Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 56
November 17, 2017
Facebook made an app just for video creators
In its latest attempt to woo video creators away from YouTube, Facebook has released an app just for them. It’s called Facebook Creator, and it includes a bunch of tools for streaming video, updating Stories, and message people across several of Facebook’s platforms.
Facebook has long had an app for people who manage Facebook Pages, and it’s also had an app for celebrities that did this kind of community building, too. In fact, Facebook Creator is really just an updated and rebranded version of that app — originally called Facebook Mentions (and still called that, since it seems to be stuck that way on the App Store for now) — but now it’s open to everyone.
There are two main draws to the Creator app. First, it includes some special features for Facebook Live. Anyone using it will be able to create custom intros and outros — intros are especially handy, as it takes a moment before other people see the link and start watching — as well as the ability to add interactive stickers and a custom video frame. The app is also able to take and edit photos and post them to Facebook Stories and other platforms (it’s not clear if that includes Instagram, but it really should).
The second big draw is communication. The app creates a unified inbox for comments on Facebook and Instagram and messages from Messenger, so that you don’t have to bounce between different apps in order to respond to people. The app doesn’t seem to cover every possible messaging vector inside of Facebook’s services, but it sounds like a handy start.
Finally, there are analytics too, so that creators can obsessively refresh the page wondering whether they’ve successfully gamed Facebook’s latest algorithm change. The app is available on iOS immediately and is supposed to come to Android in “the coming months.”
The app sounds handy for people who are already doing these things. But the bigger story might just be that Facebook is trying to show it cares about the community of independent vloggers. The same people who this app is designed to appeal to are currently struggling with odd changes and errors over at YouTube. Facebook has wanted to poach them for years now. One app isn’t going to suddenly change things, but a continued commitment could help win people over.
Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/16/16667030/facebook-creator-app-announced-launches
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November 16, 2017
Tesla opens two largest Supercharger stations and a customer lounge
Tesla has opened its largest U.S. Superchargers with an integrated and first of-its-kind customer lounge, food services and areas designated for families. The 40-stall Supercharger station in Kettleman City and Baker, CA are strategically located at halfway points between popular travel routes, connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco and Los Angeles with Las Vegas, respectively. Each Supercharger station will include access to food and craft beverages, a kid’s play wall, pet relief area, and outdoor space for families, according a Tesla spokesperson.
In addition to the amenities aimed at providing comfort for drivers, families and their pets while charging, the new Supercharger stations will incorporate a small apparel and accessories section where people can purchase Tesla-branded items, while also learning more about the company’s line of energy products through self-guided kiosks.
The “mega” Supercharger locations follow the installation of the world’s largest Supercharger station that recently came online in Shanghai, and arrives before the busy holiday travel season. Tesla’s high-powered charging stations in Kettleman City and Baker each have a solar canopy and Tesla’s Powerpack battery storage units.
Tesla indicates that the new customer lounges will be accessible 24/7 to Tesla drivers and accessible via a building code that will be displayed on their vehicle’s touchscreen.
Photos courtesy of @MojaTeslaX via Facebook
The new locations are also adorned with a large overhead sign bearing Tesla’s logo and the word “Supercharger”.
The California-based electric car maker is committed to expanding its network of charging stations in the U.S. and abroad. Tesla has committed to installing 1,000 Superchargers in China by the end of this year, as it looks to expand its footprint in the world’s largest auto market. The company also began to augment its Supercharger network that’s been traditionally aimed at long-distance travel with new urban Superchargers designed for inner city and local travel. Teslarati was able to capture a detailed first look at Tesla’s urban Supercharger at the North Columbus Drive station in Chicago.
Source:
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-mega-supercharger-lounge-food-kids-area-kettleman-baker-ca/
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November 15, 2017
Bumblebee: Transformers Spinoff’s Official Logo Goes Retro
Production on Transformers: Bumblebee, the first Transformers spin-off, has wrapped and star Hailee Steinfeld took to Instagram to unveil the first logo for the forthcoming film, which easily captures the ’80s setting of the project.
The logo, which you can see below, teases Bumblebee’s return to his 1980s Volkswagen Beetle form, and manages to capture the feel of The Iron Giant — a film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura compared the spinoff to in previous interviews. The treatment is also, admittedly, a much different take than the logo that was reported back in May.
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It’s worth noting that most films go through various versions of a logo before their theatrical release, so it’s entirely possible that the final logo will be much different when the film is released next year.
The Bumblebee spinoff will mark the first off-shoot from Michael Bay’s Transformers universe, which saw the most recent installment, Transformers: The Last Knight, released back in June. It’ll also mark the first live-action film for Knight, who made his directing debut with last year’s Kubo And The Two Strings. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and wrestler-turned-actor John Cena.
Source:
https://www.cbr.com/transformers-bumblebee-movie-logo/
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Mozilla Brings Competition to Google Chrome With New Firefox Quantum Browser
Mozilla launched Tuesday its new next-generation browser Firefox Quantum for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, and Windows, in what the company calls the “biggest update” in 13 years.
Firefox Quantum, also called Firefox 57, has a new user interface that gives it a more modern look. More importantly, Firefox Quantum is built to be faster and easier to use, an effort that could help Mozilla scrape back users it lost to rivals Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari browser.
Firefox was one of the fastest growing Internet browsers in the late 2000s. But it lost momentum as Google Chrome, which is the leading U.S. browser on desktops, gained new users.
Mozilla released a test version of Firefox Quantum web browser in September in preparation for its upcoming official debut in November. Developers have been tinkering with the test version over the past several weeks to let Mozilla know if there are any bugs or security holes prior to Tuesday’s public release.
Speed is the big message that Mozilla is pushing with Firefox Quantum. The company says it brings massive performance improvements thanks to Project Quantum, the code name Mozilla used while building next-generation architecture for a new Firefox.
“Anyone who downloads this version, which is so advanced we call it “Firefox Quantum,” simply can’t help but notice the speed, performance improvements, and the responsively slick new UI,” wrote David Bryant in a Medium post Tuesday. Bryant is a fellow in Mozilla’s Emerging Technologies organization.
Firefox Quantum is capable of 66 runs per minute, that’s twice as fast as its previous version, according to Speedometer, a browser benchmark that measures the responsiveness of web applications. Mozilla says Firefox Quantum also uses 30% less memory than Google Chrome.
Here are a few details about Firefox Quantum that users might notice:
Google is the new default search provider in the United States and Canada.
The tab you’re on gets prioritized over all others
Private browsing mode
Performance improvements in the browser’s core
A new CSS engine called Stylo. Even if that’s getting too technical for you, this is what matters: Stylo is designed to take better advantage of hardware and for low power consumption.
Mozilla has also integrated the popular app Pocket, lets people save web content for later readings and viewings, into the new Firefox Quantum. Mozilla acquired Read It Later, the startup that made Pocket, back in February. Recommendations from Pocket are now part of the new tab experience in Firefox Quantum. When users open a new tab in Firefox, they’ll now see three recommended stories from Pocket.
Source:
http://fortune.com/2017/11/14/mozilla-firefox-quantum-chrome/
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November 14, 2017
‘Pokémon GO’ Gets a ‘Pokémon Ultra Sun’ and ‘Moon’ Crossover Tie-In
Pokémon GO briefly crossed over with the main generations of Pokémon games Monday in a totally surprising and really low-key way. Now, you can dress up your Pokémon GO avatar just like the characters from the upcoming main generation of Pokémon games.
Niantic announced via the Pokémon GO blog Monday the release of these new avatar items meant to celebrate the upcoming launch of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Pokémon GO players will be able to dress their character up in the same outfits worn by the protagonists in the new games.
Much like Sun and Moon, both Ultra games are also set in the tropical region of Alola, so the outfits reflect a much warmer climate than your avatar is probably used to. There are bathing suits, fun hats, tank tops, and items that looks like you’d only ever wear them on the beach.
The Pokémon GO versions of the character outfits look decidedly more mature than they do in-game:
The new pair of protagonists look much more fun and tropical than the ‘Sun’ and ‘Moon’ counterparts.The region of Alola was first introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon, in which the player explored the Hawaii-inspired islands and completed challenges new to the Pokémon franchise. But now, strange portals in the Ultra sequels let players catch pretty much every Legendary Pokémon ever and square off against the villainous Team Rainbow Rocket, a team-up of every villainous group ever.
We’re probably still a long way away from any Alola Pokémon making their way into Pokémon GO considering we’re still several generations away from reaching that far. But you never know. If Niantic is willing to promote Ultra Sun and Moonin this way, maybe they’d be willing to sneak some fun Alolan Pokémon into your local wilderness.
The new outfits are now available in Pokémon GO, and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be released for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems on November 17, 2017.
Source:
https://www.inverse.com/article/38402-pokemon-go-ultra-sun-ultra-moon-alolan-outfits
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Pokémon Fans Are Losing Their Minds At The End Of The New Movie
There is a weird thing about the new Pokémon movie that is kind of a spoiler, so if you’re sensitive to that stuff, look away. If you’re not, here is a room full of adults losing their shit over what happens at the end of the newest movie in the series, I Choose You!
The iconic Pokémon, who has functioned as the series mascot since the late 1990s, has traditionally been unable to speak human languages. Like most other Pokémon, he could only repeat his own name.
But in a surreal sequence from Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, released in Japan in July and now in English, Pikachu tells his trainer and companion Ash Ketchum that he “always wants to be with you”.
During one screening of the movie posted to Twitter, viewers reacted with audible gasps and alarm.
One muttered “What the fuck?” while a man can be heard to shout “No!”.
Ryan Broderick(@broderick)
Hi, I am just learning that Pikachu speaks English in the new Pokemon movie and, yes, it is extremely fucking weird pic.twitter.com/k5hm5lyW7Y
November 13, 2017
The distressing scene is said to be made more unsettling by Pikachu’s high-pitched voice.
Kate Bristol, the film’s English languge voice actor for Pikachu, said in a statementthat even other members of the cast found it “bizarre” and “super weird”.
The surprising dialogue has been widely interpreted as occurring during a dream sequence or hallucination inside the protagonist Ash Ketchum’s head.
“I think the literal circumstances under which Pikachu is ‘speaking’ are up to interpretation,” Bristol said. “I saw it as something in Ash’s mind. But it’s up to anyone. And it’s OK to think it’s super weird.
“I sat in the theatre with the rest of the cast while everyone shouted ‘what the fuck’ and I sat there laughing at how bizarre it all is, especially hearing my squeaky little voice come out of it.
“Personally, I did my best to mimic [Japanese voice actor] Ikue Otani as she is the master. This part in Japanese is adorable. At the end of the day Pokémon is a good time and I sure as hell enjoyed being a Pikachu for 0.5 seconds.”
The original Japanese release of the film contains a similar scene where Pikachu speaks Japanese, but has not prompted the same reaction.
The animated version of Pikachu first appeared in the Pokémon anime television series, which debuted in Japan on 1 April 1997, and has spawned numerous sequels and movies.
This all stemmed from the popularity of the original Pokémon video game, developed by Nintendo and Game Freak, released in 1996.
In North America, the game was released as Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998 and sparked a wave of Pokémon frenzy, becoming one of the world’s most popular gaming and television franchises.
In the animated series only one Pokémon – Meowth, a cat-like Pokémon who functions as an antagonist – has generally been acknowledged as being able to speak.
Other Pokémon, including a different Pikachu in the 3DS game Great Detective Pikachu, have been depicted as speaking English, but these are not considered consistent with the canon of the series.
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/14/pokemon-fans-shock-pikachu-speaks-english-movie
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Ben Affleck confirms plans to quit Batman, looking for “cool way to segue out”
Ben Affleck is once again throwing doubt on the claim that he’s going to star in the standalone Bruce Wayne film The Batman. The Justice League star said in a recent interview with USA Today that he is “contemplating” doing the Matt Reeves directed film, which is said to be the start of a trilogy surrounding the character.
Rumors that Affleck would not star in The Batman have abounded for months, beginning when he stepped out of the director’s chair for the film. Back in July, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the studio was reportedly looking into plans to “gracefully” transition Affleck out of the role of Batman ahead of a planned trilogy about the character. Their source listed a number of ways in which Affleck could leave the part, including a few inspired by the comics.
Affleck refuted those rumors at San Diego Comic-Con, saying, “Let me be very clear. I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest f***ing part in any universe.” The actor later elaborated, saying that, with Reeves’ involvement, it would be crazy for him to quit the film. “With Matt Reeves doing it, I would be a f***ing ape on the ground for Matt Reeves,” he said.
Still, though, Affleck’s connection to the character continues to be a subject of discussion. His brother Casey ignited rumors once again earlier this fall by saying “he’s not going to do that movie.” Although Casey’s reps walked back his comments by saying Casey was just “having fun” during the interview where he made the big reveal, that also still raised questions about if Ben has been discussing the potential of stepping down with his family.
Affleck’s comments to USA Today are sure to throw even more fuel on the fire. In the interview, the actor also dropped this very revealing quote: “You don’t do it forever, so I want to find a graceful and cool way to segue out of it.” This suggests that something like the upcoming Flashpoint film could be used to take his Batman out of the equation.
Although he was noncommittal on his future in the DCEU, Affleck did say that he thinks the world is in need of heroes today. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, and it’s really scary,” he said. “Part of the appeal of this genre is wish fulfillment: Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?”
While Affleck’s future as the caped crusader is still very much in doubt, we do know for sure that he will take on the character again in Justice League, which hits theaters on Nov. 17.
Read More: http://www.looper.com/95504/ben-affleck-contemplating-doing-batman/?utm_campaign=clip
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A ‘Hitman’ series is coming to Hulu from the creator of ‘John Wick’
Remember when Square Enix sold IO Interactive and the future of the Hitman franchise looked bleak? That continues to be the best thing that ever happened to the company and their most beloved series. Not only did they add yet more content to their award-winning episodic experiment, not only do they have another season/game in the works, they’re about to have a TV show.
Deadline reports that Fox is teaming up with Hulu to create a television series based on IO’s hit, man. (Sorry.) The pilot will be written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, who is also executive producing the series. That’s one promising sign that a live-action Hitman could really work this time. Another promising sign is that Hulu hopes to turn the show into a flagship series for the streaming network. That mean’s it’s more than just a cash grab. They’re more likely to give the show what it needs to actually be good.
The Hitman series doesn’t have the best history when it comes to live adaptations. 20th Century Fox previously released two Hitman movies, and both were abysmal. While many factors went into making Hitman and Hitman: Agent 47 that bad, their biggest sin, as a fan of the games, was that they didn’t understand what Hitman was all about. They took all the careful planning, the intricate assassinations, the dark humor, and the insane methods, and through it all away. They turned Hitman into two movies about a bald guy who shoots a lot of guns. That’s not what Hitman is. Hitman is learning your target’s movements, figuring out when they’re alone. Or if they’re never alone, it’s figuring out how to cause a horrific accident with no one suspecting it’s you. It’s carefully calculating every step and wildly improvising when your plan inevitably goes awry. If you can’t turn that into compelling live-action drama, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.
That’s where Kolstad’s involvement has me optimistic. Yes, the John Wick movies were big loud action flicks, but they had a craft that’s rare in those kinds of movies. Even with the tiniest bit of story, the movies made you care about a character nobody had ever heard of before. Those films displayed a mastery of pacing. The Hitman series will inevitably have its big action sequences, but I trust Kolstad to recognize that the build-up to those sequences is just as important, if not more so. And that it’s just as much fun to watch Agent 47 kill a bunch of dudes with a battle axe as it is to watch an intricate Rube Goldberg machine of death come together. That’s what I’m hoping for, anyway. Also, since a TV show, there may be fewer restrictions on what kinds of stories they can tell. And with a per-episode budget being much lower than a Hollywood film, that could force the show to get more creative with each assassination, rather than turning everything into a big action setpiece.
No word on a release date yet, but this is the perfect excuse to revisit some of your favorite Hitman games. The story of the series is said to be very close to the games’ mythology.
Source:
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YOUTUBE’S BIGGEST STAR IS A 5-YEAR-OLD THAT MAKES MILLIONS OPENING TOYS
Ryan is your average five-year-old. He likes playing with toy cars, riding tricycles, and going down water slides. His mom, like most parents, loves to capture and share these moments. What’s different about Ryan is that these everyday events — opening a new action figure or going to Chuck E. Cheese’s — are watched around the world by hundreds of millions of other kids.
The family’s channel, Ryan ToysReview, was created in March of 2015, and initially, didn’t get many views. But about four months in, the channel published this video, and views started doubling with every passing month. Ryan’s mom, who has so far declined to share her name, left her job as a high school chemistry teacher to work on the YouTube channel full time.
For the last 18 weeks and counting, Ryan ToysReview has been the most popular channel on YouTube in the US, and the second largest in the world, a bigger attraction than household names like PewDiePie and Justin Bieber, and media empires like BuzzFeed, The Tonight Show, and the WWE. That viewership translates to around $1 million a month in advertising revenue alone.
“He is definitely the youngest YouTube star we’ve ever seen,” said Josh Cohen, an industry analyst and founder of TubeFilter. When the channel launched, Ryan was just three years old. “It’s the biggest of this genre of programming that is getting billions of views a week on YouTube. Really nobody is talking about it, but it’s crazy once you start scratching the surface.”
The phenomenon of reviewing toys on YouTube isn’t new. In the fall of 2013, a channel called DisneyCollecterBR made its way into the top 10 most-viewed channels. It was run by an adult woman who never showed her face. She opened toys and played with them, speaking softly, never moving the camera from a single closeup shot. By the summer of 2014, she routinely topped the list of the most-viewed channels in the US.
The genre skyrocketed once kids became the hosts. In March of last year, just as Ryan’s family was launching their channel, media outlets were reporting on another family that struck rich by sharing videos of their children simply playing with toys. According to a reportfrom The Guardian, 20 of the top 100 channels on YouTube are focused on toys, collecting upwards of 4.5 billion views a month. Before Ryan stepped in front of the camera, he was a viewer.
“Ryan was watching a lot of toy review channels — some of his favorites are EvanTubeHD and Hulyan Maya — because they used to make a lot of videos about Thomas The Tank Engine, and Ryan was super into Thomas,” his mother explained in an interview with TubeFilter. “One day, he asked me, ‘How come I’m not on YouTube when all the other kids are?’ So we just decided — yeah, we can do that. Then, we took him to the store to get his very first toy — I think it was a Lego train set — and it all started from there.”
But while Ryan’s channel is part of a broader trend, it has achieved a scale unlike anything that came before it. Less than two years old, Ryan ToysReview already has 5.5 million subscribers, more than the two channels that inspired it combined. Produced by his mother, Ryan’s channel has perfected the art of this strange new genre, a mash-up of personal vlog and “unboxing” video, a blend of innocent childhood antics and relentless, often overwhelming consumerism.
The premise of the channel, as the name implies, is that Ryan reviews toys. And in the first video ever posted to the channel, which you can see above, he does just that, at least to the degree a three-year-old can articulate his thoughts on a set of Lego Duplo blocks. He “unboxes” the pieces, sets them up, and plays. The video is slow and static, a single shot held for nearly 10 minutes. Ryan takes his time building and playing. He signs off with a simple wave and “see you next time.”
But over time, the act of reviewing toys has swelled into something very different. In the second video, Ryan is up to two toys, and over time the videos have grown to feature dozens of toys in a single episode. In the most popular clip the channel has posted, Ryan is given a hundred toys at once. We only see Ryan playing with each toy for a few seconds, and by the end he’s wading through a huge pile of freshly opened and quickly cast off toys, shoveling them on top of one another. The video has 568 million views.
In more recent clips, the pretense of Ryan actually playing with certain toys has been totally cast aside. Listen to Ryan dutifully speak his lines in the video below. He prepares to open a plastic egg. “I wonder what’s inside it. I’m so excited,” he says, his voice devoid of both wonder and excitement.
Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/22/14031288/ryan-toys-review-biggest-youngest-youtube-star-millions
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This 23-year-old woman is making six figures a month from slime videos
It takes Karina Garcia at least five hours to edit a video tutorial on slime. That level of precision is important because her YouTube channel has more than 6.7 million subscribers.
Garcia has become something of an internet celebrity when it comes to crafts for kids (and adults). Her specialty is anything involving slime.
The 23-year-old based in Riverside, California, said she currently makes six figures in revenue a month, mostly off advertising from her videos. She also recently launched her own craft kits at Target called Craft City. First up is slime, but she hopes to add bath bombs and lipstick kits in the near future.
“I recently bought a house (from slime money), and my mom laughs about it,” said Garcia, who’s created more than 100 slime videos.
Slime is having a resurgence with younger kids these days. Elmer’s Glue — a key ingredient in the concoction — told NPR it had a 50 percent increase in sales in December 2016, thanks to the trend.
It also helps that kids and teens happen to love do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. Sweety High, a media site for young girls, said DIY content gets four times more views or clicks than its other trending content. Garcia was recently featured on its show, “After The Bell.”
“DIY as a category gained traction with the culture at large given the rise of reality TV, makeover shows, YouTube and contest formats,” CEO Frank Simonetti said.
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Nobody expects to make a living from slime videos. Garcia certainly didn’t.
Two years ago, confused about what to do with her life, Garcia dropped out of college and quit her job as a waitress. Completely unmotivated, she helped her mother out with her catering business.
“I had nothing going for me,” Garcia said. “I didn’t have a job. I didn’t go to school. I was the laziest person ever.”
Her twin sister, Mayra Isabel, had a YouTube channel focused on beauty. Garcia decided she wanted to try creating her own videos. But she had anxiety problems.
So she decided to focus on what she liked: crafting.
“I used to be very, very shy,” she said. “This definitely helped with that a lot.”
Garcia’s first few videos focused on projects like creating makeup organizers and custom lipsticks. Then she found a recipe on Pinterest for making a kind of slime called Gak. She tried it out, and everything began to turn.
Garcia said that watching slime videos has become somewhat of a therapeutic stress reliever, and she’s noticed an increase in people creating slime tutorial playlists.
She tries to upload videos to her channel three times a week, including at least one slime tutorial. Garcia is motivated by the idea that people who watch her videos can make their own slime creations.
“I can inspire young women,” she said. “I want to show no matter where you come from, you can make it.”
Source:
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