Month: July 2023
Research Suggests Facebook’s Algorithm Is ‘Influential’ but Doesn’t Necessarily Change Beliefs
Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel, reporting last week for The New York Times:
In the papers, researchers from the University of Texas, New York
University, Princeton and other institutions found that removing
some key functions of the social platforms’ algorithms had “no
measurable effects” on people’s political beliefs. In one
experiment on Facebook’s algorithm, people’s knowledge of
political news declined when their ability to reshare posts was
removed, the researchers said.
At the same time, the consumption of political news on Facebook
and Instagram was highly segregated by ideology, according to
another study. More than 97 percent of the links to news
stories rated as false by fact checkers on the apps during the
2020 election drew more conservative readers than liberal readers,
the research found. […] Still, the proportion of false news
articles that Facebook users read was low compared with all news
articles viewed, researchers said.
False news articles were low overall, but the articles deemed false were overwhelming consumed by conservatives. That’s no surprise, but to me, gets to the heart of the controversy. A hypothetical social media algorithm that promotes true stories and suppresses false ones, with perfect accuracy, is going to be accused by conservatives of being biased against conservatives, because conservatives are drawn to false stories.
Jeff Horwitz, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (News+ link), on Facebook overstating the degree to which these new studies exonerate its platforms’ influence:
Science warned Meta earlier this week that it would publicly
dispute an assertion that the published studies should be read as
largely exonerating Meta of a contributing role in societal
divisions, said Meagan Phelan, who oversees the communication of
Science’s findings.
“The findings of the research suggest Meta algorithms are an
important part of what is keeping people divided,” Phelan told
Meta’s communications team on Monday, according to an excerpt of
her message she shared with The Wall Street Journal. She added
that one of the studies found that “compared to liberals,
politically conservative users were far more siloed in their news
sources, driven in part by algorithmic processes, and especially
apparent on Facebook’s Pages and Groups.”
★
Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel, reporting last week for The New York Times:
In the papers, researchers from the University of Texas, New York
University, Princeton and other institutions found that removing
some key functions of the social platforms’ algorithms had “no
measurable effects” on people’s political beliefs. In one
experiment on Facebook’s algorithm, people’s knowledge of
political news declined when their ability to reshare posts was
removed, the researchers said.
At the same time, the consumption of political news on Facebook
and Instagram was highly segregated by ideology, according to
another study. More than 97 percent of the links to news
stories rated as false by fact checkers on the apps during the
2020 election drew more conservative readers than liberal readers,
the research found. […] Still, the proportion of false news
articles that Facebook users read was low compared with all news
articles viewed, researchers said.
False news articles were low overall, but the articles deemed false were overwhelming consumed by conservatives. That’s no surprise, but to me, gets to the heart of the controversy. A hypothetical social media algorithm that promotes true stories and suppresses false ones, with perfect accuracy, is going to be accused by conservatives of being biased against conservatives, because conservatives are drawn to false stories.
Jeff Horwitz, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (News+ link), on Facebook overstating the degree to which these new studies exonerate its platforms’ influence:
Science warned Meta earlier this week that it would publicly
dispute an assertion that the published studies should be read as
largely exonerating Meta of a contributing role in societal
divisions, said Meagan Phelan, who oversees the communication of
Science’s findings.
“The findings of the research suggest Meta algorithms are an
important part of what is keeping people divided,” Phelan told
Meta’s communications team on Monday, according to an excerpt of
her message she shared with The Wall Street Journal. She added
that one of the studies found that “compared to liberals,
politically conservative users were far more siloed in their news
sources, driven in part by algorithmic processes, and especially
apparent on Facebook’s Pages and Groups.”
8BitDo’s new keyboard is a blast from the past, but operates like a modern machine
Despite looking old school, the Retro Keyboard comes with top-tier tech, from high-end switches to programmable buttons.
Gaming accessory brand 8BitDo is going old school with its first-ever mechanical keyboard sporting a design reminiscent of past Nintendo consoles.
Aptly named the Retro Mechanical Keyboard, it comes in two distinct color schemes: one in black, gray, and red matches the NES, while the other is based on the Famicom – the Japanese rendition of the console. On the latter, the red will have a more rustic shade and white is replacing the gray for a brighter look. The Famicom version even has hiragana on most of the keys. So this particular model can potentially double as a Japanese tutor of sorts, helping students learning the language become more familiar with it.
(Image credit: 8BitDo)
There is more to this device than simply being a pretty keyboard, and it does have some interesting hardware. Starting with the externals, the Retro Keyboard has a tenkeyless layout meaning there’s no number pad on the side. You’ll notice on the bottom are ‘B’ and ‘A’ buttons. These two are programmable, allowing owners to add whatever macro they want to them like Control-C on ‘B’ and Control-P on ‘A’. This can be done through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software app. Other cool design flourishes include the Power LED light in the top right corner with the analog knobs on the left adding to the vintage 1980s look.
Internal hardware
Internally, the Retro Keyboard is fairly impressive as well. Each of the keys sits on top of Kailh Box V2 White switches. According to the manufacturer, the V2 Whites feature “gold-plated springs,” which, according to the company have anti-corrosion properties, are dustproof and offer “faster rebound” for a smoother typing feel. It is important to mention the switches are hot-swappable so if you want to install your preferred hardware, you do have that option.
The Retro Keyboard allows both a wired connection via USB cable alongside wireless connectivity. For wireless, you have two options: Bluetooth Low Energy or 2.4GHz WiFi. A 2.4GHz adapter does come with the purchase. Battery life is set for “200 use hours with 4 hours [of] charging time”.
Officially, this device is compatible with Windows 10 and above as well as Android 9 and above. However, a company representative told Engadget it will work on Mac, although they didn’t specify an operating system.
Availability
You can pre-order the keyboard right now on either 8BitDo’s website or Amazon for $100 USD. The shipping date is set for September 10. If you do pre-order, you’ll get a pair of programmable Super Buttons.
The Super Buttons are essentially a gigantic version of the ‘B’ and ‘A’ mentioned earlier. These can serve as an extra set of keys for personal macros or maybe as a controller for 2D-style games. There are, after all, a ton of indie titles that adopt side-scrolling action. Pair the buttons with the directional keys and you’ll basically have a giant NES controller.
We reached out to 8BitDo to ask if there are plans to launch the Retro Keyboard outside the United States and for some clarifications on Mac compatibility. This story will be updated at a later time.
GPT-3 aces tests of reasoning by analogy
Undergrads get beaten on questions like those that helped get them into college.
Large language models are a class of AI algorithm that relies on a high number computational nodes and an equally large number of connections among them. They can be trained to perform a variety of functions—protein folding, anyone?—but they’re mostly recognized for their capabilities with human languages.
LLMs trained to simply predict the next word that will appear in text can produce human-sounding conversations and essays, although with some worrying accuracy issues. The systems have demonstrated a variety of behaviors that appear to go well beyond the simple language capabilities they were trained to handle.
We can apparently add analogies to the list of items that LLMs have inadvertently mastered. A team from University of California, Los Angeles has tested the GPT-3 LLM using questions that should be familiar to any Americans that have spent time on standardized tests like the SAT. In all but one variant of these questions, GPT-3 managed to outperform undergrads who presumably had mastered these tests just a few years earlier. The researchers suggest that this indicates that Large Language Models are able to master reasoning by analogy.
Uber driver in first-ever deadly self-driving crash pleads guilty
Image: ABC 15
The backup driver in the self-driving Uber vehicle that killed a 49-year-old woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018 pled guilty to one count of endangerment and was sentenced to three years’ probation on Friday.
Rafaela Vasquez worked as a safety driver for Uber’s autonomous vehicle test program in Arizona. She was behind the steering wheel when her vehicle ran over Elaine Herzberg, who was pushing a bicycle across the street. The crash, which happened on March 18th, 2018, is believed to be the first fatal collision involving a self-driving car.
Prosecutors described Vasquez as “the eyes and ears” of the vehicle, which was operating in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, according to the Arizona Republic. Police alleged that she was streaming the TV show “The Voice” on her phone at the time, but Vasquez claimed she was monitoring the vehicle’s systems and had glanced away from the road at a crucial moment.
Investigators have said the car saw Herzberg but did not automatically stop and that Vasquez did not brake until it was too late. The car detected that Herzberg was crossing the street with her bicycle 5.6 seconds before impact, but even though the system continued to track Herzberg right up until the crash, it never correctly identified her as a human being on the road, nor did it accurately predict her path. The case has raised important questions about how to safely test the new technology and who should be held responsible when something goes wrong.
In 2019, an Arizona prosecutor’s office ruled that Uber would not face criminal charges over the crash. However, a review by the National Transportation Safety Board later that year highlighted a number of safety issues at the company. It said that it had “inadequate safety risk assessment procedures,” “ineffective” monitoring of backup drivers, and a failure to address the “automation complacency” of its safety drivers, who needed to be able to step in at any moment to address problems. Uber settled a lawsuit with Herzberg’s family for an undisclosed sum.
In addition, the vehicle’s factory setting for automatic emergency braking had been turned off by Uber to avoid conflicting with the automated driving software. Uber temporarily halted its self-driving tests immediately following the crash. Later, the company offloaded its AV program to another company and is now working with Alphabet’s Waymo to offer trips in autonomous vehicles in Phoenix.
Image: ABC 15
The backup driver in the self-driving Uber vehicle that killed a 49-year-old woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018 pled guilty to one count of endangerment and was sentenced to three years’ probation on Friday.
Rafaela Vasquez worked as a safety driver for Uber’s autonomous vehicle test program in Arizona. She was behind the steering wheel when her vehicle ran over Elaine Herzberg, who was pushing a bicycle across the street. The crash, which happened on March 18th, 2018, is believed to be the first fatal collision involving a self-driving car.
Prosecutors described Vasquez as “the eyes and ears” of the vehicle, which was operating in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, according to the Arizona Republic. Police alleged that she was streaming the TV show “The Voice” on her phone at the time, but Vasquez claimed she was monitoring the vehicle’s systems and had glanced away from the road at a crucial moment.
Investigators have said the car saw Herzberg but did not automatically stop and that Vasquez did not brake until it was too late. The car detected that Herzberg was crossing the street with her bicycle 5.6 seconds before impact, but even though the system continued to track Herzberg right up until the crash, it never correctly identified her as a human being on the road, nor did it accurately predict her path. The case has raised important questions about how to safely test the new technology and who should be held responsible when something goes wrong.
In 2019, an Arizona prosecutor’s office ruled that Uber would not face criminal charges over the crash. However, a review by the National Transportation Safety Board later that year highlighted a number of safety issues at the company. It said that it had “inadequate safety risk assessment procedures,” “ineffective” monitoring of backup drivers, and a failure to address the “automation complacency” of its safety drivers, who needed to be able to step in at any moment to address problems. Uber settled a lawsuit with Herzberg’s family for an undisclosed sum.
In addition, the vehicle’s factory setting for automatic emergency braking had been turned off by Uber to avoid conflicting with the automated driving software. Uber temporarily halted its self-driving tests immediately following the crash. Later, the company offloaded its AV program to another company and is now working with Alphabet’s Waymo to offer trips in autonomous vehicles in Phoenix.
Amazon Amp is the under-the-radar app that’s trying to reinvent radio
Last spring, Amazon launched its long-rumored live audio-streaming platform, Amp. The pitch was to reinvent radio with “an infinite dial of shows.” Amp offers users access to a vast, built-in music library to create their own DJ sets with. No need to buy songs or flirt with the DMCA, just make a playlist, go live, talk in between tracks, follow the chat and even invite callers. When I wrote about it a year ago, it showed promise, but it was iOS only, light on users and had a limited feature set.A little over a year later and Amp is reaching an important milestone: It’s finally available on Android. Amp is Amazon’s first home-grown streaming platform and the year-plus stint as an Apple exclusive meant it enjoyed a level of technical predictability and a self-imposed restriction on growth and user numbers. But as the doors open to the other half of the mobile universe, it’s about to be exposed to the full reality of competing in an already busy social-creator landscape.Growing beyond iOS is an important move for Amp, even if the platform technically remains in beta (and US-only). But the wider reach of Google’s operating system — from TVs to Chromebooks and beyond — will be a decisive step in the process of Amazon proving it can build a viable streaming platform from the ground up (rather than acquire an already successful one).You can, of course, find DJ sessions and internet radio in myriad places online. Whether it’s big platforms like YouTube and TikTok or more direct rivals like Stationhead or Tidal (via its Live Sessions feature) and even Amazon Music’s own DJ Mode, there are several destinations for live curated music streams. Of course, let’s not forget Amazon-owned Twitch, which is teeming with tune spinners. Oh, and there’s obviously FM radio, too. This obviously begs the question: What makes Amp unique?Amazon“It’s very much like Sirius meets YouTube,” Zach Sang, one of Amp’s contracted creators, and former broadcast DJ told Engadget. “It’s real life, legacy career broadcasters mixed with the future of those broadcasters. It’s everybody coming together, it’s radio democratized. It’s a way that radio genuinely should be programmed: for people and not for profit,” he added. From a user’s point of view, Amp’s main differentiator appears to be its focus on radio and radio-style shows specifically. Plus that built-in music library (Stationhead, for example, requires you to have either Apple Music or Spotify at your own cost).I asked user Christina “Criti” Gonzalez, who hosts her own daily show, how she’d describe Amp. “[It’s] a very unique, weird place where you’re able to listen to all the music you’ve forgotten about, didn’t know about and crave to hear, again with personalities and so many people of all different walks of life that have one common interest – music.”Amp Co-Founder, Matt Sandler – who used to work at LA’s KROQ FM – explained that he felt all of the existing options weren’t quite giving listeners or creators what they wanted. “If you posted a job for KROQ and an on air position, you’d get hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of submissions and people who wanted to curate music and talk to the community on air,” he told Engadget. “There have been lots of services built around live connection or music or community. One of the things that I think will drive the success of a business like this is really that balance between scale and connection.”Amp signed deals with celebrities and established presenters such as Nicki Minaj, Joe Budden, Nick Cannon and the aforementioned Sang to give the platform some known-name appeal, and it’s done so without creating much of a barrier around them compared to regular creators. Your show can sit right next to Nicki Minaj’s in the listings. Although the roster covers large genres like hip-hop, sports, country and pop there’s not much in the way of alt/indie or electronic in that lineup right now.Unlike Clubhouse, which enjoyed an early surge of popularity, Amp has largely gone under the radar since launch. “The thing we’re maniacally focused on every day is making sure that the product is right before stepping out and bigger and bigger fashion,” Sandler said. But many people I’ve mentioned it to aren’t aware of it – and Amp’s not even included on the list of Amazon products/services Wikipedia page.AmazonThe app is clearly a lot busier than when I wrote about it just after launch, but the average number of listeners for most shows remains frustratingly low for most shows (based on multiple user reports and other publicly visible data). But several users explained they weren’t discouraged. “The community that it has right now, it’s a small enough space for people to feel like they’re connected, even if they don’t know each other.” Gonzalez said.At the beginning, according to Sandler, even Amp’s leadership was unsure in which direction the platform would unfold. There was the possibility that the big-name artists would dominate while regular users gravitated to being listeners. In reality, it’s the smaller, home-grown shows and the aforementioned community that has made Amp a nice place to hang out.“The culture there is so inviting.” Gonzalez said. “I feel like other social media sites can turn negative quickly. I haven’t had much experience with that on Amp and I appreciate that.” Adding, ”It’s crazy what the experience on Amp has done, because I truly honestly say to anyone that’s not an Amp to join it, because it really will change your perspective.”One of the main complaints I had with Amp right after launch was that hosts needed at least one listener to be able to play a song and often that meant… waiting. There was also no way to communicate with any listeners you did have. Today the awkward waits are (mostly) gone and each stream has its own chat room which has switched it from a one-directional platform to the collection of friendly gatherings that it has become today.Several creators and listeners have told me they’ve created genuine connections and friendships that have spilled over into real life. The chat rooms in shows are a rare mix of positivity, musical discourse and humor. Trolling and negativity is unusually rare and it’s obvious there’s a real sense of commitment to the app. But at some point it needs to expand to stop it becoming a circular economy where everyone is both a host and a listener.Amp doesn’t share information about user numbers or demographics, but the typical host and listener right now, perhaps unsurprisingly, appears to mirror the generations that were brought up on mix tapes and burning albums to CD. Where sharing music was more tactile and a little bit slower. In the nicest possible way, the community energy often feels like the best bits of early internet chat rooms. Like many music-first spaces online, there’s little in the way of negativity, and while many creators may fall into a similar age group, a variety of backgrounds has been a defining factor since day one.AmazonThe positive community is Amp’s to lose though. As it opens up to Android, the door to even more users opens, and with that the challenge of scaling up the platform while maintaining what keeps it special. And there’s also the matter of money. Right now, Amp pays out many of its hosts via an opaque creator fund. “One of the things that we’re focused on is making sure that creators can earn through the service over time, not just through the fund, but through other mechanisms as well.” Sandler said. When I asked about subs, tipping and other Twitch-esque ways to earn money he added “Those are all things you could easily imagine in the service.”For now, the creator fund is helping keep hosts motivated, but Amp will need to provide realistic alternative revenue streams to keep creators around (and, of course, lure in more). But perhaps the bigger investment Amp needs is in itself. It’s hard to find much in the way of outward promotion of the app and the best tool for promoting its best creators are its own social channels. If Amp can make itself more visible, it can grow the user base which in turn makes that creator economy, be it tipping, subs and beyond, more viable.There are also occasional technical issues that remind you the app is still in beta, which an injection of new users, on a new operating system no less, might exacerbate. Mostly, it’s small annoyances like the chat swallowing your last message. Occasionally, it’s more dramatic like a stream crashing or a host being booted out of their own show.“The glitchiness causes some frustration. And, sometimes that can change your experience doing the show and with others listening. So once those kinks get ironed out, I feel like the creators will feel more comfortable and less anxious while they’re doing sets” Gonzalez said. Users have even coined the phrase “Amp be Ampin’” as a refrain to the inevitable quirkiness that happens every couple of weeks or after an update.Where does the app go from here? “I think there’s a big opportunity for amp specifically to move charts and culture around the world. And that means personalities, spinning music, having conversations and developing communities that exist in the app but that have social currency outside of the app as well.” Sandler said. Sang on the other hand thinks it’s a way to keep the spirit of radio going. “It’s not like there’s any major radio stars on the come up. So it’s like, where are they going to come from? Let them come from Amp.”Or, as Gonzalez was quick to point out, sometimes, it’s just about the music. “There are certain creators that talk through their experience or a memory or something like that. And it completely changes how I looked at the song to begin with” she said. “I love the community so much, but it’s also just the variety, being exposed to certain genres. So I love that and ever since I’ve been really addicted.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-amp-is-trying-to-reinvent-radio-194634553.html?src=rss
Last spring, Amazon launched its long-rumored live audio-streaming platform, Amp. The pitch was to reinvent radio with “an infinite dial of shows.” Amp offers users access to a vast, built-in music library to create their own DJ sets with. No need to buy songs or flirt with the DMCA, just make a playlist, go live, talk in between tracks, follow the chat and even invite callers. When I wrote about it a year ago, it showed promise, but it was iOS only, light on users and had a limited feature set.
A little over a year later and Amp is reaching an important milestone: It’s finally available on Android. Amp is Amazon’s first home-grown streaming platform and the year-plus stint as an Apple exclusive meant it enjoyed a level of technical predictability and a self-imposed restriction on growth and user numbers. But as the doors open to the other half of the mobile universe, it’s about to be exposed to the full reality of competing in an already busy social-creator landscape.
Growing beyond iOS is an important move for Amp, even if the platform technically remains in beta (and US-only). But the wider reach of Google’s operating system — from TVs to Chromebooks and beyond — will be a decisive step in the process of Amazon proving it can build a viable streaming platform from the ground up (rather than acquire an already successful one).
You can, of course, find DJ sessions and internet radio in myriad places online. Whether it’s big platforms like YouTube and TikTok or more direct rivals like Stationhead or Tidal (via its Live Sessions feature) and even Amazon Music’s own DJ Mode, there are several destinations for live curated music streams. Of course, let’s not forget Amazon-owned Twitch, which is teeming with tune spinners. Oh, and there’s obviously FM radio, too. This obviously begs the question: What makes Amp unique?
“It’s very much like Sirius meets YouTube,” Zach Sang, one of Amp’s contracted creators, and former broadcast DJ told Engadget. “It’s real life, legacy career broadcasters mixed with the future of those broadcasters. It’s everybody coming together, it’s radio democratized. It’s a way that radio genuinely should be programmed: for people and not for profit,” he added. From a user’s point of view, Amp’s main differentiator appears to be its focus on radio and radio-style shows specifically. Plus that built-in music library (Stationhead, for example, requires you to have either Apple Music or Spotify at your own cost).
I asked user Christina “Criti” Gonzalez, who hosts her own daily show, how she’d describe Amp. “[It’s] a very unique, weird place where you’re able to listen to all the music you’ve forgotten about, didn’t know about and crave to hear, again with personalities and so many people of all different walks of life that have one common interest – music.”
Amp Co-Founder, Matt Sandler – who used to work at LA’s KROQ FM – explained that he felt all of the existing options weren’t quite giving listeners or creators what they wanted. “If you posted a job for KROQ and an on air position, you’d get hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of submissions and people who wanted to curate music and talk to the community on air,” he told Engadget. “There have been lots of services built around live connection or music or community. One of the things that I think will drive the success of a business like this is really that balance between scale and connection.”
Amp signed deals with celebrities and established presenters such as Nicki Minaj, Joe Budden, Nick Cannon and the aforementioned Sang to give the platform some known-name appeal, and it’s done so without creating much of a barrier around them compared to regular creators. Your show can sit right next to Nicki Minaj’s in the listings. Although the roster covers large genres like hip-hop, sports, country and pop there’s not much in the way of alt/indie or electronic in that lineup right now.
Unlike Clubhouse, which enjoyed an early surge of popularity, Amp has largely gone under the radar since launch. “The thing we’re maniacally focused on every day is making sure that the product is right before stepping out and bigger and bigger fashion,” Sandler said. But many people I’ve mentioned it to aren’t aware of it – and Amp’s not even included on the list of Amazon products/services Wikipedia page.
The app is clearly a lot busier than when I wrote about it just after launch, but the average number of listeners for most shows remains frustratingly low for most shows (based on multiple user reports and other publicly visible data). But several users explained they weren’t discouraged. “The community that it has right now, it’s a small enough space for people to feel like they’re connected, even if they don’t know each other.” Gonzalez said.
At the beginning, according to Sandler, even Amp’s leadership was unsure in which direction the platform would unfold. There was the possibility that the big-name artists would dominate while regular users gravitated to being listeners. In reality, it’s the smaller, home-grown shows and the aforementioned community that has made Amp a nice place to hang out.
“The culture there is so inviting.” Gonzalez said. “I feel like other social media sites can turn negative quickly. I haven’t had much experience with that on Amp and I appreciate that.” Adding, ”It’s crazy what the experience on Amp has done, because I truly honestly say to anyone that’s not an Amp to join it, because it really will change your perspective.”
One of the main complaints I had with Amp right after launch was that hosts needed at least one listener to be able to play a song and often that meant… waiting. There was also no way to communicate with any listeners you did have. Today the awkward waits are (mostly) gone and each stream has its own chat room which has switched it from a one-directional platform to the collection of friendly gatherings that it has become today.
Several creators and listeners have told me they’ve created genuine connections and friendships that have spilled over into real life. The chat rooms in shows are a rare mix of positivity, musical discourse and humor. Trolling and negativity is unusually rare and it’s obvious there’s a real sense of commitment to the app. But at some point it needs to expand to stop it becoming a circular economy where everyone is both a host and a listener.
Amp doesn’t share information about user numbers or demographics, but the typical host and listener right now, perhaps unsurprisingly, appears to mirror the generations that were brought up on mix tapes and burning albums to CD. Where sharing music was more tactile and a little bit slower. In the nicest possible way, the community energy often feels like the best bits of early internet chat rooms. Like many music-first spaces online, there’s little in the way of negativity, and while many creators may fall into a similar age group, a variety of backgrounds has been a defining factor since day one.
The positive community is Amp’s to lose though. As it opens up to Android, the door to even more users opens, and with that the challenge of scaling up the platform while maintaining what keeps it special. And there’s also the matter of money. Right now, Amp pays out many of its hosts via an opaque creator fund. “One of the things that we’re focused on is making sure that creators can earn through the service over time, not just through the fund, but through other mechanisms as well.” Sandler said. When I asked about subs, tipping and other Twitch-esque ways to earn money he added “Those are all things you could easily imagine in the service.”
For now, the creator fund is helping keep hosts motivated, but Amp will need to provide realistic alternative revenue streams to keep creators around (and, of course, lure in more). But perhaps the bigger investment Amp needs is in itself. It’s hard to find much in the way of outward promotion of the app and the best tool for promoting its best creators are its own social channels. If Amp can make itself more visible, it can grow the user base which in turn makes that creator economy, be it tipping, subs and beyond, more viable.
There are also occasional technical issues that remind you the app is still in beta, which an injection of new users, on a new operating system no less, might exacerbate. Mostly, it’s small annoyances like the chat swallowing your last message. Occasionally, it’s more dramatic like a stream crashing or a host being booted out of their own show.
“The glitchiness causes some frustration. And, sometimes that can change your experience doing the show and with others listening. So once those kinks get ironed out, I feel like the creators will feel more comfortable and less anxious while they’re doing sets” Gonzalez said. Users have even coined the phrase “Amp be Ampin’” as a refrain to the inevitable quirkiness that happens every couple of weeks or after an update.
Where does the app go from here? “I think there’s a big opportunity for amp specifically to move charts and culture around the world. And that means personalities, spinning music, having conversations and developing communities that exist in the app but that have social currency outside of the app as well.” Sandler said. Sang on the other hand thinks it’s a way to keep the spirit of radio going. “It’s not like there’s any major radio stars on the come up. So it’s like, where are they going to come from? Let them come from Amp.”
Or, as Gonzalez was quick to point out, sometimes, it’s just about the music. “There are certain creators that talk through their experience or a memory or something like that. And it completely changes how I looked at the song to begin with” she said. “I love the community so much, but it’s also just the variety, being exposed to certain genres. So I love that and ever since I’ve been really addicted.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-amp-is-trying-to-reinvent-radio-194634553.html?src=rss
Europe’s dark matter-hunting space telescope nabs its first test images
Two early test images from the Euclid space telescope mission. | Image: European Space Agency
Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) showed off the first test images taken from the Euclid space telescope as it approaches its final orbit around the Earth (via Ars Technica). Once in place, scientists at the ESA and its partners in the US, Canada, and Japan hope to gain radical new insights into the very formation and expansion of the universe as well as the role played by dark energy, dark matter, and gravity in all of that.
The first test images, captured by the telescope’s two onboard cameras — the VISible instrument (VIS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) — are a series of detailed shots of the night sky, showing a vast collection of stars, star clusters, galaxies, and more. Knud Jahnke of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, a partner involved in the project, says the images are “not yet usable for scientific purposes” but that the two instruments are “working superbly in space.”
Image: European Space Agency
Early test images from the Euclid mission.
The first test images comprise a swath of sky approximately a “quarter of the width and height of the full moon.” The ESA says they must be processed to remove “unwanted artefacts” such as the cosmic rays that streak across the pictures. The Euclid Consortium will be able to convert later, longer exposures “into science-ready images that are “artefact-free, more detailed, and razor sharp,” the ESA says in its release.
Image: European Space Agency
Infrared images produced by Euclid.
The telescope will start producing those images in October after it reaches its final position about 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth and has completed its roughly three-month “commissioning and performance verification phase,” which began after the telescope’s early July launch.
Euclid is distinct from other famous space-based scientific telescopes like the Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope — rather than look for specific stellar detail, Euclid will spend its six years of service observing more than a third of the sky, peering 10 billion years into the past. Doing so, the ESA says, will help scientists answer questions about the fundamental physical laws of the universe as well as learn how it came to be and what it’s really made of.
Two early test images from the Euclid space telescope mission. | Image: European Space Agency
Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) showed off the first test images taken from the Euclid space telescope as it approaches its final orbit around the Earth (via Ars Technica). Once in place, scientists at the ESA and its partners in the US, Canada, and Japan hope to gain radical new insights into the very formation and expansion of the universe as well as the role played by dark energy, dark matter, and gravity in all of that.
The first test images, captured by the telescope’s two onboard cameras — the VISible instrument (VIS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) — are a series of detailed shots of the night sky, showing a vast collection of stars, star clusters, galaxies, and more. Knud Jahnke of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, a partner involved in the project, says the images are “not yet usable for scientific purposes” but that the two instruments are “working superbly in space.”
Image: European Space Agency
Early test images from the Euclid mission.
The first test images comprise a swath of sky approximately a “quarter of the width and height of the full moon.” The ESA says they must be processed to remove “unwanted artefacts” such as the cosmic rays that streak across the pictures. The Euclid Consortium will be able to convert later, longer exposures “into science-ready images that are “artefact-free, more detailed, and razor sharp,” the ESA says in its release.
Image: European Space Agency
Infrared images produced by Euclid.
The telescope will start producing those images in October after it reaches its final position about 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth and has completed its roughly three-month “commissioning and performance verification phase,” which began after the telescope’s early July launch.
Euclid is distinct from other famous space-based scientific telescopes like the Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope — rather than look for specific stellar detail, Euclid will spend its six years of service observing more than a third of the sky, peering 10 billion years into the past. Doing so, the ESA says, will help scientists answer questions about the fundamental physical laws of the universe as well as learn how it came to be and what it’s really made of.
Buckle up for some iterative smartwatches this year
I don’t see much of a point in a second-gen Apple Watch Ultra if there isn’t a noticeably better experience. | Photograph by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The next Apple Watch Ultra may come in a darker titanium color. Supposedly. The rumor comes courtesy of Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter — but even Gurman himself doesn’t seem entirely sure about it. Besides that, the second-gen Ultra might be a little lighter and feature a faster processor.
I hate to say it, but if that’s all we can expect to change, perhaps Apple shouldn’t release a second-gen Ultra later this year.
I say this as someone who’s been using the Ultra consistently since it launched. The watchOS 10 beta runs just swell. My Ultra’s battery has yet to crap the bed. I have maybe one minuscule nick on the titanium body, and I’ve gotten used to the weight and size on my petite wrist. Barring new health sensors, significantly longer battery life (I’m talking four or five days), some kind of new rugged sport feature, a second Action Button, new display tech, or a dramatic performance boost (50 percent or more), I’m not sure what the point of a second-gen Ultra would be.
Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
The Ultra runs watchOS 10 just fine, so I’m not sure the new rumored processor will make the experience that much better.
Don’t get me wrong. Adding a darker titanium version would make a ton of folks very happy. Aside from size and price, the most common complaint I’ve heard about the Ultra is the fact that it only comes in a single color. But introducing a new color doesn’t mean you have to launch a whole new generation of device. It’s not a crime to update existing products more sparingly.
Samsung seems to have taken this approach for its Galaxy Watches. It elected not to update the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic last year and instead introduced the more rugged Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. This year, it’s decided not to release a new Pro, but it does have a new Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It’s unclear if we’ll get a Galaxy Watch 7 Pro, but after some thought, this every-other-year cycle would make a lot of sense across the board.
Case in point, Samsung told me in a briefing that it frankly didn’t feel there was much to update beyond software for the Pro. The new Exynos W930 chip in the Galaxy Watch 6 lineup isn’t that different from the Pro’s W920, and ostensibly, the Pro should get a Wear OS 4 update whenever it’s available. Given all that, it’s likely the Pro will run One UI 5 Watch without issue. Plus, its huge 590mAh battery is still the largest in the lineup. If there are no major hardware design changes and your biggest updates are software-based… do you really need a new Pro model?
Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge
On the surface, not much has changed with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series, either.
Conversely, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic isn’t a huge update, but the small changes are significant enough that you can feel the difference from its predecessor. The rotating bezel is 15 percent thinner, making the display noticeably larger. There’s also a good jump in battery size. This time around, the smaller 43mm Classic watch is going from a 247mAh to a 300mAh battery, while the larger 47mm model is increasing from a 361mAh to a 425mAh battery. I’m still testing battery life on these watches, but so far, I appreciate and notice the Classic’s updates more than I do the base model Watch 6.
I’m not saying that every update has to be a revolutionary one. Meaningful changes aren’t always the splashiest. It’s the small updates that barely change anything and don’t fix outstanding issues that leave me scratching my head.
I felt this keenly while reviewing the Garmin Fenix 7S Pro. With the exception of the hands-free flashlight, it felt like almost nothing had changed from the Fenix 7S Sapphire Solar Edition I reviewed last year. I knew there was an updated sensor array and a new display, but all the problems I had with the standard Fenix 7 were still there. I had a very similar experience going from the Apple Watch Series 7 to Series 8. At least with the Series 3 through Series 7, you could point to one marquee update each year. (Even so, the processor hasn’t really changed in the Apple Watch since the Series 6.) The worst offender was Fitbit and its Versa smartwatches. The differences between the Versa, Versa Lite, Versa 2, and Versa 3 are so negligible that my brain has purged them from my memory. (I remember the Versa 4 only because Google nerfed it so hard that it led to a noticeable downgrade.)
We’re at an interesting crossroads where wearable health tech ambitions are somewhat beyond the scope of current technology
We’re at an interesting crossroads where wearable health tech ambitions are somewhat beyond the scope of current technology. For example, it would be revolutionary if smartwatches could reliably and noninvasively measure your blood glucose. Multiple companies are reportedly working toward that. However, you won’t see it for ages because it’s such a complex problem, both from a technical and regulatory standpoint. The same could be said of blood pressure and several other “next-level” health features. And piddling battery life is another perennial complaint with smartwatches. Unfortunately, the only real solution companies have had in recent years is to make larger smartwatches that house bigger batteries.
This is a big reason why you should buckle in for some tedious, incremental updates in the near future, especially since smartwatch makers all seemed to make their big push forward last year. Apple is going to have a hard time recapturing the pizzazz of releasing three new smartwatches in a year — even if it does come out with a new Ultra. Samsung’s smartwatch updates this year are also more subdued. If anything, the rumored Pixel Watch 2 is where we might see the most exciting updates, but that’s largely because Google has a lot more room to grow in this space than Apple or Samsung.
I doubt you can stop smartwatch makers from updating the main flagship every year, even if those updates are nigh indistinguishable from the year before. But if we’re talking about “special” versions, I don’t think people would mind waiting for more substantial updates. It would at least give everyone something to get excited about.
Related:
I don’t see much of a point in a second-gen Apple Watch Ultra if there isn’t a noticeably better experience. | Photograph by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The next Apple Watch Ultra may come in a darker titanium color. Supposedly. The rumor comes courtesy of Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter — but even Gurman himself doesn’t seem entirely sure about it. Besides that, the second-gen Ultra might be a little lighter and feature a faster processor.
I hate to say it, but if that’s all we can expect to change, perhaps Apple shouldn’t release a second-gen Ultra later this year.
I say this as someone who’s been using the Ultra consistently since it launched. The watchOS 10 beta runs just swell. My Ultra’s battery has yet to crap the bed. I have maybe one minuscule nick on the titanium body, and I’ve gotten used to the weight and size on my petite wrist. Barring new health sensors, significantly longer battery life (I’m talking four or five days), some kind of new rugged sport feature, a second Action Button, new display tech, or a dramatic performance boost (50 percent or more), I’m not sure what the point of a second-gen Ultra would be.
Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
The Ultra runs watchOS 10 just fine, so I’m not sure the new rumored processor will make the experience that much better.
Don’t get me wrong. Adding a darker titanium version would make a ton of folks very happy. Aside from size and price, the most common complaint I’ve heard about the Ultra is the fact that it only comes in a single color. But introducing a new color doesn’t mean you have to launch a whole new generation of device. It’s not a crime to update existing products more sparingly.
Samsung seems to have taken this approach for its Galaxy Watches. It elected not to update the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic last year and instead introduced the more rugged Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. This year, it’s decided not to release a new Pro, but it does have a new Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It’s unclear if we’ll get a Galaxy Watch 7 Pro, but after some thought, this every-other-year cycle would make a lot of sense across the board.
Case in point, Samsung told me in a briefing that it frankly didn’t feel there was much to update beyond software for the Pro. The new Exynos W930 chip in the Galaxy Watch 6 lineup isn’t that different from the Pro’s W920, and ostensibly, the Pro should get a Wear OS 4 update whenever it’s available. Given all that, it’s likely the Pro will run One UI 5 Watch without issue. Plus, its huge 590mAh battery is still the largest in the lineup. If there are no major hardware design changes and your biggest updates are software-based… do you really need a new Pro model?
Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge
On the surface, not much has changed with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series, either.
Conversely, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic isn’t a huge update, but the small changes are significant enough that you can feel the difference from its predecessor. The rotating bezel is 15 percent thinner, making the display noticeably larger. There’s also a good jump in battery size. This time around, the smaller 43mm Classic watch is going from a 247mAh to a 300mAh battery, while the larger 47mm model is increasing from a 361mAh to a 425mAh battery. I’m still testing battery life on these watches, but so far, I appreciate and notice the Classic’s updates more than I do the base model Watch 6.
I’m not saying that every update has to be a revolutionary one. Meaningful changes aren’t always the splashiest. It’s the small updates that barely change anything and don’t fix outstanding issues that leave me scratching my head.
I felt this keenly while reviewing the Garmin Fenix 7S Pro. With the exception of the hands-free flashlight, it felt like almost nothing had changed from the Fenix 7S Sapphire Solar Edition I reviewed last year. I knew there was an updated sensor array and a new display, but all the problems I had with the standard Fenix 7 were still there. I had a very similar experience going from the Apple Watch Series 7 to Series 8. At least with the Series 3 through Series 7, you could point to one marquee update each year. (Even so, the processor hasn’t really changed in the Apple Watch since the Series 6.) The worst offender was Fitbit and its Versa smartwatches. The differences between the Versa, Versa Lite, Versa 2, and Versa 3 are so negligible that my brain has purged them from my memory. (I remember the Versa 4 only because Google nerfed it so hard that it led to a noticeable downgrade.)
We’re at an interesting crossroads where wearable health tech ambitions are somewhat beyond the scope of current technology. For example, it would be revolutionary if smartwatches could reliably and noninvasively measure your blood glucose. Multiple companies are reportedly working toward that. However, you won’t see it for ages because it’s such a complex problem, both from a technical and regulatory standpoint. The same could be said of blood pressure and several other “next-level” health features. And piddling battery life is another perennial complaint with smartwatches. Unfortunately, the only real solution companies have had in recent years is to make larger smartwatches that house bigger batteries.
This is a big reason why you should buckle in for some tedious, incremental updates in the near future, especially since smartwatch makers all seemed to make their big push forward last year. Apple is going to have a hard time recapturing the pizzazz of releasing three new smartwatches in a year — even if it does come out with a new Ultra. Samsung’s smartwatch updates this year are also more subdued. If anything, the rumored Pixel Watch 2 is where we might see the most exciting updates, but that’s largely because Google has a lot more room to grow in this space than Apple or Samsung.
I doubt you can stop smartwatch makers from updating the main flagship every year, even if those updates are nigh indistinguishable from the year before. But if we’re talking about “special” versions, I don’t think people would mind waiting for more substantial updates. It would at least give everyone something to get excited about.
Related:
8BitDo’s $100 wireless mechanical keyboard screams ’80s NES
Retro colors and big ol’ programmable “Super Buttons,” but no numpad.
The keyboard comes with detachable “Super Buttons.” [credit:
8BitDo
]
Iconic, impactful, and unforgettable, the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) changed the video game industry for good when it came out in the ’80s. Originally released as the Family Computer, aka Famicom, in Japan, the landmark console still holds a place in people’s hearts, whether it’s through cherished maintained consoles, DIY designs, or old-school titles. Now that nostalgia can trickle down to your fingertips, too.
Today, 8BitDo, a gaming peripherals maker with a flair for retro designs, announced via Twitter a mechanical keyboard that will give ’80s Nintendo fans the warm fuzzies. 8BitDo, likely aware of Nintendo’s stringent legal team, doesn’t outright state the keyboard’s similarity to the original Nintendo console. And the product’s name, Retro Mechanical Keyboard, is vague and unrevealing. But the colors, extra buttons, and color scheme names—N Edition (with NES colors) and Fami Edition (with Famicom colors)—are enough to bring you back to your ’80s gaming den.
Both the N and Fami Edition have console-controller-looking “B” and “A” buttons where FN and Menu keys are expected. The keys, as like the rest of the keyboard’s keys, are programmable without software or using 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software V2.
Elon Musk’s extravagant ‘X’ sign atop the former Twitter HQ has been dismantled
Workers prepare to dismantle a large X logo on the roof of X headquarters on July 31st, 2023, in San Francisco, California. | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Well, that was fast. Twitter, which is currently rebranding itself to X, is now removing the giant, garishly-lit X logo that was placed on top of its San Francisco headquarters, as previously reported by CNBC and ABC7 News. The sign, rapidly erected and supported in part by sandbags, had already received complaints from residents living near the building.
According to the city’s complaint, Twitter repeatedly denied access to inspectors seeking access to the roof, explaining to them that the X logo was a “temporary lighted sign for an event.”
Videos of the logo over the weekend showed a bright light that pulsed and crawled across the logo, which the company just began using about a week ago. At the same time, crews continued dismantling the Twitter sign on the side of the building.
Twitter owner Elon Musk previously called the logo an “interim” one, in place while the company worked on a newer, more permanent one to replace the company’s former bird logo.
Imagine no more. This is my life now. https://t.co/k5QfAm8yuG pic.twitter.com/e7ECCM2NUD— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 29, 2023
X / Twitter won’t let city building inspectors check out the giant X logo on the roof of their HQinspectors have been denied access for the past two days upon visiting to inspect the structure https://t.co/bqc1JXuUbn pic.twitter.com/93R0bieIfs— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) July 30, 2023
Workers prepare to dismantle a large X logo on the roof of X headquarters on July 31st, 2023, in San Francisco, California. | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Well, that was fast. Twitter, which is currently rebranding itself to X, is now removing the giant, garishly-lit X logo that was placed on top of its San Francisco headquarters, as previously reported by CNBC and ABC7 News. The sign, rapidly erected and supported in part by sandbags, had already received complaints from residents living near the building.
According to the city’s complaint, Twitter repeatedly denied access to inspectors seeking access to the roof, explaining to them that the X logo was a “temporary lighted sign for an event.”
Videos of the logo over the weekend showed a bright light that pulsed and crawled across the logo, which the company just began using about a week ago. At the same time, crews continued dismantling the Twitter sign on the side of the building.
Twitter owner Elon Musk previously called the logo an “interim” one, in place while the company worked on a newer, more permanent one to replace the company’s former bird logo.
Imagine no more. This is my life now. https://t.co/k5QfAm8yuG pic.twitter.com/e7ECCM2NUD
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 29, 2023
X / Twitter won’t let city building inspectors check out the giant X logo on the roof of their HQ
inspectors have been denied access for the past two days upon visiting to inspect the structure https://t.co/bqc1JXuUbn pic.twitter.com/93R0bieIfs
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) July 30, 2023