NEW RESOURCES

This is actually from June but I missed it then, and it seems a good thing for Halloween. WGNO: The New Orleans Cemetery Database. “With all of its intercultural charm, New Orleans is a feast for the eyes. Millions flock to the city and our impressed with the design of the cemeteries. Recently, The Historic New Orleans Collection launched The New Orleans Cemetery Database.”

Cornell Chronicle: Roper Center launches Health Poll Database. “Supported by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the new database offers the public unprecedented access to questions and results from more than 85 years of U.S. national polls on health-related topics. This new resource promotes an understanding of public opinion on a broad range of health issues.”

PR Newswire: Violation Tracker UK: New Database Reveals Fines for Environmental and Safety Infringements Lag Far Behind Those for Competition and Financial Offences (PRESS RELEASE). “Penalties imposed by UK government regulators in environmental and safety cases trail far behind fines and settlements for financial and competition-related offences. This is among the revelations made possible by Violation Tracker UK, a new database of regulatory enforcement actions created by a team of UK and U.S. researchers led by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First, a Washington, DC-based non-governmental organisation which provides a similar research tool for the United States.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: You can now ask Google to remove images of under-18s from its search results. “Google has launched a new safety feature that lets under-18s request the removal of images of themselves from the company’s search results. The feature was originally announced in August (along with new restrictions of ad targeting of minors) but is now widely available.”

Today: Merriam-Webster dictionary just added 455 new words — including dad bod. “The Merriam-Webster dictionary just got thicker. On Wednesday, it was announced that 455 new words and definitions have been added, including dad bod. Babywearing and fourth trimester — the 12-week period following the birth of a newborn — also now have a place in the iconic book.”

USEFUL STUFF

KnowTechie: Need to remove an object from an image? This free web tool lets you do it in seconds. “If you’ve ever had to quickly edit something (or someone) out of a picture, you know it is a frustrating task best left to the professionals. Well, now it is something you can tackle whenever you have a spare minute, with a new tool that lets you remove objects from a picture with ease.” I tried it. It’s not perfect but for a free tool it’s amazing. I found that trying to remove the same area several times, like I was removing layers of paint, worked well in some cases.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Associated Press: America ‘on fire’: Facebook watched as Trump ignited hate. “Leaked Facebook documents provide a first-hand look at how Trump’s social media posts ignited more anger in an already deeply divided country that was eventually lit ‘on fire’ with reports of hate speech and violence across the platform. Facebook’s own internal, automated controls, meant to catch posts that violate rules, predicted with almost 90% certainty that Trump’s message broke the tech company’s rules against inciting violence. Yet, the tech giant didn’t take any action on Trump’s message.”

University of Arkansas: Online Mapping Tool to Accelerate Access to Critical Data on Agriculture Commodity Supply Chains. “The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) reported today that they will be transforming their existing manually-operated commodity mapping tool into a web-based, self-guided resource that will rapidly increase the number of companies that can access commodity data points. This new online tool will enable companies to self-map risk assessment and action recommendations of all food and fiber-based commodity supply chains, covering the global production of over 200 commodities. This work is made possible through funding by the Walmart Foundation.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

StateScoop: Reporter who notified Missouri officials of website flaw did ‘nothing out of line,’ emails show. “The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who notified Missouri officials of a website flaw that exposed public-school teachers’ Social Security numbers told the state he would hold back on publishing his discovery for up to 48 hours and provided the state with details about how he found the flaw, records obtained by StateScoop show. In doing so, he followed the widely accepted steps in disclosing a vulnerability, according to a person who wrote the international standards for vulnerability disclosure.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Wired: These historical artefacts are totally faked. “Nora Al-Badri was bored by deepfake porn. She thought the technology, best known for putting people’s faces into videos they weren’t actually in could be put to work doing something better. As an artist who regularly works with digital technology, Al-Badri had an idea for a more interesting project employing an AI technique known as a generative adversarial network (GAN), commonly used for deepfakes. That work, Babylonian Vision, used GANs to expand what we know about ancient history and question museums’ ownership of objects in the 21st century.”

UC San Diego Health: $2.1 Million Gift Launches Comprehensive Breast Cancer Database. “The interactive database will further UC San Diego Health’s efforts to advance the understanding of breast disease and develop new treatments. The BCDS will combine biological, biographical and demographic data in novel ways that will allow researchers to study breast cancers with similar clinical features, as well as rare subtypes.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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