The gulf between the real world and streaming has never been wider
https://www.theverge.com/24003126/netflix-viewing-data-ginny-georgia-witcher [www.theverge.com]
2023-12-20 07:56
tags:
hoipolloi
tv
Netflix dropped its most extensive viewing data yet, and while its not perfect, it does reveal that what we talk about online is not necessarily what people are watching.
Ultra-long YouTube highlight videos are ruining sports — and I’m fine with that
https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/16/23683820/youtube-extended-highlights-sports-soccer-nba-nfl [www.theverge.com]
2023-04-17 02:42
tags:
hoipolloi
sports
tv
A few months ago, I discovered a new genre of YouTube video. It’s called the “extended highlight,” and it typically takes the form of a video somewhere between eight and 18 minutes long, with rapid-fire jump cuts between all the most important parts of a game.
The Mess At Medium
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/24/22349175/medium-layoffs-union-evan-williams-blogger-twitter-subscription [www.theverge.com]
2021-03-25 02:07
tags:
business
media
valley
web
The episode captured Medium in all its complexity: a publishing platform used by the most powerful people in the world; an experiment in mixing highbrow and lowbrow in hopes a sustainable business would emerge; and a devotion to algorithmic recommendations over editorial curation that routinely caused the company confusion and embarrassment.
The 8th Wonder Of The World
https://www.theverge.com/21507966/foxconn-empty-factories-wisconsin-jobs-loophole-trump [www.theverge.com]
2021-01-02 08:20
tags:
article
business
policy
valley
In exchange for billions in tax subsidies, Foxconn was supposed to build an enormous LCD factory in the tiny village of Mount Pleasant, creating 13,000 jobs. Three years later, the factory — and the jobs — don’t exist, and they probably never will. Inside the empty promises and empty buildings of Wisconn Valley.
The company behind the $16,000 AI-powered laundry-folding robot has filed for bankruptcy
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/23/18512529/laundroid-laundry-folding-robot-seven-dreamers-bankrupt-ces [www.theverge.com]
2019-04-25 02:06
tags:
ai
ioshit
valley
Backed by companies like Panasonic and Daiwa House, Laundroid had ambitious dreams to be the ultimate wardrobe organizer for the entire household. It had multiple cameras and robotic arms to scan a load of laundry, and used Wi-Fi to connect to a server that would analyze the clothing using AI to figure out the best way to fold it. A companion app was supposed to be able to track every piece of clothing that went through Laundroid, and categorize the clothes by household member. One load of laundry would take a couple hours to be folded, as each T-shirt took about five to ten minutes.
That’s how it was supposed to work in theory, anyway — when I tested it out at CES 2018 with my own T-shirt, the machine ate it up and Laundroid engineers had to work for about 15 minutes to pry it out. The explanation was that its cameras couldn’t recognize my black shirt, only the brightly colored demo shirts they’d prepared on hand.
Better Worlds
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18055980/better-worlds-science-fiction-short-stories-video [www.theverge.com]
2019-02-18 08:28
tags:
archive
fiction
future
video
Contemporary science fiction often feels fixated on a sort of pessimism that peers into the world of tomorrow and sees the apocalypse looming more often than not. At a time when simply reading the news is an exercise in exhaustion, anxiety, and fear, it’s no surprise that so many of our tales about the future are dark amplifications of the greatest terrors of the present. But now more than ever, we also need the reverse: stories that inspire hope.
That’s why, starting on January 14th, we’ll be publishing Better Worlds: 10 original fiction stories, five animated adaptations, and five audio adaptations by a diverse roster of science fiction authors who take a more optimistic view of what lies ahead in ways both large and small, fantastical and everyday.
An artist on creating the retro art for a new edition of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/9/18132144/starship-troopers-folio-society-stephen-hickman-robert-heinlein-book-military-science-fiction [www.theverge.com]
2018-12-10 05:32
tags:
book
design
fiction
interview
The Folio Society is responsible for a number of beautiful editions of classic works of science fiction. Earlier this fall, it began offering another fan-favorite edition: Robert L. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.
In addition to the additional commentary, the Folio Society commissions original art for each book, beautiful illustrations that complement the scenes are you read them. The Verge spoke with artist Hickman about his approach to illustrating Heinlein’s classic novel.
The hidden costs of streaming music
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/14/17117160/spotify-mechanical-license-copyright-wixen-explainer [www.theverge.com]
2018-03-28 23:35
tags:
business
music
policy
But that’s not actually the weird part. The weird part is that Spotify is fundamentally being sued for literal paperwork: Wixen says Spotify is legally required to notify songwriters in writing that they’re in the Spotify catalog — a fact that escapes probably zero songwriters today. A paper notice requirement made sense in the age of player pianos when songwriters could hardly be expected to keep track of every player piano roll in the country. It makes no sense in the age of Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. The question of what would be fair to pay artists is a contentious one, but the story of Wixen v. Spotify is not so much about paying the artists. It’s really a story about how, in a time when services, labels, and artists have never been better poised to work under a centralized, automated system for licenses and royalties, everyone keeps punching themselves in the face instead.
source: grugq
The last scan - Inside the desperate fight to keep old TVs alive
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/6/16973914/tvs-crt-restoration-led-gaming-vintage [www.theverge.com]
2018-02-10 03:42
tags:
gaming
graphics
hardware
retro
CRTs were once synonymous with television. By 1960, nearly 90 percent of American households had one. But at the turn of the millennium, their popularity rapidly decayed as LCD panels flooded the market. Even though CRTs comprised an estimated 85 percent of US television sales in 2003, analysts were already predicting the technology’s demise. In 2008, LCD panels outsold CRTs worldwide for the first time. Sony shut down its last manufacturing plants that same year, essentially abandoning its famous Trinitron CRT brand. By 2014, even stronghold markets like India were fading, with local manufacturers switching to flat-panel displays.
Dead, but not gone.
A new book explores the CIA’s crazy plan to snatch a Soviet sub from the bottom of the ocean
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/30/16361706/the-taking-of-k-129-josh-dean-cia-cold-war-submarines-history-book [www.theverge.com]
2017-10-01 02:55
tags:
book
history
tech
transport
Closing the circle between fantasy and reality—like Argo meets The Abyss—scientific, industry, and popular interest in the CIA’s invented backstory actually helped jump-start the international practice of seafloor mining.
In colossal screw up, Essential shared customers’ driver’s licenses over email
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/30/16226028/essential-customer-email-drivers-license-phishing [www.theverge.com]
2017-08-31 03:39
tags:
business
email
hoipolloi
What appears to have happened is that Essential had a list of customers it needed to verify to prevent fraud, so it sent them an email requesting more information. But that email address was set up as a group email, which meant that replies sent to it went to everybody on that email list.
What’s worse than reply all? Invisible automatic reply all.
In the age of streaming TV, who needs title sequences?
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/5/15886698/tv-title-sequence-history-sopranos-american-gods-netflix-skip [www.theverge.com]
2017-07-06 06:30
tags:
fiction
tv
It is a moment of remarkable contrast, with title sequences both blossoming with potential and seemingly imperiled. This conflict raises an interesting question: at a time when television titles have never been so good, what purpose do they actually still serve?
Inside the Bugatti Factory
http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/9/14480724/bugatti-factory-photo-essay-chiron-behind-the-scenes [www.theverge.com]
2017-02-09 15:20
tags:
cars
photos
Bugatti says no robots are used to make the Chiron.
Bespoke assembly is certainly its own appeal, though I’m wondering how long until somebody markets a supercar made exclusively by high precision robots.
Lousy ads are ruining the online experience
http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/18/14304276/walt-mossberg-online-ads-bad-business [www.theverge.com]
2017-01-22 03:51
tags:
business
web
Everything is terrible.
source: DF
What happened to the most-wired town of the 1990s?
http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/14/13923952/blacksburg-electronic-village-virginia-tech-digital-community-internet [www.theverge.com]
2016-12-17 15:52
tags:
life
networking
retro
urban