Washington Post – “Twitter under Elon Musk is still up and running despite massive layoffs and a series of erratic management decisions. Many long time users, however, worry the end is near or that platform is no longer a safe or welcoming place for them, and they’re looking for a new home online. That search… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2022
WSJ explains Mastodon
WSJ$ – How to Use Mastodon – the social media platform blocked by Elon Musk’s Twitter – “Mastodon could be the future of social media, if you can figure it out.” This is a visually driven guide that uses screenshots alongside narrative to assist users as they learn about the platform, which differs significantly from… Continue Reading
Book recommendations from Johns Hopkins scholars and experts
We asked faculty members, library staff, and many others about the best books they read in 2022. This is what they told us. “As 2022 nears an end, we reached out to an array of scholars and experts from across Johns Hopkins University, asking about their favorite books from the past year. From gripping novels… Continue Reading
All-knowing machines are a fantasy Beware the human-sounding ChatGPT
iai news: “The idea of an all-knowing computer program comes from science fiction and should stay there. Despite the seductive fluency of ChatGPT and other language models, they remain unsuitable as sources of knowledge. We must fight against the instinct to trust a human-sounding machine, argue Emily M. Bender & Chirag Shah. Decades of science… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 17, 2022
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 17, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading
ResearchDataGov
Via Kris Kasianovitz – “Interview in Science Magazine with ICPSR’s Margaret Levenstein about the launch of ResearchDataGov. This is a portal for discovering and requesting access to *restricted microdata *from federal statistical agencies. Excerpt from the article – Accessing U.S. data for research just got easier New online portal streamlines requests for massive data sets… Continue Reading
We’re drowning in old books. But getting rid of them is heartbreaking
Washington Post: “…America is saturated with old books, congesting Ikea Billy cases, Jengaing atop floors, Babeling bedside tables. During months of quarantine, book lovers faced all those spines and opportunities for multiple seasons of spring cleaning. They adore these books, irrationally, unconditionally, but know that, ultimately, if they don’t decide which to keep, it will… Continue Reading
Elon Musk, Fox News, and Free Speech Absolutism
Teri Kanefield – “Free Speech Absolutism” – Elon Musk abolished Twitter’s moderation policies and allowed “America’s most prominent Nazi,” Andrew Anglin back onto Twitter along with Donald Trump. He declared himself a “free speech absolutist” and said all voices should be heard. Then, on Thursday, he went on a binge and suspended the Twitter accounts of a number… Continue Reading
Repeat Spreaders and Election Delegitimization
Kennedy, I., Wack, M., Beers, A., Schafer, J. S., Garcia-Camargo, I., Spiro, E. S., & Starbird, K. (2022). Repeat Spreaders and Election Delegitimization: A Comprehensive Dataset of Misinformation Tweets from the 2020 U.S. Election. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media, 2. https://doi.org/10.51685/jqd.2022.013 (Original work published June 13, 2022) “This paper introduces and presents a first… Continue Reading
Place Your Order for Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests
Free test kits are available once again for a limited time. Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of #4 free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order: Limit of one order per residential address One order includes #4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests (COVID.gov/tests has more… Continue Reading
Delete Your Phone Number From Twitter Before They Sell It
Lifehacker: “According to a new report on Platformer, after alienating advertisers and losing revenue, Twitter plans to sell location data and phone numbers to advertisers, whether you like it or not. Now is a great time to remove that information from your account. Even if Musk’s platform never implements these changes, you’re probably better off… Continue Reading
AI can now create images out of thin air. See how it works.
Washington Post: “A strange and powerful collaborator is waiting for you. Offer it just a few words, and it will create an original scene, based on your description. This is artificial-intelligence-generated imagery, a rapidly emerging technology now in the hands of anyone with a smart phone. The results can be astonishing: crisp, beautiful, fantastical and… Continue Reading
