NEW RESOURCES
Citizens of Virginia have a new option to follow their state government – video of Virginia House sessions. “Starting today, each day’s House floor proceedings will be available on the General Assembly website within a few hours of session adjourning for the day. The House also has created a search feature that will allow viewers to search by bill or by member. Archived video can be found on the House video streaming page, accessible from the Homepage as well as from the Quick Links tab in the Members and Session section of the website.”
Digital NC has added a collection of student handbooks from the University of North Carolina. “These handbooks span the years 1926-1952 and provide insight into what life was like as an incoming student during that time. The handbooks include academic calendars, campus maps, a welcome from the university president, and helpful information about what to expect as an incoming freshman.”
The state of South Carolina has launched a new Web site to show school closings and delays across the entire state. “The next time South Carolina schools cancel class due to nasty weather, parents will have one more place to check for updates. The S.C. Department of Education has launched a School Closure Web Application … that will display school closures and delays from every school district in the state.”
Just in case y’all hadn’t seen it, the Internet Archive has a collection of PDF documents from the US General Services Administration relating to the upcoming transition of Presidential administrations. These documents are blocked from indexing by ROBOTS.TXT so the collection had to be assembled manually.
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
Europeana Sounds, a collection of soundscapes from around Europe, has added Istanbul. “This is a collection of over two hundred sounds recorded around Istanbul and the overall result really does create a vivid soundscape of the city. You can hear a donor kebab seller sharpening his knife; a fishmonger chatting to his customers; the tapping sounds from a wood carver’s stall; or, the more modern sounds of the Istanbul Metro ticket barriers.”
The Onion Browser for iOS is now free. “When Mike Tigas first created the Onion Browser app for iOS in 2012, he never expected it to become popular. He was working as a newsroom Web developer at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, at the time, and wanted a Tor browser app for himself and his colleagues. Expecting little interest, he then put Onion Browser on the Apple App Store at just $0.99/£0.69, the lowest non-zero price that Apple allows.”
Google Classroom has gotten some updates. “Google Classroom is designed for everyone involved in a student’s education. More than 20 million educators and students use it to teach and learn together, as do administrators who oversee how this tool is used across classrooms, and developers who are building educational technology for the next generation. As everyone heads back to school to start the new semester, we’re releasing new Classroom updates designed specifically for each of these groups.”
USEFUL STUFF
From Olivier Travers, and it’s good to hear from him: Troubleshoot & Audit Google Analytics Guide. “Whether for my own sites or while consulting for other businesses, I’ve often run into a nagging feeling that the ubiquitous Google Analytics (GA) is not entirely properly installed, and that it might not be tracking the whole site. Here’s a checklist to know for sure while remaining sane.”
AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
PRI: The Filipino president has deployed a ‘social media army’ to push his agenda. “President Rodrigo Duterte, who came into power last year, has already proven himself to be a ‘power user’ on Twitter: He has allegedly deployed a sort of ‘social media army’ to not only push out pro-Duterte propaganda but to keep his critics in check. Journalist Sean Williams says he’s been on the receiving end of Duterte’s keyboard army, something that he details in an article titled, ‘Rodrigo Duterte’s Army of Online Trolls,’ which has been published in this month’s issue of The New Republic.”
RESEARCH AND OPINION
Reuters: Third of global consumers open to Google, Amazon banking -survey. “Roughly one in three banking and insurance customers globally would consider switching their accounts to Google (GOOGL.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) or Facebook (FB.O) if the Silicon Valley giants offered financial services, according to a new survey on Wednesday.” Good afternoon, Internet…
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