NEW RESOURCES

University of Erlangen–Nuremberg: Web archive with astronomical photographic plates goes online. “A major share of the total of 94,090 plates is accounted for by the 40,000 photographic plates from the Dr. Karl Remeis Observatory Bamberg, Astronomical Institute of FAU. These include photographs taken by Franconian researchers between 1963 and 1976 at observatories in the southern hemisphere. These unique images show the southern sky, and are the only ones of their kind available anywhere in the world, as no other astronomical projects documented this part of the sky during this period.”

Government of Northwest Territories, Canada: NWT Archives launches 13,000 photographs by Bern Will Brown. “The Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) is pleased to announce the public launch of more than 13,000 photographs by Bern Will Brown. The Northwest Territories (NWT) Archives collection consists of pictures showing northern life through Brown’s lens over decades of living in and travelling the territory.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Ars Technica: Google tests battery-conserving feature perfect for hoarding tabs. “Google is testing a method to boost the battery life of Chromebooks by changing how they work with the Chrome web browser. It’s shaping up to be a potentially attractive update for users who leave a lot of tabs open on their Chromebooks.”

USEFUL STUFF

WIRED: Travel Back in Time With Street View and Map Archives. “As more data is collected and digitized, another opportunity opens up: being able to take a step back in time—whether one year or a hundred years—to see how a place looked in the past. Whether you’re investigating the spread of urban sprawl, or you just want to know what your street looked like before the turn of the millennium, these are three key resources you should be using.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Slate: Crypto Town. “… Miami isn’t alone in trying to bring some laser-eyed panache to the typically vanilla work of local governance. A wave of smaller cities has begun to accept cryptocurrencies for payments, create their own NFT projects, and even install crypto mining operations. Their efforts, if anything, display an openness to technological innovation in cities of various locales and political contexts. What they don’t show is whether this particular innovation is able to accomplish much of anything at all.”

Council for British Research in the Levant: Launch of the Islamic Jerusalem Archive Project 2022/2023. “At an event held on 23 June 2022 to mark the re-opening of the Kenyon Institute following renovations, we were delighted to announce the launch of one of the cornerstone projects of CBRL’s new digital archive plans: the Islamic Jerusalem Archive Project (IJAP).”

Boing Boing: “Primitive building” videos deemed fraudulent. “Ever watched the many ‘primitive building’ videos emulating John Plant’s Primitive Technology in a peculiar muddy way? Each shows a couple of guys quietly, quickly making a tiny house, pool or other charming environment from clay with simple tools. Alas, they are not what they seem.” I should note that the authenticity of John Plant’s channel is not challenged by anyone.

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: US govt warns of Maui ransomware attacks against healthcare orgs. “The FBI, CISA, and the U.S. Treasury Department issued today a joint advisory warning of North-Korean-backed threat actors using Maui ransomware in attacks against Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) organizations. Starting in May 2021, the FBI has responded to and detected multiple Maui ransomware attacks impacting HPH Sector orgs across the U.S.”

The Mainichi: Alarm raised over online disinformation about ex-PM Abe’s assassin . “A hate speech legal expert and others have warned against believing disinformation circulating on social media claiming that ‘Zainichi’ Korean residents of Japan were behind the July 8 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

New York Times: The Robot Guerrilla Campaign to Recreate the Elgin Marbles. “Few cultural disputes inflame British passions more than the disposition of the Parthenon Marbles. Public debate about the statuary has raged since the early 1800s, when the sculptures and bas-reliefs, which date from 447 B.C. to 432 B.C., were stripped from the Parthenon and other Classical Greek temples on the Acropolis of Athens by agents of Thomas Bruce, a Scottish statesman and seventh earl of Elgin…. Roger Michel, executive director of the Institute of Digital Archaeology, believes the long-running dust-up can be resolved with the help of 3-D machining.”

Tuskegee University: Tuskegee University and UC Berkeley data science partnership announced. “Tuskegee University and UC Berkeley recently announced the Berkeley-Tuskegee Data Science Initiative, a multi-year partnership to develop curriculum and collaborative research opportunities for students and faculty at both institutions.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Syracuse University: The Art of Science: Students Participate in University’s First-Ever Bio-Art Class. “Bio-art first came to the University in 2018, when Rossa and Hehnly established the Bio-Art Mixer in collaboration with the Canary Lab in VPA’s Department of Film and Media Arts. The open forum includes faculty, graduate students and members of the general public from different scientific and artistic backgrounds who share innovative research, foster ideas for new art and research projects, and view new science-inspired artworks from leading bio-artists from around the world.” Good morning, Internet…

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