NEW RESOURCES

Mike Shouts: Italy Has A Mobile Game To Promote Italy’s Cultural Heritage. “Published by Italy Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ITALY. Land of Wonders aims to bring the cultural heritage and wonders of Italy to the rest of world. While it has the young people its sight, the game is targeted both children and grown ups. The game is officially released on July 19 and available for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets through Italy MFA’s new portal dedicated to Italian culture in the world.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Reuters: Google is starting to tell you how it found Search results. “Alphabet’s Google will now show its search engine users more information about why it found the results they are shown, the company said on Thursday. It said people googling queries will now be able to click into details such as how their result matched certain search terms, in order to better decide if the information is relevant.”

France24: Venice dodges demotion on world heritage list after large cruise ships banned. “Venice avoided being named a world heritage site in danger by UNESCO on Thursday, just weeks after Italy moved to ban large cruise ships from sailing into the city centre. The city has been on UNESCO’s heritage list since 1987, but the UN body warned last month of the need for ‘more sustainable tourism management’, recommending that Venice be added to its endangered list.”

The Register: Apologetic Audacity rewrites privacy policy after ‘significant lapse in communication’. “Open-source audio editor Audacity this week posted an apology on GitHub in response to the entirely predictable furore over the platform’s privacy policy. An updated privacy policy accompanied the apology, in which the team insisted it had just been misunderstood, and that a look at the source would have shown its intentions.”

USEFUL STUFF

PCWorld: 11 powerful websites that can replace your desktop software. “While not a definitive list, as many tasks have a plethora of web apps that can do the job quite well, here’s what we think are some of the best, from video editors to music players to project management tools and yes, even games.”

Ubergizmo: How To Free Up Google Photos Storage. “If you’re already approaching the limit that Google has given you, don’t worry as we’ll go through some of the ways that you might be able to free up some storage in your Google Photos account.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

TechCrunch: Trouble in fandom paradise: Tumblr users lash out against its beta subscription feature. “…like any social media company, Tumblr needs to keep itself afloat in order for its users to continue sharing esoteric fan art, incomprehensible shitposts, and overly personal diary entries hidden beneath a ‘Read More’ button. Yesterday, Tumblr announced the limited beta test of its Post+ subscription feature, which — if all goes as planned — will eventually let Tumblr users post paywalled content to subscribers that pay them $3.99, $5.99 or $9.99 per month.”

Tubefilter: ‘Battle Of The Platforms’ Boxing Event Reportedly Lost $10 Million As Fighters, Investors, Producers Seek Payment. “Billboard reports that the event cost $20 million to produce, but has only brought in between $6.5 million and $10 million in revenues. Accordingly, investors (including NBA star James Harden), producers, and 15 boxers have yet to be compensated. Hall, for his part, was promised $5 million to participate in the fight.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

New York Times: A Grandfather Died in ‘Swatting’ Over His Twitter Handle, Officials Say. “Mark Herring had a fatal heart attack after the police swarmed his house after a fake emergency call. A Tennessee man was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the episode.”

BBC: China: Taobao, Weibo fined for illegal child content. “China’s internet watchdog has ordered some of the country’s biggest online platforms to remove inappropriate child-related content. Kuaishou, Tencent’s messaging tool QQ, Alibaba’s Taobao and Weibo have been summoned by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). CAC says the platforms must ‘rectify’ and ‘clean up’ all illegal content and has fined them.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

National Gallery of Art: Conservation and Science Journal “Facture” Reveals Discoveries in Modern and Contemporary Art Collection. “The latest issue of the National Gallery of Art’s biennial journal Facture introduces new and essential voices to the technical understanding and collaborative efforts instrumental to the creation and preservation of modern and contemporary art. Volume five features seven essays that offer expertise from National Gallery conservators, scientists, and curators, as well as outside scholars studying the museum’s collection.”

NiemanLab: I have come to bury Knewz, not to praise it. “News Corp’s painfully named news aggregator promised to somehow battle ‘crass clickbait,’ filter bubbles, media bias, and two trillion-dollar companies, all at once. It ended up being a D-minus Drudge clone and OnlyFans blog.” Good morning, Internet…

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