Instagram will let you rebuild your recommendations from scratch

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

The new feature will be available to users of all ages, including Teen accounts. “We want to make sure everyone on Instagram – especially teens – has safe, positive, age-appropriate experiences and feels the time they’re spending on Instagram is valuable,” Meta said. “We want to give teens new ways to shape their Instagram experience, so it can continue to reflect their passions and interests as they evolve.”

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/19/24300458/instagram-reset-content-recommendations-from-scratch

Brace Yourself for Ads on Threads in January

image via pcmag.com
image via pcmag.com

Meta execs have acknowledged that ads are coming to its newest social network. "We definitely plan to bring ads to Threads," Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, who also oversees Threads, said in April. "At the end of the day, we're a business, and Threads needs to make enough money to pay for the people and servers that it takes to run the service and provide it to people for free."

https://www.pcmag.com/news/brace-yourself-for-ads-on-threads-in-january

Apple now lets app developers apply to be featured on the App Store

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

App developers now have a new way to promote their app launches, updates, and other new features on Apple’s App Store. First announced at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June, Apple this week introduced a “Featuring Nominations” option in App Store Connect, which is the service developers use to submit their apps, games, and updates to the App Store. Now, instead of waiting for Apple to recognize their work, developers can nominate their own apps to be featured. This will allow developers to inform Apple about three different types of updates: new content, app enhancements, or new app launches.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/13/apple-now-lets-app-developers-apply-to-be-featured-on-the-app-store/

Striking New York Times tech workers made their own versions of Wordle and Connections

image via engadget.com
image via engadget.com

The New York Times Tech Guild asked the publication's readers not to play its games, including Wordle and Connections, in solidarity when it announced that it was going on strike on November 4. Now, the guild has released its own versions of the The Times' games so that readers can still play without crossing its digital picket line. Of course, the workers' versions won't be able to keep your Wordle streak running, but they're pretty much the same games you've been playing on the publication's website.

https://www.engadget.com/general/nyt-tech-workers-on-strike-made-their-own-versions-of-wordle-and-connections-130047922.html?src=rss

Hundreds of code libraries posted to NPM try to install malware on dev machines

image via arstechnica.com
image via arstechnica.com

An ongoing attack is uploading hundreds of malicious packages to the open source node package manager (NPM) repository in an attempt to infect the devices of developers who rely on code libraries there, researchers said. The malicious packages have names that are similar to legitimate ones for the Puppeteer and Bignum.js code libraries and for various libraries for working with cryptocurrency. The campaign, which was active at the time this post was going live on Ars, was reported by researchers from the security firm Phylum. The discovery comes on the heels of a similar campaign a few weeks ago targeting developers using forks of the Ethers.js library.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/11/javascript-developers-targeted-by-hundreds-of-malicious-code-libraries/

Netflix is removing nearly all of its interactive titles

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

The removal of the titles marks a disappointing conclusion to Netflix’s earliest efforts into interactive content. The company first launched the interactive titles in 2017 with Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale, and I remember being wowed (and horrified) by paths in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287857/netflix-removing-interactive-titles-games