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Cryptocurrency, FinTech Startups, April Fools Day, More: Friday Buzz, March 30, 2018

NEW RESOURCES

PR Newswire: TipRanks Launches CoinWatch, a Comprehensive Platform for Data Aggregation and Analytics in the Cryptocurrency Market (PRESS RELEASE). “TipRanks, the world’s leading financial analyst ranking service, today announced the launch of an innovative tool dedicated to providing in-depth data and real-time analytics on the volatile cryptocurrency market. In addition to aggregating the latest trading prices and historical data for over 1,000 different crypto coins, CoinWatch offers unique data on recent media buzz and news sentiment affecting coins.”

Finews Asia: Lattice80 Launches Fintech Database. “London-based fintech Lattice80 inaugurated «FintechDB», an artificial intelligence-powered database the firm says will become the largest global fintech network. The new financial technology data base, presently in an alpha version, is now active, providing raw data on over 11,000 startups in the fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors.” Fintech is a new vocabulary word for me. If you’re in the same boat, check out this article from Huffington Post..

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

CNET: April Fools’ Day 2018: Web pranks already off and running. “Are you on your toes? You need to be. With April Fools’ Day almost here, plenty of companies are trying to pull fast ones on us all. The April Fools’ Day timing is particularly weird this year since it falls on Easter Sunday. Companies looking to make a splash before everybody is distracted by Easter egg hunts and chocolate are rolling out their hijinks on the early side.” I loathe early April Fool jokes.

TechRadar: Google Clips update makes the smart AI-camera even smarter. “Google Clips, the AI-driven camera that automatically captures life’s hard-to-miss moments with its machine learning algorithm, has received its first update since launch in the US in February. Its inaugural update adds a few welcomed features, the most notable of which is the camera’s new ability to snap high-resolution still images.”

TechCrunch:
LinkedIn is introducing auto-playing video ads
. “In a move that was probably inevitable, LinkedIn is introducing video advertising as one its Sponsored Content formats. … Now, the Microsoft -owned professional network is rolling out a native ad format, where video ads will appear as standalone posts in the feed. The video ads will play automatically, though with the sound turned off initially.”

CNET: Brave browser getting closer to Chrome — including its extensions. “Brave Software is moving its browser a step closer to Chrome, a move that’ll mean a new look and the ability to tap into the array of extensions that customize Google’s browser. The new version of Brave is in development now and due in several months, the startup said Wednesday. But curious developers now can start taking a look.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Sixth Tone: Are Chinese People ‘Less Sensitive’ About Privacy?. “A single quote about data privacy has caused tremendous controversy among Chinese netizens. ‘I think Chinese people are more open and less sensitive about the privacy issue,’ Robin Li, CEO and co-founder of internet giant Baidu, said Monday during a talk at the 2018 China Development Forum in Beijing. ‘If they are able to trade privacy for convenience, for safety, for efficiency — in a lot of cases, they’re willing to do that.'”

New York Times: If You See Something, Write Something. “Ryan Ng is a 19-year-old freshman at Baruch College in Manhattan. He studies finance, lives at home with his parents in Queens and is a member of the college’s ‘League of Legends’ video game club. But in the somewhat fanatical world of Wikipedia supercontributors, he is best known by his alias, Epicgenius. As Epicgenius, Mr. Ng has made over 180,000 edits to Wikipedia and created more than 17,000 pages for the site. Most of his work is in the service of his particular fixation: updating the articles associated with all 472 stations of the New York Subway system.”

The Daily (Tanzania): Govt plans global Kiswahili spread. “THE Government has announced plans to set up database of professional Kiswahili teachers to facilitate identification and capacities of available professionals needed to popularise the language across the world.” Never heard of Kiswahili? The English name is Swahili.

SECURITY & LEGAL

TorrentFreak: Google Adds ‘Kodi’ to Autocomplete Piracy Filter. “Google has banned the term ‘Kodi’ from the autocomplete feature of its search engine. This means that the popular software and related suggestions won’t appear unless users type out the full term. Google has previously taken similar measures against ‘pirate’ related terms and confirms that Kodi is targeted because it’s ‘closely associated with copyright infringement.'”

New York Magazine: Ever Record a Video on Facebook? Facebook Still Has It.. “Have you downloaded your Facebook data archive yet? Facebook makes it easy to obtain a ZIP file of all the data it has on you: your status updates, your friend list, your messages … and, as I and several people I spoke with were surprised to discover, every video you ever filmed on the platform — including videos you never published.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Contexts: the algorithmic rise of the “alt-right” . “There are two strands of conventional wisdom unfolding in popular accounts of the rise of the alt-right. One says that what’s really happening can be attributed to a crisis in White identity: the alt-right is simply a manifestation of the angry White male who has status anxiety about his declining social power. Others contend that the alt-right is an unfortunate eddy in the vast ocean of Internet culture. Related to this is the idea that polarization, exacerbated by filter bubbles, has facilitated the spread of Internet memes and fake news promulgated by the alt-right. While the first explanation tends to ignore the influence of the Internet, the second dismisses the importance of White nationalism. I contend that we have to understand both at the same time.” Good morning, Internet…

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