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YouTube is letting you make your own AI-generated music that sounds pretty damn similar to leading pop artists — with their permission. Announced Thursday, the Google-owned video streaming platform is letting creators generate unique "Dream Tracks" for their Shorts in the style of Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Charlie Puth, Papoose, Sia, T-Pain, and Alec Benjamin, all with the agreement of the artists themselves. SEE ALSO: YouTube is testing AI-generated comment section summaries To create a track, creators can type an idea for a song into the creation prompt, select one of the above artists, whose voice will be AI generated into the track. "When I was first approached by YouTube I was cautious and still am, AI is going to transform the world and the music industry in ways we do not yet fully understand," said Charli XCX in a press statement. "This experiment will offer a small insight into the creative opportunities that could be possible and I’m interested to see what comes out of it." Credit: YouTube The Shorts feature comes as no real surprise, considering Google announced its Music AI Incubator, a partnership with Universal Music Group, in August, and the licensing of artists' voices for AI-generated music projects with YouTube. It was announced alongside the publication of YouTube's AI music principles, which promise to "embrace it responsibly together with our music partners." Keeping the feature specifically for Shorts is a smart move, considering platforms like Spotify are removing thousands of AI-generated songs — and Universal had previously called for streaming services to crack down on AI-generated music due to copyright concerns. The news also comes just two days after YouTube said it soon require creators to label whether a video was made with generative AI, or risk receiving fines, having their content removed, or being suspended from the YouTube Partner Program — and importantly, artists themselves will be able to request the removal of deepfaked content and AI-generated music uploaded without their consent. As well as the Dream Tracks released today, YouTube said it was working with "on a set of music AI tools" with its Music AI Incubator, set for testing later this year: "Imagine being able to more seamlessly turn one's thoughts and ideas into music; like creating a new guitar riff just by humming it or taking a pop track you are working on and giving it a reggaeton feel. We’re developing prospective tools that could bring these possibilities to life." It's eggshell territory, the AI-generated music space, with possible controversy around every corner. But with major labels in direct conversation with tech platforms, licensing deals like these could at least bring a slice of comfort for the artists themselves. Is AI-generated music the future? For one, HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk thinks so. View the full article

Fortnite players will now be able to report other players for abusive behaviour using audio recordings. Announced Thursday, Epic Games is introducing voice reporting to the battle royale game, in an effort to reduce bullying, harassment, intimidation, and predatory players on the platform. "In addition to being able to block, mute, and report other players, you will be able to submit audio evidence when reporting suspected violations of our Community Rules," reads a blog post from the Fortnite team. Voice reporting will work only if it's enabled. Fortnite records the last five minutes of voice chat audio then automatically deletes it, meaning "only the immediate last five minutes of audio is reportable". Once uploaded, your anonymous report will be sent to Epic moderators for review, after which it will be deleted after 14 days or the duration of a sanction (or if Epic needs to hold onto the clip "to comply with legal obligations"). SEE ALSO: The 'real' metaverse already exists and it's called 'Fortnite' Epic explained that voice chat audio is "securely captured on your device...not the Epic Games servers," while ensuring the company can't access voice chat audio unless you've got voice reporting on and you submit a report. So, how does Epic Games make sure that the audio being reported is actually someone from the voice chat? The company explained the whole process in another blog post and how it uses public key cryptography — two keys are generated, one public, one private, that authenticate identities including the player’s Epic account and encrypt data that can only be decrypted with the other. "To achieve this we use public key cryptography to generate digital signatures so voice packets can be attributed to the correct participant. Packets are signed by the participant’s private key and all other users can verify them using the sender’s public key, which prevents players from spoofing the system." Notably, voice reporting is always on for voice chats that include players under 18, and players not wanting to have their audio captured need to mute themselves or turn voice chat off entirely by tapping "Off" in voice chat settings. This is particularly interesting, considering in December last year, Epic Games was forced by the Federal Trade Commission to pay a total of $520 million over allegations the company was using "dark patterns" to get players to buy things unintentionally, and further claims that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting data without parental consent. At the time, the FTC said "Epic will be required to adopt strong privacy default settings for children and teens, ensuring that voice and text communications are turned off by default." So, not sure what happened there. If you want to turn voice reporting on, and you're over 18, here's how to do it. How to turn on voice reporting on Fortnite Total Time 2 minutes What You Need Fortnite Epic Games account gaming console Step 1: Load 'Fortnite' and open Settings. Credit: Epic Games Step 2: Click "Audio" then "Voice Reporting". Step 3: Choose "Always On" or "Off When Possible." Step 4: If you pick "Always On", voice reporting will be enabled for your channels. If you pick "Off When Possible", voice reporting will remain off in party channels where everyone also has this setting (but not in game channels). However, if just one player has "Always On", voice reporting will be turned on in a party channel. View the full article

Bing Chat is now Copilot, according to an announcement during Microsoft Ignite 2023. But is it more than just a name change? Yes and no. You're not alone in being confused by what's going on with Bing Chat — er, we mean "Copilot." But don't worry, we've figured it out for you. SEE ALSO: Microsoft Teams launches creepy AI webcam trick that cleans up your dirty room What's new with Bing Chat (now Copilot)?There aren't any major changes with the Bing Chat-turned-Copilot chatbot. "Refinement" is a better word to describe Microsoft's head-scratching actions. Let's take a look at three tweaks Microsoft implemented for its AI chatbot. 1. A new homeCopilot, formerly Bing Chat, now has its own standalone webpage. You can access it here: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ This means you no longer need to visit Bing before you can access Microsoft's AI chat experience. You can simply visit the webpage above — without Bing Search and other services cluttering your interactions with Copilot. In other words, it's a lot more "ChatGPT-like" now. Interestingly, however, the link only appears to work on the desktop versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. When we tried to access it on Safari, or any mobile browser (including Chrome), we got the following roadblock: Not all platforms have access to the new URL. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Bing Chat 2. A minor makeoverMicrosoft made some visual changes to the rebranded AI chatbot, but they're arguably insignifcant. Here's what the old Bing Chat looked like: Bing Chat Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable And here's the rebranded version: Bing Chat is now Copilot. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable While the tiles are smaller on the new variant, they feature the same prompts: Code, Organize, Compare, Write, Create, Laugh and Travel. You're also still asked to choose the conversation style you prefer: Creative, Balanced or Precise. The only big change, of course, is the new name (i.e., Copilot) as well as the tagline: "Your everyday AI companion." Overall, the UI is similar, although the theme color changed from a light blue to an off-white. Bing Chat, now Copilot, is still a free experience, giving users access to DALLE-3 and GPT-4. However, if you want to experience Copilot on platforms such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, other popular productivity apps, you'll need to cough up a subscription fee for what Microsoft calls "Copilot for Microsoft 365." 3. Better security for enterprise usersCopilot is introducing free commercial data protection for customers who have Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium accounts. That means "prompts and responses are not saved," the announcement said. "Microsoft has no eyes-on access to it, and it’s not used to train the underlying models." So users who previously had a Bing Chat Enterprise account, or pay for a Microsoft 365 license, get the added benefit of more data protection. This will officially roll out on Dec. 1. What's stayed the same?For non-paying users, Microsoft intends to include commercial data protection over time. But as it stands for free users, Copilot has the same data policy as the former Bing Chat and saves information from your conversations. So if you were a casual, non-subscribing Bing Chat user, the only difference is the name and domain change. You still get access to OpenAI's GPT-4 and DALL-E 3 models, but you must be mindful about what information you share with the chatbot. To put it succinctly, for free users, there's not much to write home about: Bing Chat is now called Copilot and it has a new home. Whoop-dee-doo. View the full article

The sequel to the Scary Hours EPs was written in five days, he saysView the full article

As The Crown's final season opens, a man walks his dog through Paris late at night, along the Seine. From the setting alone, most of us know what's coming, whose fate is about to be sealed. As a car speeds past the walker into the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, chased by paparazzi, it's immediately clear where Peter Morgan's series will have its eye fixed: the final season of The Crown belongs to Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. Here, The Crown finally arrives at its Rubicon, the couple's shocking death in 1997, and the Royal Family's broadly criticised reaction (or lack thereof) to the tragedy. SEE ALSO: 'The Crown' Season 5 review: Debicki's Diana reigns supreme amid a monarchy in crisis After years of reimagining the intricacies and major decisions of the British royal family through the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Morgan's opulent Netflix series is coming to a close. Season 5 followed the tumultuous early '90s, when public opinion of the monarchy was in freefall amid Prince Charles and Princess Diana's divorce. But in Season 6, Part 1, the series spends most of its time beyond Balmoral, instead focusing on a media-plagued relationship developing on the shores of Saint-Tropez. Despite the season's events happening 26 years ago, they still feel resonant, with increased conversations around paparazzi and the tumult of the media's harassment of celebrities prominently taking over documentaries, memoirs, fellow series, and online conversations. However, the most troubling part of The Crown (beyond the uh, use of ghosts) erupts from this very spot, prompting questions of our own viewership that aren't easily answered. What is The Crown Season 6, Part 1 about? Prince Harry (Luther Ford), Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), and Prince William (Ed McVey). Credit: Daniel Escale/Netflix Set in the late '90s and glistening with a fittingly George Michael-heavy soundtrack, Season 6 of The Crown follows the same time period covered in Stephen Frear's 2006 Helen Mirren-led film The Queen, beginning with Tony Blair's election as prime minister in May 1997, months before the death of Princess Diana in August 1997. Unlike The Queen (and Michael Sheen's exceptional performance as the PM), Blair's role is largely absent from The Crown, a shame for actor Bertie Carvel but a win for the audience more interested in the story of Diana (an impeccable Elizabeth Debicki). Though she's divorced from the heir to the throne and self-described as "persona non grata" to the royals, Diana is beset by press and public attention, much to the dismay and judgment of the Crown. As the Queen (the superbly stoic Imelda Staunton) explains, "As a divorced woman and no longer an HRH, Diana is now learning the difference between being officially in the royal family and out." Meanwhile, Prince Charles (Dominic West) is scrambling to bolster his and Camilla's (Olivia Williams) public image, using royal "spin doctor" Mark Bolland (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) to make him a "broadsheet prince" in opposition to Diana's "tabloid princess." Prince William (Ed McVey), Prince Charles (Dominic West), and Prince Harry (Luther Ford) Credit: Keith Bernstein/Netflix Honestly, things are downright boring in the palace, with the most exciting thing to happen the launch of a new royal website loaded up mid-meeting on a dial-up Dell — a meeting in which Princess Anne (Claudia Harrison) physically yawns. Though Staunton and West are characteristically brilliant, watching Charles beg for public approval for his love match from his mummy feels like we've been in this weird confrontation for years. Instead, the season belongs to Diana and Dodi, whose fate beyond the walls of Buckingham Palace or Balmoral Castle is foreshadowed with Hans Zimmer's Crown theme song slowed down to a funerary march. The Crown and the death of the "people's princess" Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) and Diana (Elizabeth Debicki). Credit: Daniel Escale/Netflix Following a superb portrayal by a rollerskating Emma Corrin in Season 4, Debicki picked up the role of Princess Diana in Season 5 with a truly understated performance through Diana and Charles' rocky relationship, struggles with mental health, and her tempestuous relationship with the media. In Season 6, Diana is trapped in an endless cycle of harassment from the paparazzi, a flotilla of photographers sitting constantly on the horizon. Debicki's Diana shines in her brightly hued, flawless '90s wardrobe of neon swimsuits and oversized Adidas tees on the sparkling seas, upstaging the greys and tartans of the royals grumbling over headlines back in England. A downward glance, a small smile, and flawless delivery, Debicki has complete control over The Crown's interpretation of the princess, who attempts to use her towering platform to raise awareness of the Landmine Survivors Network and confides in her sons like best friends, a representation akin to that of Spencer's Kristen Stewart. But there's a sense of foreboding in these visuals, especially the recreated image of Diana sitting on a diving board, the one snapped by the paps a week before her death. A harrowing recreated image. Credit: Daniel Escale/Netflix The Crown notably gives considerable room to Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) himself, also victim of tragedy but rarely given as much attention. His father, Mohamed Al-Fayed (the sublime Salim Daw) laments the erasure of Dodi from British press coverage of their deaths: "It's as if only one person died." In episode 3, The Crown treats the night of Diana and Dodi's death like a terrible puzzle, placing importance on details which have been scrutinised and investigated and re-scrutinised since. Contrasted with these scenes, The Crown includes scenes of Prince William (Ed McVey) in Balmoral, killing his first stag — an overt, if not slightly garish metaphor about the hunters and the hunted. But there's an uncomfortable truth hiding within these episodes. Essentially, The Crown does what every photographer in the world was trying to do: put you inside the yacht, inside the car. The Crown's decision to put the audience up close with Diana and Dodi that night, through every tiny moment until their last, stays true to the point of the series — recreating historic moments in the lives of the royal family. But this one feels different. It feels like we've become the villains, elbowing our way into the final moments of a couple who tried desperately to escape such brutal attention. For six seasons we've happily been these voyeurs, keen for a glimpse inside Princess Margaret's doomed relationship, the early courtship of the Queen and Prince Philip, and the awkward mechanics of Charles and Camilla's affair, but in this final season, the need to be in the room where it happened suddenly feels wrong. We need to talk about the ghosts So... Credit: Netflix In the aftermath of Diana and Dodi's deaths, certain creative choices may divide viewers of The Crown, namely the use of surrealism to imagine conversations between royals. Yes, ghosts. But not Spencer ghosts. The Crown includes a scene of imagined conversation between Charles and Diana on the royal plane, and even more provocatively, the Queen and Diana at Balmoral, in both cases wearing her signature black turtleneck from Season 5. It's the only part of the entire series of The Crown that uses surrealism to dig into the minds of these famous figures, and people will love it or hate it. The scene with the Queen will inevitably cause the most conversation, as the monarch's decision in The Crown to finally issue a public statement of support directly comes from her conversation with Diana — not Charles, who's been making the case for days. Sitting on the couch together, they watch people in deep grief outside Buckingham Palace on TV. "I hope you're happy now. You've finally succeeded in turning me and this house upside down," the Queen tells Diana, scoffing at her insistence that it wasn't her intention. "Look at what you've started. It's nothing less than revolution." What does this mean for The Crown? In a series where exacting every detail has become fodder for fact-checkers, this is one hell of a curveball. While Diana's ghost feels slightly off-kilter for the show, where it works better is with the ghost of Dodi, appearing to his father directly after his funeral. This scene allows Daw to show Mohamed's pure honest disappointment and hurt over the Royal Family's silence, while asking his son for forgiveness — it's a beautiful performance of a father in deep grief. The closer to the present, the less necessary The Crown gets Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: Netflix So, where will The Crown go from here for Part 2? Moving into the new millennium, the series will particularly look to the future king, Prince William, and his fateful meeting with Kate Middleton on campus at the University of St Andrew's in Scotland in 2001. The Queen's Golden Jubilee and Charles and Camilla's marriage are as exciting as it will get, so, yeah. How The Crown will sign off on the Royal Family and avoid more recent controversy will be interesting to see, especially with the most recent rattling with the release of Prince Harry's book Spare. In fact, The Crown Season 6, episode 4, appears to hint at public statements made by Prince Harry, especially in a scene where Prince Phillip (Jonathan Pryce) actively warns the young princes to ignore public calls of support as they march behind their mother's coffin. "Don't react," Phillip tells William during the march. "Keep your eyes forward or on the ground. Concentrate on the act of walking. Step by step." SEE ALSO: Mental health is a key issue for the royal family. So, why is it failing behind closed doors? The Crown seems to hide inferences in Diana and Dodi's relationship too, especially when Dodi is speaking to Diana in episode 3 about the racist abuse he's receiving in the press for being in a relationship with Diana, with headlines like "Why can't Di find a nice English boy?" Sounds familiar. "It's been getting worse for me too," Diana replies. "They make like they're your friend and they write insult after insult anyway. Makes me want to just move away. Start afresh. Move to another country, somewhere like…" "California," Dodi suggests. It's not subtle. The closer the series comes to current headlines, the less the series feels as compelling, especially as public perception of the royal family continues to shift. Season 6 sees the proximity to the present rendering the series less revelatory the closer to recent headlines we get. Beyond here, the relatability, role, and financial standing of the Royal Family feels too close for a TV drama, as "the system" continues to be publicly scrutinised — even more so following the Queen's death in September 2022. Those curious to see what The Crown believes happened around one of the most defining moments of the '90s should give it a look, though it's Debicki's performance alone that makes the season worth watching. Without Diana in the second half, it'll be up to Staunton to deliver the goods. But without a doubt, it's time for The Crown to end. How to watch: The Crown Season 6 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 will be streaming Dec. 14. Opens in a new window Credit: Netflix 'The Crown' Netflix Watch here View the full article

For years, the one thing I’ve hated most about traveling (aside from all the other things that suck about it) is that I can’t bring my PlayStation 5 with me. Thanks to PlayStation Portal, I can finally do that — sort of. Sony’s new $200 Remote Play (a feature that lets you stream PS5 gameplay to another device like your phone) peripheral for PS5 is simultaneously life-changing and frustrating. With Portal, you can bring your PS5 games with you without lugging around a giant console or compromising too much on visuals or load times. All you need is a solid WiFi connection and you can play your PS5 games on the go without really losing anything. However, good WiFi can be hard to come by. With its dependence on reliable internet and limited feature set, the PlayStation Portal is a decidedly not-great device that I will, nonetheless, bring with me every time I go out of town going forward. What I love about PlayStation PortalAt first glance, PlayStation Portal looks like the long-awaited (but sadly probably never happening) follow-up to Sony’s old PSP and Vita handheld consoles. It also looks pretty silly, as it’s simply a giant LCD screen nestled between the two halves of a DualSense controller. As Chuck Mangione once said, it feels so good. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable That’s a funny idea that actually works really well. The DualSense controller that comes included with every PS5 is probably the best gamepad Sony has ever produced, and Portal just…feels exactly like that. Mission accomplished! The fun doesn’t stop there, though. It feels fantastic in the handsSony actually included the unique haptic mechanisms, including nuanced controller rumble and adaptive triggers, with Portal. I tested this out with the console pack-in game Astro’s Playroom, and sure enough, it felt just like it did the first time I booted up my PS5 back in 2020. Astro’s feet produced a satisfying little tap-tap-tap feeling with every footstep and the triggers had resistance every time the game demanded it. There is one caveat to all of this: the device’s weight. Portal comes in at 529g — or a little more than 1lb. It’s definitely not heavy nor uncomfortable to hold by any means, but that’s almost twice as much as a DualSense controller weighs by itself. It can be a tiny bit cumbersome to carry around with one hand, but aside from that, I don’t think the weight is a huge hindrance here. A great way to play RPGsOne thing that is inherently a hindrance with a game streaming device is latency. There’s just no way around the fact that there’s a tiny, almost imperceptible gap between you pressing a button and something happening on-screen with PlayStation Portal. The good news is that, for a lot of games, this doesn’t matter at all. Case in point: I love RPGs. I tried several RPGs (both turn-based and action-oriented) on Portal, such as Dragon Quest XI, Star Ocean: The Second Story R, Tales of Arise, and Octopath Traveler II. I found this to be a pretty excellent way to experience those games. Whether I was idly grinding for experience points or doing sidequests, it’s just really nice to play these games on a handheld device while watching football on my TV. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was also surprisingly playable on Portal. Really, the only thing I would avoid are really twitchy action games, particularly first-person shooters. Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t even the twitchiest shooter in the world, but I found it a little cumbersome to play on Portal. Trying to aim for precision headshots on a smaller screen with just a hint of latency in the middle of a firefight isn’t the best experience. This should go without saying, but you should probably not play any competitive multiplayer games on Portal, either. You’ll be at a severe disadvantage. While latency is not a huge problem on Portal, visual hiccups are more prevalent. If a game runs at 60 frames per second on a PS5, it’ll also run that way on Portal, but not all the time. I personally noticed lots of little dips here and there, seemingly having more to do with my WiFi connection than anything happening in the games themselves. Again, for a lot of titles, this isn’t a big deal, but shooters and racing games would be hampered by that. The good news is that resolution drops and visual artifacting were pretty rare on Portal. I did notice a good deal more of that while playing the device on Mashable’s office WiFi network, but on a home network, it wasn’t really a problem. Stuttering and artifacting do become big problems if you try to play a game on Portal while downloading something to your PS5, though, so maybe don’t do that. Bigger than any phone There's not much going on in the rear. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable One of the main arguments against Portal is that it’s a $200 device that’s purpose-built for something you can already do on a phone. Heck, you can even connect a DualSense controller to mobile devices, too, so you wouldn’t even miss out on the haptic feedback. I can’t really argue against the criticism that $200 is a lot of money for an otherwise easily accessible service. That said, the 8-inch LCD display on Portal is much bigger than anything you’d find on the average smartphone. I do think the form factor of a DualSense split in half with a big honkin’ screen in the middle is more ideal for gaming than an iPhone with a third-party controller bolted onto the screen. Portal’s display gets the job done, but its 1080p max resolution and 60Hz refresh rate won’t wow anyone. That last figure is particularly interesting because there are some PS5 games that optionally support 120Hz gameplay on compatible TVs. That simply won’t work on Portal. Bummer, I know, but them’s the breaks. What I dislike about PlayStation PortalUp to this point, you might be thinking the Portal is a really cool device with just a couple of tiny drawbacks. Allow me to break the illusion a little bit. Connection lostWithout mincing words, Portal had an incredibly tough time maintaining a constant connection to my PS5 during testing. Some sessions were OK-to-good, but most of the time, I would encounter a disconnection error every 15 to 20 minutes. Mind you, this happened while I was sitting six feet away from the PS5. The good news is that this is a brief and easily fixable interruption. When the Portal loses connection, your game will suspend, the screen will freeze for 5 to 10 seconds, and then it’ll ask to reconnect. Doing so only takes a few seconds, so this is at maximum a 30-second inconvenience every time it happens. I never encountered a situation where the Portal didn’t immediately reconnect with the console upon my request. It’s not ruinous to the experience at all, but it’s just ... really damn annoying. Portal does take software updates, so maybe Sony can fix this, but right now, it’s a capital-P Problem. Technically this isn’t newAt the risk of repeating myself, Portal costs a couple Benjamins to replicate an experience I could’ve had for “free” by just owning a PS5 and a smartphone. The value proposition here isn’t outstanding. There isn’t much more to say about that. You get the idea. No Bluetooth Hey, at least there's a headphone jack. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable I’m not going to dance around this too much: PlayStation Portal only supports wired headphones and first-party PlayStation-branded headphones for private audio output. Your AirPods won’t work here. The worst part? Those first-party headphones aren’t even out yet. You need something with Sony’s proprietary “PlayStation Link” technology, and right now, that comes in the form of the Pulse Explore earbuds or the Pulse Elite headphones. The former launches on Dec. 6 for $199, while the latter doesn’t come out until Feb. 21 at $149. Boo! What’s ‘eh’ about PlayStation PortalEasily the biggest question mark I have about Portal is how its usability may vary depending on your personal situation. Your mileage may varyI was only really able to try it on my home network and at the Mashable office, and as I said earlier, the former was better than the latter. Mind you, the internet at my apartment sucks big time. Network speeds are inconsistent at best. There are good days and bad days — and we get throttled on weekday evenings. Even with all of that in mind, the Portal worked pretty well! Heck, if you have better internet than me, you may have an even better time than I did. But if your internet is a major concern in your daily life, I'd be apprehensive about Portal. PlayStation Portal battery lifeThere is some good news about Portal to finish off with, though. Battery life on this thing isn’t elite by any stretch, but you can get six to eight hours on a full charge. In my eyes, that’s good enough for what Portal offers. Because this device doesn’t have any real horsepower of its own, there’s no annoying fan noise or noticeable heating problems like you’d find on a bonafide handheld gaming device like the Lenovo Legion Go. It’s quiet, cool, and lasts long enough to not be a big problem. Final thoughtsPlayStation Portal has caused a real conundrum for me throughout the review process. It’s either a great device that also kind of stinks or a bad device that also kind of rules. I’m not sure which it is, though, and maybe that distinction doesn’t matter. It’s just got too many big and little problems for me to tell you to shove this bad boy in your Amazon cart and spend $200 on it. Moment-to-moment gameplay can be (and usually is) awesome on Portal, but frequent connection issues and high variance due to network differences make it hard to recommend. Having said all of that, though, I find myself using it every day. I’ve actually sort of forgotten about the PS5 proper sitting in my bedroom, instead opting to play my little RPGs on Portal while watching TV. Portal’s excellent form factor, good display, and overall usefulness have outweighed its numerous problems for me. Maybe they won’t for you, but I can’t just say “this thing sucks” and move on. Life’s not always that simple. View the full article

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe. With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it. So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered. SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for November 16 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for November 16 Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023: AcrossTaxiThe answer is cab. See 8-AcrossThe answer is cells. Farewell that literally means "to God"The answer is adios. Doritos Locos ___ (fast-food products)The answer is tacos. With 3-Down and 4-Across, the human body makes around 200 billion of them per dayThe answer is red. DownEvergreen tree with sweet-smelling woodThe answer is cedar. Wonderland girlThe answer is Alice. See 8-AcrossThe answer is blood. Pet that can hissThe answer is cat. Sound of sizzling baconThe answer is sss. View the full article

Threads is testing hashtags — only without the actual hash (#) symbol. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the app is testing a way to categorize posts with tags. The initial rollout will begin in Australia, with additional countries following. The tags will appear as clickable blue links, operating like hashtags but minus the symbol. Users can try it out by typing the hash symbol and a category. SEE ALSO: You will come back to Threads sooner than you think Threads is testing many updates, it seems, including a trending topic feed and an API. Since its launch, the X-rival has steadily released new features, adding what many pointed out as crucially missing. View the full article

We've known for a while that Greenland's ice sheet is melting worryingly fast. But a new study from Northwestern University and the University of Copenhagen has found that Greenland’s thousands of peripheral glaciers have entered a new and widespread state of rapid retreat. In their research, published in Nature on Nov. 9, the team used satellite images and rarely seen historic aerial photographs of Greenland's coastline to map the thousands of glaciers that aren't part of the island's vast central ice sheet. To complete the study, the researchers removed terrain distortion and used geo-referencing techniques to identify the exact locations shown in the photos. The unique data allowed the researchers to document and compare over a thousand glaciers, and the way they've changed over the last 130 years. According to Yarrow Axford, Northwestern’s senior author of the study, some of the historic photographs were taken from open-cockpit airplanes during Greenland's first mapping missions. "Those old photos extend the dataset back prior to the satellite era, when widespread observations of the cryosphere are rare," she said in a press statement. "It’s quite extraordinary that we can now provide long-term records for hundreds of glaciers, finally giving us an opportunity to document Greenland-wide glacier response to climate change over more than a century." The multiyear study has concluded that the rate of the glaciers' retreat has increased twofold since the year 2000, and that rising air and ocean temperatures due to human-induced climate change is the reason for this negative record. "Our activities over the next couple decades will greatly affect these glaciers," said Laura Larocca, the study's first author. "Every bit of temperature increase really matters." View the full article

Elon Musk's new ad policies for X may cost the company after an online advertising watchdog officially filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Check My Ads, an independent organization that monitors adtech companies, announced on Wednesday that it submitted a formal complaint with the FTC, "urging" for an investigation into X and its ad practices. Why is X getting slapped with an FTC complaint?The heart of the complaint involves recent changes to the platform, formerly known as Twitter, which obscures whether a post that a user is viewing is an advertisement. Oftentimes, X doesn't even let users know they are viewing an advertisement at all. Check My Ads cites Mashable's reporting regarding lack of ad disclosure in its complaint to the FTC. Musk's platform previously labeled advertisements clearly with a "Promoted" tag affixed to the bottom of a paid ad. However, as Mashable reported in July, many users started noticing that the "Promoted" label stopped appearing on paid posts. A new "ad" label, placed on the upper-right corners of posts, replaced it — and it was much less noticeable than the previous "Promoted" disclosure. A screenshot of an ad on X without a label, only showing a disclosure in a drop down menu. Credit: Mashable Some ads had no disclosures at allHowever, even worse than the new, less conspicuous ad disclosure were the ads without any label at all. In September, Mashable noticed some ads that weren't labeled with "Promoted" nor "Ad." The only way users could determine it was an ad was if they accessed a drop-down menu that provided them with an option to report the ad. Even more concerning, as Mashable reported in October, a new clickbait-style ad-type started rolling out on X. These ads not only provided zero disclosure of being an advertisement, they also did not provide users with the advertiser behind the ad — nor did it provide users with an option to block or even report the ad. A screenshot of a "clickbait" X ad without any disclosure or ability to report the advert. Credit: Mashable "X Corp.’s lack of disclosures to consumers, misrepresentations to advertisers, and flawed access to explanations about targeted advertising constitute unfair and deceptive practices," said Check My Ads policy director Sarah Kay Wiley. "We urge the Commission to determine the extent of these violations and address them to the full extent of its authority." Check My Ads points out that X is potentially "violating Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act" by not clearly disclosing ads, which may then "misleads consumers into trusting content as organic, creating an environment ripe for scams." The organization also says that X's actions violates the 2022 Stipulated Order with the FTC, which saw then-Twitter pay a $150 million fine for deceptively using users' information for advertising purposes, months before Musk's acquisition. As part of a call for an investigation, Check My Ads also wants the FTC to require the company to provide a public database with ad information regarding who pays for ads and how they are targeted, much like other platforms like Facebook provide. Check My Ads also says that the FTC should fine X for these violations and seek an injunction that requires X to clearly label all advertisements. Since Musk's takeover of the company, X has struggled to keep some of its largest advertisers on board. The company reportedly lost 60 percent of its advertising revenue earlier this year. View the full article

As astronomers have used large telescopes to scan the skies for exoplanets, they've noted something odd: Worlds of a certain size are conspicuously missing in space. The number of confirmed exoplanets — planets orbiting stars other than the sun — has risen to 5,539, according to NASA, with over 10,000 more candidates under review. But exoplanet hunters believe the universe is likely teeming with many trillions of planets. These exoplanets come in different sizes. Of the midsize worlds, they are mostly divided into two groups, known as super-Earths and mini Neptunes (or sometimes sub-Neptunes). Although both kinds are larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune, super-Earths can be as much as 1.75 times the size of our home planet, and mini Neptunes are double to quadruple the size of Earth. But if worlds were lined up in order of size, there would be a noticeable gap smack-dab in between super-Earths and mini Neptunes — planets that are about 1.5 to 2 times the size of Earth. "Exoplanet scientists have enough data now to say that this gap is not a fluke," said Jessie Christiansen, an Infrared Processing and Analysis Center research scientist at Caltech, in a statement. "There’s something going on that impedes planets from reaching and/or staying at this size." SEE ALSO: The curious planets scientists have ogled in 2023, so far The absent midsize planets are the focus of a new study published in The Astronomical Journal. Christiansen led the research team, which looked at the Milky Way star clusters Praesepe, sometimes known as the beehive, and Hyades, located on the face of the Taurus constellation, using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope data. The size gap could be caused by certain mini Neptunes actually shrinking over time. If such a world doesn’t have enough mass, and thus gravitational force, it could lose its atmosphere by its core emitting radiation that pushes the atmosphere away. Over time, these less-massive mini Neptunes would shrink down to the size of a super-Earth. Scientists believe this could occur about 1 billion years into a planet's life. Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter today. "Exoplanet scientists have enough data now to say that this gap is not a fluke." But there's another possibility that could answer for this behavior. So-called photoevaporation, thought to occur in a planet’s first 100 million years, happens when a planet's atmosphere is blown away by the radiation of its host star, similar to what would happen if you pointed a hair dryer at an ice cube, Christiansen said. The coauthors are leaning toward the first explanation — with the source of the radiation coming from within the planet's core — because the star systems they were observing are thought to be about 600 to 800 million years old. If photoevaporation were the cause, it likely would have happened hundreds of millions of years earlier, they figure, and the planets would have barely any atmospheres left to speak of. But to put the question to bed, scientists will need to conduct several follow-up studies in the future to prove or disprove the researchers' findings. View the full article

Perry Farrell and the band recently announced their farewell tourView the full article

No matter where people live or how much knowledge and experience they’ve accumulated, governments and corporations rarely shy away from an opportunity to offer behavioral advice. Delivered via TV, radio and the internet, public service announcements enlighten the masses on topics seemingly so complex, they’re only fully understood by the few. Even if that was the case, 30 seconds of theatrics followed by what amounts to a blind order may have worked 40 years ago; today, people expect more than that and when it comes to anti-piracy PSAs, magnitudes more. For the last few years the global anti-piracy message hasn’t wavered for a moment. There’s no memorable slogan to recall, but the message couldn’t be clearer: If people pirate content, using IPTV services in particular, more likely than not they will become infected with malware, have their identities stolen, credit cards maxed-out, and/or bank accounts emptied. It’s one of the strongest and most united messages ever sent, and with multiple and significant caveats, even has some basis in truth. It appears to have done little to suppress demand, however. Whether events unfolding in South Korea will dampen local demand remains to be seen, but the narrative playing out on national news could hardly be worse for pirate sites. Piracy and Illegal Gambling Start Sharing a Cell Before the advent of various international schemes that prevent gambling companies from advertising on pirate sites or contain an abstention agreement, gambling ads and pirate site were commonly seen together. In South Korea, the government is no fan of piracy, but it tolerates illegal gambling even less. Online gambling within South Korea is outlawed, and government control in the rest of the market effectively amounts to a lucrative monopoly. When pressure mounted on former local piracy site Noonoo TV, the existence of ads promoting illegal gambling on the site receive dozens of mentions in the media. While Noonoo seems to be dead, the local piracy/gambling nexus is reportedly in full swing. With black market gambling reportedly worth up to $80 billion, national TV news channel KBS has run dozens of stories over the past couple of months, all with a common theme. Enjoy the Movie, Stay For the Gambling The story at the heart of the current controversy dates back to September; KBS published a video report (below, English translation via subtitle) in which the presenter explains (around the one-minute mark) that the channel’s reporters tested out an illegal streaming site offering Netflix content for free. When a reporter clicked on one of the ads, it led to a surprisingly open criminal who confirmed the channel’s suspicions, apparently with no hesitation. “When I click on the advertising banner on the screen, I am taken directly to an online gambling site. On other illegal streaming sites, similar advertisements appear on the screen,” the presenter says. “After checking them one by one, most of them were the same company. A reporter contacted the online gambling operator and asked if he had anything to do with the streaming site, and he answered ‘yes’. So, it appears that they are making money by offering free OTT services and luring users who are misled by them to gambling sites,” Commenting on the allegations, police confirmed an investigation into the connections between gambling sites and pirate streaming portals, adding that accounts linked to five sites had been frozen, with two sites shut down. “The problem with these illegal OTTs and the gambling sites connected to them,” the presenter adds, “is that even teenagers are exposed to them without protection.” Teenage Gambling Addicts How KBS identified and then obtained permission to interview school kids who used these sites isn’t clear. The channel disguised their voices and blurred out their faces, but there’s little to hide their naivety. One of the opening statements appears to show a lack of understanding, if not complete ignorance, of exactly the type of disclosure that can ruin people’s lives. “Even though I was a minor, I signed up immediately after entering my name, date of birth, and phone number, and that’s how I started ‘gambling’,” a student revealed. “I was trying to watch it for free, but a lot of windows appeared at the bottom and a window at the top,” added another. “While watching a free movie on an illegal OTT site, I inadvertently saw an advertisement. I clicked and entered the gambling site,” the interviewer was told. “At first, out of curiosity, I went to the gambling site. The money I sent later grew out of control, and I even resorted to private loans.” The final horror story manages to sound even more miserable than the others. “This year I earned about 10 million won [US7,600],” the student said. “I originally saved up the money by doing a part-time job. But my mother and her parents had to give luxury goods and gold, and I took all of the collateral, because the interest rates on the losses jumped 100% in three days.” Video From Inside an Alleged Gambling/Pirate Site Operation KBS News doesn’t reveal who provided the video, but it was allegedly recorded inside an office where a gambling operation was based. The channel says it shows both the gambling platform and the pirate site being operated from the same room, enough evidence for the channel to conclude direct links between pirate movies and TV shows, and illegal gambling. “There are adult sites and drama-watching sites. Those are the ones that work best,” a company official explained. “These days, [gambling] sites don’t work without kids.” From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

Eboni Booth will write the book and Whitney White will direct the stage adaptation of the book and Netflix showView the full article

Perfume Genius, Florence Welch, Bleachers, and Beabadoobee will perform covers for the Apple TV+ series starring Juliette Binoche and Ben MendelsohnView the full article

The rappers face off in ping pong, chess, and more in the For All the Dogs visualView the full article

Lead single “100lbs of Summer” features London R&B singer Greentea PengView the full article

Shields and J Mascis reunited to sing their own songs and cover “Just Like Heaven” in LondonView the full article

A couple mulls the big questions in the visual for the title track of the National’s recent albumView the full article

Lana Del Rey sings on the second single from the band’s fourth studio albumView the full article

The Horns, Thorns en Halos Farewell Tour begins in FebruaryView the full article

⦿ Guy Owes $117m After pornEZ Suddenly Got Hard ⦿ “No Fees Ever” Tanggula TV Trafficking Targeted ⦿ Z-Library’s Domains Just Keep on Disappearing… ⦿ Anna’s Archive’s Sudden X / Twitter Vanishing Act ⦿ Sci-Hub Meets 24/7/365 UK Block Party Mid-January 2023, MindGeek subsidiary MG Premium sued Nguyen Hoi, the alleged operator of unlicensed adult streaming site, Pornez.net. (2:23-cv-00349-CBM-PVC – MG Premium Ltd v. Nguyen Hoi) Data from Google’s Transparency portal reveals that MG filed over 5.6 million DMCA takedown notices hoping to make the site less visible. On November 6, 2023, a California district court handed down a permanent injunction and ordered the defendant to pay MG Premium a cool $117,270,000 in statutory copyright damages. Pornez.net is no longer online but sites with similar domains and extensions appear keen to emulate their namesake, not including the damages award, obviously. Extracting massive damages awards from pirates is something DISH Network also enjoys. A DISH/Sling lawsuit filed last month in a Carolina district court targets Sentry Inc. and alleged owner, Michael Graziano. The complaint claims that the defendants “provide and profit from the sale of an illicit streaming service known as Tanggula” through which it’s possible to watch DISH/Sling programming without authorization. Tanggula set-top boxes are advertised on social media platforms, sold via various affiliate and reseller schemes, and ‘reviewed’ regularly on YouTube. According to the Black Friday offers currently being advertised on Twitter, $299 is the ‘bargain’ rate for a black and red Android-based device. However, DISH doesn’t appear too concerned about Tanggula boxes per ser, its focus is the software that runs on these devices and the thousands of live TV channels on offer. Indeed, after shelling out the initial sum, Tanggula says buyers can look forward to paying “no fees ever”. DISH claims that the defendants sell access to packages via the websites www.alltvboxes.com and www.elitetv2023.com. Both websites were operational when the lawsuit was filed but are now offline. DISH investigators made undercover purchases according to the complaint (9:23-cv-05074 DISH Network LLC et al v. Sentry, Inc. et al, pdf), which seeks damages for alleged violations of the DMCA’s anti-trafficking provisions (17 U.S.C. S 1201). Z-Library had dozens of domains seized last week, presumably some type of gift to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the initial law enforcement crackdown. During this wave the United States teamed up with Austrian law enforcement agencies (more detail in our Nov 8 report). Z-Library confirmed the seizures late last week, noting that the domains were connected to Z-Library sub-projects. Since our initial report, an additional main/backup domain has also been seized. Z-Library is still in control of its main domain (singlelogin.re) but lost singlelogin.asia in the recent round of seizures. It joins singlelogin.app, singlelogin.site, singlelogin.click, and a couple of hundred additional domains now under the control of U.S. authorities. On a related note, Anna’s Archive appears to be still going strong but as a reader pointed out to us on Monday, the @AnnaArchivist account on X/Twitter was wiped out last week and no longer exists. Finally, Sci-Hub and its mirrors/proxies will soon become less accessible for customers of the UK’s largest ISPs. As part of a High Court-sanctioned blocking campaign, Elsevier & Springer Nature recently added around a dozen new entries to the blocklist. Sci-hub.pk and various subdomains of scihubtw.tw, sci-hub.se, sci-hub.st and unblockit.zip, join hundreds of previous blocklist entries targeting Sci-Hub and Libgen. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article

Ian Oliver, known as barnacle boi, has not only carved a niche for himself at prominent music festivals this year, like Imagine Fest, Wakaan Fest, Elements Fest, and Sound Haven, but also made a notable double appearance at Red Rocks in late 2022. Revered for his deeply emotional, bass-centric, and evocative trap compositions, as well as for his collaborations with icons such as Bones (TeamSESH), Holly Stell, and Madi Larson, barnacle boi’s star is on the rise. Bolstered by support from huge names like Alice Glass and Finn Wolfhard of “Stranger Things”, he draws from the nostalgic chords of 90’s/2000’s anthems, infusing them with his groundbreaking innovations. Now, he’s back with his highly anticipated ‘Introspect’ EP – making his label debut on Vibe Digital. The result is truly spectacular, as barnacle boi creates a thrilling ride from start to finish on this six track EP. The title track sets the tone, making a thunderous entrance while the subsequent song “Love Hotel” ushers in a more contemplative, downtempo element beautifully executed. “In The Dark” encompasses notes of festival trap mixed seamlessly with cinematic textures while “U Were Everything 2 Me” takes us even further down the rabbit hole into the sonic bliss curated by barnacle boi. “Stubborn” offers a mesmerizing vibe while “Sorry” caps off the EP with a darker, UK garage sound that yet again shows just how sonically eclectic barnacle boi is. Listen below! This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: barnacle boi Releases Thumping ‘Introspect’ EP View the full article

Ren Zukii is the moniker of 26 year old West Australian experimental bass music producer Rene Snow – who’s truly carving her own lane in this scene. Her music fits somewhere in between chaotic and emotionally impactful, with unhinged creativity guiding her ever step of the way. Now, she’s back with a new single “10 Hour Shower” via Liquid Stranger’s Wakaan imprint and the single lives up to the hype. Packed with thunderous bass chords and an electrifying arrangement, Zukii turns this into a colossal main stage banger. “I wrote this track in a tropical thunderstorm in Sumatra, Indonesia. It rained for 10 hours straight while I was there on a surfing trip, so that’s where the title of the track comes from. I was feeling super inspired to write music while in Indonesia, as I used to live there when I was 16, teaching English in a local village.” – Ren Zukii Listen below! This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Ren Zukii Drops Thunderous Single “10 Hour Shower” via Liquid Stranger’s Wakaan’s Imprint View the full article

Most American ravers know very little about the scene in the former Eastern Bloc, aside perhaps from Berghain and the festivals in Croatia. Drum & bass denizens would likely know about Let It Roll out of Prague and maybe that Czechia is a hub of modern neurofunk, but may not know how big the scene actually is in Czechia and Slovakia. In fact, it’s quite widespread, with the popular imagination festival, loads of clubs and some of the most popular producers coming out of everywhere from Dresden to Russia. Beats for Love, a festival based in Ostrava, Czechia on the Polish border, seems to have been one of the most overlooked by North American punters while simultaneously becoming one of the biggest festivals on the planet. It’s time said punters take notice. With festival fans beginning work on planning their summers around now, it’s a good time to look up Beats for Love. Conceived in 2013 by festival director Kamil Rudolf as a way to bring big rave names to Central Europe for reasonable prices, B4L’s tenth anniversary is set for early July, 2024. It’s a full week-long festival set in an old ironworks with cool, dystopian vibes, in an urban and easily accessible area and features huge lineups, with 2023’s festival hosting nearly 500 artists. B4L makes sure they cover all genres as well, featuring everyone from Deadmau5 and Tiësto to A.M.C and the Eatbrain League. There are also conference-style forums during the week, daytime carnival activities and a fireworks display at the end that rivals EDC. It’s no wonder it’s now the biggest festival in Central Europe, with nearly a quarter of a million visitors at the 2023 fest. With her career born out of the burgeoning Czech and Slovak rave scenes of the late 90s and early 00s, DJ Beaty has become a fan favorite both in her hometown of Ostrava and throughout Europe. Her high-energy house, techno and drum & bass sets are usually a mustn’t miss for those in the know, and she dances just as hard as anyone on the floor. Now working on her all-female event series Proppa Rave with childhood bestie and Dnbwear bosslady Mila207, collaborating with club Fabric in Ostrava on all-female events series “Grls on the Decks” and working with Trident Events in Slovakia, Beaty’s also the boots-on-the-ground coordinator and marketing manager for Beats for Love. Getting to know her and her positive vibes is also getting to know B4L, so with the 2024 season approaching, YEDM decided to chat with beaty and get to know them both. How did you get involved with music? For the Americans who are just now hearing about it, can you give us a little history on Beats for Love? Beats for Love is an electronic dance music festival held at the heart of the Industrial National Monument in Ostrava (an actual UNESCO World Heritage Site). It’s surrounded by the ironworks scenery of the Lower Vítkovice area, so it’s got a very different vibe. This year we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the festival and because we’re so well-established now, we’ve been able to fill it with plenty of outstanding music on 15+ stages headlining by the biggest names all over the world, not to mention a rich accompanying program and loads of other activities for four days. This creates a really unique atmosphere full of fun and enjoyment! What was the idea behind the festival and how have you seen it grow or change over the years? The original idea was to organize an event in an industrial space and the original idea was to show electronic music to as many people as possible, which for us meant “a lot of music for little money,” and connect fans from different genres in one festival. Of course, over time, the festival got bigger, and with that bigger names are added, and with that came an increase in prices, but we are still one of the cheapest festivals year in and year out in terms of the price/performance ratio so we feel our original mission still stands. How have you been able to get such huge talent to come to the festival each year? We’re a team here at B4L so I think the best person to answer this is George Ramík, our festival booking manager: The festival is expanding year by year, not only in terms of production but also the composition of the program. Every year we manage to book a better lineup and this is also connected with the fact that the festival wants to grow. In order for the festival to be better, we need to put more resources into the line-up and we strive to bring people a better program every year. I think the reason why big headliners like to come back to us and want to play here is the unique environment of the old factory, which is not found anywhere else in the world. The main reason, in my opinion, is because of our artist care. We go above and beyond with high-quality artist care and first-class facilities for the whole week. Agents and managers visit our festival to see what Beats for Love is all about and they received first-class service too, which they greatly appreciate. I also think it’s our curated image. Our festival has a face and we keep our relationships strong. Artists and their agents already know us from the communication before the festival and these are the same people they will meet at the venue. We are not just a company, but a team and a family. The same people have been working together on this festival for a long time, so the artists know exactly who they are and they know they can always count on us to take care of them and present a great festival. Beaty @ B4L 2023, filmed by Mark Spinx For you personally, how does the festival tie in with your own music career? For me this event is always the highlight of the year, not only because I work on it the whole year but it is one of the biggest crowds I get to play to. It also helps that it is in my hood, I get to meet all my DJ, producer and industry friends in one place and I don’t even have to travel! I feel so happy to be involved with one of the most important rave events of the year. Where would you like to see the festival go in the future?* *I asked our head of marketing, Matyas Ozana, to weigh in on this one: Our goal is to be at the level of such giants as Tomorrowland or Glastonbury, which are known all over the world. In the meantime, the most important thing for us is that the festival still has so many great and satisfied fans, because it is not possible without them and mainly we are doing it for them! How has it been trying to manage the festival as well as doing your own gigs? I´m working for Beats for Love as a marketing manager so during the week I’m going to work normally and during the weekends I’m doing shows. Sometimes it is challenging to be at “work” all the time, but when it is your passion and you love what you do, it just doesn’t feel like you are at work. What is your favorite part of touring and playing so many gigs? I love to visit new places and meet new people. I’m doing one or two gigs during the week so it’s quite tiring sometimes with the distances to venues are very long. After a weekend full of gigs I’m really tired but as I said, I love what I do so it also gives me a lot of energy. What’s your goal as a musician? At the moment it’s to continue what I’m doing and try to do my best as a DJ. My goal this year is to take my DJ skills to the next level, which will liven up my performance so mainly I’m focusing on DJing right now. Also I would like to start my own production but at the moment I’m fully busy with my family, job and projects so at the moment I’ve got a pretty full plate. Any upcoming projects for you or teasers for next year’s B4L? This year Beats for Love will celebrate our tenth anniversary, so the preparations are in full swing. We have so many upgrades to the different areas and visuals to ensure the best possible music experience for our #peopleoflove! Last year at the festival we started with the new project “Talking Beats” which is a conference and a meeting of the organizational team with the people from the music business sphere, which was a great success. This year we would like to increase it, extend it to more days, invite interesting guests again and discuss topics related to electronic music, mental health and other interesting topics that are connected to music and the festival in general. There are loads more Beaty sets available on her YouTube channel. Click here to learn more about the 2024 Beats for Love fest, updates on the lineup and tickets, which are already on sale. This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Beaty and Beats for Love: Meet the DJ Who’s All Things Rave in Czechia and Slovakia View the full article