23 June 2019

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Podcast: History at Work – Danny Doyle, Parks Canada Conservator
Danny has worked on a wide variety of artifacts, but his specialty is in human remains. He discusses how to balance ethics with conservation practice when working with human remains, and compares human remains conservation with the conservation of other artifacts. He also explores what conservators mean when they talk about “intangible” issues concerning artifacts. With experience working in Canada, Egypt, Ireland, and the United States, Danny answers whether there are differences between Canadian conservation practices and the approach of other countries.

The ‘Knocker-Uppers’ 
A cause for some misunderstanding and amusement! Thanks Ann Burns for the tip.

Civic honesty around the globe
Lose your wallet - chances of getting it back.

Facebook’s new cryptocurrency
In an editorial calling it "Alarming and unnecessary" The Guardian writes  that Facebook’s new cryptocurrency must be resisted. “Overall, it’s not reassuring that Facebook is doing this. First, it has a track record of screwing up when it comes to looking after or respecting your data – Cambridge Analytica and the Onavo VPN that spied on users being just two obvious examples. Second, it has problems being consistent in how it applies its rules: see the many, many rows over content. It’s ignorant of its naivete, and so big it repeatedly causes huge problems.”

It's time to switch to a Privacy Browser
If you want to push back against online tracking, you've got several options to pick from when choosing a default browser.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This week a New York Times (I think it was Wednesday) had a long article about Facebook's new cryptocurrency. It had a big illustration. Of course you know US coins have "In God We Trust" on them. Well, the illustration for this article had a coin, a profile, similar to many coins, and the words "In Zuck We Trust." I howled with laughter. Cheers, BT