NEW RESOURCES

Chemistry World: Database seeking to help to diversify chemistry gathers pace. “At three months old, Diversify Chemistry contains the names of more than 230 chemists who have self-reported as belonging to an underrepresented minority group. The website has had almost 3400 unique visitors and 11,000 page views, with the top location being the US, followed by the UK and then Canada. The database is searchable by sub-speciality, area of research interest and other parameters. It is open to chemists anywhere in the world but is US-centric at the moment.”

Pennsylvania: Wolf Administration Announces Comprehensive Tool to Help Individuals Identify Resources for Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Related Support Services. “The Wolf Administration today announced the launch of the Drug and Alcohol Referral Tool (DART), an online resource designed to help Pennsylvanians seeking substance use disorder treatment for themselves or a loved one find treatment options and other related services in their area. The tool is a centralized hub that consolidates available resources to assist people looking for services but are not sure where to begin.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Google Blog: Reducing gender bias in Google Translate. “Over the course of this year, there’s been an effort across Google to promote fairness and reduce bias in machine learning. Our latest development in this effort addresses gender bias by providing feminine and masculine translations for some gender-neutral words on the Google Translate website.”

Neowin: Facebook to bolster Indian political ads transparency. “Facebook has announced that it is taking steps to bring transparency to political ads running in India. The move follows similar rollouts to the U.S., Brazil, and the UK. The move is in anticipation of India’s general election next year and Facebook doesn’t want its platform to be misused by malicious entities to spread false information during the process.”

USEFUL STUFF

Digital Trends: The best internet speed tests. “Internet service providers like to make a lot of claims about upload and download speeds when you sign up, but do you ever wonder how those numbers compare to the speeds you’re actually getting on a day-to-day basis? These are the best internet speed tests to help you determine your upload and download speeds, as well as identify other issues with your network, such as packet loss, latency issues, or physical connection problems.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

BuzzFeed News: A Mysterious Imposter Account Was Used On Facebook To Drum Up Support For The Migrant Caravan. “Days before the migrant caravan left Honduras, a fake Facebook account was used to try to bolster its numbers. The social media giant has since deactivated the account but has refused to provide information about who created it.”

The Verge: Pillowfort wants to be the Tumblr alternative, but it’s not ready yet. “Pillowfort is a young, blog-centric social platform inspired by early LiveJournal communities and Tumblr fans. People can post their photos, written text, illustrations, and GIFs, and share those creations with others. There are options for both public and private settings, but the site is designed to allow people to spread their work, connect with like-minded individuals, and create communities — including ones that appreciate sexual writing and imagery.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CNET: Facebook fined $11.4M in Italy over data misuse. “Italy’s Competition Authority on Friday slapped Facebook with two fines that total 10 million euros ($11.4M) for using people’s data for commercial purposes in ways that break the country’s laws.”

New York Law Journal: Something Old, Something New: Securities Enforcement in the Age of Social Media. “At a time when breaking norms has become the new normal, the recent battle between Tesla’s charismatic chief executive, Elon Musk, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory enforcers captured the attention of the public. Musk’s seemingly deliberate use of Twitter to pick a fight with the SEC, combined with his track record of fostering paradigm shifts in several industries, suggested to securities lawyers and white-collar practitioners that we would soon see something new under the sun. It was not to be. Although Musk himself has earned a reputation for being incredibly innovative, the SEC’s case against him was not. We believe the absence of innovation provides an important opportunity to consider the road not taken, at least not yet.”

Ars Technica: 22 apps with 2 million+ Google Play downloads had a malicious backdoor. “Almost two dozen apps with more than 2 million downloads have been removed from the Google Play market after researchers found they contained a device-draining backdoor that allowed them to surreptitiously download files from an attacker-controlled server.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

British Horseracing Authority: Digital race archive playing vital role in ground-breaking rider research. “The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has today announced details of how its digital archive of previous races is assisting multiple research projects aimed at improving rider safety. The projects, which are based at the University of Sydney, University College Dublin and University of Bath respectively all use a digital race archive created by the BHA earlier this year to map and digitally re-construct how jockeys fall in more detail.”

Stuff New Zealand: What happened when Google Maps said my family home was a public park. “Google Maps is one of the greatest innovations of our time. Maps of the entire world, on demand, for free, in your pocket any time you want it. Can you even imagine how jealous Burke and Wills would be of that? Unfortunately, maintaining an accurate map of the entire world is complicated, especially during a housing boom. The world steadfastly refuses to stay the same, and some areas are just wrong.” Good morning, Internet…

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