NEW RESOURCES

EurekAlert: New coloring book salutes women pioneers in STEM. “In honor of International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11), the Vilcek Foundation has released a free coloring book that celebrates the scientific careers and contributions of 19 outstanding contemporary women scientists and physicians.”

Classic FM: Want to know what colour sounds like? New Google tool lets you experience synaesthesia. “An almost psychedelic new Google tool lets you ‘hear colours and shapes’, as many great artists do. Most of us think of yellow as the colour of the sun. Red, perhaps the colour of a tomato, and blue, that of a clear sky. But what if you could actually hear colour?”

ITV: ‘I wanted a space where we could represent, honour and celebrate black queer life in the UK’. “The project, launched in LGBT+ History Month, documents the lives of black queer people in Britain from the 1950s to 2000 and already has a following of thousands.” Instagram-based, a bit limited at the moment.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Brisbane Times: Seven West Media inks $30 million-a-year Google deal. “Seven West Media has inked a deal with Google worth more than $30 million a year for its news content, as Federal Parliament prepares to debate laws to make the tech giant and Facebook compensate news publishers.”

PC World: Google updates Chrome OS with security, smart display and personalization features. “Windows 10 has always offered robust personalization options, but Google’s Chrome OS is catching up. Chrome OS 88, which started rolling out Tuesday, now offers the ability to customize your lock screen as well as some security conveniences for accessing Web sites.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: Actually, QR Codes Never Went Away. “Though QR codes have been persistently popular for payments and other services in Asia, in the United States, until recently, they were widely seen as unsexy, even a hassle. In 2015, TechCrunch called QR codes both a ‘laughingstock’ and ‘a frustrating symbol of over-engineering’ in the span of 41 words.” I love QR codes and I’m glad they’re coming back into style.

Salt Lake Tribune: Digital archive will save memories of the doomed Utah Theater, but preservationists would rather save the playhouse itself. “Virtual-reality tours and 3D scans, drone video footage, watercolors, charcoal sketches and a mountain of historical documents, photos, streetscapes, playbills and news reports are now part of a copious visual and written record. The venerable hall has been damaged and shuttered for years, and the new repository is the public’s most recent glimpse inside. For those who had hoped to save the historic theater, the archive brought mixed emotions.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Reuters: France fines Google 1.1 million euros over hotel rankings practices . “Google Ireland and Google France have agreed to pay a 1.1 million euros ($1.34 million) fine after a probe found that Google’s hotel rankings could be misleading for consumers, France’s finance ministry and fraud watchdog said on Monday.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Phys .org: Citizens versus the internet . “The Internet has revolutionized our lives—whether in terms of working, finding information or entertainment, connecting with others, or shopping. The online world has made many things easier and opened up previously unimaginable opportunities. At the same time, it presents both individuals and societies with major challenges: The underlying technologies do not necessarily serve users’ best interests.”

VentureBeat: Microsoft details Speller100, an AI system that checks spelling in over 100 languages. “In a post on its AI research blog, Microsoft today detailed a new language system, Speller100, that the company claims is one of the most comprehensive ever made in terms of linguistic coverage and accuracy. Comprising a number of AI models that understand speech in over 100 languages collectively, Speller100 now powers all spelling correction on Bing, which previously only supported spell check for about two dozen languages.” Good afternoon, 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!