Lifehacker: What Is Shadow Banning on Twitter?. “A shadow ban, used on sites such as Reddit and Craigslist, is a form of ban that isn’t immediately obvious to the user. The user is allowed to keep posting, but their posts don’t show up to anyone but themselves.”
The Verge: Firefox is getting a new logo, and Mozilla wants to hear what users think. “Mozilla is redesigning the Firefox logo, with a little help from the rest of us. This time around, though, the plan isn’t just to create one new icon for the flagship browser, but to design an entire series of icons to fit the brand’s different ventures — from mobile and VR browsers, to screenshot and file sharing tools. Mozilla’s already uploaded some possible takes, and now wants users to comment on its blog for feedback about what the icons should look like.”
Techstory: Pepsi sues Facebook, Twitter for alleging Kurkure contains plastic . “On Friday, July 20, Twitter user Nikhil Jois received a mail from Twitter notifying that his account information is being submitted to the court for legal process because of his tweet from June 2015 : ‘Also… did you try burning Kurkure? It has pla’ from his handle @nikhiljoisr. Like Jois, hundreds of social media users in India are being notified that their account details is being submitted to the Delhi High Court over an ongoing civil suit in which PepsiCo is suing platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.” Kurkure is a snack food sold in India by Pepsi. To me it kind of looks like Cheetos.
TechCrunch: Dixons Carphone now says ~8.8M more customers affected by 2017 breach . “A Dixons Carphone data breach that was disclosed earlier this summer was worse than initially reported. The company is now saying that personal data of 10 million customers could also have been accessed when its systems were hacked. The European electronics and telecoms retailer believes its systems were accessed by unknown and unauthorized person/s in 2017, although it only disclosed the breach in June, after discovering it during a review of its security systems.”
Engadget: Some Dropbox users are getting an extra 1TB for free. “Dropbox Professional and Business Standard users have more storage to play with starting today, as the company is bumping up the capacity on each plan by 1TB. Professional users now have double the space with 2TB, and Business Standard teams will share 3TB between their members.”
The Register: How hack on 10,000 WordPress sites was used to launch an epic malvertising campaign . “Security researchers at Check Point have lifted the lid on the infrastructure and methods of an enormous ‘malvertising’ and banking trojan campaign. The operation delivered malicious adverts to millions worldwide, slinging all manner of nasties including crypto-miners, ransomware and banking trojans.”
Neowin: WhatsApp launches group calling for voice and video. “If you use WhatsApp, starting today, you’ll be able to make group video and voice calls. The feature was first announced at Facebook’s developer conference, F8, with no real details given about it. Now we have a better understanding of the functionality, including that it offers enhanced security and promises reliability on weaker connections.”
Global News: Quebec scientists preparing medical database for astronauts heading to Mars. “A mission to Mars might seem only plausible on the big screen, but plans for the eventual journey are in the works. It might be another decade before human beings touch down on our neighbouring planet, but Canada is investing in research that could get things off the ground.”
CNET: Twitter working with academics to spur ‘healthy conversation’ . “Twitter knows it has problems, and it’s turning to scholars for help. Twitter is partnering with researchers from several universities to better understand how to foster ‘healthy conversation’ based on “openness and civility,” the company said Monday in a blog post.”
NPR: Offensive Tweets Remind Major Leaguers That On Social Media, The Past Is Never Past. “For a brief while on the mound Sunday, Sean Newcomb stood atop the world. The young Atlanta Braves pitcher had thrown more than eight scoreless innings and allowed zero hits — until, with just one strike left to close it out, a line-drive single derailed his bid for the Braves’ first no-hitter in a quarter-century. Yet even as the 25-year-old starter walked back to the bench, deflated as the crowd clapped around him, another unpleasant reality was awaiting him.”
Yahoo News: Social Media Helped Italian Police Identify a French Skier Lost in the Alps for Decades. “The mystery of an ‘unknown’ French skier lost in the Alps for 64 years has finally been solved, with the help of some social media sleuthing, according to Italian authorities. The remains of 35-year-old French skier Henri le Masne were identified with the help of his family, who were finally reunited with their lost relative 64 years after he went missing in the Alps, Italian police confirmed on Saturday.”
New York Times: How to Fix Social Media’s Big Problems? Lawmakers Have Ideas. “Fixing the privacy and misinformation failures plaguing big tech companies is no easy task — but on both sides of the Atlantic, lawmakers are attempting to jump-start policy conversations in a bid to tackle the issues.”
TechCrunch: Fabric offers an alternative to Facebook sharing with a private timeline of personal moments. “Fabric, a personal journaling app that emerged from Y Combinator’s 2016 batch of startups, is relaunching itself as a Facebook alternative. The app is giving itself a makeover in the wake of Facebook’s closure of the Moves location tracker, by offering its own tool to record your activities, photos, memories and other moments shared with friends and family. But unlike on Facebook, everything in Fabric is private by default and data isn’t shared with marketers.”
MakeUseOf: 5 Apps to Identify a Song by Humming, Tapping on Keyboard, or Asking Others. “When you come across a song you don’t know, you can usually use Shazam or SoundHound to find its name. But if the song is stuck in your head, these music identifying apps can’t work. That’s when you need something different.”
ZDNet: Canberra still in denial over My Health Record concerns. “Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. The Australian government’s response to the grief it’s getting over the controversial My Health Record is now up to stage three. Provided you call a PR barrage ‘bargaining’. Which is isn’t. No, they’re still just getting angry.”
