afternoonbuzz

CivicMapper, UCSF Medical Care, RootsTech 2026, More: Sunday Afternoon ResearchBuzz, December 14, 2025

NEW RESOURCES

Progress and Poverty: Launching CivicMapper: Visualizing Land Values in 3D. “Today, we are thrilled to launch CivicMapper, a new interactive tool that brings cities to life through 3D visualizations…. CivicMapper lets you explore geospatial data as extruded 3D bars, each representing the land value or property characteristics of every parcel in a city.”

UC San Francisco: Stories of Care, Community, and UCSF History Now Digitized and Online. “These digital collections reflect rich histories that inform contemporary medical practices and the health sciences. They also provide a deeper understanding of the people who built UCSF and the communities it serves, as well as the artistry and activism embedded in care, and the lived experiences captured through journals and correspondence.”

EVENTS

Genealogy’s Star: RootsTech 2026 Bonus and Benefits. “RootsTech 2026, the largest genealogy and family history conference in the world, is scheduled for Marth 5-7, 2026 online and in person at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Meanwhile, by visiting the website, you can enjoy and learn from the following activities and learning opportunities.”

USEFUL STUFF

ZDNet: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 now – for free. “Microsoft really doesn’t want customers to upgrade older PCs to Windows 11, but there are workarounds for all but the oldest devices. Now that Windows 10 support has officially ended, here’s everything you need to know.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

University of Manchester: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1997: Widening the range of our digital archives. “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1997. This acquisition strengthens the University’s longstanding commitment to furthering the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and also our role as a Northern humanitarianism powerhouse.”

Mashable: TikTok is blissing out on the dancefloor with Jon Hamm. “If you’ve noticed Jon Hamm perpetually blissing out on a blue-hued dancefloor on your FYP, join the club. The latest TikTok meme is seeing quietly victorious creators stitching a scene featuring the actor’s performance in Apple TV series Your Friends and Neighbors, a series released back in April this year.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Hollywood Reporter: Disney Hits Google With AI Copyright Infringement Cease-and-Desist Letter. “Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google accusing the tech giant of using Disney’s copyrighted works to train its AI models.”

Ars Technica: Operation Bluebird wants to relaunch “Twitter,” says Musk abandoned the name and logo. “A Virginia startup calling itself ‘Operation Bluebird’ announced this week that it has filed a formal petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office, asking the federal agency to cancel X Corporation’s trademarks of the words ‘Twitter’ and ‘tweet’ since X has allegedly abandoned them.”

Courthouse News Service: Owner of Robux gambling site must face unfair competition claims by underage users. “The owner of a now-defunct online casino that targeted Roblox users failed to convince a federal judge to toss the claims brought against him in a proposed class action on behalf of children who gambled away their virtual Robux on his and other websites.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Lancaster University: Exploring the future of libraries through arts and technology research. “The new book by Dr Nathan Jones, from Lancaster University’s School of Arts, and Dr Sam Skinner (Oxford Brookes University) rethinks what a library might be in the future. Across essays, artworks, and conversations, BiblioTech traces how the next phase in the life of the library will reflect every aspect of contemporary life — from mental health and automation to social justice and climate change.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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