afternoonbuzz

Exploding Star Catalog, Social Security Challenge, Duolingo, More: Thursday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, March 16, 2023

NEW RESOURCES

University of Hawaii: Largest catalog of exploding stars now available. “The newly-released data contains information on nearly 2,000 supernovae and other luminous variable objects with observations in multiple colors. It is also the first to extensively use the multi-color imaging to classify the supernovae and estimate their distances.”

PR Newswire: Up to the Challenge? New American Academy of Actuaries Web App Puts You in Charge of Fixing Social Security Financing (PRESS RELEASE). “A new ‘Social Security Challenge’ web app published by the nonpartisan American Academy of Actuaries at actuary.org/socialsecurity immerses users in an animated virtual trek where they endeavor to solve one of the most consequential public policy challenges of our time: how to address the financing shortfall that could lead to future 20% cuts in payable Social Security benefits.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Engadget: Duolingo’s Max plan offers AI tutoring for $30 per month. “You can add Duolingo to the growing list of companies jumping on the generative AI craze. On Wednesday, the company announced Duolingo Max, a new, more expensive subscription tier that comes with access to a pair of GPT-4 features.”

USEFUL STUFF

How-To Geek: How to Print Text Messages From iPhone. “iPhone text messages—including iMessage—live on your iPhone or Mac. If you want to get those messages into the real world—either for court or personal records—you’ll need to get creative. We’ll show you two ways to print text messages on iPhone.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

New York Times: Making Deepfakes Gets Cheaper and Easier Thanks to A.I.. “Meme-makers and misinformation peddlers are embracing artificial intelligence tools to create convincing fake videos on the cheap.”

Reuters: Swiss Google Workers Stage Walkout as Job Cuts Hit Europe . “Hundreds of Google employees staged a walkout on Wednesday at the company’s office in Zurich, Switzerland, after more than 200 workers were laid off.”

Rolling Stone: How Kevin Hart Reaction Memes Took Over the Internet. “You can’t deny the hustle: Hart consistently ranks among the highest-paid comedians, collaborates with big names on high-profile movie projects and, through his two separate production companies, maintains a dizzying number of partnerships and development deals. Oh, and last year, he launched a tequila brand. The upshot of all this labor is that Hart is more than famous — he’s omnipresent, perhaps one of the most recognizable faces in American culture today. Which helps to explain how he became a meme.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

The Guardian: Federal investigators examined Trump Media for possible money laundering, sources say. “Federal prosecutors in New York involved in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s social media company last year started examining whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter.”

Dallas Morning News: Dallas deputy streamed traffic stop to TikTok, revealed man’s personal info, lawsuit says. “A Tarrant County man is suing Dallas County and a sheriff’s deputy after he says his personal information was revealed to more than 100 people after the deputy livestreamed a traffic stop through TikTok.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Lifehacker: Get a Settlement for That Bulky CRT TV You Bought Ages Ago. “A new class action lawsuit has been reached with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation involving Cathode Ray Tubes (‘CRTs’), a type of monitor technology that uses a large glass tube to display images. The lawsuit claimed that Mitsubishi Electric conspired with other TV brands to fix the prices of CRTs, making customers pay more for their TVs and monitors. This settlement is in addition to nine other similar settlements reached with Chunghwa, LG, Philips, Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba, Samsung SDI, Thomson, and Technologies Displays America, according to the settlement.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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