Cannabis Concentrates Research, Google, Twitter, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 14, 2023

Cannabis Concentrates Research, Google, Twitter, More: Tuesday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 14, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

University of Colorado: New Interactive Evidence-Based Mapping Tool Gives Policymakers More Insight into Highly Concentrated Cannabis Products. “After conducting the first scoping review of its kind, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed an evidence based interactive mapping tool to assist policymakers as they consider regulating the concentration of THC in cannabis products and as more potent products move into the marketplace…. The map includes 452 studies that meets three criteria: studies involving humans; highly concentrated cannabis exposure; and any health outcomes regardless of whether they were classified as beneficial or adverse.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Land: Google says major changes coming to search rankings. “Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, has reportedly said that major changes are coming to Google’s search rankings in the future. This comes from a talk Sullivan gave at an event last Friday, where he was quoted as saying that these ‘major changes’ are coming and that some may need to ‘buckle up.'”

TechCrunch: Elon Musk says X is changing its algorithm to highlight smaller accounts. “The company formerly known as Twitter is preparing to roll out a ‘major update’ to its algorithm, according to a recent post by X owner Elon Musk. While today the app’s For You feed surfaces popular and trending posts from its broader network alongside highlights from those you follow, the new algorithm will surface posts from smaller accounts, Musk said.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Create a Resume Using Google Slides . “Aside from using Google Slides to create presentations, you can also use it to create resumes. Google Slides’ drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom layouts and perfectly position any text, images, and videos you want to add. So, let’s take a look at the easiest and fastest way to get this done.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Poynter: International Fact-Checking Network awards $1 million to 20 groups to expand fact-checking operations. “Twenty groups have been awarded a total of $1 million in grants to help grow the capacity and sustainability of fact-checkers to fight misinformation around the world, the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute announced Monday.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bloomberg: Google Sues Scammers Over Fake Bard AI Chatbot That Downloads Malware. “Alphabet Inc.’s Google is suing five unidentified scammers who tricked people looking for Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Bard into downloading malware onto their computers.”

Firstpost: Nepal bans TikTok, implements new regulations for social media platforms. “Nepal banned TikTok citing concerns over the app’s adverse impact on social harmony. Nepal is also setting some ground rules for social media platforms in the country, with a major. The government emphasised the need for these platforms to have representatives in Nepal to address user concerns.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Journal of Geek Studies: My neighbor Linnaeus: The influence of Studio Ghibli in zoological nomenclature . “It is undeniable that over the years, Ghibli has become a worldwide phenomenon. But its influence has not been limited to entertainment. We can also find traces of it in science, particularly in the one in charge of identifying, classifying, and naming species: taxonomy. In this contribution, I compile the animal species whose scientific names have been inspired by Studio Ghibli, as well as the stories behind the choice of those names.”

BBC: Why are fewer women using AI than men?. “While 54% of men now use AI in either their professional or personal lives, this falls to just 35% of women, according to a survey earlier this year. What are the reasons for this apparent AI gender gap, and should it be a concern?”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

LiveScience: From arsenic to urine, archaeologists find odd artifacts on museum shelves. “In a study published Oct. 19 in Advances in Archaeological Practice, University of Idaho archaeologist Mark S. Warner and his colleague, chemist Ray von Wandruszka, summarized the 15 years they have spent identifying and testing noxious substances from archaeological artifacts. Their hunt for the grossest objects lurking in museums began when a large excavation of the 19th-century town of Sandpoint in northern Idaho in 2008 uncovered sealed glass bottles with mysterious contents among the other nearly 600,000 artifacts.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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November 15, 2023 at 01:02AM
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Tuskegee Institute, Zelle, Meme History, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, November 14, 2023

Tuskegee Institute, Zelle, Meme History, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, November 14, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

National Library of Medicine: Digitized Document Collection from USPHS Untreated Syphilis Study at Tuskegee Now Publicly Available Through NLM. “A collection of reproduced documents from the 1932 study by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) on the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men at Tuskegee Institute is now available as a digitized collection through the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The USPHS Untreated Syphilis Study at Tuskegee was conducted without informed consent and led to major reforms to protect participants in biomedical research.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Reuters: Payments app Zelle begins refunds for imposter scams after Washington pressure. “Banks on the payment app Zelle have begun refunding victims of imposter scams to address consumer protection concerns raised by U.S. lawmakers and the federal consumer watchdog, in a major policy change.”

Daily Dot: Introducing ‘Meme History,’ a new series celebrating the best memes online . “Today marks the launch of our new YouTube series ‘Meme History,’ celebrating the most iconic memes that have graced the internet since its inception. Why focus on memes? They’ve been a core element of the Daily Dot’s content from the beginning. Our extensive archive, built over a decade of meticulous meme coverage, has been instrumental in the creation of this series. And why choose memes from the vast expanse of human history to spotlight? The answer is simple: memes matter.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Pulitzer Prizes: Pulitzer Board Allows Broadcast Media Sites to Enter Journalism Prizes. “The Pulitzer Prize Board has decided to expand eligibility for its journalism awards to digital news sites operated by broadcast and audio organizations. Entries from these organizations should rely essentially on written journalism.”

Rolling Stone: Internet Sleuths Want to Track Down This Mystery Pop Song. They Only Have 17 Seconds of It. “Before the days of apps like Shazam, trying to identify an unfamiliar song was a team effort. WatZatSong, a social network dating back to 2006 (the early days of Web 2.0) facilitated that process on a global scale. Users could upload tracks that had stumped them, and crowdsource guesses about where it had come from. Some mysteries were swiftly solved; others were tougher to crack. But it wasn’t until 2021 that WatZatSong received what would become its most infamous and enduring submission, from a contributor in Spain going by the handle ‘carl92.'”

Ars Technica: The Humane AI Pin is a bizarre cross between Google Glass and a pager. “Not since Magic Leap has a ‘next-generation’ hardware company been so hyped while showing so little. Everyone in the tech world has been freaking out about this new pocket protector thing that wants to ‘replace your smartphone.’ It’s called the “Humane AI Pin.” As far as we can tell, it’s a $700 screenless voice assistant box and, like all smartphone-ish devices released in the last 10 years, it has some AI in it. It’s as if Google Glass had a baby with a pager from the 1990s.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Yahoo Finance: Why Washington wants to treat Apple and Google like big banks. “A Washington watchdog wants to police Big Tech like it it does big banks, meaning greater scrutiny for popular mobile payment systems operated by Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL). A new rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would require nonbank financial companies handling more than 5 million transactions per year to follow the same rules as giant lenders already supervised by the CFPB.”

Politico: Macron: Meta, Google ‘simply don’t deliver’ on handling of hate speech. “French President Emmanuel Macron criticized big tech companies’ handling of hate speech on their platforms. In an interview with the BBC, Macron took on Meta and Google specifically, saying that they
‘simply don’t deliver’ on their engagements around content moderation on their platforms.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

University at Buffalo: UB researcher receives $2.7 million grant to explore social media links with inflammation, depression. “A University at Buffalo researcher has received a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for a five-year study that explores the relationship between inflammation and social media use and their possible link to depression in vulnerable populations.”

PsyPost: Smartphone use before bed? It might not be as bad for teen sleep as thought, study finds. “A new study published in Computers in Human Behavior challenges the conventional wisdom about the negative impact of smartphone use on adolescent sleep. Contrary to expectations, researchers failed to find a clear link between teens’ smartphone use before sleep and their sleep outcomes. This suggests that the impact of smartphones on sleep may be more complex than previously thought.” Good morning, Internet…

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November 14, 2023 at 06:31PM
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Crafted in Mexico, VTuber Awards, Signal, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 13, 2023

Crafted in Mexico, VTuber Awards, Signal, More: Monday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 13, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Google Blog: Stitching stories: a digital ode to Mexico’s textile artisans. “Today we unveil Crafted in Mexico, a new hub on Google Arts & Culture celebrating our nation’s textile artisans, their enduring skills passed down through generations, and the significance of their work in the past, present and future. These creations embody rich history and craftsmanship, standing as timeless masterpieces. The project presents over 50 stories that pay tribute to these artisans, their intricate techniques, and the enduring artistry that enriches Mexico’s cultural heritage.”

EVENTS

Tubefilter: The first annual VTuber Awards are happening Dec. 16. “The first VTuber Awards will air Dec. 16, 2023, hosted by VTuber Filian and put on by Mythic Talent, the talent management company co-founded by OTK members Asmongold and TipsOut. It’s produced by WePlay Studios and will be hosted live at the WePlay Esports Arena in Los Angeles.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: Signal tests usernames so you can avoid sharing your phone number . “Signal is publicly testing letting users add usernames to their accounts so they don’t have to share their phone number to connect via the encrypted messaging service. The test was announced via a post on the Signal forums by VP of engineering Jim O’Leary, who referred to the feature as ‘pre-beta’ and warned that there’ll be rough edges including crashes and broken push notifications.”

PetaPixel: Canva Now Lets You Add Songs to Videos and Social Media Edits. “This week, the online editing app Canva launched a music library for use in designs. The new feature allows Canva Pro and Education users to add songs to videos, presentations, and social media posts through the editing app. These projects can then be published directly to multiple platforms without the extra step of exporting.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Emory University: Rose Library secures Mellon grant to create virtual reading room, expand access to collections. “The Irish holdings are also why the Rose Library staff has begun work on a virtual reading room to expand access to its collections. Their work is supported by a $250,000 planning grant from the Mellon Foundation to develop a technical and policy framework for a virtual reading room.”

Washington Post: Inside an OnlyFans empire: Sex, influence and the new American Dream . “In the American creator economy, no platform is quite as direct or effective as OnlyFans. Since launching in 2016, the subscription site known primarily for its explicit videos has become one of the most methodical, cash-rich and least known layers of the online-influencer industry, touching every social platform and, for some creators, unlocking a once-unimaginable level of wealth. More than 3 million creators now post around the world on OnlyFans, which has 230 million subscribing ‘fans’ — a global audience two-thirds the size of the United States itself, a company filing in August said.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: Google ads push malicious CPU-Z app from fake Windows news site. “A threat actor has been abusing Google Ads to distribute a trojanized version of the CPU-Z tool to deliver the Redline info-stealing malware. The new campaign was spotted by Malwarebytes analysts who, based on the backing infrastructure, assess that it is part of the same operation that used Notepad++ malvertising to deliver malicious payloads.”

The Register: CEOs of crashed tech upstart Bitwise accused of swindling $100M from investors . “The co-founders and co-CEOs of failed startup Bitwise appeared in a California court Thursday accused of cheating investors out of $100 million by making up bank statements and revenue figures. Irma Olguin, Jr and Jake Soberal self-surrendered after a federal complaint charged them with conspiring to commit wire fraud by misstating the assets of their ‘transformative technology’ biz.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Northeastern Global News: Most Americans are concerned about AI’s impact on the 2024 presidential election, Northeastern survey finds. “The majority of Americans are concerned that artificial intelligence will be used to spread falsehoods during the next presidential election, according to a recent Northeastern University survey. The survey was conducted by Northeastern’s new AI Literacy Lab to gauge the general public’s perceptions on AI. It found that 83% of respondents are worried about the proliferation of AI-generated misinformation during the 2024 presidential campaign.”

BusinessWire: New International Consortium Formed to Create Trustworthy and Reliable Generative AI Models for Science (PRESS RELEASE). “A global consortium of scientists from federal laboratories, research institutes, academia, and industry has formed to address the challenges of building large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) systems and advancing trustworthy and reliable AI for scientific discovery.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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November 14, 2023 at 01:17AM
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Office of Homeland Security Statistics, The Fashion Calendar, Native Cinema Showcase, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, November 13, 2023

Office of Homeland Security Statistics, The Fashion Calendar, Native Cinema Showcase, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, November 13, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

MeriTalk: DHS Launches new Office of Homeland Security Statistics. “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday unveiled its new Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), which aims to advance DHS’s statistical reporting and analysis capabilities. The new office said on Nov. 9 it plans to begin releasing its initial sets of data in the coming weeks and throughout fiscal year 2024, including a report on Federal cybersecurity incidents.”

Fashion Institute of Technology: The Ruth Finley Collection: Digitizing 70 Years of the Fashion Calendar. “The Fashion Calendar, which was published by Ruth Finley from 1941-2014, has long been the premier event resource for fashion, beauty, media, and culture. … Every issue of The Fashion Calendar with its iconic pink pages was donated to FIT, and now the calendar — more than 3,000 issues and upwards of 30,000 pages of material — has been fully scanned and digitized, is searchable and downloadable for free, by anyone wherever they are.”

EVENTS

Smithsonian: Online Native Cinema Showcase Brings Indigenous Films to Audiences Worldwide. “The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian celebrates American Indian Heritage Month with its online Native Cinema Showcase Nov. 17–24…. All films [six features and 29 shorts] are free to watch and are available for streaming, worldwide and on demand, with the exception of The Legend of Molly Johnson, Powerlands and We Are Still Here, which are limited to viewing in the United States.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Snap’s latest version of its AR development tool includes a ChatGPT API, boosted productivity and more. “Snap is releasing a new version of its AR development tool, called the Lens Studio 5.0 Beta, to developers starting today. The new AR development tool is designed to support more advanced AR development with increased productivity and the addition of new AI capabilities, including one powered by OpenAI. Snap made the announcement at its sixth annual Lens Fest AR developer conference on Thursday.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Create a Digital Planner in Google Sheets. “Organizing your daily tasks and schedules can be simplified with a digital planner. Thankfully, you don’t need to pay for a specialized app or wrestle with an overly complicated program—Google Sheets can get the job done. Creating a digital planner in Google Sheets is both easy and straightforward. Whether you’re mapping out personal or work-related tasks, it’s got all the features you need to get organized and stay on top of your responsibilities.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

BBC: Ryanair: How a budget airline took off on TikTok. “If the best things in life are free, you won’t find many of them on a Ryanair flight – and its social media accounts aren’t shy to say so. On TikTok, Insta and X, the company’s become known for ripping into its passengers and its own reputation. Being rude and obnoxious to your customers might not seem like the best approach, but the brand’s viral burns have earned it 2.1 million followers on TikTok – half a million more than EasyJet, Jet2, Tui, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Etihad combined.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

NBC News: How the GOP muzzled the quiet coalition that fought foreign propaganda. “A once-robust alliance of federal agencies, tech companies, election officials and researchers that worked together to thwart foreign propaganda and disinformation has fragmented after years of sustained Republican attacks. The GOP offensive started during the 2020 election as public critiques and has since escalated into lawsuits, governmental inquiries and public relations campaigns that have succeeded in stopping almost all coordination between the government and social media platforms.”

Reuters: Musk’s X has a fraction of rivals’ content moderators, EU says. “According to reports the companies submitted to the EU in September, X’s 2,294 EU content moderators compared with 16,974 at Google’s YouTube, 7,319 at Google Play and 6,125 at TikTok, the senior Commission official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.”

ABC News (Australia): Major Australian port operator shuts down amid cyber security incident, impacting goods in and out of the country. “Australia’s second largest port operator has shut down because of a cyber security incident, impacting the movement of goods in and out of the country. DP World Australia, which operates ports in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle, is responsible for 40 per cent of maritime freight said it began responding to a cybersecurity incident on Friday.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Information Sciences Institute, USC: Cracking the Code of Content Moderation . “Flagging, demotion, and deletion of content; temporary or permanent suspension of users – these are some of the interventions used to keep social media platforms safe, trustworthy, and free from harmful content. But what is the best way for these interventions to be implemented? Luca Luceri, a research scientist at USC’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), is part of a team that is using science to guide social media regulations.”

Mashable: 1,000 TikToks experiment confirms the app is mostly ads. “Two reporters from the publication took on the task of watching 500 TikToks each and tracking how many ads they saw throughout. The result ended up being about 30 percent for both of them. The majority of ad-related content were traditional ads, with the rest being a combination of affiliate content, sponsored content, self-promotion of a business or product, and product reviews (which was counted as an ad-related category because it’s referencing a certain product).”

Dartmouth University: AI Recognizes Faces but Not Like the Human Brain. “In a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a Dartmouth research team, in collaboration with the University of Bologna, investigated whether [Deep convolutional neural networks] can model face processing in humans. The results show that AI is not a good model for understanding how the brain processes faces moving with changing expressions because at this time, AI is designed to recognize static images.” Good morning, Internet…

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November 13, 2023 at 06:31PM
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Chipshub (Semiconductors), Archiving Black Churches, WordPress, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 12, 2023

Chipshub (Semiconductors), Archiving Black Churches, WordPress, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 12, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Purdue University: Chipshub: An online platform for everything semiconductors. “Purdue University is leveraging its expertise in scientific simulation tools to help the nation take the lead as the hub for semiconductors and chips research, development and manufacturing. The university is teaming with the state of Indiana, the U.S. Department of Defense and the international not-for-profit R&D center imec to unveil Chipshub, an online platform for semiconductor simulations, software, collaboration and workforce development.”

EVENTS

Post and Courier: Keeping their stories alive: Black churches discuss archiving, historical preservation. “Lovely Mountain Baptist Church is just one of several Black churches in the Charleston area that doesn’t have a formal documentation system in place. This is why Minister Lisa Robinson and Minister Anna Montgomery… hosted a conference to help Black churches start the archival process. Nearly 20 church leaders and members heard from archivists and preservation experts about best practices for documenting a church’s history during the Nov. 4 virtual conference.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Journal: WordPress 6.4.1 Maintenance Release Fixes Bugs In Version 6.4. “WordPress released a maintenance release on Wednesday evening to fix problems discovered shortly after WordPress 6.4 was released to the public on Tuesday November 7th. Two of issues were somewhat serious in that they affected the operation of certain plugins and could cause issues for sites encountering either of the two problems. The third one was a typo that resulted in a misconfigured notice in the admin panel.”

USEFUL STUFF

Smashing Magazine: Creating Accessible UI Animations. “Animation and accessibility are often seen as two separate powers at odds with one another. How is it possible to strike a balance between elements that move and the possible negative effects they expose to users who are sensitive to motion? Oriana García explains how her team at Mercado Libre tackled the challenge by creating guiding principles for applying animation to user interfaces and incorporating them into the team’s design system.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Poynter: How Russian falsehoods spread to the US through faux local news. “After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, tech platforms enforced bans against Russian state media. But actors found ways to circumvent these bans and continue circulating Russian propaganda — often through websites posing local news.”

ZDNet: How Google’s AI Bard helped me fix a Gmail technical problem. “Talking to Bard was fun and easy. It’s not quite as intuitive in its responses as ChatGPT Plus with GPT-4, but Bard works for this sort of problem. I had to guide it a few times, and I had to wait for it to spew a lot of suggestions that were the stock trade of every junior tech support person on the planet (i.e., ‘Try it from a different computer’).”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Verge: Microsoft offers politicians protection against deepfakes. “Amid growing concern that AI can make it easier to spread misinformation, Microsoft is offering its services, including a digital watermark identifying AI content, to help crack down on deepfakes and enhance cybersecurity ahead of several worldwide elections.”

BBC: Omegle shut down: Video chat website closed after abuse claims. “Popular live video chat website Omegle is shutting down after 14 years following user claims of abuse. The service, which randomly placed users in online chats with strangers, grew in popularity with children and young people during the Covid pandemic. But the site has been mentioned in more than 50 cases against paedophiles in the last couple of years.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

EurekAlert: Smartphones and smart speakers may be able to detect alcohol intoxication by analyzing voice patterns: Study. “Sensors in smartphones and smart speakers could help determine a person’s level of alcohol intoxication based on the changes in their voice, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.”

Newswise: Cultural artifacts serve as “cognitive fossils,” helping uncover the psychology of the past . “In a review published on November 2 in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, researchers explain how modern computing methods like text mining, face detection algorithms, and melodic extraction programs can enable large-scale analysis of cultural artifacts such as paintings, stories, or clothing to uncover this psychological data.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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November 13, 2023 at 01:08AM
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WWI Canadians, GIMP, Specialized GPTs, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, November 12, 2023

WWI Canadians, GIMP, Specialized GPTs, More: Sunday ResearchBuzz, November 12, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

Government of Canada: Access First World War service files in Collection Search. “In August 2018, Library and Archives Canada finished digitizing more than 600,000 service files of Canadians who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War. We’re pleased to announce that these files have been integrated into our main database, Collection Search, and are now available through a new landing page.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

HOW-TO GEEK: GIMP Adds New Gradient Options as It Prepares for 3.0 Release. “The latest GIMP release (version 2.10.36) introduces a fun new gradient tool and support for additional palette formats. More notably, this might be ‘the next to last release in the 2.10 branch,’ meaning that the delayed GIMP 3.0 launch should occur relatively soon. Even if you’re uninterested in today’s update, the GIMP Team suggests installing it for security fixes.”

USEFUL STUFF

Hongkiat: Top 10 GPTs by OpenAI So Far (Explained with Examples). “At OpenAI’s recent DevDay event, one of the standout announcements was the unveiling of specialized GPTs…. In this article, we’ll delve into ten of the most impactful GPTs launched to date. Having spent a considerable amount of time testing each one, I’ll share insights and sample outputs to give you a taste of what each can offer.”

Lifehacker: This Plugin Shows You Where Every Amazon Product Was Made. “Most of us do at least some (if not the majority of) our shopping online now, but there are things we give up for that convenience. You can’t actually hold the item in your hands to see if reality lives up to the product description, so we often rely on bot-infested or fake reviews. But if you consider where the item is manufactured to be an indication of the likely quality of the product, you might now have a solution, at least on Amazon: Cultivate is a free web browser extension specifically for Amazon shoppers that tells you where the product you’re eyeing was manufactured.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNBC: Group of Google contractors who work on Search and Bard win union vote. “A group of Google contractors, some of whom have worked on Search and Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Bard, have successfully voted to unionize. The group, from Google contractor Accenture, filed for unionization efforts in June after claiming Google asked them to help train the generative AI answers offered in Search and Bard, and that they felt underprepared for their work. The tasks included handling ‘obscene and graphic’ content, according to Bloomberg reports.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: Deepfakes meet cheesesteaks as Steak-umm rolls out a provocative marketing campaign. “Steak-umm is using this video for a new ad campaign, rolled out Oct. 31. But the West Chester-based food company is not using it to sell frozen steak slabs. It is sharing an entirely different message. It wants to demonstrate the sinister side of artificial intelligence. The four-minute video of the ‘carnivorous’ vegans is a deepfake.”

Fashionista: New Hearst Policy Restricts Political Speech on Employees’ Social Media Accounts. “Hearst is instituting a new social media policy that bans its employees, journalists on staff included, from expressing personal political opinions online. The news was shared publicly by the Hearst Magazines Media Union on Monday.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Verge: Epic v. Google, explained. “…while Epic’s antitrust claims against Apple got their day in court, a similar lawsuit against Google never did. On November 6th, Epic v. Google will finally go to trial… a mere 1,180 days after Epic originally sued. Hi, I’m Sean, and I’ll be your guide to this whole delightful mess.”

Engadget: Basically all of Maine had data stolen by a ransomware gang. “The state agencies of Maine had fallen victim to cybercriminals who exploited a vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer tool, making them the latest addition to the growing list of entities affected by the massive hack involving the software. In a notice the government has published about the cybersecurity incident, it said the event impacted approximately 1.3 million individuals, which basically make up the state’s whole population.”

The Register: Meta, YouTube face criminal spying complaints in Ireland. “Privacy consultant Alexander Hanff, who has occasionally contributed to The Register, has challenged Meta’s collection of data without explicit consent under Ireland’s computer abuse law. He told The Register he’s also in the process of filing a similar criminal complaint against YouTube over its use of scripts to detect ad blocking extensions in people’s web browsers.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Reuters: Exclusive-Elon Musk’s X restructuring curtails disinformation research, spurs legal fears. “Social media researchers have canceled, suspended or changed more than 100 studies about X, formerly Twitter, as a result of actions taken by Elon Musk that limit access to the social media platform, nearly a dozen interviews and a survey of planned projects show.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Digital Camera World: I shot photos with a 108-year-old Kodak camera lens to commemorate the soldiers of WWI . “During WWI soldiers were prohibited from using cameras and taking photographs of life in the trenches, however, many still did. They did so by using a small compact camera called the Kodak Vest Pocket film camera that was easy to conceal, and later became known as ‘The soldier’s camera’. Tom Calton, a photographer based in Peterborough, UK, has repurposed its otherwise fixed lens, adapting it to be used on a modern Sony mirrorless camera…” Good morning, Internet….

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November 12, 2023 at 06:31PM
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KyKy Archives, Autism-Friendly Online, Tumblr, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 11, 2023

KyKy Archives, Autism-Friendly Online, Tumblr, More: Saturday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, November 11, 2023
By ResearchBuzz

NEW RESOURCES

It’s Nice That: KyKy Archives preserves the history of Black queer people, places and culture. “Zora and Siddisse have been completely independent and free of institutional support since they started, and it has made for a site that is truly transformative and unique.”

Queen Mary University of London: New report reveals autistic adults’ social media experiences and provides toolkits to better support the needs of neurodivergent users. “To support efforts from designers and third and public sector professionals, Professor Nelya Koteyko and her research team in collaboration with the UK’s leading autism research and campaigning charity Autistica have created a policy brief ‘Making online platforms autism-friendly’ as well as toolkits that can help in adapting digital platforms and social media to better support the needs of neurodiverse users.” I really hope #1 is “no autoplaying video with audio.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Ars Technica: Owner of Tumblr confirms site’s shift from “surging” to “small and focused”. “Tumblr will lose a majority of its product-minded staff by the end of this year, according to the CEO of the company that owns it. But despite a recently leaked memo quoting Tennyson’s ‘better to have loved and lost’ line, the CEO believes they are ‘setting up Tumblr for success in this next chapter.'”

Gizmodo: Google’s ‘Help Me Script’ Can Help Automate Your Smart Home. “Need help figuring out how to program smart lights to turn on at dusk? You can ask AI for help with that. Google’s generative AI-powered feature called the ‘Help me script’ started rolling out to beta testers this week. It can help you figure out robust home automation. All you have to do is copy and paste code.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

The Atlantic: ‘We Do Not Want to Deal With Customers Like You!’. “This was not a one-off diatribe, a rogue manager on a bad day. Dragon Lee does this all the time. Perhaps you are a one-star reviewer who saw an outdated menu with lower prices? That ‘just shows how ignorant you actually are,’ the restaurant responded—and it doesn’t care if you come back: ‘It’s one less dunce we have to deal with.’… In the restaurant world, where online reviews have an ascendant power over a business’s bottom line, Dragon Lee is doing what other spots can’t, or won’t: It’s arguing with its customers.”

The Verge: Former Kotaku writers are launching a new video game site — and they own it this time. “Four ex-Kotaku staffers are launching a new subscriber-based video games and culture publication: Aftermath. The website, which is now live, will be co-owned by Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Riley MacLeod, and Luke Plunkett — all Kotaku mainstays who helped shape its incisive voice before leaving the site for one reason or another.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Cal Matters: Recognizing fake news now a required subject in California schools. “Pushing back against the surge of misinformation online, California will now require all K-12 students to learn media literacy skills — such as recognizing fake news and thinking critically about what they encounter on the internet.”

Engadget: Discord is switching to expiring links for files shared off-platform . “Discord is changing its approach to file hosting in an effort to crack down on malware. The platform will begin using temporary file links that will expire after 24 hours for user content shared outside of Discord, BleepingComputer reported. The change is expected to go into effect by the end of the year.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Northeastern Global News: What are AI chatbots actually doing when they ‘hallucinate’? Here’s why experts don’t like the term. “As debate over the true nature, capacity and trajectory of such man-made tools simmers in the background, a leading expert in the field is pushing back against the concept of ‘hallucination,’ arguing that it gets much of how current AI models operate wrong. ‘Generally speaking, we don’t like the term because these models make errors — and we can explain why they make errors,’ says Usama Fayyad, executive director for the Institute for Experiential Artificial Intelligence.”

North Carolina State University: NC State Researchers Create First Genetic Database of North Carolina Black Bears . “Using a broad DNA profiling panel for American black bears, researchers from NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Natural Resources have created the first genetic database for a subsample of North Carolina’s black bear population. The database, which can be used to identify individual bears and localized groups, can help law enforcement and wildlife officials identify bears poached by hunters or involved in human-bear interactions reported to the state.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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November 12, 2023 at 01:33AM
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