NEW RESOURCES

Dublin People: National Archives launches 1990 Government files exhibition. “Minister for Culture Catherine Martin TD, today announced the launch of the National Archives online exhibition of 1990 Government files which was recently released under the 30-Year Rule…. Notable events which are included in the exhibition is Nelson Mandela visiting Ireland after his release from prison, Ireland holding the EU Presidency , German Re-unification and the early beginnings of the Northern Ireland peace process.”

New York University Abu Dhabi: Researchers Develop Large-scale Readability Leveled Thesaurus in Arabic. “Researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have developed an Online Readability Leveled Arabic Thesaurus. The work was conducted by Associate Professor of Practice of Arabic Language Muhamed Al Khalil in collaboration with Professor of Computer Science Nizar Habash, who also leads the Computational Approaches to Modeling Language (CAMeL) Lab. The one-of-a-kind interface provides the possible roots, English glosses, related Arabic words and phrases, and readability on a five-level readability scale for a user-inputted Arabic word.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Pinterest launches an AR-powered try-on experience for eyeshadow. “Pinterest is expanding its virtual makeup try-on capabilities with today’s launch of a new augmented reality feature that allows online shoppers to virtually try on new eyeshadow. Initially, Pinterest is allowing try-on with 4,000 shades from brands like Lancome, YSL, Urban Decay and NYX Cosmetics.”

Ubergizmo: TikTok Rolls Out A New Q&A Feature For Creators. “One of the cool features about Instagram’s Stories is the Q&A section, where creators can allow users to submit them questions that they can ask, or ask for answers/opinions from their followers. It’s pretty nifty and adds a degree of interaction to the platform. Now it looks like TikTok will be getting a similar feature as well.”

USEFUL STUFF

Make Tech Easier: 7 Free Platforms to Build Apps without Coding . “In the past you had to be a programmer to make an app, which would likely take weeks, months or even years. Now, however, there are numerous app-building platforms you can use to create an app in minutes. We’ve put together some of our favorites for you here.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: An Australia With No Google? The Bitter Fight Behind a Drastic Threat. “In a major escalation, Google threatened on Friday to make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government approved legislation that would force tech companies to pay for journalism shared on their platforms. Facebook, which appeared with Google at an Australian Senate hearing, reaffirmed a threat of its own, vowing to block users in Australia from posting or sharing links to news if the bill passed.”

NextGov: How NARA’s Preserving More Than 20 Terabytes of Trump Social Media Data. “America’s federal records-keeper is in the midst of a hefty, ongoing effort to preserve many terabytes of digital and social media records from former President Donald Trump, who was suspended from using multiple online platforms in his final days in office. To do so, the National Archives and Records Administration is leveraging a technology-based solution called ArchiveSocial.”

The Verge: ‘Pro Tools proficiency’ may be keeping us from diversifying audio. “Despite the no-doubt earnest efforts of many well-meaning individuals, podcasting, it would seem, has had — and continues to have — a diversity problem. And while there are many factors which contribute to maintaining the industry’s status quo, there is one culprit to which we can confidently point: Pro Tools.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

KMTV: Nebraska lawmakers now accepting online comments about bills. “Nebraska lawmakers have created a new way for the public to comment on proposals without attending a hearing in person. The Legislature unveiled a new website feature that will let people submit online comments at any stage in the process. It was introduced to help encourage social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic and reduce the size of in-person legislative hearings.”

The Register: Clop ransomware gang clips sensitive files from Atlantic Records’ London ad agency The7stars, dumps them online. “The attack appears to have happened after 15 December, when The7stars’ annual return was prepared for filing with Companies House. While the document talks in length about its healthy financial performance, it mentions nothing about cyber risks or attacks. Screenshots published on the Clop gang’s Tor website show scans of passports, invoices, what appears to be a photo from a staff party and, ironically, a ‘data protection agreement.'”

Tubefilter: Italian Data Protection Authority Orders TikTok To Block Underage Users Following Death Of 10-Year-Old Girl. “The Italian Data Protection Authority, the country’s data privacy watchdog, has ordered TikTok to block the accounts of any users who it cannot verify to be at least 13 years old — the minimum age to enlist on the platform. The order arrives after a 10-year-old Palermo girl tragically died of asphyxiation while reportedly partaking in a TikTok trend known as the ‘blackout challenge’, Reuters reports, in which users tie a belt around their necks in an attempt to pass out while filming themselves.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

News @ Northeastern: Students With Autism Get A New Tool For Independence: A Smartwatch. “For students with autism, receiving extra help in school is often crucial to their academic success. But fitting in and feeling accepted is equally important, especially in the classroom. Ralf Schlosser, a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northeastern, has developed a series of new teaching techniques to help students with autism learn alongside neurotypical classmates without drawing attention to themselves by using an unsuspecting piece of technology—a smartwatch.”

Liam O’Dell: Twitter invited a deaf person to test out Spaces – here’s what they think…. “Credit where credit’s (over)due, Twitter seem to have finally learned their lesson after the mishap over voice tweets in the summer of 2020. Deaf people are finally involved in the process of developing new audio features, and it’s been done as early as possible, too. ‘The mic is yours,’ read a message when I opened up my Twitter mobile app on Wednesday evening. ‘You can now host and join live conversations in Spaces. Go on. Try it.’ A couple of minutes later, I did just that.” Good morning, Internet…

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