Oncology Research, Google, YouTube, More: Wednesday Afternoon Buzz, February 14, 2018

NEW RESOURCES

New Atlas: Virtual Biobank revolutionizes to access human cancer tissues. “In a move that could revolutionize the development of new cancer treatments, researchers from the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) have created the world’s first virtual platform to host 3D copies of human cancer tissues.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

SEO Roundtable: After Months Of Testing, Google Launches People Also Search For Box. “Over the past 24 hours or so, I received dozens of notifications of a new look and design for the people also search for box in Google. It is something we covered Google testing back in November. And as I reported at Search Engine Land, the feature and user interface is now officially live in the Google search results.”

Boy Genius Report: YouTube TV is adding CNN, NBA basketball and the MLB – but it’ll cost you. “YouTube TV is one of the best cord-cutting cable alternatives out there as it currently stands. The pricing and channel line-up is in line with the rest of the market, but rather than having to deal with a buggy interface and limited platforms, customers can use the YouTube interface they know and love on virtually any set-top box. According to a leaked post from BuzzFeed, things are getting even better starting tomorrow.”

USEFUL STUFF

FamilySearch: #NotAtRootsTech 2018? Here’s How to Participate Virtually. “…the world’s largest family history conference isn’t just for those who live close enough to go. In fact, many of the sights and sounds and much of the learning from the conference will be streamed live online for free. Over the years, this live stream has made RootsTech events and classes accessible to tens of thousands of online participants. If you can’t make it to RootsTech in person, here are a few ways you can participate virtually…”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

The Register: Pressure mounts on FCC to cough up answers over fake net neutrality comments. “Analysis US lawmakers have weighed in on the FCC’s controversial vote to scrap America’s net neutrality rules, demanding information on the millions of fake comments submitted to the watchdog’s public consultation on the decision – and asking pointed questions about how the federal regulator handled them.”

Recode: What Facebook (and many, many others) get wrong about VR. “When Jeremy Bailenson was hired by Stanford University in 2003, he named his work on virtual reality the ‘Virtual Human Interaction Lab’ — back then, he says, VR was considered so ridiculous that ‘I couldn’t be seen as “the VR guy.”‘ Flash-forward to 2018: Companies like Facebook, Google, Samsung and Apple are investing heavily in VR and its sister technology AR — short for augmented reality. But Bailenson, the author of a new book called ‘Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works, and What It Can Do,’ says there’s still a long way to go.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Ars Technica: Critical Telegram flaw under attack disguised malware as benign images. “Makers of the Telegram instant messenger have fixed a critical vulnerability that hackers were actively exploiting to install malware on users’ computers, researchers said Tuesday. The flaw, which resided in the Windows version of the messaging app, allowed attackers to disguise the names of attached files, researchers from security firm Kaspersky Lab said in a blog post. By using the text-formatting standard known as Unicode, attackers were able to cause characters in file names to appear from right to left, instead of the left-to-right order that’s normal for most Western languages.”

ZDNet: Microsoft delivers free Meltdown-Spectre assessment tool for IT pros. “Protecting an organization from attacks based on two widespread and potentially deadly security vulnerabilities requires monitoring software, firmware, and antivirus updates. New capabilities in Microsoft’s Windows Analytics service display that status on a single dashboard.”

Talos Intelligence: Olympic Destroyer Takes Aim At Winter Olympics. “Talos have identified the samples, with moderate confidence, used in this attack. The infection vector is currently unknown as we continue to investigate. The samples identified, however, are not from adversaries looking for information from the games but instead they are aimed to disrupt the games. The samples analysed appear to perform only destructive functionality.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

TechCrunch: The sudden death of the website . “Now, almost every website looks the same — and performs poorly. Offline, brands try to make their store experiences unique to differentiate themselves. Online, every website — from Gucci to the Gap — offers the same experience: a top nav, descriptive text, some pictures and a handful of other elements arranged similarly. Google’s rules have sucked the life out of unique online experiences. Of course, as e-commerce has suffered, Google has become more powerful, and it continues to disintermediate the consumer from the brand by imposing a terrible e-commerce experience.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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