The Scout Report -- Volume 26, Number 16

Curious about how the world has evolved since the day you were born? Life Stats has the scoop. After you enter your birth date (day, month, and year) the resource provides a personalized portfolio of data based on your life, updated in real-time. Some of the data is specific to you as an individual, estimating your blood cell production, breaths, and blinks since birth, as well as how many kilometers you have traveled around the sun. Other data explores macro-level changes, looking at the world's population and economy. Looking for a note of positivity? There is a section for that, too. Perhaps the site will reveal dramatic drops in poverty over your lifetime, or increases in literacy rates. Collectively, the data provided allows readers to explore, reflect, and appreciate the dynamics of their lifetime. "Creative coder" Neal Agarwal designed the resource using data from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the World Bank, among other sources. [EMB]

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Science writers, researchers, and STEM enthusiasts may enjoy the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). Supported by the National Science Foundation, NEON provides "open data to understand how our aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are changing." The website covers everything from meteorology to megapit soil, with many topics in between. On the About page, readers will find a blog with stories from 2008 to present, covering subjects such as site assessments and conversations with experts. The Data Collection page contains information on the instruments and processes used to collect data on subjects such as meteorology, water, and soil. Interested in learning more about where these data are collected from? The Field Sites page provides information on these sites, which span 20 ecoclimatic domains "represent[ing] distinct regions of vegetation, landforms, and ecosystem dynamics." The Data page hosts data collected at these NEON sites, which readers can download for free. Educators may want to check out the Resources tab, as it features Data Tutorials and K-12 Activities with lesson plans available for download. These plans cover topics such as water quality indicators and rain gauge measurements. Under the Community tab, users can find additional papers, memos, and workshops, while the Opportunities tab highlights job openings and upcoming events. [EMB]

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Catalonia, Spain is just a click away, thanks to the Dali Theatre-Museum's virtual exhibition. The site promises an opportunity to "visit the museum as you have never done before," allowing visitors to virtually explore three floors bursting with art, history, and culture. The buttons in the bottom left corner help users navigate the online exhibition. For example, clicking the play button takes users on a brief walkthrough of the museum, highlighting rooms that visitors can explore at their own pace after the tour concludes. When returning to certain sections of interest, readers will want to pay attention to the color-coded pinpoints lining the exhibition. Each pinned spot describes a piece of art, or some other aspect of the museum's history or Dali's life. Another way to navigate the site is by clicking the caret symbol in the lower left corner. This opens up exhibition highlights, which visitors can toggle over to learn more about particular rooms. Those looking for additional tips on navigating the exhibition may want to click the "Help" button in the lower right-hand corner to open up symbols and descriptions for various tour controls. [EMB]

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Coined the "search engine for democracy," BillTrack50 launched "to help individuals and organizations become informed about what their government is doing, and connect them with each other and with their representatives." While the platform offers fee-based plans tailored to certain professional organizations, individuals can create a free account to access basic research features. With this account, users can easily search for bills and legislators, accessing information such as the latest actions on bills of interest and their representatives' voting records. Tracking over two million bills, the site is full of helpful information. However, simple search filters allow users to narrow by bill number, keyword, state, or name, tailoring results to their location or interest. In addition to this search engine, the site has a Blog page that expands on key legislation. Recent topics include the "Pink Tax & Period Equity Legislation" and "COVID-19 Legislation." The site was founded in 2011 by Karen Suhaka. [EMB]

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Her STEM Story is a podcast with a clear mission: "increasing access and the number of women's voices in STEM." Installments highlight women who are thriving in STEM fields, while also recognizing the barriers they faced due to the gender-gaps in their vocational sectors. The podcast is founded and hosted by Prasha Sarwate, an engineer who wanted to "provide a platform to broaden STEM role models." Episodes feature a variety of guests, from research scientists to science artists, who share about their experiences in STEM fields. In February 2020, Her STEM Story celebrated its 100th episode with a special show highlighting what guests have accomplished since being featured. While most guest-feature episodes are around half an hour to an hour in length, the podcast also includes a "Solo Series" composed of shorter episodes that provide guidance on topics such as "How to Love Yourself Fearlessly" and "How to Build Your Habit Kit." Listeners can tune into the podcast through the website or on popular streaming services such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Play. [EMB]

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"How starved are Asians of on-screen representation in blockbuster movies?" This was the question on Isabella Chua's mind when researching and writing "Asian representation in movies: have things changed since 1997?" Combining interactive data mapping, text, and images to explore cultural diversity in the film industry, Chua's piece is as visually appealing as it is informative. By "comb[ing] through IMDb's list of blockbuster movies from 1997 to 2018," and categorizing cast members based on race, the project revealed an unsettling result: "The silver screen has historically been dominated by white actors, with only more diversity in recent years." Chua goes on to expand on the lack of diversity in the field, as well as related issues, from the "whitewashing of characters," to "blatantly racist portrayal[s]." The article also explores inequitable representation in film directors. Finally, the conclusion invites readers to explore the interactive charts embedded throughout and does offer a silver lining when looking to the future, noting: "There is a steadily growing appetite for more diversity in storytelling." This story was published in February 2019 on the map-based storytelling platform Kontinentalist, a resource that strives "to enhance [Asia's] voice in the global narrative." [EMB]

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A project of the Asian American Artists Centre, artasiamerica curates contemporary art from Asian American artists and makers, serving as "a high-quality research tool accessible globally to scholars, historians, curators, artists, as well as an educational resource for college and high school students, teachers, and community members." While the physical archive is located in New York City, readers from around the world can enjoy many pieces of the collection online. Launched in 2009, the digital archive focuses on "Asian American visual culture," prioritizing "issues that embody the question of diversity in America during the past 60 years." On the main page, readers will find a featured artist and piece highlighted, just one of the nearly three thousand (as of this write-up) included in the digital archive. Readers can browse all of the artwork via the Artists tab, which provides an alphabetical catalog of creators included in the collection. Each artist's profile contains a brief biography, links to their professional website, and a gallery of their work. There is also an Advanced Search feature, where users can filter results by year, artist, and material, among other selections. Under this tab, visitors can also browse by index of materials, style/period, subject, and technique. [EMB]

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"Being visible is a political act." This quote from Lenore Chinn, featured in A Day in the Queer Life of Asian Pacific America, speaks to the purpose of the exhibition: using a variety of mediums, including interviews, videos, poems, and essays, "to offer multiple entry points and a nuanced engagement with queer Asian American and Pacific Islander life." As of this write-up, two parts of the exhibition have been launched: Queer Check-Ins and Queer Elders, with more to come. The Queer Check-Ins series features 12 poets from around the world, each with their own short video piece responding to the question, "Are you okay?" The series is meant to provide "glimpses of queer life - okay, not okay, and in between." This collection was curated by Franny Choi. The Queer Elders series features community elders, including Lenore Chinn, who reflect on past experiences, as well as "what the future holds." The full exhibition is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, AARP, and Kundiman (a nonprofit focused on "nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature,"). Readers will want to check back for more content slotted for release (including Queer Motion, Queer Time, and Queer Youth). [EMB]

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Shortlisted as a top book podcast by Book Riot, She Reads, and Oprah Magazine, among others, Books and Boba is resonating with bibliophiles. Launched in 2016, the podcast acts as a virtual book club, "spotlighting books written by authors of Asian descent." Podcast producer Marvin Yueh and writer Reera Yoo co-host the show, which covers a little bit of everything: news, reviews, and interviews. Mirroring a traditional book club, the duo selects a new book to read and discuss each month. These books span a variety of genres, from graphic novels to nonfiction. Recent selections include The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (Episode 93) and The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar (Episode 96). On the Book Picks page, readers can view a mosaic of all the books discussed on the show. Most episodes are under an hour in length, perfect for book lovers to binge while spending some extra time indoors. Readers can find the nearly 100 episodes (as of this write-up) at the link above or tune in on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Radio Public. [EMB]

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Looking for an art-based curriculum to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month? This curated resource collection has you covered. Visitors can explore the more than 75 included items (as of this write-up) by region (e.g. "Asian America" or "The Diaspora"), topic (e.g. "Art Conservation" or "Folklore & Mythology"), type (e.g. "activity" or "lesson"), grade level (from pre-K to post-college), and academic subject (e.g. "Art History" or "STEAM"). Featured materials span a variety of themes and subjects, providing something of interest for everyone. For example, elementary school educators may enjoy the "Create Your Own Illustrated Haiku" lesson, which combines language and visual arts and welcoming creativity. A Walk Through the Chinese Galleries is directed at high school students and offers an encapsulation of history, culture, and art in an approximately 30-minute video. Most lesson plans include downloadable materials, instructions, and a list of educational standards met. These resources are a part of the Asian Art Museum's Education section, which provides "the best of Asian art at the tip of your fingers for use in the classroom or at home." [EMB]

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Insomnia is an application for using, designing, and debugging REST APIs. Users can interactively assemble API requests with Insomnia's graphical request builder, issue them, and then view the responses with a graphical response explorer. Response data can be sliced and diced using JsonPath or XPath, then exported in a number of formats. Insomnia understands most popular authentication schemes (HTTP Authentication with Digest, Basic, and NTLM schemes, as well as OAuth 1.0 and 2.0). The application also allows users to create "workspaces" that contain collections of API request templates that can be reused. Insomnia is able to generate code in over 30 programming languages to perform the requests stored in its workspaces. Employing this feature, developers can build and test the API interactions they want their software to perform with Insomnia then paste the generated code into their application, rather than needing to hand-code the requests. On the Docs section of the website users will find a quickstart guide, along with comprehensive reference manuals. Developers can also locate documentation on how to extend Insomnia using its plugin system. The Download section of the site contains installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. [CRH]

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Manuskript is a tool for writers with special support for building novels using the snowflake method (which stresses the importance of design). In addition to the text of the novel itself, Manuskript can store writer's notes on characters, plots, and the world in which the story takes place. All these notes can be cross-linked with each other and with the text of the story to help maintain consistency and continuity. Cross-links can also be used to generate a graphical Story Line view of the work in progress. Using the Outliner view, authors are able to see and rearrange the chapters and scenes that they have written thus far and create placeholders to indicate sections that still need to be written. Manuskript also includes a Focus Mode where the editor occupies the entire screen. Users can optionally configure a writing goal in Focus Mode, either a time or a word count, and Manuskript will not allow them to leave the editor until this goal has been completed. The Download section of the website contains installers for Windows and Linux systems. [CRH]

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With nearly 50 new episodes released since its feature in the 05-03-2019 Scout Report, Asian America: The Ken Fong Podcast continues to uplift voices from the Asian American community.

Asian America: The Ken Fong Podcast describes itself as "a weekly show that explores the cultural, artistic, historical, and spiritual aspects of the Asian American community." Since May 2015, third-generation Chinese American and retired pastor Ken Fong has interviewed "movers and shakers in the Asian American community." This wide-ranging group includes well-known figures such as actor and activist George Takei (Episode 142) and Broadway and television actress June Angela (Episode 126). Also included are some you may not have heard of, such as Sarah Park Dahlen, an associate professor of library science at St. Catherine University (Episode 144), and diversity expert and teacher Rosetta Lee (Episode 118). Episodes typically range from 60 to 90 minutes in length, and each begins with Fong sharing a personal anecdote and some of his own musings before moving into the main interview, which Fong conducts with skill, sensitivity, and humor. Those interested can stream or download episodes at the link above and listeners can also subscribe to Asian America via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. As of this write-up, more than 230 episodes are available.

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