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Daily Archives: March 1, 2022

Archivists Make Sure the Internet Doesn’t Forget Russia’s War on Ukraine

Vice: “From news reports and social media posts to Ukraine University and government websites, archivists are in a mad dash to preserve the country’s online history. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine accelerates, professional and hobbyist archivists alike are rushing to preserve Ukraine’s online history, cataloging and storing everything from Ukrainian government and university websites, to the torrent of news and social media posts related to the accelerating conflict. The Internet Archive has been archiving the broader conflict in Ukraine since 2014. But as Ukraine government websites face prolonged outages due to sustained cyber attack—as well as the looming risk of defacement or deletion—the organization has taken on another monumental task: backing up the entirety of the Ukrainian Internet. Using the crowdsourced auto-archiving software running on a virtual machine they’ve dubbed Archive Team Warrior, the organization has leveraged volunteers around the world, many of whom have donated countless terabytes of storage capacity for the project. These volunteers have been steadily backing up the Ukrainian Internet since before the war began. All told, 68 million items (web pages, documents, and other files) comprising more than 2.5 TB of data have already been hoovered up from various websites across the .ua top level Ukrainian domain. A second project dubbed Ukr-net aims to preserve tens of millions of additional items and terabytes of additional data across the Ukrainian Internet. Elsewhere, organizations like the Center For Information Resilience have built a crowdsourced map attempting to document every single war-related post to social media made in the region, ranging from civilian photos of the movement of heavy Russian weaponry, to Ukranian government claims of alleged bombing raids on kindergardens…”

Follow the Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map

Bellingcat: “Editor’s note: The Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map is a crowdsourced effort by Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) and the wider open source community to map, document and verify significant incidents during the conflict in Ukraine. Its aim is to provide reliable information for policymakers, journalists as well as justice and accountability bodies about the evolving… Continue Reading

EU’s ban on Russia Today and Sputnik is now in effect

TechCrunch: “The EU’s ban on Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik has just gone into effect after the bloc formally adopted the sanctions, meaning media regulators are now expected to monitor compliance, with the risk of fines being levied by national watchdogs across the bloc for any platforms found continuing to distribute the Kremlin-linked media firms’… Continue Reading

6 Brainstorming Tools to Help Remote Teams Collaborate in Real-Time

MakeUseOf: “When it comes to brainstorming, there are dozens of tools to choose from. With companies getting increasingly distributed, online brainstorming tools are becoming the must-have tool for remote collaboration. What’s more, brainstorming tools can help you uncover innovative experiences and better deliver on user needs. Brainstorming is an opportunity for remote teams to get… Continue Reading

Russia’s Nuclear Weapons: Doctrine,Forces,and Modernization

CRS Report [45 pages] – Russia’s Nuclear Weapons: Doctrine,Forces,and Modernization, Updated March 1, 2022: “Russia’s nuclear forces consist of both long-range, strategic systems—including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs),submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers—and shorter-and medium-range delivery systems. Russia is modernizing its nuclear forces,replacing Soviet-era systems with new missiles, submarines and aircraft while developing new types… Continue Reading

Text of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address

March 1, 2022 – Full text Remarks of President Joe Biden – State of the Union Address As Prepared for Delivery, United States Capitol. “Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President, our First Lady and Second Gentleman. Members of Congress and the Cabinet. Justices of the Supreme Court. My fellow Americans.  Last year COVID-19 kept us apart. This year we… Continue Reading

Superb Owl Sunday VI

The Atlantic – “A special Sunday event: our sixth annual photographic essay celebrating such magnificent birds of prey. These nocturnal hunters hail from Europe, Asia, North America, and South America and are captured here in photos from recent years….I invite you to take a look. It is always a hoot to put this collection together.”… Continue Reading

The Elephant in the Courtroom

New Yorker: “A curious legal crusade to redefine personhood is raising profound questions about the interdependence of the animal and human kingdoms. According to the civil-law code of the state of New York, a writ of habeas corpus may be obtained by any “person” who has been illegally detained. In Bronx County, most such claims… Continue Reading

These Climate Scientists Are Fed Up and Ready to Go on Strike

The New York Times: “Evidence on global warming is piling up. Nations aren’t acting. Some researchers are asking what difference more reports will make…Each I.P.C.C. assessment is a huge, multiyear effort by researchers and representatives from 195 governments. Every line, every chart, is fine-tuned to ensure it is backed by evidence. The hours are long;… Continue Reading