NEW RESOURCES

Billings Gazette: Historian brings Montana single mom homesteader’s history to life. “Lily Bell Stearns was no one important when she arrived by train in Montana in 1912. Stearns was a recent divorcee with three children, including one daughter left behind in a mental institution. Yet she now has her own online museum exhibit. Thanks to Sara Gregg, a University of Kansas associate professor of history and environmental studies, Stearns’ Eastern Montana homesteading story has been excavated like the bones of an unknown dinosaur. By poring over old documents, census records and letters, Gregg has unearthed the sad tale of a single woman struggling to survive in a wild, unforgiving land.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Alarabiya News: Kuwait receives eight tons of national archives from Iraq. “Kuwait received on Sunday eight tons of documents and other items taken during the 1990 Iraq invasion led by Saddam Hussein, officials said. It is the third shipment that Kuwait has received since 2019, according to officials from both countries.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: 6 Audible Alternatives: The Best Free or Cheap Audiobook Apps. “Audible isn’t cheap. While $15 a month for an otherwise $20+ audiobook might seem like a steal, there are plenty of other audiobook apps out there that are either completely free or at least much cheaper than Audible. So, in this article we’ll take a quick look at six of these free to near-free audiobook apps.”

PopSugar: This iPhone Trick Shows You How to Extract Text From a Photo Using the Google App. “If there’s ever been a time where text was physically written or typed on an offline document and you needed it on your phone, you probably had to spend time typing it out yourself, right? Well, there’s actually a hack that lets you extract any text you want right onto your iPhone in seconds, and all you need is the Google app!”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: Google Aims to Be the Anti-Amazon of E-Commerce. It Has a Long Way to Go.. “In the last year, Google eliminated fees for merchants and allowed sellers to list their wares in its search results for free. It is also trying to make it easier for small, independent shops to upload their inventory of products to appear in search results and buy ads on Google by teaming up with Shopify, which powers online stores for 1.7 million merchants who sell directly to consumers. But like Google’s many attempts during its two-decade quest to compete with Amazon, this one shows little sign of working.”

BBC: France seeks Unesco heritage status for the baguette. “When you think of Unesco heritage status, Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal or the Great Barrier Reef may spring to mind. You probably wouldn’t think of a baguette. But France has nominated its staple bread stick for inclusion on the UN intangible cultural heritage register.”

The Guardian: We stan together: the wonderful world of Instagram TV fan pages. “The fan account has long been a fixture of celebrity culture, as the focus has moved away from tabloid newspapers to blogs and fansites, and from there to social media. From the now-closed Instagram page @beyhive, which had 1.2 million followers thanks to its regular Beyoncé updates, to the myriad Harry Styles fan accounts on the platform, and the gossipy shots of Ana de Armas Updates, these pages keep their many followers informed with daily repurposing of their favourite celebrities’ images and content. It is a fandom largely made by fans, for fans.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

TechCrunch: Apple releases iPhone, iPad, and Watch security patches for zero-day bug under active attack. “Apple has released an update for iPhones, iPads and Watches to patch a security vulnerability under active attack by hackers. The security update lands as iOS 14.4.2 and iPadOS 14.4.2, which also covers a patch to older devices as iOS 12.5.2. watchOS also updates to 7.3.3.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

WRAL: Virtual reality project brings back Black neighborhoods. “Imagine if you could walk through Charlotte [North Carolina]’s Brooklyn neighborhood again, gliding past the homes, businesses and churches cleared by urban renewal more than a half-century ago.That’s the mission of researchers at Johnson C. Smith University, who received a trio of grants to preserve records and histories from several former Black neighborhoods in Charlotte. Their end goal: An virtual reality experience created with historical photos and 3-D models where viewers could experience long-gone neighborhoods.”

Phys .org: Fighting online extremism: Polarization in social media and how to improve the public conversation. “In his new book, “Breaking the Social Media Prism,” [Chris] Bail dives into political polarization and its manifestations on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Spun from research he and others have done at Duke’s Polarization Lab, Bail examines why political partisans are so unlikely to be swayed by other points of view, and offers tips and tools for people attempting to navigate social media in good faith.” Good afternoon, Internet

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