The Intercept: Google Shut Out Privacy And Security Teams From Secret China Project. “Google’s leadership considered Dragonfly so sensitive that they would often communicate only verbally about it and would not take written notes during high-level meetings to reduce the paper trail, two sources said. Only a few hundred of Google’s 88,000 workforce were briefed […]
Google Blog: A new look for Google Translate on the web. “It’s been twelve years since the launch of Google Translate, and since then Translate has evolved to keep up with the ways people use it. Initially translating between English and Arabic only, we now translate 30 trillion sentences per year across 103 languages. Google […]
Reuters: Does Google harm local search rivals? EU antitrust regulators ask. “EU antitrust regulators have asked Google’s rivals if the internet search giant unfairly demotes local search competitors, according to a questionnaire seen by Reuters, a move which could lead to a fourth case against the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit.”
MakeUseOf: Instagram Can Now Describe Photos to Visually Impaired Users. “Instagram has added two new features designed to make it easier for visually impaired people to use Instagram. These features mean screen readers will be able to accurately describe what’s in photos uploaded to Instagram.”
University of Massachusetts Lowell: Event Unveils Digital Archive Celebrating Lowell’s Southeast Asian Communities. “The archive is designed to be used by the public, students, teachers, researchers and scholars. In it, users will find documents and oral histories from the Indochinese Refugee Foundation (IRF), a Lowell-based organization active from 1977 through 1985 that helped Southeast Asian […]
Ars Technica: Facebook pondered, for a time, selling access to user data. “A failure to adequately redact a public court document from February 2017 shows that, back in 2012, Facebook considered charging companies at least $250,000 for access to one of its primary troves of user data, the Graph API. In April 2014, Facebook changed […]
Nieman Lab: CrossCheck launches in Nigeria, with 16 newsrooms working together to fight misinformation. “Facebook is used by 24 million Nigerians every month, but the platform has only four people, from third-party fact-checking organizations, working to combat misinformation there, BBC Africa Eye reported earlier this year in an investigation into how fake news in the […]
Phys. org: ‘Murder map’ reveals medieval London’s meanest streets. “Stabbed by a lover with a fish-gutting knife. Beaten to death for littering with eel skins. Shot with an arrow during a student street brawl. Shanked by a sore loser after late-night backgammon. These were just some of the ways to die violently in the city […]
TechCrunch: Facebook launches Watch Party for all, tests Live PiP commentating. “Facebook Watch has failed to capture viewers with its content, so it’s hoping to differentiate through the company’s core strength: social. Today Facebook fully launches Watch Party, its co-viewing feature where users can see and comment on the same video at the same time, […]
Hyperallergic: As the Getty Digitizes the Archives of the Woman’s Building, Artists Remember Its History. “Earlier this month, the Getty Research Institute announced it was awarded a ‘Save America’s Treasures’ grant to process 11 collections related to the Woman’s Building, the seminal Los Angeles-based center for feminist art that operated from 1973 to 1991. The […]
Washington Post: Facebook, Twitter crack down on AI babysitter-rating service. “Predictim, a California-based start-up, analyzes babysitters’ online histories, including on Facebook and Twitter, and offers ratings of whether they are at risk of drug abuse, bullying or having a ‘bad attitude.’ Facebook said it dramatically limited Predictim’s access to users’ information on Instagram and Facebook […]
Bloomberg: Marriott Hit by Starwood Hack That Ranks Among Biggest Ever. “The attack is troubling not just because of its sheer size, but also the level of detail potentially stolen by the attackers. The hack affects some 500 million guests, and for about 327 million of them, the data included passport numbers, emails and mailing […]
Google Blog: Bringing Google Fi to more people on Android and iOS. “Starting today, Project Fi is available on more phones: our plan now works with the majority of Android devices and iPhones. And since we’re officially expanding our device support, we’re making our name more official, too: we’re now Google Fi.”
Pew (PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW!): Teens who are constantly online are just as likely to socialize with their friends offline. “Close to half of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 say they are on the internet ‘almost constantly,’ and more than nine-in-ten are social media users. These highly plugged-in youth, however, are […]
Baseline: International Tennis Hall Of Fame Courts Fashion. “‘Couture curious?’ asks the International Tennis Hall of Fame, alluding to its new style-centric exhibit. The surefire reply: Yes. More. One doesn’t truly need to ask for more from this, the Hall of Fame’s first-ever digital exhibit, titled ‘Courting Fashion.’ “