NEW RESOURCES

University of Rochester: History project tells a more complete story of Frances Seward. “A team of University of Rochester historians says the life of Frances Adeline Seward (1805–1865) deserves a more nuanced and careful reading than her traditional portrayal as the reclusive wife of a 19th-century politician. Doctoral students Shellie Clark, Carrie Knight, and Lauren Davis are using the University’s extensive, firsthand collections of documents of the family of Frances and William Henry Seward, secretary of state to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, to conduct that re-evaluation.”

Library of Congress: New! Read Around the States. “Today we are launching a project called Read Around the States. It features videos with U.S. members of Congress who have chosen a special book for young people that is connected to their states – either through the book’s setting or author, or perhaps simply because it is a favorite of the member.”

USEFUL STUFF

Make Tech Easier: 5 of the Best Speed-Typing Games on the Internet. “Whatever your approach to typing, it’s always interesting to find out just how fast you can type. There are several websites that not only let you test your typing speed but compare your results against other people around the world and have extra features as well to spice up the experience.”

Mashable: How to create a family calendar on Google. “If you’ve only been using it for yourself up to now, you might not know about the world of shared calendars, which you can use to corral appointments for your whole family (however you choose to define ‘family’) and make sure everyone sees events all handily in one place.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

University of Maine: First-ever online, bilingual portal to Franco American archives launches this spring. “Franco American Digital Archives/Portail franco-américain, formerly known as the Franco American Portal project, will offer access to various primary sources about the French-Canadian, Acadian and Québécois(e) diaspora communities of the Northeast. Available records will include letters and other correspondence, scrapbooks, family and business records, newspapers, photographs and other media depicting Franco-American history, culture and people.”

NiemanLab: How Yahoo News reached 1 million followers on TikTok in 1 year. “Picture Yahoo users and you probably envision a group that’s older and a bit less digitally savvy than those relying on, say, Google’s suite. (The research says you’re not wrong.) On TikTok, in contrast, 63% of users are younger than 30 — including 33% still in their teens. So you might be thinking: Yahoo News? On TikTok?”

New York Times: For Creators, Everything Is for Sale. “A rash of new start-ups are making it easier for digital creators to monetize every aspect of their life — down to what they eat, who they hang out with and who they respond to on TikTok. Tens of millions of people around the globe consider themselves creators, and the creator economy represents the ‘fastest-growing type of small business,’ according to a 2020 report by the venture capital firm SignalFire.” The people described in this article seem more like influencers than creators.

SECURITY & LEGAL

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Legislation seeks to curb public’s access to governmental records. “Like clockwork, with a new legislative session comes a new slate of bills that look to tip the scales of government accountability away from transparency and toward secrecy. The 2021 Nevada Legislature is no different, with state and local agencies pushing for bills that would curtail the public’s access to governmental records and workings across the state.”

BNN Bloomberg: Convicted Google IPO Scammer Faces Fresh Fraud Charges. “A man who was previously convicted of fraudulently selling pre-initial public offering shares in Google Inc. is facing new charges that he conducted a similar scam while posing as representatives of a billionaire family office.”

Global Voices: Indigenous-led telecommunications organization wins historic legal battle in Mexico. “This decision allows TIC to offer affordable cell phone services to indigenous communities in the country. The court case also set a legal precedent for local communities to operate their own telecommunications services for free under social use concession licenses — drawing a line between commercial and community providers.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CNET: Tim Berners-Lee: One-third of youth still don’t have internet access as web turns 32. “As the web turns 32 on Friday, its creator is using his annual letter to draw attention to the way the digital divide affects young people worldwide. While you may assume that children now grow up as digital natives, web creator Tim Berners-Lee points to a 2020 report from the International Telecommunication Union, which notes that one-third of young people around the world don’t have access to the internet.”

The Next Web: Facebook AI boss Yann LeCun goes off in Twitter rant, blames talk radio for hate content. “Yann LeCun, Facebook’s world-renowned AI guru, had some problems with an article written about his company yesterday. So he did what any of us would do, he went on social media to air his grievances. Only, he didn’t take the fight to Facebook as you’d expect. Instead, over a period of hours, he engaged in a back-and-forth with numerous people on Twitter.” Good morning, Internet…

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