Yesterday on ResearchBuzz I mentioned a MakeUseOf article called “5 Alternative New Browsers to Replace Chrome”. I failed to include the link, however, which is http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/alternative-new-browsers-replace-chrome/ . Paul Pival, I appreciate the way you kindly brought it to my attention on Twitter.

However I don’t appreciate the messages giving me a hard time because I goofed. I get up between 4:30-5am to get ResearchBuzz ready to go before I go to my real job, the one that pays the bills and lets me have health insurance. It’s early. I get tired. I screw up sometimes. It’ll keep happening until I can afford to do this full-time (if that ever occurs) and even then it’ll happen (but hopefully much less.) That’s the way it is. I’m sorry. I can’t be perfect.

NEW RESOURCES

NBC Connecticut: State Launches Interactive Map of Drug Drop Boxes. “The state Department of Consumer Protection is providing a new tool to help families find the nearest drug drop box in the state. There is now an interactive map where families can zoom into their town and see the closest place to safely dispose of their unneeded medication.”

BusinessWire: New Website Featuring Genealogy of Every American Community (PRESS RELEASE). “Genealogical records for every part of America as well as most foreign countries are among the millions of records indexed by a new website https://edu.global . ‘For the first time, we can say that every county, township, parish, rural area, village, town and city in America are recorded family-by-family, person-by-person,’ Noel Elliot, Director of Research for Global Research Library Inc., says. He added, ‘I’m happy to say that most native peoples and tribal members have their ancestors recorded in special census-type records.'” I know that folks are always looking for new genealogy resources, but I’m troubled by the lack of specifics in the press release. Membership in the site is a modest $25 a year.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Mashable: Here’s why Reddit is replacing PMs with chat. “Reddit is about to make one of its biggest changes yet. The site will soon launch a new instant messaging feature called Reddit Chat. Unlike Reddit’s current private messaging system, Reddit Chat will allow individual users and groups to connect instantaneously much like the chat features on Facebook or other social networks.”

The Next Web: Facebook adds live video Fan Club feature, but you’re not cool enough to see it. “Facebook is quietly working on a mysterious new app for its Live Video platform. It’s called Fan Club App, and it appears to be specifically designed to help you and other influencers boost engagement with your audience. Unfortunately, the social media giant is yet to enable Fan Club to users – even though the company is already testing a shortcut to the app within Live Video.”

Bloomberg Quint: Google Pays to Put Search Back on Firefox Browser in U.S.. “In a blog post, Mozilla said Firefox’s default search engine will be Google in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The agreement recalls a similar, older deal that was scuttled when Firefox and Google’s Chrome web browser became bitter rivals. Three years ago, Mozilla switched from Google to Yahoo! Inc. as the default Firefox search provider in the U.S. after Yahoo agreed to pay more than $300 million a year over five years — more than Google was willing to pay.” This ain’t good for Yahoo.

USEFUL STUFF

How-To Geek: How to Customize the Google Feed (and Make It Actually Useful). “When Google first released Google Now, it was celebrated by Android users across the board. When Now evolved into the Google Feed, however, this change was much less accepted. But the Feed is great if you just take the time to customize it.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The Guardian: Facebook ‘Way too little, way too late’: Facebook’s factcheckers say effort is failing. “Journalists working for Facebook say the social media site’s fact-checking tools have largely failed and that the company has exploited their labor for a PR campaign. Several fact checkers who work for independent news organizations and partner with Facebook told the Guardian that they feared their relationships with the technology corporation, some of which are paid, have created a conflict of interest, making it harder for the news outlets to scrutinize and criticize Facebook’s role in spreading misinformation.”

New York Times: In ‘Watershed Moment,’ YouTube Blocks Extremist Cleric’s Message. “For eight years, the jihadist propaganda of Anwar al-Awlaki has helped shape a generation of American terrorists, including the Fort Hood gunman, the Boston Marathon bombers and the perpetrators of massacres in San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando, Fla. And YouTube, the world’s most popular video site, has allowed hundreds of hours of Mr. Awlaki’s talks to be within easy reach of anyone with a phone or computer.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Krebs on Security: Adobe, Microsoft Patch Critical Cracks. “It’s Nov. 14 — the second Tuesday of the month (a.k.a. “Patch Tuesday) — and Adobe and Microsoft have issued gobs of security updates for their software. Microsoft’s 11 patch bundles fix more than four-dozen security holes in various Windows versions and Office products — including at least four serious flaws that were publicly disclosed prior to today. Meanwhile, Adobe’s got security updates available for a slew of titles, including Flash Player, Photoshop, Reader and Shockwave.”

Quartz: Add to Jack Dorsey’s growing list of problems: a serial killer who prowled Twitter for victims. “An unusually gruesome string of murders in Japan has shaken the country, and it has put Twitter in the spotlight. As Twitter wrestles with hate speech and fake news, it is also fighting unsavory publicity in Japan after a suspected serial killer—dubbed the ‘Twitter killer’ by Japanese media—allegedly lured victims to his home by seeking out people who expressed suicidal thoughts on Twitter. Last month, police found the dismembered bodies of nine people in the home of the suspect, Takahiro Shiraishi, in Zama, Kanagawa prefecture, just outside Tokyo.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Phys.org: Punctuation in text messages helps replace cues found in face-to-face conversations. “Emoticons, irregular spellings and exclamation points in text messages aren’t sloppy or a sign that written language is going down the tubes—these ‘textisms’ help convey meaning and intent in the absence of spoken conversation, according to newly published research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.”

Lauren Weinstein: Google’s Extremely Shortsighted and Bizarre New Restrictions on Accessibility Services. “My inbox has been filling today with questions regarding Google’s new warning to Android application developers that they will no longer be able to access Android accessibility service functions in their apps, unless they can demonstrate that those functions are specifically being used to help users with ‘disabilities’ (a term not defined by Google in the warning). Beyond the overall vagueness when it comes to what is meant by disabilities, this entire approach by Google seems utterly wrongheaded and misguided.” Good morning, Internet…

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