NEW RESOURCES

University of Saskatchewan: Democratizing data: new interactive map empowers Canadians to access immigration data. “Let’s say you want to know how many asylum seekers came to Canada from Iran in 2020. Where do you go to find out? What if you want to apply for a grant to start an after school program in Lethbridge and you need to know how many 14-year-old refugee children live in the area? Now, you can click a mouse button and find the answers.”

Stir: CALTAC launches Canada’s first Latinx theatre-artist database . “The Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (CALTAC), a Vancouver-based service organization dedicated to furthering the Canadian Latinx theatre experience, is set to launch the CALTAC Artist Database. The new public list collects the names of professional Latinx Theatre Artists who work across Canada.”

CBS News: Education Department launches beta site for student loan forgiveness applications. “The U.S. Department of Education on Friday launched a beta test of its student debt relief application website. About 95% of Americans with student debt are expected to qualify for loan forgiveness under the Biden administration’s plan. The beta site will be available ‘on and off’ until the full launch, which is expected at some point later this month, according to the Education Department.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Bloomberg: NFT Bargain-Hunting Is In as Crypto Bust Craters Prices. “NFT sales plunged 67% sequentially in the third quarter as speculators and celebrities made an exodus, leaving the sector mostly to the dedicated long-term believers in the various potential use cases, and collectors betting that the plunge in prices will rekindle speculative demand.”

CNBC: Kanye West agrees to buy conservative social media platform Parler, company says. “Kanye West, the superstar rapper who has made several inflammatory and antisemitic comments in recent weeks, has agreed in principle to buy conservative social media platform Parler, the app’s parent company said in a statement Monday.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Smithsonian: Introducing the Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative. “Smithsonian Institution Archives, and now the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, have been working diligently for the past 7+ years to gather information, leverage existing resources, and demonstrate the need for holistic support for a new, pan-institutional initiative to care for and provide access to our audio, video, and film collections. I present to you now, the great unveiling of : The Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative (AVMPI)!”

Gizmodo Australia: Proton Drive vs Google Drive: How the Services Compare. “It’s worth saying right at the outset that we’re not expecting the just-out-of-beta Proton Drive to match up in every department to the 10-year-old Google Drive — but it might be useful, if you’re considering switching, to know about the various tools and features that are already available in the new challenger.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Jerusalem Post: TikTok bans Palestinian terror group Lions’ Den from platform. “Video-sharing platform TikTok has restricted the account of the new Palestinian terrorist group claiming responsibility for a host of recent attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank, the Lions’ Den. The group, which has yet to reveal its political affiliation to any Palestinian faction, has been using its social media platforms to share propaganda and increase support.”

NextGov: Malicious Emails Surged for Election Workers in 2 Battleground States Ahead of Primaries . “Research conducted by cybersecurity firm Trellix found that county election workers in Arizona and Pennsylvania saw an increase in phishing schemes ahead of their primary elections.”

Reuters: Exclusive-Scores of Google rivals want EU tech law used in antitrust case – letter. “More than 40 European rivals to Google’s shopping service urged EU antitrust regulators on Monday to use newly adopted tech rules to ensure the Alphabet unit complies with a 2017 EU order to allow more competition on its search page. The European Commission fined Google 2.4 billion euros ($2.33 billion) five years ago and told the firm to stop favouring its shopping service.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

CogDogBlog: Open Your CC Image Search Eyes to Openverse. “The most surprising thing in responses was how few people, especially in education, even knew about Openverse. Here, just check out the ways different organizations provide guides to finding CC licensed images and how few of them mention Openverse (actually I did find some). It’s also something that bothers me that most resource guides become this laundry list of links, and do not provide as much guidance to search strategies… sometimes it seems like an overloaded list of options that would make most people new to this overwhelmed.”

Purdue University: As ransomware attacks increase, new algorithm may help prevent power blackouts. “No single power utility company has enough resources to protect the entire grid, but maybe all 3,000 of the grid’s utilities could fill in the most crucial security gaps if there were a map showing where to prioritize their security investments. Purdue University researchers have developed an algorithm to create that map.” Good morning, Internet…

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