NEW RESOURCES

Penn State University: Libraries launches Library Guide for Indigenous Peoples in Pennsylvania History. “Penn State University Libraries recently completed development of a new Library Guide to Indigenous Peoples in Pennsylvania History. Finalized in November, in time for the observance of Native American Heritage Month, the Library Guide is a collection of resources related to the history of Native Americans in Pennsylvania, including maps, treaties and land appropriations.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

KnowTechie: Google Voice just got some new tricks to make calling even easier. “Remember when Google Voice was the coolest thing ever, giving you virtual phone numbers so you didn’t have to give out your real number to people? Those were the days, but nowadays it gets only a little bit of love from Google. That changes today, with some new shortcuts so you can access its most used features straight from your home screen.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: 9 Free Online Courses for Python Beginners . “Python is a high-level programming language. It’s popular among the programming community due to its simplicity and versatility. You’ll find its usage in high-end computing like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), databases, scientific software, etc. Coincidentally, experts working in these fields also get paid handsomely. If you are a beginner, start by learning the basics of Python programming, and then climb up the ladder as you learn more.”

Make Tech Easier: 15 Interesting AI Experiments You Can Try Online. “From creating realistic people who don’t exist to helping you compose incredible soundtracks of your life, you’ll find AI experiments come in a wide variety of purposes. It’s also eerie just how good these are. If you’ve always been curious about what AI can do, give these experiments a try right in your browser with no special hardware needed.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Rest of World: One man’s quest to put Mexico City’s iconic street food vendors onto Google Maps. “Food stands like [Teresa Dorantes] Hernández’s line the streets of towns and cities across Mexico. In 2018, the government estimated that over 1.6 million people worked in street food establishments, which represent almost 50% of total businesses in the country…. While a small minority are beginning to enter the age of technology — accepting digital payments and even hawking their fares on delivery platforms such as DiDi and Uber Eats — they overwhelmingly operate outside of Google Maps. As our tastes become increasingly dictated by algorithms and user-generated reviews, street carts like Hernández’s are at risk of being left behind.”

Wired: The Twitter Wildfire Watcher Who Tracks California’s Blazes. “During California’s long fire season—roughly May through October—Michael [Silvester] sits at his desk all day, sometimes for 18-hour stretches, keeping watch over that single state’s blazes…. The phones let him keep track of more than 100 agencies across California: Los Angeles County Fire, LAFD, Marin County, Sacramento, Napa County. The app only lets him follow 25 agencies per phone, so he runs another two phone emulators on his PC to cover even more departments. When he hears what he thinks is an essential detail of a fire’s movements, he tweets it in real time to more than 100,000 followers. The irony, perhaps, is that Michael has never been to California. He’s never even left New Zealand.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Everybody’s Libraries: Coming soon to the public domain in 2022. “As I did last year, I’m posting to Twitter, making one tweet per day featuring a different work about to enter the public domain in the US, using the #PublicDomainDayCountdown hashtag. Most of these works were originally published in 1926. But this year for the first time we’ll also be having a large number of sound recordings joining the public domain for the first time, published in 1922 and before.”

Gizmodo: Two Men Allegedly Stole $20 Million in Music Royalties From YouTube. “According to court documents (first reported by MarketWatch), Webster Batista, aka ‘Yenddi’ and Jose Teran, aka ‘Chanel’ fraudulently claimed royalty rights to over 50,000 songs through LLCs which sounded like record labels. A grand jury has charged them with conspiracy, wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

The Verge: An interactive Doja Cat music video can introduce you to programming. “Girls Who Code, the nonprofit organization that aims to get more women and girls interested in the field of computer science, has debuted what it calls the ‘first ever’ codable music video. The organization partnered with Doja Cat, transforming her new music video for Woman into an interactive experience.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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