Tuesday News: Rules for Facebook, Patreon + Subbable = ???, FingerReader, and clever Romance quiz
Facebook Rule Book: What You Can And Can’t Post – So Facebook has published a 2,500 word rulebook for what is and isn’t allowed on the site. It’s curious, though, because the rules about nudity don’t really explain why the work of artists like Michael Stokes is apparently not so okay.
:: NUDITY
Banned: Explicit images of sexual intercourse, images of genitals, “fully exposed buttocks”, digitally created nudity, and descriptions of sexual acts “that go into vivid detail”.
Allowed: Photos of women “actively engaged” in breastfeeding, images of post-mastectomy scarring, photographs of art which depicts nude figures. –Sky News
Subbable and Patreon are Joining Forces – Oh, boy. Patreon has announced a new partnership with Subbable, the monthly payment system created by John and Hank Green (of the completely scandal free VidCon vlogging). And if that doesn’t have your eyebrows shooting up into your hairline, check out the terms of the “matching” program Patreon has come up with:
Patreon proposed a solution, dreamed up by my cofounder extraordinaire, Sam Yam: If Subbable creators launched on Patreon, we would reduce the effect of “drop off” by matching the first 45 days of pledges, up to $100,000. This “matching program” would do three things:
1) Creators would get a solid paycheck, even if all their subscribers don’t immediately migrate to Patreon.2) The matching program would incentivize creators to mobilize their audiences effectively and immediately, knowing that their first month of funds would be matched.
3) It would generate excitement about the transfer, incentivizing patrons to pledge even more, knowing that their payments would be effectively doubled. –Patreon blog
This finger-mounted camera turns any book into an audiobook – This is just so incredibly cool. A reader that uses visual technology to translate text into audio for the visually impaired. A brief description of the device can be found below, but I wanted to highlight this insight from the piece, as well: We often constrain camera technology to only visual art, but for some visual art isn’t an option. In such cases, it’s important to think outside the box; to use cameras and technology together to bring them art and beauty in other forms.
Camera technology goes far beyond taking beautiful images. One such example is FingerReader, a finger-mounted device developed by researchers at MIT’s Media Lab that enables the blind to read without the need for Braille.
Currently a prototype, the device relies on a small camera, dedicated sensors, character recognition software and a set of algorithms to read aloud words that are printed on a page or displayed on a digital reading device, such as a Kindle. –Imaging Resource
Romance or fauxmance – How well do you know romantic novels? Take our quiz to find out – Romance or Fauxmance? You have eight chances to demonstrate your knowledge of the genre (and in particular, Mills & Boon). Here’s the first one to get you started:
The Firefighter to Heal Her Heart – For nurse Liesel Adler, firefighter Jack Keller is definitely in the No- Go Zone… even if he is the hottest man in Australia! Yet Jack’s ‘kiss of life’ sparks a fire in Liesel’s heart that she just can’t extinguish! Is Jack the one man to heal her broken heart? –BT.com
I got 7 right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a M&B book and have read only a few Harlequins, but some of the descriptions felt… off.
Eight out of eight – yea!!!!!!
Eight out of eight. What does it say about me that I could totally tell the real M&B from the faux?
Six out of eight for me. I would have gotten seven out of eight if I had listened to my instincts on question 2.
The section on Subbable and Patreon may as well have been written in Russian or Swahili- I don’t have a clue what they are talking about! So I guess my eyebrows are staying where they are.
That finger mounted camera to help the vision impaired read is brilliant. We often hear so much of the dark side of technology, it’s nice to focus on the positive.
8/8–not a huge M&B/Harlequin fan, but I guess I’ve read a lot of book blurbs. :-)
And the fingerreader thingie is cool!
7 out of eight for me….I also didn’t go with my gut on #2.
I love silly quizzes…..
And an eight out of eight for me, too. Clearly romance is my genre!
That’s really nice of Patreon. I’m noticing that a lot more artists and Youtubers are switching to Patreon because it seems a more solid, long-term platform than Kickstarter. Yay!