Sound On
Ever wonder what an adorable little 7-week-old baby squirrel sounds like as it chews happily on a nut? Wonder no more! Beware of extreme cuteness though. Via Twitter
Fat Bear Stories
The famous fat bears the internet loves to follow as they bulk up for the Alaskan winter are back in action. The cams on the river where the bears feed were turned on this week so now you can tune in and judge Bear 856’s fishing skills all day long. Via Mashable
Code Gone Green
Programmers looking to cut carbon emissions to fight climate change are cutting their code. Smaller code means less data sent over the internet which means less energy used. Sustainable software design FTW! Via Wired
Google Gets Better
Google announced this week it will auto-delete web and app searches by default after 18 months for new user accounts. It will also auto-delete location history after 18 months for users with location tracking turned on. Existing users still have to turn these features on. Here’s how. Via Vox
So Long Facebook
North Face, REI, Patagonia, and more signed on to the #StopHateForProfit campaign and pledged not to pay for ads on Facebook platforms in July. The campaign hopes to put pressure on Facebook to develop better policies around sharing racist and hateful content. Mozilla signed on too (we stopped buying ads on Facebook back in 2018). Via The Guardian & Mozilla
Youthful Internet Exuberance
K-Pop stans and TikTok teens captured attention these last few weeks for their ingenious online actions. From requesting tickets to a Trump rally with no plans to show up, to taking over white nationalist hashtags to drown out hate speech, what does it mean for the future of internet activism? Via Vox & MIT Technology Review
Slacktivism That Works
With letter templates translated to many languages and users sharing about how to talk with parents, Slack is driving difficult conversations on racism in the Asian-American community. Via MIT Technology Review
Tech So White
Why are Black and Latino people kept out of the tech industry? The many problems include venture capitalists who rely on relationships and have none in communities of color, not recruiting from historically Black colleges, and company cultures unfriendly to people of color. Via LA Times
Doomscrolling to Burnout
That endless scrolling we do at bedtime each night reading the awful news of the day has been termed doomscrolling. It is really bad for our mental health and experts say we need to scroll less to save our sanity. Via Wired
A Toxic World
A wave of new sexual harassment allegations came out this week against big names in the gaming industry, no stranger to toxic behavior. Ubisoft, Bungie, and Cards Against Humanity all responded to allegations of misconduct. And Twitch faced a blackout for what users view as lack of action. Via Vice
How Mistakes Harm
Robert Julian-Borchak Williams was arrested in front of his family for a crime he didn’t commit thanks to a faulty facial recognition match. His story is a warning to everyone about the growing use of this technology. Via NY Times
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