August 6, 2022

Ars Technica: Tonight we’re gonna log on like it’s 1979

Ars Technica: Tonight we’re gonna log on like it’s 1979. “Teletypes may have killed a lot of forests by emitting every line to hard copy instead of a screen, but there’s something to be said for the permanence of paper. While working on building a functional Silent 700 Model 765 ASR teletype, I came across a set of teletype transcripts from several users logging on to The Source, one of the earliest online services, and a complete photocopy of the service’s user manual.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
July 30, 2022

Krebs on Security: A Retrospective on the 2015 Ashley Madison Breach

Krebs on Security: A Retrospective on the 2015 Ashley Madison Breach. “The leak led to the public shaming and extortion of many Ashley Madison users, and to at least two suicides. To date, little is publicly known about the perpetrators or the true motivation for the attack. But a recent review of Ashley Madison mentions across Russian cybercrime forums and far-right websites in the months leading up to the hack revealed some previously unreported details that may deserve further scrutiny.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
July 22, 2022

WIRED: At Facebook, It’s Always Been All About Growth

WIRED: At Facebook, It’s Always Been All About Growth. “This week on Gadget Lab, we’re joined by Shirin Ghaffary from Recode and Alex Heath from The Verge. The new season of their podcast, Land of the Giants, is all about Facebook’s transformation into Meta and what it means for the billions of people on Facebook, and in the world at large.” Audio along with a beautifully-formatted transcript on the same page.

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
June 15, 2022

Associated Press: So long, Internet Explorer. The browser retires today

Associated Press: So long, Internet Explorer. The browser retires today. “Internet Explorer is finally headed out to pasture. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate — and a few still claim to adore. The 27-year-old application now joins BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems and Palm Pilots in the dustbin of tech history.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
June 4, 2022

Every: The Internet Encyclopedia of Memes

Every: The Internet Encyclopedia of Memes. “For the past 15 years, Know Your Meme has documented internet culture from across the web—from 4chan and Reddit to Twitter and TikTok. For nearly 12 of those years—or what he describes as ‘an eternity in internet years’—Don Caldwell has been at the forefront at Know Your Meme, most recently as the Editor-in-Chief. He’s made nearly 100,000 contributions to the site, slowed only by moving into a managerial role at the company.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
May 25, 2022

New York Times: 6 Podcasts About the Dark Side of the Internet

New York Times: 6 Podcasts About the Dark Side of the Internet. “Despite the connectedness and convenience it allows, the internet’s tightening grip on every aspect of life isn’t without costs, like when a young man turned to YouTube for direction and found himself pulled into the far-right, as shown in The Times’s narrative audio series Rabbit Hole. These six shows tap into some of those dangers, exploring cybercrime, cryptocurrency and the many flavors of horror that lurk on the dark web.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
May 5, 2022

WIRED: The Infinite Deaths of Social Media

WIRED: The Infinite Deaths of Social Media. “Hyperbole is instinctual on Twitter. So it was not surprising to hear of an apocalypse foretold: that the eccentric and polarizing billionaire planned to transform the site into a troll’s paradise under the guise of free speech (one with better tools and unencumbered by moderators), creating a domino effect that would spark a mass exodus of the Twitter faithful. Prognosticators warned of a migration so impactful that the very site would lose what has made it an essential resource for untold communities of people. But endings can also be an animating force. In fact, endings are a primary context in which the social web should be understood.”

Research & Opinion 0
April 24, 2022

How-To Geek: What Does “Touch Grass” Mean?

I don’t usually bother with meme explainers, but this meme can be ambiguous and used several different ways, so here you go. How-To Geek: What Does “Touch Grass” Mean?. “Have you ever been told to ‘touch grass’ after a heated internet fight? Don’t worry, you don’t need to go to your local park for this. Here’s what the phrase means and how you can use it properly.”

Useful Stuff 0
April 16, 2022

Daily Beast: Here’s What the Metaverse Apocalypse Will Look Like

Daily Beast: Here’s What the Metaverse Apocalypse Will Look Like. “Whether we like it or not, metaverse fever is rising. From flaming Travis Scott towering over players in Fortnite, to suit-clad avatars arguing spreadsheets on Teams, to Facebook swapping its face for Meta—it seems there’s been an onslaught of new virtual playgrounds brought to life every day. But for every new virtual world being born, there’s a digital graveyard of realms that have already died.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
March 26, 2022

Mashable: The secret Wikipedia prank behind the Pringles mascot’s first name

Mashable: The secret Wikipedia prank behind the Pringles mascot’s first name. “The name ‘Julius Pringles’ — which Kellogg’s claims as officially trademarked, though a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office site for ‘Julius Pringles’ returned no immediate results — looks not to have come from a marketing team, or some long-forgotten Pringles founder. Rather, the name stems from two Wikipedia savvy, hoax-loving college students snacking away on Sour Cream & Onion Pringles in their dorm room back in 2006.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
March 25, 2022

NiemanLab: After 25 years, Brewster Kahle and the Internet Archive are still working to democratize knowledge

NiemanLab: After 25 years, Brewster Kahle and the Internet Archive are still working to democratize knowledge . “In 1996, Kahle founded the Internet Archive, which stands alongside Wikipedia as one of the great not-for-profit knowledge-enhancing creations of modern digital technology. You may know it best for the Wayback Machine, its now quarter-century-old tool for deriving some sort of permanent record from the inherently transient medium of the web. (It’s collected 668 billion web pages so far.) But its ambitions extend far beyond that, creating a free-to-all library of 38 million books and documents, 14 million audio recordings, 7 million videos, and more.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
March 24, 2022

ScienceNews: Social media crackdowns during the war in Ukraine make the internet less global

ScienceNews: Social media crackdowns during the war in Ukraine make the internet less global. “The Ukraine war is shining a spotlight on social media’s role as a political tool, says [Joan] Donovan, whose Technology and Social Change Project team has been following the spread of disinformation in the conflict. ‘This is a huge moment in internet history where we’re starting to see the power of these tech companies play out against the power of the state.’ And that, she says, ‘is actually going to change the internet forever.’”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
March 21, 2022

The Verge: Inside The Fight To Save Video Game History

The Verge: Inside The Fight To Save Video Game History. “As games age and as companies continue to remove the means to properly purchase and download them, people are looking at other, less than legitimate options to continue to play the games they enjoy. It’s created tension between players and companies. While it’s unrealistic to expect publishers to maintain their prolific libraries in perpetuity, it’s also not ideal that large swathes of games can, at any time, just disappear on the whims of the store operator. So how can we ensure that older games can be enjoyed by future generations without the expense of maintaining aging digital infrastructure or violating existing copyright laws? Video game preservationists are doing the work at the intersection between these two points.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
March 13, 2022

CNET: Early MySpace Was the Peak of Social Media

CNET: Early MySpace Was the Peak of Social Media. “Founded in 2003, MySpace was the first social media platform for many people. Facebook was founded a year later, and despite its early restrictive membership practices, the number of Facebook users would soon accelerate past the number of MySpace users. MySpace is still around, but the number of site visitors — not even active users — has dropped to mere millions. Despite that, early MySpace was better than every version of Facebook. For those who remember early MySpace, it was a learning tool, it helped us form our identities and it expanded the music landscape.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0

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