OLDaily

How do patterns help children learn language and social skills?
Kaitlyn Parks, Bold, 2022/04/14

I made some remarks about language the other day and this article fits into that same picture as an outline how how children learn such varied things as language and social skills through pattern recognition. The article calls this 'statistical learning', which isn't really what I'd call it, though I see why they would. And it suggests "autistic children may have difficulties with statistical learning," something I can't comment on at all, because I have no expertise whatsoever in the causes of autism. But focusing on improving general pattern recognition skills at an early age seems like a good idea to me; this forms the basis for what I have elsewhere called the critical literacies.

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‘The lunacy is getting more intense’: how Birds Aren’t Real took on the conspiracy theorists
Zoe Williams, The Guardian, 2022/04/14

This story describes the rise of the fake "birds aren't real" conspiracy theory "that is just realistic enough, as conspiracies go, to convince QAnon supporters that birds aren't real, but has just enough satirical flags that generation Z recognises immediately what is going on." This item checkes a couple of boxes for me: one, as an example of hacking memes in the 2020s, and another, the idea of community being defined as agreement on truth-validation methods, or 'community as consensus'. Even if you don't agree with my take on this, you'll find the story an interesting reflection of our times, I think.

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Team shoots light through the skull to control mouse brains
Nicholas Weiler, Futurity, 2022/04/14

In order to understand how the brain works, researchers have been for years now switching neurons off and on to see what happens. But it's difficult and messy to do this physically. This article describes the most recent technology: using a combination of infrared light, which shines right through brain tissue, and introducing light-sensitive algal proteins into neurons, which heat up in infrared light, and hence stimulate the neuron. The technique is called 'optogenetics' and is currently being tested in mice. It's only a matter of time before people try it in humans, of course, and it will be interesting to see what results - maybe better experiments, maybe light-induced hallucinations, maybe a new form of virtual reality.

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Building an inclusive Web3 together
Canadian Web3 Council, 2022/04/14

Launched just a couple of weeks ago, the Canadian Web3 Council aims "to shape Web3, and secure the jobs and tax revenue generated by the most important innovation in decades." It's calling for "a regulatory environment that encourages our innovators to grow their business domestically, enables Canada to shape Web3, and secures the jobs and tax revenue generated by the most important innovation in decades." They note that "Canadians have founded many of the most important blockchains, including Ethereum, the second largest blockchain by market capitalization, Cosmos, a decentralized network of independent, scalable, and interoperable blockchains, and Flow, a blockchain designed to be the foundation of Web3," but warn that Canada may miss out on the benefits produced by these innovations.

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Stand Against Proctorio's SLAPP - Update 20
Ian Linkletter, 2022/04/14

Ian Linkletter has decided to appeal the latest verdict on his SLAPP suit against Proctorio in his continuing bid to be able to criticize the company using its own materials as evidence. The judgement, in my view, is flawed, as it finds the YouTube links in question to be copyright owned by the company (meaning Linkletter can't use them to link to otherwise freely available YouTube videos), and that sharing of the link violated Proctorio's confidentiality agreement Linkletter would putatively have to click through to see the link. The verdict also allows Proctorio's assertion that the British Columbia Protection of Public Participation Act cannot be used to prevent otherwise viable claims under the Copyright Act, a federal statute, with the parties agreeing that this constitutional question won't be addressed unless necessary. "There is too much at stake to let the decision stand," writed Linkletter. "Freedom of expression, fair dealing under the Copyright Act, and the effectiveness of anti-SLAPP legislation are all under threat and must be protected." Also here.

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