NEW RESOURCES

Politico has created its own set of Trump Administration visitor records. “POLITICO’s UNAUTHORIZED White House Visitor Logs stand in for the official record, which the administration has decided not to release publicly.
To build a better, completely public visitor log, we compiled not just visits to the White House, but interactions that include in-person meetings with the president at Mar-a-Lago and other venues, appearances at events and documented phone calls with foreign leaders and other politicians.”

New on the Texas Digital Archives: An Inventory of the William Deming Hornaday Photograph Collection at the Texas State Archives. “This collection consists of photographs, photographic postcards, photoengravings and negatives amassed by William Deming Hornaday (1868-1942) to accompany the various articles written in his capacity as a journalist and Director of Publicity for the University of Texas. The images were created by a variety of photographers, the names of whom are mostly unknown. Dates covered are about 1890-about 1940, undated. The photographs depict notable people, places, and events across Texas. The collection also portrays a variety of locations outside the contiguous United States, most notably Mexico, Australia, China, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Fiji, and Hawaii.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Queen’s University: Linen Hall Library Set to Launch New ‘Divided Society’ Digital Archive. “The ‘Divided Society’ resource will collect together over 700 periodicals published between 1990 – 1998 focused on the Northern Irish conflict and peace process. Over 150,000 pages of material will be available along with a 1000 political posters and commissioned essays, audio and video interviews.”

USEFUL STUFF

PetaPixel: Ingenious ‘FilmLab’ App is the Easiest Way to Turn Negatives Into Digital Files. “Software developer Abe Fettig has a winner on his hands. His newly developed app FilmLab makes it easier than ever to turn film negatives and slides of various sizes into digital files without having to touch a scanner, understand wet mounting, or really do anymore more than point and shoot with your smartphone.”

Mashable: Apple just gave away all the iPhone camera’s secrets. “Just because you know how to press your iPhone’s camera shutter and record button and snap the perf selfie doesn’t mean you’re getting the most out of the incredibly capable camera. To help iPhone users take better (maybe even ‘Shot on iPhone’ worthy) photos, Apple’s launched a new website with a bunch of informative photography tips and tricks.”

MakeUseOf: How to Make Web Pages More Eco-Friendly to Print in Any Browser . “There are lots of tools out there that help you make web pages ink-friendly (and therefore eco-friendly), but they often require that you use a particular browser. But then there are a few tools that work regardless of your browser or the page you’re trying to print, and they couldn’t be easier to use.” A quickie but handy if you have to print pages a lot.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

StateTech Magazine: Georgia Calls on Alexa to Ease Web Access for Residents With Disabilities. “Georgia residents will soon be able to use their Amazon Echo to do more than play music and receive weather updates — they will be able to navigate their state government’s website. With the aim to make services more accessible for residents with disabilities, the state’s digital services group, GeorgiaGov Interactive, will be launching a ‘conversational interface pilot’ that uses Amazon’s voice-controlled software, Alexa, to navigate state government information.”

Business Insider: Google’s AI lab DeepMind has been warned about ‘issues’ with the way it used patient data in its NHS app . “Google’s artificial intelligence company DeepMind is concerned that a letter written by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) could have a negative impact on its business if it is published, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.”

SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES

Gizmodo: Huge Trove of Confidential Medical Records Discovered on Unsecured Server Accessible to Anyone. “Patient demographic information, social security numbers, records of medical diagnoses and treatments, along with a plethora of other highly-sensitive records were left completely undefended by a medical IT company based in Louisville, Kentucky. The files, which belong to at least tens of thousands of patients, originate from Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York.”

The Intercept: NYU Accidentally Exposed Military Code-breaking Computer Project To Entire Internet. “In early December 2016, Adam was doing what he’s always doing, somewhere between hobby and profession: looking for things that are on the internet that shouldn’t be. That week, he came across a server inside New York University’s famed Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing, headed by the brilliant Chudnovsky brothers, David and Gregory. The server appeared to be an internet-connected backup drive. But instead of being filled with family photos and spreadsheets, this drive held confidential information on an advanced code-breaking machine that had never before been described in public. Dozens of documents spanning hundreds of pages detailed the project, a joint supercomputing initiative administered by NYU, the Department of Defense, and IBM. And they were available for the entire world to download.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Fair Use Too Often Goes Unused. “When you are writing a book analyzing images from Kurosawa’s Rashomon, you should include images from the classic 1950 film. The logic behind that seems straightforward — but the logistics can be less so. For Blair Davis, an assistant professor of communications at DePaul University who edited Rashomon Effects: Kurosawa, Rashomon and their Legacies, published in 2015 by Routledge, getting permission to use the stills in the book turned out to be almost as difficult as ferreting out the truth in the film itself.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Digital Trends: New Google Patent Hints At Infrared Device That Could Better Track Your Sleep. “Specifically, the company filed a patent for a system that uses an infrared sensor to track a user’s sleep. The patent basically describes an infrared sensor that collects data about the subject’s movement and compares it to a sleep profile, helping determine whether the subject is asleep or not. The patent even goes as far as to note that the system could collect information about a subject’s breathing patterns based on the infrared light reflected back to the device.” Good morning, Internet…

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