YouTube creates human copyright team in response to #WTFU

/

YouTube has finally made a statement following the campaign from YouTube movie reviewer Doug Walker decrying YouTube's unfair takedown and punishment policies.  

For those of you behind in this story the original video that Doug posted is embedded here.   Basically his argument is that most of his videos are fair-use and have been subject to DMCA requests fraudulently.   He had received strikes on his channel which had caused him to lose his monetization status,  which allows him to make ad-money from his videos.   Unfortunately, it seems there was no human team in place to review these requests and everything was run by an algorithm.   Also there is currently no penalty for filing a false DMCA takedown.   Giving studio executives and trolls alike the ability to send a takedown notice on anything, just because they felt they could.

Today Google responded on their Youtube blog:

“Hi, I’m Spencer,

I’ve been a member of the YouTube Policy team since 2008 and throughout that time, I’ve seen how your input has helped YouTube get better. For example, when I started on YouTube Policy, we didn’t have an appeals process for video removals. Through user feedback, we realized that we needed to establish a channel for users to alert us to our mistakes. We eventually launched an appeals form for age-restrictions, and just recently launched an appeals form for videos rejected due to policy violations. YouTube isn’t perfect, but thanks to your feedback, we are able to learn quickly and get better.

Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about the enforcement of our policies, from video takedowns to channel demonetization. We want you to know that we monitor video takedowns very closely, and while we haven’t seen a big change in the overall rate of removals, it’s true that we do make mistakes. For this, we’re sorry and we strive to do better by you, our community.

The good news is that the feedback you’ve raised in comments and videos on YouTube and beyond is having an impact. It’s caused us to look closely at our policies and helped us identify areas where we can get better. It’s led us to create a team dedicated to minimizing mistakes and improving the quality of our actions. And it’s encouraged us to roll out some initiatives in the coming months that will help strengthen communications between creators and YouTube support. We’ll also make improvements to increase transparency into the status of monetization claims. And of course, as we work to implement these improvements as quickly as we can, we’ll continue to take your feedback seriously.

— Spencer from YouTube’s Policy Team”

The fact that there was NO human team reviewing these requests up until now borders on criminal.   Youtube is both a multi billion dollar business and the livelihood of many of the internet's biggest content creators.   The fact that their videos could be pulled down , and their channels shuttered indiscriminately with no human intervention is beyond negligent.  

Setting up a human team to review these requests a step in the right direction,  but it's a damning example of just how little Google understands its own creation and just how important it has become for many people.

New Trailer for Uncharted 4 on PS4

/

This game looks like it is going to be nothing short of a masterpiece.   Naughty Dog is easily one  of the most talented development houses in the world today.   The first three Uncharted games were some of my all time favorite games,  and the turn they took into serious storytelling with The Last of Us was pure brilliance.   It will be interesting to see how much of that more mature storytelling technique will make it's way into Uncharted's more Indiana Jones-esque universe.

An iPad Pro Mini(ish) is apparently on the way!

/
“Apple will further differentiate the next-generation 9.7-inch iPad from its predecessor by making it part of the new iPad Pro line, according to sources. Much like the MacBook Pro comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes, the iPad Pro will soon come in 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch variations. This trend follows Apple not calling its 12-inch MacBook a new Air despite developing the product as an apparent successor to the MacBook Air.

The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro will debut at Apple’s Tuesday, March 15th event and begin shipping as soon as March 18th, we previously reported. The smaller iPad Pro will have nearly identical features and specifications as the bigger model, bringing along the A9X processor and RAM upgrades from the 12.9-inch model. It will also include the 12.9-inch model’s updated display technology to support the Apple Pencil.”
— 9to5mac

This is some seriously fantastic news.   Not to mention that the fact that it's Mark Gurman reporting on this, which gives it an almost 100% chance of happening.   I had been very interested in the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for both sketching and design work, as well as future potential 3d sculpting uses,  and photo retouching.   Unfortunately my love for the device was quickly squelched by the overwhelming size of the device.   It was just simply too big for me to deal with.  A normal sized iPad with the iPad Pro's specs would be exactly up my alley,  especially since it will likely knock $100 off of the entry fee.

Apple still has quite a few issues to deal with on the iOS side of things in getting professionals interested in the platform, but this commitment to building pro level devices on iOS leads me to believe they have some stuff up their sleeves for iOS 10 and 11 to fix a lot of that. 

Heck, If you see Apple marketing iOS 10 as iOS X then you REALLY know they are willing to bring some more serious software to their mobile platform.

The Imperial March in a Major Key is crazy!

/

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge music fan.   Also I am a bit of an amateur music theory nerd.    That being said,  I always tend to love artists who take super happy major key songs and turn them dark and depressing by transposing them into a minor key.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen much of the reverse.   And today I really wonder why that is,  because this is HYSTERICAL.   Laztozia on Soundcloud has transposed the ultimate villain theme "The Imperial March" from Star Wars into a major key.     This has had the effect of turning it from a foreboding march of evil into something almost.. Olympic-esque?   You just have to check it out.  Take a listen below, and please check out the rest of Laztozia's work.   It's fantastic.   I really enjoyed the X-Files one as well.

A complete version of John Williams' The Imperial March in a Major Key! Also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9MShtCg4fk

OK GO's Insane new Zero Gravity Music Video

/

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you know that the band OK GO have been the masters of the intricate music video for over a decade now.    Now, their new video has them doing their usual intricate choreography in ZERO GRAVITY.   Nuts.   Keep in mind that no wires or green screens were used in this video.   Here is how it was done.