WILDLABS logoWildlabs.net : The conservation technology network

WILDLABS logoWildlabs.net : The conservation technology network

Group

Community Base / Feed

The WILDLABS Community Base is the ideal place to get oriented with the all that our community platform offers, hear about news and opportunitys, and to meet new friends and collaborators. 

Group curators

discussion

WILDLABS downtime and performance issues due to AI bot attack

Filip Hnízdo

29 April 2024 3:35pm

Hi everyone,Some of you will have noticed that WILDLABS was inaccessible or frustratingly slow on Friday (April 26th, 2024). Aside from explaining this downtime, what happened is...

1 10
Frank van der Most

1 May 2024 6:05pm

I noticed the site being annoyingly slow some time last week. Thank you for clearing that up, for finding the cause and solving the issue.

I'm not claiming deep knowledge on AI, but as a member this community, I'd be happy to give you my insights.

For starters: I am not categorically against bots scraping 'my' content, whether for AI training purposes, search engines, or other purposes. In principle, I find it a good thing that this forum is open to non-member users, and to me that extends to non-member use. Obviously, there are some exceptions here. For example when locations of individuals of endangered species are discussed, that should be behind closed doors.

Continuing down this line of reasoning, apparently it matters to me how 'my' content is being used. So, if someone wants to make an AI to aid nature conservation, I say, let them have it. There is the practical side of scraping activities that may be blocking or hindering the site, but there may be practical solutions for this. I don't know, say, have special opening hours for such things, or have the site engine prepare the data and make it available as a data dump somewhere.

Since purpose matters, organizations or individuals wanting to scrape the site should be vetted and given access or not. This is far more easily said than done. However, every step in the direction would be worth the while, because most technology publicly discussed here has good use for nature conservation, but equally bad use for nature destruction. For example, it's good to acoustically monitor bird sounds to monitor species, but also comes in handy when you are in the exotic bird trafficking business.

One could argue that since we allow public access, we should not care either about why bots are scraping the site. I would not go that far. After all, individual people browsing the site with nefarious purposes in mind is something else than a bot systematically scraping the entire site (or sections thereof) for bad purposes. It's a matter of scale.

 

 

See full post
article

Introducing The Inventory!

Jake Burton

1 May 2024 12:46pm

The Inventory is your one-stop shop for conservation technology tools, organisations, and R&D projects. Start contributing to it now!

9 15
Jake Burton

22 July 2024 10:55am

Hi @hjayanto ! I've given your account the ability to edit without earning the badge just to save time while we figure out why you aren't getting your Sprout Badge, so you should...
Herdhanu Jayanto

23 July 2024 2:05pm

Thank you @JakeBurton . Looks like I wasn't in community base group, instead misunderstood it was the same as thematic group. I have added our organization. Appreciate your help!
See full post
article

A Year of Supporting East African Conservation Technology: Lessons on How You Can Amplify #Tech4Wildlife

Esther Githinji

29 April 2024 10:52am

It has been an extraordinary year supporting and growing the regional East African Conservation Technology Community at WILDLABS. We've made great strides and unlocked exciting opportunities for our community as we...

4 5
Alex Rood

3 May 2024 4:14pm

Congrats Esther! Can't wait to continue working together.
See full post
careers

Monitoring Team Lead, Ponterra

Ana De Lucia

23 April 2024 3:19pm

Great opportunity to join our team! We are #hiring. We’re excited to announce that we’re looking for a talented individual to perform the role of Monitoring Team Lead. If you’re a great team player, we’d love to...

0
See full post
discussion

Introduction and Networking

Loveness L Mutungi

22 April 2024 9:37am

Hello Wildlabbers,I'm Loveness Lamuel Mutungi, a female Tanzanian and a 2023 graduate from Sokoine University of Agriculture with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences...

2 1
Esther Githinji

22 April 2024 10:46am

Hello and welcome to WILDLABS @loveness :) 

What a great intro to what you are doing and interested in pursuing! I'd like to help direct you to our resources page, where you can check out multiple open career and academic opportunities from across your region that are posted regularly by the community. Find our Resources page linked here. 

Which specific areas within conservation/conservation technology are you most interested in at the moment? We have over 32 specialised groups in our community you could explore here to help guide you as you go along your career journey :) 

Best wishes! 

Loveness L Mutungi

23 April 2024 12:41pm

Hello Ms Esther👋

Thank you for taking your time to reply to me with such helpful response.

I'm interested in conservation technology such as camera traps, GIS and Remote sensing, tools like EarthRanger, wildlife tracking collars, Data collection apps. I've already joined the groups just after reading your response and I'll keep visit the Resources Page to find more opportunities.

See full post
discussion

Thoughts on RooBadge?

Alex Rood

2 April 2024 2:55pm

I came across this new Volkswagen initiative today, RooBadge, a vehicular kangaroo deterrent that uses telemetry data to automatically play high-frequency sounds in dense kangaroo...

5 3
Colin Cook

5 April 2024 12:31pm

Sound deterrents to prevent collisions with Kangaroos in Australia have been sold for many years. None have been shown to work. Whether the Volkswagen device will be any better waits to be seen. Collision data will have to be collected for a while to see if the VW device has any effect on collision rate.

Kim Lane

8 April 2024 12:49am

That is an interesting concept, and it would be great if something out there worked. In the meantime, I will try not to drive at dusk 🦘

At one point, I knew the "sonic" animal guards were the most stolen components of cars. You head in, get groceries, and come out, and they are gone. They weren't on the car long enough for me to confirm that would work

See full post
article

Become a WILDLABS group leader!

Alex Rood

17 April 2024 7:36pm

Are you interested in getting more involved in the WILDLABS community? Do you want an opportunity to build your network and get more connected to other conservation tech folks in your field? Apply to be a group leader!

1
See full post
careers

Fonseca Leadership Program

Alex Rood

3 April 2024 4:46pm

The Fonseca Leadership Program is open to nationals of eligible countries within WWF-US and GEF priority areas who are already enrolled/are interested in enrolling in a master’s or PhD program. Eligible countries...

0
See full post
event

EuropaBON'sFinal Stakeholder Conference

Alex Rood

3 April 2024 4:29pm

EuropaBON is hosting its final Stakeholder Conference on May 27/28, 2024 in Brussels. After three years of successful collaboration and numerous established partnerships with many experts and organisations across the...

0
See full post
event

9ICCGIS 2024

CathyNj

27 March 2024 2:28pm

The 9th International Conference on Cartography and GIS will take place in Nessebar, Bulgaria on 16-21 June 2024.

1
See full post
article

Announcing the WILDLABS Awards 2024 awardees!

Adrien Pajot

26 March 2024 9:52am

After a long application review and finalisation process, we are thrilled to finally announce the winners of the WILDLABS Awards 2024! 

20 11
Adrien Pajot

15 April 2024 9:24am

Discuss with @Hubertszcz and his team about their project!  
Adrien Pajot

22 November 2024 2:32pm

Discuss with @eferguson and her team about their project
Adrien Pajot

22 November 2024 2:34pm

Discuss with @Abigail and her team about their project! 
See full post
article

The Variety Hour: 2024 Lineup

Alex Rood

22 March 2024 4:30pm

You’re invited to the WILDLABS Variety Hour, a monthly event that connects you to conservation tech's most exciting projects, research, and ideas. We can't wait to bring you a whole new season of speakers and...

2
See full post
event

Catch up with The Variety Hour: March 2024

Stephanie O'Donnell

21 March 2024 7:39pm

Variety Hour is back! This month we're talking about making AI more accessible with Pytorch, new developments from WildMe and TagRanger, and working with geospatial data with Fauna & Flora. See you there!

3 10
Anton Alvarez

30 March 2024 3:08pm

Unfortunately, I can't be there. When will you upload the recording?    
See full post