A journalist’s guide to open-source tools Journalism.co.uk Here are some best picks and hidden gems for image and data verification, audio transcription and other story ideas – for free Report: Female-sounding voice assistants fuel gender bias The Next Web AI-powered voice assistants from Google, Amazon, Apple, and others could be perpetuating harmful gender biases, How big … Read more
How disinformation spreads in a network FlowingData » Visualization by Nathan Yau Disinformation is kind of a problem these days, yeah? Fatih Erikli uses a simulation that works like a disaster spread model applied to social networks to give an idea of how disinformation spreads. 2017 predictions for Big Data, IoT, and AI The Next Web by … Read more
There are at least eight promising business models for email newsletters Nieman Journalism Lab by Andrew Jack When I began overhauling the Financial Times’ editorial email newsletters a couple of years ago, I was soon faced with positive reinforcement, technical frustrations, and sources of deep satisfaction. The good news was that we were on the cusp … Read more
Timeline: The rise of bitcoin AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (IN DEPTH) A look at the history of bitcoin, the world’s newest and potentially most powerful currency. FBI’s Secret Surveillance Tech Budget Is ‘Hundreds of Millions’ The Intercept by Jenna McLaughlin The FBI has “hundreds of millions of dollars” to spend on developing technology for use in both national … Read more
Big data meets politics EurActiv.com by Davide Patteri Politicians across Europe often look suspiciously at the “big data” revolution as a trend imported from the US, which encroaches on their privacy. Europe’s rude awakening to big data politics EurActiv.com by Frédéric Simon To many in the Brussels bubble, the big data revolution came as a rude awakening, … Read more
This week, the CASTAC community received the sad news that (founding CASTAC member) Professor David Hakken had passed away. Former Platypus Editor Patricia Lange shares reflections on his life and work in a new introduction to an interview with him on big data from 2013. Please join us in remembering and honoring him. http://blog.castac.org/2016/05/david-hakken/ … Read more
Journalists [in Turkey] countrywide to support colleagues in clash zones Journalists based in Turkey launched an initiative in solidarity with their colleagues struggling to report in southeastern Turkish provinces struck by clashes between security forces and outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants Turkish author faces jail term for insulting president Nokta Magazine author Perihan Mağden faces … Read more
Advocacy groups call on Twitter to restore API access to Politiwoops Nieman Journalism Lab by Joseph Lichterman A collection of advocacy groups from around the world on Friday released anopen letter to Twitter, calling on the company to restore API access to Politiwoops, a site that archived politicians’ deleted tweets. RELATED ARTICLE A eulogy for Politwoops, … Read more
British Library releases over a million public domain images Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder The British Library uploaded over one million scanned images to Flickr, designating them as public domain for all to share and use. Quartz has an article about the project. Five American Authors Make the Longlist for 2015 Man Booker Prize Writerswrite.com’s Writer’s Blog … Read more
A dynamic and tragic portrait of the life of Reddit developer and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, a champion of open access who grew up to lead the internet community into a new age of data sharing and free speech. The Internet Iron Curtain Dipnote – U.S. Department of State Official Blog by John Kerry Since … Read more
Russia Intends to Clean Up ?Internet Pollution? Global Voices Online by Kevin Rothrock The Russian government is drafting a new project that would redefine the ?principles of state cultural policy.? In a concept paper shared with the press this week, a working group led by Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff, declared Russia’s need … Read more
Edward Snowden’s Statement to FP on His Selection as a Global Thinker Glassdoor: Twitter dethrones Facebook as the best tech company to work for, ending three-year streak Career website Glassdoor today released its sixth annual Employees? Choice Awards, a list of the 50 best places to work for in the coming year. Twitter was … Read more
Yahoo Publishes First Transparency Report Yahoo published its first transparency report on Friday, disclosing the number of government requests for data that the company received in the first six months of 2013. Amid NSA spying scandal, Yahoo releases transparency report on gov data requests The Internet company Yahoo! has released a Transparency Report today, detailing … Read more
Venezuela, Nicaragua Offer Asylum to Snowden Edward Snowden might finally get what he’s been looking for: a safe haven to avoid facing justice in the United States. On Friday, the Presidents of both Venezuela and Nicaragua said they could offer the NSA whistleblower asylum. Ex-Russian spy Anna Chapman proposes to Snowden on Twitter NSA … Read more
Snowden claims to be ?unbowed,? ?free and able? to continue publishing NSA secrets In a letter sent to Ecuador, Edward Snowden claimed that he is able to continue his whistleblowing activities unabated, despite his current legal and physical limbo. Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance Improved technology enabled the NSA?s mass surveillance programs. Future improvements will … Read more