NEW RESOURCES

Mongabay: New lichen database takes big picture approach to forest monitoring. “The United States Forest Service is about to release a huge new database chronicling the abundance and diversity of lichens across the country. Why lichens? Because these amalgamations of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria — often found crusting over rocks and tree trunks or garlanding branches — are super sensitive indicators of air quality and climate change.”

New-to-Me and nifty, from Hongkiat: Codemade is a Pinterest-Style Tech Project Sharing Site. “This site feels like an engineering lover’s best friend. If you have a passion for writing code and building physical projects you will love Codemade. You can search projects by name or by feature using the top search bar. You can also search by popularity or organize projects based on technology.”

Duke University: New Project Uses Phones And Drones To Monitor Endangered Species. “Conservation researchers have developed an interactive software tool called ConservationFIT that can ‘read’ digital images of animal footprints captured from smartphones, cameras or drones and accurately identify the species, sex and age of the animal that made the tracks, and even match tracks to individual animals. Researchers at Duke University and SAS developed the interactive software to help scientists monitor and map the world’s most elusive and endangered species. Anyone who spots animal tracks can upload images, even if they’re unsure what species made them.”

KSAT: Researchers create database highlighting educator discipline after improper relationship accusations. “Two researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio are creating a database highlighting educator discipline after they are accused of improper relationships. The researchers hope to get a deeper understanding of the epidemic of these allegations in the state of Texas.” Note that this database appears to focus on the state of Texas only.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Wow, that was quick, even in Internet time: Imzy is shutting down. “Imzy, the kinder, gentler online community platform, will be shutting down on June 23rd. Company co-founder Dan McComas made the announcement in a blog post today, stating his apologies and explaining to the community Imzy just couldn’t find its place in the market….” I had an account but didn’t do much with it; I found the UI kind of weird.

Engadget: Google Photos adds an archive button to declutter your stream. “Google Photos has been gently nudging users to store and share more on its service lately. Earlier this month, the Photos team unveiled some AI-powered sharing suggestions and a Google Lens integration that will make its image recognitions even smarter. But the latest update is a much simpler one meant to keep your photos in Google’s cloud without crowding up your main stream.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

SEO Roundtable: Google Might Publish On SEO Myths; Asks For Topics . “We’ve seen over the years between Matt Cutts, John Mueller, Gary Illyes and other Googlers that they go off for periods of time debunking SEO/Google myths. Well, it seems like Gary got the itch to do a round of these and he is asking for some topics to myth bust.”

The Conversation: How Google Street View became fertile ground for artists. “On May 25, Google Street View celebrates its 10th birthday. A feature of Google Maps, it lets users explore cities and towns around the world – and even peer inside businesses and government institutions (including the White House). Games have sprouted out of Street View – like Geoguessr, in which players guess where in the world they’ve been randomly placed – while some users have documented funny images captured by the roving cameras of Google’s cars. But Google Street View has also provided ample fodder for artists of all stripes, inspiring a range of creative works that include photographic curation, music videos and impromptu performances.”

SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES

Wired: A Campus Murder Tests Facebook Clicks as Evidence of Hate. “INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY still don’t know why Sean Urbanski, a 22-year-old University of Maryland student, walked up to 23-year-old Richard Collins III, a US Army lieutenant just days shy of college graduation, and fatally stabbed him at a campus bus stop this weekend. What they do say they know is that Collins, who was visiting a friend at UMD and did not appear to know Urbanski, was black, and that Urbanski belonged to a Facebook group called Alt-Reich: Nation, a haven of white supremacist content.”

Techdirt: Boston Globe Blocks Readers Using Privacy Modes In Browsers. “…people generally like to use privacy and incognito modes in their browsers for the very reasons the browsers developed them: security and privacy. Two things that perhaps the folks at the Boston Globe don’t consider terribly important as they have elected to simply block all readership from browsers running in privacy modes unless the reader signs up for a subscription.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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