Boing Boing: New Yorker documents every pizza slice he’s eaten for past nine years, shares hard data. “Since 2014, New Yorker Liam Quigley has been documenting and then consuming pizza slices and keeping track of their prices and quality. He’s currently got data on 464 slices.”
Chalkbeat New York: NYC education department blocks ChatGPT on school devices, networks. “New York City students and teachers can no longer access ChatGPT — the new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that generates stunningly cogent and lifelike writing — on education department devices or internet networks, agency officials confirmed Tuesday.” Based on what I’ve been reading about chatbot-based AI startups, they’re going to be playing Whac-A-Mole for a while.
CNN: Brooklyn hospital network reverts to paper charts for weeks after cyberattack. “A network of three hospitals in Brooklyn, New York, has had to work off paper charts for weeks following a cyberattack on its computer systems in late November, the hospital group’s chief executive told CNN Monday.”
NBC New York: Face Recognition Tech Gets Girl Scout Mom Booted from Rockettes Show — Due to Where She Works. “An attorney whose firm is in litigation with MSG Entertainment was barred from attending a Radio City Rockettes’ show with her daughter and other Girl Scouts because the company’s facial recognition technology knew where she worked.”
New York City: DOT and Fordham University to Open Exhibition Celebrating NYC’s Street Design Manual. “… the SDM has helped reimagine New York City’s street network from one designed primarily for automobiles into one that supports a greater diversity of safe and convenient travel modes and activities – including with an increased focus on pedestrians and cyclists. First published in 2009, the third edition of the SDM is for the first time available entirely online.”
I am still publishing ResearchBuzz updates on Twitter but I have moved most of my “looking-for-interesting-stuff” activity to Mastodon (researchbuzz@researchbuzz.masto.host if you care to drop by.) The Web site Geopipe ( https://www.geopipe.ai/download ) is the second RB item I’ve found on that site. It’s a company that makes digital twins of cities to be used in gaming, virtual environments, etc. At the moment they’re giving away a digital twin of New York City for free. You’ll need to register, but you can download sample models of Rockerfeller Plaza and Columbus Circle without providing any personal information. Sample models are downloadable in .fbx, .dae, and .glb formats.
Village Preservation: Civil Rights and Social Justice Map Revised and Relaunched. “Village Preservation’s acclaimed Civil Rights and Social Justice Map has been revised and relaunched. Containing hundreds of sites connected to civil rights history found in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, we’ve streamlined the format, added images and entries, and made it easier and more engaging than ever to learn how the course of history changed and the cause of social justice advanced in our neighborhoods.”
Queens Chronicle: Oh, the places named for people!. “The Queens Public Library has launched an online archive of information on over 1,300 people whom schools, streets, buildings, parks, monuments and other public spaces across the borough have been named after.”
Jewish Press: Google Calls New NYC Migrant Center ‘Adams Tent City’. “Google Maps appears to have created a new name for a pet project of New York City Mayor Eric Adams – his much-debated migrant processing center on Randalls Island – at least temporarily. The site, officially called the ‘Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center,’ had a different name on the location software, until Tuesday night.”
Pix 11: New NYC Parks tool helps you find fall foliage. “NYC Parks has created the #FallForNYC Fall Foliage Tracker, a website that tracks popular trees’ colors…. From Maple, to Sweetgum, to Ginkgo trees, the tracker is going to be able to tell you all about the different kinds of species of trees you’ll find in the city and when they’re expected to be at their peak.”
Bloomberg: Amid job cuts, Meta is closing a New York office . “Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to close one of its offices in New York after scaling down its expansion plans in the city, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is exercising its option to terminate its lease at 225 Park Ave. South in Manhattan, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information was private.”
Gothamist: New Yorkers can now look up the records of police they encounter. “Law Enforcement Look Up — shared exclusively with Gothamist ahead of its public launch Monday — allows users to search through thousands of records obtained by the public defender organization over the years. The records include civil lawsuits filed against police officers, documents from NYPD internal investigations, Civilian Complaint Review Board allegations and a trove of district attorney letters regarding officers’ credibility — some obtained by Gothamist.”
Columbia Climate School: Scientists Are Mapping New York City Wildlife. And We Don’t Mean Rats, Squirrels or Pigeons.. “There are possums, raccoons, deer, coyotes (one turned up last year in Central Park), foxes, rabbits, groundhogs and skunks. In the waters, river otters and beavers (after a nearly 200-year absence, one was recently seen running along a promenade near the Williamsburg Bridge). In the air, peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks, bats and rare native bees.”
City University of New York: New Data Dashboard Reporting Street-level Flooding In NYC Gives Government, Responders, The Public, And Researchers Real-time Information On Rising Waters. “Created in partnership with FieldKit, with funding from the New York State Empire State Development Corporation, the new mobile-ready web dashboard presents real-time data collected by the expanding FloodNet system of low-cost, open-source sensors in flood-prone areas across the city. Currently, FloodNet comprises 30 ultrasonic devices deployed in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, from which readings are delivered to an interactive map and data visualization platform, allowing users to see the occurrence and depth of flood water at each sensor location.”
6 Sq Ft: Landmarks launches digital photo archive of NYC landmarks and historic districts. “The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission on Thursday launched the LPC Designation Photo Collection, a digital photo archive with high-resolution images of designated landmarks and historic districts.”
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