New this week: Android Messages for the web, new YouTube monetization options, Google Podcasting app and creator program

This week is (mostly) about new video features: YouTube announced new monetization and sharing options, Instagram launched IGTV for longform vertical video, and Facebook added new Live features for quizzes, game shows and polls. And there are more nice updates for messagers, podcasters, webmasters and more.

* Big news for messaging this week - Android Messages is now available on the web. You can send and receive SMS and MMS messages on your desktop computer at http://messages.android.com by linking your phone. There are also a few other new features: Smart Reply, easily search for GIFs, link previews, and copy one time passwords with a single tap.

* VidCon - the big online video convention - is happening right now. There are separate tracks for creators, industry folks, and fans, panel discussions and presentations. Watch VidCon live: http://live.vidcon.com/

* YouTube’s VidCon keynote address is usually a platform for new feature announcements. This year the focus was monetization and community:

“Channel Memberships” (formerly “Sponsorships”) - where your fans can pay a monthly fee in return for exclusive content and other perks - is rolling out to more creators, YouTube has teamed up with Teespring to let Partners sell Merch right on your channel, and the new “Premieres” lets you schedule a live premiere of your recorded video, which you then watch live with your fans, and monetize with Super Chat.

* In other video creator news, Instagram launched IGTV, a new home for long form vertical video and Adobe announced Project Rush (currently in beta), a new way to shoot, edit and share your videos on any device, with a focus on social. Plus Facebook is trying to make live stream videos more engaging with new quizzes, game shows and polls.

* YouTube Music and YouTube Premium launched this week in 17 countries. You can try YouTube Music free (music.youtube.com), or you can try Premium for 3 months before you need to start paying.

* Google launched a new stand-alone Podcasts app for Android, and announced a Creator program “to increase the diversity of voices and remove barriers to podcasting.” There will be more details on the Creator program later this summer.

* Well-known individuals and organizations with a Google Search Knowledge Panel are now eligible to get verified. That allows the entity in the Knowledge Panel manage the content there. Note that this is unrelated to Google+ name verification, Google My Business local listing verification or YouTube verification.

* Also this week was the Cannes Lions “International Festival of Creativity”, which is a gathering of the advertising and creative communications industry. Google gave a number of talks, from AR as the next frontier for brands to aiming ads at Generation Z.

Google also announced YouTube Creative Suite, a collection of tools for video marketers, including Video Experiments in AdWords, Video Creative Analytics, Director Mix, and Video Ad Sequencing. The tools aren’t widely available yet - they are in alpha or beta stage - but watch for updates over the coming months.

* Google One is now rolling out to US users who purchased Google Drive storage. Google lets you manage your Google Cloud storage, plus there is direct support for Google products, you can share storage with your family group, and there are special discounts and other bonuses.

* Finally, Twitter acquired Smyte, a tech company that specializes in safety, spam and security issues. That’s great for Twitter, but as the acquisition was announced, access to Smyte’s API was abruptly disabled, leaving Smyte’s existing paying customers scrambling for replacement anti-spam and anti-fraud protection with only 30 minutes warning. Needless to say they aren’t happy. Twitter is “learning from the experience”.

See my article below for links and more tips and updates for video creators, webmasters, business owners and more.

Get all this week’s tips and updates:
https://www.peggyktc.com/2018/06/weekly-update-june-23-2018-android.html

Upcoming

* 26 June: Google Webmaster Central office hours hangout
https://plus.google.com/+GoogleWebmasters/posts/URh6m7uHPgk

* 29 June: Google Webmaster Central office hours hangout
https://plus.google.com/+GoogleWebmasters/posts/fjUbsmYkqR8

Image: Clapper Board by Joshua_Willson on Pixabay (CC0 Creative Commons)
https://pixabay.com/en/clapper-board-clapper-movie-film-1019607/

Important Step Towards a Computer Model That Predicts the Outcome of Eye Diseases

The work shows that their newly developed model of the retina can predict with high precision the outcome of a defined perturbation. The work is an important step towards a computer model of the retina that can predict the outcome of retinal diseases.

The research is in Neuron. (full access paywall)

Researchers Solve the Case of the Missing Subplate

What if these subplate cells are not dying? What if they're just moving to a different level of the cortex--becoming part of the cortex?

The research is in Cell Stem Cell. (full access paywall)

Objects in space takes a space trading sim and mixes in submarine style warfare.

Not iPad Pro ready, but I'm excited for the direction this is going. Hopefully we will see some pretty awesome Chromebook Tabs in the future.

Acer Chromebook Tab 10 review: Chrome OS revives Google’s tablet future

Warning: Spoilers for The Expanse episode "Fallen World"

Happy Shroomshot Saturday!

#shroomshotsaturday by +Patti Colston +Patricia Kristensen +Sabeena LoBello +ShroomshotSaturday

Conscience of the King
“The Play's the Thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”
-------------- William Shakespeare, Hamlet

#pakistan #punjab #street #streetphotography #nikonshooters #nikond810
#blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #monochrome #monochromephotography   
#StreetPhotographySaturday
+Street Photography Saturday curated by +Sunny Wu
#hqspStreetDoc for +HQSP Street & Documentary
#hqspmonochrome for +HQSP Monochrome
#hqspmotion for +HQSP Motion
#FarmFriday +Farm Friday curated by +Ellie Kennard , +Steven Kennard and +Susanne Stelle
+BTP Street PRO
+BTP Monochrome Pro
+BTP Editors' Choice (Top Photo page)

A hidden gem in Norway's Arctic

After several hours of hiking, the evening was coming to a close, and I had not managed to reach my destination of this elusive beach I had managed to find out about. White sand, clear waters, backed by rugged peaks that rise straight out of the ocean. Waters that you'd expect to find in the tropics, in Norway's far north. Incredible. So I immediately picked up the pace and made sure I got to where I needed to be.

Finally reaching the destination I was absolutely amazed by it's seclusion, and how everything I had heard about it, was true. I was all alone looking at this beauty. A bizarre, yet eerie feeling.

As the weather started to close in, the light started to fade, and I had several hours hike back over rough terrain. I had no mobile phone, no gear to spend the night, so I had to get a move on. Reaching a nearby ridge to cross the mountains, snow started falling from the sky, and sleet hitting me hard in the face as the wind picked up. With only a jacket, I would never be able to survive the night, so I did my shoes and backpack up extra tight, and started running over the mountain and down the other side. As careful as I was, I ended up injuring my knee. Something that could have been fatal several kilometres earlier. But I managed to hobble out over the next couple of hours in the darkness to where the car was. I made it out, and even though physically shattered, I was so happy!

This was my last hike for the 3 months we had in the Arctic (Iceland and Norway). So the knee injury was worth it :-P

www.explosiveaperture.com

#norway

Yankees are on top because they lead the majors in patience https://nyp.st/2Mihq7L

NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying Results https://racingnews.co/2018/06/23/sonoma-starting-lineup-nascar-cup-series-june-2018/

Tags: #nascar #kylelarson #sonomaraceway

Complete beginner's guide for dual booting Linux Mint and Windows 10. https://itsfoss.com/guide-install-linux-mint-16-dual-boot-windows/

3D Images of the Galaxy Note 9 in five colors #samsung #galaxynote9

What does NASA’s drive to return to the moon have to do with worlds of exoplanets and astrobiology that are generally discussed here? The answer is actually quite a lot.

Not so much about the science, although current NASA plans would certainly make possible some very interesting science regarding humans living in deep space, as well as some ways to study the moon, Earth and our sun.

But it seems especially important now to look at what NASA and others have in mind regarding our moon because the current administration has made a top priority of returning landers and humans to there, prospecting for resources on the moon and ultimately setting up a human colony on the moon.

This has been laid out in executive directives and now is being translated into funding for NASA (and commercial) missions and projects. Read more: https://buff.ly/2yBXgDr

This former Kentucky football player is coming out publicly to inspire others https://www.outsports.com/2018/6/20/17445872/landon-foster-gay-kentucky-football-player -via Flynx

White House press secretary Sanders says she was told to leave Virginia restaurant

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Saturday she was booted from a Virginia restaurant because she works for President Donald Trump, becoming the latest administration official to experience a brusque welcome in a public setting.

Microsoft to use Windows 10-focused Snapdragon 1000 chip for foldable Surface Phone? - According to a report out of Germany, Microsoft and Qualcomm are working together on the ARM based SDM1000 chip (Snapdragon 1000?) that is designed to work on more powerful Windows notebooks and 2-in-1 devices. In other words, this could be the chip that drives the foldable Surface Phone device that we've seen in patent sketches and renders. The SDM1000 would compete against Intel's Y and U processor seri...

Yea, no.