NEW RESOURCES

NHK World Japan: JMA launches website on 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. “The website presents photos and data related to the 7.9-magnitude Great Kanto Earthquake, which struck on September 1, 1923. The temblor destroyed buildings, triggered landslides and tsunami, and caused massive fires that engulfed wide swathes of Tokyo and Yokohama. It left more than 100,000 people dead.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Bloomberg: Laid-Off Twitter Workers Remain in Limbo Over Severance Pay. “Twitter Inc. employees who were laid off shortly after Elon Musk took over are still awaiting details of their severance packages months after being let go, leading to further legal trouble for the new owner.”

Engadget: Zoom’s avatars now let you appear as a cartoon version of yourself. “Zoom announced human avatars today for its video meeting app. Like Apple’s Memoji or the humanoid cartoons Mark Zuckerberg wants us to use in the metaverse, the customizable virtual characters mirror your movements and facial expressions. The idea is to inject zaniness into less formal meetings, letting you be present without appearing on camera as your (flesh and blood) self.”

The Verge: Snap’s shutting down the app that put cool filters on your Zoom calls. “On January 25th, Snap will be shutting down its camera app for Mac and PCs. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you may remember it as the program that let you apply silly filters to your face while you were on Zoom or other video conference calls.”

USEFUL STUFF

Lifehacker: The 7 Best Weather Apps to Replace Dark Sky on iPhone and Android. “Dark Sky, one of the best weather apps on Android and iOS, officially discontinued service at the end of 2022. Apple bought Dark Sky in 2020 and slowly ported some (but not all) of its features to the Apple Weather app, but its closure means users have to find a replacement. Luckily, there are several great apps on Android and iOS with hyper-localized weather tracking, accurate forecasts, and user-friendly interfaces that can fill the Dark Sky-shaped hole in your app launcher.” Slideshow.

Smashing Magazine: A Guide To Getting Data Visualization Right. “In this article, Sara Dholakia presents a guide on how to choose just the right type of data visualization, with guidelines and things to keep in mind.” A good deep dive.

Search Engine Journal: Best SEO Courses Online – Free & Paid Options. “If you’re just getting started in SEO, you’re a mid-level professional looking to add tools to your toolbox, or even a seasoned veteran seeking the latest tricks, we’ve got just the thing. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the best online SEO courses available, so you can find exactly what you’re looking for.” I dislike SEO intensely, but it’s a fact of life. If you’re in charge of a Web site and its promotion, it behooves you to at least have an understanding of SEO, even if you have no intention of becoming a professional about it.

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNET: QAnon Conspiracy Theory Channel Appears on Roku Lineup. “Roku has a new channel in its lineup that’s full of misinformation, such as content regarding QAnon, debunked vaccine conspiracies and false information about COVID-19. Roku says it’s looking into the conspiracy theory channel, which was reported on earlier by Media Matters.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Wall Street Journal: Celsius Co-Founder Sued by New York Attorney General. “New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit Thursday against Alex Mashinsky, alleging the co-founder of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network LLC defrauded investors out of billions of dollars of digital currency.”

Kotaku: Logan Paul Says Some Of His NFT Game Devs Were ‘Con Men,’ But He Didn’t Scam. “After keeping his mouth shut for roughly two weeks, Logan Paul has finally opened up about his blockchain NFT ‘game,’ CryptoZoo, in a response video to investigative YouTuber Stephen ‘Coffeezilla’ Findeisen. However, if you were hoping for some sort of explanation of what went wrong with the project, you’ll be sorely disappointed.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

How-To Geek: Why I’m Switching Back to Cable TV. “The early days of streaming live TV was great. The channel packages were small and very affordable. Most services let you choose from add-on bundles to expand your channel list. It was pretty easy to get the channels you wanted without much extra ‘fluff’ jammed in. However, in the years since, I’ve watched as these services have ballooned in channel lineup size and price. The dream of ‘al la carte TV’ never really materialized. This brings us to today, where streaming live TV is not much different than cable TV.”

Texas Tech Today: Texas Tech’s Ardon-Dryer Receives National Science Foundation Grant. “Karin Ardon-Dryer, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences, has received a $480,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will augment research into helping society better understand the causes and impacts of dust storms. Ardon-Dryer, an atmospheric scientist who has been part of the faculty in Texas Tech’s College of Arts and Sciences for six years, received the grant to investigate dust events across the nation during the past 20 years and build out an accessible, centralized database for researchers and communities alike.” Good morning, Internet…

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