NEW RESOURCES

Scientific Data: The Upworthy Research Archive, a time series of 32,487 experiments in U.S. media . “This archive records the stimuli and outcome for every A/B test fielded by Upworthy between January 24, 2013 and April 30, 2015. In total, the archive includes 32,487 experiments, 150,817 experiment arms, and 538,272,878 participant assignments. The open access dataset is organized to support exploratory and confirmatory research, as well as meta-scientific research on ways that scientists make use of the archive.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Ubergizmo: Facebook Reportedly Researching How To Analyze Your Encrypted WhatsApp Messages. “According to a report from The Information (paywall), it seems that Facebook is apparently researching ways that they might be able to analyze your messages, even if it was encrypted. We’re not talking about Facebook trying to break their own encryption, but rather to make sense of already-encrypted data and to extract information from it that could in turn be used to help bolster targeted advertising.”

Mashable: American Airlines adds TikTok to free inflight entertainment. “Passengers now get 30 minutes of free TikTok access on all American Airlines single-aisle planes equipped with Viasat WiFi. While the airline’s library of movies, shows, and online learning classes are also free, browsing the internet will cost you (starting at $10 per session or $49.95 for a monthly subscription.)”

USEFUL STUFF

Search Engine Journal: Image Alt Text vs. Title Text vs. File Names: What’s the Difference?. “In this post, you’ll learn about the differences between the image alt attribute, image title text, and image file name, and find recommendations on how to better optimize them for search.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

TechRadar: Yandex search engine review . “Yandex offers a search engine experience close to that of Google and Bing, but like its two major competitors, the company’s user-data practices are less than desirable.”

CNET: Microsoft, Facebook and everyone else are building the metaverse — but will you want to live there?. “The definition of metaverse, now, is sort of a future-forward social hub, a space where avatars can meet, an ecosystem for connected apps. A VR- and AR-ready dream of bringing people into some sort of virtual universe that’s as creation-friendly as a Minecraft, as popular as a Fortnite, and as useful as Zoom, Slack and Google Docs. Metaverses are perhaps the clearest admission yet that the future of tech doesn’t lie just in VR or AR, but in a mix of many devices accessing a shared online world, which may be more immersive and 3D than the internet you’re currently using to read this story.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Ars Technica: With help from Google, impersonated Brave. com website pushes malware. “Scammers have been caught using a clever sleight of hand to impersonate the website for the Brave browser and using it in Google ads to push malware that takes control of browsers and steals sensitive data.”

The Verge: A man violated a restraining order by renaming his estranged wife’s Napster playlists. “An Ohio man harassed his estranged wife through a shared Napster account, evading a no-contact order by changing the titles of playlists. Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals outlined the case in a July 29th ruling, which was flagged on Twitter by writer and attorney Eric Goldman. It’s an example of how metadata can become a vector for harassment outside major social platforms — echoing long-standing problems on other services like Spotify.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Tech Xplore: Turning network traffic data into music. “Cybersecurity analysts deal with an enormous amount of data, especially when monitoring network traffic. If one were to print the data in text form, a single day’s worth of network traffic may be akin to a thick phonebook. In other words, detecting an abnormality is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

The Michigan Daily: Outlet or audience: introspections on my private story. “Maybe my private story really is a rare outlet for authenticity on social media. Or maybe it’s just a small stage, somewhere for me to perform a different role. In reality, I’m sure it’s somewhere in between. As my life takes place more and more in a digital space, it’s becoming nearly impossible to separate my actions from my acting and myself from the performer.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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