Ads In Your Instagram Feed
It was only a matter of time for Facebook to use its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram to generate income by selling ad space. Soon, when you're scrolling through endless amounts of selfies and photos of people's food, you'll also see ads from various brands that you might not follow. I figure there will be some type of uproar from people, but that's just how the internet world works - ad space equals dollar signs for companies. There will be a hide feature, though, which is a way for Instagram to ease users into the beginning of its advertising phase. No word on when we'll see the ads pop up in feeds, so keep snapping away until then.
[Via Time]
Google tests Google Play vending machines in Tokyo
Vending machines are literally everywhere in Japan. During my trip to Tokyo this past August, I couldn't go a block without seeing at least one vending machine. Unlike the vending machines here in the States, Japan utilizes the machines for everything from beer, milk, and energy drinks to ramen, pastries, and even panties. How fitting is it, then that Google would test their own vending machines in Tokyo?
Google is introducing Google Play vending machines in Shibuya, Tokyo's version of New York's Times Square. The vending machines will upload both paid and free-to-play games onto Android phones via a touch screen. This is a pretty cool concept for Google to explore, considering the overt nature of vending machines throughout Tokyo. The machines' placement in front of the Parco, one of the trendiest department stores in Tokyo, near the famous Shibuya Crossing will also bring in large audiences.
Japan can keep their Google Play vending machines as long as they can export their beer machines to us.
[via Engadget]
EA settles for "tens of millions" in NCAA lawsuit
A huge win for NCAA athletes was reached last week as Electronic Arts announced it has settled with lawyers over the use of athletes' names and likenesses in past NCAA sports games. While an exact amount hasn't been revealed, the rumored "tens of millions" of dollars will be shared amongst current and former NCAA athletes featured in EA Sports' NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball games. However, while EA settled, the NCAA is still preparing to fight the lawsuit as they are the lone defendant in the case.
The debate over the commercialization of college sports will continue for a long time, but this settlement is one victory that could represent a change in entertainment practices of large groups profiting off of the athletes' talents. In related news, EA also announced that they will not be releasing NCAA Football '14 this year per the settlement. It's unknown if the popular video game franchise (alongside its basketball counterpart) will continue, but the company is "evaluating our plan for the future of the franchise."
[via USA Today]
The Weekly Swarm: 9/23 - 9/29
Welcome to the new Ruby Hornet. When Virgil brought me on board back in late April, our goal was to bring Ruby Hornet to new heights, to expand on the success that Alex and Sean spent years establishing. In the past five months, we've brought some key members to the team and added much, much more diversity to the website. It had been a long time coming, but we're happy to share the next major step in Ruby Hornet's evolution. There are bound to be a few missteps here and there, but don't be afraid to let us know about them. The new look is just the tip of the iceberg.
This week, the long relationship between Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer came to an end, Taylor Swift was cast in The Giver, Brynn interviewed Dave Davison from Maps & Atlases, we had an onslaught of music videos from Rick Ross, Z Money, Psalm One, Drake, Vic Mensa, Chief Keef, and more, Irina Shayk posed for VMAN, Grand Theft Auto V sold more than $1 billion, and Zane Lowe interviewed Kanye West which led to some amazing #NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK tweets and the subject of Jake's weekly Sunday Coffee Sipper.
Check out everything Ruby Hornet covered this week below.
Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer part ways
Escape From Tomorrow escapes from a Disney lawsuit
First posters for Divergent released
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg invite Sony to the Sausage Party
[Trailer] Need for Speed
The Wolf of Wall Street might slip into 2014, missing Oscars consideration in the process
[Video] Behind the scenes Oldboy featurette
Michael B. Jordan might be a slam dunk for Independence Day 2
Batman vs. Superman set to enter production next month
Star Wars Episode VII could be partially shot on IMAX cameras
[RH Review] Don Jon
Taylor Swift to co-star in film adaptation of The Giver
Joey Purp: "Monologue"
Chance the Rapper Announces North American Tour
Kami de Chukwu: "Droptop Vision"
[RH Feature] Lili K: Hard out here for a soul singer
[Video] Zane Lowe interviews Kanye West
[Album Stream] Lorde: "Pure Heroine"
King Krule announces North American Tour
[RH Interview] Islands
[EP] Isaiah Toothtaker X Jacob Safari: "?OTHING"
Carl: "Crystals" (Feat. Taylor Bennett)
[Video] Netherfriends: "Sex Beat" (feat. Chandler London)
[Video] Z Money: "Let You Know"
[Video] Psalm One: "Need Love Too"
[Video] Video Diary: Grimes & Default Genders' James Brooks
[Video] Autre Ne Veut: “Ego Free Sex Free" + Tour
Freddie Gibbs + Madlib: "Harold's"
[Video] Wteve Baker: "Tree Haus"
[Video] Drake: "Hold On We're Going Home"
[Video] A$AP Ferg On Pitchfork's Over/Under
M.I.A. speaks on NFL's $1.5 Million Fine
[RH First Glance] Ducky: "U Turn Me Up"
[Video] theWHOevers Live at Schuba's
[Video] A$AP Rocky: "Fashion Killa"
Lupe Fiasco: "Pound of Flesh/Paris Tokyo 2"
Arjaye Jeter: "Ice Cream Bike Pedals"
[Video] Sky Ferreira: "You're Not The One"
[RH Contest] Win a pair of tickets to see Phaeleh, Supreme Cuts, and Different Sleep b2b Soleman on 9/26
Sasha Go Hard: "Gimme Mo" (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid)
Calez: "A Mill", "Free Ya Mind"
[Mixtape] Cam Meekins: "PEACE"
Nick Astro & Murph Watkins: "Pick A Side" (Prod. by IKON)
[Video] Rick Ross: "No Games" (feat. Future)
[Video] The Making of Innanetape
[Video] Ultrademon: "Automatic" (Feat. ShowYouSuck)
[Video] Radkey: "Romance Dawn"
Durkin: "Let You Know"
[Video] Atoms for Peace on The Daily Show
[Video] Savages: "Husbands"
SchoolBoy Q: "Banger"
[Video] KSRA Live at The Beat Kitchen
[RH First Glance] Thee Ramone: "Find Me"
Thundercat: "Bowzer's Ballad" + North American Tour
Afeni Shakur Sues Entertainment One
[Video] Machine Gun Kelly: "Home Soon"
[Video] Chief Keef: "Ight Doe"
[Video] Vic Mensa: "Lovely Day"
Fun Fun Fun Fest's food offerings
[Video] Jimmy Kimmel Responds to Kanye
Phantogram: "Celebrating Nothing"
[RH Interview] Dave Davison (Maps & Atlases)
Evan Holt: "In The City" (Prod. By Thelonious Martin)
[Album] Matt & Kim: "Lightning Remixes"
[Video] Hot Sugar: "Erica" (Feat. The GTW)
[Video] Pusha T: "King Push" ( Prod. By Kanye West + Joaquin Phoenix)
[Video] Charli XCX: "SuperLove"
[Video] Lil Reese: "Supa Savage Intro"
[Sunday Coffee Sipper] Kanye West: "Everything I Am Made Me Everything I'm Not"
Nicholas Maggio’s “Wild Hearts, Blue Jeans, and White T-shirts” Project NSFW
Mass Appeal Presents “WATCHxWITNESS” with Jason Goldwatch & 13thWitness: Detroit
Mohawk General Store 2013 Fall Editorial featuring Adrianne Ho
[NSFW] Irina Shayk For VMAN Fall/Winter 2013
IG Weekly: Grizp
Grand Theft Auto V’s first three days made $1 billion in revenue
Apple sells more than nine million iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c models in first three days
Amazon Introduces The Kindle Fire HDX
NBA Jam lead designer admits to collusion against the Chicago Bulls
Smart Guns Aren't So Smart
Rockstar is interested in making a Bully sequel
Top 10 Best #NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK Tweets
Top 10 Best #NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK Tweets
Jimmy Kimmel opened up a can of worms the other night when he spoofed Kanye West's interviews with BBC's Zane Lowe this week. In typical Kanye fashion, he went on a Twitter tirade against Kimmel last night through a series of tweets, with one of the best being:
JIMMY KIMMEL PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES … OH NO THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TOO MUCH GOOD PUSSY IN YOUR LIFE…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 27, 2013
However, the future of Twitter was forever changed with one hashtag:
SHOULD I DO A SPOOF ABOUT YOUR FACE OR YOU FUCKING BEN AFFLECK…#NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK #ALLDISRESPECTTOJIMMYKIMMEL!!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 27, 2013
By this point, Kanye's rant was simply "Kanye being Kanye." However, the floodgates were opened with the ridiculously amazing hashtag, "#NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK." We now live in a world post-#NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK, unable to return to who we once were before Kanye West changed our lives for the better. Below are The Top 10 Best #NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK Tweets.
Rockstar is interested in making a Bully sequel
When Bully came out in 2006, it was both the anti-Grand Theft Auto and a psuedo-Grand Theft Auto Lite. It took the GTA formula, but framed the game within a private school setting with a decreased focus on rampant violence and carnage. However, what Bully may have lacked in the violence department, it more than made up in the game's humor, tight storytelling, and amazing gameplay. Unfortunately, seven years have come and gone with little to no word on the franchise's future (outside of the game's re-release on the Xbox 360 and Wii, as well as a digital re-release on the PlayStation 3).
With the national focus on the success story that is Grand Theft Auto V, the questions have come up again about a Bully sequel. In a talk with Polygon, Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser wants to make a sequel to Bully by stating, "Well, hopefully, you never know. There's a lot of directions I could go with that one [...]" The video game industry and the mainstream society's tolerance/acceptance of video games is in a better position than it was almost a decade ago, which could hopefully help the odds of a Bully 2 become that much more realistic. Keep your fingers crossed and make a wish, ladies and gentlemen.
[via Polygon]
NBA Jam lead designer admits to collusion against the Chicago Bulls
NBA Jam was a huge hit when it hit arcades and home consoles back in 1993. The NBA-licensed arcade basketball game featured 2-on-2 teams pushing, shoving, and dunking on one another in intense, high-energy games. Some of the best memories from the game included backboard-shattering slam dunks, players going on fire after making three consecutive shots, and game announcer Tim Kitzrow's catch phrases ("Boomshakalaka!").
A full decade has passed, and while the franchise isn't as popular as it once was, gamers and basketball fans of age all have fond memories of the Midway game. In an interview with ESPN, NBA Jam lead designer Mark Turmell addressed one such memory. When asked about whether Scottie Pippen's ratings dropped unexpectedly, Turmell offered an interesting explanation:
It's true, but only when the Bulls played the Pistons. If there was a close game and anyone on the Bulls took a last second shot, we wrote special code in the game so that they would average out to be bricks. There was the big competition back in the day between the Pistons and the Bulls, and since I was always a big Pistons fan, that was my opportunity to level the playing field.
Collusion! Then again, over the past year, the Chicago Bulls attained three more championships, Derrick Rose, and one of the league's highest attendance; the Pistons, on the other hand, are still in Detroit... enough said. It's the little battles that matter, right?
[via ESPN]
Amazon Introduces The Kindle Fire HDX
Since the release of the Kindle Fire Tablets, Amazon has been aggressively going after the competition trying to become the go to place for tablet products. With the release of the Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon is set on taking on the iPad Mini and Nexus 7 with what looks to be better specifications plus a video technical support system. This live tech support allows the customer and rep to video chat and enables the rep to draw on the person's screen to help walk them through their problem. The tablet is "powered by the latest 2.2-GHz Quadcore Snapdragon 800 processors, 2GBs of RAM, Adreno 330 graphics, 11 – 12 hours of battery life, 1900 x 1200 resolution in the 7?/2560 x 1600 resolution display in the 8.9" and optional 4G LTE connectivity." For more on the specifications and features, head on over to Amazon where you're also able to pre-order the Kindle Fire HDX for $229 USD.
[Via Highsnobiety]