TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Library of Congress: National Film Registry Spotlights Diverse Filmmakers in New Selections. “Selected because of their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage, the 2020 titles include blockbusters, musicals, silent films, documentaries and diverse stories transferred from books to screen. They bring the number of films selected for preservation in the registry to 800, a fraction of the 1.3 million films in the Library’s collections.” Shrek and Blues Brothers make it a very poppy-culture list.

Search Engine Journal: Google Structured Data Testing Tool Lives On At New Domain. “The loss of the Structured Data Testing Tool didn’t sit well with SEOs and site owners, and their disapproval was heard loud and clear. Google cites user feedback as the motivating factor behind today’s announcement. Here’s what’s happening with the Structured Data Testing Tool and where it can be found going forward.”

TechCrunch: The New York Times launches an AR-enabled crossword on Instagram. “The New York Times is bringing its signature crosswords game into augmented reality. The media company announced this morning it’s launching a new AR-enabled game, ‘Shattered Crosswords,’ on Instagram, where players will be able to solve clues by finding spinning broken crossword pieces in AR. When the right vantage point is achieved, players will find the words hidden among the shards above the puzzle.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Poynter: Behind the scenes with PolitiFact and its choice for ‘Lie of the Year’. “Most of you likely know what PolitiFact is. If not, it’s the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter. For the past 12 years, it has sifted through all the lies told over the course of a year and come up with THE lie of the year. So how did PolitiFact decide that this year’s lie of the year was about the coronavirus? Why wasn’t it false claims about a so-called rigged presidential election? What other lies were also considered as the lie of the year?”

Tubefilter: 2021 Predictions For YouTube, feat. D’Angelo Wallace, Rebecca Zamolo, And Hank Green. “For our last 2020 episode of Creator News—Tubefilter’s investigative series exploring issues that impact the entire creator community—we talked to OG YouTuber and VidCon founder Hank Green (3.33 million subscribers), popular family creator and Game Master Network founder Rebecca Zamolo (10 million), and rising star commentator D’Angelo Wallace (1.82 million) about what they experienced this year, and what they expect to see from creators, viewers, and platforms in 2021.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

CNN: 10 years in prison for illegal streaming? It’s in the Covid-19 relief bill. “You probably have nothing to worry about: The ‘Protecting Lawful Streaming Act,’ which was introduced earlier this month by Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, doesn’t target casual internet users. The law specifies that it doesn’t apply to people who use illegal streaming services or ‘individuals who access pirated streams or unwittingly stream unauthorized copies of copyrighted works.'”

The Verge: Civil rights groups move to block expansion of facial recognition in airports. “A coalition of civil rights groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union have filed an objection to the proposed expansion of Customs and Border Protections facial recognition at land and sea ports. The National Immigration Law Center, Fight for the Future, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are also participating in the motion, alongside twelve others.”

BBC: Brazen fraudsters offer crime subscription service. “Criminal organisations are offering subscription services to other fraudsters to teach them a scam in which they impersonate their victims. Fraud prevention organisation Cifas said fraudsters were sharing tips and getting more sophisticated in their attempts to steal money. Cases of a particular scam targeting shoppers, which often spikes at Christmas, have tripled this year.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CNET: Quantum computer makers like their odds for big progress. “At the Q2B conference this month, quantum computer makers Google, IBM, Honeywell, IonQ and Xanadu detailed specific steps they expect by 2024 that will push their machines further down the road of commercial practicality. Those achievements include increasing quantum computers’ scale, performance and reliability. Private sector spending on quantum computing products and services will likely more than triple to $830 million in 2024, up from $250 million in 2019, according to a forecast from Hyperion Research.”

Ubergizmo: This AI Playing A Non-Stop Bass Solo Is All Kinds Of Impressive . “Playing a musical solo can be difficult, especially if you’re required to think and improvise on the spot. This is because our brains need to make the connection as to which note that we should go to next, whether or not it’ll sound good, the different rhythms we can apply, and so on. However, it’s a different story when it comes to AI which can think of these things more objectively.” Good evening, Internet…

Do you like ResearchBuzz? Does it help you out? Please consider supporting it on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. I love your comments, I love your site suggestions, and I love you. Feel free to comment on the blog, or @ResearchBuzz on Twitter. Thanks!