NEW RESOURCES

British Library Endangered Archives Blog: New online – July 2023. “Recent online collections include zoological records from Kenya, documents from a Sufi shrine in India, manuscripts from Java, and records from monasteries of cloistered nuns in Lima.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Flickr Blog: Preserving Public Lands: Flickr Joins the Mobilizing for Monuments Campaign. “At Flickr, we firmly believe in the power of collaboration to bring about positive change. That’s why we are thrilled to support the Mobilizing for Monuments initiative, an ambitious project committed to preserving our nation’s invaluable natural and cultural heritage for future generations.”

USEFUL STUFF

Lifehacker: Clean Up Your YouTube Feed With These Chrome Extensions. “What started out as a site to watch videos is fast becoming a site to watch ads with some videos thrown in between. All of these design decisions have been made with one goal in mind—to increase engagement at all costs. As a result, YouTube’s desktop feed is a royal mess. Fortunately, with the right Chrome extensions, you can make YouTube a lot more fun to use.”

Digital Inspiration: How to Create Personalized Images in Bulk with Google Sheets. “Yesterday marked Friendship Day, and to celebrate, I sent a personalized image to each of my friends via WhatsApp. The images were created in bulk, but each graphic had the person’s name, making the greetings unique and heartfelt. To achieve this, I did employ some automation. First, I gathered the names of my friends in a Google Sheet. Then, I designed a graphic template in Canva and imported the design in Google Slides. The template had a placeholder – {{Friend’s Name}} – that would be replaced with actual values from the Google Sheet.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

The Guardian: Supermarket AI meal planner app suggests recipe that would create chlorine gas. “A New Zealand supermarket experimenting with using AI to generate meal plans has seen its app produce some unusual dishes – recommending customers recipes for deadly chlorine gas, ‘poison bread sandwiches’ and mosquito-repellent roast potatoes.”

Associated Press: Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to ‘ChatGPT-proof’ assignments. “For some instructors that means a return to paper exams, after years of digital-only tests. Some professors will be requiring students to show editing history and drafts to prove their thought process. Other instructors are less concerned. Some students have always found ways to cheat, they say, and this is just the latest option.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Deutsche Welle: Germany says Charming Kitten hackers target Iran dissidents. “Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has warned dissident Iranian activists about the threat of cyber espionage against them. The hackers work by gaining the trust of their targets.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Next Web: Influencers have made social media a booming market for counterfeit goods, study finds. “After analysing surveys of 2,000 people in the UK, the study team found around 22% of consumers who are active on social media have bought counterfeits endorsed by influencers. The researchers believe it’s the first-ever estimate of its kind. They warn that counterfeiters are exploiting the popularity of influencers to peddle harmful products.”

Library of Congress: Ensuring Enduring Access to eBooks: Update on Recent Research and Analysis . “The Library of Congress recently completed a project to analyze the technical characteristics of a substantial set of eBook and eJournal files in the permanent collection and available for onsite access in Stacks, the Library’s access system for rights restricted content. These files were selected because they contain embedded data such as audio, video, and other interactive features that are not fully transparent. The research and resulting analysis from this project will inform current action plans for access and preservation.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Washington University in St. Louis: Perovskite light emitters and detectors with the stroke of a pen. “Researchers working with Chuan Wang, associate professor of electrical & systems engineering, have developed ink pens that allow individuals to handwrite flexible, stretchable optoelectronic devices on everyday materials including paper, textiles, rubber, plastics and 3D objects. Flexible optoelectronics for emitting and detecting light, which are already found in everyday objects like smartphones and fitness trackers, can bend, fold and flex while maintaining functionality.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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