NEW RESOURCES
I spent some time a couple days ago trying to find a comprehensive list of “alt” Federal agency Twitter accounts and didn’t have any luck. I think my brain was simmering on it all day at work, because when I got home last night I tried a few things and put together a list of over 65 of them. It’s public and available here: https://twitter.com/ResearchBuzz/lists/altgov . If you know of any others or I need to make a correction, please use the contact form or DM me on Twitter (I’m @ResearchBuzz).
The Supreme Court of Canada has begun an archive of online sources cited by it. “…the Office of the Registrar of the SCC has located and archived the content of most online sources that had been cited by the Court between 1998 and 2016. These sources were captured with a content as close as possible to the original content cited.” From now on, sources will be captured and archived immediately.
The Ohio National Guard has created a digital magazine and create and online archive of the magazine’s old print version. “The Buckeye Guard, a venerable publication of the Adjutant General’s Department from 1976 to 2011, has been relaunched as a digital magazine.”
TWEAKS AND UPDATES
Financial Post: Google parent Alphabet Inc shares fall as profit misses estimates. “Google parent Alphabet Inc posted fourth-quarter profit below analysts’ estimates on Thursday, sending its shares down more than 2.7 per cent in extended trading. The company, however, posted a stronger-than-expected 22.2 per cent increase in quarterly revenue as advertisers spent more to reach an expanding user base that spends ever more time on smartphones and on YouTube.”
Twitter has launched a new “Explore” tab. “Like the Explore section on, say, Instagram, it’s meant to help you find interesting posts beyond the people you follow, and the feature actually first showed up in tests back in October. It claims the space previously occupied by the Moments tab and replaces it with a broader collection of live video, trends, search and Moments.”
USEFUL STUFF
Internet Archive: If You See Something, Save Something – 6 Ways to Save Pages In the Wayback Machine. “In recent days many people have shown interest in making sure the Wayback Machine has copies of the web pages they care about most. These saved pages can be cited, shared, linked to – and they will continue to exist even after the original page changes or is removed from the web. There are several ways to save pages and whole sites so that they appear in the Wayback Machine. Here are 6 of them.”
From Ditch that Textbook: NEW Google Sites: 10 things teachers must know. “There are lots of Google Sites tutorials all over the web, but honestly … I don’t know that you’ll need much in the way of a tutorial. The new Google Sites is pretty user friendly. Instead of telling you how to use it, I’d like to tell you 10 things that I think teachers need to know about the new Google Sites before using it (or once they’ve started using it)…”
AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
The Guardian: Rising numbers of criminals are using Facebook to document their crimes. “Facebook Live allows anyone to broadcast a video directly from their smartphone to the social network. Despite a wide-reaching advertising campaign urging people to use the feature to share heartwarming life moments, it’s gained a reputation for much grittier subject matter…”
SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES
Facebook is adding a “security key” option for login. “Facebook users can now use a security key to authenticate their identity during the login process. If you use a security key, hackers won’t be able to get into your Facebook account, even if they have your username and password.Security keys are form of two-factor authentication — an optional extra layer of security that helps you prove your identity when you log in.”
RESEARCH AND OPINION
The Conversation: Far beyond crime-ridden depravity, darknets are key strongholds of freedom of expression online. “Portraying the darknet as primarily, or even solely, for criminals ignores the societal forces that push people toward these anonymous networks. Our research into the content and activity of one major darknet, called Freenet, indicates that darknets should be understood not as a crime-ridden ‘Wild West,’ but rather as ‘wilderness, spaces that by design are meant to remain unsullied by the civilizing institutions – law enforcement, governments and corporations – that have come to dominate the internet. There is definitely illegal activity on the darknet, as there is on the open internet. However, many of the people using the darknet have a diverse range of motives and activities, linked by a common desire to reclaim what they see as major benefits of technology: privacy and free speech.” Good afternoon, Internet…
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