NEW RESOURCES

University of York: Two million historic York records go online. “More than two million records detailing baptisms, marriages and burials in York over five centuries have been released online thanks to a new partnership between the University of York and Ancestry.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Search Engine Roundtable: Google Perspectives Search Results. “Google seems to be testing a new search box and feature titled ‘perspectives.’ Perspectives seem to give searchers answers to a more broad and maybe philosophical type of query.”

USEFUL STUFF

Mashable: How to use the new Live Captions in iOS 16 . “Apple is launching a new suite of accessibility features in the soon-to-be-unveiled iOS 16, and (finally) adding a Live Captions feature for all audio content across devices. The new option lets users easily turn on automatic captioning in their Settings menu, which will apply to any audio played within the device, from phone calls, to FaceTime sessions, to videos.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

TechCrunch: Protestware on the rise: Why developers are sabotaging their own code. “A developer can, on a whim, change their mind and do whatever they want with their open source code that, most of the time anyway, comes “as is” without any warranty. Or, as seen by a growing trend this year, developers deliberately sabotaging their own software libraries as a means of protest — turning software into ‘protestware.'”

BBC: Kenya election: The influencers paid to push hashtags. “Social media influencing is a growing and potentially lucrative business for young people in Kenya and increasingly, politicians come calling…. With the fiercely contested presidential election on 9 August, many fear the system of paid-for influence can lead to manipulation and the spread of harmful narratives.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

SC Media: HHS alerts to ongoing healthcare web app attacks, urges review of tactics. “Healthcare entities are being urged to review tactics and potential remediation strategies for ongoing web application attack campaigns targeting the sector. The Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Coordination Center shared insights into health sector impacts.”

WIRED: How Tor Is Fighting—and Beating—Russian Censorship. “Tor encrypts your web traffic and sends it through a chain of computers, making it very hard for people to track you online. Authoritarian governments see it as a particular threat to their longevity, and in recent months, Russia has stepped up its long-term ambition to block Tor—although not without a fight.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Map Room: GPS Negatively Impacts Spatial Memory. “Rebecca Solnit points to a 2020 study that attempts to measure the impact of using GPS navigation devices on our spatial memory. After assessing 50 drivers, researchers found that drivers with more GPS experience had worse spatial memory when navigating without GPS.”

The Verge: TikTok to provide researchers with more transparency as damaging reports mount. “TikTok is making it easier for researchers to delve into the data and protocols that make up the platform. In a blog post, TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas announced the company will soon grant researchers access to the framework behind the platform and its moderation system.”

BusinessWire: Leafly Launches Unique Data-Sharing Program to Advance Cannabis Research (PRESS RELEASE). “Leafly is the informed way to shop for weed and its cannabis data library includes tens of thousands of cannabinoid and terpene strain profiles from the Leafly-Certified Labs Program, subjective strain effects from consumer reviews, and cannabis popularity metrics.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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