By Kathy Sandler • Issue #90 • View online

Innovation

Apple, Google Bring Covid-19 Contact-Tracing to 3 Billion People

ICYMI Apple Inc. and Google unveiled a rare partnership to add technology to their smartphone platforms that will alert users if they have come into contact with a person with Covid-19. People must opt in to the system, but it has the potential to monitor about a third of the world’s population.

www.bloomberg.com • Share

Google launches braille keyboard for Android devices

Google today launched a software braille keyboard for Android devices. It’s available for phones running Android 5.0 or newer.

venturebeat.com • Share

How Microsoft Teams will use AI to filter out typing, barking, and other noise from video calls

venturebeat.com • Share

Google open-sources data set to train and benchmark AI sound separation models

Google today announced the FUSS data set to support AI models for separating distinct sounds from recordings, such as speech from conference calls.

venturebeat.com • Share

Snap Inc. launches new augmented reality lenses to make it easy to donate to COVID-19 response efforts

techxmedia.com • Share

An artist has launched a book that can only be read when warmed by human touch

This is not a new link, but sure is something different. HT @FoSTorg A book that can only be read when warmed by human touch

www.printweek.com • Share

Technology

Facebook launches Quiet Mode for muting alerts and scheduling downtime

Facebook is rolling out a new feature today that allows users to mute all notifications from the social network and schedule some quiet time.

venturebeat.com • Share

9 Future Predictions For A Post-Coronavirus World

Our world is changing dramatically as our global community deals with COVID-19. While the experience is far from easy, it’s building resilience and extending our minds to see new possibilities.

www.forbes.com • Share

NJ Governor Requests Expertise of 6 People Who Still Know COBOL

This isn’t Andy Borowitz or @TheOnion! “We have systems 40+ yrs old.We literally need COBOL programmers.” As unintentional testament to the language’s highly niche status,Murphy pronounced it “cobalt” (it’s unclear if this was an error or a speech quirk)

nymag.com • Share

Here’s where those 5G and coronavirus conspiracy theories came from

fullfact.org • Share

Publishing

LitHub Quarantine Book Recommendations

lithub.com • Share

The Best Spy Novels to Read While Stuck at Home

From John le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” to Brad Thor’s “Backlash,” WSJ readers share their favorites.

www.wsj.com • Share

How to Pay Attention in a Time of Crisis: A Reading List

lithub.com • Share

Book Lovers Build An App to Support Indie Bookstores During Coronavirus Crisis

After many independent bookstores were forced to close and lay off employees, an Instagram community came to the rescue with an app.

nowthisnews.com • Share

Here Are The Indie Bookstores That Are Asking For Our Support

Independent bookstores around the country are in danger of closing for good. Here’s where you can donate.

www.buzzfeednews.com • Share

#ShopBookstoresNow

At @librofm, the #ShopBookstoresNow campaign raised almost $90K. When you shop these featured audiobooks, your bookstore will receive 100% of the sale

blog.libro.fm • Share

Bay Area Booksellers Get Virtual Boost

#WeLoveBookstores, slate of virtual literary events during the Covid-19 crisis livestream every Wed noon PT. Tix Eventbrite (from $0 to $100), w all proceeds going directly to a chosen Bay Area bookstore

www.publishersweekly.com • Share

By Us, for Us: Why WOC-Owned Bookstores Must Survive

catapult.co • Share

#AuthorsTakeAction, Authors Save Lives

Children’s author Padma Venkatraman is spearheading the official launch of #AuthorsTakeAction, a social media campaign designed to amplify authors’ books, and also slow the spread of Covid-19.

www.publishersweekly.com • Share

BISG Examines Publishing Supply Chain During Covid-19

The biggest takeaway from BISG’s survey on the industry supply chain is the need for all sectors of the industry to communicate and work together.

www.publishersweekly.com • Share

LSC Reported to be Shopping Bankruptcy Financing, As Some Workers Have Virus

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com • Share

France rules Google must pay news firms for content

France’s competition authority ruled on Thursday that Google must pay French publishing companies and news agencies for re-using their content.

www.reuters.com • Share

ViacomCBS Launches $100 Million Coronavirus Relief Fund

ViacomCBS commits $100 million to help crew members impacted by coronavirus shutdown.

variety.com • Share

#DVpit’s blog hop returns next week

RT @DVpit_ Come learn about the art of suspending disbelief, healthy agent-author relationships, putting together winning graphic novel pitch packages, and self-caring on social media (in- and outside of pitch events).

www.dvpit.com • Share

Stacey Abrams Producing CBS Drama Based on Her Novel

I didn’t know this – Stacey Abrams has written eight novels under the Selena Montgomery pen name. Never Tell was first published in 2004. The former Georgia lawmaker and voting-rights advocate will executive produce a drama called ‘Never Tell’ in development at CBS.

www.hollywoodreporter.com • Share

Kickstarter Creator Tips: Publishing, Comics, and Journalism

RT @MargotAtwell If you’ve been thinking about running a @kickstarter for a book or zine or comic or podcast, check out this shiny new Kickstarter Publishing Creator Resources page. #publishing #SelfPublishing

www.kickstarter.com • Share

Oprah hopes to organize literary pajama parties on Instagram

Love it! Oprah: “You have virtual dance parties. So I was thinking of doing the same thing for books, trying to see how many people you get for a pajama party where you talk about a book.”

www.abc27.com • Share

Defining your Minimal Viable Product and being prepared to pivot: eCommerce lessons from 5 publishers

HT @BoSacks

whatsnewinpublishing.com • Share

The Book Prizes ceremony will be virtual (and free) this year

www.latimes.com • Share

New Works by Writers with Disabilities Hit Publisher Lists

For the first time, a spate of new and forthcoming titles written by people with disabilities across the United States suggests that the publishing industry may finally be amplifying their voices and stories.

www.publishersweekly.com • Share

“Sugar Calling” podcast

Cheryl Strayed calls the writer Margaret Atwood to chat about hard times, pansies and eight decades of getting it done.

www.nytimes.com • Share

The Hate Store: Amazon’s Self-Publishing Arm Is a Haven for White Supremacists

ICYMI The company gives extremists and neo-Nazis banned from other platforms unprecedented access to a mainstream audience — and even promotes their books.

www.propublica.org • Share

The New York Public Library just launched a virtual book club

The New York Public Library is partnering with public radio station WNYC to give New Yorkers a shared community to connect with one another over thought-provoking books while cooped up inside their homes.

www.timeout.com • Share

One of the Earliest Known Uses of the “F-word” Discovered: It Appears in a 1568 Anthology Compiled During a Plague

www.openculture.com • Share

Business

The global health crisis has forced 250,000 US stores closed, clearing the way to Amazon’s dominance.

Before the pandemic, the US e-commerce industry only represented between 10 percent and 15 percent of overall retail. Now, that percentage seems likely to grow, setting up Amazon to have a bigger advantage over most other retailers, including Walmart.

www.vox.com • Share

Amazon is building a coronavirus testing lab for its workforce

The company acknowledges its ad hoc effort may not accomplish much during the current pandemic.

adage.com • Share

Amazon is now selling masks, hand sanitizer, and gowns on a special section reserved for healthcare workers

Amazon said it would not make a profit from selling these items and that it would waive all referral fees for third-party sellers supplying products.

www.businessinsider.com • Share

4 Rules for Pandemic Economics

Rule 1: “Save the economy or save lives” is a false choice.

Rule 2: Pay people a living wage to stop working.

Rule 3: Build companies a time machine.

Rule 4: The business of America is now science.

www.theatlantic.com • Share

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is putting $1 billion of his own wealth toward coronavirus relief

www.aol.com • Share

Netflix to launch weekly Instagram Live series about coping during the COVID-19 pandemic

The series, which airs on Instagram Live at 7 PM PT, features the stars of some of Netflix’s top YA shows and movies.

techcrunch.com • Share

Disney+ Hits 50 Million Subscribers in Less Than 5 Months

Disney’s streaming service Disney+, which debuted in November, had projected to have 60-90 million subscribers in five years.

www.adweek.com • Share

Women-led businesses get millions of ad impressions and creative tools from PopSugar

‘We are committed to helping women live their best lives and follow their dreams so we want to help however we can.’.

www.campaignlive.com • Share

Resources – Financial

Fast Funding for COVID-19 Science

Science funding mechanisms are too slow in normal times and may be much too slow during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are a scientist at an academic institution currently working on a COVID-19 related project and in need of funding, apply for a Fast Grant. They are $10k-$500k, decisions are made in < 48 hrs. If approved, you’ll receive payment as quickly as your university can receive it.

fastgrants.org • Share

BINC Foundation COVID-19 Assistance

Booksellers and comic retailers: apply by 4/27.

www.bincfoundation.org • Share

Udacity’s free tech training

Udacity is awarding free tech training to American workers laid off as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Udacity is awarding 5,000 challenge scholarships and 1,000 nanodegree scholarships to eligible applicants under this program.

www.udacity.com • Share

NEA Offering $75 Million to Nonprofits to Save Jobs

The National Endowment for the Arts is now taking applications for $75 million in grants to nonprofit arts organizations to combat job losses related to Covid-19. Grants are fixed at $50,000 for individual nonprofits.

www.publishersweekly.com • Share

Arts organizations helped raise $10 million for artists and writers impacted by COVID-19.

lithub.com • Share

Resources – Parents & Teachers

Sesame Street’s Elmo to Host ‘Virtual Play Date’ to Bring Comfort to Kids amid Coronavirus Pandemic

On April 14, Elmo will star in a half-hour Sesame Street special designed to look like a video conference. 7 p.m. ET on all WarnerMedia Networks: HBO, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS, TNT, truTV and PBS KIDS.

people.com • Share

The New York Times is available to high schools across the U.S. for free.

From April 6 until July 6, every high school across the U.S. will have free access to New York Times journalism.

www.nytimes.com • Share

Augmented Reality Animals on any iOS or Android phone

I am late to the party, here, but in case you haven’t seen it – it’s truly awesome!

1. On any iOS or Android device, type an animal in the google search bar. Only the ones on the list in this link work, such as octopus.

2. Scroll down in the search results and pick “View in 3D.”

3. Your phone will tell you what to do next.

9to5google.com • Share

Children’s story book released to help children and young people cope with COVID-19

With the help of a fantasy creature, Ario, “My Hero is You, How kids can fight COVID-19!” explains how children can protect themselves, their families and friends from coronavirus

www.who.int • Share

National Geographic launches a homeschool hub for parents and teachers, NatGeo@Home

techcrunch.com • Share

DK Stay Home Hub

www.dk.com • Share

FirstBook Educator Resources

firstbook.org • Share

Dyson Creates 44 Free Engineering & Science Challenges for Kids Quarantined During COVID-19

www.openculture.com • Share

A-listers lend talents to bedtime story initiative during lockdown

Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o among those signed up to Instagram Live initiative to raise money for charity

www.theguardian.com • Share

Internet of Elephants launches Wildeverse, an AR game about endangered animals and conservation

techcrunch.com • Share

19 Webcomics To Keep Kids and Teens Engaged

Looking for ways to keep your comics-loving kids and teens occupied? These free webcomics promise to eat up hours of time.

www.slj.com • Share

Free Marvel Comics

Marvel offering free access to recent comics series via Marvel Unlimited, from April 2 until May 4. This month the free reads includes the Avengers, Captain America, Black Widow, Spider-Man, and more.

www.marvel.com • Share

Free Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics is releasing the 1st issue of more than 80 comics series for free, as well as a few volumes of graphics novels, available to read via Dark Horse Digital from now until 4/30.

digital.darkhorse.com • Share

DC announces plans to explore “a multi-distributor model”

For now, all periodical shipping up to June 24 will be fully returnable. DC’s printer is currently shut down, so they would need to find an alternative for production as well.

www.comicsbeat.com • Share

Goya Culinary Competition for Scholarships for NYC high schoolers

Got a high schooler who likes to cook? RT @galeabrewer Submit a recipe using Goya products for a chance to win $10,000 in scholarships.

www.foodfinancehs.org • Share

Disney is releasing a series of adorable new Frozen shorts, made completely at home

Disney may have brought Frozen 2 to Disney Plus early, but the studio is working on other ways to bring more Frozen content to bored kids everywhere, beginning with a new series made at home called At Home with Olaf.

www.theverge.com • Share

Mattel Playroom – Activities for Kids

www.mattel.com • Share

Bearily Bear Reimagined Fairy Tales

RT @miralsattar: “I was going to launch my @kickstarter for this project in March. Things changed so quickly. Now, giving you all the stories for free.”

bearilybear.com • Share

Resources – Fitness

Get your steps in by virtually hiking the Appalachian Trail

When you’re stuck at home it can be hard to get the recommended 10,000 steps in a day. But if you have a goal in mind, like, say, virtually hiking the Appalachian Trail…

www.timeout.com • Share

Resources – Entertainment

Twitch expands Watch Parties so we can view Prime movies and TV shows together remotely

Twitch is expanding the beta for Watch Parties to all U.S. Twitch partners, enabling people to watch Amazon Prime movies and TV shows together, remotely.

venturebeat.com • Share

The Universe in Verse

Livestreaming from Pioneer Works at 4:30PM EST on Saturday, April 25, there will be readings of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Adrienne Rich, Pablo Neruda, June Jordan, Mary Oliver, Audre Lorde, Wendell Berry, Hafiz, Rachel Carson, James Baldwin, and other titans of poetic perspective, performed by a largehearted cast of scientists and artists, astronauts and poets, Nobel laureates and Grammy winners: Physicists Janna Levin, Kip Thorne, and Brian Greene, musicians Rosanne Cash, Patti Smith, Amanda Palmer, Zoë Keating, Morley, and Cécile McLorin Salvant, poets Jane Hirshfield, Ross Gay, Marie Howe, and Natalie Diaz, astronomers Natalie Batalha and Jill Tarter, authors Rebecca Solnit, Elizabeth Gilbert, Masha Gessen, Roxane Gay, Robert Macfarlane, and Neil Gaiman, astronaut Leland Melvin, playwright and activist Eve Ensler, actor Natascha McElhone, entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, artists Debbie Millman, Dustin Yellin, and Lia Halloran, cartoonist Alison Bechdel, radio-enchanters Krista Tippett and Jad Abumrad, and composer Paola Prestini with the Young People’s Chorus.

pioneerworks.org • Share

Best Streaming Theatre & How to Watch It Online

Discover amazing plays, musicals and dance shows to stream, and find out how to watch theatre at home.

www.timeout.com • Share

The Royal Albert Hall is streaming free live concerts from artists’ living rooms

www.timeout.com • Share

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has has released a new lineup of free digital programming

www.timeout.com • Share

MoMA Virtual Views

Visit us online at moma.org every weekend for virtual exhibitions with curators.

www.moma.org • Share

Gaga raises $35M for virus fight, curates all-star TV event

Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and more for Global Citizen TV special COVID-19 fundraiser April 18 at 8 p.m. Eastern simultaneously on ABC, NBC, CBS, iHeartMedia and Bell Media networks.

apnews.com • Share

BET Sets ‘Saving Our Selves’ COVID-19 Relief Fund Special With Kelly Rowland, Terrence J, Regina Hall And More

deadline.com • Share

Bruce Springsteen to livestream concert from home on Wednesday

Since he can’t pop into the Stone Pony to play a surprise set, Bruce Springsteen will livestream a performance from home that will broadcast on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, according to Rolling Stone.

torontosun.com • Share

CBS New Coronavirus Episode of ‘All Rise’ Made by Zoom, FaceTime

This sounds pretty unique – a scripted drama shooting from home -> CBS plans to use FaceTime, Zoom and other apps to make a new episode of the drama “All Rise” that deals with the coronavirus crisis

www.bloomberg.com • Share

LiveStream The Kitchen NYC

RT @MuseumModernArt Our shout-out this week goes to the art and performance space @TheKitchen_NYC, which is offering a new live-stream performance series every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

www.twitch.tv • Share