afternoonbuzz

Antarctic Expedition Photography, Mastodon Apps, Quora, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, February 26, 2023

NEW RESOURCES

Smithsonian Magazine: See Rare Images of Early 20th-Century Antarctic Expeditions. “A trove of historic images from early 20th-century Australian and British expeditions to Antarctica is officially available to the public, the National Archives of Australia (NAA) announced this week. Once held by the Australian Antarctic Division, the collection—hundreds of photos, lantern slides and glass plate negatives—has been transferred to the NAA.”

Mark Mayo/ Mastodon: Why I’m all-in on the fediverse. “I’ve gone from skeptic to fan of Mastodon and the fediverse. To that end, I’ve been part of a small team that’s releasing a new iOS app today: Mammoth, a beautiful Mastodon app for the rest of us. It’s free, it’s high quality, we’re doing some novel things to make the whole experience more friendly and fun for new users, and it’s also a deeply customizable app we think anyone will love.”

TechCrunch: Quora opens its new AI chatbot app Poe to the general public. “Q&A platform Quora has opened up public access to its new AI chatbot app, Poe, which lets users ask questions and get answers from a range of AI chatbots, including those from ChatGPT maker, OpenAI, and other companies like Anthropic. Beyond allowing users to experiment with new AI technologies, Poe’s content will ultimately help to evolve Quora itself, the company says.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Mashable: Elon Musk’s cuts at Twitter are reportedly affecting employees’ work. “Ever since Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the social media platform has been making some big cuts in order to save money. Data centers have been shuttered(Opens in a new tab), rent(Opens in a new tab) hasn’t been paid, and thousands from the company have been laid off as Musk attempts to make his $44 billion acquisition make sense financially. These cuts may have helped Musk save a little cash, but they are reportedly affecting Twitter’s remaining employees, and the very platform itself.”

ReviewGeek: YouTube Tests ‘1080p Premium’ Video Quality. “YouTube is testing new 1080p video quality for YouTube Premium subscribers. Reddit users first spotted the ‘1080p Premium’ quality option, then confirmed by YouTube executives to The Verge.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

CNN: Vanderbilt University apologizes for using ChatGPT to write mass-shooting email. “Vanderbilt University’s Peabody School has apologized to students for using artificial intelligence to write an email about a mass shooting at another university, saying the distribution of the note did not follow the school’s usual processes.”

The Verge: Google parent Alphabet shuts down yet another robot project. “Alphabet’s Everyday Robots subsidiary will no longer exist as a discrete unit, with team members and technology folded into other divisions. It’s a disappointing end for another robotics venture.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

BBC: TikTok under investigation by Canadian privacy authorities. “Canadian privacy protection regulators have launched an investigation into TikTok over its collection of users’ data. The video-sharing platform, owned by Chinese giant ByteDance, has come under scrutiny over concerns that it hands information to Beijing.”

Bleeping Computer: News Corp says state hackers were on its network for two years. “Mass media and publishing giant News Corporation (News Corp) says that attackers behind a breach disclosed in 2022 first gained access to its systems two years before, in February 2020.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Search Engine Land: Google Search remains the go-to news discovery platform. “Google Search remains the top platforms for U.S. adults to research major news events but Gen Z seems to be more inclined to head to TikTok than other generations, according to a new survey.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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