The oarfish is the world's longest bony fish, growing at least 25 feet long. It lives in every ocean but is very rarely seen.
Every June 24 is World Oarfish Day, a public holiday to celebrate, appreciate, and raise awareness of this perfect and mysterious sea friend. World Oarfish Day is a project of the Global Oarfish Council.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful day and this beautiful fish with us.
(Social media team's sidenote: We're actually having a hell of a time finding the photographers/sources of any of the above pictures - if you have a lead, please let us know! The middle one is at least from 2008.)
When people consider engaging with facts and information any number of factors come into play. How interested are they in the subject? How much do they trust the sources of information that relate to the subject? How eager are they to learn something more? What other aspects of their lives might be competing for their attention and their ability to pursue information? How much access do they have to the information in the first place?
A new Pew Research Center survey explores these five broad dimensions of people’s engagement with information and finds that a couple of elements particularly stand out when it comes to their enthusiasm: their level of trust in information sources and their interest in learning, particularly about digital skills.
A being argued that the eternal elf Wraithvine likely kept massive amounts of gold and gems, huge amounts of treasures kept away from those desperately in need. Surely an immortal being of such power likely was a greedy as the rest of them! The person snarled over their drink.
Then a soft voice spoke up to say, "Would you like to see my treasury?" And shocked the sullen drinker with a treasury of what seemed like mere junk to most, but were the most precious objects in the world to that being. -- Anon Guest
"Run around forever and you get everything," grumbled the barfly. "Stands to reason. Dragons have hoards. Elves sit on one patch of property and just suck in wealth. Never need to spend 'cause they already got everything. D'varuv have entire rooms made of gems. Immortals gotta have a fuckin' ton of treasure. Selfish bastards."
Ordinarily, this diatribe would be allowed to continue until the barfly either ran out or passed out. Not this time.
"I know where to find one immortal's treasures," said the stranger. They wore a patchwork Wizarding hat and appeared at first glance to be a crossbred Elf. Otherwise, they were an unassuming figure. Clothing made to last, and perhaps a couple of centuries behind the current fashion. Typical for an Elf. "You're going to be disappointed, though."
Truth: the great equalizer in creative nonfiction & life
Truth: the great equalizer in creative nonfiction & life
In this spring’s Writer’s Studio creative nonfiction class, author and teacher-extraordinaire Lauren Cowen talked on the first night about the irony of this genre—it being described by what it isn’t. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for professional wordsmiths, but from the start we know it’s not fiction. Yet, it still doesn’t tell those who don’t understand the genre anything about it. Some…
Cell phone videos have become a crucial tool of citizen activism. The prevalence of cell phone cameras has made journalists of many ordinary citizens.
There are various YouTube accounts promoting "evidence" videos, among others the Human Rights Channel by Witness and Storyful.
Case study: Chemical weapons attack in Syria, 21 August 2013
"Within hours of the incident, hundreds of videos were uploaded to YouTube, showing the horrific impact of this illegal attack. A review of the videos by medical and chemical weapons experts, combined with testimonies from survivors and doctors, allowed human rights investigators to establish basic facts about the attack and the chemical agents used before U.N. inspectors were able to produce a comprehensive assessment through direct ground access." - PBS Mediashift
Risks and opportunities
The opportunities for accountability are present. In the case of the Syrian attack with chemical weapons it led to international condemnation and pressure, and to a UN investigation of the weapons used.
However, for videos and images alike, there are great risks for falsification and altering of facts. The large number of amateur videos is a challenge for verification. Videos say nothing about what happens before or after the recording. Time stamps on the videos, going across time zones, may create credibility problems. Focus and zoom are not only esthetic choices but of journalistic significance. In addition, there are risks that the scene might be staged.
One recent example is that of The Syrian Hero Boy, which went viral. The video soon turned out to be fake, an "arts experiment" scripted and filmed in Malta by Director Lars Klevberg and his team, with support from The Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) and the Audio and Visual Fund from Arts Council Norway. This might create authencity problems for other videos, a concern expressed in a letter by Bellingcat to the filmmakers.
Activists and technology experts are working on solving the problems of verification. Within cell phone videos there has been a great development of apps that can help with just verification issues.
Inclusion/Exclusion
Most cell phones can take photos and record videos. "Smartphones" may be necessary to use some apps (for safe encryption and storage) like InformaCam, International Evidence Locker, Mobile Martus, etc.
Links
Human Rights Channel by Witness and Storyful
More interpretations from Brown Moses blog and Witness
Safe transmission and storage: International Evidence Locker
Technologies for safe transmission, storage and dissemination of information is growing in importance. Courts require a chain of custody for evidence, which might be challenging for digital evidence. Having the phone broken or confiscated if you are caught filming might also be a risk.
One technology that might contribute to solving these problems, is the International Evidence Locker (currently in the development phase), which is meant to instantaneously encrypt video/photos and send them to a secure drop-box.
International Evidence Locker (IEL) is a mobile application made by Bonne Freudinger, Brian Laning, and Heather Vernon Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Belonging to Medical College of Wisconsin Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center. The APP won 3rd place in The Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention 2013, in the Category "Capture".
"Atrocity evidence from conflict and post-conflict countries is often unavailable, of poor quality, unverifiable, or simply nonexistent. The International Evidence Locker (IEL) app is a free, downloadable phone application that enables a user to take a picture of an atrocity in progress, encrypt it, and send it instantaneously to a secure drop-box at a human rights organization for evidence storage." - Tech Challenge
IEL is a mobile phone app for collecting and protecting evidence. You can use it to take photos/video. It automatically and instantaneously encrypts the file and sends it to a secure dropbox belonging to human rights organisation. The app is in the developing phase. The International Evidence Locker team is currently in dialogue with Amnesty International and the International Criminal Court (ICC) about how to make this app fit best practice and securing evidence apt for uses in court. They are also working on a number of improvements, including how this app could be disguised as something else.
The organisation provides traning and equipment for activists. Video cameras concealed as other items such as pens and watches. The goal is to document human rights violations. VEC can verify, store and disemminate the footage - Wired
"Equipping oppressed communities with cameras, tech & training to expose#humanrights violations safely and effectively" - https://twitter.com/_videre
