No ResearchBuzz yesterday because I was putting together a Web site for my ResearchBuzz Search Gizmos. There are currently ten tools there and I’m adding two more today. Love to hear what you think: https://researchbuzz.github.io/

NEW RESOURCES

Railroad Commission of Texas: Millions of Historic Oil and Gas Production Records Now Online on Railroad Commission Website. “The Historical Imaged Annual Production Records database includes oil production dating back to 1931 and gas production going back to 1937. More than 1,300 rolls of microfilm containing about 2.2 million images housed in RRC’s Central Records were digitized for the project.”

CBS 46: University System of Georgia introduces new college comparison tool. “It’s called Georgia Degrees Pay. The tool, announced at the August Board of Regents meeting on Tuesday, allows users to compare all 26 public universities and colleges in the University System (USG). Many of the features allow users compare up to two schools at a time – and include categories like cost of attendance, future earnings, and student success rates.”

EVENTS

USGS: Public and media invited to attend a live, virtual lecture on how to access over 100,000 geologic maps covering the U.S.. “David Soller, a USGS geologist, will talk about the National Geologic Map Database. Geologic maps help identify potential earthquake hazards, inform environmental studies, and guide energy and mineral research.” It doesn’t look like registration is required. However, when I followed the URL to where the lecture would be, I got a security warning because the certificates are mismatched. As far as I can tell it’s just a misconfiguration.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: Google’s Search AI now looks for general consensus to highlight more trustworthy results. “Google’s Search AI can now check snippet callouts — those are the information with larger fonts that serve as heading for featured snippets — against other high-quality sources online.”

USEFUL STUFF

Chrome Unboxed: How to create your own indie game for free on your Chromebook using Godot. “For those of you who are interested in getting into game development and only own a Chromebook, I’m starting a series of posts which will show you how to use different software and web applications to begin dabbling in the world of indie game dev. These will mostly be teaching you what options are available to you and how to get them up and running.”

KnowTechie: APPS5 best webcam face filter apps for streaming. “Webcam face filters apps are thriving, so here’s our detailed comparison of market-leading products with their benefits, drawbacks, and ready-made features.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

University of Maine: New exhibit featuring 3D-printed replica of 19th-century helmet opens at Hudson Museum. “The original Tlingit Frog Clan Helmet, carved out of yellow cedar, painted in green and red pigments and inlaid with abalone shell discs that were previously attached to a textile, sits alongside its identical replica. The 3D printed model was created by engineers from UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center and graduate students from the Intermedia Programs. Both helmets are surrounded by photos depicting the stages in the process to create the replica and panels describing how the original helmet came to the museum, what sparked the efforts to recreate it, who worked on the project and their roles.”

Army Times: Army schoolhouses dive into new social media trainings. “New training tools, classes and exercise scenarios are coming into play at all levels of the professional military education system, from basic training to special courses tailored for general officers. To get a sense of where the Army might go next with social media in its schoolhouses, Army Times interviewed TRADOC Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Hendrex and other officials developing social media training programs across the command.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The East African: Kenya election: Deep fakes, propaganda, libel inundate social media . “The final stretch of the campaigns has witnessed outright propaganda and manipulated videos and audios online spaces, signalling a rebound of fake news. From fabricated videos made to misrepresent a candidate’s opinion to invented phone calls alleging plans to rig elections and fake statements claiming foreign support for a specific candidate, the ‘deep fakes’ have increased these final two weeks as they seemingly target the less informed.”

Associated Press: Social media addiction bill fails in California Legislature. “California lawmakers on Thursday rejected a proposal that could have forced some popular social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to pay fines for using features they know can harm children.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Caltech: New research “UNCOVERS” hidden objects in high resolution. “The technology, developed in the laboratory of Changhuei Yang, Thomas G. Myers Professor of Electrical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Medical Engineering; and Heritage Medical Research Institute investigator, is a form of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) sensing—or sensing that detects an object of interest outside of the viewer’s line of sight. The new method, dubbed UNCOVER, does this by using nearby flat surfaces, such as walls, like a lens to clearly view the hidden object.”

Rensselaer: Rensselaer Researchers to Address Big Data Challenges. “Simply put, [Dr. Yangyang] Xu’s team will develop groundbreaking algorithms that allow multiple computers to work efficiently together as one. They will also focus on maintaining the security of distributed personal information, and on methods to improve the speed and accuracy of deep learning.” Good morning, Internet…

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