Feed MeThe algorithm is ruining film and TV, and we need to talk about itYou can tag your spoilers, people!Image credit: Riot/ Netflix/ Fortiche/ Mappa Article by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Nov. 27, 2024 You know what's a just fine piece of telly? Arcane! It's an absolute stunner to look at, I'll give it that, but I personally don't find the story all that compelling, and season 2 is rushed beyond belief. As a lover of animation I really did just watch it for Fortiche's in-house style, that served me well enough, but I do still find spoilers annoying like anybody else, even for a show whose story I'm not that invested in. Thanks to "the algorithm", though, I didn't really have much of a choice in having pretty much all of Arcane season 2 spoiled for me.You see, I didn't rush to check out the second season, I wasn't eagerly anticipating it like many fans. I was happy to wait! There were plenty of other things for me to be getting on with, and I had a bit of a bug around when the first act dropped, so I wasn't rushing off of my feet to see what's what. Except over the course of the three weeks the three acts released over, I just kept seeing more and more spoilers, whether it be a site like Twitter (uh, X), or TikTok, they were all just there, because the algorithm thinks I want to see them.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. I do think there's something to be said of there being quite bad spoiler etiquette on the internet these days. A lot of younger people didn't grow up on Tumblr where you could filter what content you wanted to see by tags, and most people would appropriately label their posts if their were spoilers - unfortunately, with the death of Tumblr as it used to be, fandom shifted over to Twitter because where else was it meant to? But because Twitter works completely differently, the culture of fandom broadly changed, habits no longer stuck for most people, and now we're at a point where people are desperate to be the ones to get their thoughts out first because they might be rewarded with a small bit of clout.Don't get me wrong, clout chasing on the internet has been around for the longest time, but particularly over the past few years it's gotten worse and worse, and I think it's because of "the algorithm." Because the days of blogs and forums are dead and we're all stuck on social media ad infinitum, all we have is "the algorithm", this monster we have to feed into, even if that means spoiling something for someone else. I'm just quite fed up with it.There's always something new to watch, but fewer opportunities to watch it completely unfiltered. Last year that manifested in quite annoying ways with Jujutsu Kaisen, with manga readers seemingly doing everything they can to ruin upcoming story beats for anime-onlys - I was hit with a couple of big spoilers, prompting me to bite the bullet and just catch up with the manga (something I don't regret doing, there's a whole bunch of stuff I would have hated to be spoiled on at the end of the series). Yeah, already knew about this twist too. | Image credit: VG247And that was a weekly show too! It's made all the worse by the fact that Arcane season 2, despite having nine episodes, was released over three weeks. That pesky binging model that Netflix established means you have to Consume Right Now, and if you get spoiled and complain about it, some chud is guaranteed to enter your replies blaming you for not staying off the internet until you could watch it.That's obviously a ridiculous argument because 1. the internet is my job in my particular case and 2. why should I have to? Can you not just wait to talk about your blorbo kissed your other blorbo? But still, again, I find it entirely hard to blame any individual for posting a spoiler. They're just doing so thinking it'll stay within their particular fandom's sphere, but "the algorithm" gives much less than two shits about your intention. It is hungry, it demands sustenance so it can regurgitate it to anyone that will look at it.I don't have a fix for this other than maybe stopping spending time in these places, which in Twitter's case is getting easier and easier (did you know we're over on Bluesky now?), but I think I'm owed at least one little moan about this. And seriously, Arcane season 2 - the whole thing was a bit rushed, right? Not even being spoiled on it can help that.

Summer BreezeLooking for your next Netflix anime? The first trailer for an adaptation of a brilliant manga that mixes slice of life and horror is sure to pull you inWhat a mix of genres, 'ey?Image credit: Netflix News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Nov. 27, 2024 You might not have heard of The Summer Hikaru Died just yet, but I think the first trailer will have you adding it to your Netflix watchlist.I'm not sure that slice of life and horror are two genres you'd typically find mixed together, and yet that's exactly what The Summer Hikaru Died is. Starting serialisation back in 2021, and still releasing new chapters up to the present, this particular manga follows Yoshiki and Hikaru who live in a small town in Japan as they go about their days - except one day, Hikaru dies and is replaced by some eldritch being, leaving Yoshiki unsure what to do with the knowledge that his real best friend is dead. It's an eerie concept, and after a long wait, the first trailer for the anime adaptation is here, and it's just as ominous as you'd hope it would be.Watch on YouTubeYou can check out the trailer above, which doesn't show off all that much, but the vibes are there at the very least. Ryohei Takeshita is on directing duties for this anime adaptation, best known for his work on Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night as director there too. Chiaki Kobayashi, who you'll have heard as the lead in both Hell's Paradise and Reynatis, is playing Yoshiki, with Shuichiro Umeda (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth) as his opposite in Hikaru.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Takeshita said in a statement, "Reading the original work was exciting, and I pondered how to express its frames in animation. Our team was very dedicated to capturing the delicate emotions of Yoshiki and Hikaru, as well as the manga's beautiful and innovative structure. We look forward to sharing it with you." Unfortunately, there's no release date for this one just yet, though it is set to air in the latter half of 2025, so at least you won't be waiting all that long for it.

We're wait-Ing.So... where is it?When Metroid Prime Remastered launched on 9th February 2023, we were utterly convinced that its sequels, Prime 2: Echoes and Prime 3: Corruption, would follow suit sometime after. Now that 2025 is fast approaching, our certainty has waned, yet we remain confident that Nintendo will complete the saga on Switch before Metroid Prime 4: Beyond launches. The question, however, is when.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube786kWe had a pawsitively purrfect time with Cat Quest III when the cute action-adventure curled up on Switch earlier this year. And now, that little kitty is getting even bigger.The 'Mew Content Update' (we love a cat pun, if you couldn't tell after that opening sentence) has weighed anchor on Steam today, and will be "coming soon" to consoles. What's more, it looks like it contains some pretty clawsome (sorry) bonus goodies.First and foremost are the additional five story quests, which will see you sailing the seven seas, unearthing secrets and meeting some familiar furry faces along the way. Pair that with four new dungeons and three new boss fights, and you've got yourself a pretty beefy expansion.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube786kWatch on YouTube Naturally, there's a treasure chest of fresh gear too, so you can customise your feline friends however you please come on, what's better than cats in hats?The patch notes for the 'Mew Content Update' were shared by developer The Gentlebros over on the Cat Quest III Steam page, though we have gathered them together for you to check out below:Cat Quest III 'Mew Content Update'New Content- 5 new quests.- 4 new dungeons.-9 new equipment (Including a second Warrior's Braid for more co-op fun!)QOL Additions- Added "Camera Shake" option in Options.Bug fixes- Fixed rare issue where NPCs would move at abnormal speeds sometimes.- Fixed French Localization where there are missing characters from certain words (Eg. Charaibes -> Charabes).- Fixed issue where some enemies' attacks can cause the player to not be able to transition from water>land and vice versa.- Fixed issue where there was a short static at the end of skipping animated videos.- Fixed Credits not being reset back to initial starting point.- Fixed confirmation message panels not hiding properly sometimes after confirmation ("Yes").- Adjusted sound effects to fade out during transition between scenes.- Fixed issue where certain passives were not functioning properly with certain equipment.You can find our full review of Cat Quest III below, where we called the animal adventure, "Quite simply, one of the best indie games of the year". Pi-rats of the PurribeanWill you be setting sail with this new update when it lands on Switch? Let us know in the comments.Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.[source steamcommunity.com, via youtube.com]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:283 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related Articles133 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's 'Cyber Deals' Switch eShop Sale (North America)Every game we scored 9/10 or higherSuper Mario Party Jamboree Version 1.1.1 Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch NotesAn update to online play62 Switch Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's Black Friday Sale (Europe)Every Switch game on sale that we rated 9/10+

Adults are spending an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes each day online across smartphones, tablets and computers in the U.K., according to figures from Ofcoms annual Online Nation report diving into consumer digital habits. The figure is a big jump compared to 2023, when adults over 18 spent an average of 3 hours and 41 minutes online, especially when you consider that the difference with 2022 was just 8 minutes.As you can see from the table above, the average is being driven in large part by usage among younger adults. 18-24 year-olds hooked on TikTok and Instagram are spending six hours and 1 minute online. That is up by 1.5 hours over 2023, when they were online for 4 hours 36 minutes. Perhaps predictably, the over-65 bracket is spending the least time at 3 hours, 10 minutes. One big question is whether younger users of today be as active online (or even more) when they become the seniors.If so, that implies that society may be slowly marching into an all-digital existence.The report in total stretches into 116 pages of data and graphics. Here are a few notable figures that jump out:Two-horse race. Overall, there is a long tail of services that attract audience but two names really dominate the top of the list: Alphabet and Meta. Together, properties owned by these two take up nearly half of all time U.K. adults spend online. YouTube is the most-visited, with 94% of all adults spending time on it at some point in the year. On average, those visiting are spending 49 minutes viewing YouTube videos daily.70% visited all of Metas three biggest platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram with Facebook/Messenger, at 91%, its highest-ranked in terms of penetration. That is despite Facebook still being a dud among 18-24 years, who spent just 15 minutes on Metas flagship property. Interestingly, Ofcom doesnt seem to include Google usage in is online visitations.Women are more online then men. Ofcom has singled out in particular some gender-based patterns in consumption. Overall, women are spending 33 minutes more online than men (4:36 versus 4:03), and among Gen Z (18-24) the time spent is even more pronounced at 1 hour longer, Ofcom found. Some of this might have to do with the nature of what kind of content they are consuming: females preferred sites skew to social media sites, which have been optimised and engineered to keep people scrolling and clicking. TikTok, as one example, ranks as the 10th most popular site for women, whereas its at 16th for men.Social media. The top of the social media hierarchy remains very entrenched, with YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in the top four slots. Fifth is where things start to get interesting.Reddit is the fastest growing social platform, profiting from the decline at X-ne-Twitter. Ofcom said that about half of the U.K. online adult population, 22.9 million, were using Reddit by May 2024, up 47% compared to the year before, when 33%, or 15.6 million, said they were using it. Those numbers helped Reddit pip both X and LinkedIn to fifth position overall among most popular social media sites. Well have to see if this is novelty, or a trend, and whether newer arrivals sustain some of their momentum.Chief among those right now are Bluesky and Threads. Bluesky, Ofcom notes, had just 80,000 users in May of this year, with that figure going up to 127,000 in August, and then a sudden 263% jump to give it 461,000 users in September, the last month it tracked for this report (which will get updated with the subsequent months in the future). From what we have seen in the last two months in other markets, Bluesky will likely have continued that trajectory as it suddenly started to emerge as the leading alternative to X. X is still a far ways ahead, with 21.2 million users, with 6.6 million for Metas Threads. Interestingly, although Snapchat gets a lot of attention among younger users, its largely ignored by other age groups, leading to it in number-10 in the list, with 9.8 million users.Generative AI is still a largely nascent service, but for now, the indications are that men are emerging as more keen early adopters. Some 50% of men surveyed have used a GenAI service, compared to 33% of women. Women also have less immediate recognition of what these services do, and those who do know are more skeptical of their benefits to society and themselves, Ofcom found.Ofcoms findings in this report are also important because in part they become the groundwork for investigations and other work that it undertakes. For example, it expects to release Codes of Practice in the first half of 2025 for the protection of children online. To that end, it also highlights a number of areas where online content and engagement are falling short in terms of safety:Although two-thirds (67%) of online adults said that the benefits of being online outweigh the risks, that is actually down from a year ago, when the figure was 71%.Young adults may be online more, but they dont seem to love that: Ofcom said they were less likely than older people to think they had a good balance between their online and offline lives, and older children were more concerned than younger ones about the time they spent online.Misinformation looms large as a harm, with 39% of users 13 and older saying they had encountered some as of June 2024. 30% of users aged 13 and older said theyd also seen content that made them feel uncomfortable, upset or negative. Both percentages are up on 2023.Hateful, offensive or discriminatory content is also on the rise, with 26% of adults saying they have come across it online (compared to 23% in 2023).Younger users are lying to get online. Ofcom found that 20 percent of 8-15 year-olds have claimed to have a user age of at least 18 on a social media platform, which underscores the challenges of policing that. There are indications that there are more frequent efforts from services to verify their date of birth, Ofcom notes, with users indicating that they are seeing more checks on ages made by the social media sites. (Whether these are adhered to is another question.)Ofcom found that 35% of users aged 13-17 said they had come across offensive or bad language online, which is down on the 40% from a year ago. Harmful content related to body image continues to be a problem especially among female teens, Ofcom found. Thats a tendency that social sites like TikTok are attempting to proactively curtail themselves before they are forced by regulators to do so.

In BriefPosted:2:07 PM PST November 27, 2024Ubers subscription service reportedly target of FTC probeThe Federal Trade Commission is investigating Uber over whether it broke consumer protection laws by allegedly automatically signing people up for its Uber One subscription service and making it hard to cancel, according to Bloomberg News.The investigation was opened earlier this year after the FTC received customer complaints. Uber told Bloomberg that its cancellation process follows both the letter and the spirit of the law and claimed customers can cancel in 20 seconds or less.The FTC has been pushing companies with subscription services to make them easier to cancel lately. In October, the commission finalized a so-called click-to-cancel rule that could impact everything from streaming services to gym memberships. But the rule is already being challenged in court. In the days after Donald Trump won the presidential election, the FTC reportedly tried to get Uber to agree to a settlement which Ubers lawyers apparently characterized as involving an enormous monetary amount. Topics

Pixotope Technologies has launched Pixotope Reveal, an AI-powered background segmentation tool which allows broadcasters to integrate real-time graphics into live productions. The software enables integration of 2D and 3D graphics without the traditional requirements of greenscreens, manual rotoscoping, or match moving."Pixotope Reveal represents a significant leap forward in broadcast technology," said Marcus B. Brodersen, CEO of Pixotope. "By harnessing the power of machine learning, we're enabling broadcasters to create more engaging content while significantly streamlining their production workflows. Given the rapid advancement of AI technology, we anticipate that solutions like Reveal will quickly become the primary choice for broadcasters, eventually replacing traditional methods like chroma keying for Virtual Studio production. The pace of development in AI and machine learning is extraordinary, and we're positioned at the forefront of this transformation in broadcast technology."Pixotope Reveal allows presenters to interact with AR graphics in real-time. The software's advanced AI can extract on-screen talent from any background, enabling the seamless placement of graphics both in front of and behind presenters as well as interaction with polling data, weather maps, and financial charts. In sports broadcasting, real-time statistics and analysis can be integrated into the live action, with player stats, team analytics, and game data appearing to exist within the physical space rather than overlaid on screen."The ability to create graphics that truly interact with talent and adapt to the environment is a game-changer for live productions," said Gideon Ferber, Product Director at Pixotope. "Whether it's a news anchor walking through election results or sports commentators breaking down play analysis, Reveal's AI-powered integration creates a more immersive and informative viewing experience."Sports broadcasters and rights holders can also offer sponsorship opportunities with Pixotope Reveal's ability to integrate virtual advertisements into any environment. This capability allows for region-specific sponsor content and enhanced brand integration without disrupting the viewing experience.Key Features and Capabilities:Real-time talent extraction without green screensSupport for multiple simultaneous extractionsUHD resolution at 60fpsComprehensive video I/O support including SDI, SMPTE 2110, NDI, and SRTCloud-ready deployment optionsWorks as a standalone application providing key+fill to any real time graphics systemCan be integrated into existing Pixotope Graphics workflowsPixotope Reveal is available directly from Pixotopes website and through Pixotope's global network of resellers. As part of the launch, Pixotope is offering a special 30% discount for early adopters who purchase before the end of the year. A free 30-day trial is available for qualified broadcasters and production companies.Source: Pixotope Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologistL'Wrenbrings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.

Laura Gordon and Tim Griffin also join previously announced star Henry Cavill and newcomer Daniel Quinn Toye; franchise follows 5 young pilots that join together to form a mega-robot.

Discover how one room can hold countless lifetimes. In Here, Robert Zemeckis takes you on an unforgettable journey through time. Watch the first 8 minutes and feel the echoes of past, present, and future intertwine like never before!The VFX are made by:Metaphysic (VFX Supervisor: Jo Plaete)DNEG (VFX Supervisor: Johnny Gibson)Luma PicturesCrafty Apes (VFX Supervisor: Laura J. Hill)Wise ReflectionDimension / Dneg 360The Production VFX Supervisor is Kevin Baillie.The Production VFX Producer is Sandra Scott.Director: Robert ZemeckisRelease Date: November 1, 2024 (USA) Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2024The post Here appeared first on The Art of VFX.

Breakdown & ShowreelsOur Oceans: VFX Showreel by Moonraker VFXBy Vincent Frei - 27/11/2024 Ever wondered how ocean currents shape our world? The Bristol-based studio Moonraker VFX brings their expertise to Netflixs Our Oceans, a stunning documentary series narrated by Barack Obama!WANT TO KNOW MORE?Moonraker VFX: Dedicated page about Our Oceans on Moonraker VFX website. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2024