Jun 07
“Civility is just nice words. Maybe we should all worry a little bit more about the niceness of our actions.”
Jun 07
Hannity Tells Mueller Witnesses: Bash Your Phones ‘To Little Itsy Bitsy Pieces’
Posted in: Today's ChiliFox News host made a sarcastic comparison to Hillary Clinton.
Jun 07
It might be rare but not totally unheard of to see older computers of ages past being sold or help for auction. It is, however, rare to see one of the very few Apple-I computers in existence getting that treatment. Even rarer when that said 42-year old computer can still actually boot up, with very few modifications. That is exactly … Continue reading
Jun 07
Jun 07
Storefronts such as the iOS App Store and Google Play tend to be heavily moderated, which means that apps submitted need to undergo a rigorous review process to check for illegal content and appropriateness before being allowed to go on sale. However it seems that Valve has decided that they will no longer do that for the Steam Store.
In a post on its website, Valve has announced that they will be effectively taking a hands-off approach when it comes to policing content on Steam. “Valve shouldn’t be the ones deciding this. If you’re a player, we shouldn’t be choosing for you what content you can or can’t buy. If you’re a developer, we shouldn’t be choosing what content you’re allowed to create. Those choices should be yours to make. Our role should be to provide systems and tools to support your efforts to make these choices for yourself, and to help you do it in a way that makes you feel comfortable.”
Now this doesn’t mean that Steam will suddenly become the wild west where everything and anything goes. Instead Valve’s decision seems to be in response to recent instances such as the initial plan to censor adult novels on Steam (or risk getting removed), to the outcry to remove certain games.
According to Valve, “With that principle in mind, we’ve decided that the right approach is to allow everything onto the Steam Store, except for things that we decide are illegal, or straight up trolling. Taking this approach allows us to focus less on trying to police what should be on Steam, and more on building those tools to give people control over what kinds of content they see.”
Valve Adopting A More Hands-Off Approach On Policing Steam Content , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Jun 07
Earlier today a report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Instagram had plans to allow users to upload long-form videos up to an hour long. This would no doubt change the way Instagram is being used, although we did highlight some concerns about it, namely how there aren’t any dedicated video control options in Instagram now, and more importantly how would it fit into Instagram’s feed.
According to a new report from TechCrunch, more details about Instagram’s video plans have been revealed. Apparently what Instagram plans to do is create a new dedicated section specifically for long-form videos. This is expected to be the company’s version of Snapchat’s Discover, which we guess shouldn’t be too surprising since Instagram has been “borrowing” some Snapchat features for a while now.
The report goes on to add that these videos aren’t expected to be TV quality kind of videos, but will instead be more towards the kind of videos that you might expect from YouTube, which isn’t a bad thing actually. As expected Instagram is hoping to entice creators to upload onto its platform by letting them earn money from it, although exactly how remains to be seen.
As to when we might be able to look forward to this new video feature, TechCrunch claims that Instagram is eyeing a launch on the 20th of June, but apparently it is tentative which means that it could change. Either way we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for it.
Instagram’s Long-Form Videos To Have A Dedicated Space Of Its Own , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Jun 07
Amazon can be credited (or blamed) for creating and pushing for the fast-growing smart speaker market. Lately, it can also be blamed for making people suddenly pause and reconsider their choices. Perhaps Amazon wants to show that it’s business as usual for its Echo devices, the retailer has just announced that its Echo Look device is now available for all … Continue reading
Jun 07
Considering the product and company names, it might be cringe-worthy to say that DreamWorld’s DreamGlass is a dream come true. At least that’s the promise of what could be the most affordable AR headset in the market. But more than just a cheaper headset, DreamGlass is promising things that few other augmented reality platforms make, including compatibility with both PCs … Continue reading
Jun 07
Drone-based surveillance still makes many people uncomfortable, but that isn’t stopping research into more effective airborne watchdogs. Scientists have developed an experimental drone system that uses AI to detect violent actions in crowds. The te…
Jun 07
Royalties on music streaming platforms is still a hotly debated topic because there are plenty of artists who feel that the amount they get from streaming isn’t as much compared to a la carte purchases or physical album sales. While larger artists might not be as affected as they have other sources of revenue and might have better deals, this is a problem for smaller indie acts.
However the good news for such acts is that Spotify could have a solution to the problem. In a report from Billboard, they have heard from their sources that Spotify apparently plans on offering indie acts advances, which basically means a lump sum of money upfront, in exchange for these acts to directly license their music with Spotify.
This would mean that they would get 50% of the per-stream revenue, which according to Billboard is less than 54% which is under conventional arrangements. However the ability to bypass publishers who will take additional cuts could mean more money in the long run. The best part is that Spotify is not asking artists to turn over their rights or make their music exclusive, which means that these artists can go and shop their music to other streaming platforms such as Apple.
If this report is true, it is an interesting approach by Spotify especially when you consider the recent rumors that Apple has formed their own publishing division.
Spotify To Offer Indie Artists Advances In Exchange For Licensing , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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