NEW RESOURCES

A new online tool helps you verify photos. “Verified Pixel runs tests on photos that can tell what camera was used, when and where and whether the image is original. It also can do a reverse image search and more. The verification takes a little over a minute to complete.”

TWEAKS & UPDATES

Sigh. The Yahoo Directory is not only dead, it’s really most sincerely dead.

Bing has launched a new app for iPhone. “Mobile search is different from search on a PC. With mobile, we want instant answers and the ability to take immediate action. We want to book it, buy it, watch it now. We want to touch more and type less. We want to search once in a single app. The new Bing app for iPhone helps you search and take action from one place so you can focus on the things that you want to find and do, rather than where and how to accomplish them.”

Looks like Twitter is going to expand its poll functionality. “We’ve spotted a number of tweets in the wild that show Twitter is testing more options for polls — right now, users can only set two answers for those who respond — and also the potential to make polls run longer than just 24 hours, which is the current time limit.”

USEFUL STUFF

The ALA is offering a digitization workshop for beginners at the end of January. “Whether you’re a community repository just dipping your toes into digitization, or you need to digitize old materials to save space and enable greater access, the ability to plan and begin a digitization project is quickly becoming an essential skill for librarians. In this workshop, digitization expert Susanne Caro will show you what you need to get started if you are new to digitization.” It’s not free, but $60 for an introduction to digitization sounds like a good deal.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Fortune asks: Are these the last days of Marissa Mayer at Yahoo? “More than three years after Mayer was brought in to turn things around, the original Internet media giant is still failing at its core business and getting whipped not only by Google and Facebook but also by newer entrants such as Instagram, Snapchat and even the beleaguered Twitter. In the most recent quarter its net revenue declined 8% and search revenue, a priority of Mayer’s, declined 13%.”

Nuzzel, one of the few resources I know of that lets you use social media for content discovery without going absolutely batshit, has gotten a new round of funding and done some site tweaks. “On the heels of closing a $1.7 million funding round, the social news startup launched Nuzzel 2.0 for Web, iOS and Android on Thursday. Most notably, the new version of Nuzzel does not require a Twitter log-in to use, making the service more accessible without saying goodbye to the social curation at its foundation.”

SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES

Google is going to do more to defend Fair Use on YouTube. “We are offering legal support to a handful of videos that we believe represent clear fair uses which have been subject to DMCA takedowns. With approval of the video creators, we’ll keep the videos live on YouTube in the U.S., feature them in the YouTube Copyright Center as strong examples of fair use, and cover the cost of any copyright lawsuits brought against them.”

Starwood Hotels has been the victim of a hack. “Starwood Hotels, which operates well-known hotel brands such as Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels and Le Méridien, said Friday that hackers had infected point of sale payment systems in some of its locations in North America.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

TechCrunch has a story about Trendquiz, a game using Google Trends data. “A simple site called trendquiz uses Google Trends data to quiz you on whether you can pick out what the trend line is, and it gives you two options to choose from.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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