Digital Citizenship in Africa, Henry Moore Art Exhibit Posters, Spanish-Language Audio and Braille, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, July 31, 2023

Digital Citizenship in Africa, Henry Moore Art Exhibit Posters, Spanish-Language Audio and Braille, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, July 31, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Institute of Development Studies: A new era of digital citizenship in Africa. “With contributions from scholars across the continent, Digital Citizenship in Africa illustrates how citizens have been using social media to run hashtag campaigns and VPNs, encryption and privacy protecting browsers to resist limits on their rights to privacy and political speech. In each chapter authors show how positive examples of digital citizenship are limited and constrained by new forms of digital authoritarianism: internet shutdowns, repressive laws, and by state surveillance and disinformation.”

The Guardian: Poster boy: Henry Moore exhibition art through the ages – in pictures. “Sunday 30 July is the 125th anniversary of artist Henry Moore’s birth. To celebrate, the Henry Moore Archive is unveiling a digitised collection of more than 400 posters featuring Moore’s many shows through the years.”

New-to-me, from Library of Congress: NLS Debuts Site for Spanish-Language Audio and Braille. “At the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), we’ve been delighted by the enthusiastic reader response to the rollout of a Spanish site at the top of our home page. Since the site’s February debut, readers have jumped at the chance to find the newest reading materials in Spanish-language audio and Braille. The new site also features Spanish-language guides to our most popular resources, including frequently-asked questions about our BARD Mobile reading app, information about our accessible music scores and details on how to obtain a free currency reader for blind and visually impaired users.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Bureau of Transportation Statistics: BTS Updates Datasets to National Transportation Atlas Database 07/28/2023. “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released its summer 2023 update to the National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, networks, and associated infrastructure.”

NBC News: Ye’s Twitter account is unsuspended months after it was banned over swastika post. “Ye’s account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, was unsuspended Saturday, more than six months after it was banned over a post showing an image of a swastika inside a Star of David.”

Ars Technica: Reddit calls for “a few new mods” after axing, polarizing some of its best. “Reddit is campaigning to replace numerous longstanding moderators who were removed from their positions after engaging in API protests. Over the past week, a Reddit employee has posted to subreddits with ousted mods, asking for new volunteers. But in its search, the company has failed to address the intricacies involved in moderating distinct and, in some cases, well-known subreddits. And it doesn’t look like the knowledge from the previous moderators is being passed down.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Tom’s Guide: Don’t ‘Bard it’ — Google says you should still Google it to be safe. “Google Bard may be competing with ChatGPT, but it’s also competing with Google Search. Plenty of people are turning to AI chatbots over traditional search engines, which is why Bing Chat and Google Search Generative Experience both exist as AI tools that blend generative AI with traditional search. But unfortunately, generative AI gets things wrong — a lot. So Google is reminding people that when in doubt, you should still Google it rather than Bard it.” Use the whizbang technology, but do not TRUST the whizbang technology. Instead, keep using the old technology, so that it takes twice as long to do a task. But whizbang technology! This is so stupid.

Techdirt: Techdirt Has Been Deleted From Bing And DuckDuckGo. “A few months ago, Jack Yan pointed out to me that if they did a search for Techdirt on DuckDuckGo, it showed only one single link which was (bizarrely) to a random story from like eight years ago. There were literally no other results for Techdirt. I replicated it, but was travelling, and by the time I went back to write about it a few days later, everything seemed back to normal (in the interim there were a few days where it just found a couple hundred Techdirt posts). Jack wrote a short blog post on his own site about it. This morning, however, someone alerted me to the fact that DuckDuckGo currently shows zero results for Techdirt. Not even some random old article. Zero. None. Zilch.”

Huffpost: There’s A Deadly Drinking Problem On TikTok. “While the app has strict rules prohibiting branded content promoting alcohol, creators are still allegedly making money drinking to excess — and at least one has died.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: Russia Takes Its Ukraine Information War Into Video Games. “These games and adjacent discussion sites like Discord and Steam are becoming online platforms for Russian agitprop, circulating to new, mostly younger audiences a torrent of propaganda that the Kremlin has used to try to justify the war in Ukraine. In this virtual world, players have adopted the letter Z, a symbol of the Russian troops who invaded last year; embraced legally specious Russian territorial claims in Crimea and other places; and echoed President Vladimir V. Putin’s efforts to denigrate Ukrainians as Nazis and blame the West for the conflict.”

Euractiv/Reuters: Sweden says it’s target of Russia-backed disinformation over NATO, Koran burnings. “Sweden is the target of a disinformation campaign by ‘Russia-backed actors’ intended to hurt the image of the NATO-candidate country by implying it supported recent burnings of the Koran, its Minister for Civil Defence said on Wednesday (26 July).”

RESEARCH & OPINION

North Carolina State University: Citizen Science Inspires Kids to Take Local Action. “North Carolina State University researchers recently found that a program designed to get Girl Scouts involved in citizen science – programs where members of the public can participate in real scientific research – not only taught girls about the process of science, but also motivated them to tackle scientific or environmental problems in their communities.” Good morning, Internet…

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July 31, 2023 at 05:27PM
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Smithsonian Podcast, Reddit, Photoshop, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023

Smithsonian Podcast, Reddit, Photoshop, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Smithsonian: Smithsonian Magazine Announces “There’s More to That,” a New Podcast in Partnership With PRX. “Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can—through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. On There’s More to That, listeners will meet the magazine’s journalists as they discover the forces behind some of the biggest issues of our time and give curious listeners a fresh understanding of the world we all inhabit.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Reddit is testing ‘official’ labels for profiles and making parts of its app compatible with screen readers. “Reddit is starting to test a new ‘Official’ label that will make it easier to spot if an account is authentic. The new label will appear sitewide, meaning that it won’t be up to the moderators of individual subreddits to have to verify specific accounts.”

TechCrunch: Photoshop’s new generative AI feature lets you ‘uncrop’ images. “Adobe is building on Firefly, its family of generative AI models, with a feature in Photoshop that ‘expands images beyond their original bounds,’ as the company describes it.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Rest of World: Indian politicians embrace influencers ahead of 2024 elections. “As the campaign for the 2024 elections in India goes digital, social media influencers have become a powerful tool to try and shape voter behavior.”

Associated Press: Saudi Arabia is spending billions to become a global gaming hub. Some fans don’t want to play. “Saudi Arabia, the new home of some of soccer’s biggest stars and a co-owner of professional golf, is proving to be no less ambitious when it comes to another global pastime – the $180 billion-a-year video game industry.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

WIRED: Code Kept Secret for Years Reveals Its Flaw—a Backdoor . “FOR MORE THAN 25 years, a technology used for critical data and voice radio communications around the world has been shrouded in secrecy to prevent anyone from closely scrutinizing its security properties for vulnerabilities. But now it’s finally getting a public airing thanks to a small group of researchers in the Netherlands who got their hands on its viscera and found serious flaws, including a deliberate backdoor.”

TorrentFreak: Turner Classic Movies Airs a Film With ‘Pirated’ Subtitles. “Turner Classic Movies is an invaluable institution for many film aficionados. The same is true for the private BitTorrent tracker Karagarga, which archives tens of thousands of films, many of which are not available through legal channels. While the latter operates without permission from rightsholders, it made a surprise appearance on Turner’s service recently in the form of ‘pirated’ subtitles.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Washington Post: The war in Ukraine is spurring a revolution in drone warfare using AI. “The design and software innovations, as well as mass dissemination of piloting know-how, are also likely to influence the way drones are used far beyond the war in Ukraine, with serious implications for governments confronting separatist militias, drug cartels and extremist groups seeking to gain a technological edge.”

NBC News: That sports broadcaster you hear could be AI. “Artificial intelligence commentators are edging into roles in sports broadcasting, with major competitions such as the Masters golf and Wimbledon tennis championships using the tech to automatically narrate certain highlight videos posted on the tournaments’ websites and apps.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Ars Technica: The IBM mainframe: How it runs and why it survives. “Mainframe computers are often seen as ancient machines—practically dinosaurs. But mainframes, which are purpose-built to process enormous amounts of data, are still extremely relevant today. If they’re dinosaurs, they’re T-Rexes, and desktops and server computers are puny mammals to be trodden underfoot.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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July 31, 2023 at 12:07AM
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Coronavirus Data, Online Censorship, Google, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023

Coronavirus Data, Online Censorship, Google, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, July 30, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of California San Francisco: COVID Tracking Project Records and Resources Now Available. “The UCSF Library Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce that the COVID Tracking Project (CTP) records are available for research. The CTP is a crowdsourced digital archive that was managed by a group of journalists at The Atlantic and approximately 500 volunteers. This committed group gathered, cataloged, and published state-level COVID-19 data over the first fifteen months of the pandemic.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

New York Times: Russia’s Online Censorship Has Soared 30-Fold During Ukraine War. “To compile its findings, Citizen Lab analyzed more than 300 court orders from the Russian government against Vkontakte, one of the country’s largest social media sites, demanding that it remove accounts, posts, videos and other content. Before the war, Russia’s government issued internet takedown orders to Vkontakte, known as VK, once every 50 days on average. After the conflict began, that number jumped to nearly once a day, according to Citizen Lab.”

Search Engine Journal: Google Officially Rolling Out New Search Settings Interface. “Ashwarya, Google Search Community Manager, posted that Google Search will soon roll out ‘a new experience to make access to key items easier on the Search Results Page on the web.’ In short, it is a new way to access Google Search Settings on desktop and mobile.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

NPR: ‘X’ logo installed atop Twitter building, spurring San Francisco to investigate. “The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant ‘X’ sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform. City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.”

Deutsche Welle: Watchdog wants Russia out of UNESCO Heritage Committee. “It was time for humanity to take a stand against this barbarism, Stephan Dömpke, chairman of World Heritage Watch, told DW. Russia had forfeited any right to play a role in international bodies that advise or decide on the protection of cultural property, he said.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Record: Irish court ruling over Google ad practices could have global impact. “An Irish civil liberties group went to court late this week to accuse the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) — the national independent authority responsible for upholding data privacy rights across Europe — of failing to properly investigate Google’s online advertising system, which it says is responsible for the biggest data breach ever recorded. Because of the DPC’s position as an arbiter for data privacy practices across Europe, the court’s decision in the case, expected later this year, could potentially have a significant impact on online advertising practices worldwide.”

Radio Poland: EU sanctions Russian entities, individuals for propaganda in support of war on Ukraine . “The European Union has imposed sanctions on seven Russian individuals and five entities for disseminating propaganda in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, officials have said.”

9to5 Mac: App Store to require developers to describe why their apps use certain APIs. “The App Store review process is very strict to ensure that apps comply with Apple’s guidelines. And soon, this whole process will get even more strict. That’s because Apple recently announced that developers would be required to detail why their apps use certain APIs before submitting them to the App Store.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Carnegie Mellon University: Researchers Discover New Vulnerability in Large Language Models. “Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science(opens in new window) (SCS), the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute(opens in new window), and the Center for AI Safety in San Francisco(opens in new window) have uncovered a new vulnerability, proposing a simple and effective attack method that causes aligned language models to generate objectionable behaviors at a high success rate.”

WIRED: The AI-Powered, Totally Autonomous Future of War Is Here. “Autonomous systems with the capacity to kill already exist around the globe. In any major conflict, even one well short of World War III, each side will soon face the temptation not only to arm these systems but, in some situations, to remove human oversight, freeing the machines to fight at machine speed. In this war of AI against AI, only humans will die. So it is reasonable to wonder: How do these machines, and the people who build them, think?”

University of Oxford: Researchers successfully train a machine learning model in outer space for the first time . “For the first time, researchers have trained a machine learning model in outer space, on board a satellite. This achievement could enable real-time monitoring and decision making for a range of applications, from disaster management to deforestation.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Los Angeles Times: California’s free prison calls are repairing estranged relationships and aiding rehabilitation. “At a time when most consumers enjoy free or low-cost calling, prison phone calls at their peak in California cost more than $6 per 15 minutes via a private telecommunications provider. That allowed only hurried, superficial conversations between the siblings — with one eye always on the clock. This year California became the second state in the nation, and the largest to date, to mandate free calls in state prisons.” Good morning, Internet…

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July 30, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Heat.gov, Zorin OS, Google Street View, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023

Heat.gov, Zorin OS, Google Street View, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

NOAA: Biden Administration launches Heat.gov with tools for communities facing extreme heat. “Heat.gov will provide a one-stop hub on heat and health for the nation and is a priority of President Biden’s National Climate Task Force and its Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

OMG Ubuntu: Zorin OS 16.3 Released with Upgrade Tool, LibreOffice 7.5. “Zorin OS 16.3 introduces a number of refinements that, its developers say, help ‘elevate your computing experience even further’. On paper, the inclusion of the new Zorin OS Upgrader app is Zorin OS 16.3’s tentpole feature.”

Bloomberg: Google Street View to post first new pictures from Germany in a decade. “Alphabet Inc.’s update will start with new photos of the streets and landmarks of the country’s 20 largest cities and expand from there, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday. Google voluntarily suspended Street View photography in Germany in 2011, after an outcry from privacy advocates and opposition from regulators.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Organize Your Projects With Trello. “As useful as they are, sometimes the to-do list apps on your phone just won’t cut it. In the search for personal productivity apps, a key thing to remember is that project management software, like Trello, is not only for teams in offices. You can use it to manage your personal stuff too.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Media Matters: Crowdfunding platform Ko-fi has raised at least tens of thousands for QAnon figures. “The crowdfunding platforming Ko-fi is hosting and profiting from more than a dozen QAnon figures who have collectively raised at least tens of thousands of dollars on the platform. Several of these QAnon figures moved to Ko-fi after Media Matters’ reporting led to their ban from another crowdfunding platform, Buy Me a Coffee.”

Daily Beast: Twitter Removes Fact-Check on Musk’s Bronny James Vax Post. “A fact-check through the platform’s Community Notes feature soon appeared alongside Musk’s tweet noting that the risk of myocarditis, a rare condition characterized by inflammation of heart muscle, is much higher for patients after a COVID infection rather than after a COVID vaccine. Without explanation, the fact-checking post was deleted from Musk’s tweet, which as of Wednesday still remains on his newly rebranded X platform without any kind of qualification.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

North Carolina State University: Why Computer Security Advice Is More Confusing Than It Should Be. “If you find the computer security guidelines you get at work confusing and not very useful, you’re not alone. A new study highlights a key problem with how these guidelines are created, and outlines simple steps that would improve them – and probably make your computer safer.”

KSL TV: Salt Lake City tattoo shop warns of impersonator social media profiles and scams. “A Salt Lake City Tattoo shop is warning people about impersonator social media accounts after potential clients were swindled out of hundreds to thousands of dollars… The social media/marketing manager, Jackie, said recently several fake Facebook and Instagram accounts have been collecting tattoo deposits in the name of Big Deluxe artists.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

WIRED: They Didn’t Ask to Go Viral. Posting on Social Media Without Consent Is Immoral . “To be sure, crass and hateful public figures are worthy of ridicule. And we’ve been using the internet to judge strangers for as long as we’ve had the internet. But the common trait shared by much of the most obnoxious content today is that someone chose to elevate a stranger for no reason beyond their own gratification, attracting attention at a scale unimaginable in the days of relics like Hot or Not and People of Wal-Mart.” I have very strong feelings about this based on personal experience but I will spare you.

New York Times: Aided by A.I. Language Models, Google’s Robots Are Getting Smart. “Google has recently begun plugging state-of-the-art language models into its robots, giving them the equivalent of artificial brains. The secretive project has made the robots far smarter and given them new powers of understanding and problem-solving.” Powered by the knowledge of you and me and our intellectual output. Good afternoon, Internet…

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July 30, 2023 at 12:00AM
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Coin Resource Center, Overture Maps Foundation, Online Reviews, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023

Coin Resource Center, Overture Maps Foundation, Online Reviews, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, July 29, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Stack’s Bowers Galleries: Stack’s Bowers Galleries Launches Coin Resource Center As A Premier Online Reference For Collectors . “The Coin Resource Center, available on the Stack’s Bowers Galleries website, is an in-depth digital archive of numismatic research including a detailed reference guide for all U.S. coins, historical backgrounds of each U.S. Mint, insightful Collector Guides explaining a variety of approaches to this fascinating hobby, and convenient tools for calculating the precious metal ‘melt’ value of popular gold and silver coins.”

TechCrunch: Meta, Microsoft and Amazon release open map dataset to rival Google Maps, Apple Maps. “A group formed by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and mapping company TomTom is releasing data that could enable developers to build their own maps to take on Google Map and Apple Maps. The group, called the Overture Maps Foundation, was formed last year. Today, the group has released it first open map dataset.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Roundtable: Google Categorizes Reviews By Type Of Reviewer. “Google seems to be testing categorizing the review by the type of review in the Google Maps and Local reviews section. So if you have a couple on vacation leaving a review versus a solo traveler or family, it will say so.”

The Verge: Google delays its upgraded, more expansive Find My Device network. “Google is delaying the broad expansion of its Find My Device feature, and it says it’s doing so with personal safety in mind since the industry spec proposed by itself and Apple isn’t quite ready yet.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

WSOC: ‘We don’t have phone books anymore’: Google listed business as permanently closed when it wasn’t. “The Yellow Submarine Restaurant in Hudson is open for business. In fact, there are open signs posted in at least three places on the property. But it didn’t say so in one place owner Kathy Norwood says really mattered: Google.”

ABC News (Australia): National Film and Sound Archive dusting off vintage video games so people born hundreds of years from now can play them. “From the Atari, to the Vic-20, the Sega and the Commodore 64, the NFSA has begun a project to tell the history of Australia’s computer industry – and the games that have kept generations entertained. Its collection even includes a 1991 game based on the soapie juggernaut Neighbours, where you can choose to play as Charlene or Henry, skateboarding through the streets of Erinsborough.”

Institute of Museum and Library Services: IMLS Announces $20 Million Investment in U.S. Library and Archive Initiatives. “The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced 64 awards totaling $20,363,297 to support libraries and archives across the country. The FY 2023 awards were made through National Leadership Grants for Libraries and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.”

Engadget: The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class puts TikTok on the road. “The E-Class is Mercedes’ first car with a selfie camera and the first car in the world that offers TikTok, WebEx, and Zoom right there in the dashboard. All that, paired with some advanced driver assistance on the highway plus all the luxuries you’ve come to expect from a Mercedes, creates a sedan that’s perhaps a bit too steady for some, but will be right on the money for many.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

EFF: FBI Seizure of Mastodon Server Data is a Wakeup Call to Fediverse Users and Hosts to Protect their Users. “We’re in an exciting time for users who want to take back control from major platforms like Twitter and Facebook. However, this new environment comes with challenges and risks for user privacy, so we need to get it right and make sure networks like the Fediverse and Bluesky are mindful of past lessons.”

Cornell University: That’s funny – but AI models don’t get the joke. “Large neural networks, a form of artificial intelligence, can generate thousands of jokes along the lines of ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ But do they understand why they’re funny?”

Dartmouth College: Researchers Examine ‘Like-Minded Sources’ on Social Media. “Seventeen academics from U.S. colleges and universities, including government professor Brendan Nyhan at Dartmouth, teamed up with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to conduct independent research on what people see on social media and how it affects them. To protect against conflicts of interest, the project built in several safeguards, including pre-registering the experiments. Meta could not restrict or censor findings, and the academic lead authors had final say over writing and research decisions.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

University of Reading: Kids’ summer salad problem solved with SEE & EAT solution. “The SEE & EAT books, launched by a team at the University of Reading, were created to encourage children to eat healthier. Research led by Professor Carmel Houston-Price has shown that pre-schoolers are more likely to eat vegetables at mealtimes if they are already familiar with what the vegetable looks like and where it comes from.” The ebooks are available for free. Good morning, Internet…

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July 29, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Silent Film Scores, NASA+, Women’s Sports, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023

Silent Film Scores, NASA+, Women’s Sports, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Library of Congress: What’s new online at the Library of Congress – July 2023. ” This collection includes over 3,000 items published or created for use in silent film accompaniment between 1904 – 1927. These items include scores written for specific films, cue sheets that compile melodies for use at certain moments in specific films, and stock music composed or arranged for general use in silent film. Scores and arrangements included in this collection include piano scores, full or reduced orchestral scores, instrumental parts, or just melodic incipits.”

NASA: NASA Launches Beta Site; On-Demand Streaming, App Update Coming Soon. “Later this year, NASA also will launch its new streaming platform, NASA+., and upgrade the NASA app. Through the ad-free, no cost, and family-friendly streaming service, users will gain access to the agency’s Emmy Award-winning live coverage and views into NASA’s missions through collections of original video series, including a handful of new series launching with the streaming service.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Google Search is making it easier to find relevant information on women’s sports. “The search giant says it has expanded coverage of women’s competitions in the information boxes you see at the top of the results page to include over 380 leagues. Plus, Google has added more than 110 leagues across women’s soccer, cricket and rugby over the past year. It has also partnered with broadcasters and rights holders to provide easy access to live streams and highlights directly from the Search results page.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Variety: Alex Winter’s ‘The YouTube Effect’ Takes a Tough Look at Everyone’s Favorite Cat-Video Platform. “Most people know that social media has become a cesspool of disinformation, a digital hydra that feeds off toxicity and conspiracy theories. But somehow YouTube, the second-most-popular site in the world, has avoided the scrutiny that’s come Twitter and Facebook’s way. ‘The YouTube Effect,’ a new documentary from Alex Winter, could change that.”

WIRED: A Leaked Memo Shows TikTok Knows It Has a Labor Problem. “[TikTok] also uses outsourced moderators in Kenya, and in other countries in the global south, through a contract with Luxembourg-based Majorel. Leaked documents obtained by the NGO Foxglove Legal, seen by WIRED, show that TikTok is concerned it could be next in line for possible litigation.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Dallas Morning News: Anti-LGBTQ YouTubers trolled a progressive Plano church. It was firebombed weeks later. “Weeks before the Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano was damaged in a firebomb attack early Sunday, members of the church welcomed four strangers — one of them carrying a camera — with hugs, smiles and the promise of a judgment-free fellowship. They didn’t immediately know they were being trolled and baited by a group of influencers who frequently take videos of themselves pranking progressives and liberals. The video, titled ‘We acted LGBT at LGBT Church,’ has garnered nearly 200,000 views since it was posted to YouTube on July 12.”

Hollywood Reporter: Google Sued by Advertisers for Allegedly Inflating Video Ad Metrics. “If an advertisement autoplays for a bot on a site that’s not publicly listed or indexed by search engines, does anyone see it? According to Google, the answer is yes, which has led to a purported class action against the company that claims it overcharges advertisers for the ‘privilege of autoplaying their advertisements into the void.'”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Newswise: Robot preachers get less respect, fewer donations. “As artificial intelligence expands across more professions, robot preachers and AI programs offer new means of sharing religious beliefs, but they may undermine credibility and reduce donations for religious groups that rely on them, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.”

The Verge: What would the internet of people look like now?. “Google’s rotting? Bring back the webring. Broadcasting to the entire world sucks? Fuck it, group chat. Facebook? Baby doll, it is easier than ever to build your own website, and you don’t even need to know the basics required to rip someone else’s code.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Mercer University: Professor creates accessible weather device for visually impaired students. “Physics professor Dr. Matt Marone created the accessible technology — which converts data measurements to speech — for Georgia Academy for the Blind in the spring, and students used it in May to take their first temperature and humidity measurements for NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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July 29, 2023 at 12:14AM
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South Carolina State Museum, Wisconsin Affordable Internet, Google, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023

South Carolina State Museum, Wisconsin Affordable Internet, Google, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, July 28, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

South Carolina State Museum: South Carolina State Museum Launches its First-Ever Online Collection Database . “The South Carolina State Museum’s art collection is now available to explore online allowing educators, students, researchers and others to explore portions of the museum’s collection digitally for the first time. The art collection features more than 4,500 pieces of fine and folk art, historic and modern pottery and ceramics, sculptures, contemporary works, and even topiaries.”

State of Wisconsin: State Announces Launch of New Tool to Help Wisconsinites Find Free, Discounted Internet Service. “Gov. Tony Evers today, together with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), announced the launch of the Internet Discount Finder website to help Wisconsin households find and access affordable internet. The new tool can assist in finding free and discounted internet service available to eligible Wisconsin residents.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Associated Press: Google rebounds from unprecedented drop in ad revenue with a resurgence that pushes stock higher. “Google snapped out of an unprecedented advertising slump during its latest quarter, signaling a return to growth cycle needed to fuel investments in artificial intelligence technology that expected to reshape the competitive landscape.”

The Hacker News: Google Messages Getting Cross-Platform End-to-End Encryption with MLS Protocol. “Google has announced that it intends to add support for Message Layer Security (MLS) to its Messages service for Android and open source an implementation of the specification.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

WIRED: It’s Twilight of the Mods for Bluesky and Reddit. “THESE ARE STRANGE days for people who care about trust and safety on platforms. Historically, many people have suggested that either more effective central moderation (a platform owner intervening directly in policing the content of the platform) or better decentralized moderation (allowing users to curate their spaces through community-driven moderation) could pave the way to a better social media landscape—or, ideally, some alchemically balanced combo of the two. But, in true Silicon Valley fashion, one platform is centralizing in the worst way possible, while the other is decentralizing catastrophically.”

BBC: Google alert failed to warn people of Turkey earthquake. “Google says its alert system can give users up to a minute’s notice on their phones before an earthquake hits. It says its alert was sent to millions before the first, biggest quake. However, the BBC visited three cities in the earthquake zone, speaking to hundreds of people, and didn’t find anyone who had received a warning.”

Sydney Morning Herald: This athlete turned tech bro was chasing a start-up dream. Now he’s accused of faking a PhD. “The start-up world is full of entrepreneurs like [Steven] Leven, striving for dreams that others see as implausible. But while heroically optimistic forecasting and bombastic salesmanship are an accepted part of the industry – which is fond of quoting a 1997 Apple ad that declared “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do” – there are boundaries.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Los Angeles Times: Police like using Google data to solve crimes. Does that put your privacy at risk?. “After a man was shot dead outside a bank in Paramount in 2019, Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives turned to Google for help identifying suspects. Through a search warrant, detectives directed the tech giant to provide cellphone location data for people who were near places the man visited on the day he was killed. The data Google provided eventually led detectives to two suspects who are now in prison for the murder.”

State of Connecticut: Governor Lamont Commissions Independent Review of Falsified Reporting of Traffic Records by the State Police. “Governor Ned Lamont today announced that, based on a recent audit that revealed a troubling number of erroneous records in the Connecticut State Police records management system and the State of Connecticut’s traffic stop racial profiling database, he is commissioning an independent review to determine how and why this misconduct occurred, why it went undetected for so many years, and what reforms should be implemented to ensure that such misconduct does not reoccur.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

University of Wisconsin-Madison: New maps show antimicrobial resistance varies within Wisconsin neighborhoods. “Led by postdoctoral fellow Laurel Legenza, researchers at UW–Madison’s School of Pharmacy and State Cartographer’s Office worked with colleagues from three Wisconsin health systems to combine antibiotic resistance data from different locations throughout the state to gauge the effectiveness of a pair of common antibiotic treatments for Escherichia coli infections. The combination of data allowed the team to identify neighborhood-level patterns in how well the antibiotics treated E. coli.”

University of Texas at Austin: First Findings Shed Light on Role of Social Media Algorithms in 2020 Election. “The study, co-led by researchers Talia Stroud of The University of Texas at Austin and Joshua Tucker of New York University, found that algorithms have a tremendous impact on what people see in their feeds. Although changing fundamental parts of the algorithm affected the content people saw, it did not affect participants’ political attitudes.”

Cornell Chronicle: Analysis of court transcripts reveals biased jury selection. “In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers used natural language processing (NLP) tools to analyze transcripts of the jury selection process. They found multiple quantifiable differences in how prosecutors questioned Black and white members of the jury pool. Once validated, this technology could provide evidence for appeals cases and be used in real time during jury selection to ensure more diverse juries.” Good morning, Internet…

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July 28, 2023 at 05:28PM
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