TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Reuters: After Criticism, Apple to Only Seek Abuse Images Flagged in Multiple Nations. “After a week of criticism over a its planned new system for detecting images of child sex abuse, Apple Inc said on Friday that it will hunt only for pictures that have been flagged by clearinghouses in multiple countries.”

The Verge: Google’s Nest Hubs will warn users about nearby pollution and smoke. “Google is adding air quality data to its Nest Hub smart displays. While the new feature is still only available in ‘select’ US markets, it’ll give some users an idea of how much risk they might face from smoke and pollution in the area.”

TechCrunch: Facebook is bringing end-to-end encryption to Messenger calls and Instagram DMs. “End-to-end encryption (E2EE) — a security feature that prevents third-parties from eavesdropping on calls and chats — has been available for text conversations on Facebook’s flagship messaging service since 2016. Although the company has faced pressure from governments to roll back its end-to-end encryption plans, Facebook is now extending this protection to both voice and video calls on Messenger, which means that ‘nobody else, including Facebook, can see or listen to what’s sent or said.'”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: 8 Social Media Content Calendar Tools for Scheduling Posts. “The world of social media is expanding, and hence it becomes difficult for individual users to post on all the platforms regularly at the right time. In order to manage when and what to publish on social media, you need to stay organized. To make the whole process seamless and hassle-free, check out these eight social media calendar tools for scheduling posts.” Including it because Tamal Das managed to include a couple of scheduling tools I didn’t know about.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

New York Times: Teens Cash in on the NFT Art Boom. “Last fall, Randi Hipper decided to, as she put it recently, ‘go in-depth with the crypto space.’ After hearing about NFTs on Twitter and other social media platforms, Ms. Hipper, then a 17-year-old senior at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, began releasing her own digital artworks — cartoonish and self-referential pieces showing her cruising in a car with a Bitcoin license plate or riding the Coney Island Wonder Wheel.”

The Guardian: From Florence to the machines: the evolution of data journalism – in pictures. “Data-driven journalism has become as ubiquitous as hand-sanitiser during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its roots go back to before germ theory. This resource looks at the history of data journalism, and how changing trends in reporting and technology have fuelled its expansion.”

Slate: What’s Really Wrong With the New Twitter Font. “On Thursday, Twitter updated the design of its app and website. Some users were baffled by a change to the ‘follow’ and ‘unfollow’ buttons that could lead one to mix them up. Others took issue with the new Twitter font, Chirp. While the social network boasted that Chirp is designed to be more accessible and amplify “the fun and irreverence of a Tweet,” many tweets complained that not only is it harder to read, users are complaining of headaches.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Warning: this is very disturbing. I’m not kidding. You may want to skip it. Motherboard: People Buy Custom Baby Monkey Torture Videos on World’s Worst Forum. “People are setting up private group chats and forums to purchase and share custom baby monkey torture videos, an investigation by animal advocacy groups Action for Primates and Lady Freethinker has found.”

Publishers Weekly: Define ‘Reasonable’: Can Maryland’s New E-book Law Help Change the Marketplace?. “In a July statement, the Maryland Library Association (MLA) praised state legislators for recently passing a new law that seeks to ensure library patrons can have access to e-books that are available to consumers in the state. But does the law also give Maryland libraries a little leverage to change the existing terms under which e-books are licensed libraries?”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Museums+Heritage Advisor: New funding opportunities launched as Paul Mellon Centre film series champions properly funded research. “Telling previously unknown or seldom told stories unearthed by recipients of its funding awards, one of six films charting a broad range of topics will be released each week from today. Shot on location at venues including the British Museum and the British School at Rome, the short films – each no longer than six minutes to ensure maximum impact – have been conceived not only to highlight intriguing new research but to make the case for the importance of properly funded scholarship.”

CogDogBlog: What the Olde Links Say About Domains. “Once again, my experience shows that if you publish something on an employer’s web site, or a company’s web site, or even in something that just takes away the work of managing web sites, the chances of it having a life to keep echoing is low. And if you are going to go to the trouble to craft something in writing, why put it in a place where the shelf life is short?”

Gizmodo: Warner Bros. Lets Anyone Be in Its Reminiscence Trailer With a Cool New Deepfake Generator. “As reported by Protocol, to promote its upcoming movie Reminiscence, Warner Bros. partnered with AI face platform D-ID to create a deepfake generator that allows anyone to insert themselves one of the film’s trailers. Using the generator is simple. All you need to do is go to movie’s official website and upload a picture of yourself. The generator will then crank out a short trailer that includes a moving deepfake sequence of your face.” Good morning, Internet…

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