NEW RESOURCES

The Scotsman: The Royal Scots bring history into the present with digital archive. “Edinburgh-born James Fleming was only 22 when he was killed in battle in Belgium on October 14, 1918. The son of Archibald and Jane Fleming, of 31 Nelson Street, was a lance corporal in the 11th battalion of The Royal Scots during the Great War. The young soldier is one of 11,313 names memorialised on The Royal Scots digitised Roll of Honour that has been collated in honour of the centenary of the end of the First World War. Colonel Martin Gibson is the commander of the larger digitisation project, of which the roll is the first stage, which will eventually see the whole of The Royal Scots archive online.” I could not find the actual address of the Roll in the article, maybe I missed it. You can find it at http://straylight.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/royalscots/ .

6sqft: New tool maps every active construction project in NYC in real time. “New York City’s construction craze just got easier to track, thanks to a new tool that maps every major, active project across the five boroughs. The city’s Department of Buildings released this week an interactive map and dashboard that provides real-time information on every active construction site in the city. According to the data, there are currently 7,437 active permits filed and nearly 198,000,00 total square feet of construction, as of Wednesday.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: New York Public Library turns classic novels into Insta Stories. “The New York Public Library is using Instagram’s Stories feature to make classic novels more accessible and enticing to read, especially to the younger generation. It has teamed up with ad agency Mother in New York to create ‘Insta Novels,’ which turns classic pieces of literature into animated digital novels illustrated by various visual artists. ”

ZDNet: Gmail now lets you send self-destructing ‘confidential mode’ emails from your phone. “Google has rolled out its ‘confidential mode’ for setting a self-destruct date on email to mobile devices. Confidential mode came with the search company’s big redesign of Gmail announced earlier this year and became the default for consumer Gmail users in July, while G Suite business customers still have a few months to make the switch.”

News18: New Facebook Tool Lets Journalists Scrutinise Political Ads. “With midterm elections in the US and general elections in several other countries knocking at the door, Facebook has rolled out a new tool that makes it easier for researchers and journalists to scrutinise Facebook ads related to politics or issues of national importance.”

USEFUL STUFF

Social Media Examiner: How to Use Facebook and Twitter Ad Transparency Tools. “Wondering what your competitors’ social media ads look like? Have you heard of the ad transparency tools for Facebook and Twitter? In this article, you’ll discover four ways social media marketers can use Facebook and Twitter ad transparency tools.”

PR Newswire: Students Unveil New Tool to Help The World Learn to Code (PRESS RELEASE). “The tool, known as Code Shrew, is the brainchild of Ludwik Trammer and Jamie Nunez. It uses a popular programming language called Python combined with drawing and animation capabilities to teach coding in a way that feels like doodling. Written code is reflected immediately on the screen, allowing users to make mental connections between what they type and how it changes their drawings.” The tool appears to be free. I played with it some and liked it enough that I made an appointment on my calendar to go through the lessons.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The New York Times: Europe Worries as Facebook Fights Manipulation Worldwide. “Facebook has spent the past two years trying to block foreign propaganda in the United States. But its disclosure of hundreds of fake accounts and pages, including the one tied to the Iranian-backed group, revealed that the foreign manipulation of elections through Facebook extends across the globe. Tactics used by Russia-linked groups ahead of the 2016 presidential election are being applied in Britain, the Middle East and Latin America. Europe, where Facebook has more users than in the United States, is particularly worried.”

Truro News: Truro man trapped in Google-age nightmare. “Life has never been easy for Donnie Bartlett. There was the depression and anxiety disorder, the short jail sentence for uttering threats — ‘years ago,’ he says, ‘a stupid thing, just my big mouth’ — and at least one failed business in Ontario. When he returned to his home town of Truro in early 2015 he was so penniless he ended up in a homeless shelter. But a story about his plight in The Chronicle Herald helped him get back on his feet. After a while things were looking up. His home renovation business was busy enough that he needed three other employees just to keep up with the work. Then, about three weeks ago, the phone calls started.”

Slate: There’s a New Social Media Site That Just Hurtles Your Life Updates Into the Void. “Finally, there is a way to ensure that your social media posts go where they belong: directly into the proverbial garbage can. It’s all thanks to a new (kinda) site called Brizzly, a simulacrum of a social media network that, like Twitter and Facebook, gives you a little box to fill with life updates but, in an improvement on both services, then takes your text and does absolutely nothing with it.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CNET: Former Facebook security chief warns ‘it’s too late to protect 2018 elections’. “Former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos has issued a sobering warning about the continuing threat of foreign interference in US elections, saying it’s ‘too late to protect the 2018 elections.’ But he believes the 2020 election can still be saved.”

San Antonio Current: Feds Back Lawsuit by San Antonio Nonprofit Claiming Facebook’s Ads Discriminate. “Last week, a San Antonio fair housing advocate’s anti-discrimination suit against Facebook got a booster shot from two U.S. government agencies. The suit, filed in March by the Fair Housing Council of Greater San Antonio and three similar groups, argues the social media giant knowingly let landlords and property sellers run ads that filter out who sees them based on factors such as race, disability, religion and whether someone has kids.” Good morning, Internet…

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