- Google+ launched Discover, a new way to find content and Communities from across Google+. The web navigation menu has been simplified, making it a bit more difficult to find Events and your own Collections.
- Google Allo is now available on desktop - sort of. You need to be running the Chrome Browser and have your Android phone running Allo linked.
- Now you can use your Google Home to make phone calls hands free. Calls to the US and Canada are free, and calls to other countries are available for Google Voice and Project Fi customers.
- Google will be revealing Android O live on Monday (2:40PM Eastern) and has done some teasing about the name (Oreo? Oatmeal Cookie? Orangina? Omelette?)
- Android devices are getting a redesigned Google app with emphasis on topics and news. Plus there are video previews help you find what you're looking for faster.
- There are a bunch of new Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides features that improve team collaboration.
- Facebook finally gets circular profile pictures (plus some other design changes to the news feed), Instagram gets threaded comments, and Snapchat automatically combines concert videos from multiple users
Plus there are articles, tips and updates for video creators, live streamers, business owners, webmasters and much more.
Viewing the Solar Eclipse
A total solar eclipse will be visible across the United States on Monday, August 21. Even if you aren’t in the path of totality, you can watch.- How to use your smartphone to photograph the solar eclipse
- Become a citizen scientist and contribute photos to the Eclipse Megamovie
- Eclipse Megamovie Volunteer Wrangler Vivian White tells all
- NASA TV Eclipse Live Stream on YouTube
- CNN Will Livestream the Solar Eclipse in 360-Degree 4K
- New Instagram Stickers for the Solar Eclipse
- Studying the Sun’s Atmosphere with the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017
Combating online hate content and extremism
On Saturday, August 12th white supremacists and neo-Nazis rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia. Counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed, and many people were injured. There was a surprisingly swift reaction from tech companies, who shut down payment accounts, web hosting and other online services for neo-Nazi groups. I’ve collected related links below.I say surprising because these accounts weren’t new. If the online content violated existing terms of service, that means that the terms weren't enforced until there was a violent incident and public outcry. And in the case of Cloudflare, the decision was made unilaterally by the CEO who decided the site owners were “assholes.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has pointed out that not having - and following - a documented takedown process could make it easier for governments and companies to “silence legitimate voices”. And Tor argues that they "can't build free and open source tools that protect journalists, human rights activists, and ordinary people around the world if we also control who uses those tools." In some cases, it may be clear who the bad guys are, but that isn't always the case - do we trust tech companies to make the "correct" decision? I'm not sure we should.
Image: Hinode satellite’'s view of the eclipse on Jan. 4, 2011. Image Credit: NASA/Hinode/XRT
Upcoming:
- 21 August: Become a citizen scientist and contribute photos to the Eclipse Megamovie
- 21 August: Android O announcement livestream (2:40PM ET)
- 22 August: Google Webmaster Central English Office Hours Hangout
- 24 August: Academy on Air: The New AdWords Experience (Part 1)
- 25 August: Google Webmaster Central English Office Hours Hangout
- 31 August: Academy on Air: The New AdWords Experience (Part 2)
- 31 August: Digital Transformation: Mobile Brand Strategy
- 6 September: YouTube NextUp applications launch for Berlin, Moscow, Dubai, and Rio de Janiero
- 13 September: Web clipboard to be removed from Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
- 20 September:YouTube Video Editor and Photo Slideshows retired
YouTube and Video Creation
- YouTube TV expands its coverage to 14 new markets (Android Police)
- Verizon Ends Its YouTube ad buying Boycott (Advertising Age)
- Help support the organizations and causes you care about with YouTube Donation Cards
- YouTube has an illegal TV streaming problem (Mashable)
- Five observations from my time at YouTube (Lyor Cohen)
- Google Partners Academy on Air: YouTube - Audience Targeting that Leverages all of Google
- An overview of YouTube Studio Beta (Preston McNair)
- Facebook offers in-stream-only video ad buys as it looks to rival YouTube, TV (Marketing Land)
- Snapchat's "Crowd Surf" uses AI to combine multiple simultaneous recordings of a concert (TechCrunch)
- Create custom video color filters on Android with Adobe Capture and Clip (xda-developers)
Go Live
- Meet the streamers using Twitch to pay for college (The Verge)
- Someone Live Streamed Themselves Sexually Harassing Me ( Charleyy Hodson at Kotaku)
Google+
- New! Find content and communities from all across Google+ with Discover (Carter Gibson)
- Find content and communities from all across Google+ with the new Discover stream (G Suite Updates)
- How to access Google+ Events in the new desktop layout
- Finding your own Collections and the Collections you follow (Nina Trankova)
- Many pundits believe that Google+ is dead. And has always been dead for businesses. I think they're wrong (David Kutcher)
- How many Google+ Followers do you have? (Trick question!) (Robert Wallis)
Other social media
- Facebook News Feed FYI: Taking Action Against Video Clickbait (Facebook Newsroom)
- Facebook: Making News Feed an Easier Place to Connect and Navigate (Facebook Newsroom)
- Facebook shifts focus away from teens with launch of new video platform (The Next Web)
- Facebook offers in-stream-only video ad buys as it looks to rival YouTube, TV (Marketing Land)
- Facebook: Celebrating a Birthday? Now You Can Make It Even More Meaningful (Facebook Newsroom)
- Instagram: Keep the conversation going with comment threads (Instagram Blog)
- Instagram: New Ways to Reply with Photos and Videos (Instagram Blog)
- Snapchat's "Crowd Surf" uses AI to combine multiple simultaneous recordings of a concert (TechCrunch)
- Reddit now lets certain communities upload video directly to the site (The Verge)
- Medium Update: Show authors more ❤️ with 👏’s (Medium blog)
- Instagram’s CEO Wants to Clean Up the Internet—But Is That a Good @&#$ing Idea? (Wired)
Google Photos and Mobile Photography
- What's the difference between managing your photos in Google Photos vs Google Drive? (Scott Peachey)
- Making visible watermarks more robust (Google Research Blog)
- Sh*t gets real: Google acquires AIMatter, maker of the Fabby computer vision app (Nackblog)
Google for businesses
- Google Local Guides can add video to local business listings (AjitW @ Google Local Guides community)
- What are the risks for businesses that are getting fake reviews on Google? (Joy Hawkins)
Bloggers and Webmasters
- Google Search Console sends out security warning notice to webmasters with HTTP sites
- Add A Simple Payment Button To Your WordPress.com Premium Or Business Wordpress Site (Wordpress.com blog)
- WordPress.com’s new Paypal integration makes it easier for bloggers to sell stuff online (The Next Web)
- An Updated Login Coming to the WordPress Mobile Apps (Wordpress.com blog)
AdSense and advertising
- Tip: AdSense offers full width ads on mobile devices (AdSense)
- How The DMCA's Digital Locks Provision Allowed A Company To Delete A URL From Adblock Lists (TechDirt)
- Google Partners Academy on Air: YouTube - Audience Targeting that Leverages all of Google
Hangouts and Messaging
- Google Allo is now available on desktop (Michael Daniels)
- Wanna make Google Allo for web look like Hangouts? Here's how to do it (Android Authority)
Made by Google, Android, Project Fi
- Android O is touching down to Earth with the total solar eclipse, bringing some super (sweet) new powers! (Google Blog)
- [Update: Name likely Oreo] Google has an Android O event on August 21st to coincide with the eclipse (Android Police)
- … or maybe Google is trolling with the name (JR Raphael)
- Hands free calling via Google Home from the US and Canada (Google Blog)
- Google is finally pushing Android 7.1.1 to the Nexus 6 again (Android Police)
- Taking a tour of Motorola’s headquarters [Video] (9to5Google)
Productivity
- New Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides features power team collaboration (Google Blog)
- Google Calendar now plays nicer with Microsoft Exchange (TechCrunch)
- Demo of Named Versions in Google Docs (Romain Vialard)
- Google’s speech recognition now supports 119 languages, plus English voice dictation 😃 support (Google Blog)
- Inbox by Gmail Update: Unified Inbox (Scott Greenstone)
- Redesigned Google app starts rolling out on Android with emphasis on topics and news (Google Blog)
- Video previews help you find what you're looking for faster in the Google app (Google Blog)
- Achoo! Watch out for seasonal sniffles with pollen forecasts on Google (Google Blog)
- Recognized handwriting editing, GIF support, and more with the latest Jamboard release (G Suite Updates)
- “Bing is bigger than you think,” Microsoft boasts, at 33% of US searches (Ars Technica)
Privacy and Security
Ongoing discussion about women, tech and that Google memo
(See last week’s roundup for background)- What Google’s Open Communication Culture is Really Like (KAREN WICKRE at Wired)
- Science doesn’t explain tech’s diversity problem — history does (The Verge)
- Google Engineer Fired for Sexist Memo Isn't a Hero (John Horgan)
- Fired Google Engineer James Damore Takes His Case to Reddit (Gizmodo)
- James Damore, Google, and the YouTube radicalization of angry white men (The Guardian)
The response to Charlottesville and the fight against online extremism
- Charlottesville is reshaping the fight against online hate (The Verge)
- A new machine learning app for reporting on hate in America (Google News Lab + ProPublica)
- Tech’s Swift Reaction To Hate Groups Was Years In The Making (Fast Company)
- Fighting Neo-Nazis and the Future of Free Expression (EFF)
- The Tor Project Defends the Human Rights Racists Oppose (Tor Project)
- Fresh Perspectives on Harmful Speech Online – Berkman Klein Center Collection (Nikki Bourassa)
- How the tech sector can legally justify breaking ties to extremists (Ars Technica)
- Web hosting, CDN companies torn as to how to respond to racist websites (Ars Technica)
- Twitter’s dilemma: What to do with Trump (Engadget)
- After Getting Its Website Banned, Neo-Nazi Site Daily Stormer Gets Kicked Off YouTube, Too (Tubefilter)
- Facebook and Reddit ban hate groups in wake of Charlottesville (Engadget)
- Neo-Nazi site moves to dark web after GoDaddy and Google bans (The Verge)
- Neo-Nazi Daily Stormer loses its Russian domain, too (Ars Technica)
- Following GoDaddy, the Daily Stormer’s Email Provider Drops It as a Customer (Motherboard)
- Discord bans servers that promote Nazi ideology (The Verge)
- Cloudflare CEO on Terminating Service to Neo-Nazi Site: 'The Daily Stormer Are Assholes' (Gizmodo)
- Read Apple CEO Tim Cook's Email To Employees About Charlottesville (Buzzfeed)
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Charlottesville and Barcelona: 'Terrorism is terrorism, and it takes many forms' (Business Insider)
- PayPal’s AUP - Remaining Vigilant on Hate, Violence & Intolerance (PayPal)
- Google explains why it banned the app for Gab, a right-wing Twitter rival (Ars Technica)
More around the web
- Yahoo! Games' Demise Shows What the Death of Flash Could Feel Like (Motherboard)
- Update gone wrong leaves 500 smart locks inoperable (Ars Technica)
- Hacker Whose Tools Were Used in DNC Hack Steps Forward (Technology Review)
- Why our brains lead us astray when we take things at face value (Ars Technica)
- A Teen’s International Space Station Experiment Will Help Us Colonize Mars (Motherboard)
Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ links
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Spam and personal attacks are not allowed. Any comment may be removed at my own discretion ~ Peggy