Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Low-Cost Internet Access, Gulf of Mexico Homeowners, Twitter Spaces, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, May 10, 2022

Low-Cost Internet Access, Gulf of Mexico Homeowners, Twitter Spaces, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, May 10, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Fast Company: Free internet from the government: How to see if you qualify under Biden’s new plan. “The FCC says about 11.5 million homes are currently signed up nationwide, but it believes that 48 million households, or nearly 40% of U.S. households, are eligible. To expand access, the government has unveiled a brand new website… where people can check their eligibility and find a list of service providers in their area that are participating.”

University of Central Florida: New Tool from UCF-led Team Shows Homeowners and Renters the True Cost of Disasters . “The easy-to-use tool allows users to plug in an address and instantly receive the property’s HazardReady score. The score shows just how resilient, or disaster-ready, a home is, and projects how much hazards, such as winds and flooding, could cost a homeowner each year. HazardAware can provide reports for 13.3 million addresses in 196 counties along the Gulf of Mexico — including all of Florida, and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. This is a region that is historically impacted by hurricanes and other large hydrometeorological hazards each year.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Twitter rolls out new Spaces features, including access to analytics for hosts. “Twitter is rolling out a number of new features for its live audio Spaces product this week. The social media giant is giving hosts and co-hosts on iOS and Android access to analytics about their Spaces. For example, hosts and co-hosts can now get information about how many total live listeners tuned in to the broadcast, how many times it was replayed and how many people spoke during the Space.”

The Verge: Google Assistant’s automatic password updater gets wider rollout. “A Google Assistant feature designed to automate the time-consuming process of changing your passwords after a breach appears to be getting a wider rollout. That’s according to a tweet from leaker Max Weinbach and a report from Android Police.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

University of Arkansas: CAST Researchers Awarded NEH Grant on Digital Storytelling About Precolonial Africa. “‘Digital Storytelling on African Urbanisms: A Model to Empower Education Initiatives Across the Global South’ explores how an open-access digital archive can be optimized to allow for low-resourced educators to engage with digital storytelling.”

Artnet Daily: Yu-Wen Wu Asked Google How to Walk From Boston to Taipei. She Spent the Next 10 Years Turning the Directions Into an Incredible Artwork. “It was an impossible trip—the directions included kayaking across the Pacific ocean for some three months, with a stop in Hawaii. It was also the beginning of an epic art project that would take Wu a decade, transforming the outlandish journey into a 20-foot long collage in the tradition of a Chinese landscape scroll, stored in a traditional wooden box.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

TechCrunch: Judge tosses Trump’s lawsuit over his lifetime Twitter ban. “A federal judge in California dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter Friday, dimming at least one avenue the former president and prolific tweeter might have used to get back to his platform of choice. Trump’s argument that the social media company and its then-chief executive Jack Dorsey violated his right to free speech failed to convince Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California, to put it lightly.”

India Today: Canada passes Act on revenue sharing between Google, Facebook and news outlets as India’s wait continues. “Canada passing a law on a fair revenue-sharing system has rekindled the hope for India’s news outlets that a similar law would be introduced in the country. But that may have to wait a bit longer. IndiaToday takes a deep dive into the matter and tries to explain how such a system has impacted countries around the world, including India.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Phys .org: In-person socialization down, but social media isn’t to blame, researcher says. “In the United States, Great Britain and Australia, there has been a steady, uniform decline in [Face to Face] time that began well before the rise of social media. This new analysis shows the decline continued through the stay-at-home orders and social distancing of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

edX: edX Awards $1 Million to Ten Partners Developing Free Courses on Essential Human Skills for the Virtual Age. “edX, a leading global online learning platform from 2U (Nasdaq: TWOU), today announced the 10 partner proposals selected to receive grants totaling $1 million to develop courses in Essential Human Skills for the Virtual Age. These courses and programs will be centered on essential human skills such as leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence that are prioritized during hiring and critical in an increasingly virtual world.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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May 11, 2022 at 12:51AM
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British Library, 3D Movie Maker, Google Accounts, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, May 10, 2022

British Library, 3D Movie Maker, Google Accounts, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, May 10, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

British Library Endangered Archives: New online – April 2022. “In this month’s round-up we have a collection of portrait photographs from Lima, Peru (EAP1234), and two collections from Sri Lanka, palm-leaf manuscripts from the Jaffna, Vanni, and Mannar districts (EAP1056), and Tamil Protestant records from the Jaffna Peninsula (EAP971). You can read more about each of the projects below and follow the links to see the catalogued records, digitised images, and project information.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: Microsoft open sources the code for 3D Movie Maker. “Microsoft has open sourced the code for the 27-year-old program 3D Movie Maker — and it’s all thanks to someone who asked on Twitter.”

USEFUL STUFF

WIRED: What to Do If You Can’t Log In to Your Google Account. “The web is filled with advice and shortcuts on what to do in this situation, from tapping your password manager to turning off two-factor authentication (not recommended!). Rather than use Google’s most popular tool, Search, for the answer, we decided to ask the company directly what happens when users can’t get in and what steps they should take to recover their account. Guemmy Kim, director of account safety and security at Google, guided us through our questions.”

Hongkiat: 20+ Sites to Get All the Free Design Resources You’ll Need . “Whether you’re just a hobbyist or a professional designer, I’m sure we all appreciate free stuff. There are many free design resources today that are easily accessible can help us be more creative, be more productive, or help you out on a tight budget project.”

Lifehacker: The Best Free Online Tools to Map Your Own Bike Routes. “Whether you’re in an unfamiliar place or broadening your horizons in your hometown, there are plenty of tools online to customize different walk, run, and bike routes wherever you are. The online tools we’ll highlight here are not all created equal, so let’s take a look at the best free options depending on what you’re looking for in a map.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNET: The App That Prepares You for Death. “When someone you love passes away, it’s impossibly hard to prioritize all the logistics. You’re facing unimaginable stress and grief all at once, so when it comes time to negotiate funeral planning, insurance records, legal and financial documents, and more, it can be overwhelming. So it’s important to get all of this sorted before you’re reeling from loss. Enter Bereev, a death preparation app that’s beginning to make waves in Australia.”

BuzzFeed News: Some of the Most Viral “Pro-Choice” Instagram Content is Coming From Mormon Bloggers. “Mormon influencers are some of the most followed, analyzed, and discussed creators in the social media space. Some have been speaking out all week about the Supreme Court news, and many are standing up for a pregnant person’s right to choose.”

NBC News: Dolly Parton to star in a musical on TikTok about Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza. “Dolly Parton is starring in a TikTok musical about Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza that will premiere later this month. Yes, really.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

NBC News: Illinois college, hit by ransomware attack, to shut down. “Lincoln College is scheduled to close its doors Friday, becoming the first U.S. institution of higher learning to shut down in part due to a ransomware attack. A goodbye note posted to the school’s website notes that it survived both World Wars, the Spanish flu and the Great Depression, but was unable to handle the combination of the Covid pandemic and a severe ransomware attack in December that took months to remedy.”

CNET: Clearview AI to Stop Selling Facial Recognition Database to Private Companies. ”
Facial recognition company Clearview AI will no longer sell its facial recognition database to most private companies or individuals in the US. The change comes as part of a settlement, filed Monday in federal court in Illinois, with the American Civil Liberties Union.”

Reuters: Google Faces Antitrust Lawsuit From Dating App Owner Match Over Play Store Fees. “Dating apps maker Match Group Inc sued Alphabet Inc’s Google on Monday, calling the action a ‘last resort’ to prevent Tinder and its other apps from being booted off the Play store for refusing to share up to 30% of their sales.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

SciTechDaily: Digital Divide: Data Portal Highlights Internet Inequities in Chicago. “At today’s inaugural Data Science Institute Summit, the initiative unveiled a new data portal that combines public and private data from 20 cities around the nation. The site makes data accessible to governments, community groups, data scientists, and other interested stakeholders seeking to improve Internet connectivity to mitigate the ‘digital divide.'” 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!



May 10, 2022 at 05:27PM
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Monday, May 9, 2022

Mapping Battlefield Photos, Imagine Ukraine, Music Collaboration, More: Ukraine Update, Afternoon, May 9, 2022

Mapping Battlefield Photos, Imagine Ukraine, Music Collaboration, More: Ukraine Update, Afternoon, May 9, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Asahi Shimbun: Volunteers turn battlefield photos into interactive map of Ukraine. “Volunteers from around the world are working on a project initiated in Japan to visually map out the evolution of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They are establishing the locations of photos that depict the ravages of the war and adding the images to an online 3-D map to visualize how the armed conflict has progressed over the past two months or so.” There’s a QR code at the top with other images from the article. That will take you to the map.

ArtDependence: Imagine Ukraine: A Three-Part Project in Support of Ukrainian Cultural Front. “The PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Ukraine), Victor Pinchuk Foundation and M HKA (Antwerp, Belgium) in partnership with Bozar (Brussels, Belgium), the European Parliament (Brussels, Belgium), and the Office of the President of Ukraine present Imagine Ukraine, a three-part project continuing the cultural front against Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

Penn State Collegian: Musicians come together in video collaboration for Ukraine. “The melancholic sound of Ukrainian violinist Vera Lytovchenko’s music has echoed in subway stations, consoling people, some homeless, huddled in fear of Russian bombings. A new music video called ‘The Brave Ones’ has her in an online collaboration with more than 200 musical artists from various nations, including the U.S., South Africa, Japan and Canada.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

BBC: Ukraine conflict: Patron the mine-sniffing dog awarded medal. “A Ukrainian mine-sniffing dog has been given a medal for his services to the country since Russia’s invasion. Patron, a Jack Russell terrier, was presented with the award by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at a ceremony in Kyiv.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Diálogo Américas: Russia’s Tools for Disinformation and Propaganda in Latin America. “Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, RT en Español has consistently pushed baseless conspiracy theories to its Spanish-language audience. These include articles claiming the Ukrainian military created a ‘staged recording’ of civilian deaths in Moschun, a town near the capital city Kyiv, and that Russia was not involved in the massacre in Bucha, in which hundreds of Ukrainians died, as news site Insider reported. Unlike major fact-based international media outlets, RT and Sputnik lack fiscal transparency. They do not publish public budget sheets or detailed annual financial reports, and the public must rely on vague estimates occasionally announced by the Russian government.”

Detektor: Russia Targets Bosnia With Disinformation About Ukrainian War. “Moscow is busy selling its own version of the war in Ukraine to Bosnian citizens – cynically using analogies with the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica to justify its invasion and destabilize Bosnia at the same time.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: Ukraine’s IT Army is disrupting Russia’s alcohol distribution. “Hacktivists operating on the side of Ukraine have focused their DDoS attacks on a portal that is considered crucial for the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Russia. DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks are collective efforts to overwhelm servers with large volumes of garbage traffic and bogus requests, rendering them unable to serve legitimate visitors.”

Business Insider: Hackers replaced Russian TV schedules during Putin’s ‘Victory Day’ parade with anti-war messages, saying the blood of Ukrainians is on Russians’ hands. “Russian television schedules were hacked to display an anti-war message as the country celebrated a national military festival on Monday, BBC Monitoring reported. On-screen program descriptions were replaced with the hackers’ text when viewed on smart TVs, the outlet reported. The message read, per the BBC’s translation: ‘On your hands is the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and their hundreds of murdered children. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.'”

Ars Technica: Russia hammered by pro-Ukrainian hackers following invasion. “For years, Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin sat atop the FBI’s most-wanted list. The Russian government-backed hacker has been suspected of cyberattacks on Germany’s Bundestag and the 2016 Olympics, held in Rio de Janeiro. A few weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, his own personal information—including his email and Facebook accounts and passwords, mobile phone number, and even passport details—was leaked online.”

Euractiv: Russian-style hackers ruin Bulgarian post office. “A massive hacking attack, with Russian involvement that took place on 16 April completely disrupted the Bulgarian State Post Office, which still does not function properly, the government’s IT expert Vasil Velichkov has said. The state post office counts 2,973 post offices and 9,000 employees in over 2,300 localities. The payment of pensions, postal services and the distribution of the press are among their key functions.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Australian Financial Review: Deepfakes and espionage, but no cyber apocalypse from Ukraine invasion. “Vladimir Putin’s underestimation of Ukraine in the physical and online world, coupled with the global response to his invasion, has forced Russia to pour its top-tier cyber efforts into reconnaissance and espionage rather than all-out digital warfare, experts say. Despite fears before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that the world would face havoc from Russian-sponsored hackers targeting businesses and countries around the world, the so-called cyber-apocalypse has thus far failed to materialise.”

1945: Putin’s Dream Of Rebuilding The Russian Empire Died In Ukraine. “Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine accomplished exactly the opposite Moscow had intended. It strengthened Ukrainian identity, consolidated NATO, unified the EU, and united all democracies worldwide to stand up to Russian aggression. The international community must use all the tools at its disposal to defend Ukraine, strengthen European democracies and liberate Russian citizens from Putin’s brutal and oppressive regime.”

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!



May 10, 2022 at 01:41AM
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Arkansas Women’s History, Music Industry Mental Health, Raxium, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, May 9, 2022

Arkansas Women’s History, Music Industry Mental Health, Raxium, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, May 9, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

I missed the launch of this resource in February. 5 News: Arkansas People’s History Project launches online Women’s Project Exhibit. “The Arkansas People’s History Project (APHP) launched The Women’s Project exhibit on its website Thursday, Feb. 3. The exhibit explores the early history of a multiracial network of women that tackled racism, sexism, homophobia and economic injustice across rural and urban Arkansas in the 1980s and 1990s.”

NME: Help Musicians launch new mental health platform Music Minds Matter Explore. “Help Musicians have launched a new digital mental health platform to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. Music Minds Matter Explore is a new website providing those in the music industry with help and resources for mental health support, with help on depression, performance anxiety and more.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Tom’s Guide: Google AR glasses could have a clear advantage — here’s why. “Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh has confirmed the company has acquired Raxium, a five-year old startup specializing in Micro LED technology. The company claims that its display tech is five times more efficient than the current record holder. If true, that could prove to be a huge boon for augmented reality devices.”

The Verge: Google’s latest Roboto variant is a font customizable to its core. “As someone who is really into fonts, I know that most people don’t share my passion — but I genuinely think that anyone who cares at all about typography will have some interest in what Google announced on Thursday. If you’ve ever used anything made by Google, you’ve seen Roboto. Now, Google’s introducing something called Roboto Flex. As the name implies, it’s a version of its famous font that you can tweak and customize in a ton of ways.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

OCCRP: Fueling Secession, Promising Bitcoins: How a Russian Operator Urged Catalonian Leaders to Break With Madrid. “On a trip to Barcelona in 2017, Nikolai Sadovnikov offered to give the Catalonians $500 billion to aid their attempts to make the region an independent state. In return, he asked them to turn Catalonia into a haven for cryptocurrencies.”

Associated Press: Condition of some US dams kept secret in national database. “Americans wondering whether a nearby dam could be dangerous can look up the condition and hazard ratings of tens of thousands of dams nationwide using an online database run by the federal government. But they won’t find the condition of Hoover Dam, which impounds one the nation’s largest reservoirs on the border of Nevada and Arizona. Nor is there any condition listed for California’s Oroville Dam, the country’s tallest, which underwent a $1 billion makeover after its spillway failed.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

DotLA: Teen Who Was Sexually Exploited on Snapchat Sues Tech Giants. “A teenage girl has sued social media giant Snap after she was coerced into sending nude photos of herself through its Snapchat app, claiming that the company has failed to protect minors like her from child sexual exploitation.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Denver Post: Is artificial intelligence the next tool to fight wildfires in the West?. “With wildfires becoming bigger and more destructive as the West dries out and heats up, agencies and officials tasked with preventing and battling the blazes could soon have a new tool to add to their arsenal of prescribed burns, pick axes, chain saws and aircraft. The high-tech help could come by way of an area not normally associated with fighting wildfires: artificial intelligence. And space.”

Bloomberg Government: Researchers ‘Flying Blind’ Want Access to Social Media User Data. “Researchers are imploring Congress to force social media companies to share data showing the platforms’ effect on users, especially children.”

Leiden University: Humanities and AI: A fruitful combination. “What do a linguist, an artist, a Professor of Conservation and Restoration, and a lecturer at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science have in common? They all use Artificial Intelligence. On 7 April they discussed the use of AI at Leiden’s Kijkhuis cinema.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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May 10, 2022 at 01:07AM
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Russian-Language War Crimes Documentation, Tracking Russian Military Casualties, Dima Maleev Meme Time, More: Ukraine Update, May 9, 2022

Russian-Language War Crimes Documentation, Tracking Russian Military Casualties, Dima Maleev Meme Time, More: Ukraine Update, May 9, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Interfax-Ukraine: MFA launches Russian-language version of online archive of Russian war crimes. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has launched a Russian-language version of the online archive of Russian war crimes for all Russian-speaking audiences around the world.”

Daily Beast: Ukraine Brutally Trolls Putin With App Tracking Russian Deaths. “The Ukrainian military has created an application to show users live updates of just how many Russian soldiers are dying in Ukraine. The name of the app? ‘Russian ship, go fuck yourself,’ an homage to the famous soldier who said the words to a Russian officer shortly before getting captured.”

The Dima Maleev YouTube channel released another video in its Russia/Ukraine war meme series on Wednesday. This one covers Medvedchuk, the Moskva warship, the “Russian World”, Russian widows (and their government benefits), and the heroic explosives-detecting dog, Patron. This is an excellent series and excellently-produced; if you have any interest in Internet culture I encourage you to watch it. If you’re like me and sometimes have trouble understanding accented English, the auto-generated captions are good for everything but the Russian names.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Yale School of Management: Almost 1,000 Companies Have Curtailed Operations in Russia—But Some Remain. “Since the invasion of Ukraine began, we have been tracking the responses of well over 1,200 companies, and counting. Almost 1,000 companies have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing operations in Russia to some degree beyond the bare minimum legally required by international sanctions — but some companies have continued to operate in Russia undeterred.”

Data Center Dynamics: Update: Yandex seeks new electricity contract as Finland data center runs on diesel. “The 40MW facility in Mäntsälä, Finland, was cut off on 25 April because Yandex’s electricity contract had run out, according to local news services. The data center appears to be running at reduced capacity on its diesel generators and is putting little or no heat into the district heating system, which is now being fed using light fuel oil and natural gas, according to Nivos.”

USEFUL STUFF

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: How to host a refugee, spot fake war images, say “welcome” in Ukrainian, and more. “As the biggest European land war since World War II enters its 11th week, many people around the world are adjusting to the notion that the war is unlikely to end soon. Many also have questions about how to support Ukraine right now and how they can make sure the war information they receive is accurate. Here are answers to and thoughts about some of those questions.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Washington Post: How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain. “Daily downloads in Russia of the 10 most popular VPNs jumped from below 15,000 just before the war to as many as 475,000 in March. As of this week, downloads were continuing at a rate of nearly 300,000 a day, according to data compiled for the Washington Post by the analytics firm Apptopia, which relies on information from apps, publicly available data and an algorithm to come up with estimates.”

Marketplace: Why Russia just can’t quit YouTube. “Platforms like Facebook have been banned and labeled “extremist” by Russian authorities. Some sites, including YouTube, remain partially available. At the same time, the Kremlin is trying to push Russian users away from YouTube to a domestic video platform, ‘RuTube.’ It’s part of a strategy to convince citizens and content creators to abandon Western social media sites. But even though RuTube and YouTube were developed around the same time, the Russian video service hasn’t had YouTube’s success.”

The Art Newspaper: How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will reshape Eastern Europe’s cultural scene. “The Pan-Slavism underpinning the Putin regime’s policies reflects a tribal nationalism, an idea of Russian supremacy in the region (if not in the world). If it takes the toll of more than 11 million Ukrainian refugees and unspeakable crimes against human lives, the Russian government’s attitude seems to be, so be it. How this impacts art and culture in the region is a complex issue for every country in Eastern Europe.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Reuters: Spanish police detain pro-Russian Ukrainian blogger accused of treason. “Spanish authorities have detained a pro-Russian Ukrainian blogger and aspiring politician on an international arrest warrant for suspected treason, a police source told Reuters on Thursday. The source said Anatoliy Shariy, a vocal critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his pro-Western government, had been detained in the coastal city of Tarragona in Catalonia, the source said, without providing further details.”

Washington Post: CIA instructs Russians on how to share secrets with the spy agency. “On Monday, the CIA published instructions for how Russians can covertly volunteer information using an encrypted conduit to the agency’s website. The hope is to attract intelligence — and potentially gain more access to official Russian secrets — from disaffected people who have been trying to contact the CIA since the war began, officials said.”

Bleeping Computer: Google: Chinese state hackers keep targeting Russian govt agencies. “Google said today that a Chinese-sponsored hacking group linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLA SSF) is targeting Russian government agencies. The company’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), a team of security experts that acts as a defense force for Google users from state-sponsored attacks, added in a report focused on Eastern Europe cyber activity that the APT group has also successfully breached several Russian companies.”

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!



May 9, 2022 at 06:39PM
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Seed Pests, Family Well-Being, Plastic Pollution, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, May 9, 2022

Seed Pests, Family Well-Being, Plastic Pollution, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, May 9, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

American Seed Trade Association: Pest Database For Seeds Available. “ASTA has developed the Pest Database for Seeds (PeDS) which currently contains technical/scientific information on over 400 pests of phytosanitary concern to ASTA members that have impacted the international movement of seed.” Apparently free – I was able to access and search the database without issue.

Penn State: Clearinghouse provides searchable database of evidence-based programs . “The Clearinghouse has created a Continuum of Evidence to assist individuals in identifying evidence-based programs that can be used to improve the health and well-being of military and civilian families. The Continuum is a free, interactive, searchable database of more than 1,300 programs that address a wide variety of family concerns and mental health issues such as parenting, financial literacy, alcohol/drugs/tobacco use and misuse, sexual assault, anxiety, trauma, and depression.”

BusinessWire: Global Plastic Watch: Satellite Eyes Pinpoint Waste From Space to Reduce Ocean Pollution (PRESS RELEASE). “Global Plastic Watch (globalplasticwatch.org) is a tool which combines earth observation with artificial intelligence to create the first-ever near-real-time high-resolution map of plastic pollution. This is the largest open-source dataset of plastic waste across dozens of countries.”

Australasian Lawyer: Legal Metrics Portal propels in-house legal teams’ use of data and analytics. “Key features include a library covering topics such as how to build and improve a legal metrics program, a detailed catalogue of more than 500 legal metrics organized in categories of legal operations and practice areas, and a self-guided wizard that provides metrics recommendations based on what users seek to achieve.” Access is free.

USEFUL STUFF

USA Today: How to turn your smartphone into a flatbed scanner to sign forms or digitize text. “You may have a flatbed scanner at home or perhaps one of those ‘all in one’ printer/scanner/copier machines, but did you know your smartphone’s camera can also double as a flatbed scanner It’s not only fast and convenient to scan something when away from your computert, but the quality is surprisingly good, thanks to much better camera sensors and smarter software.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Southern Poverty Law Center: YouTube Profiting From Timcast IRL, Study Finds. “Timcast IRL, a livestream that serves as a soapbox for the anti-democracy hard right, generates consistent profit for YouTube through the company’s Super Chat function, according to a new study published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).”

Search Engine Land: DMCA request removes Moz from Google Search index. “If you search for [Moz] in Google Search, you won’t be seeing the moz.com home page, that page was removed from the Google index due to a DMCA takedown request. The takedown complaint cites that Moz’s home page, along with 185 other URLs were ‘distribute modified, cracked and unauthorized versions’ of the Dr. Driving app.” Moz has since been restored.

SECURITY & LEGAL

Associated Press: Amazon tribes turn the tables on intruders with social media . “It was dusk on April 14 when Francisco Kuruaya heard a boat approaching along the river near his village in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. He assumed it was the regular delivery boat bringing gasoline for generators and outboard motors to remote settlements like his. Instead, what Kuruaya found was a barge dredging his people’s pristine river in search of gold…. Kuruaya, 47, motored out to the barge, boarded it and confronted the gold miners. They responded in harsh voices and he retreated for fear they were armed. But so was he — with a phone — the first he’d ever had.”

KHQA: Missouri A.G. sues Biden Administration officials for alleged social media censorship
. “The Missouri Attorney General, alongside the Louisiana Attorney General, filed a lawsuit against several key players in the Biden Administration for ‘allegedly colluding with Social Media Giants’ in censoring conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Ars Technica: Terahertz imaging reveals hidden inscription on 16th-century funerary cross. “In recent years, a variety of cutting-edge non-destructive imaging methods have proved to be a boon to art conservationists and archaeologists alike. Each technique has its advantages and disadvantages. For instance, ground-penetrating radar (radio waves) is great for locating buried artifacts, among other uses, while lidar is useful for creating high-resolution maps of surface terrain. Infrared reflectography is well-suited to certain artworks whose materials contain pigments that reflect a lot of infrared light.”

University of Wisconsin-Madison: UW Study: Most Teens Actually Have Healthy Relationship With Digital Technology. “The large, nationwide study was led by Dr. Megan Moreno, professor of pediatrics and head of the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and adolescent health physician, UW Health Kids. Researchers looked at the digital media use and family dynamics of nearly 4,000 pairs, each consisting of a parent and a teen. They found that about 63% of teens fell into the ‘family engaged’ group and had a healthy relationship with technology. The other 37% were categorized as ‘at risk.'”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Nepali Times: Yale returns Tara to Nepal. “The Consulate-General of Nepal in New York on 6 May announced with Yale University Art Gallery in Connecticut the return of a 9th-10th century stone sculpture of Tara/Parvati, which was stolen from the Bir Bhadreshwor Mahadev Temple in Golmadi, Bhakatapur in the 70s.” 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!



May 9, 2022 at 05:25PM
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Friday, May 6, 2022

Rosetta Mission Citizen Science, Nest Cameras, Black Literature, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, May 6, 2022

Rosetta Mission Citizen Science, Nest Cameras, Black Literature, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, May 6, 2022
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

European Space Agency: ‘Spot the difference’ to help reveal Rosetta image secrets. “Today, ESA and the Zooniverse launch Rosetta Zoo, a citizen science project that invites volunteers to engage in a cosmic game of ‘spot the difference’. By browsing through pictures collected by ESA’s Rosetta mission, you can help scientists figure out how a comet’s surface evolves as it swings around the Sun.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNET: Google’s Latest Nest Cameras Now Work With Amazon Alexa. “Google has introduced a new Alexa Skill that allows Amazon-made devices to play video from the search giant’s latest Nest Cam devices, allowing users of the Amazon Echo Show, Fire TV and Fire Tablet to view security camera footage captured by Nest cameras.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

NPR: How one book influencer championing Black authors is changing publishing. “[Cree] Myles first partnered with Penguin Random House last year, when she organized a read-a-thon called Black Like We Never Left featuring works by Toni Morrison. The late, heralded, Pulitzer and Nobel-prize winning author was published by Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House. A few months later Penguin Random House offered Myles a job curating an Instagram platform centered on Black books.”

BuzzFeed News: Male Fashion Influencers Are Saving Basic Men Everywhere. “There’s a growing niche of TikTok guys who show their peers how to elevate their style. Take Ethan Glenn. Glenn posts his outfits, hauls, and sponcon for an audience of over 300,000. This isn’t groundbreaking content. But considering that a whopping 84% of influencers doing sponcon on Instagram are women, it’s noteworthy that more guys are finally getting in the game. After years of women running the fashion show online, it turns out that men want to be influenced too.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Ars Technica: Apple, Google, and Microsoft want to kill the password with “Passkey” standard. “The standard is being called either a ‘multi-device FIDO credential’ or just a ‘passkey.’ Instead of a long string of characters, this new scheme would have the app or website you’re logging in to push a request to your phone for authentication. From there, you’d need to unlock the phone, authenticate with some kind of pin or biometric, and then you’re on your way.”

Engadget: Grindr location data was reportedly for sale for at least three years (updated). “Grindr’s past willingness to share sensitive data may have been more problematic than previously thought. The Wall Street Journal understands precise Grindr user location data was collected from the online ad network MoPub (once owned by Twitter) and put on sale through its partner company UberMedia (now UM) since ‘at least’ 2017.”

US Department of Commerce: Biden Administration Awards Nearly $77 Million to Expand Internet Access for Dozens of Tribes. “The grants, totaling nearly $77 million, are being awarded in 10 states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington. They will fund internet use and adoption projects to improve healthcare, workforce development, education, housing, and social services in tribal communities.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

World Economic Forum: Which countries spend the most time on social media?. “On average, global internet users spend 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media per day, though trends differ widely by country. In many of the markets that Global Web Index surveyed, social media use had shrunk or plateaued in Q1 2020 when compared with 2019 and 2018 figures, but the coronavirus pandemic reversed this trend in many countries.”

Inside Higher Ed: Could China Be on the Verge of Breaking Up Database Publishing?. “China’s top research organization has suspended its use of the country’s largest academic database, causing some scholars to question whether its stranglehold on the sector might be loosened. Several research institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have pulled out of its subscription to the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) due to mounting subscription fees, local news outlet Caixin reported.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

NBC News: A woman bought a sculpture at Goodwill for $34.99. It was actually a missing ancient Roman bust.. “Laura Young, a Texas antiques dealer, thought she had found a steal when she came across a stunning statue at a Goodwill store in 2018 for just under $35. And while she suspected she had come across something ‘very special,’ little did she know the piece would turn out to be a priceless Roman bust dating back to 2,000 years.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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May 7, 2022 at 01:28AM
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