Artnet News: This Newly Discovered Radio Clip May Be the Only Known Recording of Frida Kahlo’s Voice. Listen to It Here. “Everyone knows the face of Frida Kahlo. Now, we may finally know what she sounded like, following the discovery of what could be the only known recording of the great Mexican artist’s voice. The recording discovered in Mexico’s national sound library, the Fonoteca National, could be the only known record of Kahlo speaking.”
Famous People
CNET: New tool debunks deepfakes of Trump and other world leaders
CNET: New tool debunks deepfakes of Trump and other world leaders. “Deepfakes of world leaders may be easier to debunk using a new detection method, according to an academic paper Wednesday. Researchers created profiles of the unique expressions and head movements made by powerful people — like Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and US presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren — when they talk. That ‘soft biometric model’ helped detect a range of deepfakes, the kind of manipulated videos powered by artificial intelligence that have sprung up lately featuring Mark Zuckerberg and others.”
Engadget: Microsoft discreetly wiped its massive facial recognition database
Engadget: Microsoft discreetly wiped its massive facial recognition database. “Microsoft has been vocal about its desire to properly regulate facial recognition technology. The company’s president, Brad Smith, appealed directly to Congress last year to take steps to manage the tech, which he says has ‘broad societal ramifications and potential for abuse.’ Such are the company’s concerns that it even blocked the sales of the tech to California police forces. Now, Microsoft is continuing its crusade by quietly deleting its MS Celeb database, which contains more than 10 million images of some 100,000 people.”
UPI: Scholars fear Franklin Graham will cut off access to Billy Graham archives
UPI: Scholars fear Franklin Graham will cut off access to Billy Graham archives. “This week, at Wheaton College in Illinois, specially trained movers will begin organizing, preparing and packing 3,235 boxes of paper items, 1,000 scrapbooks of news clippings dating back to the 1940s and more than 1,000 linear feet of videos, cassettes, reels, films and audio. All of it documents the life and ministry of evangelist Billy Graham, the Christian college’s most famous alumnus.”
Boing Boing: This map shows the most Wikipedia’d residents of every town in the US
Boing Boing: This map shows the most Wikipedia’d residents of every town in the US. “From The Pudding: a zoomable people map that shows the name of the person with the most Wikipedia traffic for any given city.” I looked up my city and it was an actress I never heard of. My fault, not her; she’s apparently quite famous. Once again ResearchBuzz reminds me that I don’t know anything about anything.
Slate: Donald Trump’s Wikipedia Entry Is a War Zone
Slate: Donald Trump’s Wikipedia Entry Is a War Zone. “On July 16, 2018, Democrats, Republicans, and the media were reeling from the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki. President Donald Trump had announced before the entire world that he didn’t ‘see any reason why’ Russia would have interfered in the 2016 election, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary gathered by the intelligence community…. Wikipedia editors, meanwhile, were split over whether the summit was momentous enough to include on Donald Trump’s page, one of the site’s most contentious areas.” The headline might have given you the idea that this is one of those incendiary articles. It’s not. It’s a deep dive with an interesting look at Wikipedia’s editing mechanisms and culture.
Engadget: Unsecured database exposed millions of Instagram influencers
Engadget: Unsecured database exposed millions of Instagram influencers. “A database containing contact information for millions of Instagram influencers was reportedly found online, exposing info like phone numbers and email addresses for celebrities, influencers and brand accounts. According to TechCrunch, the database was hosted on Amazon Web Services and left without a password. It contained as many as 49 million records.”
