TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Google Blog: Experience Tunisia’s rich culture with Street View Imagery. “My Street View journey took me to Tunisia, home to beautiful sun soaked beaches, ancient Roman ruins, and Islamic monuments. And now you can explore Tunisia on Street view too.”

PLOS: A Publishing Milestone to Celebrate: 200,000 PLOS Research Articles and Counting. “In 2003, PLOS published its first research article and this month we’re proud to announce that we have now published more than 200,000 research articles across our seven Open Access journals. It has been an amazing journey to reach this milestone.”

USEFUL STUFF

Social Media Examiner: How to Create a Snapchat Geofilter on Your Phone. “Want to design Snapchat geofilters on the go? Have you seen the Snapchat in-app geofilter creation tool? In this article, you’ll discover how to easily create and purchase custom Snapchat geofilters from within the mobile app.” Very step-by-step.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Search Engine Land: Alphabet (GOOG) reports big revenue gains but EU fine takes a bite from earnings and income. “Google parent Alphabet announced second-quarter results. Both revenues and earnings per share beat Wall Street consensus estimates. However, the recent EU antitrust fine of $2.7 billion took a toll on net income and earnings per share.”

Reuters: EU increases pressure on Facebook, Google and Twitter over user terms. “European Union authorities have increased pressure on Facebook, Google and Twitter to amend their user terms to bring them in line with EU law after proposals submitted by the tech giants were considered insufficient.”

Global Voices: Ghana’s Social Media Scene Opens New Spaces for Public Debate. “During the 2016 Ghanaian presidential elections, amidst the intense jockeying for power, something else was asserting itself. Social media and online platforms became crucial avenues for the electorate. Engaging voters in digital spaces became as important as speaking at a public rally. It’s not just politicians who have awakened to its power. Civil society also are taking advantage of the rise of social platforms, leveraging the popularity of the medium to demand good public services, like access to constant electricity.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Wired: A Clever New Tool Shuts Down Ransomware Before It’s Too Late . “Called ShieldFS, the team’s innovation isn’t a broad antivirus platform, but that’s by design. Instead, it’s a targeted feature that scans only for ransomware attacks. By keeping the scope narrow, the project could focus on identifying the unique cryptographic behaviors of ransomware, which enables ShieldFS to detect not only known types, but also any new attacks that act in a ransomware-like manner.”

TechCrunch: D-ID’s tech protects your privacy by confounding face recognition algorithms. “Unless you literally wear a mask all the time, it is almost impossible to completely avoid cameras and face recognition technology. Not only is this a privacy concern, but it also presents a potential liability for companies that need to protect personal data. D-ID, a startup currently taking part in Y Combinator, wants to solve the problem with tools that process images to make them unrecognizable to face recognition algorithms, but still look similar to the original picture.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Gizmodo: Scientific Journals Publish Bogus Paper About Midi-chlorians from Star Wars. “The science community has long known that certain ‘predatory journals’ will publish almost any paper for a fee without proper peer review. Some watchdogs have submitted fake papers by fake researchers to these journals to highlight how bogus journals harm the integrity of the Open Access publishing movement, by taking advantage of a loophole. This newest sting from the anonymous science blogger Neuroskeptic is truly astounding for just how silly the fake paper is.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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