TWEAKS AND UPDATES

TechCrunch: Apple Music launches a public beta on the web. “Apple Music is coming to the web. Apple today is launching a public beta of its popular music streaming service on the web, which will be available to all Apple Music subscribers worldwide. This is the first time that Apple Music has been officially offered on the web, though an unofficial app over the past few months has gained attention after attracting hundreds of thousands of users.”

Abacus: Weibo’s new Instagram-like social app disappears from app stores two days after launch. “The first obstacle for Weibo’s new social app showed up fast. Within two days of its release, Oasis, Weibo’s new Instagram-like app, has already vanished from Chinese app stores.”

The Verge: 8chan could be back online as soon as next week, lawyer says. “8chan owner Jim Watkins provided evidence to congressional staffers on Thursday to comply with a subpoena the House Homeland Security Committee issued him after a series of racist manifestos from mass shooters were posted on the site. His site has remained down since shortly after the shooting — but new statements made to The Verge suggest it may be coming back sooner than many expected.”

CNET: Facebook Dating won’t push Tinder off your home screen just yet. “Shelby Ruth, a 20-year-old Canadian, started online dating because it was a quick way to meet new people. So when Facebook launched its new dating feature in Canada last year, she signed up because the social network made it easy to do. Compared with Tinder, Ruth noticed, users share more profile information on Facebook Dating. But there are also downsides.”

USEFUL STUFF

Search Engine Journal: How to Generate Text from Images with Python . The headline’s not great. This article is about how to create metadata and alt text for images using Python. “The bad news is that in order to improve your images ranking ability, you need to do the tedious work of adding text metadata in the form of quality alt text and surrounding text. But, the good news is that we are going to learn how to automate that tedious work with Python!” A deep dive and somewhat technical, but wow. Even if you don’t plan to do it, just read the article to see the possibilities.

MakeUseOf: The 12 Best How-To Sites That Everyone Should Bookmark. “Do you know how to change the oil on your car? What about how to knit a scarf? Or how to make compost? If you need some help with life’s little chores, the internet is full of guidance. But which sites should you head to when you need some advice? Here are 12 how-to sites that everyone needs to have saved in their bookmarks.” MakeUseOf DID include itself in the list, which, c’mon now, but it’s generally a good list.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

NPR: Historic Recordings Revitalize Language For Passamaquoddy Tribal Members. “Dwayne Tomah sits at his kitchen table in Perry, Maine, and pulls up an audio file on his computer. When he hits play, the speakers emit a cracked, slightly garbled recording. Through the white noise, Tomah scratches out the words he hears, rewinding every few seconds. Word by word, Tomah is attempting to transcribe and interpret dozens of recordings of Passamaquoddy tribal members, some of which are only recently being heard and publicly shared for the first time in more than a century.”

National Post: Russia says Facebook, Google must ban political ads during election. “Russian state watchdog Roskomnadzor said on Friday it asked Facebook and Google to ban the publication of political advertising during elections on Sunday and on the preceding day, in line with Russian law.”

AP: US plans for fake social media run afoul of Facebook rules. “Facebook said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would be violating the company’s rules if agents create fake profiles to monitor the social media of foreigners seeking to enter the country.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bloomberg: Google, Industry Try to Water Down First U.S. Data-Privacy Law. “Google and its industry allies are making a late bid to water down the first major data-privacy law in the U.S., seeking to carve out exemptions for digital advertising, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg and people familiar with the negotiations.”

Ars Technica: IoT botnet creator cops plea to hacking more than 800,000 devices. “A 21-year-old Washington man has pleaded guilty to creating botnets that converted hundreds of thousands of routers, cameras, and other Internet-facing devices into money-making denial-of-service fleets that could knock out entire Web hosting companies.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

IndieWire: Robert Downey Jr. and UCLA Set Out to Find Long-Lost ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Silent Films. “Robert Downey Jr. has played legendary detective Sherlock Holmes in two feature films directed by Guy Ritchie… and now the actor is preserving the character’s legacy in an even greater way by serving as honorary chair of ‘Searching for Sherlock: The Game’s Afoot.’ The project is a joint effort between the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Baker Street Irregulars and seeks to discover long-lost Sherlock Holmes movies from the silent film era and beyond.” Good morning, Internet…

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