morningbuzz

Avalanche Canada, Snapscope, Reddit, More: Monday ResearchBuzz, December 15, 2025

NEW RESOURCES

NTV: Avalanche Canada launches new database for fatal avalanche incidents. “Avalanche Canada has just launched a new site documenting every known avalanche fatality in Canada since 1792. In addition to incident reports on these fatal incidents, the site also has expert incident analyses on most avalanches dating back to 1955, as well as interactive mapping, statistics and case studies.”

OMG Ubuntu: New Website Lets You Scan Snaps for Known Security Vulnerabilities. “Ever wondered how secure the apps you install from the Snap Store are? A new website from Ubuntu alumnus Alan Pope makes it easy to find out. The Snapscope website uses open-source security tool Grype to scan Snap package for CVEs and security vulnerabilities (critical, high, medium, low, actively exploited) which might affect those using them.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

ABC News: Reddit challenges Australia’s law banning children under 16 from social media. “Global online forum Reddit on Friday filed a court challenge to Australia’s world-first law that bans Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world’s most popular social media platforms.”

Engadget: Reddit is starting to verify public figures. “Like it or not, the checkmark has become an almost universal symbol on most social platforms, even though its exact meaning can vary significantly between services. Now, Reddit, which historically hasn’t cared that much about its users’ identity, is joining the club and starting to test verification for public figures on its platform.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Poynter: A popular video of a priest blocking ICE agents isn’t real. “Social media videos of a Catholic priest turning away Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from his church are garnering support and thousands of shares, but they were generated with artificial intelligence tools.”

Gizmodo: xAI Answers the Question, ‘What if Product Placement was Significantly Worse?’. “The AI company owned by Elon Musk recently hosted a hackathon that invited people to build new features and functionality with the company’s AI models. One group of upstart engineers created Halftime, described as a tool that ‘Dynamically weaves AI-generated ads into the scenes you’re watching, so breaks feel like part of the story instead of interruptions.’ It is, frankly, awful.”

Reuters: Google to build subsea cables in Papua New Guinea under Australia defence treaty . “Alphabet’s Google will build three subsea cables in Papua New Guinea, which the largest Pacific Island nation said was funded by Australia under a mutual defence treaty, in a key upgrade to its digital backbone.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

HackRead: New PyStoreRAT Malware Targets OSINT Researchers Through GitHub. “These convincing projects/repositories were so well-made that several quickly climbed high on GitHub’s trending lists. Only after gaining this traction and trust did the criminals introduce subtle code updates, disguised as simple ‘maintenance, to plant the PyStoreRAT backdoor.”

The Independent (Singapore): Thai army accuses Cambodia of endangering cultural heritage sites, escalating tensions in border dispute. “The Thai army has issued a stark warning to Cambodia, urging the neighbouring country not to turn cultural heritage sites into military strongholds. Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Army, stressed Thursday that such actions violate the 1954 Hague Convention, which protects historical sites during armed conflict.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

The Journal (Ireland): Banning under-16s from social media is a half-measure. We should ban toxic algorithms. “We need to promote non-profit, decentralised alternatives such as the non-profit German social media network Mastodon, as well as other public, non-profit, and democratic alternatives which focus on building community, connecting people, and supporting culture and community, rather than maximising profit at all costs.”

Faraway, So Close: You Should Start a Blog Now (or Later). “There are a hundred ways to type into your computer or phone and have them appear on the internet. I’m going to recommend two right now, but either will work just fine. And thanks to fancy words like ‘data portability’, you can change to a different way of publishing words on the internet if you decide to later.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

PC Gamer: I’m never getting any work done ever again, thanks to this website that lets me play thousands of user-made Doom levels in my browser. “…an entire subculture of Doom modding has just been excavated in a way that might spell actual doom for my career. DoomScroll is a new website that lets users scroll through and play thousands (and I mean thousands) of user-made Doom WADs right in your browser.” Good morning, Internet…

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