New researches

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Greek-Canadians, AI-Generated Content, Google Fi, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, March 19, 2023

Greek-Canadians, AI-Generated Content, Google Fi, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, March 19, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

New-to-me, from Ekathimerini: Canada’s Greeks share their stories. “These and many more stories form the core of the Virtual Museum of Greek Immigration to Canada, an initiative that is part of the Immigrec project, and an interdisciplinary educational partnership that comprises research teams from three Canadian universities with Greek studies programs (McGill, Simon Fraser and York) and the University of Patras, with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Guardian: ‘ChatGPT said I did not exist’: how artists and writers are fighting back against AI. “Vast amounts of imaginative output, work made by people in the kind of jobs once assumed to be protected from the threat of technology, have already been captured from the web, to be adapted, merged and anonymised by algorithms for commercial use. But just as GPT-4, the enhanced version of the AI generative text engine, was proudly unveiled last week, artists, writers and regulators have started to fight back in earnest.”

ReviewGeek: You Can Now Try Google Fi Without a Subscription. “Of all the carriers available in the United States, Google Fi is one of the most enticing. It offers affordable unlimited-data plans and comes with some cool perks, including Wi-Fi access outside your home. Now, Google Fi is testing a free trial system with a limited number of users.”

USEFUL STUFF

Make Tech Easier: Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts Cheatsheet. “With over 1.5 billion users worldwide, Gmail has easily become the most commonly used email client for people across the world wide web. In fact, many people use Gmail for both their personal and professional email accounts, and it’s easy to see why when you look at all of the fantastic features and automations Gmail offers its users.”

MakeUseOf: 8 AI-Powered Chrome Extensions to Summarize YouTube Videos. “Lots of YouTube videos are unnecessarily long. This becomes a real problem when you’re looking to get some information quickly, but are forced to watch the entire video for it. Luckily, it’s possible to generate short, to-the-point summaries of lengthy videos on YouTube. So, whether you need to summarize videos for work or personal usage, here are the eight AI-powered Chrome extensions to summarize YouTube videos.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Associated Press: Pro-Russian voices spread anti-U.S. propaganda about Ohio train disaster on Twitter . “Soon after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month, anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk’s new verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility.”

Techdirt: Game Jam Winner Spotlight: To And Again. “So far in our series of posts on showcasing the winners in all six categories of the fifth annual public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1927, we’ve featured Best Remix winner Lucia and Best Visuals winner Urbanity. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the winner of the Best Adaptation category: To And Again by Perrin Ellis.”

Vox: What YouTube hustle gurus are really selling you. “These self-anointed gurus often share interests — sports cars, wristwatches, combat sports, strict diets, rocket ship emoji, lengthy Twitter threads, Sun Belt states with relatively low tax burdens — but tend to make their millions in a few different ways.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Krebs on Security: Feds Charge NY Man as BreachForums Boss “Pompompurin”. “The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week arrested a New York man on suspicion of running BreachForums, a popular English-language cybercrime forum where some of the world biggest hacked databases routinely show up for sale.”

Security Affairs: The risk of pasting confidential company data into ChatGPT. “Researchers from Cyberhaven Labs analyzed the use of ChatGPT by 1.6 million workers at companies across industries. They reported that 5.6% of them have used it in the workplace and 4.9% have provided company data to the popular chatbot model since it launched. ChatGPT uses this data to build its knowledge base, but it publicly shares information built on it.”

Wall Street Journal: Online-Books Lawsuit Tests Limits of Libraries in Digital Age. “A federal judge on Monday will weigh pleas by four major book publishers to stop an online lending library from freely offering digital copies of books, in a case that raises novel questions about digital-library rights and the reach of copyright law that protects the work of writers and publishers.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

WIRED: AI-Generated Voice Deepfakes Aren’t Scary Good—Yet. “There have been a couple of high-profile incidents in recent years in which cybercriminals have reportedly used voice deepfakes of company CEOs in attempts to steal large amounts of money—not to mention that documentarians posthumously created voice deepfakes of Anthony Bourdain. But are criminals at the turning point where any given spam call could contain your sibling’s cloned voice desperately seeking ‘bail money?’ No, researchers say—at least not yet.” Good morning, Internet…

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March 19, 2023 at 05:28PM
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Saturday, March 18, 2023

Microsoft, Open Records, Digital Decluttering, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 18, 2023

Microsoft, Open Records, Digital Decluttering, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 18, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Visual Studio Magazine: Microsoft Open Sources Tool for GPT-4-Infused Apps. “Microsoft has open sourced an internal incubation project that can help developers integrate cutting-edge AI models quickly and easily into their apps.”

USEFUL STUFF

National Press Club Journalism Institute: Open records tips from a government accountability reporter: ‘Let the correspondence tell the tale’ . “It is Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of access to public information launched by the News Leaders Association in 2005. To commemorate the occasion, we’ve asked journalists across different beats to share their tips for requesting open records and responding when facing roadblocks to access.”

Engadget: How to declutter your iOS devices. “If you’ve owned your iPhone or iPad for a while, there’s a good chance there are apps, contacts and settings that you either don’t use anymore or aren’t serving you as well as they could. This guide will take you through how to reclaim your notifications and your device’s storage.”

How-To Geek: 6 Useful Websites to Download for Offline Access. “You’ve likely come to rely on the internet to find useful information the moment you need it, but you can’t count on always having a reliable connection. That’s why it’s a great idea to download a copy of the internet’s most useful websites so you can access them while off the grid.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Ars Technica: Anthropic introduces Claude, a “more steerable” AI competitor to ChatGPT. “On Tuesday, Anthropic introduced Claude, a large language model (LLM) that can generate text, write code, and function as an AI assistant similar to ChatGPT. The model originates from core concerns about future AI safety and Anthropic has trained it using a technique it calls ‘Constitutional AI.'”

The Guardian: Trump Media executives worried over murky $8m loans, emails reveal. “Top executives at Donald Trump’s social media company started to become concerned last spring about $8m that they had accepted from opaque entities in two emergency loans when its auditors sought further details about the payments, according to documents, emails and sources familiar with the matter.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Mashable: Twitter silent as hackers scam users with stolen high-profile verified accounts. “Looking at Jase Robertson and David Dayen, you wouldn’t think the two of them have much in common. Robertson is known for his time on the A&E reality TV show Duck Dynasty. He currently hosts a show on the conservative digital outlet TheBlaze. David Dayen is a longtime progressive journalist and executive editor for The American Prospect magazine. However, over the past few weeks, tweets from both Robertson’s and Dayen’s Twitter accounts have been sharing the exact same messaging.”

New York Times: Justice Dept. Investigating TikTok’s Owner Over Possible Spying on Journalists. “The inquiry appears to be tied to an admission by the app’s owner, ByteDance, that employees had inappropriately obtained Americans’ data. The company said it had fired the workers involved.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

NewsWise: Want More Generous Children? Show Them Awe-inspiring Art. “Concert halls, movie theaters, and museums are home to a kaleidoscope of art forms, but one thing they all have in common is the potential to inspire feelings of awe. This humbling perspective has been shown to motivate adults to set aside their own problems to focus on the needs of others, and new research in Psychological Science suggests that awe can encourage generosity in children too.”

Slashgear: ChatGPT Successfully Outsmarts Anti-Bot Test By Pretending To Be Blind . “Used responsibly, AI can potentially change the way we work, learn, and create. But according to The Telegraph, researchers wrote in an academic paper that the AI model behind ChatGPT went to great lengths to trick a human being into passing an anti-robot check to gain access to a website.” Good afternoon, Internet…

March 19, 2023 at 12:57AM
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General Aviation News, Kansas Airports, Google Glass, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, March 18, 2023

General Aviation News, Kansas Airports, Google Glass, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, March 18, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

General Aviation News: General Aviation News archives digitized back to 1990. “The print edition of General Aviation News has been digitized from 1990 through March 2023. Those archives can be seen at the General Aviation News website.” The archives seem to be completely free. They’re hosted on Dropbox.

KZRG: Kansas aviation information available on KDOT website. “A new website created by the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation, in collaboration with industry experts, provides a close-up look at all 140 public-use airports across the state and their impact on the communities they serve. Online dashboards provide the conditions of airport runways, economic impact data, future airport needs and more.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: Google Glass is set to disappear (again). “Google will no longer sell its Glass AR smart glasses for enterprise starting on March 15th, and it will only support the device until September 15th this year.”

Search Engine Journal: TikTok Introduces STEM Feed: Safe, Educational Content For Teens. “To make TikTok more valuable to its users and celebrate Pi Day (3.14), it announced the release of a new feed dedicated to STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics topics. This will appear alongside the Following and For You feeds available when you log into your TikTok account.”

AFP: ‘I’M BACK’: Trump returns to Facebook, YouTube after two-year ban. “Former president Donald Trump wrote his first posts on his reinstated Facebook and YouTube accounts Friday, more than two years after he was banned over the US Capitol insurrection.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNBC: Google nixes paying out remainder of maternity and medical leave for laid-off employees. “Google is indicating to ex-staffers, who got laid off while on maternity and medical leave, that they won’t get paid for all of their remaining time off, according to former employees and written correspondence shared with CNBC.”

Bloomberg: Google Employees Petition Pichai for Better Handling of Job Cuts. “Almost 1,400 employees at Google parent Alphabet Inc. have signed a petition calling for better treatment of staff during the layoff process, after the company announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs.”

The Wilton Bulletin: Wilton Library pushes efforts to put a spotlight on collection from jazz great Dave Brubeck. “Three years after agreeing to receive the works of late jazz legend Dave Brubeck, the Wilton Library is now reigniting efforts to shine a spotlight on The Brubeck Collection.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

TechCrunch: Google warns users to take action to protect against remotely exploitable flaws in popular Android phones. “Google’s security research unit is sounding the alarm on a set of vulnerabilities it found in certain Samsung chips included in dozens of Android models, wearables and vehicles, fearing the flaws could be soon discovered and exploited.”

Business Insider: Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue is breaking European rules about unfair business practices by failing to show its full cost to consumers right away, EU agency says. “Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue subscription is breaking European Union rules about unfair business practices, a consumer watchdog in the bloc told Insider. Specifically, the advertised subscription prices don’t factor in taxes, which violates consumer-protection laws in the 27-country union, a spokesperson for the watchdog said.”

Economic Times: It is duty of Twitter to provide details of account holders: Govt to Karnataka HC. “The union government has informed the High Court of Karnataka that being a significant intermediary, micro blogging site Twitter has additional responsibility and it was its duty ‘to provide details of account holders’.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

SwissInfo: Google should pay millions for Swiss news, says study. “According to a study carried out on behalf of the German-language publishers’ association Schweizer Medien, published by the 24Heures/Tribune de Genève newspapers on Friday, 86% of people in Switzerland use Google to obtain online information…. When using Google, over half of users (53%) stay on Google’s ecosystem and do not click further on links to the publication’s website – they are generally satisfied with the information appearing on the Google search page.”

Chicago Tribune: TikTok, Twitter fare only slightly better than fringe platforms favored by far right in Wiesenthal Center study of social media. “A report from the Simon Wiesenthal Center scoring social media platforms based on the proliferation of hate speech found that mainstream sites like TikTok and Twitter fared only slightly better than much smaller platforms like Telegram favored by far-right groups.” Good morning, Internet…

March 18, 2023 at 05:28PM
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Friday, March 17, 2023

Local Government Public Meetings, Amazon, Microsoft, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 17, 2023

Local Government Public Meetings, Amazon, Microsoft, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 17, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Scientific Data: LocalView, a database of public meetings for the study of local politics and policy-making in the United States . “This article introduces LOCALVIEW, the largest existing dataset of real-time local government public meetings–the central policy-making process in local government. In sum, the dataset currently covers 139,616 videos and their corresponding textual and audio transcripts of local government meetings publicly uploaded to YouTube–the world’s largest public video-sharing website–from 1,012 places and 2,861 distinct governments across the United States between 2006–2022.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Amazon stops selling magazines and newspapers through Kindle Newsstand. “Amazon is no longer selling magazine and newspaper subscriptions through Kindle Newsstand and will stop delivering current Kindle Newsstand subscriptions in September, according to an announcement from last week.”

Reuters: Microsoft unveils AI for its office suite in increased competition with Google. “Microsoft Corp on Thursday trumpeted its latest plans to put artificial intelligence into the hands of more users, answering a spate of unveilings this week by its rival Google with upgrades to its own widely used office software.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNBC: Microsoft tries to justify AI’s tendency to give wrong answers by saying they’re ‘usefully wrong’. “In an online presentation about the new Copilot features, Microsoft executives brought up the software’s tendency to produce inaccurate responses, but pitched that as something that could be useful. As long as people realize that Copilot’s responses could be sloppy with the facts, they can edit the inaccuracies and more quickly send their emails or finish their presentation slides.” Okay. Wow.

Global News (Canada): Calgary company accuses Google of driving business away with fake listing. “A longtime family-run Calgary company is accusing Google of driving traffic to another business in a bizarre situation. Ryan Schoel, owner of The Costume Shoppe, came across a Google listing that showed his address as Pirate Fashions Canada, even though the photos and phone number were for his business.”

Moscow Times: Nasdaq to Delist Russia’s Yandex, Other Tech Firms. “Nasdaq has notified Russia’s tech giant Yandex and four other major internet companies that their stocks will be delisted this month unless they appeal the stock market’s decision.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Economic Times (India Times): Google’s ‘castle and moat’ strategy is data hegemony: CCI tells NCLAT. “Fair trade regulator CCI on Thursday alleged that Google has created a digital data hegemony and called for a market space with ‘free, fair and open competition'”.

RESEARCH & OPINION

University of Kentucky: UK researchers investigate racial bias in recognition of Kentucky’s historic properties. “A team of University of Kentucky researchers is analyzing the list of historic places and properties registered in the Commonwealth to find any gaps in cultural minority representations.”

Financial Times: Why children can be better than adults at spotting misinformation. “It’s never been easier to find fun, clear and deep perspectives on the complex world around us. The chief obstacle is deliberate ignorance: we don’t ask questions because we don’t care to know the answers. That’s why I’ve long argued that curiosity is so important — and why young readers are often better equipped to be truth detectives than their parents.” Good afternoon, Internet…

March 18, 2023 at 12:49AM
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Government Housing Policies, Johannes Vermeer, The Black Frontline, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, March 17, 2023

Government Housing Policies, Johannes Vermeer, The Black Frontline, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, March 17, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Berkeley News: New Berkeley Terner Center database gives ‘road map’ for local housing reform. “Local municipalities around the U.S. now have a road map to pursue housing reform through a first-of-its kind database created by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. It catalogs state incentives and programs that legislators can emulate to produce more local housing. As part of Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, the Terner Center’s database sorts 144 pro-housing policies from 20 states by factors related to affordability and equity.”

Deutsche Welle: Sold out Jan Vermeer exhibition Amsterdam goes online. “… the museum is offering a free, interactive online exhibition called ‘Closer to Johannes Vermeer.’ It’s narrated by English actor and writer Stephen Fry and allows visitors to get closer to the life and times of Vermeer, even if they can’t see the works in person.”

Brown Daily Herald: ‘Living archive’ of Black health care workers’ experiences during COVID-19 pandemic launches. “‘The Black Frontline,’ an oral history project chronicling the experiences of Black health care workers from around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, launched in an event hosted by the Department of Africana Studies.”

EVENTS

USDA: USDA to host Data Users’ Meeting to gather public input on statistical programs. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will hold its biannual Data Users’ Meeting April 18 from 1-4:30 p.m. CT at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City – Omaha Branch. A virtual attendance option will also be available. The meeting is free and open to the public.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: ‘Minecraft’ is coming to Chromebooks. “Microsoft has announced that Minecraft is coming to Chromebooks and is available to try right away via an Early Access version. The game will include ‘cross-device play with friends, access to Minecraft Marketplace, and the ability to play on Realms,’ according to developer Mojang.”

Search Engine Land: Google releases March 2023 broad core update. “Google is now rolling out the March 2023 broad core update. This is the first broad core update of 2023. It has been just over six months since Google’s last broad core update – the September 2022 broad core update.”

Krebs on Security: Microsoft Patch Tuesday, March 2023 Edition. “Microsoft on Tuesday released updates to quash at least 74 security bugs in its Windows operating systems and software. Two of those flaws are already being actively attacked, including an especially severe weakness in Microsoft Outlook that can be exploited without any user interaction.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

MixMag: Has DatPiff Shutdown? Rumours Circulate Around Popular Hip Hop Mixtape Platform. “Many fans of the platform have been mourning the loss of DatPiff’s enormous archive, amid speculations that the site has shutdown. Prominently used in 2010s, the site allowed artists such as Meek Mill and Lil Wayne to make their name and release music — with much of its archived material now inaccessible to fans.”

CBS 2 Iowa: Iowa newspaper booted from Twitter without explanation. “The Mason City Globe Gazette, in operating for more than 150 years, now does not have a presence on Twitter. It all started Tuesday when Lisa Grouette, Editor of the paper, sat down to share information about a local track team when she discovered she couldn’t.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Cointelegraph: FTX influencers face $1B class-action lawsuit over alleged crypto fraud promotion. “A class-action suit led by Edwin Garrison has been filed against ‘FTX influencers,’ mostly on YouTube, seeking $1 billion because they ‘promoted FTX crypto fraud without disclosing compensation.’ The suit was filed on March 15 in the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.”

Associated Press: Minnesota courts expand camera access to criminal trials. “Minnesota courts will allow greater audiovisual coverage of criminal proceedings starting next year under an order filed Wednesday by the Minnesota Supreme Court, but the rules will nonetheless remain more restrictive than those in many other states.”

FTC: FTC Issues Orders to Social Media and Video Streaming Platforms Regarding Efforts to Address Surge in Advertising for Fraudulent Products and Scams. “With fraud on social media surging, the Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to eight social media and video streaming platforms seeking information on how these companies scrutinize and restrict paid commercial advertising that is deceptive or exposes consumers to fraudulent health-care products, financial scams, counterfeit and fake goods, or other fraud.” Good morning, Internet…

March 17, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Thursday, March 16, 2023

Exploding Star Catalog, Social Security Challenge, Duolingo, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 16, 2023

Exploding Star Catalog, Social Security Challenge, Duolingo, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 16, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of Hawaii: Largest catalog of exploding stars now available. “The newly-released data contains information on nearly 2,000 supernovae and other luminous variable objects with observations in multiple colors. It is also the first to extensively use the multi-color imaging to classify the supernovae and estimate their distances.”

PR Newswire: Up to the Challenge? New American Academy of Actuaries Web App Puts You in Charge of Fixing Social Security Financing (PRESS RELEASE). “A new ‘Social Security Challenge’ web app published by the nonpartisan American Academy of Actuaries at actuary.org/socialsecurity immerses users in an animated virtual trek where they endeavor to solve one of the most consequential public policy challenges of our time: how to address the financing shortfall that could lead to future 20% cuts in payable Social Security benefits.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: Duolingo’s Max plan offers AI tutoring for $30 per month. “You can add Duolingo to the growing list of companies jumping on the generative AI craze. On Wednesday, the company announced Duolingo Max, a new, more expensive subscription tier that comes with access to a pair of GPT-4 features.”

USEFUL STUFF

How-To Geek: How to Print Text Messages From iPhone. “iPhone text messages—including iMessage—live on your iPhone or Mac. If you want to get those messages into the real world—either for court or personal records—you’ll need to get creative. We’ll show you two ways to print text messages on iPhone.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

New York Times: Making Deepfakes Gets Cheaper and Easier Thanks to A.I.. “Meme-makers and misinformation peddlers are embracing artificial intelligence tools to create convincing fake videos on the cheap.”

Reuters: Swiss Google Workers Stage Walkout as Job Cuts Hit Europe . “Hundreds of Google employees staged a walkout on Wednesday at the company’s office in Zurich, Switzerland, after more than 200 workers were laid off.”

Rolling Stone: How Kevin Hart Reaction Memes Took Over the Internet. “You can’t deny the hustle: Hart consistently ranks among the highest-paid comedians, collaborates with big names on high-profile movie projects and, through his two separate production companies, maintains a dizzying number of partnerships and development deals. Oh, and last year, he launched a tequila brand. The upshot of all this labor is that Hart is more than famous — he’s omnipresent, perhaps one of the most recognizable faces in American culture today. Which helps to explain how he became a meme.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Guardian: Federal investigators examined Trump Media for possible money laundering, sources say. “Federal prosecutors in New York involved in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s social media company last year started examining whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter.”

Dallas Morning News: Dallas deputy streamed traffic stop to TikTok, revealed man’s personal info, lawsuit says. “A Tarrant County man is suing Dallas County and a sheriff’s deputy after he says his personal information was revealed to more than 100 people after the deputy livestreamed a traffic stop through TikTok.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Lifehacker: Get a Settlement for That Bulky CRT TV You Bought Ages Ago. “A new class action lawsuit has been reached with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation involving Cathode Ray Tubes (‘CRTs’), a type of monitor technology that uses a large glass tube to display images. The lawsuit claimed that Mitsubishi Electric conspired with other TV brands to fix the prices of CRTs, making customers pay more for their TVs and monitors. This settlement is in addition to nine other similar settlements reached with Chunghwa, LG, Philips, Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba, Samsung SDI, Thomson, and Technologies Displays America, according to the settlement.” Good afternoon, Internet…

March 17, 2023 at 12:35AM
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Want to Scan Entire Wikipedia Categories for Official Web Sites, Social Media Accounts, Metadata, and More? Check out Wikidata Quick Dip

Want to Scan Entire Wikipedia Categories for Official Web Sites, Social Media Accounts, Metadata, and More? Check out Wikidata Quick Dip
By ResearchBuzz

I don’t really know if I can express to you how much learning JavaScript has meant for me. It’s given me a way to turn my search ponderings of literally decades into real things. It feels like I had two or three rooms in my brain that were empty and locked, and JavaScript kicked the doors open and punched out a few windows for good measure.

And now that ChatGPT is available, it’s like I have an endlessly-patient JavaScript teacher who doesn’t mind explaining things and is willing to try different experiments. Granted, the teacher occasionally acts like they’ve taken a healthy belt of gin (or two), but even that is a learning experience.

With the launch of GPT-4, I decided to go WAY out over my skis and take on something I’ve always wanted: a way to get specific Wikidata values at Wikipedia category level. In other words, I wanted to be able to put in a Wikipedia category and get, say, all the pages with Twitter account Wikidata. Or the Quora topic category property. Or my personal favorite, the “official website” property (good old P856.)

It’s a little rough around the edges – I probably bumped it with the skis – but I’m pleased to present Wikidata Quick Dip, at https://searchgizmos.com/wqd/ . Here’s how it works.

Step by Step With Wikidata Quick Dip

Start by pasting in the name of a Wikipedia category (or start with the default if you want) and click the search button.

After a few seconds (or longer if you went wild and chose a huge category) you’ll get a drop-down list of all the Wikidata properties shared by at least ten percent of the pages in the category.

Choose an item from the drop-down menu. You don’t have to hit the search button again. Say you want the SoundCloud IDs for all the artists in this category. Choose that, and in a few seconds to many seconds (you and your big categories) you’ll get a list of pages with SoundCloud links along with a summary and timestamp of last change.

Select something else from the drop-down menu and the display will change. Official website is always a great choice:

Look, mom – WikiMoz!

Researchers and journalists and other people who like to gather data by the scoopful, I think you’ll like this. Here are some examples of how it can be used:

Search for Category:Women in Arizona politics and then display the pages with a C-SPAN Person ID. You’ll get a link to a C-SPAN directory of clips for several members of the category, including Kris Mayes and Cindy McCain.

Looking for a new libation? Search the Category:Types_of_beer and choose the “TasteAtlas ID” property. You’ll get links to the TasteAtlas pages, which contain additional information and sometimes drink reviews.

Researching the business end of solar energy? Search Category:Photovoltaics manufacturers and choose the Crunchbase Organization ID property.

There are over ten thousand data properties available on Wikidata, so these are only a few of many, many, MANY ways you can aggregate information by Wikipedia category using Wikidata Quick Dip.

I think most of the bugs have been squashed, but if you’ve got any ideas for improvement drop a note.

March 16, 2023 at 10:50PM
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