NEW RESOURCES

USPTO: USPTO launches the Expanding Innovation Hub, a new online platform to encourage greater participation in the patent system. “Today, as part of Women’s History Month, the USPTO has officially launched the Expanding Innovation Hub (‘the Hub’), an online platform available on the USPTO website that provides resources for inventors and practitioners to encourage greater participation in the patent system.”

Drone Life: Attorney Launches Drone Legal Database. “As drone technology flies into more aspects of everyday living, legal conflicts are sure to follow. Florida-based aviation attorney Jonathan Rupprecht decided to take a crack at bringing order to the chaos, releasing an online database of drone-related legal activity.”

MIT: 3 Questions: Ritu Raman on the Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT. “The Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT (WISDM) has relaunched in time for Women’s History Month. First created by Koch Institute postdoc Ritu Raman in 2018 as a way for women to gain visibility by providing a platform for female speakers at MIT, the updated site, powered by the MIT Innovation Initiative, enhances that functionality on a newly-designed platform offering an online space for community, collaboration, and visibility.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

MakeUseOf: Anchor Makes It Easier to Record Podcasts With Friends. “There has never been a better time to start a podcast. With many countries in lockdown due to the spread of COVID-19, recording a podcast is a more productive use of your time than watching Netflix 24/7. And Anchor wants to help you get started podcasting. Everyone either already has a podcast, or has ambitions to start one. However, talking into a microphone by yourself isn’t as much fun as chatting with friends. Which is where Anchor’s Record With Friends 2.0 comes in, making remote podcasting a breeze.”

BetaNews: Now it’s easier to see just what data Facebook and Instagram are collecting about you. “It’s no secret that Facebook gathers staggering amounts of information about its users across its various products. This is something that many people just accept, but there is a slight discomfort in not knowing quite what is being collected. To add a little balm to this aching fear, Facebook has announced updates to its Download Your Information tool on Facebook and Download Your Data tool on Instagram.”

Sometimes I really wonder about these headlines. Vulture: I Can’t Wait to Bully My Friends With Instagram’s New Group Video Chat Feature. “In an attempt to entertain people who are bored or anxious or sad at home, Instagram announced several new features this week. (To those of you who are bored or anxious or sad at home because you are in a position to be able to stay home … thank you for doing so.)”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

24/7 Sports: Digital football archive a labor of love for Washington SID. “For those of us who are considered ‘non-essential’ workers but don’t work from home and have been ordered to shelter in place, this can be a time to catch up on all sorts of things. Clean the house, organize your papers, catch up on correspondence, cross books off your ‘must-read’ list. For Washington Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications Jeff Bechthold (or Sports Information Director (SID), for short), he doesn’t mind sprinkling in a little bit of work during his forced hiatus. That’s because he’s taken on the task of updating and digitizing Washington’s vast football archive.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

BetaNews: Click-fraud malware found lurking in more than 50 Play Store apps. “Researchers at Check Point have identified an auto-clicker malware family operating inside the Google’s Play Store. Disguised in over 56 applications and downloaded over 1,000,000 times globally, the malware — dubbed ‘Tekya’ — commits mobile ad fraud by imitating the actions of a user, clicking ads and banners from ad agencies like Google’s AdMob, AppLovin’, Facebook, and Unity.”

CNET: Marriott discloses new data breach impacting 5.2 million guests. “Marriott International on Tuesday said names, mailing addresses, loyalty account numbers and other personal information of an estimated 5.2 million guests may have been exposed in a data breach.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Next Web: Dubious claims that AI outperforms doctors pose risk to ‘millions of patients,’ study finds. “AI‘s ability to analyze X-rays, MRIs, and other scans has led it to be hyped up as the future of medical imaging. But patients remain reluctant to use it, as they believe only humans can understand their unique needs. Turns out they might be right.”

EurekAlert: Microbiome search engine can increase efficiency in disease detection and diagnosis. “Big data makes big promises when it comes to providing insights into human behavior and health. The problem is how to harness the information it provides in an efficient manner. An international team of researchers has proposed a microbiome search-based method, via Microbiome Search Engine (MSE), to analyze the wealth of available health data to detect and diagnose human diseases.”

Everybody’s Libraries: Build a better registry: My intended comments to the Library of Congress on the next Register of Copyrights. “The Library of Congress is seeking public input on abilities and priorities desired for the next Register of Copyrights, who heads the Copyright Office, a department within the Library of Congress. The deadline for comments as I write this is March 20, though I’m currently having trouble getting the form to accept my input, and operations at the Library, like many other places, are in flux due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Below I reproduce the main portion of the comments I’m hoping to get in before the deadline, in the hope that they will be useful for both them and others interested in copyright. I’ve added a few hyperlinks for context.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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