Washington Lawyer - January 2018 - 37

MEDIA BYTES

Where the law intersects with culture & lifestyle
By Jeffery Leon and Tracy Schorn

HOW TO CATCH A TROLL
Ever wonder how many of your Twitter followers (or trolls) are real versus
how many are propaganda bots? Two University of California, Berkley
computer science students, Ash Bhat and Rohan Phadte, have come
up with a solution - the Botcheck.me button. Click it and you get a
diagnosis of how likely it is that an account is run by an actual person,
or by some sort of nefarious automaton. The creators built the tool to
protest Twitter's inability or unwillingness to police its accounts. The
students are part of a larger movement of outside investigators and
programmers looking into the worldwide problem of propaganda bots,
although Botcheck.me is exclusively targeted to hunt bots concerning
U.S. politics. Out someone as a troll today!
Botcheck.me

THINK LIKE A LAWYER
Lawyers can pretty much turn any topic of conversation into a legal debate,
and now there's a podcast for that. "Thinking Like a Lawyer" features Elie
Mystal and Joe Patrice, legal news analysts from Above the Law. Mystal is the
managing editor of Above the Law Redline, the editor-at-large of Breaking
Media, and a 2003 graduate of Harvard Law School. Patrice is an editor at
Above the Law and a former litigator. Each episode takes an ordinary topic
and reexamines it through a legal framework. Recent topics include DACA,
election law, and college football. "This will either reveal an awesome rainbow
of thought or a disorienting kaleidoscope of issues. Either way, it should
be fun," its website says.
legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/thinking-like-a-lawyer

WORK ON YOUR LANGUAGES!

LEARN ABOUT THE PLANET
Minute Earth is a YouTube channel that promises just that - short, informative videos lasting three to five minutes about the Earth, its history, environments, species, and much more. The channel breaks down complex topics
such as species genetics, farming, and plate tectonics into videos you can
easily digest, providing a greater understanding of and appreciation for the
place we call home.

Duolingo is one of the best-known and most engaging language
learning apps available, providing a fun and quick way to begin learning
a new language or brush up your skills. The website and app provide
quick-hit lessons for 26 languages, with included tests, translation exercises, audio lessons, and much more. Duolingo keeps you interested by
monitoring your progress, including streak counts for taking on lessons
multiple days in a row and a videogame-like heart meter to incentivize
you to not make mistakes. Duolingo makes learning a language fun and
easy to jump into, and includes apps for iPhone, Android, Windows
Phone, Windows, and Mac.
duolingo.com

youtube.com/user/minuteearth
Minute Earth screenshot, courtesy of Minute Earth; other art, thinkstock

WASHINGTON LAWYER

JANUARY 2018 37

http://www.Botcheck.me http://www.Botcheck.me http://www.legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/thinking-like-a-lawyer http://www.Botcheck.me http://www.duolingo.com http://www.youtube.com/user/minuteearth http://www.dcbar.org/ http://www.dcbar.org

Washington Lawyer - January 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - January 2018