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Daily Archives: July 22, 2018

Wikipedia is embedded into higher education

The Chronicle of Higher Education: “LiAnna Davis remembers when people didn’t want to talk to her at academic conferences: “I had this woman one time who held her folder up over her head and was like, ‘Don’t let my department chair see me talking to you guys, but I’m so glad you’re here.’” Davis works for Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that was once considered anathema to the academic mission. She’s director of programs for its higher-education-focused nonprofit arm, Wiki Education. Academics have traditionally distrusted Wikipedia, citing the inaccuracies that arise from its communally edited design and lamenting students’ tendency to sometimes plagiarize assignments from it. Now, Davis said, higher education and Wikipedia don’t seem like such strange bedfellows. At conferences these days, “everyone’s like, ‘Oh, Wikipedia, of course you guys are here.’”

“I think it’s a recognition that Wikipedia is embedded within the fabric of learning now,” she said.

How the Russians did it – unwrapping Mueller’s latest indictment

What Mueller’s Latest Indictment Reveals About Russian and U.S. Spycraft “Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as part of his investigation into interference with the 2016 presidential election, charged 12 Russian military intelligence officers with conducting “large-scale cyber operations to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” The indictment contains a surprising amount of technical information about alleged Russian… Continue Reading

1,150 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc.

1,150 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc. “Watch 1,150 movies free online. Includes classics, indies, film noir, documentaries and other films, created by some of our greatest actors, actresses and directors. The collection is divided into the following categories: Comedy & Drama; Film Noir, Horror & Hitchcock; Westerns (many with John Wayne);… Continue Reading

Rebecca Solnit: They Think They Can Bully the Truth

Literary Hub: “Cousin to the noun dictator is the verb dictate. There are among us people who assume their authority is so great they can dictate what happened, that their assertions will override witnesses, videotapes, evidence, the historical record, that theirs is the only voice that matters, and it matters so much it can stand… Continue Reading

Report – Challenging Truth and Trust: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation

Computational Propaganda Research Program – Oxford Internet Institute – Challenging Truth and Trust: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation, July 20, 2018: “The manipulation of public opinion over social media platforms has emerged as a critical threat to public life. Around the world, a range of government agencies and political parties are exploiting… Continue Reading

Airports Where You’re Most Likely To Be Hacked

Fortune: “Public Wi-Fi in airports might seen like a godsend to business travelers and weary parents. But it’s often a fast lane for hackers to access your information. Cloud security company Coronet has compiled a list of America’s most cyber insecure airports. And nowhere is worse than San Diego. Coronet looked at data from the… Continue Reading

EPA Report on Flint Water Crisis identifies past and moving forward crisis

On July 19, 2018 the EPA Inspector General released a 74-page report about the Flint Water Crisis (report #18-P-0221)  – Management Weaknesses Delayed Response to Flint Water Crisis – “The EPA should strengthen its oversight of state drinking water programs to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency’s response to drinking water contamination emergencies.”… Continue Reading

Data Transfer Project

The Data Transfer Project (DTP) “is a collaboration of organizations committed to building a common framework with open-source code that can connect any two online service providers, enabling a seamless, direct, user initiated portability of data between the two platforms. The Data Transfer Project was formed in 2017 to create an open-source, service-to-service data portability… Continue Reading

Trump leaving lasting legacy throughout judiciary

Boston Globe [paywall]: “President Trump is not only poised to put his conservative imprint on the Supreme Court, but he’s restocking vacancies throughout lower US courts at a historic clip, ensuring a judicial legacy that will last decades. Trump has appointed 44 judges since taking office — including more appellate judges than any president in… Continue Reading

Putting Weather Forecasting to Music

The Opposite of Forecasting (by Douglas Lausten) is a streaming radio station that turns weather data from Austin, Texas into music. “The resulting music reacts to a number of atmospheric conditions, including the temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind angle, wind speed, barometric pressure, UV, and solar radiation.” The site uses WordPress Audio Player Free Version –… Continue Reading