TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Ars Technica: Gmail unleashes “email emoji reactions” onto an unsuspecting world. “Finally, the feature everyone has been asking for: Gmail 👏 emoji 👏 reactions 👏. You can now reply to an email just like it’s an instant messaging chat, tacking on a ‘crying laughing’ emoji to an email instead of replying. Google has a whole support article detailing the new feature, which allows you to ‘express yourself and quickly respond to emails with emojis.'” Pretty sure I’m too old for this.

Engadget: Google Assistant with Bard will use generative AI for personalized answers. “During its Made by Google event on Wednesday, the company announced that it’s integrating its Bard AI chatbot into Google Assistant. The company describes the feature as combining Bard’s ‘generative reasoning’ with Assistant’s ‘personalized help’ to provide more contextually aware responses for mobile users.”

United Nations Wildlife Programme: CITES Trade Database Surpasses 25 Million Trade Transaction Records. “More than 25 million records of wildlife trade transactions have now been reported by the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the CITES Trade Database. As the most comprehensive and authoritative database on international trade in wildlife, this tool enables CITES Parties and the general public to access transactions of international trade in species of wild fauna and flora.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Futurism: Scammers Are Using AI to Sell Ripped Off Versions of Other People’s Books. “It seems that scammers who use AI to mimic actual human writers are getting smarter, after a British journalist found a memoir that bore a shocking resemblance to his own that he’d just published — except that this one was full of made-up stories and was published under a different name than his.”

The Pink News: Mermaids quits Twitter due to lack of ‘safe, healthy or inclusive’ space for trans people. “Trans charity Mermaids has announced its departure from X (formerly known as Twitter) as the social media platform no longer aligns with its values. Mermaids, one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities, said that the Elon Musk-owned platform now fails to provide a safe space for trans people or trans organisations in a statement on Thursday (5 October).”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Reuters: Elon Musk’s X Corp In Another Legal Fight Over Unpaid Rent. “Elon Musk’s X Corp, facing its own legal claims over unpaid rent, has sued a financial services company to recoup more than $713,500 in allegedly past due rent and other fees stemming from a sublease agreement for San Francisco office space.”

New York Times: Ukraine’s War of Drones Runs Into an Obstacle: China. “More than any conflict in human history, the fighting in Ukraine is a war of drones. That means a growing reliance on suppliers of the flying vehicles — specifically, China. While Iran and Turkey produce large, military-grade drones used by Russia and Ukraine, the cheap consumer drones that have become ubiquitous on the front line largely come from China, the world’s biggest maker of those devices. That has given China a hidden influence in a war that is waged partly with consumer electronics.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Daily Illini: Opinion | Social media is essential to artists’ success . “Lucky for artists, becoming famous is easier now than ever before. Ordinary people are trending on social media every single day. Despite that, becoming a famous artist is still tough. In fact, according to a 2014 study, around 90% of all musicians are considered ‘wholly undiscovered.’ Breaking into any creative industry is virtually impossible without resources or connections.” I think that’s breaking into ANY industry.

North Carolina State University: NSF-Funded Project Will Expand Access to Open-Source Geospatial Program. “A new project led by researchers at the Center for Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University will modernize the infrastructure of GRASS GIS, a freely available geospatial software platform that has helped researchers create and innovate geospatial workflows for over forty years. The project will also strategically grow the GRASS community to achieve a technologically and socially sustainable open-source ecosystem.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

Eastern Daily Press: Ringsfield Primary students put time capsule in church roof. “School pupils have laid a time capsule in the roof of a village’s 15th-century historic church which is being rethatched. Ringsfield church, near Beccles, welcomed the Year 3 and 4 children from Ringsfield Church of England Primary School to bury a time capsule in the new thatch on the roof being restored.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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