Apple Podcasts got the full Apple Music treatment with its own web app today. The UI is essentially the same as Apple’s native app but with the added flexibility of working on non-Apple devices. Apple says Podcasts works on all major browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, and can be accessed in more than 170 countries and regions in their local language. If you’re an Apple Podcasts user, your progress will be synced from the web to your Apple devices, too.

Apple Podcasts' web app is nearly identical to the native version.

The web app strikes me as a win for both listeners and podcasters. Podcast fans now have more ways to enjoy their favorite shows, discover new ones, and share episodes with others. Suddenly, Apple Podcasts is cross-platform, which is still relatively rare among the most popular podcast apps, except for Pocket Casts.

Links opened on Apple devices will open in the native Podcasts app and in the browser on other devices, although on the Mac, it is possible to play episodes in a browser if you prefer. Here’s Comfort Zone playing on everyone’s current obsession, the Boox Palma:

You can read more in an article by John Voorhees published in the MacStories.net web site at: https://www.macstories.net/news/apple-podcasts-is-now-available-as-a-web-app/.

A good private video editor is hard to find—especially when you want it to work across all of your devices. Yes, there are lots of decent video editors, including Microsoft’s Clipchamp tool and Apple’s iMovie app. But Clipchamp is one of many modern video-editing tools that requires you to sign in with an account and upload your videos to a company’s servers. And iMovie, of course, is limited to working only on Apple’s own products.

I’ve been looking for a free web-based video editor that is completely private, compatible everywhere, and available to use without any sign-in or account-creating requirement. Now, I’ve found one that fits the bill.

It’s named Wide.video, and it runs in your web browser, which means it works on whatever computer you happen to be using: Windows PC, Chromebook, Mac, Linux, or whatever else you might prefer.

But, while it runs in your web browser and is technically a web app, it does all the work on your computer. You don’t have to sign up for an account, you don’t have to install anything, and you don’t have to upload your private videos to any company’s servers. And while it’s free, it doesn’t even have ads.

You can read more in an article by Chris Hoffman published in the FastCompany web site at: https://bit.ly/4dyecd2.

A stylized logo for “The Famous Computer Cafe.” The logo resembles a vintage neon sign, featuring a tall, vertical structure with multiple components. The topmost part of the sign has a depiction of a small satellite or atomic model, labeled with “The Famous.” Below this, in bold block letters, reads “COMPUTER”. Extending downwards, the word “CAFE” appears vertically in a similar bold style. Both “COMPUTER” and “CAFE” have an arrow motif, with the word “CAFE” positioned inside a large downward-pointing arrow, which is embellished with numerous small lights around its perimeter. The entire logo is rendered in a palette of dark blue and yellow, giving it a striking, retro look indicative of classic neon signs.

A previously lost cache of celebrity and historical interviews from a long-dormant radio show have been discovered, digitized, and made available for all.

The Internet Archive is now home to 53 episodes of The Famous Computer Cafe, a 1980s radio show about the new world of home computers. The program included computer industry news, product reviews, and interviews, and aired from 1983 through 1986 on radio stations in southern and central California.

The creators of The Famous Computer Cafe saved every episode on reel-to-reel tapes, but over the years the tapes were forgotten, and, ultimately, lost. Earlier this year archivist Kay Savetz recovered several of the tapes in a property sale, and recognizing their value and worthiness of professional transfer, launched a GoFundMe to have them digitized, and made them available at Internet Archive with the permission of the show’s creators.

While full of time-capsule descriptions of 1980s technology news, the most exciting aspect of the show has been the variety and uniqueness of the interviews. The list of people that the show interviewed is a who’s-who of tech luminaries of the 1980s: computer people, musicians, publishers, philosophers, journalists. Interviews in the recovered recordings include Timothy Leary, Douglas Adams, Bill Gates, Atari’s Jack Tramiel, Apple’s Bill Atkinson, and dozens of others. The recovered shows span November 17 1984 through July 12, 1985.

Many more of the original reel-to-reel tapes — including shows with interviews with Ray Bradbury, Robert Moog, Donny Osmond, and Gene Roddenberry — are still lost, and perhaps are still waiting to be found in the Los Angeles area.

The stories of how The Famous Computer Cafe was created — and saved, 40 years later — is explored in an episode of the Radio Survivor podcast. The podcast interviewed show co-creator Ellen Fields and archivist Kay Savetz, providing a dual perspective of how the show was created and how it was recovered.

The recovery of these interviews, 40 years after their original airing, holds out hope that many more relics and treasures still await discovery.

Maria Branyas, who was the world's oldest person, has died peacefully in a Spanish nursing home at the age of 117. From a report:

"Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain," her official X account said, and a spokesperson at the nursing home confirmed the news without providing details. Branyas had suggested that her demise was imminent on Monday on X, saying: "I feel weak. The time is coming. Don't cry, I don't like tears... You know me, wherever I go, I will be happy." Her X account is handled by her daughter.

She had turned 117 on March 4, according to Guinness World Records, and had become the oldest person in the world in January 2023. Born in San Francisco, California, in 1907, she moved with her Spanish family back to the northeastern region of Catalonia when she was seven. She spent the rest of her life there, living through the 1936-39 civil war and two pandemics a century apart - the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. In 1931, she married Catalan doctor Joan Moret, with whom she had three children. Her husband passed away in 1976 and she also outlived her son, August, who died in a tractor accident at the age of 86, Guinness World Records said on its website.

The following announcement was written by the folks at MyHeritage:

The Super DNA Sale is on, and this isn’t any old DNA sale — it’s a rare opportunity to stock up on MyHeritage DNA kits for the lowest price this year, and even get a headstart on your holiday shopping!

Order MyHeritage DNA for the lowest price of the year

Whether your summer was filled with family outings or furthering your family history research, there’s never been a better time to discover your origins and find new relatives with the MyHeritage DNA test. This is a rare opportunity to stock up on MyHeritage DNA kits for the lowest price this year, and even get a headstart on your holiday shopping.

Order MyHeritage DNA for the lowest price of the year

MyHeritage DNA kits don’t expire, so you can buy them now and gift them to your loved ones for the holidays or beyond! Plus, you’ll enjoy free shipping on orders of 2+ DNA kits.

MyHeritage DNA reveals your origins across 2,114 geographic regions and connects you to relatives you may not have known about. Curious about where you come from, or looking to break through a brick wall in your family history research? A MyHeritage DNA test may offer the answers you’re looking for. 

Grab this incredible deal before it’s gone and order MyHeritage DNA today!

 

Christopher Michael Green

Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot has announced that Christopher Michael Green will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Dallas County jury found him guilty of Aggravated Sexual Assault. The 52-year-old defendant was charged in a 2005 cold case attack on a young mother whom he sexually assaulted at knifepoint. This case marks the first jury trial in Dallas County history to utilize Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) as an investigative tool to help identify the suspect.

“We have been working this case with the Dallas Police Department since we started the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) almost a decade ago,” said lead prosecutor Leighton D’Antoni. “I remember long-time Dallas Police Department Sex Assaults Detective Todd Haecker telling me this was his ‘white whale.’ We exhausted every investigative tool without success until the DA’s Office and DPD began working with the FBI Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force, which finally cracked this case.”

During the punishment phase, evidence of five additional violent assaults allegedly committed by Mr. Green was presented, along with powerful testimony from the survivors— four of whom were between the ages of 15-17 at the time of their attacks

“You chose your path,” said one of the survivors. “I have been waiting for this day for 24 years.”

Throughout the trial, Mr. Green maintained his innocence and testified during punishment he did not commit any of these aggravated sexual assaults, but based on the compelling testimony and DNA evidence, the jury swiftly returned a guilty verdict and handed down a life sentence.

“Predators can’t live with the truth. Survivors can’t live without it. The truth came to light in this courtroom,” lead prosecutor ADA Leighton D’Antoni said in his closing argument.

Use of Innovative Genetic Genealogy and Traditional DNA

Law enforcement first identified a suspect DNA profile in one of these cases back in 2001. Over the next 15 years, the same DNA profile appeared in five more cases. However, without a prior felony conviction, Mr. Green's DNA was not in the national database, preventing a match. IGG is what provided a breakthrough -- enabling investigators to link unknown offender DNA profiles to familial connections, ultimately leading them to Green. Although IGG serves as an investigative lead and not as trial evidence, it helped put Green on the investigators' radar. Four of the six survivors identified Green in a photo lineup, but Detective Carlos Cardenas sought further confirmation, obtaining a search warrant for Green’s DNA via a buccal swab. The DNA was a perfect match in all six cases. This traditional (STR) DNA evidence, the gold standard for forensic identification since 1986, was what prosecutors presented at trial and confirmed Green’s identity.

As one of the survivors put it in her victim impact statement, “Science proved that you’re it. Nobody else shares your DNA.”

You can read more in an article published at https://bit.ly/3SUIq1E.

Google released the August 2024 core update today. It will take about a month to fully roll out.

This update is not just a normal core update. The August 2024 core update takes into account the feedback Google heard since the September 2023 helpful content update that seemed to have a negative impact on many small and independent publishers.

What Google is saying. John Mueller, Search Advocate at Google, wrote.

“Today, we launched our August 2024 core update to Google Search. This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.”

Google said this update aims to promote useful content from small and independent publishers, after Google listened to feedback it received since the release of the March 2024 core update. Mueller added:

“This latest update takes into account the feedback we’ve heard from some creators and others over the past few months. As always, we aim to connect people with a range of high quality sites, including ‘small’ or ‘“’independent’ sites that are creating useful, original content on relevant searches. This is an area we’ll continue to address in future updates.”

This August 2024 core update “aims to better capture improvements that sites may have made, so we can continue to surface the best of the web,” Mueller added.

Guidance updated. Google posted several updates to its help page about core updates, including more in-depth guidance for those who may see changes after an update.

More details. Google told us we should expect a core update soon, after many publishers have become concerned and anxious about the next update.

Since then we have seen a tremendous amount of Google search ranking volatility without a confirmation from Google on a core update or any update of its kind. In fact, this morning, I posted about even more intense Google Search ranking volatility on Search Engine Roundtable.

What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past. Google has not really given much new advice here.

There aren’t specific actions to take to recover. A negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages.

Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update.

Google said you can see a bit of a recovery between core updates but the biggest change would be after another core update.

In short, write helpful content for people and not to rank in search engines.

“There’s nothing new or special that creators need to do for this update as long as they’ve been making satisfying content meant for people. For those that might not be ranking as well, we strongly encourage reading our creating helpful, reliable, people-first content help page,” Google said previously.

Previous core updates. The previous core update – the March 2024 core update – was the largest core update, according to Google. It started March 5 and completed 45 days later on April 19.

Here’s a timeline and our coverage of recent core updates:

• The March 2024 core update was on March 5th and ended on April 19.
  
• The November 2023 core update was on November 2nd and ended on November 28.
  
• The October 2023 core update was on October 5th and ended on October 19
  
• The August 2023 core update was on August 22nd and ended on September 7.
  
• The March 2023 core update was on March 15th and ended on March 28th.
  
• Other updates. We did have a spam update between the last core update and this core update. It was the June 2024 spam update that started on June 20 and took 7 days to finish rolling out, completing on June 27.
  

Why we care. Many sites are hoping, and have been hoping, to see improvements with the last core update ever since the September 2023 helpful content update rolled out. Most, if not all, of those sites that were hit in September did not see recoveries. They were hoping to see recoveries with the March 2024 core update, but did not.

Now, with this August 2024 core update, many of those sites hit by previous updates will be watching closely to see if their sites recover over the next few weeks.

Published starting in 1984, MicroTimes magazine lauded itself as the newsletter for computer users in California. Published in two editions (Northern and Southern California) with the primary difference between them being the advertisements. MicroTimes provided interviews, instructions, humor and opinion pieces related to all manner of home computers and business. These issues are open access on Internet Archive with the blessing of the publisher.

The following issues are missing from this archive. If you have any of them, please contact Kay Savetz.

• Volume 2 Number 12
  
• Volume 3 Number 1
  
• Volume 3 Number 2
  
• Volume 3 Number 3
  
• Volume 3 Number 6 thru 12(?)
  
• Issue 78
  
• Issue 151-152
  
• Issue 154-155
  
• Issue 159-160
  
• Issue 162
  
• Issue 165
  
• Issue 182-199
  
• Issue 201-215
  
• Issue 217-end??
  

The following is a press release written by the Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA):

IGRA announced the restart of its partnership with MyHeritage in conjunction with the beginning of the 2024 IAJGS Conference in Philadelphia, PA.

Jerusalem, August 18, 2024 - We are pleased to announce a strengthened partnership between The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA), Israel’s largest Jewish Genealogical Society, and MyHeritage, the leading global discovery platform for family history. This collaboration provides access to an index of more than 3.25 million records available in IGRA, to be available via search and matches to the millions of users of MyHeritage.

From now on, MyHeritage users will be able to receive results from IGRA when searching on the general search engine https://www.myheritage.com/research or specifically in the IGRA collection https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-20862/israel-genealogy-research-association-igra. From here, they will be able to see the detailed record in the IGRA database [record details may require a fee]. MyHeritage users will receive matches on their trees with the IGRA records, allowing them to review the record and get more detailed information about their relatives in the IGRA database with just one click.

This is part of an ongoing commitment by IGRA to expand their reach and the availability of its Israel-related collections to a broader audience.

The Israel Genealogy Research Association has set as one of its primary aims the preparation of databases based upon various records, mainly found in Israel, for as wide an audience as possible. The large number of archives located in Israel dealing with communities in Israel and Jewish communities outside of Israel have records in a variety of languages but mostly in Hebrew and English. Our data comes from Archives as well as publications which are on open shelves in libraries.

IGRA Volunteers scan the materials, build databases with the pertinent information, and then link to the original scans, where archival permission has been granted. Surnames and first names are transliterated from Hebrew to English, and vice versa, depending on the language of the original material. This will enable researchers from around the world who are not familiar with the other language to find the families they are searching for.

About The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA)

The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) is focused on genealogy – helping people with their family research and making available to the public a wide variety of material from the Ottoman period through the early years of Israeli Statehood, as well as additional material about Jews from the Diaspora located in Israeli archives. We work with people of many nationalities and provide resources on countries around the world. www.genealogy.org.il

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is the leading global discovery platform for family history. With billions of historical records and family tree profiles, and with sophisticated matching technologies, MyHeritagen gives users the joy of discovering their past and empowering their future. MyHeritage is the most popular family history service and DNA test in Europe, and is trusted by millions of users worldwide. Since 2020, MyHeritage is home to the world’s most advanced AI technologies for animating, repairing, enhancing, and colorizing historical photos. www.myheritage.com.

From the archive.org web site:

This October, we are publishing Vanishing Culture, a new open access report examining the power and importance of preservation in our digital age. 

As more content is created digitally and provided to individuals and memory institutions through temporary licensing deals rather than ownership, materials such as sound recordings, books, television shows, and films are at constant risk of being removed from streaming platforms. This means they are vanishing from our culture without ever being archived or preserved by libraries.

But the threat of vanishing is not exclusive to digital content. As time marches on, analog materials on obsolete formats—VHS tapes, 78rpm recordings, floppy disks—are deteriorating and require urgent attention to ensure their survival. Without proper archiving, digitization, and access, the cultural artifacts stored in these formats are in danger of being lost forever.

By highlighting the importance of ownership and preservation in the digital age, the Vanishing Culture report aims to inform individuals, institutions, and policymakers about the breadth and scale of cultural loss thus far, and inspire them to take proactive steps in ensuring that our cultural record remains accessible for future generations.

Share Your Story!

As part of the Vanishing Culture report, we’d like to hear from you. We invite you to share your stories about why preservation is important for the media you use on our site. Whether it’s a website crawl in the Wayback Machine, a rare book that shaped your perspective, a vintage film that captured your imagination, or a collection that you revisit often, we want to know why preserving these items is important to you. Share your story now!