Media

A time capsule for the World Wide Web

Written by

Tim Carmody, writing for Kottke.org:

This week, I am proposing an experiment. I am asking you — all of you: readers of Kottke.org, my friends, my colleagues, my strangers, my citizens of the World Wide Web, people who have known the grandeur of the best webcomics, the best YouTube videos, the best memes, the best stories and articles and entire blogs and games and nonsense with which we entertain and edify ourselves every day — I am asking you:

WHAT’S THE BEST THING YOU GOT

This is a chance to help select your favorite internet thing. Here’s a link to the questionnaire. Can’t wait to see the results. Me, I’m going with the classic, David After Dentist (Is this real life?)

YouTube won’t allow ads until videos hit 10,000 view threshold

Written by

Starting today, we will no longer serve ads on YPP videos until the channel reaches 10k lifetime views. This new threshold gives us enough information to determine the validity of a channel. It also allows us to confirm if a channel is following our community guidelines and advertiser policies. By keeping the threshold to 10k views, we also ensure that there will be minimal impact on our aspiring creators. And, of course, any revenue earned on channels with under 10k views up until today will not be impacted.

These high school journalists investigated a new principal’s credentials. Days later, she resigned.

Written by

Washington Post:

A group of reporters and editors from the student newspaper, the Booster Redux at Pittsburg High School in southeastern Kansas, had gathered to talk about Amy Robertson, who was hired as the high school’s head principal on March 6.

The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials. For one, when they researched Corllins University, the private university where Robertson said she got her master’s and doctorate degrees years ago, the website didn’t work. They found no evidence that it was an accredited university.

“There were some things that just didn’t quite add up,” Balthazor told The Washington Post.

The students began digging into a weeks-long investigation that would result in an article published Friday questioning the legitimacy of the principal’s degrees and of her work as an education consultant.

On Tuesday night, Robertson resigned.

Journalism! You can read the student’s article here.

Lexus April Fools’ Day prank

Written by

[VIDEO] This is so well done, you might be fooled into thinking this was real. At least if you didn’t read the fine print about 38 seconds in.

If only this was real. Video embedded in main Loop post.

Camera falls from airplane and lands in pig pen

Written by

[Video] So many questions. How did they get their phone back? Did they intentionally drop the phone from the airplane and just get lucky with the landing?

Regardless, this is some entertaining video, circa 2014. Video embedded in main Loop post.

Robot’s delight

Written by

[VIDEO] I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip, hip hop, and you don’t stop.

Hope over to the main Loop post for an update to this update to The Sugar Hill Gang’s seminal Rapper’s Delight.

Netflix is testing a button for skipping the opening credits

Written by

Why not? This is just the tip of the iceberg. Why not add in tech that lets us speed up a video, dropping duplicated frames when a camera shot stays in place for an extended period, or when a transition from scene to scene is overly slow? How about a smart button that lets us jump from scene to scene to more accurately find a specific spot in a movie?

For purists, this is anathema. I get it. But the beauty of adding tech like this is, you can easily just ignore it. It’s not the same as the difference between a director’s cut and one cut for commercial TV. Those are different as night and day and there’s nothing you can do to convert the cut up version to the original.

I applaud the layering of AI in this space. Bring it on. Just be sure I can disable any add-ons and watch the content in its original form.

Myke Hurley’s excellent Nintendo Switch review

Written by

[VIDEO] Myke Hurley did a fantastic job pulling together this video walkthrough of the Nintendo Switch. It’s informative in the best possible way, conveying lots of detail while still being watchable and interesting.

If you are interested in the Switch, this is absolutely worth your time. As always, the video is embedded in the main Loop post.

25 songs that tell us where music is going

Written by

This sort of interactive media exploration is something the New York Times does very well. Just a heads up: Some of the song lyrics are NSFW and the songs play when they scroll into view, so consider headphones before you dig in.

But do dig in.

Conan: Introducing Apple Healthcare

Written by

[VIDEO] Click through to the main Loop post for Conan’s take on Apple Healthcare. Some thing you just can’t unsee.

Netflix adding tech that lets you edit storylines with your remote

Written by

Daily Mail:

Whether you love happy endings or a harsh blast of reality in TV dramas, you could soon be able to decide what you get. Netflix, the TV-streaming company behind hit shows such as The Crown and House Of Cards, is working on ways to give viewers control of key plot decisions.

Some of the storylines will be simple and linear, like the Choose Your Own Adventure books many grew up with.

For example, viewers might decide whether an inmate in the prison drama Orange Is The New Black joins a gang or not.

This is a fascinating development. Imagine a future where you can steer movie plots based on your preferences. Or, perhaps, an AI in your Apple TV could know you well enough to choose and customize content for you. The future!

The New York Times headline broadside on Apple AirPods

Written by

What the hell was the New York Times thinking with this headline:

How to Decide Which Headphones to Buy (Hint: Not Apple’s AirPods)

If you only saw the headline, which is the case for many people, there’s an obvious conclusion: Apple AirPods are not worth considering, not worth even a look.

From the article itself, here’s Wirecutter’s headphone editor (Wirecutter is owned by the NYT) Lauren Dragan:

Ah, the AirPods. The current working term for those kinds of headphones is “true wireless.” Aside from not having a cord to tangle and being decent at taking phone calls, the AirPods didn’t improve much over the corded EarPods. The sound quality is the same (which is to say, meh, with no bass). Plus the battery life is less than a full day at work, so you had better remember to charge them at lunch time. And this for $130 more than a replacement pair of EarPods? I don’t think they’re fully cooked yet.

Ai-yi-yi.

This whole thing smacks of click-bait journalism. The New York Times ran that headline based on an interview with an owned site, without vetting those details. The opinion of the piece is one thing (I disagree with the battery conclusion, and it misses things like range, ease of pairing, and inserts bass bias, which is subjective) but the headline seems handcrafted to create controversy, pull in eyeballs.

Every New York Times front page since 1852

Written by

[VIDEO] Video on the main Loop post. Best viewed on a large screen. Wish there was a timeline on the screen so you could see the year. But that nit aside, fascinating to watch the paper’s design evolve, very subtly. Amazing how late in the game color made its appearance.

Facebook in talks to live stream one Major League Baseball game per week

Written by

Reuters:

Facebook Inc is in talks with Major League Baseball to live stream one game per week during the upcoming season, which could be a key win as the social media platform works to offer more live sports, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Facebook has pushed to sign deals with owners of sports rights to live stream their games, going after an audience that competitor Twitter Inc is also trying to capture, according to sports media consultants.

For social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, live streaming sports is key to attracting people since sports is one of the few types of content that people still watch live.

Streaming live sports is still an experiment searching for a business model. It’s not clear that Twitter made money on last year’s Thursday Night Football stream. No doubt, their engagement numbers went up, but did they sell enough ads at a high enough price to pay the NFL’s asking price?

If Reuter’s story proves true, Facebook will be competing with Major League Baseball’s various subscription services, already in place. Baseball already does streaming very, very well. Tough to see what Facebook adds to the equation.

And then there’s the question of Apple TV. Major League Baseball subscriptions are already on Apple TV. Will a Facebook deal impact game availability? Will there be new blackout dates?

Will Apple pursue live sports in a deeper way than hosting apps? Put another way, will Apple lock down games as exclusive streaming events? They certainly have the cash to make that happen. But as they do, Apple might be waiting for the business model to mature.

Weird Al releases rare Beatles cover as a sneak peek at his late 2017 boxed set

Written by

[VIDEO] Weird Al has a career-spanning boxed set in the works, due for release this November. One track in the set is a never-commercially-released Beatles cover (video embedded in the main Loop post). I’m told that Weird Al recorded this in his garage, sent it to Dr. Demento, but Beatles’ lawyers sent him a cease and desist to prevent him from releasing it. Not sure what’s changed.

If you like Weird Al, this is some excellent work. Enjoy.

GoWatchIt tracks Netflix, HBOGo, etc., lets you know when a show or movie you want to watch is available

Written by

GoWatchIt tracks all the major sites (Netflix, Amazon video, HBO Go, Hulu, iTunes, etc.), along with DVD, Blu-ray, in theater, and on demand. Add shows you want to watch to your queue and GoWatchIt will email you when your show or movie is available.

As an example, I wanted to watch The King of Comedy (very obscure Martin Scorsese, Robert Di Nero movie), but it never seemed to hit on cable. Just got an email that it is showing on Starz. DVR set. Would have missed this. Thanks, GoWatchIt.

Apple’s new iPad Pro campaign

Written by

[VIDEO] These four spots (embedded in the main Loop post) started running on Friday. As Rene Ritchie points out, these spots have that “I’m a Mac” feel to them.

The difference is that there is no character carry, no one who appears in all the ads. The design and tone is what carries from spot to spot.

See what you think.

Google and fact checking the news

Written by

Last October, Google introduced something called the Fact Check tag. The idea is, publishers include the tag in a story for it to be considered for the tag. When the story is posted on Google News, a fact check-approved story will appear with the Fact Check label.

Here’s the original post about the Fact Check tag. And here’s an update from Google on the current state of Fact Check.

This is a great start. But it is far too limited. We need fact checking to spread beyond the Google News bubble. We need a Fact Check standard to spread to every single source of news, across the political spectrum.

When you go food shopping, you know you can check the standardized ingredients label to see how much sodium or fat is in a product. We need a reliable, verifiable label like that for the news. Sites could achieve an “All Fact” label if they achieve a set minimum percentage of fact checked stories.

Apple has an opportunity here. Join with Google to spread the fact check concept to Apple News. And beyond. My two cents? This is incredibly important.

Heroic driver sacrifices his Tesla to save unconscious man in runaway Volkswagen

Written by

Jalopnik:

Near Munich, Germany, a man in a Tesla Model S saw a Volkswagen Passat swerving erratically on the Autobahn, slamming against a guardrail multiple times. When he noticed that the person behind the wheel was unconscious, the Tesla driver sprang into action.

Muenchner Merkur reports that this “action” involved the 41 year-old driver in the Tesla calling the fire department, and then pulling his Model S in front of the out-of-control Passat.

He then tapped the brakes so the Passat was contacting his rear bumper, and slowly, the two cars came to a halt. Shortly thereafter, the fire department came to assist the unconscious driver, who, the German daily newspaper says, likely suffered a stroke.

Great, selfless action.

Elon Musk got wind of the story and tweeted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/831969536584806400

And then:

https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/831972613912080384

Good stuff all the way around. Going out on a limb, I assume that a driverless car would do the same thing. At least, I hope that’s the case.

Apple’s Planet of the Apps trailer

Written by

[VIDEO] From the info page:

Planet of the Apps celebrates the world of apps and the talented people who create them. Hosted by Zane Lowe and featuring advisers Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk and will.i.am, the series highlights developers who have the vision to shape the future, solve real problems, and inspire change within our daily lives.

This feels like a mix of Shark Tank and The Voice. As a developer and investor, I’m intrigued by the concept. The hard part is to straddle the channel between broad entertainment and entrepreneurial detail. Keep it fun while still teaching some skill or lesson.

I’ll definitely give this a watch. Trailer is embedded in the main Loop post.

Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke: New trailer

Written by

[VIDEO] A sign of things to come. Note the Planet of the Apps reference (no way that’s accidental) at 2:08 in. Video embedded in the main Loop post.

Apple Music Carpool Karaoke series trailer

Written by

[VIDEO] Solid trailer. The energy feels about the same as the ones in the Late Late Show with James Corden. From the video’s info page:

Based on the segment that has become a global, viral video sensation on The Late Late Show with James Corden, the new CARPOOL KARAOKE series features 16 celebrity pairings riding along in a car together as they sing tunes from their personal playlists and surprise fans who don’t expect to see big stars belting out tunes one lane over.

And:

Featuring James Corden, Will Smith, Billy Eichner, Metallica, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Ariana Grande, Seth MacFarlane, Chelsea Handler, Blake Shelton, Michael Strahan, John Cena, Shaquille O’Neal, and many more.

Here’s a link to the series home page.

Jump to the original Loop post for the embedded video.

Watch this robot walk, maintain balance on two legs

Written by

[VIDEO] This is incredible work. Jump to about 2:23 in and watch Cassie maintain its balance when pushed side to side. This is an incredibly difficult problem to solve. Video in the main Loop post.