Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 63
October 24, 2017
HOW NETFLIX MADE STRANGER THINGS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
NOT QUITE TWO years ago, Netflix launched simultaneouslyin 130 new countries. It now operates nearly everywhere in the world. With that expansion has come explosive international growth—along with the challenge of how best to introduce its homegrown favorites, like Stranger Things, to an audience that spans all the way to the Upside Down and back.
It’s hard to overstate how important it is to Netflix’s long-term ambitions that shows like Stranger Things “travel.” The streaming service needs to maintain a library that users will pay for year-round, and even with an original content budget pegged at $8 billion for 2018 it has to spend wisely to ensure it’s producing content that plays as well in Canada as it does in Cameroon. Or, from another angle: Not even Netflix has the budget to invest heavily in hyperlocal content for Estonia.
Making movies or series that play well overseas depends to a certain extent on quality, of course, and Netflix has long maintained that geography is a poor indicator of what people will actually watch. But for a show like Stranger Things—which is an Emmy-nominated and critically-praised show in the US—to succeed abroad, Netflix has to translate its genius to as many markets as possible. Literally.
Found in Translation
The world contains thousands of languages. Figuring out the proper translation for “Demogorgon” in each of them would be singularly impractical. But for the 20 languages in which Netflix does provide subtitles—and the large number in which it dubs shows—it sweats the small stuff.
That means the creation of a Key Names and Phrases tool, a sprawling spreadsheet in which teams of freelancers and vendors input translations in the name of consistency. Does the show include a fictional location? A catchphrase? A sci-fi item that has no real-world corollary? All those things go in the KNP, allowing Netflix to know how they read in Greek, Spanish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and so on.
Some translations are fairly straightforward; a university becomes a universidad for Spanish-language audiences, for example. Others, though, require substantially more legwork. Especially for a ’80s-reference-heavy series like Stranger Things that is fairly out of step with the present.
“It’s a really deep dive into what are the elements of the story, what are the specifics of the story, that we need to make sure we are translating the same way that things were translated, say, 30 years ago,” says Denny Sheehan, the director of Netflix’s content localization and quality control efforts. “We compile all of that into essentially a show bible, and we give that to all of our translators, all of our dub studios, so they can reference that.”
Take that Demogorgon, the big bad the Stranger Things kids named after a Dungeons & Dragons demon prince. To ensure that connection transcended language barriers, Sheehan’s team dug into old D&D materials to nail down how various cultures translated “Demogorgon” in the mid-1970s. Similar efforts were made to track down decades-old marketing materials for, yes, Eggo waffles, which play an outsized role in Season 1.
That focus on consistency goes beyond the words themselves to the voice actors saying them. Netflix says it looks for people who sound like the original cast but also, as Sheehan puts it, “embody the spirit of the character and tone.” No real surprise there. But the company also aims for voices that can work across titles. The actress who voices Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers in Stranger Things, for instance, also provides the dubs for Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Mina Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
“We think of the subtitles and dubs as enabling access to the story,” Sheehan says. “Our goal is to use creative intent as the North Star, to really create culturally relevant and resonant translations for the continent that have a wide global appeal.”
Source:
https://www.wired.com/story/netflix-stranger-things-global/
HOW NETFLIX MADE STRANGER THINGS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
NOT QUITE TWO years ago, Netflix launched simultaneouslyin 130 new countries. It now operates nearly everywhere in the world. With that expansion has come explosive international growth—along with the challenge of how best to introduce its homegrown favorites, like Stranger Things, to an audience that spans all the way to the Upside Down and back.
It’s hard to overstate how important it is to Netflix’s long-term ambitions that shows like Stranger Things “travel.” The streaming service needs to maintain a library that users will pay for year-round, and even with an original content budget pegged at $8 billion for 2018 it has to spend wisely to ensure it’s producing content that plays as well in Canada as it does in Cameroon. Or, from another angle: Not even Netflix has the budget to invest heavily in hyperlocal content for Estonia.
Making movies or series that play well overseas depends to a certain extent on quality, of course, and Netflix has long maintained that geography is a poor indicator of what people will actually watch. But for a show like Stranger Things—which is an Emmy-nominated and critically-praised show in the US—to succeed abroad, Netflix has to translate its genius to as many markets as possible. Literally.
Found in Translation
The world contains thousands of languages. Figuring out the proper translation for “Demogorgon” in each of them would be singularly impractical. But for the 20 languages in which Netflix does provide subtitles—and the large number in which it dubs shows—it sweats the small stuff.
That means the creation of a Key Names and Phrases tool, a sprawling spreadsheet in which teams of freelancers and vendors input translations in the name of consistency. Does the show include a fictional location? A catchphrase? A sci-fi item that has no real-world corollary? All those things go in the KNP, allowing Netflix to know how they read in Greek, Spanish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and so on.
Some translations are fairly straightforward; a university becomes a universidad for Spanish-language audiences, for example. Others, though, require substantially more legwork. Especially for a ’80s-reference-heavy series like Stranger Things that is fairly out of step with the present.
“It’s a really deep dive into what are the elements of the story, what are the specifics of the story, that we need to make sure we are translating the same way that things were translated, say, 30 years ago,” says Denny Sheehan, the director of Netflix’s content localization and quality control efforts. “We compile all of that into essentially a show bible, and we give that to all of our translators, all of our dub studios, so they can reference that.”
Take that Demogorgon, the big bad the Stranger Things kids named after a Dungeons & Dragons demon prince. To ensure that connection transcended language barriers, Sheehan’s team dug into old D&D materials to nail down how various cultures translated “Demogorgon” in the mid-1970s. Similar efforts were made to track down decades-old marketing materials for, yes, Eggo waffles, which play an outsized role in Season 1.
That focus on consistency goes beyond the words themselves to the voice actors saying them. Netflix says it looks for people who sound like the original cast but also, as Sheehan puts it, “embody the spirit of the character and tone.” No real surprise there. But the company also aims for voices that can work across titles. The actress who voices Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers in Stranger Things, for instance, also provides the dubs for Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Mina Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
“We think of the subtitles and dubs as enabling access to the story,” Sheehan says. “Our goal is to use creative intent as the North Star, to really create culturally relevant and resonant translations for the continent that have a wide global appeal.”
Source:
https://www.wired.com/story/netflix-stranger-things-global/
For Samsung, copying the iPhone was a massive gamble – and it paid off
Samsung just scored a massive win against Apple in a patent war that seems like it will last forever. It obtained a retrial in one of the cases where Apple scored a significant victory back in 2012. Apple was awarded more than $1 billion in damages, in a verdict that practically confirmed what many people, yours truly included, said for years: Samsung copied the iPhone.
But then, Samsung was able to lower the damages down to $400 million. And now the judge overseeing the case just said the case has to be tried again.
That’s just brilliant, and it shows that copying the iPhone was the best thing Samsung ever did.
I still firmly believe that Samsung’s strategy at the time was to copy the iPhone, and this particular piece of evidence proves it, a 132-page document that tells Samsung employees to make Android phones that look more like the iPhone. And Samsung has never stopped being a fast follower. Sure, the Galaxy S phones launched since Apple brought lawsuits against Samsung aren’t true iPhone copies. But in most cases, it’s Samsung who copies Apple’s lead. And everyone in the business compares their brand new devices with Apple’s phones.
But it’s only evident now what Samsung was able to pull off. Copying the iPhone was a massive gamble, but also a calculated one. Samsung quickly realized it could create iPhone-like devices that would sell just as well as the iPhone. By the time Apple brought charges against Samsung, the South Korean giant would have already established itself as a major Android device maker, and it could further hone its smartphone-making skills. It would soon learn how to make Galaxy phones that aren’t iPhone clones. And it’ll made boatloads of cash in the process which meant it’ll just pay the damages. As for the iPhones clones, those would be long gone from stores by the time Apple actually won any meaningful product bans.
That’s precisely what happened. Samsung just swallowed the criticism, fought back, and marched onward. And it all worked out.
Samsung somehow managed to almost overturn that $1 billion verdict, as the whole Apple vs. Samsung battle became a war of attrition that both companies can afford. But also a war of attrition that quickly turned out to be a boring subject for the crowds. And one that favored Samsung as the years passed.
People forgot all about those original devices, and the iPhones and Galaxies of 2017 look nothing like them. The latest Galaxy models aren’t iPhone copies, just as Android on Samsung phones doesn’t look like a washed out version of iOS anymore.
Samsung could have paid that $1 billion fine a few times over without actually noticing the loss. It’s a massive corporation with a large bottom line. Yet Samsung chose to fight it, while fully knowing that it did copy the iPhone.
Add to that the fact that Apple needs Samsung’s supply business — just as Samsung needs Apple as a client — and you get one more side of this complex Apple vs. Samsung story. By the way, there’s a reason Apple is working with LG on a secret iPhone design of the future. It’s afraid Samsung might steal some of those design secrets.
Apple could have probably continued its assault against Samsung with other trials. But it decided not to wage other wars except for the open cases. Apple apparently also realized that no matter what a jury says about Samsung’s old iPhone clones, and no matter the damages Samsung would have to pay, there’s really no stopping the Samsung juggernaut when it comes to making iPhone rivals.
Whatever happens next in the case, it won’t really affect Samsung or Apple anymore, so it’s probably time for the case to be settled. Samsung’s lawyers definitely deserve their brand new yachts, but the real rewards should go to the Samsung execs who decided that copying the iPhone is worth whatever price Samsung will have to pay.
Source:
For Samsung, copying the iPhone was a massive gamble – and it paid off
For Samsung, copying the iPhone was a massive gamble – and it paid off
Samsung just scored a massive win against Apple in a patent war that seems like it will last forever. It obtained a retrial in one of the cases where Apple scored a significant victory back in 2012. Apple was awarded more than $1 billion in damages, in a verdict that practically confirmed what many people, yours truly included, said for years: Samsung copied the iPhone.
But then, Samsung was able to lower the damages down to $400 million. And now the judge overseeing the case just said the case has to be tried again.
That’s just brilliant, and it shows that copying the iPhone was the best thing Samsung ever did.
I still firmly believe that Samsung’s strategy at the time was to copy the iPhone, and this particular piece of evidence proves it, a 132-page document that tells Samsung employees to make Android phones that look more like the iPhone. And Samsung has never stopped being a fast follower. Sure, the Galaxy S phones launched since Apple brought lawsuits against Samsung aren’t true iPhone copies. But in most cases, it’s Samsung who copies Apple’s lead. And everyone in the business compares their brand new devices with Apple’s phones.
But it’s only evident now what Samsung was able to pull off. Copying the iPhone was a massive gamble, but also a calculated one. Samsung quickly realized it could create iPhone-like devices that would sell just as well as the iPhone. By the time Apple brought charges against Samsung, the South Korean giant would have already established itself as a major Android device maker, and it could further hone its smartphone-making skills. It would soon learn how to make Galaxy phones that aren’t iPhone clones. And it’ll made boatloads of cash in the process which meant it’ll just pay the damages. As for the iPhones clones, those would be long gone from stores by the time Apple actually won any meaningful product bans.
That’s precisely what happened. Samsung just swallowed the criticism, fought back, and marched onward. And it all worked out.
Samsung somehow managed to almost overturn that $1 billion verdict, as the whole Apple vs. Samsung battle became a war of attrition that both companies can afford. But also a war of attrition that quickly turned out to be a boring subject for the crowds. And one that favored Samsung as the years passed.
People forgot all about those original devices, and the iPhones and Galaxies of 2017 look nothing like them. The latest Galaxy models aren’t iPhone copies, just as Android on Samsung phones doesn’t look like a washed out version of iOS anymore.
Samsung could have paid that $1 billion fine a few times over without actually noticing the loss. It’s a massive corporation with a large bottom line. Yet Samsung chose to fight it, while fully knowing that it did copy the iPhone.
Add to that the fact that Apple needs Samsung’s supply business — just as Samsung needs Apple as a client — and you get one more side of this complex Apple vs. Samsung story. By the way, there’s a reason Apple is working with LG on a secret iPhone design of the future. It’s afraid Samsung might steal some of those design secrets.
Apple could have probably continued its assault against Samsung with other trials. But it decided not to wage other wars except for the open cases. Apple apparently also realized that no matter what a jury says about Samsung’s old iPhone clones, and no matter the damages Samsung would have to pay, there’s really no stopping the Samsung juggernaut when it comes to making iPhone rivals.
Whatever happens next in the case, it won’t really affect Samsung or Apple anymore, so it’s probably time for the case to be settled. Samsung’s lawyers definitely deserve their brand new yachts, but the real rewards should go to the Samsung execs who decided that copying the iPhone is worth whatever price Samsung will have to pay.
Source:
For Samsung, copying the iPhone was a massive gamble – and it paid off
Amazon offers $30 off Kindle devices to celebrate tenth birthday
It’s been 10 years since Amazon announced the first Kindle e-reader. The device sees its tenth birthday next month, and Amazon is offering a discount to celebrate. Amazon is knocking $30 off the price of Kindle devices, for a limited time.
The offer is applicable on the Amazon Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Voyage. The Kindle will be priced at $49.99 now, while the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Voyage will be sold at $89.99 and $169.99, respectively. The devices were earlier sold at $79.99, $119.99 and $199.99, respectively.
Unfortunately, none of the versions of the Kindle Oasis made the cut for this deal. Amazon’s flagship Kindle continues to sell for $249.99 and it scheduled to start selling from October 31. The company is also giving you discounts on Kindle ebooks. You can get 80% off “top-selling books”, while there’s a free $5 credit on Kindle ebooks, for select customers. You can get that deal through this link.
The Kindle deals are available right away, starting from October 23. They will be available till October 25, although the Kindle actually turns ten on November 19.
Source:
https://www.techsourceint.com/news/amazon-offers-30-off-kindle-devices-to-celebrate-tenth-birthday
Amazon offers $30 off Kindle devices to celebrate tenth birthday
It’s been 10 years since Amazon announced the first Kindle e-reader. The device sees its tenth birthday next month, and Amazon is offering a discount to celebrate. Amazon is knocking $30 off the price of Kindle devices, for a limited time.
The offer is applicable on the Amazon Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Voyage. The Kindle will be priced at $49.99 now, while the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Voyage will be sold at $89.99 and $169.99, respectively. The devices were earlier sold at $79.99, $119.99 and $199.99, respectively.
Unfortunately, none of the versions of the Kindle Oasis made the cut for this deal. Amazon’s flagship Kindle continues to sell for $249.99 and it scheduled to start selling from October 31. The company is also giving you discounts on Kindle ebooks. You can get 80% off “top-selling books”, while there’s a free $5 credit on Kindle ebooks, for select customers. You can get that deal through this link.
The Kindle deals are available right away, starting from October 23. They will be available till October 25, although the Kindle actually turns ten on November 19.
Source:
https://www.techsourceint.com/news/amazon-offers-30-off-kindle-devices-to-celebrate-tenth-birthday
October 23, 2017
‘Star Wars’ Fans Think Boba Fett is Alive in ‘The Last Jedi’
The oldest debate in Star Wars history might not have anything to do with Han shooting Greedo under that table. Instead, it’s all about whether or not Boba Fett survived being eaten by the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi. For years, fans and writers of Star Wars comic books and novel have maintained that Boba Fett wasn’t eaten at all. But, will that become canon? Some fans believe there’s serious evidence to prove Fett is still at large during the time of The Last Jedi.
On Sunday, a Reddit user pointed out that a few leaked images for upcoming 2018 Star Wars toys clearly depict Boba Fett flying out of the Sarlacc Pit, apparently shooting his flame-thrower at it. While the leaked images don’t prove anything, and may not end up being “real” official Star Wars products at all, it is an interesting choice. Why show Boba Fett flying around the Tatooine desert at all, much less next to the Sarlacc Pit unless he’s making some kind of comeback post-Return of the Jedi?
Again, Boba Fett truthers have existed way before Lucasfilm even dreamed of creating a new unified canon for Star Wars. In 1991, the comic book series Dark Empire made it clear that Fett didn’t die on Tatooine at all, and was still a formidable Bounty Hunter six years after the Battle of Endor. In that timeline, Fett was hunting Han and Leia for the murder of Jabba the Hutt. Subsequent to that, the rest of the expanded universe novels and comics continued to operate under the assumption that Fett was alive. Obviously, Dark Empire and all the other ‘90s expanded universe stuff has been swept away in terms of new canon, but that doesn’t mean some version of Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc couldn’t still happen.
The latest canon story to feature Boba Fett is called “Added Muscle,” which appears in the new anthology Star Wars book; A Certain Point of View. In the audiobook version, Fett is voiced by none other than Jon Hamm, which couldindicate Disney is setting up Hamm to voice Fett in that rumored Boba Fett standalone movie.
The question is, would such hypothetical Jon Hamm-as-Boba-Fett standalone movie take place after Return of the Jedi or after? Because if Boba Fett is alive during the time of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, he’d be about the age Han Solo was. Which means, Snoke might hire him to do some dirty work related to Luke Skywalker.
The Last Jedi opens on December 15, 2017. As of this writing, a standalone Boba Fett movie has not been confirmed by Lucasfilm.
Source:
https://www.inverse.com/article/37679-boba-fett-canon-star-wars-last-jedi-fan-theory
Facebook tests split News Feed that keeps friends front and center
Facebook is currently testing a new dual-feed setup that separates Page-generated posts from ads and posts from friends, The Guardian reports. The trial is currently underway in six countries — Bolivia, Guatemala, Cambodia, Slovakia, Serbia and Sri Lanka.
Under this arrangement, the main News Feed is still populated by things shared by friends and family as well as advertisements. But posts shared by Pages — like those of publishers, for example — are moved to a secondary feed. The tests began last week and Slovakian journalist Filip Struhárik told The Guardian, “Pages are seeing dramatic drops in organic reach. The reach of several Facebook Pages fell on Thursday and Friday by two-thirds compared to previous days.” And that number was confirmed by analytics service CrowdTangle, stats from which showed that popular Slovakian Facebook Pages saw two-thirds to three-quarters reductions in their Facebook reach.
This could be bad news for outlets that heavily rely on Facebook traffic and it stands to impact their revenue. Matti Littunen, a senior research analyst with analytics company Enders Analysis told The Guardian, “The biggest hits will be to the likes of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and Business Insider, who create commoditized content aiming for the biggest reach.”
Facebook has been playing around with how it presents content to its users. It recently gave News Feed an overhaul, making it easier to navigate, and brought its Explore Feed to desktop. The company also redesigned its Trending section in order to incorporate different viewpoints on a popular topic, began testing a feature that gives more detailed information about an article’s publisher and has introduced a slew of changes aimed at combatting the spread of fake news.
A Facebook spokesperson told Engadget that as of now though, there are no plans to expand this test further. “With all of the possible stories in each person’s feed, we always work to connect people with the posts they find most meaningful. People have told us they want an easier way to see posts from friends and family, so we are testing two separate feeds, one as a dedicated space with posts from friends and family and another as a dedicated space for posts from Pages,” said the spokesperson. “To understand if people like these two different spaces, we will test a few things, such as how people engage with videos and other types of posts. These tests will start in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala, and Cambodia. We have no current plans to roll this out globally.”
Source:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/23/facebook-tests-split-news-feed-friends-front-and-center/
SEASON 8 OF ‘THE WALKING DEAD’ PREMIERED LAST NIGHT, AND IT WAS JUST AS CRAZY VIOLENT AS YOU’D EXPECT
After season 7 ended on a cliff hanger, with Maggie, Rick, and Ezekiel making a speech in which they promise a massive war against Negan and his group, AMC’s The Walking Deadreturned with its season 8 premiere last night, and some people were super stoked about it.
Others, however, definitely weren’t as excited, and thought the episode was exactly what the eighth season of a hit TV show would be: Out of ideas for original, riveting content.
The episode, titled “Mercy,” wasn’t just the season 8 premiere — it was also the series’ 100th episode, which is a big deal for a TV show. There aren’t many out there that manage to keep their audiences engaged enough to produce so many episodes.
In fact, some fans in London were so thrilled about the milestone that they had a Walking Dead parade, where they waddled through the streets dressed as zombies to celebrate the momentous occasion.
Anyway, back to the show. And just FYI — there might be some spoilers up in here, so if you’re a fan of the show and haven’t watched the season 8 premiere yet, you might want to close out of this page right now.
In last night’s episode, the much-anticipated war between Rick and Negan finally began, but the episode didn’t exactly follow a chronological format. It jumped around from scene to scene, and at one point, we saw Rick and his buddies prepare for their attack, but then we suddenly saw a flash from the future where Rick looks like a Santa Claus who has been dragged through the depths of hell by Satan himself.
A bunch of other things happen and there’s a lot of screaming and gun-shooting, but ultimately, we conclude at the end of the episode that Rick has won the first battle.
Hooray. Way to go, Rick. Gold star for you.
And since Twitter is the ultimate place for people to voice their opinions on arbitrary things, here are some of the best reactions from this season’s explosive premiere, where the entire episode is basically summed up with a GIF or two.
Source:
https://www.maxim.com/entertainment/walking-dead-season-8-premiere-2017-10
