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The Sun will relax its paywall to promote content sharing from July

Jun19
by on June 19, 2015 at 10:47 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Screen Shot 2015-06-19 at 11.26.19

British tabloid newspaper The Sun has said it will be relaxing its paywall to make content more widely available from next month, The Guardian reports.

The Sun’s paywall has been in place since 2013.

The move is a reaction to how people are accessing news on social networks sites like Facebook and Twitter.

By making select content available outside the paywall, it will be easier for readers to share with their friends and followers.

The news outlet will be curating content specifically for the new free aspect of its site, but there will be a number of other Sun stories on general news and sports available as well.

Other news outlets like The New York Times have taken a similar approach allowing traffic from social media services to dodge the paywall.

➤ Sun to relax paywall as part of drive to exploit social media [The Guardian]

Read next: The BBC wants you to use your brain as a remote control

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This Chrome extension wipes brands from the Web

Jun19
by on June 19, 2015 at 10:43 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Brandacted, brands, chrome, extensions, Insider, redacted, ██████

IMG_0990

We’ve been talking about ad-blockers a lot recently but if you really want to wipe commercial messages from the face of the Web, here’s another solution.

Brandacted is a Chrome extension, built by Joe Veix, which redacts mentions of 200 different brands on any page you’re viewing, replacing them with a thick black strikethrough.

The extension mimics the heavy-handed censorship method favored by government agencies. It’s actually aesthetically pleasing, though the execution is a little buggy and somewhat limited.

Veix says he’ll add more brand names as he goes along. His rationale for creating Brandacted is pretty simple:

Screenshot 2015-06-19 11.11.21

I can’t see myself using Brandacted, but the idea of creating Chrome extensions as acts of social satire is appealing. Veix’s Name Swamp extension which replaces references to US presidential candidates with juvenile nicknames is also pretty great.

Oh, and here’s what The Next Web homepage looks like if you’re running Brandacted:

Screenshot 2015-06-19 11.23.32

➤ Brandacted [Chrome Web Store via Death And Taxes]

Read next: Bleep for iOS lets you censor all the ****ing swearing in your videos

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California state officials have lifted the lid on Google’s self-driving car accidents

Jun19
by on June 19, 2015 at 9:43 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Google

Screen Shot 2015-06-19 at 10.31.04

California state officials have released details on six of the self-driving car accidents recorded by Google, The Associated Press reports.

The tech giant revealed last month that its autonomous cars had been in eleven accidents, but no further details were given until now.

State officials had previously claimed that confidentiality clauses prevented them from releasing any further information on the crashes but The Associated Press agency says it argued that the DMV was unfairly withholding information from the public.

The reports state that the cars involved belonged to Google and Delphi Automotive and that “most of the cars were in self-driving mode when the accidents happened, and the other driver caused the accident.”

It also says “none of the crashes were serious enough to injure the person the state requires to sit behind the wheel, and the reports say none of the people in the other cars were treated for injuries either.”

➤ California reveals details of self-driving car accidents [The Associated Press]

Read next: Google reportedly acquires startup Agawi so users can stream apps ahead of purchase

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This amazing interactive picture book for the Web makes me jealous of kids these days

Jun19
by on June 19, 2015 at 9:20 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

interactive

When I was a kid, physical picture books were the coolest things, but now, this interactive picture book for the Web has me totally jealous of the current generation of children.

Enough is an Web project that tells the story of a luminescent jellyfish traveling the darkest depths of the ocean, and features beautiful interactive sounds and graphics over almost thirty minutes.

Almost everything in the story is interactive, slowly guiding you through each page of the ‘book.’

interactiv2

The app uses your browser to render the entire experience in WebGL, without any plugins, and even works with the Leap Motion for interacting directly with your hands.

I opened it expecting to only click through a few pages of the story but ended up making my way through the whole thing — it’s a gorgeous new way to tell a story that’s much more accessible than needing to download and install a separate app.

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The story, built by Oakland-based Isaac Cohen, is open source and has been in development for well over a year.

There are plenty of interactive demos and experiences for the Web, but Enough is the first time I’ve seen such an extensive, immersive story told directly in the browser.

Grab a coffee, set aside five minutes and prepare to be amazed.

➤ Enough [Cabbibo]

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Indiloop lets you remix major-label hits like a pro

Jun19
by on June 19, 2015 at 8:44 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Indiloop, Music, remix

Indiloop

If you’ve ever wondered what a collaboration between Vanilla Ice and Nine Inch Nails would sound like, you’ll want to give Indiloop a spin.

Available for desktop, Android and iOS, the recently updated app lets you pull individual instrument stems from its catalog of popular tracks spanning several genres to mix together into your own special track.

Indiloop screen

That means you can take the drums and guitar from one song, layer on a bass loop from another and add a vocal line from your favorite song and mash it up in Indiloop’s easy to use interface.

In addition to offering individual stems to play with, Indiloop also uses time-stretching technology and some special sauce to ensure every track plays in sync when you load them up — making it easy to create a listenable song without spending hours on professional software.

 

You can upload your own tracks to add to your creations. The interface lets you fade stems in and out, chop them into loops and adjust levels so they sound just right.

Once you’re happy with your mix, you can publish it on Indiloop’s platform and share it on social networks. It’s ridiculously fun to play with and you can easily lose a few good hours kicking out the jams.

Oh, and for the record, Vanilla Ice should totally have cut an album with Trent Reznor — they sound great together in my mix.

➤ Indiloop [Web | Android | iOS]

Read next: Vimeo has updated Cameo for iOS to make editing video simple, even when it’s 1080p

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