I am thinking about all of you today. Every last one of you.

NEW RESOURCES

Now available: a new collection of best practices for digitizing herbarium collections. “The 14 modules, each organized in seven to 36 easy-to-follow and customizable tasks, cover everything from setting up an imaging station to georeferencing. They also include methods to organize outreach events for public participation in imaging and data transcription. They are downloadable as Portable Document Format (PDF) and editable word processing files on GitHub and as PDF files at iDigBio. A full description of the workflows and their development, along with editable word processing files of the workflow modules, is available in the September issue of Applications in Plant Sciences.” I went and took a look at the GitHub stuff. You can preview the PDF materials on the site and they are really extensive with plenty of linkouts to other resources.

Indian maps — that is to say, maps of India — will soon be online. “The National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) is developing a digital library and within a year people would have access to an e-version of Indian maps, the department of science and technology announced here on Thursday.”

The Library of Congress has a new feature on the end of World War II. “The Veterans History Project (VHP) today launched a new web presentation, “End of WWII: 70th Anniversary,” the latest installment in its online Experiencing War website series. The feature highlights 15 digitized stories from the VHP collection that illustrate what the end of the war meant to those who were serving and what happened next. Shared through interviews, photographs and on film, these personal accounts encompass the jubilation and celebration that ensued, as well as the cost of war in terms of its lasting effects.”

Zooniverse has gone back to its nature roots with the launch of WildCam Gorongosa. “If you’re already a fan of Snapshot Serengeti and/or Chimp & See, you’ll definitely want to check this one out, as we explore trail-camera photos from the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, and discover the wealth of wildlife within.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Hey! Queen Elizabeth II now has her very own Google Pegmajesty. Or PegMa’am.

This should get interesting: journalists can now broadcast live over Facebook. “Facebook said today that verified journalists, experts, and other ‘influencers’ will now be able to use its Mentions app—formerly available only to select celebrities. The app will allow journalists to post live to Facebook during breaking news, for behind-the-scenes reports, or to host live Q&As with followers, among other possibilities.”

Periscope is now available in landscape mode. “In a blog post, the company said that yes, they are “fans of portrait video” but acknowledged that there are times when shooting in landscape makes more sense. This update comes after listening to their community who were outspoken about wanting a landscape mode, and is part of their ‘approach to ensure a seamless experience across all of our platforms.'” Thinking of all the Periscopes I’ve seen, I think 90% would have been better in landscape mode.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Slate goes deep into parody Twitter accounts, and money,
and account suspensions, and money. And humor ripoffs. And money. I have feelings about this. Not sure they’ve gelled yet.

Google has announced Android Pay. “Similar to Apple Pay, Android Pay will allows users to pay for goods and services with a tap of their smartphone in stores—assuming that the device supports Near Field Communication (NFC) short-range wireless technology and runs Android 4.4 KitKat or above. (The terminal itself must also support Android Pay and NFC.)”

Looks like Google Fiber might be expanding. “Google Fiber announced today that it’s considering bringing its ultra high-speed internet service to three more cities: Irvine, California; Louisville, Kentucky; and San Diego.”

RESEARCH AND OPINION

Interesting: Wikipedia page views, compared to Google Trends, as a measurement for topic interest. “Japanese researchers have conducted research to prove that Wikipedia’s publicly-available page view data could potentially provide a better insight into web trends than the more limited statistics available from Google.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Fun Friday: if you’re like me, you are years and possibly decades behind on your television watching. If so, you’ll appreciate this spoiler-hiding Chrome extension. “IMDb Hide Episode Spoilers is a Chrome browser extension that hides potential spoilers from a television show’s Internet Movie Database (IMDb) listing by blacking out the number of episodes in which an actor appears.” Good morning, Internet…

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