NEW RESOURCES

The Bitbag has a writeup about AdsWish, a new search engine for classified ads. “Finding the right product or service online gets a step easier with the latest search engine, Adswish. It has promised to help with better search results for just anything one wants to find from anywhere in the world. This new digital search engine follows the Google search engine model for classified ads.” I tried it. It was quick and had a decent layout, but all the search results I got were either for eBay, or Bonanza (an eBay-like site.)

TWEAKS & UPDATES

Google is experimenting with article recommendations in Chrome. “The suggestions would appear on the new tab page in Chrome for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.” Um… no thanks.

Robert T. let me know that the DocuTicker information site has apparently shut down. “We’ve posted 35,754 items to DocuTicker since its launch in June 2004. With the start of 2016, we have taken the decision to cease publishing at DocuTicker.”

Delicious is going to start including ads in its RSS feeds. I hope this doesn’t get them too much pushback; they gotta make money somehow.

USEFUL STUFF

Teachers, this might be something fun to do: if you tweet NASA some artwork, NASA will send it to an asteroid. “As a follow-up to the ‘Messages to Bennu’ campaign, which will see over 442,000 names sent to the asteroid on a different chip, NASA says it’s accepting any space-inspired art, in forms including a sketch, photograph, graphic, poem, song, short video, or other creative or artistic expression (yes, that includes GIFs).”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

YouTube will be livestreaming the BRIT awards. “The BRIT Awards with MasterCard has given us some of the most memorable moments in music history. For the third year, you can watch this must-view music moment streamed live on the BRITs channel if you’re based outside of Great Britain.”

One of the problems that Twitter is having is that new users don’t stick with the site. So The Guardian asked those users why they don’t stay. “Some wanted more attention for their 140-character missives. Some dreaded it. A lot of people said they were spending too much time watching arguments between people they didn’t know and weren’t quite sure how to join in. All of them regularly use some other form of social media.”

Can you imagine sports referees using Google Glass? “It’s a well-worn joke about referees needing to wear glasses to help make the right decisions. But now it may not be necessary as a terrace taunt, as the Premier League are apparently considering the use of Google Glass from next season.” The Premier League is an English professional football league, or what we in America would call soccer.

SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES

Oh, yikes. If you downloaded Linux Mint on February 20th, you better check it. “I’m sorry I have to come with bad news. We were exposed to an intrusion today. It was brief and it shouldn’t impact many people, but if it impacts you, it’s very important you read the information below.” Read the comments for more details than the brief blog post. The breach, according to an edit made in the comments, was made via WordPress.

A German court has rejected a legal claim made by German publishers against Google. “…the court declared Google’s business model to be a ‘win-win’ proposition for both parties and said that although Google had a 90 percent share of the German market, it was not treating certain publishers unfairly.”

But it’s not all European legal sunshine for Google, as anyone who reads ResearchBuzz knows. Rumor has it that Google’s Sundar Pichai is headed to Brussels for antitrust talks. “Google chief executive Sundar Pichai will meet next week in Brussels with the European Union’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday.”

OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL

What a fascinating story! Two artists covertly did a 3D scan of a bust of Nefertiti that’s in dispute and then released the scan data for free online. “Anyone may download and remix the information now; the artists themselves used it to create a 3D-printed, one-to-one polymer resin model they claim is the most precise replica of the bust ever made, with just micrometer variations. That bust now resides permanently in the American University of Cairo as a stand-in for the original, 3,300-year-old work that was removed from its country of origin shortly after its discovery in 1912 by German archaeologists in Amarna.” Good morning, Internet…

I love your comments, I love your site suggestions, and I love you. Feel free to comment on the blog, or @ResearchBuzz on Twitter. Thanks!