Latest Stories from Jamie
Wattpad scraps ‘Paid Stories’ for better balanced freemium model
The community storytelling platform has decided to scrap its paywall feature in favour of a new freemium model. ‘Wattpad Originals’ aims to strike a better balance for authors in terms of monetisation and growing their readership through non-paying users. If this is the first you’re hearing of Wattpad, you’re welcome. The bustling online community is brimming with literary talent that may have otherwise never been discovered and a constantly growing library...
Corporations soon have to report their carbon emissions in California
California is about to sign off on a deal to become the first US state requiring large companies to report their carbon emissions. This will affect around 5,400 firms which make more than $1bn in annual revenue. Considering filling out tax forms for the prior year proves too difficult a task for certain businesses, it’s safe to say a mandate to report annual energy usage and carbon emission outlays will...
Developer protests force Unity to backtrack on greedy policy change
More than 500 game developers signed a collective letter threatening to turn off Unity ad monetisation in response to greedy and blindsiding policy changes announced earlier this month. Unity is already backtracking. Game developers are refusing to be taken for a ride, and we’re here for it. Earlier this month, Unity Technologies – the company behind the cross-platform game engine Unity – blindsided hundreds of game developers with a slew of...
Opinion – UK XL bully ban will ultimately fail to prevent dog attacks
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has announced a ban on the American XL bully breed following a rise in serious dog attacks last year. Here’s why I believe the move is short-sighted, tokenistic, and ultimately destined to fail. Does the UK government enjoy anything more than a knee-jerk reaction these days? Here I sit, exasperated, pleading that policymakers adopt a holistic and sensible approach to addressing a serious issue...
Research says tobacco companies hooked the US onto junk food
Research carried out by the University of Kansas has revealed that tobacco companies were a key influence in the commercial explosion of junk food between 1988 and 2001. Responsible for roughly eight million cigarette-related deaths a year, and the recent mainstream pivot to the abomination that is the single-use vape, big tobacco already has a lot to answer for. New research, however, has suggested the industry’s empire of dirt doesn’t quite...
NASA announces new ‘UFO Research Director’ following hearing
NASA is formalising and accelerating efforts to better understand Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) after a public hearing. With a new Research Director hired, will this be a boon for those chasing infallible evidence of otherworldly visitors? While once terms like UAP and UFO were uttered mostly by foil-hat wearing conspiracists in the Deep South or Nevada, we’re increasingly hearing them discussed in an official capacity. The floodgates for acceptable ‘alien talk’...
UK ministers set to ban single-use vapes over child addiction fears
UK ministers are reportedly poised to announce a nationwide ban on single-use vapes in the coming week. With their considerable ecological impact considered in discussions, the chief concern is that children are becoming addicted. Your local off license is about to become a lot less colourful in the coming weeks, if reports are to be believed. After much umming and ahing, UK ministers are reportedly on the cusp of finally following...
Broken achievements & trophies should not still be a thing
For the ‘completionists’ among us gamers, there’s nothing more frustrating than fulfilling the requirements for a trophy or achievement and seeing it remain locked. Though rarely talked about, this is a significant point of tension between consumers and studios. Picture this, you’ve just completed an entire playthrough of a game on the hardest difficulty setting without dying or restarting a checkpoint, it’s been a 16-hour slog. Having failed several times prior,...
The G20 poured $1trn into fossil fuel subsidies last year
After failing to reach a consensus on phasing down fossil fuels last month, it has since been revealed that the G20 poured $1trn into fossil fuel subsidies in 2022. It’s all starting to make sense. Last month, a crunch G20 meeting took place in India in which the world’s wealthiest nations were expected to thrash out decarbonisation plans for the foreseeable future. In reality, four days were spent deliberating semantics and no...
Could a NYT lawsuit threaten the future of generative AI?
The New York Times recently updated its terms of service to prohibit AI companies from scraping its articles and images. OpenAI, meanwhile, has allegedly continued to exploit the newspaper’s content igniting reports of a potentially industry-altering lawsuit. The grossly unregulated world of AI could soon be shaken up drastically, if reports are to be believed. Just weeks after the New York Times made the bold decision to preclude AI companies...
