NEW RESOURCES

ABC News (Australia): New map records massacres of Aboriginal people in Frontier Wars. “After years of painstaking research, an online map marking the massacres of Aboriginal clans across Australia’s colonial frontier has launched. More than 150 sites have been recorded along the east coast, where violent attacks on Aboriginal people took place for decades after the First Fleet arrived.”

Royal BC Museum: 150 stories for 150 years: Canada’s national, provincial and territorial archives launch a new online exhibition. “To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation, national, provincial and territorial archives–an historic collaboration of 14 institutions across Canada–have selected 150 images and stories that illustrate how people have traversed our nation over years, decades and centuries, with a major focus on the role of the railway.” To access the entire release for this announcement, you’ll need to use the “Download Release” link on the right to download a PDF.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Google Blog: Google Earth Live: Explore.org invites you to hang out with Alaskan Brown Bears. “Beginning today, we’re bringing live content to Google Earth’s storytelling platform, Voyager. In a story by In a story by Explore.org you can journey into Katmai National Park — watch the hungry bears dine out at Brooks Falls or salmon darting towards the underwater livecam.”

Live Mint: India preparing database of R&D accomplishments in renewable energy. “The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) says India’s research and development (R&D) accomplishments in renewable energy don’t get the recognition they deserve. To correct this, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is now preparing a detailed database of such work, which it believes will help in shaping R&D road map for renewables in the country.”

TechCrunch: Nvidia and Baidu team on AI across cloud, self-driving, academia and the home. “Baidu and Nvidia announced a far-reaching agreement to work together on artificial intelligence today, spanning applications in cloud computing, autonomous driving, education and research, and domestic uses via consumer devices. It may be the most comprehensive partnership yet for Nvidia in its bourgeoning artificial intelligence business, and it’s likely to provide a big boost for Nvidia’s GPU business for years to come.”

USEFUL STUFF

Open Source: How to turn a Raspberry Pi into an eBook server. “eBooks are a great way for teachers, librarians, and others to share books, classroom materials, or other documents with students—provided you have ready and reliable access to broadband. But even if you have low or no connectivity, there’s an easy solution: Create an eBook server with the open source Calibre eBook management software running on a Raspberry Pi 3. Here’s how I did it—and you can, too.”

Columbia Journalism Review: How to report on algorithms even if you’re not a data whiz. “THERE’S A NEW BEAT in town: algorithms. From formulas that determine what you see on social media to equations that dictate government operations, algorithms are increasingly powerful and pervasive. As an important new field of influence, algorithms are ripe for journalistic investigation. But investigating computer code can come across as dry and technical. Researchers often talk about ‘auditing’ and ‘reverse engineering’ algorithms—activities requiring heavy data analysis. But algorithmic accountability reporting projects don’t have to be this way. There are many possible approaches that draw on traditional reporting as well.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

MIT Technology Review: The Internet Doesn’t Have to Be Bad for Democracy. “Tiny, largely self-funded U.S. startup Pol.is has been working on a similar project longer than Zuckerberg and already has some promising results. The company’s interactive, crowdsourced survey tool can be used to generate maps of public opinion that help citizens, governments, and legislators discover the nuances of agreement and disagreement on contentious issues that exist. In 2016, that information helped the government of Taiwan break a six-year deadlock over how to regulate online alcohol sales, caused by entrenched, opposing views among citizens on what rules should apply.”

The Hans India: Google mapping to be used to solve desecration cases: Parrikar. “With police unable to crack down on a series of desecrations of Catholic crosses and Hindu idols in Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said that they had been instructed to contact technology giant Google’s mapping service to identify the culprits.” The same Indian government which was dismissing Google Maps as unreliable?

Wired: AI Is Making It Extremely Easy for Students to Cheat. “Denise Garcia knows that her students sometimes cheat, but the situation she unearthed in February seemed different. A math teacher in West Hartford, Connecticut, Garcia had accidentally included an advanced equation in a problem set for her AP Calculus class. Yet somehow a handful of students in the 15-person class solved it correctly. Those students had also shown their work, defeating the traditional litmus test for sussing out cheating in STEM classrooms.” Good article, kinda dumb headline.

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Guardian: The Medicare machine: patient details of ‘any Australian’ for sale on darknet. “A darknet trader is illegally selling the Medicare patient details of any Australian on request by ‘exploiting a vulnerability’ in a government system, raising concerns that a health agency may be seriously compromised.”

Reuters: EU antitrust regulators seek expert help in Google Android case – sources. “EU antitrust regulators are seeking a second opinion from a panel of experts in their case against Alphabet unit Google’s Android mobile operating system, two people familiar with the matter said, as they weigh another record fine against the company.” Good morning, Internet…

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