Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Libby
1. Happy International When’s International Men’s Day Day
Falling on 8th March, according to the website, International Women’s Day is:
“… a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.”
A great cause, indeed. 8th March is also the day that Richard Herring, comedian and writer, takes to Twitter to help those unable to use a search engine find out exactly when International Men’s Day is…
The fucks 19th Nov RT @KhashiNiknejad: lol the fucks international womens day? wheres international mens day
????— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) 8 March 2016
For the third year in a row, Herring patiently (and manually!) responded to people who were questioning the existence of an International Men’s Day, although there were questions about the authenticity of some of the enquiries:
80/20 19th Nov RT @Garrick78: What % of people asking when is IMD are actually stupid compared to the % who are just playing, @Herring1967?
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 8, 2016
Even if he was being trolled a little this year, Herring’s annual plight to take on the internet to promote IWD and IMD is both amusing and valuable – and he had help this year!
Working on this with my own international woman (she wants little baby bum back on) pic.twitter.com/GmpLjrxh2n
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) 8 March 2016
2. The end of referral spam?
Although Google’s yet to officially confirm it, there is careful rejoicing amongst SEOs due to evidence suggesting referral spam in Google Analytics is on the decline.
The SEM Post and Search Engine Roundtable both reported the drop in dodgy referrers with the latter referencing a discussion over at localsearchforum.com.
After about a year or so of frustratedly filtering out referral spam, it would certainly be a welcome treat to see the back of the likes of free-share-buttons.com etc.
3. Internet trolls could face criminal charges
The Crown Prosecution Service released guidelines toward the backend of last week asking lawyers to prosecute those who use fake online profiles to harass others.
“Advice has been added to the guidelines about the use of false online profiles and websites with false and damaging information. For example, it may be a criminal offence if a profile is created under the name of the victim with fake information uploaded which, if believed, could damage their reputation and humiliate them. In some cases the information could then be shared in such a way that it appears as though the victim has themselves made the statements This may amount to an offence, such as grossly offensive communication or harassment.” – CPS.gov.uk
The article goes on to outline the increase in cyber-related crime, suggesting these updated guidelines will “make sure offenders are brought to justice”.
Opinion on the new advice is mixed. Some welcome the changes while others are concerned about where the line will be drawn in terms of free speech. Never-the-less, with reports suggesting one in three children have been a victim of cyberbullying, most are in agreement that something needs to be done.
4. It’s-a-me, Mario!
The 10th March, in the gamer-world, it know as Mario Day. So-called because if you write the date backwards, it kinda looks like the word Mario:
See?
Mario was ‘born’ out of a Donkey Kong game in 1981, and then he and his younger brother, Luigi, starred in Mario Bros. two years later. “Big whoop,” I hear you cry, “Why does a 30-year-old fictional plumber get his own day?” well, this guy’s been through a lot, and I’m not just talking about his adventures in trying to save Princess Peach. Despite the video game crash (aka Atari Shock) in 1983, Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System in America and Super Mario Bros., a platform game with expansive levels, unpredictable twists and sweet stunts. According to Mario Sales Data, the game has sold 40.24 million copies – it’s the best-selling video game in the Mario series – so, yeah, the guy deserves his own day…
Thanks everyone for celebrating #MAR10Day with us! Now … back to playing your favorite Mario game! pic.twitter.com/HHIEbA8OD7
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) 11 March 2016
5. Codename: Chicago
Finally, as we’ve had a birthday in the office this week, so came the inevitable discussion around age and how ‘times have changed’. What better way to illustrate this than by watching some whippersnappers struggle with Windows 95?
