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There's a Secret Internet Arms Race

Andrew Orr ·

It involves scraper bots and the ways in which retailers use them against rivals.

For retailers, scraping can be a two-way street, and that’s where things get interesting. Retailers want to see what their rivals are doing, but they want to prevent rivals from snooping on them; retailers also want to protect intellectual property like product photos and descriptions, which can be scraped and reused without permission by others. So many deploy defenses to subvert scraping. One technique: showing different prices to real people than to bots. A site may show the price as astronomically high or zero to throw off bots collecting data.

Machines making machines and fighting other machines. How perverse.

This App Lets You Ask Questions of Experts
Cool Stuff Found

This App Lets You Ask Questions of Experts

Andrew Orr ·

Ask questions. You pick a team of experts based on your question topic or on the type of experts. Type in your question and hit send. Your question will be sent to that team of experts right away. As soon as possible, an expert will respond. Sometimes multiple experts will respond if they have something to add to the conversation. Think of it like a group chat – feel free to ask them more questions, respond, say thanks, etc. Depending on what you asked about, an expert might follow up with you later to see how things are going and if there’s anything else they can do to help. The experts have a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Some are health educators, researchers, sex workers, and teachers. Others are smart folks who have been there and want to share their experiences. Every expert is vetted by staff to make sure you’re talking to people who want to help you get the support you need. App Store: okayso – Free

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eBay Ready to Accept Apple Pay this Fall

Jeff Gamet ·

You can use Apple Pay for eBay purchases starting this fall. That’s great news for Apple and its contactless payment platform, but not so much for PayPal. From the Bloomberg piece:

EBay gives Apple Pay a credibility jolt in the digital wallet space that online shoppers have been slow to embrace since using credit cards online and in stores isn’t that difficult. EBay could shore up some sales for loyal iPhone users who occasionally back out of purchases when Apple Pay isn’t accepted. Apple gets a small fee from transactions made on the platform.

Of course, PayPal most likely saw this coming since eBay has been openly moving away from the online payment processing company since the two split in 2015.

TMO Deals

PowerItUp 2-in-1 USB Car Adapter and Power Bank: $16.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on the PowerItUp 2-in-1 USB Car Adapter and Power Bank. It plugs into your auxiliary power outlet on your car (i.e. your cigarette lighter) with a USB charging port (2.1 amp) for your devices. It also has a 3,000mAh portable battery built right into it, with a fuze for overcharge and over-current protection. It’s $16.99 through our deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxyuSPDUKKE

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Why Twitter Has a Free Speech Problem

Andrew Orr ·

Twitter is home to alt-right trolls, neo-Nazis, and then there’s Alex Jones. Will Oremus writes about Twitter’s free speech problem (problem is my opinion).

The Twitter executive leading these moderation efforts is Vijaya Gadde, the company’s legal, public policy, and trust and safety lead. I recently interviewed Gadde on Slate’s technology podcast, If Then, where we discussed Twitter’s current approach to harassment, hate speech, and misinformation; whether the social network’s very structure encourages these problems; and why conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones are still allowed to have Twitter accounts.

If you want to see a good example of platform moderation, look to r/AskHistorians on Reddit. Twitter and Facebook need to pay attention.