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Testimonial of the Week
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Important Items
A New Playbook for Saving Democracy, Defeating Fascism and Winning Elections
RT @AnandWrites Let’s speak the truth. In polls, fascism and liberal democracy are in a dead heat. The pro-democracy side is at risk not just because the right isn’t playing fair. The left is struggling to win hearts and minds. Here is a new playbook for how it can.
Global Internet Freedom Declines for 12th Straight Year, Says Freedom House — techpolicy.press
MT @justinhendrix Perhaps it’s obvious that 16 years of global democratic decline would be accompanied by 12 years of declines in internet freedoms. But the details matter, as do the outliers and “swing states” where the first signs of a change in trajectory may emerge:
Texas schools send parents DNA kits to identify their kids’ bodies in emergencies — www.nbcnews.com
This made me nauseous. Instead of banning guns, they want to ID dead kids.
Innovation
Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2023 — www.gartner.com
Mouse and human brain cells in a lab dish learn to play video game Pong — and offer a window onto intelligence — www.npr.org
A dish of brain cells learned to play the 1970s video game Pong. The research could help computers become more intelligent
Google Starts Testing Holographic Video Chats at Real Offices
www.cnet.com
Project Starline, a light field display 3D communication platform, is being installed in some corporate locations for the first time.
Behind the Doors of Meta’s Top-Secret Reality Labs
www.cnet.com
My visit to a future that isn’t quite here yet: neural wristbands, ghostly 3D audio and lifelike avatars. Plus, the new Meta Quest Pro.
Archaeologists at Pompeii Say the iPad Pro — Which Comes With a LiDAR Scanner — Is Changing the Way They Work
news.artnet.com
Can the iPad Pro help revolutionize archaeology? It’s already being used to great effect at Tulane University’s excavations in Pompeii.
Technology
TikTok plans to bring a version of China’s $400 billion livestream shopping industry to the US with the beta test of the new TikTok Shop. — www.semafor.com
The company is betting that Americans will fall in love with livestream shopping, a format ByteDance already mastered in China. #TikTok#eCommerce
The dark side of a super app like WeChat
www.technologyreview.com
When one app gives you everything, losing it becomes unbearable.
Instagram follows TikTok with enhanced ad formats and tools — www.marketingdive.com
ICYMI #advertisingbiz
Pinterest partners with record labels to bring popular music to its TikTok rival, ‘Idea Pins’ — techcrunch.com
Pinterest announced today its video-focused “Idea Pins” feature will now include the ability to add popular tracks from top artists, thanks to new licensing deals with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin and BMG.
Google Plans Audio, Podcast Ads for YouTube
YouTube will expand ways for advertisers to reach music and podcast listeners and viewers on connected televisions
Universal Studio Group Strikes Development Deals With TikTokers As Part Of New Initative — deadline.com
NBCUniversal has launched an initiative designed to turn TikTokers into its next generation of television creators.
New Kids’ Privacy App Teaches Digital Privacy While Blocking Trackers — gizmodo.com
The Do Not Track Kids app will help you fight back against tech companies who harvest kids’ data.
Global social media trends
Microsoft Full Circle — stratechery.com
Microsoft has come full circle from the company that cared more about Windows than Office.
Meta will be forced to sell GIF platform Giphy after a groundbreaking ruling by UK regulators
www.businessinsider.com
The CMA argued that the acquisition could make other social-media sites less competitive and reduce competition in the UK digital advertising market.
Kanye West is buying ‘free speech platform’ Parler
www.theverge.com
Kanye West has announced he’s buying right-wing social media platform Parler. The company said the acquisition would help create “an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome.”
Flipboard cuts 21% of staff
Lyft’s app now lets you reserve and pay for a parking spot
Lyft now lets driver’s search, reserve and pay for a parking spot on its app.
The Creativity Supply Chain is tech’s next huge opportunity
Creativity has become the focal point of our modern Internet economy. What was once just a means of artistic expression now powers much of how we all interact, work, and play online.
Photoshop is making it easier to quickly edit and collaborate on projects — www.theverge.com
New collaboration tools and AI capabilities have been announced for Adobe Photoshop, including improvements to automated object selections, content-aware fills, file-sharing collaboration, and content crediting to ensure proper attribution of work.
Adobe announces new features and updates to its Creative Cloud apps at Adobe MAX — 9to5mac.com
Here are some of the new features and changes coming to Adobe Creative Cloud apps announced at Adobe MAX 2022.
Publishing & Media
Amazon Changes Kindle eBook Return Policy, Ends Lending Between Kindle Users, and More
Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing — pen.org
RT @ChristaAngelios New report out from @PENamerica on racial equity in U.S. trade book #publishing. #WeNeedDiverseBooks #DEI
Frankfurt Book Fair 2022: A ‘Seismic Transformation’ in Scholarly Publishing
www.publishersweekly.com
From Plan S to the recently announced White House OSTP open access policy, scholarly publishers must navigate a rapidly shifting policy landscape
Dolly Parton proudly accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy at Gotham Hall on Thursday night for her book-giving charity. — apnews.com
Founded in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has sent millions of free books to children around the world
BDMI Invests in Book.io
How to Build an Effective Content Marketing Funnel
MT @petermccarthy Useful post from @semrush. #marketing#contentmarketing
Inside the Identity Crisis at the New York Times — www.semafor.com
MT @maxwelltani An activist investor is exploring whether the NYT should morph from “a news company expanding into these ancillary tech products” into “something like a tech company with an ancillary news product.”
A large portion of the Americans who will pay for news are rich
About a quarter of Americans have ever paid for news directly. Those who have are more likely to make over $150,000 a year. Only 1% of respondents who “were trying to access a news story online and had to pay to keep reading or watching it” said they would, simply, pay up. Journalism is only essential to a healthy democracy if people of all income levels can access news/information.
AI-enabled writing
This twitter thread on productivity was written by AI and got 1 million views and >23K engagements.
Resources & Opportunities
Democracy, Freedom, Joy, Resistance: How Our History Made Our World
MT @OneWorldLit Books matter. History matters. Join @nhannahjones and @ColorOfChange President @rashadrobinson on 10/25 for Democracy, Freedom, Joy, Resistance: How Our History Made Our World! Save your spot for this FREE hybrid event here. #teamPRH
Journalism Creator Summit — lu.ma
MT @NewmarkJPlus Thrilled to share the incredible lineup of speakers you’ll hear from at our Journalism Creator #JSummit on Nov 4! RSVP for strategies + tactics to succeed as a journalism creator.
Boston Book Festival — bostonbookfest.org
All sessions are free and open to the public, no tickets, no pre-registration
Promotion for FirstBook — twitter.com
RT @FirstBook For every book purchased on http://shopDisney.com from now through December 31, 2022, @Disney will donate a book to First Book, to help us provide new books to kids in need. Your purchase will spark a donation to First Book & will help make a difference in the life of a child.
ASME Magazine Internship Program 2023 — asmeinternship.secure-platform.com
RT @ASME1963 ASME is now accepting applications for the 2023 Magazine Internship Program. The deadline to apply is December 1. This year ASME expects to offer 20 students the opportunity to intern at magazines and websites primarily in New York.
Voter Information: Get Informed & Vote — www.nypl.org
RT @nypl October 24 is the deadline to request an absentee ballot for the November General Election. #NYCVotes
There have been reports of #VoterIntimidation at drop boxes. If you witness it there or at the voting booth, please record & report.
Call Election Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE
Or email Justice Department Civil Rights Division: voting.section@usdoj.gov