T
Tara Calishain
Guest
- Thread Author
- #1
NEW RESOURCES
Found in my RSS feeds: The RSS Universe. “No algorithm, no timeline, no engagement bait. Just feeds you chose. Here’s the whole ecosystem — readers, feed generators, monitoring, directories, and the standards that hold it together.” RSSGizmos.com not included — now I have to figure out how to suggest a site via a GitHub PR….
Sustainable Packaging News: Carton Council Launches Image Database to Support AI-Powered Carton Sorting. “The Carton Council, an association dedicated to improving the recovery and recycling of food and beverage cartons, has launched a new initiative to help artificial intelligence-powered sorting systems more reliably identify cartons moving through material recovery facilities (MRFs). The association has created a pilot library of photographs showing cartons as they actually appear in the recycling stream – partially folded, torn, discolored, or otherwise altered through collection, compaction, transportation, and processing.”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
MinistryWatch: MinistryWatch 1000 Database Tops 1,800 Ministries — and Counting Plus, other notable ministry happenings from this week.. “Here at MinistryWatch, one of our goals is to equip donors with the information they need to make wise decisions with their giving. That’s why we manage our database, which rates more than 1,000 of the country’s largest ministries based on their financial efficiency, financial transparency, and their donor confidence.”
Engadget: Opera’s lightweight Air browser is back, unbothered, moisturized, in its lane . “Opera has relaunched its very mindful Air browser with a host of new anti-distraction features. The audiovisual makeover is designed to help you focus better on what you’re actually supposed to be doing, rather than encouraging you to wander into yet another free time-draining Reddit rabbit hole.”
AROUND THE SEARCH & SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
FedScoop: Meet the former U.S. data chief taking the ‘Lorax’ approach to disappearing federal data. “Much like Dr. Seuss’s children’s book character the Lorax, who ‘speaks for the trees’ amid deforestation, [Denice] Ross aims to speak for federal data through her leadership of the Federation of American Scientists’ budding Data Policy Institute. The analogy is silly, she admits, but her meaning is clear: Federal data might not be as accessible as other issues and stands to benefit from an advocate.”
The Register: TinyLittleOffice, where the link is the document. “TinyLittleOffice comprises a selection of tools, including a basic word processor, presentation builder, spreadsheet, calendar, and a drawing tool. The theory is a simple one: create a document and get a link. The link is the document.”
SECURITY & LEGAL
Okay, this is a weird link but hear me out. The link is to PACER: PACER Quarterly Announcements | October 2026. That link leads to a PDF which downloads automatically when you click on it, and that is what I am quoting. “On January 1, 2027, a modest temporary increase in fees for electronic access to court records will take effect to help reimburse the costs of the development of the new case management and public access system. The increase of two cents per page, from 10 cents to 12 cents, was approved by the Executive Committee on behalf of the Judicial Conference. In addition, the automatic exemption for PACER fees will be raised from $30 to $40 per quarter, ensuring that most individual users (those who use $40 or less in PACER services per quarter) will continue to incur no fee or fee increase. ”
RESEARCH & OPINION
Rocketry Research Journal: The Revival of the Flight Logs Database?. “Given the use of AI in the Linux kernel, I decided to see what would happen if we tried to use AI to bring back Flight Logs. We asked Grok if Flight Logs could be updated to modern standards and the response was an unequivocal ‘No’ and it proceeded to explain that what killed the project to begin with hadn’t changed, and there are no routes using even the current version of Access that will change that. But then it said something unexpected. That there is a way to bring back Flight Logs, but it would need to start from scratch.”
BBC: Our business ads were taken down for saying ‘pregnancy’ on Instagram. “When Irene Breen got a notification in January 2025 that Instagram was removing adverts for her company’s pregnancy pillows, she was confused. What was so offensive about a pillow? She was later told on a call with Meta that the problem was the word ‘pregnancy’.”
OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Sewing Museum Opens In Avondale With 100 Sewing Machines Through The Ages. “The quirky museum has 100 sewing machines dating back to the 1800s sourced from collectors, donations, online shops and garage sales, plus historical needles and irons, threads, buttons and more. Helmed by Katie Esslinger, who has sewn clothes since she was a kid and made her own wedding dress, the community museum seeks to be a place to learn, make and celebrate historical sewing and tailors.” Good afternoon, Internet…
This newsletter is free but most of the things that go into making it aren’t! Help me afford new socks and fancier bean stew by supporting ResearchBuzz on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. Don’t have any money but still want to support? I know how that feels. Share this newsletter or tell a friend about it. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Local Search America, WikiTwister, and MiniGladys.
Found in my RSS feeds: The RSS Universe. “No algorithm, no timeline, no engagement bait. Just feeds you chose. Here’s the whole ecosystem — readers, feed generators, monitoring, directories, and the standards that hold it together.” RSSGizmos.com not included — now I have to figure out how to suggest a site via a GitHub PR….
Sustainable Packaging News: Carton Council Launches Image Database to Support AI-Powered Carton Sorting. “The Carton Council, an association dedicated to improving the recovery and recycling of food and beverage cartons, has launched a new initiative to help artificial intelligence-powered sorting systems more reliably identify cartons moving through material recovery facilities (MRFs). The association has created a pilot library of photographs showing cartons as they actually appear in the recycling stream – partially folded, torn, discolored, or otherwise altered through collection, compaction, transportation, and processing.”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
MinistryWatch: MinistryWatch 1000 Database Tops 1,800 Ministries — and Counting Plus, other notable ministry happenings from this week.. “Here at MinistryWatch, one of our goals is to equip donors with the information they need to make wise decisions with their giving. That’s why we manage our database, which rates more than 1,000 of the country’s largest ministries based on their financial efficiency, financial transparency, and their donor confidence.”
Engadget: Opera’s lightweight Air browser is back, unbothered, moisturized, in its lane . “Opera has relaunched its very mindful Air browser with a host of new anti-distraction features. The audiovisual makeover is designed to help you focus better on what you’re actually supposed to be doing, rather than encouraging you to wander into yet another free time-draining Reddit rabbit hole.”
AROUND THE SEARCH & SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
FedScoop: Meet the former U.S. data chief taking the ‘Lorax’ approach to disappearing federal data. “Much like Dr. Seuss’s children’s book character the Lorax, who ‘speaks for the trees’ amid deforestation, [Denice] Ross aims to speak for federal data through her leadership of the Federation of American Scientists’ budding Data Policy Institute. The analogy is silly, she admits, but her meaning is clear: Federal data might not be as accessible as other issues and stands to benefit from an advocate.”
The Register: TinyLittleOffice, where the link is the document. “TinyLittleOffice comprises a selection of tools, including a basic word processor, presentation builder, spreadsheet, calendar, and a drawing tool. The theory is a simple one: create a document and get a link. The link is the document.”
SECURITY & LEGAL
Okay, this is a weird link but hear me out. The link is to PACER: PACER Quarterly Announcements | October 2026. That link leads to a PDF which downloads automatically when you click on it, and that is what I am quoting. “On January 1, 2027, a modest temporary increase in fees for electronic access to court records will take effect to help reimburse the costs of the development of the new case management and public access system. The increase of two cents per page, from 10 cents to 12 cents, was approved by the Executive Committee on behalf of the Judicial Conference. In addition, the automatic exemption for PACER fees will be raised from $30 to $40 per quarter, ensuring that most individual users (those who use $40 or less in PACER services per quarter) will continue to incur no fee or fee increase. ”
RESEARCH & OPINION
Rocketry Research Journal: The Revival of the Flight Logs Database?. “Given the use of AI in the Linux kernel, I decided to see what would happen if we tried to use AI to bring back Flight Logs. We asked Grok if Flight Logs could be updated to modern standards and the response was an unequivocal ‘No’ and it proceeded to explain that what killed the project to begin with hadn’t changed, and there are no routes using even the current version of Access that will change that. But then it said something unexpected. That there is a way to bring back Flight Logs, but it would need to start from scratch.”
BBC: Our business ads were taken down for saying ‘pregnancy’ on Instagram. “When Irene Breen got a notification in January 2025 that Instagram was removing adverts for her company’s pregnancy pillows, she was confused. What was so offensive about a pillow? She was later told on a call with Meta that the problem was the word ‘pregnancy’.”
OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Sewing Museum Opens In Avondale With 100 Sewing Machines Through The Ages. “The quirky museum has 100 sewing machines dating back to the 1800s sourced from collectors, donations, online shops and garage sales, plus historical needles and irons, threads, buttons and more. Helmed by Katie Esslinger, who has sewn clothes since she was a kid and made her own wedding dress, the community museum seeks to be a place to learn, make and celebrate historical sewing and tailors.” Good afternoon, Internet…
This newsletter is free but most of the things that go into making it aren’t! Help me afford new socks and fancier bean stew by supporting ResearchBuzz on Patreon. Not interested in commitment? Perhaps you’d buy me an iced tea. Don’t have any money but still want to support? I know how that feels. Share this newsletter or tell a friend about it. I live at Calishat. See my other nonsense at SearchTweaks, RSS Gizmos, Local Search America, WikiTwister, and MiniGladys.