NEW RESOURCES
New-to-me but apparently online for something like seven years, and a new favorite on my “very specific collections” list: a collection of over 1000 air-to-air refuelling images. “My collection includes many rare pictures (ever see an A-10 refuel from a KC-97?) of over 120 different receiver types. Whenever possible I will try to provide a link to the source(s), but I have been collecting the pictures for years on my hard drive and it may be very difficult to track down the original source.” There are embedded YouTube videos as well.
Arizona residents who need information on licensed contractors have a revamped Web site to turn to. “The [Arizona Registrar of Contractors] said the new website features simpler organization of topics. Consumers can search for and verify the licensing of contractors in various ways, including by individual name, city and license type, such as flooring, plumbing, roofing, solar or air-conditioning. The website provides information on complaints, if any, including the number of cases and how they were resolved.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a new online database of fiscal policies/initiatives aimed at gender equality. “Researchers and students have free access to the online toolkit, which includes data on 60 case studies on gender budgeting efforts along with two time-consistent indices of gender equality, spanning 1990–2013 and covering most countries in the world (see map). The toolkit can be used to investigate the relationship between countries that have implemented policies to improve gender equality and the gender equality indices.”
Now available: a database of responses to surveys by millennials. “Whatsgoodly claims to be ‘the largest database of millennial attitudes,’ and is now searchable by anyone. Via a familiar Google-ish search bar (and corresponding ‘I’m feeling Goodly’ button), you can find surveys on just about anything.”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
Google/Google Maps has reversed its decision on place names in the Crimea. “The traditional Soviet names for Crimean settlements had been restored Friday. The town of Kirovskoe had been listed as Islam-Terek, and the village Krasnogvardeiskoe as Ichki. Along with several other settlements, these towns once again bear their Soviet names on Google Maps.”
Facebook and Instagram will be all over the Olympics. “A ‘full complement’ of short-form videos will also be produced by NBC Olympics and be available via Facebook and Instagram in the U.S., including highlights and interviews. For example, a two-minute daily recap video will appear on Facebook daily for U.S. users, as well as a daily slow-motion video covering an inspiring moment in that day’s competition, which will be featured on Instagram.”
Facebook is now offering birthday videos (and wow, TechCrunch, what a grim headline!) “Twitter shows some balloons and Snapchat wraps your messages like presents, but Facebook is where people celebrate birthdays online. Now to reinforce itself as the home for your personal content and connections, Facebook is launching birthday recap videos that assemble the best wall posts you got for your birthday into a cute little clip.”
USEFUL STUFF
Do you like podcasts? Apple has a review of the iOS app Casts. I have been using Casts ever since Apple bought and shut down Swell, an app I really loved – so that’s almost exactly two years. I love it. If you’re looking for an easy way to listen to podcasts with a user experience that’s light years beyond Apple Podcasts, I cannot recommend Casts enough. (DISCLAIMER: I paid for the app on my own dime, they don’t know me from Ethel Merman, I was not paid for this post, etc etc.)
MakeUseOf: 10 Neat Ways to Create Beautiful Google Documents. Gotta remember that one about line breaks.
RESEARCH AND OPINION
Social Media navel gazing: What’s the perfect length of a Facebook post? “You have about 400 characters to use up before your post is truncated, but more and more pages are completely minimising the length of their posts. Using NewsWhip Analytics, we looked at the average word count of the most engaged Facebook posts from the official pages of the five biggest Facebook publisher in our June 2016 ranking.” Good afternoon, Internet…
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