ResearchBuzz does not like April Fools Day. If there is any April Fool content that is not labeled as such, please let me know and I’ll remove it and apologize for being taken in.

NEW RESOURCES

University of Maine: Online collection documents activism by women’s organizations in Maine. “The Maine Women’s History Collection documents the efforts of women’s organizations to address a variety of social and political issues including women’s suffrage, the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, health care, environmental pollution, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and social stratification, and provides evidence of persistent obstacles to gender equality, such as gender stereotypes, employment discrimination and domestic violence.”

StarTribune: Site shows you bird data by ZIP code. “Go to [the site], enter your ZIP code and hit update. You will be given the probability of a species having been reported there during the chosen month. You can click on a species to find out where best to find it during the selected month, a very cool service indeed. This works for any ZIP code in the U.S.”

EurekAlert: Ever wondered what red foxes eat? There’s a database for that. “Research into the diets of a large number of the world’s carnivores has been made publicly available through a free, online database created by a PhD student at the University of Sussex. From stoats in the UK to tigers in India, users are now able to search for detailed information about the diets of species in different geographical locations around the globe.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

USDA: New, Easy-to-Use Conservation Data in RCA Data Viewer. “Looking for [Natural Resources Conservation Service] conservation program data? Whether you need program financial information or number of conservation contracts, civil rights data or which practices are applied on how many acres – this and much more is available in the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (RCA) Data Viewer. The Viewer was recently updated with data for fiscal year 2020, and for those who want to use the numbers to create their own analysis, graphs or charts, conservation program data are now available in easier-to-use Microsoft Excel file format.”

GHacks: SimpleCodeGenerator is a new tool from NirSoft that lets you create QR Codes for URLs. “Nir Sofer has released a new program called SimpleCode Generator. It allows you to convert links to QR Codes that you can use with any smartphone.” Windows-only, and as it’s a standalone EXE file I guess it’s portable?

9to5 Google: Google canceling April Fools’ Day jokes for the second year in a row (Good.) “An internal memo sent by Google’s VP of global marketing, Marvin Chow, explains that the company will continue its ‘pause’ of April Fools’ Day pranks in 2021 as ‘much of the world’ is still dealing with ‘serious challenges’ during the pandemic.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

CNET: April Fools’ Day 2021: Cauliflower Peeps, Duolingo toilet paper and more pranks. “April 1 is typically a day for silly jokes, and companies have put a lot of effort into trying to make people laugh. Last year was an exception, but some brands are venturing back into the realm of April Fools’ Day for 2021. We’re keeping an eye on the shenanigans all day and will update with the latest knee-slappers as they appear.”

BBC: Facebook bans ‘voice of Trump’ from platform. “Facebook has removed a video of former US President Donald Trump from the page of his daughter-in-law Lara Trump. The social media giant banned Mr Trump from its platform in January following riots by his supporters on the Capitol building in Washington. Lara Trump, a new Fox News contributor, posted a video of herself interviewing Mr Trump on a range of issues.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: Five Tech Commandments to a Safer Digital Life. “Tech is always changing, and so is the way we use it. That means we are always finding new ways to let our guard down for bad actors to snoop on our data. Remember when you shared your address book with that trendy new app? Or when you posted photos on social networks? Those actions may all pose consequences that weaken security for ourselves and the people we care about.”

TechRadar: Google is taking far more data from your Android devices than you may think. “Researchers have discovered that Android devices are collecting far more telemetry data on users than iOS. The findings from Douglas Leith from Trinity College in Ireland were part of a project looking to quantify the data both Android and iOS handsets send to their headquarters.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Phoenix New Times: Angry Residents, Abrupt Stops: Waymo Vehicles Are Still Causing Problems in Arizona. “A driverless Waymo vehicle caused a crash in October by stopping unexpectedly in the middle of the road, displaying a technical malfunction the Google-related company claims is rare. In another 2020 incident, a police officer claimed a sudden stop by a Waymo vehicle caused a rear-end collision, but the officer was cited. The incidents are detailed in newly released police reports obtained by Phoenix New Times that shed fresh light on the function and operations of the driverless vehicles, which are often cloaked in secrecy.”

University at Buffalo: Study: AI tool can help spot Type 2 diabetes trends in the U.S.. “A new University at Buffalo study reports on the advantages of using artificial intelligence to better understand Type 2 diabetes across the United States. The study describes how machine learning — a subset of AI that involves computers acting intelligently without being explicitly programmed — can help explore the prevalence of the disease, which effects more than 34 million Americans, as well as spot future trends.” Good morning, Internet…

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