TWEAKS AND UPDATES

BusinessWire: Twitch Partners With Crunchyroll for First Ever Anime Marathon (PRESS RELEASE). “Social video platform Twitch today announced a partnership with Crunchyroll, the leading destination for anime and manga, to host a 5-day marathon spanning more than 15 different anime series. The Crunchyroll anime marathon will feature episodes from series such as Yuri on Ice, Mob Psycho 100, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, and Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. The marathon begins on July 27 at 3:30 pm PT and will run until August 1st. The full programming schedule will be revealed on July 21.”

The Next Web: You can now buy Snapchat Spectacles on Amazon. “Spetacles were originally only available at special yellow kiosks, but they’ve since been sold on Snap’s website. Yet even after all these months, Snapchat gives an estimated delivery date of 5-10 days, so Amazon is probably your best bet if you want the glasses in just a day or two.”

Google Public Policy Blog: A new look for our Transparency Report. “…today we’re introducing the completely revamped Transparency Report. It features clearer data visualizations, more context for the data, a Recent Updates section so you can see what’s new, and a better way to download data from our most popular reports. And while the previous version was a patchwork of different reports, designed at different times in different styles, our new report is all one consistent design, making it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for.”

TechCrunch: Amazon launches Spark, a shoppable feed of stories and photos aimed at Prime members. “Amazon today is launching Amazon Spark, a new feature aimed at improving product discovery, which is seemingly inspired by Instagram and its use of shoppable photos. Similarly, Amazon Spark users are encouraged to post stories, ideas and images of products they love, which others can react to with comments and ‘smiles’ – Amazon’s own version of the Like or Favorite button.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: Who Unfollowed Me on Instagram? The Only Way to Find Out. “Every Instagram addict wants more likes, and that means getting more followers. However, it’s just as important to retain your current followers. But can you really see who unfollowed you on Instagram? A quick Google search for this problem will yield a bunch of guides and apps, so I tried out each of those guides and each of those apps, going till the fifth page of search results. Here are my results.” The article is a lot more information-dense than the headline might lead you to believe.

How-To Geek: How Try Chrome OS in VirtualBox Before Buying a Chromebook. “Google’s Chromebooks run Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system based on Linux that provides you with a full Chrome browser and a basic desktop environment. Before buying a Chromebook, you may want to play with Chrome OS in a virtual machine in a window on your desktop.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The Daily Beast: CIA Plans to Destroy Some of Its Old Leak Files. “The CIA is scheduled to begin destroying old records related to leaks of classified information in August unless critics convince the National Archives to scuttle the plan. The National Archives and Records Administration tentatively approved a CIA proposal to get rid of several types of records after 30 years. Along with leak-tied files, the record types include medical records, behavioral conduct files, security clearance information, personality files with counterintelligence interests, workers-compensation reports for employees posted overseas, and declassification and referral files.”

New York Times: China Disrupts WhatsApp Service in Online Clampdown. “The last of Facebook’s major products that still worked in China was disrupted by the government on Tuesday, as Beijing broadly tightened its controls over the internet. The product, WhatsApp, a messaging app used across the globe, was partly blocked by Chinese filters, leaving many unable to send videos and photos and some also unable to send text-based messages.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Ars Technica: FCC refuses to release text of more than 40,000 net neutrality complaints. “The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request in May of this year for tens of thousands of net neutrality complaints that Internet users filed against their ISPs. The NHMC argues that the details of these complaints are crucial for analyzing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to overturn net neutrality rules. The coalition also asked the FCC to extend the initial comment deadline until 60 days after the commission fully complies with the FoIA request. A deadline extension would have given people more time to file public comments on the plan to eliminate net neutrality rules. Instead, the FCC yesterday denied the motion for an extension and said that it will only provide the text for a fraction of the complaints, because providing them all would be too burdensome.” Pffft.

RESEARCH & OPINION

Quartz: We now spend 30 minutes a day watching videos on our phones. “More likely that not, you were peering down at your phone the last time you watched a video online. According to Zenith, a media agency, we now spend around 30 minutes per day on our phones watching videos, up from just four minutes in 2012. That’s 10 minutes more per day than on personal computers or internet-enabled TVs. Two years from now, the gap between fixed and mobile will be three times as large.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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