Mess Esports
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| Mess Esports | |
| Number | 2821 |
| Broadcast Date | JULY 29, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 46:27 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
| Guests | Justin Robert Young, Garrett Weinzierl, Brian Brushwood, Willie Dills, Len Peralta |
Esports is getting more broadcast and live streaming deals. Why? Garrett Weinzierl, Justin Young, Brian Brushwood and Willie ‘Dils’ Gregory discuss the rising tide of esports.
Guest
Top Stories
- Today is the 17th Annual System Administrator Appreciation Day.
- Today, Friday 29 July marks the last day that users can get a free upgrade to the Windows 10 operating system.
- The Wall Street Journal reports Apple's negotiating tactics over customer information and fees killed streaming agreements with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and the studios that make TV programs. Apple famously wants control over customer data and reportedly would not agree to automatic annual rate increases. Apple also wanted full seasons of all top shows on demand and to allow commercial skipping.
- Australia will shift its latitude and longitude coordinates north by 1.8m on January 1st in order to reconcile local maps with satellite coordinates. The problem is that Australia moves about 7 cm north each year. Before space-based navigation, local maps just kept lat and long constant even though they were out of alignment with the rest of the planet. Local coordinates were last updated in 1994 and the continent has shifted 1.5 meters north since then. The overcorrection of 1.8 meters will bring Australia back into line by 2020 when a new system will be ready to take changes into account over time.
- Documentary photographer Carol Highsmith received a letter in December on behalf of Getty images accusing her of copyright infringement and asking for a $120 payment. Trouble is the infringing images were photos taken by Highsmith and made available for free through the Library of Congress. So Highsmith is suing Getty for for selling unauthorized licenses for images and failing to give the photographer credit. Getty said it is looking into the allegations.
- Google announced that Android now supports Add-ons for Docs and Sheets in Android. The add-ons can be...um... added-on through the Google Play Store, or by a direct link within either the Docs or Sheets apps. Google integrated with 8 partners for the launch, including Zoho, Docusign, and ProsperWorks, as well as their own add-on for classrooms. Google also rolled out developers tools to further build out mobile add-ons. A Google spokesperson told VentureBeat that they will consider bringing the feature to iOS “once we determine demand is high enough.”
- According to data from Slice Intelligence, the app’s paying users peaked mid-July when the game had 56 percent more paying players than all other mobile games combined – a remarkable figure. But since July 15th, the game’s group of paying players has shrunk by 32 percent, the report claims.
- Gaming company Sony posted profits of 21.2 billion yen (US$205 million) for Q1 down from 82.4 billion yen a year ago. Revenue was down 11 percent in large part due to the Kumamoto earthquake and also from the strong yen.Sony's mobile division brought in 33% less revenue but posting a 400 million yen operating profit.Sony's games and network unit, posted an operating profit of 44 billion yen up 126% largely due to the Playstation.
- Polygon notes an official pamphlet being distributed by Sony details ideal room environments for the PlayStation VR headset coming October 13th. Sony recommends a space about 6.2′ x 9.8′ big, with the player seated in the middle, facing the PlayStation Camera at the long end. The height of the play area will be dependent on how high up the camera is set. That's a big space for a player that is supposed to remain seated. Sony says, "remain seated whenever possible. If the application requires you to stand while wearing the VR headset, follow the application instructions carefully, and maintain awareness of your surroundings". A social screen mode will allow people not wearing the headset to watch or possibly play along.
Discussion
Pick of the Day
- On Wednesday’s show it was mentioned that Pokemon Go clones were going to become a thing. My pick of the day is the Android app SpecTrek. You view a live map where ghosts are located, walk to the location then use the phones camera to see ghosts in ‘augmented reality’ and catch them. And the developer of this app that will be called a Pokemon Go knockoff by many, is a time traveler. This was my favorite Android app from Google’s Android Developer’s Contest 2 in 2009!
With Niantic starting within Google in 2010 right after this game won second place in their ADC2… there could have been a little ‘inspiration’ going on. Just sayin’. - Submitted by Lee from Auburn, KS
- On Wednesday’s show it was mentioned that Pokemon Go clones were going to become a thing. My pick of the day is the Android app SpecTrek. You view a live map where ghosts are located, walk to the location then use the phones camera to see ghosts in ‘augmented reality’ and catch them. And the developer of this app that will be called a Pokemon Go knockoff by many, is a time traveler. This was my favorite Android app from Google’s Android Developer’s Contest 2 in 2009!
Messages
- Greetings from Definitely-needing-the-rain Boston,
I was pleasantly surprised to hear you mention the DIUx initiative on your Thursday show! I actually work for a small Cyber Security and Software Engineering startup whose biggest customers are the Government. One of my co-workers helped establish the Cambridge DIUx office (by way of getting the right people on both sides in touch to make sure it happened). How wonderful it was to hear about the initiatives I've been working on (or with) for the past year make it on DTNS.
To Roger's point(s), the biggest problem I see on a day-to-day basis with these types of initiatives (and not DIUx exclusively) is that the Government has lost touch with how to motivate the sharp, talented go-getters in the tech industry. These people frequently want to work for small, nimble businesses...not the traditional Lockheed and Boeing types. The Snowden revelations and encryption wars are not helping. At the same time, margins are getting smaller and "allowable expenses" on these contracts are getting harder and harder to justify.
(One example of many... the Air Force recently said they won't reimburse driver tips for Lyft/Uber/Taxi rides to the airport. Even for official business! Is saving $3-5 per trip really going to solve your budget problems?!)
Guess who suffers the most from this? Newer and Smaller businesses! I see it DAILY in my company (<30 employees) as we try to grow and innovate. These opposing forces are making it hard for the Government to recruit employees (and companies) who want to move fast and build things. I want DIUx and related efforts to succeed, but it's as much about culture as technology.
Just my two cents, as my industry is finally coming into discussion on my favorite Tech podcast.
Cheers,
<>, - Sent by Cory from Definitely-needing-the-rain Boston
- Greetings from Definitely-needing-the-rain Boston,
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| Preceded by: "Tinder for the Pentagon" |
Mess Esports |
Followed by: "Who’s your DiDi now Uber?" |