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This your favourite Stranger Things Character?

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An How To Kill An Hour favorite, Stranger Things is back for a 3rd season very very soon. Our friends at musicMagpie have compiled and analysed over 64 MILLION tweets based on Stranger Things. Why? Well to discover the internet’s most favoured characters!

Stranger Things’ most talked about characters

Eleven topped the list that of characters that fans couldn’t stop talking about with a total of 1,018,636 tweets discussing the young hero. Whilst Will Byers came in second place with 794,083 mentions.

  1. Eleven – 1,018,636 mentions
  2. Will Byers – 784,083 mentions
  3. Steve Harrington – 465,510 mentions
  4. Dustin Henderson – 385,663 mentions
  5. Mike Wheeler – 358,450 mentions

Stranger Things’ most loved characters

Lucas Sinclair came out on top here with 86% of tweets about him being joyous. Closely followed by Jim Hopper with 83% joyous tweets.

  1. Lucas Sinclair – 86% joy
  2. Jim Hopper – 83% joy
  3. Steve Harrington – 81% joy
  4. Jonathan Byers – 80% joy
  5. Joyce Byers – 78% joy

Stranger Things’ most popular power couples

In the first two seasons, a number of different couples, both romantic and platonic emerged and fans were quick off the mark to get behind their favourites.

Mike and Eleven generated the most talk online, with 143,931 tweets. However, it was a bromance between Dustin and Steve in season 2 which made fans the happiest. With an incredible 94% of the tweets sent about them being joyous.

Other points….

Fans were talking about Eleven’s snack of choice a lot too. Eggos got 70,592 mentions online, Steven’s hair got a lot of talk online too, in both season 1 and 2. It got a total of 17,061 tweets whilst 82% of which were joyous.

For the full set of results click here!

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Netflix Keeps Your Bandersnatch Choices

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Those Bandersnatch choices you made back in December. Well those choices were kept.
Michael Veale who is a technology policy researcher over at the University College London, did a little bit of digging and found out just what Netflix keep on you. Using the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – remember all those emails you got last year. That.  To figure out that they track your choices.
According to Motherboard, Veale requested the Bandersnatch data from Netflix, to ask why: “it’s collecting data, the categories they’re sorting data into, third parties it’s sharing the data with, and other information.” Then subsequently posting it on Twitter.
Netflix told Veale that the data it collected helped them to “improve this model of storytelling in the context of a show or movie” While this seems pretty reasonable, Veale still concluded that it’s an invasion of privacy. It’s important to note that Netflix didn’t tell him how long they’d keep a hold of the data either.
We encourage you to check out Veale’s short Twitter thread by clicking here! It’s a great read! Very eye opening!

Consent

Veale told Motherboard:
“If you asked me, they should really be using consent (which you should be able to refuse) or legitimate interests (meaning you can object to it) …..It was tricky, as I had to ask these questions specifically.
It’s unclear if this is included by default in requests to get your data from Netflix or not. I can tell you often this kind of specific data is not included when you ask for ‘all your data.
Knowing what ‘all your data’ is, and what the company’s definition of ‘all your data’ does not include, is most of the challenge.”
Very interesting indeed. While it seems that it’s pretty harmless data collection. We should at least be told if we want out data collected.

(Refinery29)

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Apple March 25th Streaming

Apple March 25th Streaming Event – Surprise?

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The Apple March 25th Streaming Event which many believe to be the birth of a long awaited video service. Which will be of a streaming service of some sort. However it may not be the typical Netflix type of subscription video service. But something else entirely different.

If rumours are to be believed it may be an enhanced version of the iTunes store and associated Tv app for the iPhone/iPad. The event is said to be more of an update to an already established service than the birth of a new one. The new updated platform will hold all of Apple’s Originals and the iTunes transactional video on demand service (movies, tv shows). Furthermore it will aggregate a broad range of third party tv and OTT video services. So things like HBO and of Showtime.

Strategy

The new service will not be available to non-Apple devices. But Apple is also opening iTunes video content for viewing on non Apple devices via Airplay 2, on third party smart Tv’s. Apple make more money via third party services than it does selling movies and tv shows through iTunes. According to Ovum, iTunes global market share fell from 70% in 2011 to 22% in 2018! Yet it’s share in global retail OTT video revenue share it’s increased from 5% in 2016 to 10% in 2018.

It appears like Apple’s aim would be to get people back into iTunes. With the help from their Apple Originals videos. According to Ovum, the Originals service will also be free to Apple device owners, the content may also be already pre installed in the new app! Consequently once people are using iTunes, Apple will encourage users to browse their TVOD service and to sign up for the third party streaming services.

Apple will look to take all the best bits from Netflix/Amazon and incorporate them into their service. For example the high end productions from Netflix (Apple Originals) aggregation of third-party services (such as Amazon Prime Channels) and the curation of the TVOD service (Amazon). With Apple’s closed wall ecosystem and a 600million Apple device user base and what you’d expect to be a user friendly interface, Apple may be in a strong position.

The Future

According to Ovum, hybrid services that the one Apple is rumoured to be launching will take 33% of subscription market share by 2023. While Netflix’s global market share will stabilise around the 20% mark and Amazon’s will slightly increase to 12%.

Apple look to be placing their bets on rather than building a rival to Netflix. To reimagine TV while incorporating the best of Netflix. It seems as though Apple will move into this strategy in to the 2020’s. With a TV world whereby consumers can build their own entertainment package from multiple on-demand services and linear channel services. Plus AVOD where it charges consumers a subscription for access while also carrying advertising. While 2010’s belonged to Netflix and streaming the forthcoming years may look very different.

Figure 1: Netflix, Amazon and other services in the USA, 2018-2023 (in millions)

 Apple March Event Streaming

Source: Ovum

Google Stadia: Netflix of Gaming?

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Google have announced an unveiled a brand new gaming platform. Which is very different to what Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are offering right now. It’s called Stadia and the games will be streamed to you via an internet browser. Which are said to be better than console quality! Stadia is said to work on existing desktops, laptops, tv’s and phones, said Phil Harrison VP and general manager of Google. Even the least powerful of PC’s can run Stadia!

The tech giant also revealed a controller for Stadia. It looks much like a regular console controller. Though it also has a Google Assistant button and a capture button to capture gaming and directly put it on YouTube.

Google Stadia Controllers

ID Software announced that Doom Eternal will be one of the first games on launch. Which will be in 2019 in the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Exactly when that is in 2019 is unknown. No pricing was announced either.

Stadia: How?

How can even smartphones, TV’s and not so powerful PC’s play these top end games? Well, because the games run elsewhere on Google’s own high end hardware. You connect to it via the internet, the hardware then does all the hard work and sends you a video feed of what you are playing back to you. Essentially.

However, other services such as ‘OnLive’ which tried this back in the day (2010-2015) and Nvidia’s GeForce Now where some have encountered lag. They suffered due to the difficulty of offering high end games via an internet connection. But the question remains is it their end or is it the consumers own internet?

Lag: A delay between an action being performed on a controller or keyboard and the action being replicated on screen.

Google have said that the controller will connect to the internet directly. Which will then communicate with their servers which will reduce the amount of lag that players may encounter.

Impressively (if they pull this off) Google will be able to offer games at 4K at 60FPS and up to 8K 120FPS in the future. (Who needs 8K?!?) The Stadia is also insanely powerful with a GPU of 10.7 GPU teraflops while Xbox One X the worlds most powerful console has 6 GPU teraflops and the PS4 pro has 4.2 GPU teraflops. Basically, it’s very very good.

(BBC)

Google Stadia: We have some questions.

All very impressive indeed although we have some questions:

  • Are the games like Netflix: Pay to play many games for 1 subscription fee
  • Or we have to buy our own games?
  • Can we download our games to play them offline?
  • How does multiplayer work?
  • Are the multiplayer lobbies/parties
  • Is there protection from hacking?
  • What happens when the internet goes down?
  • How will my games me kept secure
  • How many games are available?
  • Will all the AAA games be available at launch
  • Will the footage be flagged for copyright from Stadia’s own capture system from YouTube’s Copyright flagging software?

But most of all, how laggy will it be? People’s internet will need to be able to cope with the game, if there’s the slightest bit of lag it will put gamers off. Coupled with multiplayer games, if there’s double the lag, people will not want to use the service.

It’s an interesting time to be a gamer certainly as Microsoft have their cloud service in the works too with ‘Xcloud’ so is this the way gaming is heading or will it supplement good ol’ physical disks or downloads.

Data Meme

What are your most Data Draining Apps?

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We all love our data and back in the day there was a stupid amount charged per MB! So, wouldn’t we all like to save MB’s where possible? We all don’t like that dread text message towards the end of the month that you’re about to run out of data. Therefore wouldn’t you like to know which apps are sucking the life out of your data plan? Well we’ve got some data for you! (See what we did there) A study, conducted by Mobile Phones Direct, explored the data usage of a number of apps that hurt your data balance.
First of all, daily video and music streaming is doing you more harm than good and it’s hitting your data, HARD. If you use BBC iPlayer and Channel 5’s My 5 then you’re gonna have to cut back. As they’ve been named as the worst offending video apps for data drainage. Taking up to a gig, a GIG of data for an hour of streaming.  Suprisingly Netflix uses very little data at 314mb. See the handy chart below for more:

Quick Tip: 

Download on Netflix to allow videos to be played offline to save data. However, if you don’t wish to download videos, let the show buffer whilst you are on WiFi network and then watch on your mobile network. Therefore you aren’t using any data as the file has already buffered on your phone! Furthermore on YouTube you can head into settings and make sure that the ‘limit mobile data usage’ option is ticked. This will force the app to only watch videos in HD when connected to a WiFi Network.

Music Streaming however, there may be a different way to save data, if you’re a Spotify user. Tthere’s a way to help limit the way that it uses your data! As well as changing the quality of the music, making the music available offline, or downloading the music that Spotify (and many other apps) offer you, you can do more.
With Spotify only there’s an app called Spotify Lite (Currently only available on Android). This version of the app only takes up 15mb of memory compared to 100mb. Most of all, the app doesn’t allow HQ music to be played. If you’re an Apple Music or a Tidal user however, then they take up the most data when listening for an hour. Tidal gobbles up 184mb compared to Spotify using almost 100mb less.

(Deloitte)

(Mobile Phones Direct) 

*Mobile Phones Direct watched 5 minutes of content from each app and multiplied it to determine the total data usage over an hour. Each video was watched on both an  iPhone 7 plus and XR in HD using 4G. Results may vary.

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NextUp Comedy Streaming

NextUp Comedy – Streaming Laughs

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Love Comedy? Well you will love the streaming service ‘NextUp’ it’s a video on demand platform for stand ups. More specifically stand up specials. NextUp showcases all different kinds of stand ups. Be that your sketch comedian, character driven stand ups, to observationalists and many many more! It’s basically as Engadget coined it ‘The Netflix of UK Stand Up’ Therefore, as you’d expect, like Netflix you can stream content from NextUp from anywhere in the world. The content isn’t region locked to the UK. Comedy’s universal and meant for everyone!

Acts

The acts and subsequently content available to you isn’t strictly just for the household names. NextUp also is home to many up and comers, rising starts too! That’s not to say that the circuit legends are left out. Of course not! They’re still available for users to check out. Some of the acts available are:

Rising Stars such as

One of the best things about NextUp for comedians is that they get a 50/50 revenue share form their content being on the platform. Which is especially good for the rising stars of the comedy circuit. Futhermore NextUp members get access to recording tickets and exclusive discounts to shows! If you’re an up and coming comedian interested in appearing on their platform you can apply on their site by clicking here! How cool is that?!

History of NextUp

So why create something like NextUp? Well there are a number of reasons the team (Daniel Berg, Kenny Cavey, Sarah Henley and Stuart Snaith) decided to create the platform. Such as show goers cannot attend their favourite comedian’s shows due to it’s date, location, ticket availability and or cost. On the comedian’s point of view, after touring their show they have no archive of it. They can’t go back and critique it or show it off to anyone other than those who attend their tour dates. Furthermore the team wanted to show off more than what the Tv does. Consequently they wished to show off an even more diverse reflection of what the comedy circuit is like.

NextUp describes itself as to:

Seeks to right these wrongs by carefully curating for your joyful discovery the breadth of great comedy the industry has to offer, and bringing it to you anytime, anywhere whilst supporting the comedy industry in as many ways as possible.

(NextUp)

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Episode 303 Astro Bot: Rescue Mission

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Netflix On Sky

Netflix On Sky Is Here!

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From today, if you are a Sky Q customer you can sign up to a new service. A service called ‘Ultimate On Demand’. It features Sky’s existing catch up and box set services, plus Netflix! Therefore bringing 500 of the best UK and US series, along with the full Netflix service – offering you the ultimate TV binge-watching bundle. Netflix on Sky is looking like quite the offering!

“We want Sky Q to be the number one destination for TV fans. Partnering with Netflix means we will have all the best TV in one great value pack, making it even easier for you to watch all of your favourite shows”. Stephen van Rooyen, Chief Executive Officer, Sky UK and Ireland.

Netflix on Sky costs an extra £10 a month if you want to join. But you’ll receive all of Sky’s ‘On Demand’ stuff as well. Like Netflix’s £10 package you’ll also be able to stream Ultra HD content up to four concurrent screens. However, if you only have Sky Q’s Entertainment subscription, you’ll only receive the standard Netflix plan. No 4K content and 2 screens, this will cost the regular £7.99. The Netflix subscription through Sky is a 31 day rolling contract and payment for ‘Ultimate On Demand’ will be added to your monthly Sky bills.

“Innovation is at the core of Netflix. We are delighted to partner with Sky to offer fans a new and exciting way to access the best of entertainment from around the world.” Chris Whiteley, Director Business Development UK/IE, Netflix

Existing Netflix Susbcribers

If you already have both Netflix and Sky you can merge or move your subscription into one. You can simply sign into Sky Q’s own Netflix app. This will help many users who have Netflix and Sky as by amalgamating the services it means you don’t have to load up two separate apps. Nor do you have to have a smart telly or any other type of device that has Netflix on it. Existing Netflix subscribers will keep their profiles and their recommendations and ‘continue to watch’ shows. Much like how it works already when you watch on various Netflix-supported devices. Furthermore, recommendations through “Ultimate On Demand” for both Sky shows and Netflix shows will share the spotlight on Sky Q’s homepage.  Plus if you have both services you will have a lot more content to pick from! Save a bit of money (If you were paying for both already) and get tons more content as well! What’s not to lose!

However if you are a Sky+ customer you will have to upgrade your current Sky subscription to Sky Q to access Netflix on Sky. Consequently to access the Ultra HD content on Sky Q, customers must have a 2TB Sky Q box, and a “Sky Q Experience” (previously Q Multiscreen) subscription.

Customers can sign up to ‘Ultimate On Demand’ here

(Gizmodo)

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Netflix on Sky

Netflix On Sky: More content, Save Money

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Netflix on Sky is finally happening! If you are a Sky Q customer you can sign up to a new service. A service called ‘Ultimate On Demand’. It will feature Sky’s existing catch up and box set services, plus Netflix!

Netflix on Sky will cost an extra £10 a month if you want to join. But you’ll recieve all of Sky’s ‘On Demand’ stuff as well. Like Netflix’s £10 package you’ll also be able to stream Ultra HD content up to four concurrent screens. However, if you only have Sky Q’s Entertainment subscription, you’ll only receive the standard Netflix plan. No 4K content and 2 screens, this will cost the regular £7.99

If you already have both Netflix and Sky you can merge or move your subscription into one. You can simply sign into Sky Q’s own Netflix app. This will help many users who have Netflix and Sky as by amalgamating the services it means you don’t have to load up two separate apps. Nor do you have to have a smart telly or any other type of device that has Netflix on it. Plus if you have both services you will have a lot more content to pick from! Save a bit of money (If you were paying for both already) and get tons more content as well! What’s not to lose!

There’s no date for when Netflix will land on Sky Q just yet, but it’s “soon”. Customers can register their interest on the Sky website.

(Gizmodo)

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Episode 294 Florida Man Ft Funk Butcher

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