NEW RESOURCES

The Conversation: Inflation hasn’t increased US food insecurity overall, according to our new tracker . “We are experts on food and agricultural economics. Together we have created a new data dashboard that tracks U.S. food insecurity – the technical term for having trouble getting enough nutritious food – based on publicly available information.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Wikimedia Foundation: Wikipedia Gets a Fresh New Look: First Desktop Update in a Decade Puts Usability at the Forefront . “The updated interface, which comes on the heels of English Wikipedia’s 22nd birthday (January 15), prioritizes usability and modernizes the Wikipedia experience to make it easier for everyone to access, explore, and share knowledge. The update is rolling out today on English Wikipedia and is already live on 94% of the 318 active language versions of Wikipedia for all desktop users.”

CNET: Google’s 2023 Doodle Contest Asks Schoolkids What They Are Grateful For. “Google has revealed that the theme of the 2023 Doodle for Google contest will be ‘I am grateful for …’ The annual contest challenges schoolkids from kindergarten through the 12th grade to design their own variation of the company’s famous logo in a way that reflects what they are grateful for in their personal lives.”

USEFUL STUFF

Hackaday: Mod, Repair And Maintain Your Cassette Tapes With 3D Printed Parts. “The benefit of 3D printers is that they have made it relatively easy to reproduce just about any little plastic thing you might happen to break. If you’re one of the diehards that still has a cassette collection, you might find these 3D prints from Thingiverse useful to repair and maintain any broken tapes you may have.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNBC: Google to lay off 12,000 people — read the memo CEO Sundar Pichai sent to staff. “Google said on Friday that it will be laying off 12,000 people from its workforce, adding to the slew of major U.S. tech companies cutting jobs amid fears of an oncoming recession. Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, said in an email sent to the company’s staff Friday that the firm will begin making layoffs in the U.S. immediately.”

New York Magazine: Elon Musk and the Sad Mod Theory of Social-Media CEOs. “The tales of internal chaos combined with Musk’s own hypervisible and constantly trollish behavior on Twitter itself have helped to create a sense that the service itself is changing rapidly. A look back at Musk’s first few months in charge, however, suggests a leader struggling with a strange and confusing sort of impotence and taking it out on the people over which he has actual control.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

NPR: T-Mobile says breach exposed personal date of 37 million customers. “The U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile said Thursday that an unidentified malicious intruder breached its network in late November and stole data on 37 million customers, including addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.”

TechCrunch: India’s top court rejects Google plea to block Android antitrust ruling in major blow. “Google has been dealt a significant blow in one of its key overseas markets. India’s Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block an antitrust order that requires the Android-maker to make a series of changes that could topple its financial viability.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

USGS: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helps USGS Pilot New Search Tool for Subsurface Data & Samples Across the Country. “This application, named the National Index of Borehole Information (NIBI), will allow natural-resource managers, industry and researchers to discover and access borehole – and core sample holdings from the USGS and state geological surveys through a single portal.”

The Atlantic: What Happens When AI Has Read Everything?. “Artificial intelligence has in recent years proved itself to be a quick study, although it is being educated in a manner that would shame the most brutal headmaster. Locked into airtight Borgesian libraries for months with no bathroom breaks or sleep, AIs are told not to emerge until they’ve finished a self-paced speed course in human culture. On the syllabus: a decent fraction of all the surviving text that we have ever produced.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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