NEW RESOURCES

New-to-me, from The Verge: This animated globe showing animal migration routes is mesmerizing. “Animals have don’t need passports or visas, and they don’t care about countries’ borders — and that’s vividly illustrated by this animated globe. It shows migration routes for about 150 species based on tracking data shared by over 11,000 researchers from around the world. The pink lines follow the movement of animals covering at least 310 miles in one direction for at least 45 days, combining about 8,000 tracks collected over a period of about 10 years.”

Fact Magazine: Artist and event database Viberate wants to become “a kind of IMDb for music” (SPONSORED POST IN MAGAZINE). “A new online database from a Slovenian startup, co-founded by techno DJ UMEK with the aim of providing a ‘smarter way to explore live music’, has just undergone its first major update. The service, called Viberate, has been live for a couple of months, but already has more than 120,000 artists, 210,000 events and 70,000 venues listed, as the site pursues its aim of being ‘like a kind of IMDb for music.'” I was a bit hesitant to include this initially because it is a sponsored post in Fact Magazine. But then I considered that I include press releases, and it seemed weird that I would include a press release but not a sponsored post, so I did include it with a disclaimer.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Facebook’s Safety Check feature gets its own dedicated button, can be accessed anytime. “Facebook is giving its ‘Safety Check’ feature a permanent home in its app and on the desktop, the company announced today. The feature, which lets you check to see whether friends and family are safe following a crisis, will now have its own dedicated button in the app’s navigation menu and will be available via the Facebook website on the desktop.”

USA Today: CNN to launch daily Snapchat news show . “Snapchat will have a second daily news show — this time from CNN. ‘The Update,’ CNN’s Snapchat show, will be a short daily news digest with rolling breaking news updates throughout the day, parent Snap said late Monday.”

USEFUL STUFF

Smithsonian Magazine: What Should You Do With Your Used Eclipse Glasses?. “Perhaps the most useful thing you can do with your glasses is to donate them to Astronomers Without Borders. The organization will soon announce a program to collect the used glasses and distribute them to schools in South America and parts of Asia, which will experience their own solar eclipses in 2019. While the organization will not collect the glasses themselves, they are partnering with corporate sponsors who will set up drop-off sites for the used eyewear. (We will update this article when details about drop off sites emerge.)”

Social Media Examiner: How to Set Up a Creative Facebook Cover Video. “Have you thought about using video in place of your Facebook cover photo? Are you looking for creative examples? In this article, you’ll discover how to use a Facebook video cover on your Facebook page.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Mashable: Google might take on Amazon with its own version of the Echo Dot. “Google might be gearing up to launch a new ‘mini’ version of its Google Home. The company is working on a new, smaller version of its Google Home speaker that will launch later this year, alongside two new Pixel phones and a new Pixel-branded Chromebook, Android Police reports.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Phys.org: Get Started: FBI warns of spreading W-2 email theft scheme. “The IRS is warning businesses about a sharp increase in email phishing scams involving employees’ W-2 forms—scams that can put staffers’ Social Security numbers and other critical information in the hands of thieves. The government said 200 businesses, public schools, universities, Native American governments and nonprofits were victimized by these scams during this year’s tax filing season, resulting in the theft of several hundred thousand employees’ data. That’s up from 50 in 2016, when the scam first appeared.”

ZDNet: Sonos says users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”. “Sonos has confirmed that existing customers will not be given an option to opt out of its new privacy policy, leaving customers with sound systems that may eventually ‘cease to function’. It comes as the home sound system maker prepares to begin collecting audio settings, error data, and other account data before the launch of its smart speaker integration in the near future.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Bloomberg: Facebook Usage Among Teens Set to Drop in U.S., EMarketer Says. “EMarketer predicts 14.5 million people from the ages of 12 to 17 will use Facebook in 2017, a drop of 3.4 percent from the prior year. Teens are migrating instead to Snap Inc.’s Snapchat and Instagram, the photo-sharing app that Facebook owns, the research company said Monday in a statement.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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