NEW RESOURCES

Flinders University: Historical dataset could help scientists better understand sharks. “For the first time, the longest-running historical record of human-shark interactions in Australia is now accessible online. This follows a growing trend to make scientific datasets accessible, maximising the use and impact of the data. Taronga’s Australian Shark-Incident Database (ASID) describes more than 1000 shark-human interactions that have occurred in Australia over the past 230 years.”

EVENTS

Smithsonian: SSEC Convenes Experts, Researchers and Educators Around the World for the Smithsonian K–12 Science Education Action Planning Institute. “The Smithsonian Science Education Center will host its third annual K–12 Science Education Action Planning Institute to bring together educators around the world to explore how innovation, inclusion and sustainability are shaping STEM education in 2022 and beyond. This year’s free virtual institute will be held July 25–27 and brings together subject-matter experts, formal and non-formal educators, school administrators and educational researchers to explore timely issues within K–12 STEM education.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNET: Twitter Is Testing Out Custom Timelines From Third-Party Developers. “Twitter is testing custom timelines that may be curated by the social-media company or third-party developers and are centered on common interests and events.”

New York Times: Even in Death, Internet Explorer Lives On in South Korea. “On Google Chrome, you can’t make business payments online as a corporate customer of one of the country’s largest foreign-owned banks. If you’re using Apple’s Safari, you’re unable to apply for artist funding through the National Culture and Arts website. And if you’re a proprietor of a child care facility, registering your organization with the Health and Welfare Ministry’s website is not possible on Mozilla’s Firefox. In all these cases, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, or a similar alternative, is the required browser.”

USEFUL STUFF

Make Tech Easier: 7 Android Accessibility Tweaks to Set Up a Phone for Seniors. “It’s getting increasingly complicated to use Android devices, thanks to newer models that come with a bunch of advanced features. This is especially frustrating for senior citizens. However, you can help them out by making their phones easier to use. All it requires is a few Android accessibility tweaks like the ones we discuss below.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Penn State: Project receives grant to inventory School of Theatre’s Fashion Archive. “Carolyn Lucarelli, manager of the Center for Virtual/Material Studies (CVMS) in the College of Arts and Architecture, has received the 2022 Visual Resources Association (VRA) Project Grant. She will use the $3,000 grant to create a digital inventory of the Fashion Archive in collaboration with co-principal investigator Charlene Gross, assistant professor of costume design in the Penn State School of Theatre.”

Slashgear: Your Lock Screen Is No Longer Safe. “Lock screen ads aren’t a brand new concept, to be sure, but they’re not a popular one either — at least not with the people who have to see them. Once upon a time, this was tied to app permissions and could be turned off (provided you were okay with disabling lock screen notifications from specific apps), but what Glance is offering with its ‘reimagined’ lock screen is something a bit different.”

BBC: Australia floods: Unfounded cloud seeding claims spread online. “For the third time this year, Sydney has been hit by major floods. Scientists blame intense rainfall on a combination of factors – but, on social media, unfounded allegations of ‘weather manipulation’ have spread widely.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Register: Marriott Hotels admits to third data breach in 4 years. “Crooks have reportedly made off with 20GB of data from Marriott Hotels, which apparently included credit card info and internal company documents. The unnamed crew behind the theft told DataBreaches it broke into a server at the Marriott hotel at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland late last month.”

The Verge: Japan to start jailing people for online insults. “Posting ‘online insults’ will be punishable by up to a year in prison time in Japan starting Thursday, when a new law passed earlier this summer will go into effect. People convicted of online insults can also be fined up to 300,000 yen (just over $2,200). Previously, the punishment was fewer than 30 days in prison and up to 10,000 yen ($75).”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Ars Technica: Internet shutdowns cost global economy $10B so far in 2022, VPN report says. “According to a report from Top10VPN, the cost of government-ordered Internet shutdowns in 2022 has cost the global economy more than $10 billion. That figure nearly doubles 2021 costs, and it’s only halfway through the year.”

EurekAlert: Citizen scientist leads discovery of 34 ultracool dwarf binaries using archive at NSF’s NOIRLab. “A citizen scientist has searched NSF’s NOIRLab’s catalog of 4 billion celestial objects, known as NOIRLab Source Catalog DR2, to reveal brown dwarfs with companions. His intensive investigation led to the discovery of 34 ultracool dwarf binary systems, nearly doubling previously known samples.” Good morning, Internet…

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