[KC] DEBRIEF WEEK 39 FRIDAY 10/01
DIGITAL TITANS
_Shopify Now Lets Creators Sell NFTs Directly On Their Storefronts. There’s all this talk about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) moving into the mainstream, what with numerous exclusive digital artworks going off the market for millions of dollars. Now, Shopify is actually setting this dream into motion by allowing merchants to sell NFTs directly on their storefronts, so customers can easily purchase them from their websites. For the most part, creators have had to depend on eBay-style, third-party crypto marketplaces to list their NFT art. The e-commerce platform is, therefore, eliminating all these tricky steps to give merchants more control over their relationships with customers, matching the experience given during sales of regular products. Likewise, buyers can purchase NFTs without having to study jargon.“Fans shouldn’t have to have a deep background in crypto if they want to own an NFT from a brand or artist they love,” Shopify president Harley Finkelstein tweeted. “We are making it easier for merchants to sell NFTs, making them more accessible to everyone, and expanding what is possible in the realm of commerce.”
_OnlyFans To Ban Explicit Material From Its Platform, But There’s A Catch. Following OnlyFans’ launch of OFTV, a streaming platform with no adult content, it seems the brand is committed to changing its image to one that’s more family-friendly. Instead of adult content, OFTV allows fans to access 800 free videos from celebrity creators like Bella Thorne, Mia Khalifa, and Holly Madison. In addition, there’s home cooking tutorials, pilates classes, and podcasts available, too. Now, the original OnlyFans platform, which has amassed more than 130 million users, will also be scrapping explicit material. Considering the community has risen to cult status as the site of choice among adult content creators, the ban—which will begin in October—has no doubt come as a shock ….
_Clubhouse . Hosts looked to Clubhouse for sponsors — it rarely delivered. Dozens of Clubhouse creators had been anticipating their first sponsorship meeting for months. As the inaugural class of Clubhouse’s “Creator First” program, they were supposed to receive Clubhouse’s help landing sponsorships and turning their shows into a “profitable creative endeavor.” The creators wrote down lists of brands they wanted to speak with and prepared one-sheets pitching their live audio shows. But when the time came, it turned out they weren’t getting one-on-one meetings with the brands; instead, they would be pitching their shows to a public room on Clubhouse, alongside dozens of other creators, where anyone on the app could join. “It was a real big joke,” says Cyndi Pham, a creator from the program and a media consultant herself. “I feel like [making it public] was something they did to save face because they couldn’t get any sponsors to show up.The creators each had two minutes or so to pitch their programs to the sponsors in the crowd. “Dozens of agencies and brands attended,” according to a Clubhouse spokesperson. But technical difficulties tripped up multiple creators, preventing them from speaking. Clubhouse told the creators they’d hear more after the event and that interest was pouring in. But the contacts never surfaced. “I received no email, so either that means nobody was interested in my show, nobody came, or I haven’t gotten the information,” says one creator who asked to remain anonymous because of their ongoing relationship with the Clubhouse team. “And I suspected the second one: that nobody came.” “THE PROGRAM CULMINATED IN A PUBLIC SHOWCASE.
_Zoom Introduces ‘Focus Mode’ So You No Longer See Distracting Co-Workers Thanks, in no small part, to the pandemic, video conferencing platforms such as Zoom have become ubiquitous among office workers and students. From lectures to virtual events and weekly meetings, these apps have certainly become a staple in our daily lives, and it seems they’re here to stay. Now, Zoom is addressing a problem that might be plaguing employees and students everywhere: distraction. Ever find yourself staring at your office crush or favorite co-worker instead of paying attention to the speaker? Well, you’re not alone. Zoom is introducing ‘Focus Mode’, which will keep your attention on the main speaker. According to SlashGear, when ‘Focus Mode’ is activated, users will not be able to see anyone else other than themselves and the speaker or teacher. The host will still be able to have a bird’s eye view of all participants, so you can’t doze off just yet. In this new mode, users will also be blocked from sharing their screens with other participants in the call
_Facebook. Facebook Has VIP 'Whitelist' That Puts Elites Above Its Guidelines, Per WSJ. A new report by The Wall Street Journal has purported that Facebook makes use of a program that “whitelists” millions of VIP users, so they aren’t subject to the company’s standard moderation procedures. Known as ‘XCheck’, the program allegedly creates special moderation settings for these accounts, both on Facebook as well as Instagram. As per internal documents seen by the Journal, users under the special program won’t have their content taken down immediately when flagged by the platform’s content moderators or artificial intelligence (AI) bot
_Insta. Plans to make an "Instagram experience" for under-13s, dubbed Instagram Kids, have been paused. Facebook would use the time to listen to "parents, experts, policymakers and regulators", Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote. It follows leaked internal research the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said Instagram was "toxic for teen girls". But in a recent blog, Facebook head of research Pratiti Raychoudhury called this allegation "simply not accurate". Instagram requires users to be at least 13 before they create an account - but many children under that age use the platform anyway. And the company previously told BBC News Instagram Kids would be a "practical solution to the ongoing industry problem of kids lying about their age to access apps" and enable children to connect with family and friends in an "age appropriate way". But in April, a letter from the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood, signed by 99 groups and individuals, claimed the "image-obsessed" platform was dangerous for children's health and privacy and called for the project to be scrapped. Instagram for kids paused after backlash
INNOVATION
Nreal announces Nreal Air AR glasses. After some days of teasing, Chinese AR company Nreal has finally announced its latest AR glasses: Nreal Air. I would define them as the “GearVR of augmented reality”. Let me tell you why. Nreal is one of the most interesting AR startups out there, and it has revolutionized the augmented reality sector launching the first stylish and affordable AR glasses during CES 2019. After that moment, many startups have tried to copy that design, and a new genre of devices has born. Nreal had got the eyes of all the XR developers and enthusiasts on, and many people wanted to buy that headset.
PEOPLE, MEDIA, CULTURE
_With more than 28,000 followers and 493,000 likes, a TikTok page run by an anonymous MSU student has gone viral. This account is called Fake People @ Michigan State. The posts are videos, usually taken from a high angle, of random individuals walking around campus or East Lansing with overlaid text telling a humorous, fake but relatively realistic story of what that character, so to speak, is doing.“ All of my time of being at MSU, I’ve kind of gathered a bunch of inside jokes on campus,” the account head said. “So like frat boys talking about a fantasy football draft — I really don’t relate much to that crowd, but I knew that that would be something people could be like ‘That’s funny.’ From there, it kinda just started building steam.” One morning, zoology senior Bailey Walker said she was scrolling through this page because it was shared on Snapchat. What she did not expect was to see herself featured. “I thought it was kinda weird at first that someone was just going around filming random people and making up a story for them, but then I saw that it was a trend, so I was like ‘Okay, it’s a little cool,’” Walker said.
_AI Can’t File For Patents Yet As ‘A Machine Cannot’ Have Rights, Courts Rule Back in 2018, inventor Dr Stephen Thaler filed for two patent applications in the UK, but didn’t list himself as the creator. Instead, he said his artificial intelligence (AI) DABUS should be awarded with the patent. Dr Thaler’s appeal for his AI to be credited hasn’t been successful, with the UK Court ruling that AI can’t be legally listed as an inventor on a patent. According to a report by the BBC, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing of the Appeal Court presided over the case, determining that “only a person can have rights. A machine cannot.” AI Can't File For Patents Yet As 'A Machine Cannot' Have Rights, Courts Rule
_London Design week has a virtualmuseum café reigniting the coffee experience virtual reality (VR) spaces are becoming more common now, having exploded in popularity as an alternative to going out to spaces like events and art galleries thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns across the globe. However, there aren’t many VR spaces that are centered around an experience that many miss: going to a café. Specifically, sitting down at a museum café after wandering the exhibitions. As part of London Design Week 2021, architecture and design firm Giles Miller Studio has collaborated with cult favorite coffee brand Grind to create a virtual coffee experience in a virtual gallery. Besides this café, there are also galleries with Giles Miller’s work on display for visitors’ perusal.
_Drake and Kanye’s streaming war has a clear winner. Drake this, Kanye that. I don't really have an opinion on Certified Lover Boy or DONDA, the pair's respective new albums, but I can assert that the 24-hour Drizzy/Yeezy news cycle is exhausting. Between the memetic lyrics, the creepy music videos, the shock-drops, and the endless, ceaseless hype, remember that well-publicized Drake vs. Kanye conflict? Even if it was manufactured buzz, its dark turn lent a real combativeness to the dual album drops In fact, that whole beef seems tailormade to spark debates (and extra streams) about Certified Lover Boy and DONDA. Which one was better? Which was more worth waiting for? There's only one objective truth here: as far as streaming is concerned, Drake's Certified Lover Boy blows Kanye's DONDA out of the water. According to a few stat-tracking services, Certified Lover Boy raked in over 430 million audio streams in just three days — it took DONDA over eight days just to hit 423 million, so it'll only top the Billboard charts for one week before CLB takes its place. Not to say that Ye ought to weep into his cashmere blankets: DONDA set plenty of records, including most first-day Spotify streams (153 million), topping Drake's previous LP Scorpion. A few days later, though, CLB reclaimed Drake's crown on Spotify and Apple Music. Tough luck, Yeezy.
_Earlier this year, a six-year-old child from the UK was awarded a Guinness World Record for being the youngest Python programmer, thanks to the amount of time spent inside during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kautilya Katariya comes from Northampton, England, one of many areas placed under lockdown regulations which included the closure of schools last year.As a result, he began reading course materials from IBM and received certifications for his efforts in Python and artificial intelligence by the time November rolled around, according to this IBM blog post. The courses he took included Foundations of AI, a professional certification on edX; and the Python for Data Science course from IBM Cognitive Class; all part of the IBM Developer Skills Network. Kautilya, now seven years old, tells Analytics India Magazine that the reason he started was because “cool things are either run by a computer programmer or made using programming.” When he began to show an interest in programming, his parents provided him with some books about computing, science, and technology. After these were exhausted, and free time was still aplenty, his parents gave him a laptop with an internet connection to keep exploring on his own. According to his folks, Trupti and Ishwari, Kautilya first explored YouTube videos to do with the subject. Then, he registered for some free courses from universities and the ones stated above. “Being a good reader, he was absorbing knowledge like a sponge,” they say. “As a parent, we need to identify and provide all necessary means to excel in the area of the kid’s interest,” they add.
_Vice’s creative agency, Virtue, began pitching the idea of digital fashion to emerging brands in 2019, after creating a sold-out digital fashion collection with Scandinavian retailer Carlings. The idea was to gift the collection to influencers and sell them to customers to both generate buzz and test a less resource-intensive approach to Instagram content. Brands were interested, says Mortan Grubak, executive creative director at Virtue, but not necessarily in the idea of selling digital clothing itself. They were drawn to the ability to work with influencers without needing to give away actual goods for free. Small brands in particular were compelled by the money and resources that would save from sending out influencer samples.“There is a sustainability problem when it comes to seeding influencers,” says Thinh Petrus Nguyen, senior art director of Danish brand Han Kjøbenhavn, who was part of those early conversations. “Because it is digital, you are one click away from the product.” While Han Kjøbenhavn hasn’t yet gifted digital samples, the brand used digital augmented reality filters to promote an upcoming jewellery launch. It was a success, Nguyen says, because there was already attention on the line six months before the items were produced.Now it’s getting real traction: this month, Farfetch became one of the first large retailers to test the practice of digital sampling by digitally dressing influencers to promote the launch of its new pre-order offering from brands including Balenciaga, Palm Angels, Khaite, Off-White, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Nanushka, Casablanca and Nicholas Kirkwood. Virtue
_The ‘Human Library’, Denmark aims to provide its visitors and readers with knowledge of other human beings to reduce discrimination and social stereotypes. The library is, after all, where you can go to learn something new from a wide range of resources.However, the resources in this library aren’t books telling of others’ stories. Instead, they’re human volunteers telling their own storie. It began as an event designed for the annual Roskilde music festival, but it proved so popular that it has long outlived the few days it was planned for.The goal of the Human Library, say organizers, is “to help create more inclusive and cohesive communities across cultural, religious, social and ethnic differences.” In a safe environment, volunteers (“books”) are invited to tell their stories to visitors (“readers”). The Human Library Organization: Unjudge someone
_Radiohead is teaming up with Epic Games for Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition — an interactive experience will be on PlayStation 5, PC, and Mac in November as part of the band’s upcoming Kid A Mnesia release. The Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition for PlayStation will be an “upside-down digital/analogue universe created from original artwork and recordings” to accompany the rerelease. Given Epic’s recent taste for interactive musical experiences, it’s likely that Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition will offer some sort of experiential new lens into Radiohead’s music.
_ Create an immersive video experience with a friend. Other video call apps make you choose between your face or what you’re looking at. With OOO, you can film what’s in front of you and share your real-time reaction on the same screen, so you get to be in the middle of the action. KC MEMBER DAVID : “This seems like an obvious candidate for mmhmm moment of the week, given that it’s actually an iOS app FROM mmhmm. The key advance, though hardly one that no one else can do, layers your forward camera image (i.e., you) on top of whatever it is you’re looking at while talking with someone. Co-viewing of all kinds is going to be big going forward. This is just a small step that direction.
BRANDS
_OLAY/ Olay is launching a new campaign to help end discriminatory computer algorithms that skew standards of beauty, per an announcement emailed to Marketing Dive. The effort coincides with National Coding Week (Sept.14-20).#DecodetheBias consists of raising awareness of algorithmic justice through a 60-second spot, targeted print campaign and social media. The Procter & Gamble-owned brand is also teaming with activist Jo Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, to conduct an audit of its own practices and nonprofit Black Girls Code to help send 1,000 girls of color to code camp. The campaign sees Olay extending its purpose driven marketing by working toward company commitments increase diversity in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
_Uber Eats. Do you pepper your messages with emoji like they're going out of style? You'll now have an easier time ordering food. Uber Eats has introduced searchable pickup maps that lets you find restaurants by typing not only text, but emoji — a single hamburger or sushi roll could be all you need to locate an eatery. This should save time, of course, but it's also helpful if you're traveling to another country and don't know the word for a given dish. The map itself shows restaurants relative to your location, with symbols that make it clear what kind of food you'll get. You'll know if a pickup is just around the corner, or if it would be smarter to request delivery instead.
_Samsung has proposed a new way to develop neuromorphic chips that could mimic our brains. Researchers from the South Korean tech giant and Harvard University recently teamed up to address this issue in a new study.How it’ll work is akin to the “copy and paste” function we’re accustomed to on our devices. This newly-developed method will make use of a nanoelectrode array, created by the team, to “copy” a person’s neuronal connection map in the brain. Then, the map will be “pasted” onto a 3D network of solid-state memories to create a neuromorphic chip. The scientists hope this memory chip could harness the computing characteristics of our brain, including facile learning, adaptation, and even autonomy and condition—which no researcher has been able to replicate at the moment. Knowledge of the neuronal connection map is “key to reverse engineering the brain,” Samsung said. However, the team faces a formidable challenge going forward. With the human brain consisting of about 100 billion neurons, and a thousand times more synaptic connections, the proposed chip would require space for 100 trillion memories.
MMMM OF THE WEEK
_Like many people, Mr Goxx is dabbling in cryptocurrency, hoping to strike it rich. He's notable for two reasons: first, he is making money, with his lifetime career performance up about 20% - beating many professional traders and funds. Second, Mr Goxx is a hamster. The business-minded rodent has a trading office attached to his regular cage. Every day, when he enters the office, a livestream starts on Twitch, and his Twitter account lets followers know: Mr Goxx has started a trading session. By running in his "intention wheel", he selects which cryptocurrency he'd like to trade, as the wheel spins through the different options. His office floor has two tunnels nearby: one for buy, one for sell. Every time he runs through a tunnel, the electronics wired to his office complete a trade according to Mr Goxx's desires. KC MEMBER HOLLY ONG : “ I love the hamster. Mr Goxx, the crypto-trading hamster beating human investors.
_Welcome to the WORST TWEET EVER CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT THREAD! I have selected 64 objectively bad tweets, assigned them seeds, and will now pit them against one another so that YOU can vote on which is worse and moves onto the next round. For each matchup, I'll post screengrabs of each tweet and follow that up with a poll. Let's goooooo!!!
OFF TOPIC
_More and more of our favourite celebrities just aren’t satisfied with smashing it in their day job and are branching out into the world of business to try their hand at being an entrepreneur. And while many celebrity ventures are dead in the water after just a few years, many have actually done very well for themselves and are now striking the perfect balance between the glamorous careers that we know them for, alongside putting in serious hours in the boardroom and bringing home some cash. Here are some of the celebrities who have seen the greatest success in the world of business.