YouTube's New Features, China ASMR, Amazon Alexa Saying Weird Things.

1.  How YouTube creators are using the platform’s Patreon-like channel memberships

"Most notably, YouTube is expanding a program over the next few weeks that lets creators and channel owners start their own fan clubs, where membership costs $4.99 to join and fans can pay for additional perks and exclusive content, similar to how Patreon and Twitch function."-Shannon Liao

You need 100,000 subscribers to be able to use this feature which is ridiculous, smaller creators need this most. Their reasoning is that they want creators who will full fill the rewards they are offering to those who are paying $5. Patreon doesn't do this, and I don't think they have a problem. If you don't provide the rewards then people will just unsubscribe. It will likely be available to lower level creators at some point. I'm also curious if you can choose to release certain videos to only those who pay, and I wonder how many people will choose to only release to paying subscribers.

There is also a new partnership with Teespring that will let people with 10,000 subscribers create merchandise and almost effortlessly sell it with Teespring doing most of the leg work. They take a decent cut, but selling merchandise can be a headache.

 "Instead, they can use a new YouTube feature called “Premieres” that creates a landing page they can promote ahead of a video’s release. This page will also have a chat feature, like Live videos do, which means creators can use Super Chat and take advantage of Channel Membership perks even if they aren’t doing live content." -Sarah Perez, Tech Crunch

2. Amazon employees protest sale of facial recognition software to police

"Amazon’s sale of Rekognition software to the police was first revealed by an ACLU investigation in May, with the civil liberties group warning that the deployment of the technology could be the beginning of automated mass surveillance in America." -James Vincent

What did you expect your facial recognition software was going to be used for? Unlocking iPhones? Of course they are going to sell it to the highest bidder. This is the same thing that will happen with high level AI, it will always end up in the hands of some government with deceptive means. Mass surveillance is already prevalent in China and likely inevitable in the United States. I am not in support of it, but within the next 10 years cameras will be tracking our every move. 

3. Why China has banned videos of people whispering

"Suspicious of ASMR and its effects, the Chinese government has decided to ban the phenomenon, ordering the removal of ASMR videos from their biggest video streaming sites, including Youku, Bilibili, and Douyu. The ruling came via China’s anti-pornography office, which issued a statement explaining that porn was being released under the guise of ASMR, emphasising that this could be a threat to minors, who apparently make up a large part of ASMR’s viewership."-Amelia Abraham

China has an anti-pornography department, strange simulation we live in. 

4. The Average Face Of All The Players On Each World Cup Team

Totally useless and equally bizzare. 

5. Alexa reportedly says, ‘Every time I close my eyes, all I see is people dying’

"The San Franciscan told Metro U.S. that the smart assistant suddenly activated herself and said, 'Every time I close my eyes, all I see is people dying.' Yikes."-Lulu Chang

This is a post from my daily blog simulationearth.org