NEW RESOURCES

NOAA: Biden Administration launches Heat.gov with tools for communities facing extreme heat. “Heat.gov will provide a one-stop hub on heat and health for the nation and is a priority of President Biden’s National Climate Task Force and its Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

OMG Ubuntu: Zorin OS 16.3 Released with Upgrade Tool, LibreOffice 7.5. “Zorin OS 16.3 introduces a number of refinements that, its developers say, help ‘elevate your computing experience even further’. On paper, the inclusion of the new Zorin OS Upgrader app is Zorin OS 16.3’s tentpole feature.”

Bloomberg: Google Street View to post first new pictures from Germany in a decade. “Alphabet Inc.’s update will start with new photos of the streets and landmarks of the country’s 20 largest cities and expand from there, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday. Google voluntarily suspended Street View photography in Germany in 2011, after an outcry from privacy advocates and opposition from regulators.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Organize Your Projects With Trello. “As useful as they are, sometimes the to-do list apps on your phone just won’t cut it. In the search for personal productivity apps, a key thing to remember is that project management software, like Trello, is not only for teams in offices. You can use it to manage your personal stuff too.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Media Matters: Crowdfunding platform Ko-fi has raised at least tens of thousands for QAnon figures. “The crowdfunding platforming Ko-fi is hosting and profiting from more than a dozen QAnon figures who have collectively raised at least tens of thousands of dollars on the platform. Several of these QAnon figures moved to Ko-fi after Media Matters’ reporting led to their ban from another crowdfunding platform, Buy Me a Coffee.”

Daily Beast: Twitter Removes Fact-Check on Musk’s Bronny James Vax Post. “A fact-check through the platform’s Community Notes feature soon appeared alongside Musk’s tweet noting that the risk of myocarditis, a rare condition characterized by inflammation of heart muscle, is much higher for patients after a COVID infection rather than after a COVID vaccine. Without explanation, the fact-checking post was deleted from Musk’s tweet, which as of Wednesday still remains on his newly rebranded X platform without any kind of qualification.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

North Carolina State University: Why Computer Security Advice Is More Confusing Than It Should Be. “If you find the computer security guidelines you get at work confusing and not very useful, you’re not alone. A new study highlights a key problem with how these guidelines are created, and outlines simple steps that would improve them – and probably make your computer safer.”

KSL TV: Salt Lake City tattoo shop warns of impersonator social media profiles and scams. “A Salt Lake City Tattoo shop is warning people about impersonator social media accounts after potential clients were swindled out of hundreds to thousands of dollars… The social media/marketing manager, Jackie, said recently several fake Facebook and Instagram accounts have been collecting tattoo deposits in the name of Big Deluxe artists.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

WIRED: They Didn’t Ask to Go Viral. Posting on Social Media Without Consent Is Immoral . “To be sure, crass and hateful public figures are worthy of ridicule. And we’ve been using the internet to judge strangers for as long as we’ve had the internet. But the common trait shared by much of the most obnoxious content today is that someone chose to elevate a stranger for no reason beyond their own gratification, attracting attention at a scale unimaginable in the days of relics like Hot or Not and People of Wal-Mart.” I have very strong feelings about this based on personal experience but I will spare you.

New York Times: Aided by A.I. Language Models, Google’s Robots Are Getting Smart. “Google has recently begun plugging state-of-the-art language models into its robots, giving them the equivalent of artificial brains. The secretive project has made the robots far smarter and given them new powers of understanding and problem-solving.” Powered by the knowledge of you and me and our intellectual output. Good afternoon, Internet…

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