NEW RESOURCES
PRWeb: HazardHub’s HydrantHub Passes 10 Million Fire Hydrant Locations Nationwide (PRESS RELEASE). “HazardHub, the nation’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, has announced that HydrantHub – the nation’s first and only addressable database of fire hydrant locations – has just added its 10 millionth fire hydrant location. The milestone was achieved while examining the more than 180 hydrants for Hamlin, NY, as part of HazardHub’s intense drive to add fire hydrant locations.” There is a tool and an API for getting this information from HazardHub. The location information isn’t too specific – just the note that the address you search is within more or less than x feet. On the other hand, the fire station locator tells you both what the station is and how far away it is more precisely.
New York Post: New database allows New Yorkers to view lawsuits filed against NYPD. “A newly released database allows New Yorkers to peruse thousands of lawsuits filed against the NYPD — allowing them to track how much taxpayer money has been spent to settle cases against cops in their local precincts since 2015.”
CNET: NASA teams with Google to create huge, stunning visual universe. “The NASA visual universe was created via machine learning, which analysed the space agency’s extensive archives to present its images in an awe-inspiring constellation. Drilling down into the extensive archives allows you to see over 150,000 images all clustered into individual categories from ‘astronauts’ to ‘hubble’ to ‘Discovery’ and ‘Independence Day’. ”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
Variety: Mark Zuckerberg Outlines New Privacy Strategy for Facebook, Including Messages That Expire. “Mark Zuckerberg, in a revamp to Facebook’s approach to privacy after a series of scandals, is pledging that the company will take new steps to protect the privacy of its more than 2 billion monthly users. The Facebook CEO and co-founder posted a nearly 3,300-word manifesto Wednesday, outlining a new vision for privacy on the world’s biggest social platform.”
AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
NBC San Diego: Source: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Government Tracking Journalists and Immigration Advocates Through a Secret Database. “Documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates show the U.S. government created a secret database of activists, journalists, and social media influencers tied to the migrant caravan and in some cases, placed alerts on their passports.”
CNBC: France targets Google, Amazon and Facebook with 3% digital tax. “The French government on Wednesday introduced a tax aimed at internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook, forging ahead with stricter regulation on big tech without broad-based support from the European Union.”
SECURITY & LEGAL
Motherboard: Stalkers and Debt Collectors Impersonate Cops to Trick Big Telecom Into Giving Them Cell Phone Location Data. “….bounty hunters and people with histories of domestic violence have managed to trick telecommunications companies into providing real-time location data by simply impersonating US officials over the phone and email, according to court records and multiple sources familiar with the technique. In some cases, these people abuse telecom company policies created to give law enforcement real-time location data without a court order in ‘exigent circumstances,’ such as when there is the imminent threat of physical harm to a victim.”
AP News: Microsoft says Iran-linked hackers targeted businesses. “Microsoft has detected cyberattacks linked to Iranian hackers that targeted thousands of people at more than 200 companies over the past two years.”
Naked Security: Serious Chrome zero-day – Google says update “right this minute”. “We’re not big Chrome fans – we’ve always thought that Firefox is better in both form and function, to be honest – but we have Chrome installed at the moment and can tell you that the version you want is 72.0.3626.121, released at the start of March 2019.”
RESEARCH & OPINION
AdNews: The creation of Minerva, LIDA’s AI-powered robot . “Analysing 20,000 adverts from The Weekly, published over the course of nine decades, is not a job that could be tasked to one or several people, even. To enable this huge undertaking, Jake Lyme, data scientist at LIDA built the AI-powered bot, Minerva (or Minnie to those who came to love her). Here we speak to Jake about how Minnie came to life and the incredible feat she achieved.” Good afternoon, Internet…
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