Windows Product Keys, YouTube, Bootable USB Devices, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, October 1, 2023

Windows Product Keys, YouTube, Bootable USB Devices, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, October 1, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

How-To Geek: Microsoft Ends Free Windows 10 & 11 Upgrades for Windows 7 & 8. “Microsoft just closed its free upgrade path for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users. This may seem like an insignificant change, but it will affect two very large groups of people. Enthusiasts can no longer use their old Windows 7 and 8 product keys to activate Windows 10 or 11 on a new PC or in a virtual machine. And stubborn gamers who refused to install Windows 10 will soon be forced to make an upgrade, as Steam will stop working on Windows 7 and 8 in 2024.”

Search Engine Land: YouTube relaxes controversial topic guidelines to boost ad revenue opportunities . “YouTube is updating its Advertiser-Friendly Content guidelines regarding controversial issues. Under the new best practice recommendations, creators will be able to earn ad revenue on content discussing topics such as: Sexual and domestic abuse. Abortions. Eating disorders.”

USEFUL STUFF

Linux Journal: The 6 Best Tools to Create a Bootable USB From an ISO in Linux. “Linux, known for its robustness and versatility, offers a plethora of tools for creating bootable USB drives from ISO files, which are exact copies of disk data. This guide aims to delve into the top six tools available on Linux for crafting bootable USB drives from ISO files.”

Hongkiat: Best Time Lapse Apps For Your Smartphone . “Shooting time-lapse videos offers a unique perspective on the world, capturing the enchanting progression of events too slow for the human eye. The combination of a low frame rate and rapid video playback allows you to craft stunning visuals such as blooming flowers, sunsets, or drifting clouds. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need expensive equipment to create time-lapse content. In fact, your smartphone, coupled with the right app, can produce mesmerizing results. Here are 5 top-notch time-lapse apps available for both Android and iOS.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

TorrentFreak: The World’s Oldest Active Torrent Turns 20 Years Old. “Twenty years ago, a group of friends shot a Matrix fan film on a limited budget. Sharing their creation with the rest of the word initially appeared to be too expensive, but then they discovered a new technology called BitTorrent. Fast forward two decades and their ‘Fanimatrix’ release is the oldest active torrent that’s still widely shared today.”

UC Davis: Plug-in Electric Vehicles Archive to Be Housed at UC Davis Library. “During National Drive Electric Week, the University of California, Davis, today (Sept. 27) announced that it has begun to build a Plug-in Electric Vehicles Archive. It will be housed at the UC Davis Library’s Archives and Special Collections with support from the UC Davis Electric Vehicle Research Center. The archive will focus on the decades-long story of how plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs — long seen as a science project — shifted from prototypes and modifications to mass production.”

Ars Technica: Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Altman reportedly collaborating on mysterious AI device. “Ex-Apple design star Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been discussing the design of an unspecified new AI device, reports The Information, citing two people familiar with the talks. It’s unclear what exactly the device may be, but the report has many people on social media and the press guessing about a re-imagining of a smartphone that relies heavily on generative AI. Others think the device may be something else entirely.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Washington Post: Tech giants ramp up cloud security under pressure from Washington. “After a recent theft of emails from top U.S. officials raised alarms about the country’s increasing dependence on the biggest cloud computing companies, Amazon, Google and Microsoft have begun to explain more of the work they do to secure the data of tens of millions of online customers.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Cornell University: Gamers help highlight disparities in algorithm data. “Is The Witcher immersive? Is The Sims a role-playing game? Gamers from around the world may have differing opinions, but this diversity of thought makes for better algorithms that help audiences everywhere pick the right games, according to new research from Cornell, Xbox and Microsoft Research.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

UC San Diego Today: These Screen-printed, Flexible Sensors Allow Earbuds to Record Brain Activity and Exercise Levels . “A pair of earbuds can be turned into a tool to record the electrical activity of the brain as well as levels of lactate in the body with the addition of two flexible sensors screen-printed onto a stamp-like flexible surface.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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October 2, 2023 at 12:31AM
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South Africa History, Inclusive Stock Photos, Google, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, October 1, 2023

South Africa History, Inclusive Stock Photos, Google, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, October 1, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Polity: New online SA archive aims to better empower citizens. “Hundreds of historical grassroots democracy documents from the past 29 years have been made public in a bid to empower South Africans and assist them, alongside activists, to hold government to account. The online archive is supported by the European Union-funded Enhancing Accountability programme, which came about following an agreement between the European Union and the South African Government, signed in 2020.”

University of Kentucky: UK HDI celebrates disability representation with stock photo project. “Having meetings. Studying for class. Enjoying the outdoors. All are common interactions often depicted in stock photos featured on websites, social media, news releases and more. A team of staff at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute (HDI) has created a photo library that represents Kentuckians of all kinds. The Photo Library Fund for Excellence Project had one main goal: to create an accurate and diverse collection of stock photos that highlight disability representation.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Journal: Google Launches “SEO Made Easy” YouTube Series. “Google has released the first video in a new YouTube series called ‘SEO Made Easy’ to teach people how to improve their website’s performance in search results. In the inaugural episode, Martin Splitt from Google’s Search Relations team explains how sites can customize the way their brand name appears in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).”

WIRED: Six Months Ago Elon Musk Called for a Pause on AI. Instead Development Sped Up. “SIX MONTHS AGO this week, many prominent AI researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on development of AI systems more capable than OpenAI’s latest GPT-4 language generator. It argued that AI is advancing so quickly and unpredictably that it could eliminate countless jobs, flood us with disinformation, and—as a wave of panicky headlines reported—destroy humanity. Whoops!”

Techdirt: Elon Fires Half Of ExTwitter’s Election Integrity Team, Because A Manager Liked A Tweet Calling Him A Fucking Dipshit. “Earlier this week it was reported that exTwitter had disabled the feature that let users “report” election misinformation as part of its reporting tools. That already got some people worried about how a Musk-run exTwitter would handle many upcoming elections. As if to confirm this was absolutely intentional, that same day, the Information revealed that Elon fired half of the remaining ‘Election Integrity Team’ at exTwitter. This is despite him recently promising to expand that effort. Rolling Stone has way more info on all of this, including details about what likely happened here and it’s dumber than you could have imagined.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Leadership (Nigeria): 1,000 Publications, Rare & Vulnerable Resources In NLN Lagos Strong Room Digitised – National Librarian . “Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Professor Chinwe Anunobi has said about a thousand of the library’s publications, including rare and vulnerable resources in its Lagos branch ‘strong room’ have been digitized. Anunobi disclosed this during a media briefing to mark her second year in office, whilst highlighting the library’s achievements and challenges.”

8List: Maggie Wilson Is Single-Handedly Exposing a Network of Online Trolls. “If you didn’t believe in online trolls before, what’s currently happening to former beauty queen Maggie Wilson will change your mind. The 34-year-old model and businesswoman is single-handedly exposing content creators who were allegedly paid to join an online smear campaign against her and her lifestyle company, Acasa Manila. Wilson posted a slew of Instagram stories proving how a group of ‘influencers’ were hired to create negative videos about her.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: China Uses ‘Deceptive’ Methods to Sow Disinformation, U.S. Says. “The State Department accused China on Thursday of using ‘deceptive and coercive methods’ to shape the global information environment, by acquiring stakes in foreign newspapers and television networks, using major social media platforms to promote its views and exerting pressure on international organizations and media outlets to silence critics of Beijing.”

Washington Post: Got an idea for protecting kids online? You can now take action. “If you have concerns about kids and teens on social media or ideas for keeping them healthy and safe now you can submit those directly to the federal government. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sent out a request for public comment on Thursday calling for parents, educators and other interested parties to write in and share their concerns and ‘best practices’ around internet usage of kids and teens.”

Perkins Coie: New York Bans Employers From Requiring Disclosure of Personal Social Media Login Credentials. “New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law bill A836 on September 14, 2023, prohibiting employers from requesting or requiring employees or job applicants to disclose the login credentials for their personal social media accounts, or from retaliating against employees or job applicants who refuse to do so.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

William & Mary News: Smart cars and privacy concerns: Navigating the data highway with W&M’s Rajiv Kohli. “Connected smart cars, equipped with an array of sensors and communication systems, have the potential to revolutionize our driving experience. However, as these vehicles gather and transmit vast amounts of data, it raises important questions about individual privacy, security and the need for regulatory oversight. To shed some light on the multifaceted dimensions of this intricate discourse, the Raymond A. Mason School of Business marketing department conversed with Rajiv Kohli, the John N. Dalton Professor of Business.”

University of Chicago: UChicago computer scientists design compact backpack that creates feeling of jumping, landing . “Alongside Assoc. Prof. Pedro Lopes and a team of students, third-year Ph.D. student Romain Nith has designed a haptic device called JumpMod that uses vertical force-feedback to mimic the full-body feeling of gravity. The technology lives within a compact, wearable backpack and modifies the user’s perceived jump through five different effects: the feeling of jumping higher, landing harder or softer, and being pulled higher or lower.” Good morning, Internet…

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October 1, 2023 at 05:27PM
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Historic Costume and Textile Museum, Raspberry Pi, Google Jamboard, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 30, 2023

Historic Costume and Textile Museum, Raspberry Pi, Google Jamboard, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 30, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Kansas State University: Historic Costume and Textile Museum launches online database, showcasing its more than 15,000 artifacts. “For the first time since its inception, the Historic Costume and Textile Museum’s collection will be available to view online. Guests of the database can explore images and descriptions of the thousands of pieces housed at the Historic Costume and Textile Museum, HCTM, which is located on the third floor of Justin Hall.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: The Raspberry Pi 5 uses the company’s own chip designs. “It’s been four years since Raspberry Pi 4 was released, and since then, the company has only rolled out minor upgrades, including doubling the RAM for the base $35 version. Now, the company has officially launched Raspberry Pi 5, which is the first full-size computer from the brand that uses silicon it built in-house. It offers double or even triple the CPU performance of Raspberry Pi 4, with better graphics capability, thanks to its 800MHz VideoCore VII GPU.”

9to5 Google: Google shutting down Jamboard, offering transition to other whiteboard apps . “Back in 2016, Google announced a 55-inch 4K touchscreen that serves as a digital whiteboard for real-time collaboration. Google Jamboard and its mobile apps are now shutting down in 2024.”

USEFUL STUFF

Electronic Frontier Foundation: How To Turn Off Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” Ad Tracking—and Why You Should. “Google referring to any of this as ‘privacy’ is deceiving. Even if it’s better than third-party cookies, the Privacy Sandbox is still tracking, it’s just done by one company instead of dozens. Instead of waffling between different tracking methods, even with mild improvements, we should work towards a world without behavioral ads. But if you’re sticking to Chrome, you can at least turn these features off.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Euronews: Pro-Russia disinformation floods Slovakia ahead of crucial parliamentary election . “Propaganda and attacks on LGBTQ people are prominent ahead of election which could decide whether the country moves politically closer to Moscow. Voters in Slovakia are being inundated with misinformation from home and abroad in the run-up to the country’s parliamentary elections on Saturday. The vote could determine whether the country of 5.4 million moves closer to Moscow or not, with much of the false information coming from Russia.”

University of Massachusetts Amherst: UMass Amherst Libraries Acquire Terri Cappucci Glass Plate Negative Collection. “The UMass Amherst Libraries announce the acquisition of the Terri Cappucci Glass Plate Negative collection. The archive, from local photographer Terri Cappucci ’00BA,’03MFA, of 2,500-3,000 glass plate negatives that date back to the 1860s, was gifted to Cappucci in July of 2019. Cappucci donated them to the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (SCUA) in July 2023. Cappucci, who received her MFA at UMass Amherst, is a documentary photographer, alternative process printer, and educator who has been producing her own nineteenth century-style photographs using the wet plate collodion process for many years.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

ProPublica: ProPublica and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Have Sued the FDA for Records Related to Recalled Breathing Machines . “ProPublica and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have filed suit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in federal court in New York, accusing the agency of holding back records related to the sweeping recall of breathing machines that were sold around the world.”

Krebs on Security: ‘Snatch’ Ransom Group Exposes Visitor IP Addresses. “The victim shaming site operated by the Snatch ransomware group is leaking data about its true online location and internal operations, as well as the Internet addresses of its visitors, KrebsOnSecurity has found. The leaked data suggest that Snatch is one of several ransomware groups using paid ads on Google.com to trick people into installing malware disguised as popular free software, such as Microsoft Teams, Adobe Reader, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Discord.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Iowa State University: Finding art in the biological rhythms of trees. “Johnny DiBlasi, an assistant professor of art and visual culture, recently received a $10,000 grant from the Iowa Arts Council to develop ‘Transcoded Ecologies,’ a project that fuses artificial intelligence and plant biodata into an art installation that incorporates light and sound. The concept involves sensors that track data produced by tree saplings and an artificial intelligence program that translates the data into a dynamic artistic experience.”

Newswise: Your Zoom background might influence the first impression you make. “In a new study, participants tended to judge faces appearing against backgrounds featuring houseplants or bookcases as more trustworthy and competent than faces with a living space or a novelty image behind them. Gender and facial expression also appeared to influence judgments.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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October 1, 2023 at 01:02AM
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County-Level Weather Risks, Iowa Libraries, Shadows on Stone, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, September 30, 2023

County-Level Weather Risks, Iowa Libraries, Shadows on Stone, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, September 30, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

US Department of Health and Human Services: HHS Launches Climate and Health Outlook Portal to Identify Counties at Risk of Climate-Related Hazards . “The Portal, hosted on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Geospatial Portal, builds on an OCCHE publication known as the Climate and Health Outlook, which links seasonal weather and hazard forecasts to health impacts. This beta version of the Climate and Health Outlook Portal features interactive maps showing county-level extreme heat, wildfire, and drought forecasts for the current month, along with county-level data on individual risk factors that may make people more vulnerable to negative health outcomes from these climate hazards.”

State Library of Iowa: New “Find My Local Library” Interactive Map Tool from the State Library. “The ‘Find My Local Library’ tool displays an interactive and informational map of all the public libraries in the state. Users can filter data by county, population size, and library district. When a location is clicked, a pop up appears with library information, including address and phone number as well as links to the library website and detail page in the Iowa Library Directory.”

Fordham University: Crowd-Sourced History Project Seeks to Humanize the Incarcerated . “From 1865 to 1925, nearly 50,000 people passed through the gates of Sing Sing prison, just 20 miles north of New York City. Very little is known about who they were. Shadows on Stone, a new crowd-sourced digital history project that began in a Fordham history class, seeks to fill in that gap and, in doing so, help restore the humanity of a group of people who have historically been dismissed as irredeemable.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Google adds a switch for publishers to opt out of becoming AI training data. “Google just announced it’s giving website publishers a way to opt out of having their data used to train the company’s AI models while remaining accessible through Google Search. The new tool, called Google-Extended, allows sites to continue to get scraped and indexed by crawlers like the Googlebot while avoiding having their data used to train AI models as they develop over time.”

CBS News: Boston Public Library opens e-book access to teens across US. “Ahead of Banned Books Week (Oct. 1-7), the Boston Public Library is joining the Book Unbanned initiative…. Anyone ages 13-26 who lives in the U.S. can sign up for a free e-card to access the library’s entire collection of e-books and e-audiobooks.”

TechCrunch: Zapier launches Canvas, an AI-powered flowchart tool. “Zapier today announced the launch of Canvas, a new tool that aims to help its users plan and diagram their business-critical processes — with a fair bit of AI sprinkled in there to help them turn those processes into Zapier-based automations. Canvas is now in early access.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

1 News New Zealand: Experts alarmed as truck drivers livestream on social media. “Experts are sounding the alarm over a social media trend that sees truck drivers livestreaming their drives on TikTok. Users on the social media platform can go live once they have 1000 followers, and it has seen some drivers sharing their trips around New Zealand.” The alarm is less about the livestreaming and more about the drivers interacting with viewers when they’re supposed to be driving.

Business Insider: X owner Elon Musk largely runs the social media giant from his iPhone, employees say. “Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, runs the social media giant from his iPhone and expects staff to send emails in a format that’s easy for him to read on his phone, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Several former and current X employees told the FT that Musk steers the ship from his iPhone and if staff want to get his attention, their emails needed to be sent in a specific format. This includes no attachments, documents, or spreadsheets within the email. Instead, Musk wants all information to be within the body of the email, per the FT.”

New York Times: European Central Bank Is Experimenting With a New Tool: A.I.. “The European Central Bank said on Thursday that it was exploring ways to use artificial intelligence to better understand inflation and support its oversight of big banks, but stressed that these efforts were still in the early stages.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

How-To Geek: Update LibreOffice Now to Fix a Security Flaw. “Earlier this month, a security vulnerability in the popular libwebp software library was discovered, affecting everything from web browsers to email clients. The Document Foundation, the developers behind the free and open-source LibreOffice suite, has now released an emergency update for LibreOffice that includes the fix. You should update as soon as possible if you have LibreOffice installed.”

Bloomberg: Microsoft Says Apple Used Bing as Google ‘Bargaining Chip’. “A Microsoft Corp. executive complained that when it came to the search-engine wars with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, the company’s Bing was never more than a bargaining chip to Apple Inc.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Carnegie Mellon University: Addressing Copyright, Compensation Issues in Generative AI. “Recent work by Carnegie Mellon University researchers tackles the thorny issues of copyright and compensation for generative AI models that create new images. A team in the School of Computer Science’s Generative Intelligence Lab collaborated with Adobe Research and the University of California, Berkeley, to develop two algorithms to help generative AI models take important steps on these issues. The first algorithm prevents these models from generating copyrighted materials, while the second develops a way to compensate human creators when models use their work to generate an image.” Good morning, Internet…

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September 30, 2023 at 05:31PM
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HBCU Symposium on Rhetoric & Composition, Merriam-Webster, Firefox, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 29, 2023

HBCU Symposium on Rhetoric & Composition, Merriam-Webster, Firefox, More: Friday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 29, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

EVENTS

BusinessWire: Fifth HBCU Symposium to Explore Activism, Literacy, and Rhetoric (PRESS RELEASE). “The fifth Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Symposium on Rhetoric & Composition will take place in-person on October 5-6, 2023, at Jackson State University (JSU). Select sessions will be streamed virtually. The symposium, which focuses on excellence in English composition and rhetoric, acts as a think tank where every two years writing instructors from historically Black colleges and universities gather to discuss strategies that support student engagement, scholarship, and success.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Seattle Times: Merriam-Webster Dictionary reveals almost 700 new words: sports terms, social media phrases and more. “The Merriam-Webster Dictionary announced the addition of 690 new words to its listings on Wednesday, including sports terms beast mode, bracketology and GOATED.”

How-To Geek: Firefox Now Works Better With Google Apps, Including Meet. “Most browsers nowadays are just using the same Chromium engine found in Google Chrome. That means most sites work the same in all Chromium-based browsers, since those sites are tested in the most in Chrome, but they might run into issues on Firefox or Safari. Google’s web apps have been far from perfect on Firefox over the past few years, but now many of them are working better than ever in Mozilla’s web browser, even Google Meet.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Reuters: Social media inspires Japanese women to dash into rickshaw pulling. “[Yuka] Akimoto is one of a handful of women who have chosen to pull rickshaws in Tokyo, attracted to the male-dominated profession through social media, which in turn has given some of these female pullers a strong local and international following.”

University of Texas at Austin: Legendary Film Producer Irwin Winkler Donates Archive to Harry Ransom Center. “Thousands of scripts, photographs, letters and diaries that form the archive of Oscar winner Irwin Winkler, producer of such films as ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Rocky,’ ‘The Right Stuff,’ ‘The Irishman,’ ‘Creed’ and ‘Raging Bull,’ have been donated to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Engadget: The WGA strike ends with protections against AI set in place. “The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has voted to officially end its strike, almost five months since it stopped work and demanded a better contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). … WGA’s decision comes shortly after it held a series of negotiation sessions with producers and reached a tentative agreement, with one of the key sticking points being the use of generative AI.”

VOA: Indonesia Bans Goods Transactions on Social Media Platforms. “Indonesia has banned goods transactions on social media platforms in a new regulation, its trade minister said Wednesday, as Jakarta aims to rein in direct sales by major tech firms it says are harming millions of small businesses.”

Fortune: Judge in Bankman-Fried trial to allow evidence of Chinese bribe, drug use by FTX execs . “In a 16-page order, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan agreed to let the prosecution present evidence to the jury that Bankman-Fried sought to bribe a Chinese official in hopes of getting access to $1 billion in funds the country had frozen. While the government has not charged Bankman-Fried with a crime in relation to the alleged incident in the upcoming trial, Kaplan found evidence about the bribe could support allegations about his motive for looting customer funds.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Penn State: Internet-based therapy may help depression in people with multiple sclerosis. “Major depressive disorder affects up to 50% of all individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) at some point during their lifetime and can lead to lower quality of life, greater disease progression and higher mortality. Patients enrolled in a phase 3 trial of an internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy program modified specifically for MS showed a large drop in depressive symptoms compared to a control group. The online program may offer an effective and easily accessible way to manage depression and lead to better quality of life for persons with MS, according to an international team of researchers.”

University of Florida: How valuable are online product recommendations to consumers?. “In today’s online world, third parties collect and store your browsing data at staggering rates. Third parties benefit greatly from this information, but do you get fair returns for sharing your data online? New research from the University of Florida Matherly Professor Anuj Kumar and Santa Clara University’s Xiang (Shawn) Wan (UF Ph.D. ’22) proposed a novel method to measure the value consumers get from product recommendation systems (RS), one of the most prominent online tools that use consumer data.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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September 30, 2023 at 12:22AM
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15th Century Italian Banking, Megan Thee Stallion, Texas State Symbols, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, September 29, 2023

15th Century Italian Banking, Megan Thee Stallion, Texas State Symbols, More: Friday ResearchBuzz, September 29, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Queen Mary University of London: Historical Treasures from the 15th Century: new website offers a treasure trove of data and research tools. “Queen Mary University of London academics launch new web resource, revealing historical records of two fifteenth-century ledgers of the Bruges and London branches of the Milanese bank Filippo Borromei and partners.”

NME: Megan Thee Stallion launches mental health resources site, Seize The Awkward. “Megan Thee Stallion has launched a new mental health resources website called Seize The Awkward…. Seize The Awkward features a series of videos in which Megan Thee Stallion opens up about various topics like checking in on friends and being vulnerable. There’s also videos from other stars like Noah Cyrus, Ava Max, Tyler Posey and athletes like American football player Caleb Williams and wrestler Big E.” This is the second mental health resources site launched by Ms. Thee Stallion.

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas State Library and Archives Commission Launches New State Symbols Website. “The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) has announced a new web page featuring the official legislatively-designed State Symbols of Texas. The new site, accessible at http://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/symbols, features each official state symbol with a photograph and citation of the relevant resolution from the Texas Legislature. State symbols have been designated since 1901, when the bluebonnet was chosen as the official flower of Texas by the 27th Legislature.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Rolling Stone: Twitter Fires Election Integrity Team Ahead of 2024 Elections. “Several European staffers working on a threat disruption team for the social platform, including senior manager Aaron Rodericks, have been fired this week, according to a report in the tech publication The Information that cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Site owner Elon Musk confirmed the termination of the team members on Wednesday.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

USC Annenberg Media: Turning the page on banned books: LA libraries widen access to restricted titles. “In response to increasing book challenges in California schools, a new motion from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors aims to widen access to restricted titles by giving every California resident access to LA County libraries’ e-book database.”

Irish Times: TikTok discovers ‘covert influence operation’ targeting Ireland. “Video-sharing service TikTok dismantled a ‘covert influence operation’ network dedicated to targeting users in Ireland with ‘divisive’ content to “intensify social conflict”, the company has disclosed. The influence network was made up of 72 accounts that together had a following of some 94,743 users, and was shut down earlier this year.”

CPA Practice Advisor: IRS Rolls Out New Chatbot Feature for Certain CP Notices. “Chatbots will be used to provide information to taxpayers on the following tax notices: CP2000, CP2501, and CP3219A. These notices inform taxpayers if the tax information the IRS received from third parties, such as employers or financial institutions, does not match the information they provided to the IRS themselves. This discrepancy could cause an increase or a decrease in the amount of taxes a person owes.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Talking Points Memo: EXCLUSIVE: 5th Circuit’s Craven Ruling In Biden Social Media Case Was A ‘Clerical Error’. “The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals this morning abruptly withdrew Monday’s order giving red states a chance for an even bigger win in a case that has blocked much of the Biden administration from flagging misinformation on social media sites. The 5th Circuit’s Clerk of Court told TPM that the original order was a ‘clerical error.'”

Ars Technica: FCC details plan to restore the net neutrality rules repealed by Ajit Pai. “Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today announced plans to restore net neutrality rules similar to those that were adopted during the Obama era and then repealed by the FCC when Donald Trump was president.”

Washington Post: He live-streamed his attacks on Indian Muslims. YouTube gave him an award.. “He chased cow transporters on foot and beat them on camera. In return, his fans on YouTube and Facebook left comments full of heart emojis, praising him for doing the work of God. For a century, vigilantes in north India have worked discreetly in a legal gray zone to protect cows, an animal worshiped by Hindus. But these enforcers have become more extreme and flamboyant in the past decade, thanks to American social media companies that reward them with online followings, and officials from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who offer them political protection and champion their militant brand of Hindu nationalism.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

North Carolina State University: State COVID-19 Websites Fail to Meet Accessibility Standards. “Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. states and territories all created websites designed to share information with the public about the disease, vaccinations and related public health recommendations. However, a new study finds these sites do not meet accessibility standards – meaning that some members of the public, such as individuals who are blind or visually impaired, are not able to access all of the relevant information on the sites.”

University of Queensland: Problem drinking linked to alcohol on social media. “A University of Queensland study highlights a direct link between young people’s exposure to alcohol-related social media content and problem drinking. The study led by PhD candidate Brandon (Hsu-Chen) Cheng from UQ’s Australian National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research examined results from 30 international studies of more than 19,000 people aged 24 and younger.” Good morning, Internet…

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September 29, 2023 at 05:31PM
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Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, TreeGOER, Binance, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 28, 2023

Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, TreeGOER, Binance, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, September 28, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Daily News (Tanzania): Samia to launch Dr Salim Ahmed Salim’s digital archive. “PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu is set to preside over the inauguration of the Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim Archives in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, September 30, 2023. Dr. Salim is an eminent international diplomat, previously held the esteemed positions of the fifth Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania and the eighth Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) from 1989 to 2001.”

SCOOP New Zealand: New Database Paves Way For Trees To Thrive In Face Of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss . “The database, Tree Globally Observed Environmental Ranges or TreeGOER, for short, documents the observed environmental ranges for the majority of known tree species. It was developed at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), an international research and development organization on trees, forests, agroforestry and landscapes. The open-access database is available on Zenodo and described in the journal Global Change Biology. TreeGOER documents the global environmental ranges for 51 variables for observed occurrences of 48,129 tree species.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Wall Street Journal: The World’s Biggest Crypto Firm Is Melting Down. “After FTX crashed, the world of crypto seemed to belong to the largest exchange, Binance. Less than a year later, Binance is the one in distress. Under threat of enforcement actions by U.S. agencies, Binance’s empire is quaking. Over the past three months, more than a dozen senior executives have left, and the exchange has laid off at least 1,500 employees this year to cut costs and prepare for a decline in business.”

The Verge: Amazon is placing free Alexa Guard security features behind a paywall. “The free version of Alexa Guard that listens for household disturbances was included as a standard feature on Amazon Echo devices. In a recent email to customers, Amazon said that some of Guard’s features like smoke and CO alarm detection will instead be moved to its new Emergency Assist service, which is available for $5.99 per month or $59 per year.”

TechCrunch: Google Podcasts to shut down in 2024 with listeners migrated to YouTube Music. “Google announced this morning it will be shutting down its Google Podcasts app later in 2024 as part of its broader transition to move its streaming listeners over to YouTube Music. The company earlier this year announced YouTube Music would begin supporting podcasts in the U.S., which will expand globally by year-end, and more recently said it was adding the ability for podcasters to upload their RSS feeds to YouTube also by year-end.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Deutsche Welle: EU says Elon Musk’s X is biggest source of disinformation. “The social media network X, formerly known as Twitter, is the biggest source of fake news, a top European official said Tuesday. European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said that X, which is not a signatory to a European Union-wide code of conduct to crack down on fake news on social media platforms and advertising companies, has the ‘largest ratio of mis/disinformation posts.'”

Engadget: Even the CIA is developing an AI chatbot. “The CIA and other US intelligence agencies will soon have an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT. The program, revealed on Tuesday by Bloomberg, will train on publicly available data and provide sources alongside its answers so agents can confirm their validity.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: Disinformation is a weapon regularly deployed in Russia’s war in Ukraine.. “What is clear is that misdirection, disinformation and propaganda are weapons regularly deployed in Russia’s war in Ukraine to buoy spirits at home, demoralize the enemy or lead opponents into a trap. And it is often hard to know when reports are false or why they may have been disseminated. Now, Ukraine and Russia are offering dueling narratives over whether a more senior Russian naval officer, the commanding admiral of the Black Sea Fleet, is alive or dead.”

Bloomberg: Apple, Google agreed to ‘defend’ search deal from regulators. “Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) lucrative agreement to use Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google as the default search engine for the iPhone includes a provision that the two tech giants will ‘support and defend’ the deal against government scrutiny, a top Apple executive said at an antitrust trial.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Brigham Young University: Yelp certified: BYU-led research discovering ways to keep fake online reviews offline. “From choosing a restaurant for a special dinner to selecting a new part for a car, consumers are heavily influenced by the experiences of their online peers. However, often lurking beneath the surface of online reviews is misinformation that threatens to erode this trust. A new study led by a BYU business professor offers strategic measures that businesses can take (and that consumers should be aware of) to instill a greater sense of trust in online review platforms and combat misinformation.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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September 29, 2023 at 12:59AM
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