NEW RESOURCES

State of Illinois: Illinois DCFS Launches Child Welfare Dashboard and Study of Child Protection Services to Increase Transparency and Accountability. “The Illinois Child Welfare Insights Tool is the latest innovation supported by the Pritzker administration at DCFS, which is responsible for investigating reports of suspected child abuse and neglect; licensing Illinois’ childcare centers, adoptive and foster homes, and adoption agencies; and providing community resources to families experiencing social and economic hardships. The launch of this new Insights Tool marks the first time that Illinois residents, child welfare advocates and the families receiving these services have near real-time access to information used by DCFS administrators.”

New-to-me — an online mayonnaise museum you can visit virtually. “If you won’t be exploring Japan anytime soon, interactive MayoTerrace online museum tours can be reserved for free and are conducted over Zoom. You’re sure to get some brilliant mayo-centric ideas for your next meal, and might even be inspired to make a permanent home for Kewpie Mayo in your pantry.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Penn State: New updates come to ‘Beescape,’ an online tool for supporting pollinators. “Beescape is a mapping tool that allows users to highlight a particular location or area and get information about the habitat quality for bees. The updates include several changes to make the website more interactive and user-friendly, based on feedback given by stakeholders including growers, beekeepers, scientists and conservationists.”

CTV News: Online News Act could see Google, Meta pay combined $230 million to Canadian media. “Federal officials estimate Google would need to offer $172 million and Facebook $62 million in annual compensation to satisfy criteria they’re proposing be used to give exemptions under the Online News Act, a bill passed over the summer that will force tech companies to broker deals with media companies whose work they link to or repurpose.”

USEFUL STUFF

New York Times: Use Your Phone as a Pocket Tutor for Study on the Go. “Autumn is edging closer, and the return to a more regular office schedule looms for many people — and with it, the waiting time for transportation, meetings and appointments. Games, reading, social-media scrolls or just zoning out are common ways to spend these spells, but if you want more mental stimulation, why not boost your brain with brief lessons in subjects that interest you? Here’s a guide to finding Android and iOS apps that turn your smartphone into a traveling pocket tutor.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

BGR: This generative AI game development tool looks absolutely ridiculous. “The world of generative AI is getting bigger with every passing day as more developers find new ways to utilize AI prompts. Perhaps one of the most ridiculous I’ve seen so far, though, is Hiber3D, a new tool that uses Google’s generative AI to create entire worlds using simple prompts like you’d see used in ChatGPT.”

Sports Illustrated: NBA Referee Eric Lewis Retires Amid Probe Into Social Media Activity. “Former NBA referee Eric Lewis has informed the league that he’s retiring from his duties as an official effective immediately, per a statement released from the league’s office of communications on Wednesday. Lewis had been the subject of an investigation involving his social media activity following allegations that he operated a burner account on X, formerly known as Twitter, which frequently posted in defense of himself and other NBA referees.”

Rolling Stone: Elon Musk Wades Deeper into Antisemitic Propaganda. “On Thursday, a number of accounts began tweeting #BanTheADL, calling on Musk to remove the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) from the site. The ADL is a civil rights organization focused on combating antisemitism and extremism. Momentum for the action seems to have been stirred by a meeting earlier in the week between the ADL’s national director, Jonathan Greenblatt, and Linda Yaccarino, in which the pair discussed how to curb the hate and toxic propaganda that have flourished on X ever since Musk’s takeover last year.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Europol: Qakbot botnet infrastructure shattered after international operation. “Europol has supported the coordination of a large-scale international operation that has taken down the infrastructure of the Qakbot malware and led to the seizure of nearly EUR 8 million in cryptocurrencies. The international investigation, also supported by Eurojust, involved judicial and law enforcement authorities from France, Germany, Latvia, The Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom and the United States.”

SF Gate: Injured person reportedly dies after Cruise cars block first responders. “On Aug. 14, two stalled Cruise vehicles delayed an ambulance from leaving the scene of a crash in which a driver had hit a pedestrian with their car, according to reports from the San Francisco Fire Department. The pedestrian later died of their injuries, which first responders linked to the delay in getting them to the hospital.”

Reuters: U.S. judge approves payouts from Elon Musk’s SEC settlement. “A federal judge on Friday authorized the payout of $41.53 million to investors who lost money when Elon Musk tweeted about taking his electric car company Tesla (TSLA.O) private. Payouts will come from a ‘fair fund’ created under a settlement between Musk and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, arising from Musk’s August 2018 post on Twitter that he had ‘funding secured’ for a Tesla buyout.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Architect Magazine: Materials Science Is Starting to Reap the Benefits of AI. “Scientists have begun exploring the use of AI tools to automate a variety of tasks that are typically time-consuming, including manual endeavors such as identifying relevant references or potential compound ingredients. Remarkably, researchers have also begun employing AI to discover new materials and develop current material compounds in previously unexplored ways.” Good morning, Internet…

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