NEW RESOURCES

Bernews: New Website Directory For Helping Services. “The Ministry of Health has released both an electronic and printed version of the new Directory of Helping Services, saying ‘this is the first time a searchable, online version of the directory has been offered.’ ‘The Health Promotion Office of the Department of Health produces the printed directory, which lists non-profit organisations, registered charities, and Government agencies in Bermuda that offer support services to families and children, seniors and persons with disabilities,’ the Ministry said.”

University of Michigan: Expanding Cancer Research In Ethiopia. “Inside Bereket Woldeab’s office at Ethiopia’s Public Health Institute in Addis Ababa, two things stand out in an otherwise bare room. One is the impressive microscope on top of the desk. The other is the plethora of black hardcover files stacked everywhere. These black files contain more than 14,000 handwritten notes and pathology reports regarding the health status of cancer patients—their tumors, diagnoses, treatments, progress and other details. Now, thanks to a project with the University of Michigan School of Public Health, these hand-written files are finding a place in a streamlined online database that can be used for research, look for patterns and assist public health officials with better information that is used in the management of cancer and ultimately, cures.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

US State Department: The United States Withdraws From UNESCO . “On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO. This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.”

eWeek: New Box Skills Uses AI to Extract Key Image, Audio, Video Content. “Looking to give enterprises and other organizations better access to relatively underutilized content, Box has announced Box Skills. The initial release of Box Skills covers three areas—image, audio and video. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) company said Box Skills leverages different aspects of machine learning such as computer vision, video indexing and sentiment analysis, to give users more insights to their company’s content.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: Google Unveils Job Training Initiative With $1 Billion Pledge. “Google unveiled an initiative on Thursday to help train Americans for jobs in technology and committed to donating $1 billion over the next five years to nonprofits in education and professional training.”

LA Times: #WomenBoycottTwitter to show support for those harassed on the social media platform. “Twitter Inc. gave the world the hashtag. Now the social media company is witnessing the power of the pound sign firsthand. A 24-hour boycott of Twitter by women Friday served as a protest against the silencing of women’s voices and a show of support for women who have been harassed on the social media platform, organizers and prominent participants said.”

The New Arab: Instagram a window to the world for besieged Gazans. “Instagram stars in the Gaza Strip are using the social media platform to show the world a different side to the besieged enclave. In the coastal territory sealed off by Israel to the east and north, Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it is impossible for Gazans to leave without permission – which is rarely granted.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

ZDNet: Researchers find 450,000 financial scams operating on social media. “Financial scams have doubled in the past year on social media but only a small pool of cyberattackers appear to be behind the surge. According to ZeroFOX researchers, around 250,000 finance and banking scams were lurking on social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook in 2016, but now, this estimate has almost doubled having reached a total of 437,165 fraudulent campaigns.”

The Next Web: Facebook phishing scam says you’re a ‘Trusted Contact.’ Don’t believe it. “If you get a message from a Facebook Friend telling you they urgently need your help accessing their account — pause, because someone’s trying to use Facebook security against you. Access Now yesterday revealed details of the phishing scam that has apparently claimed a few victims recently. It’s basically an attempt to con you into handing over your account codes to someone you think you can trust.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CBS New York: Study Looks At How Fake News Thrives On Social Media. ” A new study by Columbia University shows people tend to question news less when they see themselves in a public group compared to how often they fact-check information while alone, a trend which may explain how fake news spreads on social media.”

CPH Post: Danish research: Your social media ‘likes’ reveal voting habits. “It may seem pretty obvious, but now it’s been proven. Liking political posts on Facebook can reveal your voting habits for upcoming elections. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen (KU) have come up with a new algorithm that lets them, with a high degree of certainty, guess your political leanings based on which political posts on social media you like.”

Phys.org: Researchers create digital objects from incomplete 3-D data. “Using special cameras, it is now possible to capture real objects digitally. Nonetheless, they run into trouble if for example some parts are hidden by others. Computer scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, together with colleagues from the US semiconductor manufacturer Intel and the Intel Visual Computing Institute at Saarland University, have developed a method that can reconstruct a digital object even from incomplete images.” Good morning, Internet…

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