SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2023--

As the biggest YouTuber out there, MrBeast is known for his eye-catching thumbnails. However, he recently noted one change that is causing even more people to view his videos. The 25-year-old - whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson - has over 181m subscribers and so knows what causes viewers to click on his latest piece of elaborate content. Often, MrBeast - like many other YouTubers - can be seen pulling a shocked face to attract and intrigue viewers to watch in his thumbnail images. But after testing out different versions for his videos, he shared how the classic pose isn't as effective as he thought, explaining that thumbnails with his mouth shut do better. “I closed my mouth on all my thumbnails and the watch time went up on every video lol,” MrBeast said on Twitter/X. “My mouth is now closed in all my thumbnails but the war has just begun. We must not rest until mouths are closed in everyone’s thumbnails." In the tweet, he shared a screenshot of the different combinations where YouTube declared the thumbnails of him flashing a smile were a "winner," compared to the traditional shocked face. "Now all YouTubers will shut their mouths," one user jokingly tweeted, to which the MrBeast replied: "Thank god." When someone asked the YouTuber if the shocked face thumbnail era was over, he answered: "Seems like it, here’s more results. Now that I can actually A/B test thumbnails I don’t have to guess and I just test and see what people want." The YouTuber admitted: "My mouth would have closed years ago if I had this tool." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Your cat's weird snacking habits may be related to compulsive behavior condition—or they might just like the crinkly sound.

Most of Reddit has now gone “dark” in protest against the management of the online forum. The controversy began when Reddit announced that it would start charging for access to its API, the technology that allows other developers access to its data. Some of those developers immediately announced that the pricing was so high that it would make their apps unsustainable – and one, widely-respected client Apollo, has since said it will have to shut down. That set off outrage across Reddit. While that initially focused on the decision to start charging for access to its data, it has since grown, with many users suggesting that they are generally dissatisfied with the way the site is being managed. What has happened to Reddit? On June 12, many of the world’s biggest subreddits went “dark”. That meant setting their privacy settings to private, so that only anyone who is already a member can see them. For anyone who tries to visit those forums and is not a member – which includes most of those on Reddit, including many of its biggest – they will see a message that it has gone private and is therefore not available. In a widely circulated message explaining the outage, users explained that it was intended as a protest. Some will return on 14 June, after 48 hours of darkness, it says, but others might opt to never come back again if the problem is not addressed. That is because “many moderators aren’t able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app” the message reads. “This isn’t something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.” Why did Reddit change its policy? All of this began because Reddit announced that it would start charging for access to its API. Many of its users – including Christian Selig, the developer of the Apollo app that is at the centre of much of the controversy – say that this is reasonable. Reddit’s data is used by sites such as Google and to train artificial intelligence systems, for instance. And at the moment, Reddit is not paid for that usage, despite the fact that it costs the company (which is not profitable) to host that data. But it was the pricing and the way it was rolled out that caused such controversy. Mr Selig said that the pricing would cost his app $2 million per month, which is much more than storing the user data is thought to cost Reddit, and he and others were given only 30 days to respond. Which Reddit forums are part of the blackout? Almost all of them. The latest numbers suggest that 7259, out of 7806, of the site’s subreddits are currently unavailable to the public. Of the seven subreddits that have more than 30 million subscribers, all but one – r/pics – have been made private. A full, live list that shows both the subreddits that are down and the overall impact of the protest can be found on this tracking page. How can this happen? Reddit is unusual among social networks in that it depends heavily on its users, who administer the forums and moderate the content that appear on them. That saves it a lot of money – Meta, for instance, spends vast sums on ensuring that problematic content does not appear on Facebook and Instagram – and means that those users feel as if they should be listened to when it comes to such issues. It also means that they are able to take decisions that the management of Reddit might not like them to, including turning those subreddits private. Some 30,000 moderators are thought to be running the subreddits that are involved in the protest, and working together has given them considerable power to grind the site to a halt. Read More Reddit is in chaos – and it’s CEO has finally responded Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely Reddit down amid major protest Popular Reddit app Apollo shuts down as site’s users revolt against it Millions of Reddit users face a blackout over pricing revolt Scientists reveal the ‘violent, catastrophic’ origin of Geminids meteor shower

A hacker used AI to deepfake an employee’s voice and break into an IT company.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s former chief executive Daniel Zhang has resigned his post as head of its cloud

TOKYO Japan's Panasonic Holdings posted a 42% rise in first quarter operating profit on Monday, buoyed by a

Google’s next flagship smartphone will feature an AI-powered camera that can automatically alter the expression on someone’s face, according to a leaked video. The Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 8 Pro, which are set to be unveiled on 4 October, have already been partially revealed by the US tech firm, which has a habit of teasing its devices before the official release date. The latest promo video, posted by reliable leaker Kamila Wojciechowska, shows Pixel 8 users radically adjusting the appearance of photo subjects “with a tap”. “Reimagine an image with Magic Editor from Google Photos,” the video states. “It’ll make you wonder, can a phone be made of magic? Nope, it’s AI.” The video generated excitement among Pixel owners on social media, though some expressed concern about the camera’s abilities. “I am sold on the Pixel 8 series,” one user of X, formerly Twitter, posted. “The head swap kinda creepy though.” Similar to Apple with its latest iPhone 15 series, the tech giant is expected to place a major emphasis on the phone’s camera, with other leaks and rumours surrounding Google’s next Pixel devices suggesting both versions will feature a 50 megapixel main camera, together with a 10.5 megapixel front camera. The Pixel 8 Pro will feature an additional rear camera that offers telephoto capabilities and 5x optical zoom. Key specs have also been leaked, most notably the inclusion of a Tensor G3 chipset that will enable better processing power. The price for the standard version is expected to be £699 in the UK and $699 in the US, while the premium version will cost £999 in the UK and $899 in the US. Anyone who pre-orders the Pixel 8 Pro will also receive a free Pixel Watch 2. Google does not comment on leaks or rumours about unreleased products. Read More 10 ways AI will change the world – from curing cancer to wiping out humanity Pixel 6 pre-order: How to get Google’s new phone Google Pixel 6 release date revealed for ‘iPhone killer’ Google Pixel buds A-series review: AirPods for the Android crowd

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2023--

The decision strikes down decades-old policies viewed as a measure to increase diversity.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is urging skepticism about claims that technological breakthroughs mean humans soon will be able to adequately capture the climate-wrecking fumes from burning fossil fuels

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2023--