Amazon has launched a new Fire TV Channels app, giving Fire TV customers access to over 400 free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, including ABC News, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, MLB, Martha Stewart and more. From a report: Alongside the app launch, the company also announced new content providers, such as Variety, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, GameSpot, Looper and Funny or Die, among others. Amazon will continue adding more FAST channels over time, the company wrote in the press release. First introduced in May, Fire TV Channels are available on Fire TV-branded smart TVs and streaming devices. The new app offers a single destination for users to quickly access thousands of live and on-demand titles across sports, news, entertainment, cooking, gaming and more. Customers can find the Fire TV Channels app via the "Your Apps and Channels" section, the Free icon in the navigation bar or labeled content rows throughout the Fire TV user interface. They also can ask Alexa to "Play Fire TV Channels." No downloads are required to watch FAST channels on Fire TV.

An anonymous reader shared this report from IGN: A demo for the unofficial fan game Twin Peaks: Into the Night has been released, allowing players to explore the weird and wonderful world of David Lynch and Mark Frost's '90s TV show in a PS1-style adaptation... developed by Jean Manzoni and Lucas Guibert of the Blue Rose Team. The game is now available to download on PC via itch.io, with its creators welcoming feedback on the gameplay experience... "We hope you'll enjoy playing it. As a quick reminder, this is a free fan game made by a very small team of two on our free time. Please take this into consideration... The demo is intended to show you the direction we're taking, and we've put our hearts at it. We're already working on the next release."

Although the game shares no affiliation with the show or its creators, it promises an "experience that will immerse you directly into the unique atmosphere of the show" by offering players the opportunity to step into the shoes of Cooper to solve the mystery while enjoying a slice of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee.
More details from Engadget: The graphics are retro and decidedly PS1-flavored, which makes sense given how the show premiered in 1990. The gameplay looks to be full of exploration, complete with conversations with the town's many oddball residents, though there's a survival horror element reminiscent of the original Resident Evil titles. This is also an appropriate design choice, as the show pits Agent Cooper against foes both physical and supernatural...

The creators have announced that the game will be free when it launches, so that should clear up any potential legal hurdles moving forward.

Nearly seven decades after he died, James Dean "has been cast as the star in a new, upcoming movie," reports the BBC: A digital clone of the actor — created using artificial intelligence technology similar to that used to generate deepfakes — will walk, talk and interact on screen with other actors in the film...

This is the second time Dean's digital clone has been lined up for a film. In 2019, it was announced he would be resurrected in CGI for a film called Finding Jack, but it was later cancelled. Travis Cloyd, chief executive of immersive media agency WorldwideXR (WXR), confirmed to BBC, however, that Dean will instead star in Back to Eden, a science fiction film in which "an out of this world visit to find truth leads to a journey across America with the legend James Dean". The digital cloning of Dean also represents a significant shift in what is possible. Not only will his AI avatar be able to play a flat-screen role in Back to Eden and a series of subsequent films, but also to engage with audiences in interactive platforms including augmented reality, virtual reality and gaming.

The technology goes far beyond passive digital reconstruction or deepfake technology that overlays one person's face over someone else's body. It raises the prospect of actors — or anyone else for that matter — achieving a kind of immortality that would have been otherwise impossible, with careers that go on long after their lives have ended. But it also raises some uncomfortable questions. Who owns the rights to someone's face, voice and persona after they die? What control can they have over the direction of their career after death — could an actor who made their name starring in gritty dramas suddenly be made to appear in a goofball comedy or even pornography? What if they could be used for gratuitous brand promotions in adverts...? Dean's image is one of hundreds represented by WRX and its sister licensing company CMG Worldwide — including Amelia Earhart, Bettie Page, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks...

Voice actors, in particular, have been leading the conversation and working across acting guilds to form a unified front in protecting the rights and careers of actors... Cloyd acknowledges the potential for fewer acting opportunities but offers a "glass-half-full" perspective toward employing dead actors. "At the end of the day, it creates lots of jobs," he says, referring to the other technical and film industry jobs the technology could generate. "So even though it could be jeopardising one person's role or job, at the same time, it's creating hundreds of jobs in regards to what it takes to do this at a high level."

If the dead — or rather, their digital clones — are damned to an eternity of work, who benefits financially? And do the dead have any rights? Simply put, the rules are murky and, in some regions of the world, non-existent.
In June Rolling Stone published this advice from Samuel L. Jackson. "Future actors should do what I always do when I get a contract and it has the words 'in perpetuity' and 'known and unknown' on it: I cross that shit out. It's my way of saying, 'No, I do not approve of this.'"

To one-up Valve's Steam Deck, Lenovo's handheld gaming device, the "Legion Go," will have "Switch-style detachable controllers," reports Ars Technica" The Legion Go wouldn't be the very first portable PC gaming device with removable controllers; the crowd-funded OneXplayer sported a similar design last year, for instance. But few other PC-based portables have similarly mimicked the Switch Joy-cons in their ability to slide smoothly off from the main screen of the system for detached play.

Combined with a nice, wide kickstand shown in the leaked images, you should be able to give your arms a rest by setting the bulky-looking Legion Go's screen on a tabletop. The slide-off controls also mean you don't need to purchase and/or drag out a separate controller when docking the device to a TV or monitor (which we assume will be a main use case of the device's two USB-C ports). And completely detachable controls for each hand means you can keep your hands as far apart as you want while you hold each "half-controller" separately (one of our favorite unique use cases on the Switch)... The Legion Go also reportedly sports an 8-inch diagonal screen, which is 1 inch larger than Valve's and ROG's devices.

The Legion Go leaks come just months after Lenovo abandoned its button- and cooler-packed Legion line of Android-based gaming phones as part of what it said was a "gaming portfolio consolidation." The Windows 11-based Legion Go — which Windows Central says will be based on AMD's Phoenix processors — should have the high-end PC gaming support that the Legion phones lacked, as well as a more market-proven form factor.
Windows Report believes Lenovo "is preparing to launch an entire gaming ecosystem alongside the Legion Go."

"Among the accessories is a new pair of Legion AR glasses specifically tweaked for gaming." Based on the images we have, the glasses should be small enough to wear through long gaming sessions, with only one USB cable connecting them to any device (most likely for power, which means no standalone battery). The Legion AR Glasess could also feature a high refresh rate and other gaming-specific features, as the Legion branding implies they're made specifically for that...

Microsoft will close its Xbox 360 digital store next July, though anything purchased will still be accessible. From a report: On 29th July 2024, Xbox 360 users will no longer be able to purchase new games, DLC, or other entertainment content from either the console store or the web-based marketplace. In addition, the Microsoft Movies & TV app on the Xbox 360 will no longer function. Of course, the store will continue as normal until that date next July. After that time, any games purchased will still remain playable and deleted purchases can still be re-downloaded. Online multiplayer will also remain accessible for games already purchased (digitally or physically), as long as the publisher supports the servers. Further, users will still be able to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles via backward compatibility, and hundreds of games will remain available to purchase on those consoles.

Powered by shows like "Suits" on Netflix, streaming's share of U.S. viewing time grew to a new high in July, while television viewing fell below 50% for the first time, according to new Nielsen data. From a report: The milestone is the latest sign of the rapid erosion of the cable-TV bundle, which has lost about a quarter of its subscribers over the past decade, as more Americans cut the cord in favor of streaming services like Netflix, Google's YouTube and Disney's Hulu. Cable television accounted for 29.6% of total U.S. viewing time in July, while broadcast attracted 20%, Nielsen said in a release published Tuesday.

Streaming services, meanwhile, captured 38.7% of Americans' viewing time, while a category labeled "Other" -- which Nielsen says includes usage such as DVD playback and gaming -- accounted for the remaining 11.6%. The growth of streaming platforms at the expense of cable and broadcast TV networks has accelerated in recent years, as most entertainment conglomerates introduced their own direct-to-consumer services to take on industry leader Netflix. As they sought to rapidly grow their subscriber bases, many of them chose to make their highest-profile and costliest content available exclusively on streaming. While original content helps reel in subscribers and build streaming brands, the most-watched programs are sometimes older TV shows. Last month, the show Americans spent the most time watching was "Suits," a legal drama starring Meghan Markle made for cable TV that made its debut more than a decade ago.

Ford has hired former Apple executive Peter Stern to help build new high-margin digital and subscription services. Reuters reports: Stern, who previously oversaw Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple News+, will report to Ford CEO Jim Farley. In his new role, Stern will focus on integrating hardware, software and services across the company's Ford Blue, Model e and Ford Pro units. Like other U.S. automakers, Ford is looking to expand beyond its traditional wholesale-to-dealer business model and build recurring revenues from services connected to its vehicles, much as Apple has built on its hardware products.

Stern joins an executive team at Ford that includes another Apple alumnus, Doug Field, who is chief advanced product development and technology officer. [...] Stern said Ford plans to create "bundles of services" that will provide "safer, more convenient and more productive experiences." "The basis for differentiation is shifting from the vehicles alone to the integration of hardware, software and services," Stern said.

One of Stern's first tasks is to help expand Ford's BlueCruise hands-free driving package, which is being extended to more vehicles in the 2024 model year. Ford will install BlueCruise hardware on another 500,000 vehicles next year, while giving customers the option of activating the subscription package at any point during ownership, rather than just at time of purchase. The automaker plans to offer BlueCruise in a wider variety of Ford and Lincoln models, including F-150, F-150 Lightning, Expedition, Navigator, Nautilus and Corsair.

Netflix is officially bringing its games to more devices. So far, the company's impressive library of games has only been available on iOS and Android. Now, though, Netflix is starting to use its streaming tech to publicly test its titles on TVs and computers. From a report: "Our goal has always been to have a game for everyone, and we are working hard to meet members where they are with an accessible, smooth and ubiquitous service," Mike Verdu, Netflix's vice-president of games, wrote in a blog post. "Today, we're taking the first step in making games playable on every device where our members enjoy Netflix." The test appears to be very limited for now. Just two games will be available at the outset: Oxenfree. The beta is only open to a small number of Netflix subscribers in the UK and Canada on Amazon Fire TV streaming media players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, NVIDIA Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung smart TVs and Walmart ONN. The company will add support for more devices later.

Why aren't more people using Linux on the desktop? Slashdot reader technology_dude shares one solution: Jack Wallen at ZDNet says establishing an "official" version of Linux may (or may not) help Linux on the desktop increase the number of users, mostly as someplace to point new users. It makes sense to me. What does Slashdot think and what would be the challenges, other than acceptance of a particular flavor?
Wallen argues this would also create a standard for hardware and software vendors to target, which "could equate to even more software and hardware being made available to Linux." (And an "official" Linux might also be more appealing to business users.) Wallen suggests it be "maintained and controlled by a collective of people from users, developers, and corporations (such as Intel and AMD) with a vested interest in the success of this project... There would also be corporate backing for things like marketing (such as TV commercials)." He also suggests basing it on Debian, and supporting both Snap and Flatpak...

In comments on the original submission, long-time Slashdot reader bobbomo points instead to kernel.org, arguing "There already is an official version of Linux called mainline. Everything else is backports." And jd (Slashdot user #1,658) believes that the official Linux is the Linux Standard Base. "All distributions, more-or-less, conform to the LSB, which gives you a pseudo 'official' Linux. About the one variable is the package manager. And there are ways to work around that."

Unfortunately, according to Wikipedia... The LSB standard stopped being updated in 2015 and current Linux distributions do not adhere to or offer it; however, the lsb_release command is sometimes still available.[citation needed] On February 7, 2023, a former maintainer of the LSB wrote, "The LSB project is essentially abandoned."
That post (on the lsb-discuss mailing list) argues the LSB approach was "partially superseded" by Snaps and Flatpaks (for application portability and stability). And of course, long-time Slashdot user menkhaura shares the obligatory XKCD comic...

It's not exactly the same thing, but days after ZDNet's article, CIQ, Oracle, and SUSE announced the Open Enterprise Linux Association, a new collaborative trade association to foster "the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux."

So where does that leave us? Share your own thoughts in the comments.

And should there be an "official" version of Linux?

In the unfortunate event that Amazon cancels Good Omens, a British fantasy comedy series created by Neil Gaiman, the New York Times bestselling author says a novel would be written to continue where the show left off. For those unaware, Good Omens recently launched season two on Amazon Prime and follows various characters all trying to either encourage or prevent an imminent Armageddon, seen through the eyes of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley. According to Gizmodo's Linda Codega, it "ends on an absolutely devastating cliffhanger. Emotionally speaking." From the report: Neil Gaiman, the co-author of Good Omens (the book) alongside Terry Pratchett and the lead writer on Good Omens (the show), has always been active on Tumblr. Naturally, people have been asking him about that ending -- mostly because Good Omens, for all the hype, hasn't yet been renewed for a third season, and I will reiterate, the ending of season two is heart-wrenching. Gaiman had a lovely answer for one fan [poohbear0915] who asked: "In the unfortunate event that Good Omens is not renewed for a season three, would you consider releasing a script book of what would have happened for the fans to read?" Neil Gaiman responded: "No, I'd write a novel."

You're either a subtitles person or you're not. But increasingly, people are. From a report: Preply followed up on its subtitle-use survey of Americans from 2022 and found a 5% rise, to 58%, in how many people use captioning more than they used to. Now, just over half (51%) of those surveyed say they use subtitles most of the time. If you're thinking this habit could be the purview of older folks who are having a hard time hearing -- well, 96% of Gen Z survey respondents said they impose words over what they're watching.

Netflix watchers are using captioning the most; 52% of survey respondents say they turn the feature on while they're watching. Subtitles help 81% of people better comprehend what they're watching. A significant part of the time (70%), people use subtitles to understand foreign accents, particularly if a speaker is Scottish, which poses a problem for Outlander fans. Preply found that Americans have a hard time understanding their own language when someone has a Scottish accent (47%), an Irish accent (20%), a British accent (13%), a South African accent (12%), an Australian accent (5%), and even a Southern US accent (3%). So those who watching Derry Girls, Downton Abbey, and Ozark are adjusting their settings to follow along.

Disney is raising prices on almost all of its streaming offerings as it looks to accelerate profitability for the business. CNBC reports: Commercial-free Disney+ will cost $13.99 per month, a 27% increase, beginning Oct. 12. Disney+ with ads will remain $7.99 per month. Disney will also expand its ad-tier offering to select markets in Europe and in Canada beginning Nov. 1. Disney is increasing the price of Hulu without ads to $17.99 per month, a 20% price hike. Hulu with ads will also stay the same price, at $7.99 per month. The decision to price Disney+ nearly as high as commercial-free Netflix and Max, and charge even more for Hulu, signals Disney believes its content library can compete with both of those services.

Disney is now betting consumers will pay more for its streaming services even as the Hollywood writers and actors strikes threaten its content pipeline in the coming months. For consumers who want both Disney+ and Hulu without commercials, they can pay $19.99 per month in a new "premium duo" offering -- a $12 per month savings. The Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads will not change from its $9.99 per month price. Disney also increased the price of its bundle of Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads) and ESPN+ (with ads) to $24.99 per month from $19.99 per month. The bundle of all three products with commercials will be $14.99 per month, an increase of $2 per month. Disney is also increasing the price of Hulu + Live TV with ads to $76.99 from $69.99 per month. The commercial-free Hulu + Live TV will jump to $89.99 per month from $82.99 per month.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Gizmodo editor-in-chief Daniel Ackerman has sued Apple and other parties over the 2023 Apple TV Plus film Tetris, alleging it rips off his 2016 book The Tetris Effect. Ackerman claims Apple, Tetris rightsholder the Tetris Company, the Tetris film's producers, and screenwriter Noah Pink copied "the exact same feel, tone, approach, and scenes" from The Tetris Effect -- particularly its framing of the game's release as a "Cold War spy thriller." Initially reported by Reuters, Ackerman's lawsuit (PDF) outlines a yearslong correspondence with the Tetris Company as he wrote The Tetris Effect. He claims that the Tetris Company was aware of his work and threatened him with legal action for trying to pursue film and TV adaptations of his own book, only to draw heavily from his framing of the Tetris story. "The film liberally borrowed numerous specific sections and events of the book," claims Ackerman.

Apple and the Tetris Company did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Verge. But Ackerman's case may be difficult given the fact that Tetris and The Tetris Effect both draw on real historical facts, which are not generally protected by copyright law. As a result, the suit relies heavily on arguing that Tetris copies the feel of The Tetris Effect. (He also argues that some potential inventions of the film -- like a guide who turns out to be a secret KGB agent -- are based on speculations in his narrative.) "Ackerman's book took a unique approach to writing about the real history of Tetris, as it not only applied the historical record, but also layered his own original research and ingenuity to create a compelling narrative non-fiction book in the style of a Cold War spy thriller," the suit says. "Mr. Ackerman's literary masterpiece, unlike other articles and writings, dispelled of the emphasis on the actual gameplay and fans, and instead concentrated on the surrounding narrative, action sequences, and adversarial relationship between the players ... This was the identical approach Defendants adopted for the Tetris Film, without notable material distinction."

Ackerman says that he reached out after the Tetris trailer's release and unsuccessfully requested Apple and the other defendants address legal issues before the film's release. His suit alleges copyright infringement and unfair competition, among other offenses.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Production companies are scanning the faces and bodies of actors and actresses, who fear their likeness will be used to create fake AI doubles for TV shows and films in the future. Some workers spoke to NPR last week about being subjected to the scans, and feeling like they couldn't say no. Alexandria Rubalcaba, who was working as a background actor, described being called into a trailer and asked to stand in front of cameras.

"Have your hands out. Have your hands in. Look this way. Look that way. Let us see your scared face. Let us see your surprised face," she said. What was most concerning, however, was that she didn't know what or how her images were going to be used. "My first thought leaving the trailer was, 'Oh this might just be the future," Lubsey said. "We might just lose our jobs," Dom Lubsey, an actor from Los Angeles, added. Studios already use computational techniques to create synthetic images of people to create fake crowds for backgrounds in films.

It's not too far-fetched to think that extras can also be generated too. Andrew Susskind, an associate professor at Drexel University's film and TV department, explained how AI-made background actors would slash production budgets. "Imagine ballroom scenes, party scenes, any scenes that need tons of extras," Susskind said. "Imagine the amounts of money they would be saving. Not paying $180 a day. Plus meals. Plus costuming," he said.

Apple now has more than 1 billion paid subscriptions across all of its services, including Apple Music, iCloud, Apple News, Apple TV+ and more. From a report: Apple has methodically executed a long-term strategy of offsetting slowing hardware sales growth with revenue from software services -- and that now accounts for more than a quarter of the company's sales. Apple's advertising business is expected to reach $6 billion by 2025, which would make it larger than both Snapchat and Twitter's ad business. [...] The quarter also represented Apple's biggest ever for software sales.

According to CNBC, Walmart shoppers "will soon see more third-party ads on screens in Walmart self-checkout lanes and TV aisles; hear spots over the store's radio; and be able to sample items at demo stations." From the report: For Walmart, selling ad space to its wealth of existing partners is another way to capitalize on the company's huge reach and to expand into higher-margin businesses. The discounter has nearly 4,700 stores across the U.S., with roughly 90% of Americans living within 10 miles of a Walmart store. In the U.S., about 139 million customers visit Walmart stores and its website or app each week.

The company plans to ramp up in-store ads using its approximately 170,000 digital screens across its locations as well as 30-second radio spots that will be available to suppliers later this year and can target a specific store or region. And it's hoping at least one of the new advertising initiatives will be easy to digest: free samples in stores on the weekends. It tried out the new in-house approach of selling sampling stations in Dallas-Fort Worth and plans to offer the option in more than 1,000 stores across the country by the end of January.

Advertising still drives a small sliver of Walmart's overall revenue. Its global advertising business hit $2.7 billion in the most recent fiscal year, which ended in late January. That's less than 1% of Walmart's total annual revenue. Yet it is becoming a more meaningful growth engine for Walmart. CEO Doug McMillon said earlier this year that he expects company profits to grow faster than sales over the next five years, driven in part by higher-margin businesses, including advertising. In the most recent fiscal year, Walmart's global ads business grew nearly 30% and its U.S. ads business, Walmart Connect, rose about 40%. That's a sharper gain than the approximately 7% increase in Walmart's total revenue and Walmart U.S. net sales during the period.

A proposed state tax in Massachusetts on streaming video services could increase prices for popular platforms like Netflix and Hulu, as the 5 percent fee would support approximately 200 community access cable channels struggling due to declining cable subscriptions. The Boston Globe reports: In July, the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology held hearings on legislation filed by Democratic State Representative Joan Meschino and Republican Representative Mathew J. Muratore, both of Plymouth. Their bill would require streaming video companies to pay a 5 percent fee on the gross revenues generated in the state. The estimated $65 million a year raised by the fee would support roughly 200 community access channels, the most in any state. The community channels are run by nonprofit organizations or town governments, and funded by cable TV companies, which are assessed a fee by local governments for the right to run their cables through city property. The cable companies pass the cost on to subscribers.

But subscriptions are plummeting as US consumers abandon pay TV for streaming services. Cable and satellite subscribers now number about 70 million, down more than 25 percent from 95.5 million a decade ago, according to Leichtman Research Group, a New Hampshire research and analysis company specializing in media, entertainment, and broadband industries. "The next three to five years it's really going to dry up even more so," said Muratore. Meschino said citizens can't afford to lose access to community media channels, because so many local newspapers have shut down. "There's literally no other way to consume that sort of hyperlocal programming," Meschino said.

About a dozen US states levy sales taxes on consumers' streaming video bills. But Meschino said that sales tax money goes into each state's general fund. Instead, she wants the streaming fee to be dedicated entirely to support for community media services, just like the fee paid by traditional cable TV companies. Some or all of the fees would likely be passed on to consumers. Gauthier estimates that a typical household's costs could rise about $2.40 a month, spread among several streaming networks. "Maybe it'll be 75 cents for your Amazon," he said. "Maybe it'll be 80 cents for your Disney."

Amazon will soon require international app developers who offer ad-supported streaming video services available to Fire TV users to opt into their in-house ad publishing service or, where unavailable, offer up a cut of their ad revenue. From a report: Starting September 1, Amazon will enforce a new developer policy that requires domestic and foreign streaming services to allocate 30% of their in-country advertising impressions to Amazon. Developers who offer up ad-supported Fire TV apps in the United States and whose apps see 50,000 hours or more usage in a given month will be required to enroll in Amazon Publishing Services (APS). The same applies for ad-supported Fire TV apps developed and distributed outside the United States, except the threshold is lowered to 30,000 hours of use per month.

In countries where APS isn't available, Amazon will require ad-supported streaming video services to provide 30% of their ad revenue to the company, starting September 30. Amazon will contact app developers in those countries to notify them of the requirement, the developer's note said.

"Over the past week, a Reddit employee has posted to subreddits with ousted mods, asking for new volunteers," reports Ars Technica.

But it's not always going smoothly... A Reddit employee going by ModCodeofConduct (Reddit has refused to disclose the real names of admins representing the company on the platform) has posted to numerous subreddits over recent days, including r/IRLEasterEggs, r/donthelpjustfilm, r/ActLikeYouBelong, r/malefashionadvice, and r/AccidentalRenaissance... Like most official Reddit posts since the API war began, the comments under the job ads display users' discontent.

"May I nominate a mod? I think u/ConspirOC would be a great mod, as he created this subreddit and has successfully run it for years, before you forcibly removed him," a user going by LittleManOnACan wrote on ModCodeofConduct's post seeking replacement r/IRLEasterEggs mods. "Additionally, fire Steve Huffman (Fuck u/Spez)."

There's also a desire among Reddit users for a return to not just how things were but an acknowledgment of the efforts made by many previous moderators, how things changed, and why things are different now. A Redditor going by QuicklyThisWay wrote on ModCodeofConduct's post for news mods for r/IRLEasterEggs:

"Just to be clear for anyone 'applying' to be a moderator. The user that created the subreddit and any other mods were removed by admins for making the community private. Even though the option to change to private is available to all subreddits at any time, the admins have not and will not respect any 'autonomy' moderators appear to have...

As Ars has previously detailed, user protests didn't prevent third-party Reddit apps from closing. However, they have disrupted the platform.

Reddit didn't answer questions Ars sent about its replacement mod criteria or how it'll help ensure new mods can properly handle their newfound volunteer duties...
"mods Ars has spoken with over the weeks have frequently pointed to the potential for burnout, death threats, long training sessions (from other volunteer mods), and rapid turnover for Reddit mods..." the article notes, adding "Without mods proven to be dedicated and experienced, it's unclear how fervently such efforts will continue in the future...

"Disgruntled mods and ex-mods continue seeking new platforms to continue community discussions, including Lemmy and Discord. And as of this writing, there are still 1,900 subreddits private, per the Reddark_247 tracker."

Meanwhile, the third annual edition of Reddit's annual pixel-placing event r/Place "turned into a battleground for dunking on the CEO," reports Polygon. A Reddit spokesperson declined to comment about this year's edition of r/Place, telling Polygon via email "redditors are going to reddit."
Gizmodo's article includes a timelapse video (from YouTube) that they say captures "the whimsy — and anger — of its users," including "plenty of protest art directed at CEO Steve Huffman, who goes by u/spez on the platform..." While there are plenty of examples of "Fuck Spez" to go around, the most creative moment occurred at the end of the project. As r/Place wound to a close, users were able to place a pixel once every thirty seconds, but the pixel had to be white — an effort to wipe the slate clean. However, in the final moments of the project, users collaborated to leave one massive "FUCK SPEZ" across the canvas.

An anonymous reader shares a report: As Hollywood executives insist it is "just not realistic" to pay actors -- 87 percent of whom earn less than $26,000 -- more, they are spending lavishly on AI programs. While entertainment firms like Disney have declined to go into specifics about the nature of their investments in artificial intelligence, job postings and financial disclosures reviewed by The Intercept reveal new details about the extent of these companies' embrace of the technology. In one case, Netflix is offering as much as $900,000 for a single AI product manager.

[...] Netflix's posting for a $900,000-a-year AI product manager job makes clear that the AI goes beyond just the algorithms that determine what shows are recommended to users. The listing points to AI's uses for content creation: "Artificial Intelligence is powering innovation in all areas of the business," including by helping them to "create great content." Netflix's AI product manager posting alludes to a sprawling effort by the business to embrace AI, referring to its "Machine Learning Platform" involving AI specialists "across Netflix."

A research section on Netflix's website describes its machine learning platform, noting that while it was historically used for things like recommendations, it is now being applied to content creation. "Historically, personalization has been the most well-known area, where machine learning powers our recommendation algorithms. We're also using machine learning to help shape our catalog of movies and TV shows by learning characteristics that make content successful. We use it to optimize the production of original movies and TV shows in Netflix's rapidly growing studio."