NEW RESOURCES

RTE: New suite of apps offers access to Irish film archive. “The Irish Film Institute’s Film Archive has launched a suite of apps to enable people to access its digital archive of film from anywhere in the world for free. Thousands of minutes of content, including Irish made films, shorts, documentaries, animation, advertisements and newsreels owned by the IFI are all available.”

CISON: Vancouver’s StreetMessenger now displays shelter bed availability in real time on Google maps and expands across Canada to combat homelessness (PRESS RELEASE.) “The Vancouver Community Network (VCN) has launched StreetMessenger.ca, which leverages SMS technology to send messages to the cell phones of homeless and street-involved youth with program information, life-saving alerts and real-time updates on available shelter beds displayed on Google maps.”

Library of Congress: New Online: Mary Ann “Mother” Bickerdyke’s Papers. “During the Civil War, thousands of Union soldiers in the Western Theater affectionately called Mary Ann Bickerdyke (1817–1901) ‘Mother’ for the tender maternal care she provided as a nurse and relief worker with the United States Sanitary Commission. Bickerdyke’s papers at the Library of Congress are now available online. They include lists of provisions supplied for soldiers’ aid during Bickerdyke’s time in the field as well as grateful letters from soldiers who benefitted from her nursing skills, donors on the home front and relief workers who shepherded food and other material to the front.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Google Webmasters Blog: Introducing Our New International Webmaster Blogs!. New blogs in Hindi, Russian, Turkish, Thai, and Vietnamese.

Search Engine Land: Yandex upgrades search algorithm to better understand user searches. “Yandex, Russia’s largest search engine, announced they have transitioned to an upgraded search platform named ‘Korolyov.’ Named after a Russian satellite town northeast of Moscow that has long served as the center of Russia’s space exploration, Korolyov adds two major upgrades above the Palekh system which was launched last November.”

Washington Post: Walmart and Google are plotting to change your shopping habits. “Move over, Alexa. Walmart is going high-tech in its fight against Amazon.com. Beginning next month, shoppers will be able to buy Walmart products by speaking to their Google Home devices. The retailer is the latest — and largest — to make its goods available on Google Express, the company’s e-commerce and delivery platform.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The Guardian: Twitter failing to act on graphic images and abusive messages, says MP. “Twitter is failing to take down graphic images of suspected rape and abuse that violate its own community standards, the chair of parliament’s home affairs select committee has said. The Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who founded the Reclaim the Internet campaign on online abuse, has written to Twitter asking it to explain its methodology and timescales for removing graphic pictures and sexually explicit messages.”

The Guardian (this one’s in Canada): Pictou residents upset with Google Maps leading ferry traffic to their front door. “Spring Point Lane is not home to the Northumberland Ferries terminal, known to many as the Caribou-Wood Islands ferry. The half dozen residents who live on the rural lane know this, as do most people in Pictou County, but anyone using the Google Map app on their phone or computer could be easily led astray…. A Northumberland Ferries employee directing traffic at the Caribou terminal on Tuesday said she hasn’t heard any complaints about people ending up on Spring Point Lane, but she’s heard that some people who type in P.E.I. expecting to end up on the Confederation Bridge, instead land at the ferry terminal.”

Global Times: Shanghai establishes database of historic alleys. “Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Land Resources recently said a second census on place names is proceeding throughout the city in order to better understand the histories behind the names of historic alleys and set up a database for further protection, thepaper.cn reported Wednesday.”

Khaleej Times: Social media users warned against anti-UAE campaigns. “Emirates News Agency (Wam) has warned against anti-UAE campaigns being spread on the social media. Fabricated news and photoshopped images are being spread on various social media platforms to defame the UAE and destabilise its security, Mohammed Jalal Al Raisi, executive director of Wam has said. Many Twitterati and social media savvy users believed that Qatar is behind these propaganda, and they create photoshopped screengrabs and lookalikes of official UAE websites to support their propaganda.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Threatpost: Foxit To Fix PDF Reader Zero Days By Friday. “In an about-face, Foxit Software says it will fix a pair of zero days in its PDF reader Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF, its PDF editing software. Foxit said it would push a patch for Reader and PhantomPDF, bringing the software to version 8.3.2, later this week—by Friday at the latest. ”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Techdirt: A Google Tax Isn’t Going To Give Publishers The Payout They Think It Will. “Somehow newspaper publishers — especially those located in Europe — believe the road to recovery is paved with income siphoned off Google. There have been plenty of proposed ‘snippet taxes’ and other demands Google pay online publications for sending traffic their way. So far, nothing has panned out as the papers had hoped. In extreme cases, Google has offered to just stop sending any traffic their way by pulling out of the snippet-taxed market.” This keeps coming up OVER and OVER and OVER again. SMH. Good morning, Internet…

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