Kozminski Techblog

Some YouTube users on Android smartphones have already introduced a new feature called smart downloads. It’s not available to everyone, but some videos can be downloaded automatically. In particular, this feature allows users to automatically download 20 videos per week when connected to a WiFi network. Offline content is displayed in the Downloads section of the Library section. This feature is similar to what is already available on YouTube Music and is useful if you have a low prepaid traffic plan or if you are in an area where your internet connection is unstable or nonexistent.

A special algorithm is responsible for selecting the videos to download. Users with low memory will be notified of additional steps required to continue the smart download. This feature works on the latest version of Android. YouTube has decided to limit the number of users who can try out the new features. Only available to some premium account users in Europe. To see if smart downloads are available to users, go to the YouTube app, click the avatar icon and select Settings and Try new features. Another option is to go to the Library section and click the Smart Downloads banner in the Downloads section.

Sources: youtube.com

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has put part of the history of the Internet up for auction, as Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web’s chief developer, has done. This was reported by 3dnews.

The NFT token of the first edition of the Wikipedia project is available at Christie’s auction together with the crimson-coloured Apple iMac used to work on the site.

The initial bid is only $ 100 for the token, but when the auction ends, on December 15, the final bid will be some million dollars. Proceeds from the sale of lots are going to go for charity, as well as the social network WT Social, created by Jimmy Wales, which he possesses as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter.

He made a decision to sell the first edition of Wikipedia as an NFT token in part because the technology allows for the public capture and certification of ownership. “I think it’s particularly interesting that for the first time ever, we’ve got something like an uneditable public database,” Mr Wales mentioned in the interview.

Upon completion of the auction, the new owner will be able to control the web page of the site. As of today, anyone will be able to edit the content, but in 5 minutes time it will return to its original state with the text “Hello, World!”. The artistic idea, says the author, is to bring people back to the moment when he established everything and thought: “It is necessary, how defenceless it is! Anyone can make an edit. In five minutes I will be captured by trolls and everything will be destroyed. “

The NFT owner will have the ability to change the durability of the editing period, disable editing or even block the page. “Under a free license, like everything on Wikipedia. If you want to do something, you can do it, ” Wales explained.

Sources : https://slate.com/technology/2021/12/jimmy-wales-birth-of-wikipedia-nft-auction.html

Meta has opened access to the VR platform Horizon Worlds, writes The Inc. Residents of the United States and Canada over the age of 18 can access the Quest headset program for free and without invitation.

Horizon Worlds is a platform that allows you to communicate in cyberspace with 20 people at a time.

Closed testing of Horizon Worlds began in September 2019, which turned from an environment for creating games similar to Minecraft, a social platform. Beta testers conduct comedy shows, film screenings and meditation sessions on the platform. They were also able to build various complex objects inside Horizon Worlds, such as a replica of the Ecto-1 car from the movie “Ghostbusters”.

The platform now has security issues. One of the testers reported sexual harassment on the platform. Meta, in turn, reports on mechanisms to block inappropriate behaviour on the platform, which can be used by any user.

Horizon Worlds also has assistant guides – these are experienced users who meet newcomers on the launch pad and take them to different worlds, as well as explain the rules of conduct on the server, the newspaper writes.

It is currently not possible to make money on the platform, but in the future, it is planned to combine it with a standalone application for large events in VR – Horizon Venues. Horizon Workrooms will be added to it.

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