dead, and to verify that travelers in Ukraine are who they claim.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Small Wars Journal: Russia’s Floundering False-Flag Narrative. “Given the resounding unified international condemnation—to say nothing of Russia’s mass protest demonstrators, numbering in the thousands–and with no major super-global power supporting Russia at the moment, it appears its false-flag narrative has floundered. This essay reflects on some of the Kremlin’s current blunders to date in setting conditions in the information environment for a successful false-flag narrative that should have preceded its false-flag operation. These blunders should caution U.S. defense planners that those who ignore the impact of a hyperconnected global information environment on modern conflict do so at great peril.”

April 8, 2022 at 06:09PM
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Thursday, April 7, 2022

CANNabinoid Drug Interaction Review, Car Dealer Markups, Maryland Mental Health Services, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, April 7, 2022

CANNabinoid Drug Interaction Review, Car Dealer Markups, Maryland Mental Health Services, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, April 7, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

PennState: New app shows how cannabinoids could interact with other medications. “CANNabinoid Drug Interaction Review (CANN-DIR) is a free web-based resource that evaluates cannabinoid products such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD or a combination of both (THC and CBD) in a single product against a database of common over-the-counter and prescription medications…. Users select the cannabinoid product a patient is taking and then choose other medications they are using. CANN-DIR then provides information about how the THC and/or CBD product could potentially affect the metabolism, or breakdown, of the other selected medications.”

Ars Technica: Dealership markups are getting crazy, so this site is tracking them. “In the US, the vast majority of car buyers are not accustomed to ordering vehicles from an OEM through a dealership, instead preferring the convenience of taking a car home ‘from the lot’ that day. But as inventory has evaporated, US dealerships have reacted by adding additional dealer markups, or ADMs, to their stock, often to the tune of many thousands of dollars. One estimate of the value of the markups came to $3.6 billion…. Now, a new site… is crowdsourcing data on ADMs around the country to better arm car buyers with the information they need to avoid being fleeced.”

WJZ: Maryland Has A New Database To Find Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services. “The Maryland Department of Health and 211 Maryland on Thursday announced the launch of a new database that improves access for residents looking for mental health or substance abuse disorder resources.”

State of Delaware: DHSS Launches Site Comparing Health Care Costs for Select Episodes of Care, Services Based on Delaware Medical Claims “The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) has launched a new website called CostAware to help Delawareans understand how their health care dollars are spent by comparing the variation of average costs for different episodes of care and medical services based on actual medical claims in Delaware.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

State Archives of North Carolina: More Search Room County Record Microfilm Added to Discover Online Catalog (DOC). “We are excited to announce that 19 additional counties of Search Room microfilm have been added to our online searchable database, Discover Online Catalog (DOC)! The completed counties are Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Cleveland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Henderson, Hertford, Hoke, and Greene.” North Carolina has 100 counties currently as well as a number of defunct entities, so this is very much a work in progress.

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

University of North Carolina: Comedian Lewis Black donates archive to UNC-Chapel Hill University Libraries. “Black, who has won Grammy Awards for his comedy albums and has written three best-selling books, recently donated his plays, television pilot scripts, and materials from his comedy career to the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They will be part of the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Seattle Times: Did you receive a text message from yourself? You’re not alone.. “Consumers have struggled with cellphone spam for years, primarily in the form of robocalls with scammers incessantly ringing to leave fraudulent messages about late payments for student loans, audits by the Internal Revenue Service and expired car warranties. Only recently has mobile phone fraud shifted more toward texting, experts said. Spam texts from all sorts of phone numbers — and not just your own — are on the rise. In March, 11.6 billion scam messages were sent on American wireless networks, up 30% from February.”

Motherboard: The Alleged Scammers Behind the Most Notorious Murder-for-Hire Site Have Been Arrested . “Police in Romania have arrested the alleged operators of a scam dark web murder-for-hire site where an unsettling number of people on the ‘kill list’ have wound up dead.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Conversation: Farmers are finding a new following on social media – our research suggests it could help with isolation. “In the wake of a chaotic Brexit and an ongoing pandemic, farmers in the UK are experiencing high levels of isolation and loneliness. A poll in Farmers Guardian found that 94% of UK farmers felt this isolation was harming their mental health. In research funded by the British Academy, we looked at how farmers engage with social media to understand whether it can help overcome isolation. To do this, we analysed 5,000 tweets by farmers and interviewed 25 farmers who use social media.”

Cities Today: The rise of the data steward. “As data use and collaboration become more advanced, there is a need for a new profession within the public and private sectors, says Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer at New York University’s The GovLab. He calls this role the ‘data steward’ and is also seeking to expand existing definitions of the term.” Good afternoon, Internet…

April 8, 2022 at 03:26AM
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Science Near Me, Land Use Finance Impact Hub, Bosnian War, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, April 7, 2022

Science Near Me, Land Use Finance Impact Hub, Bosnian War, More: Thursday ResearchBuzz, April 7, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

From January, but too good to ignore. Discovery Magazine: Introducing Science Near Me, Your Place to Find Accessible, Engaging Science Experiences. “Together, we’re going to explore all the ways people around the U.S. can find and get involved with science. On this blog, and the new Science Near Me companion website (currently in beta), you’ll find opportunities to engage with science content, activities, events and programs in your community, whether that’s visiting a new exhibit at your local museum, planning a night out with friends at an Astronomy on Tap event, or participating in a national science policy forum.”

UN Environment Programme: UNEP Launches New Sustainable Land Use Finance Impact Directory. “The Land Use Finance Impact Hub and its Positive Impact Indicators Directory – launched today by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Climate Finance Unit and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) – has been developed with and for impact funds and sustainably focused financial institutions, and aims to support the rollout of effective industry frameworks to track the environmental and social impacts of land-use investments.”

Balkan Transitional Justice: BIRN Presents Database as Tool to Educate and Counter Revisionism. “[Balkan Investigative Reporting Network]’s new database of adjudicated facts on the 1992-5 war in Bosnia is designed as an educational tool that will also counter revisionist narratives and genocide denial.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Google is adding a privacy settings walkthrough to Chrome. “Google is adding a new ‘step-by-step guided tour’ of privacy and security settings in Chrome to sift through the many available controls, the company announced Wednesday. The new guide will include separate pages about some settings, each containing descriptions of what happens when a feature is turned on.”

Globe Newswire: Indigenous Watchdog launches new website (PRESS RELEASE). “The site has expanded considerably beyond the Truth and Reconciliation 94 Calls to Action with new content in Suicide Prevention, Drinking Water Advisories, Housing, Food Insecurity, Environment, Urban Commitments to Reconciliation and Treaties and Land Claims. Add the 1500+ embedded links to primary source data and Indigenous Watchdog delivers a one-stop site with a wealth of information: white papers, articles, reports, statistics, budgets, press releases, media reports – including detailed recommendations and solutions.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

TechCrunch: Twitter is wiping embeds of deleted tweets from the web. “Previously, a deleted tweet embedded in a web page would still display the text content of a tweet. Now that text is gone, showing only a blank box. Twitter is altering web pages with deleted embedded tweets by hiding the text with JavaScript — a choice that has many developers and open web advocates up in arms.”

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco gardeners use TikTok to share unconventional planting methods. “Call them guerrilla gardeners, ‘petal-punks’ or TikTok horticulturists. Phoenix and Shalaco McGee of SF in Bloom are sowing native wildflower seeds in neglected plots of land and sharing their blooming adventures on social media. The San Francisco pair’s informational gardening videos and unconventional planting techniques have garnered more than 200,000 followers and 5 million likes on TikTok. The McGees take to San Francisco streets, spreading native, non-invasive wildflower seeds with pink, plastic guns and Parmesan cheese shakers.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Washington Post: Elon Musk delayed filing a form and made $156 million . “Elon Musk was eleven days late in publicly declaring he had amassed a large stake in Twitter. That omission may have earned him $156 million, according to a half dozen legal and securities experts. That’s because of a 50-year-old law that requires investors notify the Securities and Exchange Commission when they surpass a 5 percent stake in a company. Musk reached that benchmark on March 14, according to the filings. But he only made his public disclosure on Monday.”

Law.com: 5th Circuit Raises Bar for Introducing Historical Snapshots of Websites Into Evidence | National Law Journal. “In Weinhoffer v. Davie Shoring, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit addressed the novel issue of when district courts can properly take judicial notice of contract terms evidenced only by a ‘snapshot’ of a web page from a web archive such as the Internet Archive’s ‘Wayback Machine.’ The case, decided in January, arose from an online auction conducted in connection with a bankruptcy liquidation proceeding.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Guardian: US zoo fears teen gorilla’s exposure to phones is behind anti-social behavior. “Amare, a 415-pound gorilla at Chicago’s Lincoln Park zoo, has been staring a little too frequently at the screens of cellphones from visitors who show him pictures and videos through the glass wall – including selfies, family photos, pet videos and even footage of Amare himself. He has apparently become so distracted as a result that last week, when another teenage gorilla rushed at him in a show of aggression, Amare did not appear to notice.”

Grist: The little-known open-source community behind the government’s new environmental justice tool. “In February, the White House published a beta version of its new environmental justice screening tool, a pivotal step toward achieving the administration’s climate and equity goals…. But this new screening tool is not only essential to environmental justice goals. It’s also a pioneering experiment in open governance. Since last May, the software development for the tool has been open source, meaning it was in the public domain — even while it was a work in progress.”

New York Times: Meet DALL-E, the A.I. That Draws Anything at Your Command. “At OpenAI, one of the world’s most ambitious artificial intelligence labs, researchers are building technology that lets you create digital images simply by describing what you want to see.” Good morning, Internet…

April 7, 2022 at 05:28PM
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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Refugees in British Columbia, Starlink Terminals, Elena Bunina, More: Ukraine Update, April 6, 2022

Refugees in British Columbia, Starlink Terminals, Elena Bunina, More: Ukraine Update, April 6, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Global News (Canada): New website to help Ukrainians in B.C.. “On the website, Ukrainians can access free services such as assistance in finding housing, signing up for health-care coverage, job postings, signing children up for school and learning about other community services. British Columbians can sign up to volunteer to house refugees, offer employment, or donate to the cause as well.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

USAID: USAID Safeguards Internet Access In Ukraine Through Public-private-partnership With SpaceX. “The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has delivered 5,000 Starlink Terminals to the Government of Ukraine through a public-private partnership with the American aerospace manufacturer, SpaceX. The Starlink satellite terminals will enable unlimited, unthrottled data connectivity from anywhere in Ukraine.”

Times of Israel: Report: Jewish CEO of ‘Russia’s Google’ leaves country for Israel over war. “Elena Bunina, a Russian-Jew who in recent years headed top Russian tech company Yandex, has stepped down as the firm’s CEO and has moved to Israel due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to media reports.”

Bloomberg: Twitter restricts Russian accounts, bars prisoner-of-war content. “Twitter Inc will stop amplifying Russian government accounts and ask other government-affiliated media to remove posts featuring prisoners of war, it said in a blog post on Tuesday (April 5) that cited international humanitarian law. It’s the latest example of how social media platforms are attempting to strike a balance that honours freedom of expression amid a flood of harrowing and often manipulative images and accounts being shared from the front line of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Bleeping Computer: Intel shuts down all business operations in Russia. “US chipmaker Intel announced Tuesday night that it had suspended all business operations in Russia, joining tech other companies who pulled out of the country due to the invasion of Ukraine. Intel had already suspended all shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus last month after the US government issued sweeping sanctions that prevented the export of technology to the countries.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Coda Story: How to document war crimes in the digital age. “OSINT has been crucial for documenting atrocities in Syria and Yemen, but it has its limitations. In many cases, the person who shot a video either can’t be identified or can’t be found, so they can’t be called to testify in court. When videos are uploaded to social media, crucial metadata that often accompanies video files — like the time and precise geographical location where a video was shot — are either obfuscated or can’t be trusted, making those videos harder to authenticate. Anything that makes OSINT evidence easier to dispute can allow Russia to manipulate narratives in its favor.”

Vanity Fair: Russia Denied A Massacre. News Outlets Had Satellite Images To Prove They Did It.. “Using satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts, news outlets are rebutting Russia’s claims that the civilian massacre in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and other recently liberated areas around Kyiv, happened after Russian forces had already left the towns. More than 400 civilian bodies have been discovered since Russian troops withdrew from the area, according to Ukrainian officials—atrocities Moscow has refused to take responsibility for.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

openDemocracy: Belarus is locking up Wikipedia editors over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Over the past month, the authorities have detained two Wikipedia editors in the country. The reason for their arrest appears to be editing articles about the Russian invasion, as well as editing articles about Lukashenka and Belarusian opposition politicians. Mediazona, a media outlet that focuses on the law and justice system in Belarus, Russia and Central Asia, has reported on the two editors, who made 300,000 edits between them and are now behind bars for their voluntary work.”

Associated Press: US charges Russian oligarch, dismantles cybercrime operation. “The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it had charged a Russian oligarch with sanctions violations and that officials have dismantled a cybercrime operation controlled by a Russian military intelligence agency.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Atlantic: Who’s Behind #IStandWithPutin?. “The fact that we don’t see information warfare doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, and it doesn’t mean we’ve won. It might just mean that ours is not the battleground on which it’s being fought.”

New York Times: Hackers’ Fake Claims of Ukrainian Surrender Aren’t Fooling Anyone. So What’s Their Goal?. “Since Russia’s invasion began in late February, hackers have repeatedly broken into the social media accounts and broadcasting systems of trusted information sources in Ukraine, like government officials and prominent media outlets. They used their access to spread false messages that Ukraine was surrendering, sometimes using fake videos to bolster their claims. And while there is no evidence that the misinformation campaign has had any discernible effect on the conflict, experts say the hackers’ intentions might not be to actually trick anyone.”

ADL: Unmasking ‘Clandestine,’ the Figure Behind the Viral “Ukrainian Biolab” Conspiracy Theory. “The ADL Center on Extremism has, with a high degree of confidence, identified ‘Clandestine,’ the man behind the viral biolab conspiracy theory, as Jacob Creech, a self-described former restaurant manager and Army National Guard veteran living in rural Virginia. The discovery highlights how a fringe QAnon figure, harnessing the power of social media, sparked a viral conspiracy theory that – in just a few weeks – made its way from QAnon to the world stage, amplified by Tucker Carlson, white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Vincent James, members of the Proud Boys, and Steve Bannon – and even the Kremlin.”

April 7, 2022 at 02:25AM
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Digital Arabic Lexicon, TikTok, Google Maps, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, April 6, 2022

Digital Arabic Lexicon, TikTok, Google Maps, More: Wednesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, April 6, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Bahrain News Agency: Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre launches Digital Arabic Lexicon Website . “The website features the most common Arabic expressions as per digital Arabic blogs, boasting an innovative design including advanced features and illustrations that go with each term, audio features to learn correct pronunciations, and other options to clarify ideas and provide detailed explanations for non-Arabic speakers.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Biden group launches TikTok account to boost the president’s agenda. “The Biden-affiliated nonprofit group Building Back Together plans to launch its own TikTok account on Wednesday as part of the group’s latest effort to engage young people with the president’s agenda ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.”

Tom’s Guide: Google Maps is about to get even better — especially if you use iPhone. “Nothing is ever final at Google Maps, and no matter how many new features or improvements come to the app there are always more around the corner. A few more upgrades are on the way, including new mobile design and iOS-exclusive features for those of you rocking an Apple phone.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

The Guardian: From grief to paw prints, people share Ireland census ‘time capsule’ messages. “Some were funny, some were angry, some were utterly heartbreaking and all were written in the same blank space of Ireland’s census form, a ‘time capsule’ section. In what Ireland’s Central Statistics Office says is a world first, the official census left a blank space for people to leave messages for future generations. The voluntary section of the 27-page form is to be made public in 100 years but many people have shared their messages on social media.”

Travel+Leisure: This Airline Made for Social Media Influencers Is Taking Creators to Coachella — How to Snag a Ticket. “It’s all about the likes for this new airline, which is designed to fly social media influencers to the most Instagram-friendly events throughout the country. Willa Air — which was launched by Willa, a payment platform for freelancers — is offering influencers free tickets on a private jet along with enviable perks for those who apply. And its inaugural flight is to — appropriately — Coachella.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

SecurityWeek: Google Doubles Rewards for Nest and Fitbit Vulnerabilities. “Google on Tuesday announced that security researchers submitting eligible Google Nest and Fitbit vulnerability reports through its bug bounty program can now receive double the usual bounty payouts.”

Reuters: German consumer group files legal complaint against Google over cookie banners. “A German consumer office has submitted a legal complaint against Google over its use of cookie banners, which the office argues are designed in a way that violates data protection rules.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Bloomberg: Google Paper Cites Research at Center of Its Staff Firestorm. “Google in 2020 and 2021 dismissed the two co-heads of its artificial intelligence ethics team in a dispute over research that was critical of the company’s work. Now, Google Research has published another paper on the same topic that cites the original work that led to the removal of the two leaders, Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell.”

EFF: Google Fights Dragnet Warrant for Users’ Search Histories Overseas While Continuing to Give Data to Police in the U.S.. “Keyword search orders are becoming increasingly common in the U.S.—but Google seemingly hasn’t fought nearly as hard to protect the privacy of its U.S. users. We aren’t aware of any cases in which Google has pushed back against keyword search warrants in the U.S. In fact, we have no idea how many keyword warrants Google receives or how it responds to them at all, because Google has kept that information entirely secret.” Good afternoon, Internet…

April 7, 2022 at 12:41AM
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ASPCA History, Museum of Popular Culture, Jonathan Daniels, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, April 6, 2022

ASPCA History, Museum of Popular Culture, Jonathan Daniels, More: Wednesday ResearchBuzz, April 6, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

PR Newswire: ASPCA Collaborates with the NC State University Libraries to Digitize Over 150,000 Pages of Historical Animal Welfare Archival Material (PRESS RELEASE). “Today, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) and the NC State University Libraries announced the completion of a three-year, grant-funded project to digitize the ASPCA Historical Archive – a curated collection of more than 150,000 pages of archival material, including annual reports, journals, scrapbooks, photos, and publications that provide a timeline of the work and influence of the ASPCA since its founding on April 10, 1866.”

MyNorthwest: MoPOP is ‘reflecting popular culture right now,’ and it’s doing it online. “Seattle Center’s Museum of Popular Culture’s (MoPOP) curatorial director Jacob McMurray is spearheading a project to move the beloved museum’s contents into an accessible online format.”

Keene Sentinel: Newly digitized Daniels archive helps local civil rights hero’s legacy live on. “Civil rights martyr Jonathan Daniels’ name is enshrined in several institutions in Keene, his 1939 birthplace, but only recently have local archivists digitized materials associated with his life — and it’s thanks in part to state moose license plates….Daniels was murdered by a police officer in small-town Hayneville, Ala., on Aug. 20, 1965, while protecting a young Black civil rights activist, Ruby Sales.”

Anash: New App To Release Thousands Of The Rebbe’s English Letters. “On the new state-of-the-art app, users will be able to view over 5,000 letters addressing every topic imaginable. 2,000 of them are being published on the app for the first time. The app is slated to launch in the beginning of next week, bringing this inaccessible part of the Rebbe’s Torah to thousands in time for the Rebbe’s 120th birthday.” This is one of those items that came with a minimum of context and I couldn’t find more extensive information. I’m 99% sure this app covers the letters of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and if I’m in error I sincerely apologize in advance.

Salt Lake Tribune: New database gives widest look ever at LDS Church landholdings. See what it owns and where.. “From thousands of acres of farmlands to thousands of places of worship and from shiny commercial enclaves in urban centers to flowing fields in swelling suburbs, a newly released list shows The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns U.S. properties valued at nearly $16 billion and ranks the Utah-based faith among the nation’s top private landholders.”

EVENTS

Georgia Tech Libraries: Revisiting and Archiving Civil Rights and Atlanta in the 1960s: Introducing the Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive. “This one-day symposium will formally introduce the Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive, while at the same time exploring the intersection of archives, Atlanta history, and art. The sessions will showcase how communities are preserving their experiences in ways that encourage us to creatively think about the future of archives.” This event does not seem to have a virtual component; I note it here because of the launch of the digital archive.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Twitter is adding an edit button. “It’s a feature that Twitter users have been requesting for so long that it’s become a meme, but now the mythical ‘edit button’ is actually becoming a reality. Twitter has announced that it’s working to allow users to edit their tweets after posting them.”

USEFUL STUFF

Austin American-Statesman: History is a click away: The best digital tools for Texas history buffs. “Although I dearly love a good library or archive — and goodness knows I cherish taking road trips to talk to historical witnesses or experts in person — some of the sharpest tools for Texas history research are as close as your favorite digital device. Today’s column is devoted to some of the most reliable digital resources.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

WRBL: Rosalynn Carter Institute leads way to the first caregiver database. “The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers is one step closer to leading the way as the nation’s first caregiver database. The institute is located in Americus, Georgia and hopes its creation will help compile information to better know, understand, and serve caregivers in Georgia and all across the country.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

TechCrunch: Block confirms Cash App breach after former employee accessed US customer data. “The information in the reports included users’ full names and brokerage account numbers, and for some customers the accessed data also included brokerage portfolio value, brokerage portfolio holdings, and stock trading activity for one trading day. The San Francisco-based company declined to say how many Cash App customers were impacted by the breach but said it’s contacting approximately 8.2 million current and former customers about the incident.”

The Guardian: Victim’s iPhone hacked by Pegasus spyware weeks after Apple sued NSO. “New evidence has revealed that an Apple iPhone was successfully hacked by a government user of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware in December, weeks after the technology giant sued the Israeli company in a US court and called for it to be banned from ‘harming individuals’ using Apple products.”

Bleeping Computer: Germany takes down Hydra, world’s largest darknet market. “The servers of Hydra Market, the most prominent Russian darknet platform for selling drugs and money laundering, have been seized by the German police. The police were also able to seize 543 bitcoins from the profits of Hydra, which are currently worth a little over $25 million.” Good morning, Internet…

April 6, 2022 at 05:33PM
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