NEW RESOURCES

NC Clean Energy Technology Center: Department of Energy Releases New Tool Tracking Microgrid Installations in the United States. “The Microgrid Installation Database includes a comprehensive listing of the U.S.’s 461 operational microgrids that provide a total of 3.1 gigawatts of reliable electricity. The information, which is updated on a monthly basis, is presented in a tabular format to help users easily access and sort data.” Wondering about microgrids? NC State has you covered.

A new resource from my friend Laura, who does the excellent Environmental News Bits. From the University of Illinois Library: Communicating Science: Home. “A beginner’s guide for Prairie Research Institute researchers to learn how to effectively communicate their science.” Some of the materials are specific to the university, but most of it is open. Good stuff and lots of it.

From Correio Do Povo and translated from Portuguese: Vinicius de Moraes Digital Collection brings together vast material by the poet. “The Vinicius de Moraes Digital Collection has just been launched and brings together the original documents from the poet’s personal collection, donated to the Archive-Museum of Brazilian Literature (AMLB) of the Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation (FCRB), located in Rio de Janeiro. On the site are digital reproductions of manuscripts and typescripts of his intellectual production, of his personal and family correspondence, as well as various documents gathered by Vinicius de Moraes (1913 – 1980) throughout his life.”

BusinessWire: World’s Biggest Open Source Database Conference, Percona Live Sessions Now Available Online (PRESS RELEASE). “Over two days, Percona Live ONLINE 2021 attracted thousands of attendees who wanted to discover more about the vast ecosystem of open source database technologies. These sessions are now available for replay on-demand. With 206 sessions and 196 speakers, the conference provided an opportunity for beginners and experts to learn from many of the largest organizations in the world, and hear from the people solving some of the biggest database challenges.”

USEFUL STUFF

EdSurge: How to Use Podcasts in Teaching. “Podcasting is an incredibly powerful and intimate medium. There’s an authenticity to it that is difficult to produce in any other communication channel. Alex Blumberg, the co-founder and CEO of Gimlet Media, a podcast network, shared about that kind of intimacy during a 2016 Podcast Movement talk: The Second Golden Age of Audio…. But educators don’t have to limit their use of podcasts to personal enrichment. There are plenty of ways to use podcasting to enhance our classes and enjoy them as learning communities, as well.”

Voices: Your Guide to Social Audio: Clubhouse and Other Voice-Based Social Media. “From a trending invite-only audio app to existing social platforms that have set out to capitalize on the growing consumer interest in voice-based social experiences, audio has stepped up to the new frontier of social media—and it’s making a lot of ears perk up. But is social audio simply a flash in the pan? Or will it resonate for years to come? Let’s take a look at the biggest media platforms that are making pioneering strides in the social audio space.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Politico: Biden allies urge Facebook to review spread of election fraud claims. “A nonprofit advocacy group with close ties to President Joe Biden on Wednesday joined calls for Facebook to review whether its actions contributed to the spread of unfounded election fraud claims leading up to the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol. Building Back Together, an outside coalition formed by top Biden allies and campaign advisers, urged Facebook in a letter reviewed by POLITICO to commit to an internal probe of the matter, something the company’s oversight board recommended last month.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

BNN Bloomberg: Google Bows to EU, Rivals With Android Choice-Screen Tweaks. “Google will scrap a fee and add more mobile search apps for users to choose from on new Android phones, bowing to pressure from the European Union and smaller rivals. The U.S. tech giant will make the changes from September ‘following further feedback’ from the European Commission, it said in a Tuesday blog post. The EU authority said the tweaks were ‘positive’ and addressed a number of complaints by other search companies.”

The Jamestown Foundation: Automation and Digitalization of Justice in China’s Smart Court Systems. “The automation of justice has become a worldwide phenomenon. Various big data and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technological applications have been introduced in the administration of justice over the past years. These range from predictive analytics to automated divorce proceedings and automated decisions in small claims cases… The People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) stands at the vanguard of this development.”

SWI SwissInfo: Are ‘dick pics’ porn, harassment or abuse? No one quite knows.. “In Switzerland, almost half of all women aged 16-39 say they have been sent unsolicited messages of a sexual nature, according to a 2019 survey. And one in five young women have received sexually explicit photos. The findings echo those of an earlier UN link that showed that worldwide three-quarters of all women using the internet have faced some form of online violence or harassment.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CNET: Preserving the future of our oceans through underwater mapping. “Schmidt scientists sail the world on a research vessel called the Falkor, equipped with a wealth of scientific gear, including echosounders, a blimp for aerial observations, and a remotely operated vehicle named SuBastian. Capable of diving as deep as 4,500 meters, SuBastian features several high-definition video cameras and is designed to be modular, which lets operators customize the proprietary ROV for each mission.”

PubMed: Accuracy of Google Translate in translating the directions and counseling points for top-selling drugs from English to Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish. “For the top 100 drugs, 38 unique directions for use and 170 unique counseling points were identified for translation. For the 38 directions for use, 29 (76.3%) of the Arabic translations were accurate, 34 (89.5%) of the Chinese (simplified) translations were accurate, and 27 (71%) of the Spanish translations were accurate. For the 170 counseling points, 92 (54.1%) of the Arabic translations were accurate, 130 (76.5%) of the Chinese (simplified) translations were accurate, and 65 (38.2%) of the Spanish translations were accurate. Of the 247 inaccurate translations, 72 (29.1%) were classified as highly clinically significant or potentially life-threatening.” Good morning, Internet…

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