NEW RESOURCES

OpenSecrets: OpenSecrets launches new tool to track ballot measures across the country . “OpenSecrets has launched a new tool to track ballot measures across the country as part of a continuing effort to integrate state level data following the merger with the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in Politics.”

Microsoft Blog: Because every vote counts: making elections more accessible. “Today, the Microsoft Accessibility and Democracy Forward teams also celebrate the launch of the Center for Civic Designs’ Disability Voting Index. This new tool offers a single, centralized location that makes it easy to quickly search and understand accessibility options in all 50 states so that more people with disabilities can participate in the electoral process.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Creative Commons: New FAQ on NFTs and CC0. “To help clarify how NFTs are already leveraging CC legal tools, we have added a new section to our FAQ on using CC licenses and the CC0 public domain dedication with NFTs. This FAQ is intended to provide basic guidance for those who are already using NFTs and want to know how to use CC licenses and legal tools with NFT projects. We will continue to update our FAQ as our understanding and interpretation develops.”

Search Engine Journal: Google Announces September 2022 Core Algorithm Update. “Google announced a Core Algorithm Update on September 12, 2022. The official Google list of announced updates stated that it will take up to two weeks to finish rolling out. The initial response from the search community was generally positive although some affiliate marketing Facebook groups were noticeably muted.”

USEFUL STUFF

Hackaday: Organise Your Hacks With Treesheets: An Open Source Hierarchical Spreadsheet. “TreeSheets is described as a hierarchical spreadsheet, which is intended as a replacement for several distinct tools; think spreadsheets, mindmaps and text editors and similar.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

University of Toronto: Student project creates accessible database of Canada’s first newspapers. “Led by Sébastien Drouin, an associate professor in the department of language studies at U of T Scarborough, the bilingual project, ‘Early Modern Canadian Newspapers Online’ is a collection of newspapers from the second half of the eighteenth century – from 1752 to 1810 – printed in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Québec and Ontario.”

Loop T&T News: Wedding nothing: Google Maps loses Penal couple in forest. “The duo hoped to attend a wedding in Guayaguayare Village on Saturday. They wanted to get there in the shortest possible time so they used Google Maps. However, the route they followed wasn’t quite what they expected as they were taken through approximately 19 kilometres of abandoned oilfield road, called the Guayaguayare Road.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Guardian: Google faces €25bn lawsuit in UK and EU over digital advertising. “Google faces a €25bn (£21.6bn) lawsuit in the UK and EU that accuses the tech firm of anticompetitive conduct in the digital advertising market. The company, which is a key player in the online ad market as well as being a dominant force in search, is accused of abusing its power in the ad tech market, which coordinates the sale of online advertising space between publishers and advertisers.”

Reuters: EU regulators widen Google adtech probe to include Portuguese case. “EU antitrust regulators have broadened the scope of their investigation into Alphabet unit Google’s digital advertising business by taking over the Portuguese competition watchdog’s probe into the same issue.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CNBC: Google spins out secret hi-speed telecom project called Aalyria, and keeps stake in startup. “Inside Google, a team of techies has been working behind the scenes on software for high-speed communications networks that extend from land to space. Codenamed ‘Minkowski’ within Google, the secret project is being unveiled to the public on Monday as a new spinout called Aalyria.”

CNET: The Bizarre Way Kids Use Memes Is Melting My Brain. “Much like the olden days, where urban legends spread from older sibling to savvy younger brother and beyond, children are constantly proliferating preexisting memes utterly divorced from the context of their origins. They’re consumed by osmosis, via a family member or YouTube streamer, then rapidly co-opted. Quickly they become part of a bizarre shared language. Nonsensical words that are simply shouted on the playground yet make no literal sense.”

Harvard Gazette: New research alliance brings quantum internet closer to reality. “Harvard University and Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Monday launched a strategic alliance to advance fundamental research and innovation in quantum networking. This effort provides significant funding for faculty-led research at Harvard and will build capacity for student recruitment, training, outreach, and workforce development in this key emerging technology field.” Good morning, Internet…

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