TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Channel 4: NHS England digital database launch delayed by two months after patient outcry over consultation . “A new central NHS database using GP records in England won’t now come online until September, amid concerns about privacy. The digital system was meant to be launched next month, collating information on patient appointments, treatments and referrals, as well as other data held by local surgeries.”

Distractify: A New App Allows Users to Cartoonify Their Profile Pictures on Facebook. “For the most part, viral trends are not common on Facebook, at least not anymore. In recent years, trends have largely moved to other social media sites like TikTok, but that doesn’t mean that one of the older social media sites can’t get in on the action occasionally. A new Cartoon Filter Challenge on Facebook allows users to change their profile pictures, and many users want to know how to get in on the trend.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Get Rid of Annoying Instagram Ads. “Since Instagram introduced advertisements and a non-chronological feed, there’s no shortage of paid posts on users’ feeds. Nowadays, scrolling through your feed feels like driving past multiple billboards on a highway or watching cable TV. So if you’re tired of scrolling past annoying ads on Instagram, read on. This article will give you detailed step-by-step guides on how to reduce and remove Instagram ads.”

Screen Rant: How To Get A Public Profile On Snapchat & What You Need To Know. “While anyone can get a Public Profile on Snapchat, there are some minor restrictions that might stop someone from being able to create one. By opting for a Public Profile, Snapchat users open up the door to greater exposure and the opportunity to reach more users. In addition to the option for other users to subscribe to the Snapchat account and for the Snapchatter to post additional details to their public profile, including a bio and description.”

The Verge: How to watch E3 2021. “After being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, E3 is back for 2021 in an all-digital format, kicking off on June 12th. And with Microsoft and Nintendo finally having announced the dates and times for their big showcase presentations, the event schedule is starting to fall into place. If you want to attend the virtual event as a fan, you can now register to attend on E3’s website so that you can get access to the E3 portal and app. But if you want to follow along with the press conferences and announcements, we’ve put together a timeline of some of the biggest events to look forward to.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

BBC: US returns ancient stone carvings to Thailand. “Two ancient sandstone carvings, believed to have been stolen from Thailand and smuggled to the US during the Vietnam War, are being repatriated. The carvings were originally lintels – support beams – in temples dating back to the 10th Century and feature the Hindu deities Indra and Yama.”

Daily Advertiser: National Park Service project documents existing sharecropper, slave dwellings in the South. “There is a growing movement led by historical preservationists to preserve sharecropper and slave cabins in order to present a fuller narrative of the families who lived in those dwellings and to discuss the enduring legacy of slavery and the Jim Crow-era in modern-day America.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

EurekAlert: Significant otter helps couples communicate from the heart. “[Fannie] Liu was part of a team from CMU, Snap and the University of Washington that built Significant Otter, an app designed primarily for smart watches that allows couples to communicate with each other based on their sensed heart rate. The team presented their work this month at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) Conference.”

Liam O’Dell: I Got Impersonated For Calling Out Ableism – Twitter’s Verification Process Must Protect Disabled People. “In recognising that Twitter’s verification offers more than legitimacy, the recently relaunched policy can and must be used to take the wind out of the sails of ableism and protect disabled users like me.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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