NEW RESOURCES

TVO: Writing in the margins: The story behind Kingston’s Prison for Women magazine. “When inmates at Kingston Penitentiary decided in 1950 to start the KP Telescope, their very own newspaper, they already had a printing press and resources to start producing it. But when inmates across the street at the Prison for Women created their own publication, called Tightwire, in 1970, it was a different story…. For the past 10 years, Melissa Munn, a professor at Okanagan College, in British Columbia, has been building a digital collection of penal-press issues at Penal Press — A History of Prison Within. It now features more than 1,500 PDF copies of issues from institutions across North America, including 31 issues of Tightwire.”

Yonhap News Agency: Int’l forum of history teachers seeks ways to preserve legacy of Korean War veterans . “The 2021 World Congress of Korean War Veterans and History Teachers began at a Washington hotel with some 60 history teachers from the United States taking part in in-person meetings. The annual event is hosted by the Korean War Legacy Foundation (KWLF) and sponsored by South Korea’s Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs…. the KWLF has set up a free digital library, called the Korean War Memory Bank, that offers some 1,500 interviews with Korean War veterans conducted by the foundation.” It’s on the KWLF web site.

Emory News Center: New Emory digital learning hub marks Apollo 15 moon mission’s 50th anniversary. “In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 15 Mission, the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) has launched a new digital learning hub that assembles, preserves and makes available primary source records of Apollo 15 for research, education, history and as an example of a unique human endeavor. The hub will offer access to a digital archive of Apollo 15 onboard materials, an interactive 3D model of the lunar module and links to reliable primary sources of Apollo history.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

ZDNet: Linux Mint 20.2 arrives: Top desktop Linux keeps improving. “The years go by, and I keep trying one Linux desktop distro after the other. But for more than a decade now, I come back to Linux Mint. Why? It’s simple: Year in and year out, Mint remains the best, easiest-to-use Linux desktop. That’s the case again with the latest release, called Linux Mint 20.2 ‘Uma.'”

USEFUL STUFF

Slate: How to Use Wikipedia When You’re Watching the Olympics. “Even if you don’t visit Wikipedia directly, information from the internet encyclopedia filters out to the broader internet. Googling ‘Simone Biles’ reveals a Google Knowledge panel that is sourced directly from Wikipedia. Likewise, asking Alexa about Biles will prompt the smart speaker to read a summary from her Wikipedia page. In other words, these Big Tech companies are serving up Wikipedia’s free info with the same relentless consistency with which NBC blasts the ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’ before commercials.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Daily Press: ‘The collection has become its own collection’: Pamunkey Museum director plans to restore, revitalize center. “Step into the Pamunkey Indian Museum, located at the tribe’s reservation in King William, and each artifact will transport you to a different age. Stone points dating 12,000 years ago. A treaty from 1677 between several tribes and the English crown, guaranteeing the indigenous members control over their homeland. Ceremonial headwear and dresses worn in the 1930s. But the museum’s timeline, depicting traditional pottery styles through the Pamunkey’s history, stops in 1980.”

SF Gate: Here’s what we know about Willow Village, the community Facebook is building in the Bay Area. “It’s true that Willow Village — planned to cover 1.6 million square feet at the current site of an industrial warehouse complex — is smaller than your average city, and will not be incorporated, but the site will include a supermarket, a pharmacy, cafes, a 193-room hotel and a “town square.” Surrounding the site will be 1.25 million square-feet of new Facebook office space and 1,729 apartments.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Techdirt: FTC Formally Embraces Right To Repair As Movement Goes Mainstream. “Prompted by an FTC report showing industry opposition to the movement is largely fluff and nonsense, the Biden administration recently issued an executive order urging the FTC to do more. And now the FTC, with a bipartisan vote of 5-0, has adopted a new policy paper (pdf) and says it will take tougher action against illegal repair restrictions.”

Tennessean: ‘Tennessee On Me’ tourism campaign paid social media influencers to promote Lee’s effort, records show. “Tennessee paid thousands of dollars for social media influencers to promote a contentious new initiative that uses $2.5 million in Tennessee taxpayer dollars to offer flight vouchers largely to out-of-state residents. According to documents obtained through a public records request, the Department of Tourist Development paid an estimated $11,000 to at least 11 local influencers to post on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok touting the new program. Emails show the state had originally budgeted $30,000 for influencers.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

EurekAlert: Smartphone screens effective sensors for soil or water contamination. “The touchscreen technology used in billions of smartphones and tablets could also be used as a powerful sensor, without the need for any modifications. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have demonstrated how a typical touchscreen could be used to identify common ionic contaminants in soil or drinking water by dropping liquid samples on the screen, the first time this has been achieved. The sensitivity of the touchscreen sensor is comparable to typical lab-based equipment, which would make it useful in low-resource settings.”

New York Times: Amateur Fossil Hunters Make Rare Find in U.K. Using Google Earth. “The Hollingworths met in 2016 at a local science festival under the skeleton of a Gorgosaurus, perhaps foreshadowing the couple’s big discovery. While many people turned to sourdough and banana bread recipes to keep occupied through three pandemic lockdowns in England, the couple scoured Google Earth to pinpoint the site of their next excavation.”

The Guardian: Restoration work wipes smile off the face of Dutch vegetable seller. “At some point in the last 400 years a painting restorer probably decided the Dutch vegetable seller was far too glum and should be smiling. Now it has been put right and she is once again enigmatic. English Heritage revealed the results on Friday of a two-year conservation project to reveal the true glory of a mysterious, unsigned painting that has been in its stores for more than 60 years.” Good morning, Internet…

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