How an influx of independents could change parliament for the better - Voters’ disillusionment

 

The ex-aides of a messianic, sex-convict rabbi fight from within to cast him out The Times of Israel

The ex-aides of a messianic, sex-convict rabbi fight from within to cast him out The Times of Israel

Do brains of London’s cabbies hold the key in fight against dementia? Scientists hope study of black taxi drivers’ memory for maps will make it easier to detect Alzheimer’s Daily Mail

Toxic Positivity Is Very Real, and Very AnnoyingWSJ. Yeah, sheesh, I gotta work on that.

How an influx of independents could change parliament for the better

Voters’ disillusionment is much deeper than the current crop of leaders. There is something wrong with the system itself. 

By Hugh Mackay Nov 4, 2021

How to blur backgrounds in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet

“Let’s say you have a meeting on a video conference platform, but your normal work-from-home space is occupied, or worse, a mess. You have no time to clean it up, or find a neutral, privacy-maintaining space to set up, and panic sets in. Don’t worry—you have options to hide the space behind you: background blurring. This easily toggleable option can keep your space private, or render messy rooms fuzzy, and it’s available in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet right now. This free PDF ebook from TechRepublic shows you how.”

MakeUseOf - 5 Powerful Free Apps to Make Screenshots Look Better and Search Their Text: “From beautifying screenshots with simple tricks to making their text searchable, these free tools will help you take better screenshots, then manage and edit them. Taking a screenshot is almost second nature to content creators, social media managers, designers, marketers, product managers, and developers. It serves many uses, such as simple annotations, quick demonstrations, and saving something for posterity. Given how useful the humble screenshot is, these free apps unlock its true potential…”

UVA Law Librarian Sues DOJ to Force Release of List of Corporate Crime Settlements

Corporate Crime Reporter – The Justice Department maintains a comprehensive list of corporate crime settlements. The Trump Justice Department refused to make the list public. And now the Biden Justice Department is refusing to release the list. So last week, Jon Ashley filed a lawsuit to force the Biden Justice Department to release it.Ashley is a law librarian at the University of Virginia School of Law. Ashley has helped build one of the most comprehensive publicly available compilations of corporate crime settlements — it’s called the Corporate Prosecution Registry, which now features more than 350 deferred and non prosecution agreements. But Ashley says that the Department of Justice maintains a complete list of these agreements. And he wants to get his hands on that list to compare it against the Corporate Prosecution Registry..”

Thursday ephemera trawl

Posted on October 14, 2021 by things magazine

A collection of things. Jarvis Cocker’s Aline, Aline, a video directed by Wes Anderson. See also Anderson’s train carriage for British Pullman / farewell to Rick Jones of Fingerbobs / 2001 A Space Odyssey: Dubstep re-edit. See also 2001: A Spiritualized Odyssey / post-tourism Bali / a profile of architectural photographer Hélène Binet. Hélène Binet’s website / 8 BIT, a documentary about art and videogames / which animals are bastards? There is no right or wrong / the origins of techno-paranoia, Illustrations of Madness: James Tilly Matthews and the Air Loom, at the Public Domain Review (via MeFi) / Klimt vs Klimt, lavish presentation of the Austrian artist’s work at Google Arts & Culture / the Walk of Life Project, enhancing film endings old and new / the Hollywood Age Gap / Ride’s Andy Bell on Revolver / sample collections at the Piano Book / First Woman, the tale of the first woman on the moon, an online comic from NASA / art by Pierpaolo Rovero / Walking the Capital Ring, a set of guides from the Inner London Ramblers / a huge collection of unknown but useful websites / some top tips on aggregating and assembling a personal digital archive.