New ‘order’ sticker spotted in Instagram Stories

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Instagram may be looking to ramp up its shopping features.

A new “order” sticker recently appeared in the app’s Stories, alongside existing stickers as well as location and music features, according to a screenshot tweeted by social media consultant Matt Navarra. 

It’s not clear exactly how it would work, but there is a green dollar sign on the icon, suggesting it could incorporate payments in some way.

New! Instagram is testing an ‘Order’ sticker for Stories! pic.twitter.com/6zkqMw0eTt

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) May 28, 2019

Navarra, who has previously spotted unreleased features in Instagram and Facebook, also tweeted a similar screenshot with a “product” sticker appearing in Stories. Read more…

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Trump and Biden battle over older women on Facebook

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Who do the ladies love the most? Trump and Biden are hoping it’s them.

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has been pouring money into Facebook ads, particularly those targeting older women, according to Facebook data recently highlighted by the New York Times. There’s only one candidate who can hold a candle to the Trump campaign’s Facebook spending: Joe Biden.

SEE ALSO: Facebook wants to become more private, but not in the ways that matter most

Thanks to Facebook’s Ad Library, anyone is able to see just how much cash each campaign is spending on Facebook, what kind of ads they’re buying, and who those ads are reaching. This year, President Trump’s campaign has spent about $5 million on Facebook ads. Not until mid-March did all twenty-freaking-two of the democratic candidates combine to spend as much as Trump on Facebook advertising.  Read more…

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How to remove your private info from the web in an afternoon

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Google yourself. Go ahead, we’ll wait. Include some easily discoverable details: the city where you live, the name of your employer, and maybe your middle name. 

If you’re like most people, the results page will be full of data brokers offering anyone doing a cursory online search a host of information including your address, your phone number, your email, the names of your relatives and their addresses, and so much more. In a world rife with random doxxings, swattings, and scams, this is a problem. 

Thankfully, there’s something you can do about it. 

While removing all personally identifiable information from the internet is extremely difficult, there are a few simple steps you can take in your spare time to snip the low-hanging fruit. To be clear, if you have a specific reason to be concerned about a stalker or threats to your safety, then you’ll want to take steps above and beyond what’s laid out here. However, if you’re simply worried about your privacy in general and want to clean up your online footprint, then this act of privacy hygiene can go a long way.  Read more…

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The Trump admin really, really doesn’t want you to see this climate science

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The same scientific agencies that rocketed Neil Armstrong to the moon and forecast the landfall of hurricanes that pummel the U.S. coast also expect dramatic changes to Earth’s climate this century, should humanity continue to heat the planet. 

But the Trump administration no longer wants many federal scientists to consider longer-term consequences of saturating the atmosphere with the potent heat-trapping gas carbon dioxide, now likely at its highest level in millions of years.

As The New York Times reported on Monday, the head of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ordered the agency’s researchers to only project climate change impacts through 2040, as opposed to the end of the century. What’s more, The Times reported that the Trump administration might not include future high carbon emission scenarios (which are quite likely) in forthcoming climate reports, including the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment — a major report closely reviewed by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.   Read more…

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Albino panda cub is the cutest genetic rarity you’ll see today

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Thanks to a group of Chinese researchers and a rare genetic mutation, we’re discovering that the world’s best bear can get even more adorable.

On Sunday, scientists at Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan, China released a photo of an all-white, albino giant panda — believed to be the first of his (or her) kind known to human researchers. 

The image, taken by the reserve’s motion-activated cameras in mid-April, shows the one- to two-year-old panda cub walking through brush, approximately 2,000 meters above sea-level. With white claws, white fur, and red eyes, the unnamed critter carries all the hallmark signs of albinism.  Read more…

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TikTok owner reportedly planning its own smartphone

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TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, could soon be launching yet another ambitious project: their own smartphone. 

The Financial Times reported the new project, citing “two people familiar with the project,” on Monday. The plan is to focus on launching the phone with the company’s many apps pre-installed to lure buyers into choosing their phone over competitors. 

Besides TikTok, ByteDance also owns news app Jinri Toutiao, its Chinese version of TikTok called Douyin, and new messaging app Flipchat. It is reportedly also looking into its own music streaming service to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify.  Read more…

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