NEW RESOURCES

University of Texas at Austin: Dylan Thomas Digital Collection Launched Online. “Collections related to Dylan Thomas are held by multiple institutions internationally, and the Ransom Center holds the world’s largest collection, which includes manuscripts, letters, notebooks, drawings and photographs that trace the origins of his major works and the evolution of a young writer. The collection also features screenplays, radio broadcasts and radio plays. Most were acquired by the Center between 1960 and 2004. More than 6,000 items are now digitized, representing only a portion of the author’s physical archive.”

DigitalNC: Jones County Newspaper from 1949-1971 added to DigitalNC. “Thanks to a nomination from the Neuse Regional Library, we’ve added 1,098 issues of the Jones County Journal, a newspaper published out of Trenton, N.C. This is one of only two newspaper titles we have for Jones County. Issues date from volume one, number one, published in 1949 through April 1971. Because the Journal was digitized from microfilm shot with high contrast, many of the photographs are not very clear but the text is quite sharp.” Jones County is one of the least-populated counties in North Carolina, with a population of less than 11,000. By contrast, Wake County has 1.1 million people.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

BetaNews: KB5000842 update is causing high-pitched sound problems for some Windows 10 users. “It is a few weeks since Microsoft released the KB5000842 update for Windows 10, and it wasn’t long before the optional patch was linked to problems with game performance. These particular issues have been — mostly — resolved, but KB5000842 remains problematic with users of some 5.1 audio setups complaining that it has results in their computers emitting high-pitched noises.”

CNET: Parler is back on Apple’s App Store. “Conservative social media service Parler is once again available on Apple’s iOS App Store after being after being taken down following the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. The updated version of the app includes ‘enhanced threat and incitement reporting tools,’ according to its App Store listing.”

USEFUL STUFF

Distractify: Jealous of All the Cool Reversed Videos on TikTok? Here’s How to Do It Yourself. “There’s no shortage to the different types of social media trends that blow up on the internet — so much so that it’s difficult to keep up with them or really understand how they ever got so popular in the first place. At times, they start off as an inside joke that blew up to proportions that no one could’ve ever really predicted. Other times, they’re deeply intertwined with current events. And sometimes they emerge from a new feature added to said platform, like ‘reverse’ videos on TikTok.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

BBC: TikTok: How Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays out on social media. “Once known primarily for viral dance trends, the video app has also become a key platform for sharing news. The Chinese-owned site has a vast, mostly younger audience, with an estimated 700 million active monthly users worldwide. Footage of rocket fire over Israel, destruction in Gaza and Palestinian protests have all gone viral on the site. It has brought the conflict to people’s phone screens around the world.”

The Conversation: HIV survivors’ stories show the loss, resilience and activism of the early years of AIDS pandemic. “As multidisciplinary HIV researchers, we know how important it is to continue learning from these histories to improve HIV treatment, support and prevention efforts today. So far, we have conducted 116 oral history interviews with long-term survivors of HIV and their caregivers in British Columbia between 2017 and 2020 as part of the community-based HIV In My Day project. These interviews will soon be available in a publicly accessible digital archive.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Washington Post: Chinese businessman with links to Steve Bannon is driving force for a sprawling disinformation network, researchers say. “A sprawling online network tied to Chinese businessman Guo Wengui has become a potent platform for disinformation in the United States, attacking the safety of coronavirus vaccines, promoting false election-fraud claims and spreading baseless QAnon conspiracies, according to research published Monday by the network analysis company Graphika.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

IBM Research Blog: New smartphone app to navigate blind people to stand in lines with distances . “Social distancing has become the norm — but for visually impaired people, adhering to the regulations can be tricky. Especially when it comes to standing in line. Our team wants to help. We have developed an AI-driven assistive smartphone app dubbed LineChaser, presented at … CHI 2021, that navigates a blind or visually impaired person to the end of a line. It also continuously reports the distance and direction to the last person in the line, so that the blind user can follow them easily.”

Radio Free Asia: Beijing Ramps up Fake Social Media Operation Peddling Pro-China Propaganda Overseas. “China has been using social media networks like Twitter to spread positive propaganda about the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the start of the pandemic, according to a report published by an international press group.” 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!