NEW RESOURCES

Nature Conservancy: World’s Largest Dynamic Kelp Map Launched, Uncovering Unprecedented Declines in Key Areas of California. “A groundbreaking open-source web tool, Kelpwatch.org harnesses the power of machine learning and cutting-edge remote sensing science to analyze nearly 40 years of Landsat satellite data and interactively display kelp forest canopy. Kelpwatch.org users can select a region, time frame and seasons of interest to animate the changes in kelp canopy over time and freely download data.”

PR Newswire: Understanding Hospital Costs– New Tool Makes Data More Transparent and Accessible (PRESS RELEASE). “The [Hospital Cost Tool] identifies different cost measures including hospital revenue, cost to charge ratios, and profitability across more than 4,600 hospitals nationwide from 2011 through 2019. It is interactive, allowing users to examine data for an individual hospital or specific health system, by state or users can compare data across hospitals and states. The tool is based on NASHP’s Hospital Cost Calculator that uses Medicare Cost Report data annually submitted to the federal government by hospitals. Data for 2020 will be added to the tool after more hospitals have completed their reports for that year.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Input: Flickr deleted, and then undeleted, 5 million archival images. “After a Twitter thread by Danish designer Jonas Lönborg brought attention to the heartbreaking erasure, Flickr CEO Don MacAskill responded that Flickr’s recommendation for the Internet Archive to delete the account had been ‘a mistake.’ He explained that the 5 million book images ‘were drowning out the rest of the Commons members’ and announced a new solution: Flickr will restore the account but move it out of the Commons.”

CNBC: Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors. “Elon Musk will join Twitter’s board of directors after taking a 9.2% stake in the social media company, according to a release filed with the SEC.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Fashionista: The Internet’s Favorite Fashion Archivist Has Aspirations Beyond the Feed. “The popularity of archival accounts reflects a really ‘zeitgeisty’ moment in fashion where vintage is king and spotting a reference is a form of cultural currency. Accounts like [Kim] Russell’s have turned archives into open access platforms that allow fans to engage with images or garments that previously required a more rigorous search to accurately ID a piece. Her work is a starting point for anyone who wants to explore vintage, but still leaves room for the audience to engage with the content on their terms.”

CNET: How Social Media Became a Force for Digital Activism. “Social media has gained a reputation over the years for misinformation and distrust, but it’s also an important tool for activists and advocacy groups. With its nonstop nature and widespread reach, social media isn’t something they could ignore anyway. Instead, many have embraced it and rethought their strategy around recruiting and getting their message out.”

Reuters: India blocks 22 YouTube news channels citing national security. “India’s government on Tuesday said it has banned 22 YouTube channels, including four of Pakistani origin, for disinformation on subjects concerning national security and public order, the latest such federal crackdown in the country. The country’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said the blocked YouTube channels had a combined total of 2.6 billion viewers.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Techdirt: Why Moderating Content Actually Does More To Support The Principles Of Free Speech. “Lawyer Akiva Cohen recently had a really worthwhile thread that explains why the entire concept of a ‘philosophical commitment to free speech’ is somewhat meaningless if you think it’s distinct from government consequence. The key point that he makes is that once you separate the ‘principles’ or the ‘philosophy’ of free speech from legal consequences, you’re simply down to debating competing speech and associations.”

Washington Post: The FBI is spending millions on social media tracking software. “Social media users seemed to foreshadow the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — and the FBI apparently missed it. Now, the FBI is doubling down on tracking social media posts, spending millions of dollars on thousands of licenses to powerful social media monitoring technology that privacy and civil liberties advocates say raise serious concerns.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Creative Commons: CC publishes policy paper titled Towards Better Sharing of Cultural Heritage — An Agenda for Copyright Reform. “Over the past few months, members of the Creative Commons (CC) Copyright Platform along with CC friends from around the world have worked together to develop a policy paper addressing the key high-level policy issues affecting access and sharing of cultural heritage, notably by galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). In this blog post, we provide some background on the paper and share a few highlights.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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