NEW RESOURCES

University of Illinois: Illinois researchers make Deseret Alphabet texts available for study. “Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers are developing resources for studying the Deseret Alphabet, which was created by the Mormons and used briefly in the 19th century. Linguistics professor Ryan Shosted and computer science professor Neal Davis created the Illinois Deseret Consortium to make available online searchable transcriptions of texts written in Deseret for researchers to study and also to help people rediscover the alphabet.”

Westchester Journal News: New database highlights African American burial grounds across NY state. “The following is an unofficial database of African American burial grounds in New York, compiled by this reporter through research and information provided by various sources. It’s aim is to help the public in tracking these sacred sites. It will grow with your input.”

Global Investigative Journalism Network: Video Resources for Data Investigations . “For 20 years, GIJN conferences have helped spread data journalism around the world. Our last Global Investigative Journalism Conference — GIJC21, held in November — was no different. GIJN’s first fully online conference featured a full track of data workshops and panels, ranging from analysis with spreadsheets and SQL to programming with R and Python, from tips on scraping and cleaning to data visualization and social network mapping. The sessions were led by a team of all-star trainers from seven countries. This is the second installment of GIJC21 videos, which until now have been available only to conference attendees.” All the videos I spot-checked had captions.

USEFUL STUFF

Mozilla Blog: A glossary of terms about cyberattacks, from ransomware to DDoS. “If you read news about technology, you’re bound to run into some jargon. Here at Mozilla, we believe that information should be as accessible as possible regardless of your level of expertise. We want to help you approach stories about technology with more curiosity and with a little less head-scratching involved. We’ll break down headline-making topics through a glossary of terms often used to discuss them. Consider it your cheat sheet to all things tech. This month, we’ll give you terms to know about cyberattacks.”

MakeUseOf: 5 Instant Calming Apps to Relieve Stress, Beat Anxiety, and Battle Negative Thoughts. “Sometimes, you don’t know why you’re low. Is it stress? Anxiety? Anger? Depression? It could be anyone or all of these, or something entirely different. All you know is that you just want to stop feeling like that right now. These free apps offer instant relief from negative thoughts and feelings. Importantly, none of these apps are claiming to be a substitute for therapy. If you feel such negativity often, it’s best to seek professional medical advice rather than rely on apps. Think of these stress-relievers as a stop-gap measure or a temporary treat, rather than a solution.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Mashable: ‘Cancellable takes’ are taking over Twitter. “It makes perfect sense that the latest Twitter trend is about sharing hot takes. The social media platform is essentially built for firing off provocative, usually impulsive, viewpoints.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

WIRED: The Long Shadow of the ‘Nigerian Prince’ Scam. “IN NOVEMBER 2021, Oluwaseun Medayedupin was arrested by the Nigerian police in Lagos. An investigation found that he had been pursuing ‘disgruntled employees’ from American companies and pushing them to release ransomware on internal enterprise servers, offering a percentage of the cut if they agreed to collaborate in the attack. This was a sophisticated social engineering scheme, far more advanced than the notorious ‘Nigerian prince’ emails that have made the country of Nigeria synonymous with scams.”

New York Times: Crypto Industry Helps Write, and Pass, Its Own Agenda in State Capitols. “In the absence of federal regulations, crypto lobbyists and executives are going state by state to get favorable rules enacted. Many lawmakers have been willing partners.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Arizona State University: Citizen scientists help map ridge networks on Mars . “Nearly 14,000 citizen scientists from around the world joined in the search for the ridge networks on Mars, focusing on an area around Jezero Crater, where NASA’s Perseverance rover landed last February. Ultimately, with the help of the citizen scientists, the team was able to map the distribution of 952 polygonal ridge networks in an area that measures about a fifth of Mars’ total surface area.”

Wall Street Journal: The Future of Socializing at Work? Virtual Golf. “If the most popular professional application of VR does prove to be socializing, the implications could be significant. Remote teams in danger of being splintered by miscommunication and isolation could be bound together without the need for in-person retreats. It might help reduce some of the office social dynamics that give advantage to some employees but not others. It could even allow employees to connect in ways that aren’t possible even when everyone is going to an office.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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