NEW RESOURCES
Fast Company: This smart new search site is like a mashup of Google and ChatGPT. “Futuristic as that description may sound, Andi actually sits somewhere between the traditional search sites, such as Google, and the completely conversational, chat-emulating challengers like ChatGPT. It aims to blend the best of both worlds into a new sort of search experience that’s both fresh-feeling and familiar. At a time when so many folks are asking questions about what search should even be, it’s an interesting balance that moves toward the future while still embracing the past.”
Haverford College: The Early Days of Women’s Suffrage, Archived. “The College’s Julia Wilbur collection is composed primarily of her personal journals from 1844 to 1895. The materials were digitized as part of the In Her Own Right project, which contains items that illuminate the efforts of women to assert their rights and work for the rights of others in the century leading up to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The project was organized by the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) and contains materials from at least 12 institutions.”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
Internet Archive Blog: A Calculated Move: Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive. “While we have an excellent family of emulators assisting MAME in making programs work in the browser, the vast majority of the items in our Internet Arcade (and Turbo Edition), Console Living Room, and Handheld History collections mostly have MAME to thank. And now another can as well: The Calculator Drawer.”
Search Engine Land: Yandex ‘leak’ reveals 1,922 search ranking factors. “This leak has revealed 1,922 ranking factors Yandex used in its search algorithm, at least as of July 2022. Perhaps Martin MacDonald put it best on Twitter today: ‘The Yandex hack is probably the most interesting thing to have happened in SEO in years.'”
AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD
Ars Technica: The flight tracker that powered @ElonJet has taken a left turn. “A major independent flight tracking platform, which has made enemies of the Saudi royal family and Elon Musk, has been sold to a subsidiary of a private equity firm. And its users are furious. ADS-B Exchange has made headlines in recent months for, as AFP put it, irking ‘billionaires and baddies.’ But in a Wednesday morning press release, aviation intelligence firm Jetnet announced it had acquired the scrappy open source operation for an undisclosed sum.”
9to5Google: Google TV ads now include physical products instead of just movies and shows. “Advertising on your TV has become something expected of virtually every platform, and it’s something that has hit Android TV OS over the past few years. Now, though, Google TV is taking things a step further by introducing ads for physical products and stores.”
SECURITY & LEGAL
Montclair State University: Global Center on Human Trafficking Partners with Department of Homeland Security. “The Global Center on Human Trafficking (GCHT) at Montclair State University and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark Division signed a Memorandum of Understanding on January 25 for the development of a web-based application and website to aid in the fight against human trafficking.”
Engadget: YouTube accused of using return-to-office policies to thwart union organizers. “YouTube Music contractors in the Austin area who voted to unionize are accusing their employers of abusing return-to-office policies to stifle labor organizers. The Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging that YouTube parent Alphabet and staffing firm Cognizant are using an abrupt return-to-office move, due in February, to punish remote workers, many of whom are reportedly pro-union.”
Decrypt: White House Blames Congress for Failure to Enact Crypto Regulations. “The White House pointed the finger at Congress Friday for stalling on a comprehensive, national crypto regulatory framework, outlining numerous actions lawmakers could take to reign-in fraud and bad actors in the crypto sector.”
RESEARCH & OPINION
CNN: How Google’s long period of online dominance could end. “…even though the lawsuits drive at the heart of Google’s revenue machine, they could take years to play out. In the meantime, two other thorny issues are poised to determine Google’s future on a potentially shorter timeframe: The rise of generative artificial intelligence and what appears to be an accelerating decline in Google’s online ad marketshare. Just days before the DOJ suit, Google announced plans to cut 12,000 employees amid a dramatic slowdown in its revenue growth, and as it works to refocus its efforts partly around AI.”
Michigan Daily: The TikTok detectives have gone too far with the Idaho murders . “Curiosity is natural, especially with a case as jarring and gruesome as this. There is a difference, however, between theorizing in a casual, private manner and mindlessly pointing fingers at innocent individuals on a public social media account, one that true crime content creators have utterly failed at distinguishing in the case of the Idaho murders. ”
OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL
Boing Boing: Fun game makes you guess what year a photo was taken. “Chronophoto presents the player with a photo and a timeline ranging from 1900 to current times. The closer you get to the exact year of the photograph’s creation, the more points you’ll be awarded.” Good morning, Internet…
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