The Guardian: Google profiting from sale of zombie knives in UK despite claims of ban. “Google is profiting from ads offering lethal weapons for sale to people in the UK – including 17in zombie knives, ‘military tactical’ blades and ‘zombie killer sword apocalypse machetes’ – despite claiming to ban them.”
UK Fundraising: Free-to-access Data Dashboard launches to help charities with their legacy strategies . “A free-to-use online Data Dashboard has been launched to provide UK charities with easy access to current legacy giving market trends and forecasts for the medium and long-term. Sharing key facts, figures and metrics, the Data Dashboard aims to help charities in their strategic decision-making when planning and investing in legacy fundraising within their organisations.”
The Guardian: Rishi Sunak’s snub boosts Greek hopes for return of marbles. “In a week when the row over the fifth-century BC antiquities has erupted with renewed vigour, the goalposts have moved in unexpected ways. Which is why Nikos Stampolidis, classical archaeologist by profession, and for the past two years the museum’s director, is in ebullient mood. ‘It has been a magnificent week,’ he told the Observer. ‘I think it’s fair to say events are moving us forward and are in our favour. I’m hopeful and very optimistic.'” A good, thorough article which deserves a better headline.
The Guardian: ‘Cultural vandalism’: row as Kew Gardens and Natural History Museum plan to move collections out of London. “London’s ageing buildings, crumbling storage space, and soaring land prices mean a move beyond the M25 is the only realistic way to protect the capital’s swelling backroom collections of scientific and cultural treasures while improving researchers’ access to them, say senior museum staff. The total price-tag for the venture could top half a billion pounds. But this vast rehousing project has not been universally welcomed.”
Asia One: Mongolia urges Russia, other nations to return cultural artefacts. “Mongolia on Monday (Nov 20) called for more support from Russia, Britain and other countries to repatriate hundreds of cultural artefacts, some dating back over two millennia. Key artefacts include a letter from Mongolia’s first prime minister declaring independence from China’s Manchu dynasty, currently held at the British Library in London, the Mongolian government said in a statement.”
UK Authority: TfL to take Google Steet View to Underground. “Transport for London (TfL) has launched a collaboration with Google to provide the Street View application to a number of Underground stations across the city. It said the project will involve the use of cameras that capture 360-degree images to develop virtual representations of around 30 of the busiest stations, including Green Park, King’s Cross St Pancras and Waterloo. They will identify key facilities such as toilets and help points.”
British Library UK Web Archive Blog: UK Web Archive Technical Update – Autumn 2023. “The most important achievement over the last quarter has been establishing a replica of the UK Web Archive holdings at the National Library of Scotland (NLS). The five servers we’d filled with data were shipped, and our NLS colleagues kindly unpacked and installed them. We visited a few weeks later, finishing off the configuration of the servers so they can be monitored by the NLS staff and remotely managed by us.”
Spotted via Google Alerts: British Civil Wars Memorial Database. “This database provides information about monuments, including memorials, plaques and information boards, located across the British Isles which relate to events concerning and key figures associated with the British Civil Wars 1639-1660. It also covers monuments located anywhere in the world relating to soldiers who served in the British Isles between 1639-1660.”
Global Legal Post: UK’s Competition Appeals Tribunal approves consolidation of Google claims in ad tech litigation. “The Competition Appeal Tribunal has approved the consolidation of two multi-billion-pound claims against Google on advertising technology. Consolidation of the claims, brought by Charles Arthur and Claudio Pollack, will now proceed to a certification hearing in January 2024. Both parties sought to bring an opt-out collective claim on behalf of website publishers and app developers, who they say had suffered loss due to Google’s abuse of its dominant position.”
Evening Standard: Publishing industry faces billions in costs as students illegally download texts. “Tens of thousands of university students are using illegal sites to download sections of text from books, costing the publishing industry billions of pounds, according to new research. As students returned to university in the UK, there were 300,000 searches made to piracy sites that allow you to download text from books in September alone, academic publisher Perlego has said.”
Cracked: Proto-Monty Python Sketch Show Discovered After Being Lost for 50 Years. “What once appeared to be an ex-sketch comedy show, a sketch show that was no more, was resting in peace, had ceased to be, and was bereft of life may have been simply stunned after all. Most of The Complete and Utter History of the British Isles, a sketch comedy television show created in 1969 by almost-Pythoners Michael Palin and Terry Jones, was once thought to be lost forever. As it turns out, The Complete and Utter History of the British Isles was simply misplaced.”
Deadline: Star BBC Presenters Should Avoid “Political Campaigning” On Social Media, New Rules State. “While presenters should be allowed to enjoy freedom of expression on social media, they should not be involved in ‘party political campaigning, support for or attacks on political parties, individual politicians, governments or activist organisations,’ the report states. Furthermore, the BBC should should ‘be prescriptive’ in what is not acceptable to help presenters find the line.”
UK Government: Regulator publishes new guidance on charities’ social media use. “The new guidance is clear that charities using social media should have a social media policy in place and should ensure the policy is followed. This is standard practice in many charities and across other sectors and industries, and can help an organisation avoid problems and address issues swiftly if they occur. The regulator says its casework has revealed a knowledge gap.”
Boing Boing: Shrinkflation database tracks diminishing size of food products. “The Shrinkflation Tracker, by Sam Lader, is on a mission to stop manufacturers quietly putting less food inside product packaging without a corresponding fall in price to consumers. The practice is out of control, so much so that even major retailers are beginning to warn customers against lest they suspect complicity in the practice.” The listings are UK and Ireland-focused at the moment.
BBC: Greater Manchester Police officers’ details hacked in cyber attack. “Police officers’ personal details have been hacked after a company was targeted in a cyber attack. The firm in Stockport, which makes ID cards, holds information on various UK organisations including some of the staff employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The force confirmed it was aware of the ransomware attack.”
