Reminder: I optimized this newsletter for subscription. If you’re reading this on my blog or Medium (via website or email), please subscribe at https://www.sandlertechworks.com/ for the best user experience.

While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important and try to include a bunch of resources & opportunities. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter.

Important Items

Tracking Abortion Bans Across the Country

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html

How Anti-Democracy Initiatives Fuel Anti-LGBTQ, Anti-Abortion Laws

There is a direct link between the more than 725 bills targeting LGBTQ people introduced in state legislatures in 2023 and the 380 bills that have been introduced in 47 states as of May that would restrict voter access.

https://womensmediacenter.com/news-features/how-anti-democracy-initiatives-fuel-anti-lgbtq-anti-abortion-laws

Racial and ethnic health disparities are pervasive in the US, across most causes of death and in most counties, new study shows

It’s been more than two years since the CDC declared racism a public health threat, and a new study gives a stark look at just how pervasive racial and ethnic disparities are in the United States

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/health/racial-disparities-widespread-us-mortality/index.html

Florida officials tell state schools to teach AP Psychology ‘in its entirety’

RT @BrandtRobinson Breaking news and great news! The Florida Department of Education has relented and acknowledged that AP Psychology will be taught in its entirety. Thank you to the College Board for holding the line, as it should have done with AP African American Studies.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-officials-state-schools-teach-ap-psychology-entirety/story?id=102030805

CDC issues leprosy warning for people making Florida travel plans

https://news.yahoo.com/cdc-issues-leprosy-warning-people-192000957.html

Innovation

Scientists discovered metal can heal itself, and it’s as sci-fi as it sounds

A team of scientists at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico recently observed a cracked sheet of platinum heal while doing research on metal fatigue. Their findings have been published in the scientific journal Nature.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90931037/scientists-discovered-metal-can-heal-itself-and-its-as-sci-fi-as-it-sounds

Technology

Generative AI and the future of work in America

Via McKinsey. By 2030, activities that account for up to 30 percent of hours currently worked across the US economy could be automated—a trend accelerated by generative AI. An additional 12 million occupational transitions may be needed by 2030. Workers in lower-wage jobs are up to 14 times more likely to need to change occupations than those in highest-wage positions, and most will need additional skills to do so successfully. Women are 1.5 times more likely to need to move into new occupations than men.

https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/generative-ai-and-the-future-of-work-in-america

Fragmented truth: How AI is distorting and challenging our reality

A fragmented AI universe, like our fragmented social media and news universe, is bad for truth and destructive for trust. We are facing a chatbot-infused future that will add to the noise and chaos. The fragmentation of truth and society has far-reaching implications not only for text-based information but also for the rapidly evolving world of digital human representations.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/fragmented-truth-how-ai-is-distorting-and-challenging-our-reality/

Off the Charts: Derivative Work Copyright Registers All Material in Derivative Work

RT @inkbitspixels Here’s an interesting new wrinkle in copyright law: If someone uses an unregistered work to create a derivative work, the original work automatically has a registered copyright. (This is going to make it easier to sue.)

https://www.ipupdate.com/2023/07/off-the-charts-derivative-work-copyright-registers-all-material-in-derivative-work/

OpenAI adds ‘huge set’ of ChatGPT updates, including suggested prompts, multiple file uploads

Among the new features OpenAI highlighted are example prompts, suggested replies and follow-up questions (which are “very useful to reduce fatigue”), a default GPT-4 setting so that paying ChatGPT Plus subscribers don’t have to toggle on the latest/most advanced publicly available OpenAI large language model (LLM) every time they start a new chat, support for multiple file uploads when using the OpenAI Code Interpreter plugin, and more.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/openai-adds-huge-set-of-chatgpt-updates-including-suggested-prompts-multiple-file-uploads/

Age of AI: Everything you need to know about artificial intelligence

Breaking down the jargon, an overview of the major players and staying up-to-date on the latest AI news

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/04/age-of-ai-everything-you-need-to-know-about-artificial-intelligence/

Large language models, explained with a minimum of math and jargon

HT @neilperkin

https://www.understandingai.org/p/large-language-models-explained-with

Generative AI services pulled from Apple App Store in China ahead of new regulations

Multiple generative AI apps have been removed from Apple’s China App Store, two weeks ahead of the country’s new generative AI regulations that are set to take effect on August 15. In July, China announced a set of measures to regulate generative AI services, including API providers. The rules require AI apps operating in China to obtain an administrative license.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/01/generative-ai-services-pulled-from-apple-app-store-in-china-ahead-of-new-regulations/

Meta Begins Blocking News in Canada

The change came in response to a new law in Canada that requires tech companies to pay news outlets for using their content.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/business/media/meta-news-in-canada.html

FTC readies lawsuit that could break up Amazon

The FTC has been investigating the company on a number of fronts. The complaint is likely to focus on challenges to Amazon Prime, Amazon rules that the FTC says block lower prices on competing websites, and policies the FTC believes force merchants to use Amazon’s logistics and advertising services.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/25/ftc-lawsuit-break-up-amazon-00108130

How to change back to the old Twitter app icon on iOS

Change your shortcuts to use the old icon.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/31/how-to-change-back-to-the-old-twitter-app-icon-on-ios/

Hopin, the struggling virtual conference unicorn, sells events and engagement units to RingCentral

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/02/hopin-ringcentral/?tpcc=tcplustwitter

Publishing & Media

A.I.’s Inroads in Publishing Touch Off Fear, and Creativity

A.I. has made inroads in the book world, affecting audiobooks, marketing and other aspects of the industry. But it has the potential to touch nearly every step on the way to producing a book — including the writing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/books/ais-inroads-in-publishing-touch-off-fear-and-creativity.html

KKR in advanced talks to buy Simon & Schuster for $1.65 billion

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/kkr-advanced-talks-buy-simon-schuster-165-bln-source-2023-08-03/

The Art of Telling Forbidden Stories in China

A look at the risks Chinese fiction writers are taking to get their work into the world. #teamPRH

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/magazine/chinese-literature-censorship.html

How to Fit into the Publishing World

HT @LauraB7 When I went on tour for my last book, I faced constant reminders that I didn’t belong… “The weight of too many indignities piled on top of my own vulnerability in this space.”

https://thewalrus.ca/how-to-fit-into-the-publishing-world/

Bloomsbury USA President Adrienne Vaughan Dies at 45

https://admin.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/Obituary/article/92924-bloomsbury-usa-president-adrienne-vaughan-dies.html

The Enduring Technology of the Book

RT @ariannahuff “Radio was predicted to mean the downfall of books; so were television, the Internet and ebooks. For the record, Americans bought over 788.7 million physical books last year. Not bad for an invention well into its third millennium.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-enduring-technology-of-the-book-889a846c

What Book Publishing Can Learn from Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Confess, Fletch

https://kathleenschmidt.substack.com/p/what-book-publishing-can-learn-from

Ninth Annual Writers Lab Participants Named, Supported by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/writers-lab-meryl-streep-nicole-kidman-2-1235687129/

Fortune: Diverse teams, bridge roles, economic metrics & paywalls that adapt

HT @BoSacks

https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/4-lessons-from-fortune-diverse-teams-bridge-roles-economic-metrics-paywalls-that-adapt/

Artificial Intelligence: Elsevier Releases ‘Scopus AI’ for Researchers

HT⁦ @publishingtrend The Elsevier Scopus research database has released ‘Scopus AI’ for scholarly writers to explore, promising speed and responsibility. ⁩

https://publishingperspectives.com/2023/08/artificial-intelligence-elsevier-releases-scopus-ai-for-researchers/

Katy ISD (TX) expands book ban policy, gives board members more direct power

RT @FReadomFighters “KatyISD trustees now have the ability to ban reading materials and prevent incoming materials without a review committee. Any book, textbook or educ. resource … may be removed from shelves if two board members agree to pull the book.”

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/katy/article/katy-isd-book-ban-policy-18271721.php

Urbandale schools made a list of nearly 400 books forbidden from classrooms because of a new Iowa law

MT @PENamerica To comply with Iowa’s new censorship law, Urbandale Community School District has identified nearly 400 books that will be forbidden—by authors including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Joseph Heller, James Joyce, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, J.D. Salinger & Alice Walker

https://www.iowapublicradio.org/education/2023-07-29/urbandale-schools-made-a-list-of-nearly-400-books-forbidden-from-classrooms-because-of-a-new-iowa-law

Fed Up and Filing Suit for Intellectual Freedom

https://www.slj.com/story/Fed-Up-and-Filing-Suit-for-Intellectual-Freedom

Authors Band Together To Address AI Concerns in Publishing Contracts

“Money today could simply speed up the absence of any work at all in the future,” the Society of Authors said in a statement.

https://www.themarysue.com/authors-band-together-to-address-ai-concerns-in-publishing-contracts/

Authors Like Me Are Fighting the Book-Ban Zealots. We Need Help.

“Censors will keep clearing the shelves until people who believe in readers’ rights start packing hearing rooms, walking precincts in school board elections, & registering their views with school district administrators.” ⁦⁦⁩⁦

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/08/mothers-liberty-book-bans-republican-ron-desantis-culture-wars-censorship/

A ‘teen council’ at the Brooklyn Public Library combats book bans nationwide

Brooklyn Public Library’s Intellectual Freedom Teen Council is a unique program connects kids from the most populous U.S. city with teens from states where book bans are roiling communities.

https://gothamist.com/news/a-teen-council-at-the-brooklyn-public-library-combats-book-bans-nationwide

Resources & Opportunities

Pitching Perfection

Register NOW for this awesome WMG Lunch & Learn! Join Estelle Erasmus for a Guide to Pitch Perfection on August 8 @ 12pm ET via Zoom. You don’t want to miss tips on the pitching process, editor etiquette & some helpful resources. FREE for @WMG_NYC members, $15 for non-members. All proceeds from this event support the Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation.

womensmediagroup.org/event-5325936

Meg Lewis on Pride

Free Friday morning? Come to Creative Mornings NYC – a free in-person event. Meg Lewis is a designer, speaker, comedian, and performer working to make the world a happier place,

https://creativemornings.com/talks/meg-lewis-on-pride

Margins Bookselling Month

MT @wordisdiversity MarginsBookselling Month is a celebration of bookstores owned & managed by & for BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, Disabled, and Neurodiverse communities and booksellers from these communities as well. Be sure to check out our interactive map to find a local bookstore!

https://findmarginsbookstores.thewordfordiversity.org

Laid Off = Free Tix

Getting laid off is tough and looking for ways to grow your network can be even harder during uncertain times. To help those who’ve been laid off and are still looking for work, TechCrunch is offering one (1) complimentary Expo+ Pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 on September 19 -21 in San Francisco. This is a limited quantity, first-come first-served offer. Once we run out of free passes they won’t be available anymore.