Welcome to issue #9 of The Extra Mighell!
The links here represent the stories of the past week that I found interesting or noteworthy but had no time to cover on the blog - that’s why they’re “extra.”
On to the news….
The Week’s Top Stories
Each week I write a post called the Friday Tech Fix, with a brief summary of the technology news of the week that lawyers should care about. This week I discuss a new lawsuit against Google for tracking users who are browsing in Incognito mode, as well as a survey that shows that not many of you change your passwords after a data breach.
This Week in Coronavirus
If you want to properly social distance, but you’re not good at estimating that 6 foot requirement, Google’s got you covered, with an augmented reality tool that shows you where to draw that 6-foot line. [The Verge]
Security issues notwithstanding, there’s no question Zoom is the current darling of Work From Home life. Zoom’s very happy about that too, as they reported revenue growth of 169% for the first quarter, and doubled the company’s revenue guidance for the year. [CNBC]
Social Media
Twitter finally makes it possible to let you schedule your tweets. So if want to send tweets out at a specific time but don’t want to bother with the more complicated tools like Hootsuite or Buffer, you can schedule your tweets directly from Twitter’s web client. [The Verge]
And Facebook is making it easier for you to bulk-delete those embarrassing old posts, with a new feature called Manage Activity. [The Verge]
Security
Google rolled out Scam Spotter this week, which offers simple, easy to understand information about spotting and avoiding online scams, which are expected to net over $2 billion this year.
Gadgets
I am guessing not many of you have Google’s Pixel phones, but if you do, Google’s June feature drop offers some nice new phone features - including Google Clock features focused on helping you sleep, a new “safety check” capability that will alert select contacts if you don’t check in on time, a new adaptive battery feature that can predict when your battery will run out and reduce background activities. You can also just say “Hey Google, start recording my meeting,” and Google Recorder will start automatically. [9to5 Google]
New Apps/Tools
Here are some of the new apps and tools that debuted over the past week. Note: these are brand new, so I haven’t had time to try them out myself - but the definitely look interesting!
You may have heard about the Brave browser, which offers internet browsing with a lot more privacy protection. Well, the Brave folks are now out with Brave Together, a no-friction private video conferencing service for friends and family. Everyone who wants to use this must download the Brave browser.
This doesn’t fall under the category of New Apps, but it is a new partnership. Slack is partnering with Amazon for voice and video calling, to take on Microsoft Teams, which has enjoyed increased popularity the past few months. Let the games begin. [The Verge]
Fun and Games
Ziago offers a set of games to play during your next Zoom happy hour, including Who Am I?, Most Likely, Team Taboo, and more.
Finally, this. The birds in my neighborhood aren’t this talented.
See you next week!
— Tom