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Important Items
Supreme Court Limits E.P.A.’s Power to Address Water Pollution
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/us/supreme-court-epa-water-pollution.html
Largest U.S. gay rights group issues Florida travel advisory
The Human Rights Campaign joined the NAACP and other civil rights groups in issuing travel or relocation warnings for Florida because newly passed xenophobic and bigoted laws and policies may pose risks to travelers.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna85873
More Than Meets the DEI
“DEI bans” do ban DEI initiatives. But bills like FL SB 266, OH SB 83, and TX SB 17 also hijack university governance, instituting political control over missions, tenure, curricula, accreditation, and more.
https://pen.org/more-than-meets-the-dei/
Covid Kills One Person Every Four Minutes as Vaccine Rates Fall
China’s New Covid Wave Set to See 65 Million Cases a Week
Surge of COVID across Canada as hospitals drop mask mandates
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/05/23/tfbx-m23.html
Can COVID Live in Your Body Even After a Negative Test?
https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/coronavirus/covid-after-a-negative-test
Does COVID-19 damage the brain?
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/does-covid-19-damage-the-brain
The functional and structural changes in the hippocampus of COVID-19 patients
A covid infection can stop new neurons forming in the brain, a key neurological process that enables the brain to renew itself. The stalling of this process leads to a “quickening of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13760-023-02291-1#Sec12
SARS-CoV-2, long COVID, prion disease and neurodegeneration
“The (covid) S1 spike proteins contain prion-like regions…that appear to play roles in pathological seeding…that supports the formation of pathogenic lesions in the brain…which contribute to pro-inflammatory neurodegeneration and neuronal cell death”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9551214/
As long COVID turns three, Americans play disability roulette
Young people are more likely to die of heart attacks post-COVID, study finds
A recent study found that heart attacks in people ages 25 to 44 increased by 30% compared to the expected number over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.today.com/health/covid-heart-attack-young-people-rcna69903
Type 1 Diabetes Incidence and Risk in Children With a Diagnosis of COVID-19
RT @michael_hoerger Today in JAMA: COV1D nearly doubles the risk of Type 1 #diabetes in #children. “Possible mechanisms include initiation of #autoimmunity or acceleration of disease progression.”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2805461
Long covid has 12 key symptoms, new study finds
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/05/25/long-covid-symptoms-recover-study/
Covid could do for ventilation what cholera did for cleaner water systems
The covid-19 pandemic forced us to rethink how clean indoor air should be, putting us on the cusp of a possible ventilation revolution
https://qz.com/how-covid-may-spark-a-revolution-in-indoor-air-quality-1850398081
Innovation
‘Gigantomania’ and why big projects fail
MT @neilperkin Bent Flyvbjerg, an academic at Oxford, compiled a database of over 16,000 significantly-sized projects which shows that only 8.5% of projects deliver to their original projected cost and time projections, and only 0.5% of projects deliver to initial cost, time and benefit forecasts. The reason are the many psychological and political biases that are incorporated into projections. An over-reliance on intuition rather than data, planning fallacy and rushed planning all combine with the deliberate under-estimating of costs in order to just get a project signed off and started. Sunk-cost fallacy means that once they have began, large budget projects are much less likely to be stopped. As delays to large projects set in, the risks of things going wrong and overspends becoming even larger simply increases.
https://onlydeadfish.co.uk/2023/05/22/gigantomania-and-why-big-projects-fail/
Finishing Megaprojects on Time and within Budget
Megafascinating! “The pattern of cost overruns and benefit shortfalls is so common that it has been called the ‘Iron Law’ of megaprojects: over budget, over time, under benefits, over and over again….The Iron Law in action:
- Kmart began a $1.4 billion IT modernization project in 2000 to link sales, marketing, supply, and logistics systems. The IT upgrade plan cost more money than the total Kmart had spent on IT in the prior decade, and it was forecasted to be completed in 18 months. By 2001, Kmart realized the new system was so highly customized that it would have been cost-prohibitive to maintain. They then replaced the full-upgrade plan with a $600M project to update only their supply-chain-management software. Ultimately the two projects never saw the light of day as Kmart filed for bankruptcy.
- In 2008, California voters approved a rail service from LA to San Francisco that would take 150 mins., well below typical driving time. The service was planned to be built within 20 years, at a cost of $40B. Construction ran into trouble from the start; the timeline was repeatedly lengthened, and costs hemorrhaged. The project’s total-cost forecast rapidly escalated to a staggering $100B, with an estimated completion date—only partial completion, at that—of 2033, five years past the original date.”
- London’s Elizabeth underground line (four years late, $5.28B over budget).
- Sydney Opera House (10 years late, $95M, or 1,357% over budget).
- London Stock Exchange’s Transfer and Automated Registration of Uncertified Stock (TAURUS) system (11 years late, 13,200% over budget)
- The Olympic Games have the highest average cost overrun of any type of megaproject, at 172%.
https://journals.aom.org/doi/full/10.5465/amp.2021.0129.summary
10 questions for leaders relating to digital transformation
HT @neilperkin This is from NHS, but applies beyond healthcare.
https://nhsproviders.org/a-new-era-of-digital-leadership/lessons-from-other-sectors
How Midsize Companies Can Drive Digital Transformation
https://hbr.org/2023/05/how-midsize-companies-can-drive-digital-transformation
6 Key Levers of a Successful Organizational Transformation
https://hbr.org/2023/05/6-key-levers-of-a-successful-organizational-transformation
New superbug-killing antibiotic discovered using AI
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-65709834?utm_source=tldrai
Technology
AI Canon
https://a16z.com/2023/05/25/ai-canon/
Adobe is adding AI image generator Firefly to Photoshop
#AIGoogle introduces Product Studio, a tool that lets merchants create product imagery using generative AI
You can create new imagery without the added cost of new photoshoots. For example, a skincare company could highlight a seasonal version of a product by requesting an image of the product “surrounded by peaches, with tropical plants in the background.” Product Studio can also be used to remove a distracting background. The tool can also be used to improve the quality of small or low-resolution images without having to reshoot a product.
The 5 biggest announcements from Microsoft Build 2023
MT @neilperkin Microsoft’s Copilot will enable you to summarize & rewrite text Plugins to Copilot basically turn it into a platform which can support the integration of new functionality, enabling anyone to customize the AI assistant to their needs.
https://www.theverge.com/23734104/microsoft-build-2023-ai-bing-copilot
That podcast ad you’re listening to may soon be AI. Spotify is reportedly developing bots to mimic your favorite hosts.
https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-developing-ai-bots-ads-based-on-podcast-hosts-report-2023-5
Google to test ads in generative AI search results
#AIhttps://www.reuters.com/technology/google-test-ads-generative-ai-search-results-2023-05-23/
The Hidden Dangers of the Decentralized Web
https://www.wired.com/story/the-hidden-dangers-of-the-decentralized-web/
AI Is Steeped in Big Tech’s ‘Digital Colonialism’
https://www.wired.com/story/abeba-birhane-ai-datasets/
ChatGPT and Generative AI in the Creator Economy: Reality, Hype, What’s Next, and How to Prepare
Generative AI: What You Need To Know
Via @fakebaldur #AI
Meta AI Unleashes Megabyte, a Revolutionary Scalable Model Architecture
Omnicom’s Wren Likens AI To ‘War,’ Discloses Betas With Microsoft, Google, Others
HT @edyson
Photographer Creates Lifelike Social Media Influencer Using Only AI
Sci-fi author ‘writes’ 97 AI-generated tales in nine months
HT https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2023/05/22/ai_in_brief/
How to Grease a Chatbot: E-Commerce Companies Seek a Backdoor Into AI Responses
‘Our robot overlords aren’t quite here just yet’
“#AI operates in a hyper-capitalist system which means it’s probably going to be deployed in the service of maximizing profits—which, like a lot of tech before it, has meant maximizing clicks, scrolls & attention.”
BuzzFeed Tries to Ride the A.I. Wave. Who’s Hungry?
BuzzFeed has introduced a free chatbot called Botatouille, which serves up recipe ideas from its food brand Tasty. #AI
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/business/media/buzzfeed-botatouille-chatbot-food.html
This is Instagram’s new Twitter competitor
Instagram’s new ‘text-based app’ could let you create Twitter-like posts on a timeline.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/19/23730070/instagram-twitter-app-competitor-leak
Meta fined record $1.3 billion and ordered to stop sending European user data to US
#Metahttps://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-data-privacy-fine-europe-9aa912200226c3d53aa293dca8968f84
YouTube Stories are shutting down June 26 as company focuses on Shorts
Netflix to charge an additional $8 month for viewers living outside US subscribers’ households
#NetflixPublishing & Media
Those Fancy Large Language Models Were Trained On eBooks From Smashwords, Without Permission
What happens when AI reads a book
HT @ThadMcIlroy
https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/what-happens-when-ai-reads-a-book
Society of Authors creates new campaign to help writers hold publishers to account on sustainability
Resources For Children’s Book Creators
RT @inkyelbows *NEW* I’ve massively updated my Templates For Children’s Book Creators page to include more free picture book brainstorming templates as well as an explanation on how to use them, with examples.
https://debbieohi.com/resources/for-book-creators/
How to Write Nonfiction When You’re Not an “Expert”
RT @JaneFriedman In your nonfiction book, no one wants to hear how you’re the bestest-ever savior of humankind. It’s as annoying as Auntie Edna after a glass-and-a-half of chardonnay. Readers DO want assurance you know what you’re talking about. More from editor Liz Green.
https://www.janefriedman.com/how-to-write-nonfiction-when-youre-not-an-expert/
Open Road Starts Imprint for Out-of-Print Books
James launches Frog Literary Agency dedicated to representing LGBTQIA+ writers
Are you a Pacific Islander in publishing?
@kkealakai is assembling a list of pacific islanders who are self-published, agented, trad published, illustrator, graphic novelist, an agent, an editor, or other publishing professional.
https://twitter.com/kkealakai/status/1658560191284281344
EPUB 3.3 is now a spec
https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/9919
📜The Ten Tink Commandments 📜
Great advice for podcasters, from @tinkmediaco.
#10: Thou shalt pass the mic, ensuring diverse voices are heard. #podcasting
https://podcastmarketingmagic.substack.com/p/the-ten-tink-commandments
Axios Finish Line: The future of media
Artificial intelligence will soon transform media on a scale and pace that rivals the internet two decades ago. #AI
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/26/future-of-media
Dotdash Meredith debuts intent-based ad targeting tool
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/16/dotdash-meredith-debuts-intent-based-ad-targeting-tool
BuzzFeed is launching online retail site with Verishop
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/23/buzzfeed-launching-online-retail-site-verishop
Climate Solutions Reporting Guide
RT @soljourno Climate can touch almost every beat. So we teamed with @CoveringClimate to help you understand how to start investigating climate solutions no matter what you cover.
https://coveringclimatenow.org/resource/climate-solutions-reporting-guide/
She started an aid network for laid-off journalists and it spread like wildfire
Education reporter Kati Kokal wanted to help Gannett reporters facing job cuts. She got help from all over the country. #journalism
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2023/journalism-mutual-aid-network-layoffs-help/
The Nib is Closing Down
https://thenib.com/the-future-of-the-nib/
How Sexist Is Hollywood? Check Out Geena Davis’s Spreadsheet
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/business/geena-davis-hollywood-sexism-gender.html?smid=tw-share
U.S. Book Show 2023: Libraries Confront Post-Pandemic Challenges
The U.S. Book Show kicked off on May 22 with a focus on libraries and the challenges facing them in the late pandemic era. Even as librarians update collections and fine-tune their services to meet communities’ changing demands, a vocal minority tries to restrict people’s freedom to read.
Central York High Schoolers Protest Book Bans (Again). Here’s What They Have to Say.
RT @veronikellymars Central York students protest book bans (again!). Here’s what these teens have to say about banning books, what they wish adults understood, and why they believe in protesting:
https://bookriot.com/central-york-high-schoolers-protest-book-bans/
An analysis of book challenges from across the nation shows the majority were filed by just 11 people
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/23/lgbtq-book-ban-challengers/
The Florida mom who sought to ban Amanda Gorman’s poem says she’s sorry for promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
HT @BCDreyer About the Antisemitic post about the book, she said “I didn’t read the words.” Salinas challenged the Amanda Gorman poem — which she says she hasn’t read in its entirety — on the grounds that it contains “indirect hate messages.” She said she had only read parts of the books. “They have to read for me because I’m not an expert,” she said. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person.”
Book Removals May Have Violated Students’ Rights, Education Department Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/books/book-banning-education-civil-rights.html
Texas lawmakers OK bill that aims to keep sexually explicit material out of school libraries
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/23/texas-schools-libraries-books/
Florida Rejects Social Studies Textbooks, Requests Edits for Others.
US book ban push draws students, parents and librarians into national fight
Report: 350+ Books Banned in Florida School Districts Since Last July
Book ban controversy comes to Santa Rosa as Moms for Liberty seeks removal of 65 books
Librarians are suffering because of book bans. I know because I’ve received death threats.
Return of the Librarians
https://replica.startribune.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx
Librarians, Publishers, Bookstores Join Lawsuit Over Arkansas Library ‘Obscenity’ Law
The law in question, which was signed by governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, removes an exemption from prosecution for school and public libraries and would empower virtually anyone to challenge the appropriateness of library materials in Arkansas. Library staff found to have “knowingly” distributed or facilitating the distribution of allegedly obscene material to a minor—defined as anyone under 18—would be open to a potential felony charge.
New Jersey Proposes Anti-Book Ban Legislation
RT @veronikellymars New anti-book ban legislation proposed in New Jersey. This is the fourth state to draft a bill encoding the right to read in public schools and libraries:
https://bookriot.com/new-jersey-proposes-anti-book-ban-legislation/
Dem lawmakers target book bans in public libraries as censorship rises
“This is about not allowing intolerance and hatred to be infused into our libraries at all,” Zwicker said. “Ideas are there to be debated and to be discussed. And sometimes ideas make us uncomfortable, but that uncomfortableness doesn’t mean that we should ban things. We should talk more about them.”
Constitutional Rights Libraries Work Under
https://twitter.com/ScottyBonner/status/1661825786804940801
Resources & Opportunities
What Juneteenth Means to America
Join WMG for an enlightening virtual discussion between WMG co-President Jodi Brockington and WMG member Fatimah Gilliam. Thursday, June 15, 12-1 pm ET Free for WMG members, $15 for non-members,
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5297074
PageBreak Conference 2023
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pagebreak-conference-2023-tickets-636165045777
Bronx Book Fair Volunteer
RT @bronxisreading 📣CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS📣 The Bronx is Reading is looking for volunteers to help carry out our 6th Annual #BronxBookFest on Saturday, June 10th! 📚If you are a book lover in the Bronx, make sure to apply by clicking the link below! 👇
https://www.thebronxisreading.com/volunteer
Editor-Writer Mentorship
RT @wordisdiversity This is also your reminder to apply for the mentorship. Applications are open until Sunday, June 4th. #EditorWriterMentorship #mentorship #writermentorship
https://www.thewordfordiversity.org/editor-writer-mentorship
Announcing the Writing Freedom Fellowship
MT @haymarketbooks This fall, with @MellonFdn and @Art4JusticeFund, Haymarket Books will recognize and support twenty poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers impacted by the criminal legal system.
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/486-announcing-the-writing-freedom-fellowship
CCDI Artist/Scholar in Residence
https://www.loc.gov/programs/of-the-people/represent/artist-scholar-in-residence/
Changemaker Authors Cohort
RT @jbakernyc #ICYMI, #Organizers, #Activists, and #SocialJustice Workers writing a book: consider applying to @_Narrative‘s Changemaker Authors Cohort for a year-long program w/ book coaching, accountability sessions, and virtual community. Learn more here:
https://narrativeinitiative.submittable.com/submit
Sourcebooks Openings
https://read.sourcebooks.com/careers.html
Roxane Gay Books Fellowship
https://groveatlantic.com/careers/
JAWS Webinar on Speaking While Female Speech Bank
Jun 22, 2023 8 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtceqopzgiGdFvxsPQftfddxDyNFBwamJk#/registration
Music Pitches
RT @BritniDWrites Okay folks. Opening up my inbox for music pitches for June + July. Note: 1) read http://andscape.com/tag/music/ to see our coverage so far, 2) we cover stories through a Black lens, 3) I’m looking for GOOD/GREAT writers who can file on deadline. Rate: $550+ depending on reporting/story
https://twitter.com/BritniDWrites/status/1662152140121587712
Braille Books Available On Demand
RT @librarycongress Braille readers: Do you know about the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled Braille-On-Demand program? Patrons can request ANY braille book available on BARD to be printed and mailed to their homes at no cost. Learn more:
https://www.loc.gov/nls/about/services/
Books from Birth
MT @dcpl Books from Birth: ALL children who live in D.C. are eligible to receive a free book by mail each month from birth until age five to build their home libraries.
https://www.dclibrary.org/using-the-library/books-birth
New Yorkers can register to vote and cast their ballot on the same ‘golden’ day
June 17 marks the first time new voters can register and vote at the same time.
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