Category Archives: Mind Uploading

Welcome to Creators on the Rise, wherein partnership with global creator company Jellysmackwe find and profile breakout creators who are in the midst of extraordinary growth.

Gunnar Deatherage is no stranger to stitching for an audience.

In 2012, the Los Angeles-based designer showed his skills on two back-to-back seasons of Bravo TVs long-running series Project Runway, competing in the shows tenth season as well as the fourth season of its spinoff special Project Runway All Stars. Deatherage didnt walk away with the catwalk crown in either season, but Project Runway did help launch his career in fashion and set design.

Between the end of his time on Project Runway and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Deatherage had his work featured in magazines like Vogue Italia, Elle, Pattern Magazine, and USA Today. He styled celebrities including Lady Gaga, Matthew Broderick, and Allison Janney. At his day job as the art director, decorator, and draper for film and commercial design firm Nomad, he has worked on sets for music icons like Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Halsey, and Sia.

But, like many folks across many industries, Deatherages stream of work began to slow with the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. So he put idle hands to work by joining TikTok.

Deatherage posted to the shortform video platform at least once per week, with each upload showcasing his start-to-end process of making everything from custom dresses to ultraluxe hats to recreations of stars red carpet looks. At the same time as his TikTok following began to grow (hes now up to nearly 2 million fans), YouTube introduced its own TikTok competitor, Shorts.

For Deatheragewho says he considers YouTube the only platform that can support a full-time digital careerit was a clear opportunity to bring his content to the worlds largest video sharing site.

Deatherage began uploading 60-second videos to YouTube in January 2021. At the end of that month, he had his first hit: a clip where he made a cocktail party-ready dress from dollar store items. He made a similarly themed video at the end of February where he turned $2 fabric into a 60s party gown.

Both of those videos (plus the 20 hes uploaded since) helped drive Deatherages channel from 13,000 subscribers on March 1 to, now, more than 212,000. His view count has also skyrocketed from 821 views in January to 255,000 in February to more than 12 million in March.

Deatherage says the growing attention has already led to a partnership with Patreon. In the coming weeks, he plans to launch a page where patrons can pay for handmade patterns thatll let them recreate his viral pieces.

Check out our chat with him below.

Gunnar Deatherage: I am originally from Louisville, K.Y., but I live in L.A. now! I dont have much free time, but when I do take a moment for myself, I love to go to the gardens in Los Angeles, travel, shoppingha! My background is in set and interior design as well as fashion design! Im a bit of a Swiss Army knife of skill sets! I like to refer to myself as a modern Renaissance man. My brain just loves to create, it doesnt matter the medium.

GD: Its wild, right? Almost 200K in a month!

I can 100% thank YouTube Shorts for the increase. The new sector of the platform is really embracing the media style of apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels, so it has really brought my style of content to new eyes, and for that I am so thankful!

GD: My first truly viral video on YouTube was a video [embedded below] where I created a dress from items I bought at The Dollar Tree. I think theres something so fun and whimsical about making something from nothing. I was on a few seasons of Project Runway, so creating in that way is just in my nature at this point!

GD: My grandmother taught me to sew early on, and encouraged me to always improve my skills. Im entirely self-taught aside from her knowledge. I love dressmaking because you can create such incredible pieces from nothing but a flat piece of fabric. Its 3-D art meets multiple skill sets. Sewing is a lot of problem solving, so the little victories along the way make it worth it. Also, seeing someone feel their absolute best in a piece you created is a feeling like none other.

GD: To be honest, YouTube intimidated me for so long! Had I not been at home from the pandemic, and posting on TikTok, I wouldnt have made the leap. Ive not even been on TikTok for a full year, and have almost 2 million followers, and seeing how inspired viewers are by seeing a somewhat difficult process simplified really inspired the move to YouTube!

For me, YouTube is the only app where you can actually make a living creating, so having a steadily growing following is mind-blowing.

GD: Well, partnerships make a big difference, ha! I have so many plans, and now that I know I have eyes who want to follow along that journey, I plan on stepping up to the plate and delivering!

GD: Well, it certainly isnt the comment section, haha!! The YouTube comment section can be brutal, but that being said, I think my favorite part is watching a new audience see what Im capable of, and then constantly surprising them. I LOVE hearing that people are surprised with every post.

GD:I do create for my TikTok as well as my Instagram! I try to give each channel its own style of content, and some content does not cross over to other channels, but its hard to keep up all the time because my content takes SO LONG to create! Im literally making a full gown for one 60-second post, ha!

GD: Education!!! Im working closely with Patreon to launch a Gunnar page! My team and I are creating custom Gunnar Deatherage patterns that will release on my Patreon, as well as the basics of sewing videos. I will have a lot of tiers and options so people can grow with me. I think sharing knowledge is my favorite part of creating, and offering that while supporting myself is the goal!

Jellysmack is the global creator company that detects and develops the worlds most talented video creators. The companys proprietary video optimization technology and data drive social audience growth, unlocking new revenue streams and amplifying monetization.

Currently home to over 150 influential Creators including PewDiePie, MrBeast,Brad Mondo, and Bailey Sarian, Jellysmack optimizes, operates, and distributes creator-made video content to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. Jellysmack-managed content boasts 10 billion global monthly video views and a cross-platform reach of 125 million unique U.S. users, making it the largest U.S. digital-first company in monthly social media viewers.

Looking to grow your social presence? Lets talk.

The rest is here:

Creators On The Rise: Gunnar Deatherage Is Stitching Himself A Career On TikTok And YouTube Shorts - Tubefilter

Pictured: Technology in use

Why broadband has never been more important for a residential care home in the midst of a global pandemic by John Keaney, SIRO CEO.

Covid-19 lockdown restrictions have been difficult for everyone, but it has been even more challenging for residential care homes across the country like the Tara Care Centre in Bray. Families suddenly could not visit loved ones, many of the centres operations quickly shifted online and connectivity was key as part of the vaccination programme.

The management of Tara Care Centre realised very early that their existing broadband service simply could not cope with simultaneous video calls by numerous residents, along with ongoing uploading and downloading of vital information as part of ongoing engagement with the health authorities. Simply put, they could not risk the safety of residents and staff due to slow broadband speeds.

After being connected to the SIRO network, the Tara Care Centre could ensure residents could contact loved ones from the comfort of their own rooms, instead of needing to be reliant on being nearby to a wifi router; and instantly access and upload the necessary information in seconds as part of the requirements of the vaccination programme and Covid-19 testing regime. Thats why a Fibre-to-the-Building broadband service was a crucial part of their strategy for navigating their way through the pandemic.

What most companies do not realise is that they are actually using a residential Fibre broadband service, which simply is not suitable for their needs a fact that is suddenly becoming obvious in the midst of the pandemic as their service slows to a crawl.

Regular Fibre broadband is typically delivered to a regular telecoms cabinet near to your company premises, with a copper connection serving as the last mile. In contrast, a Fibre-to-the-Building broadband service consists of a fibre-optic cable connected directly to your premises. It is a dedicated connection that is not shared with other users and it has no copper connections at any point to slow down the network.

The crucial aspect of a Fibre-to-the-Building business broadband service is that it is an asymmetric service where upload speeds are the same as download speeds, meaning that it is specifically designed for the demands of a modern business where supporting video and large file sharing, multiple remote users, cloud-based applications and smart technologies is a must. If a company is using a residential fibre broadband service, their upload speeds will be around 10% of the download speed.

SIRO, a joint venture between the ESB and Vodafone, is building Irelands only 100% Fibre-to-the-Building broadband network. Using the existing ESB network, SIRO delivers fibre-optic cables all the way to the building. Our Fibre-to-the-Building technology is recognised as the only future proofed broadband in Ireland, with a solution specifically tailored for business providing Enterprise grade SLA services, including a 24/7 option to give your company peace of mind.

Our services are available from a range of broadband retailers such as Vodafone, Digiweb, Viatel, Airwire, Blacknight Internet Solutions, Carnsore Broadband and Westnet. To enquire about switching to SIRO, simply search your Eircode on SIRO.ie to find out which retailers are available at your business address.

Excerpt from:

Guest blog: Why broadband has never been more important for a residential care home in the midst of a global pandemic | Business & Finance -...

A look at all the women supporting each franchise that the cameramen of IPL has caught.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has always been the source of entertainment for fans over the ages. The cash-rich tournament has grabbed the attention of many who used to flood the stadium and enjoy the limited-overs game.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything and with keeping the safety of fans and players in mind, the league has gone behind closed doors.

However, before when situations were better and fans flooded the stadiums, the IPL cameramen were known to make people famous just by zooming on them.

The camera has caught many fans and even the franchise stars celebrating from their respective stands. So let's have alook at all the women supporting each franchise that the cameramen of IPL has caught.

1. Kaviya Maran

1/5

The 'mystery girl' that grabbed the attention of the cameramen is Kaviya Maran - the CEO of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). She is the daughter of Kalanithi Maran and is involved with SUN music and FM channels of SUN TV.

She first grabbed the attention in the 2018 season when she was spotted supporting SRH in a match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

During the mini-auction for the 2021 season, the camera panned towards the SRH table and fans got talking about her on social media.

She also grabbed the attention of netizens after she was seen frustrated after SRH's loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai.

2. Navnita Gautam

2/5

Navnita Gautam is the massage therapist for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Gautam is from Canada and worked with the Toronto Nationals in Global T20 League.

As she always wanted to be associated with cricket, especially IPL, she shifted her base to India in 2017.

She was appointed by RCB in October 2019 and this news had grabbed the headlines all over. The reason being the lack of female support staff members in the IPL.

3. Malti Chahar

3/5

During an IPL 2018 clash in Pune between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), the camera found someone sitting tensely.

Her tense look combined with her simple beauty had got social media curious and it was later revealed that the 'mystery woman' was the sister of CSK pacer Deepak Chahar. Her name is Malti Chahar and she was present at the Stadium to support her brother.

Malti is a die-hard MS Dhoni fan and keeps uploading photos of Dhoni on her official Instagram account. Not just Deepak, she even was to support her other brother Rahul who plays from MI.

4. Aditi Hundia

4/5

It was during the IPL 2019 final between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), that the cameraman's focus shifted from the match and to one particular 'mystery girl' who was cheering from the stands. With social media asking questions, it came to be known that her name was Aditi Hundia. Soon after, her Instagram followers crossed over 100k within a few hours.

Aditi Hundia is a model and has taken part in Miss India 2017 pageant where she was crowned Miss India Rajasthan. She even won the Miss Diva 2018 pageant and was crowned Miss Diva Supranational. She represented India at the prestigious Miss Supranational contest in Poland.

While she is said to be a fan of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, she was seen supporting Mumbai Indians in the IPL and often spotted cheering the team in the stands.

The reason for her support for MI comes due to the rumours of her dating India's emerging star cricketer Ishan Kishan.

5. Riana Lalwani

5/5

Riana Lalwani, who was spotted during the Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) game at the IPL 2020 clash in Dubai, became the centre of attraction.

Her presence during the game's Super Overs led to tremendous internet speculation. Her photo broke the internet and netizens found her out soon.

On her Instagram page, it is said that she is from Dubai and even tagged herself as That Super Over girl.

More:

From Kaviya Maran to Aditi Hundia, women who grabbed IPL cameramen's attention over the years - DNA India

Last year Manticore Games launched Core, a free-to-play platform that acts as both a game creation tool and an online marketplace, letting people create their own games and then sell them. It's an ambitious project and one that received a $15M investment thanks to funding from Epic Games. Now, after a year in open alpha, Core is officially launching on the Epic Games store. From the outset, Core is similar to game creation platforms such as Roblox or PlayStation's Dreams, it's designed to make game creation more accessible for everyone.

"On one hand it's a place for game makers," Manticore CEO Frederic Descamps says. "Creating games, publishing them, sharing them, remixing them, and making money with them very easily. On the other hand, it's also an endless arcade multiverse for the players. People can build, explore games, explore worlds, all sorts of stuff. We literally already have dozens and dozens of genres already on the platform."

Core essentially has two halves. The first is an online arcade, where you and a group of friends can easily play a variety of community-made multiplayer games. There's a character creator where you can make a unique avatar and a social homeworld hub where you can meet your friends and decide what you'd like to play.

The second half is its PC-based game creation tool that uses Epic's Unreal Engine. This tool is Core's main appeal, and its editor has been designed with speed and ease in mind, and, according to Descamps, it's already attracted all kinds of people with no game development knowledge at all. "We'd go over some of our profiles, and see teenagers, old retirees, moms, people who were just back end game engineers, or people from completely different professions," Descamps says.

Descamps and Chief Creative Officer Jordan Maynard take me through some of the community-created games that are on the platform. Each time they wanted me to jump into a game, they would post a link in the call, and through the Core client, I could join their game in just one click. Hopping in and out of different games is pretty effortless, and according to Descamps, Core currently has about 20,000 games on the platform now that cover a huge range of genres including RPGs, shooters, platformers, puzzle games, and everything in between.

All of these community games have been made by individuals or small teams of people, and Maynard highlights a MOBA that was made by two people. "This was done for one of our game jams which ran for a month." Maynard says." So, two people within a month made a fully functional MOBA. There are weapons, upgrades, teams, and it looks gorgeous. "

Creators don't need any prior programming experience, and creating a game in Core's editor can be as easy as dragging and dropping assets from a drop-down menu. Maynard demonstrates this by quickly creating a level of a multiplayer shooter. It only took a couple of minutes of typing items into the editor search bar and dragging them into the level. He chooses the terrain, then places a handful of buildings into the scene.The terrain editing is all voxel-based, meaning you can carve away at the landscape, making tunnels and caves.

After Maynard is done with the level, he hits the publish button to upload it to Core's server, and within a minute the team and I are playing the level. Manticore is keen to emphasize how quick building, uploading, and jumping into a game is. "The traditional game development pipeline, it's very tough," Descamps says. "It's very clunky, it's rigid, it's codified, and it can take dozens and dozens of specialists to make a game. The speed at which you can make games in Core is extremely fast, the ease of creation and speed is extremely high. It's a completely different paradigm of what the gaming industry is used to."

With this in mind, the team sincerely wants Core to bring in a new generation of creators into game development. Descamps emphasizes that the team has bold ambitions for the platform, not only having it be a place where creators can express their creativity through games but also as a platform where players can earn money.

With Core it's absolutely one of our missions is to bring a new generation of creators to the gaming world

"With Core it's absolutely one of our missions is to bring a new generation of creators to the gaming world," Descamps says. "And that means, as a creator, you should be able to monetise the way you want. In Core, you can monetise however you like, whether it's a tip jar, donations, a subscription, a VIP club with membership, consumablesit's all available."

Once you create something in Core, you can choose to release it for free, letting the community play and mess around with it, or you can settle on a monetisation option. Although creators cannot yet sell their games at full price, Descamps explains that Manticore is looking into how they can implement that system and even a system where you can contract people for work. "So basically you could say, 'Hey, I'm looking for someone who's super good at making this type of game or this type of environment.' The person could make them themselves, but this way they could hire someone in the community to do it."

It's not entirely clear how everything will work but, as with any platform that's based on both community sharing and creator monetisation, there's always a concern about who owns what. With Core, creators will retain rights to any original IP and Manticore will retain the rights of all the assetssound files, graphics files, and the like. Regarding the cut Manticore takes, the number currently sits at a 50 percent revenue share with its creators.

"It's the highest by a large margin of any other platform out there," Descamps says. "It's higher than, for instance, Roblox. In Roblox, if you're a top creator at the very max, they share 24.5 percent with you, we share 50 percent."

With a revenue split that big, I ask Descamps what they would think if anyone decided to leave the platform, taking the success they've found in Core to pursue their idea solo. Maynard says that it all comes back to the accessibility and agency Core gives players. They have the tools to create games, the audience to play them, and the ability to make money doing it. And this is without needing to worry about running servers or hiring whole teams.

"I don't think it would be the best choice to leave, because then you're having to create everything from scratch," Descamps says. "If it took you let's say two weeks to make a quality game. In the real world, if you're on your own or have a team, it's gonna take you like several months. I would say probably six months. So, why would you leave right?" Maynard adds, "I feel like it's our job to basically make it more enticing and better for them to stay on the platform than to go off."

Manticore certainly has bold ambitions for Core, and it has already seen game studios and solo devs emerge from its community. Maynard says that Core gets around 200 new or updated games every day and that the team hopes to keep nourishing the talent that does pop up in its community. It's hard to say if Core will open up the game development scene as much as the team wants it to. The 50/50 revenue split may end up being divisive, but it certainly succeeds at creating an accessible game creator that's easy to use.

See more here:

Core is an Epic-funded development platform hoping to be the next Roblox - PC Gamer

Setting up a website is nowhere near as difficult as it used to be, thanks to a wealth of different website builder options out there. Whether you're looking to blog, or you're eager to set up shop online with extensive ecommerce features, there's an effective site builder/web host combo for you. That's where things can get confusing there's so much choice out there!

Squarespace and GoDaddy are two of the biggest names in website building (and hosting), and it can be tricky to know which website builder is best for you and your needs, as well as your budget. Both web hosting providers offer extensive features aimed at the newbie website maker, while providing other benefits like security and fast page loading speeds. That means it can take seconds to get started with either service, so you can spend less time website building and more time working on the business or hobby idea that's leading you to make a website in the first place. Thanks to template options and some design flexibility, you don't have to know how to code to make your site look good. Both Squarespace and GoDaddy allow you to integrate social media and make it easy to implement effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) options so that your site is more easily discovered by search engines such as Google.

They also both offer relatively cheap hosting plan options (even compared to the best cheap web hosting), so they're ideal if you're just starting out and not 100% convinced they're for you.

Still, both web hosts/builders offer very distinct advantages and disadvantages. That's why we've chosen winners for the most important product features and considerations in the battle of Squarespace versus GoDaddy. That way, you'll get to enjoy the right hosting provider and web builder for you.

Squarespace is instantly appealing thanks to an attractive layout. Even for a newbie, it feels familiar, like you're simply arranging a presentation or something in a word processor document. It has a structure that feels like the kinds of things that most users will have done before on their computer. It's massively welcoming and far from intimidating.

That trend is most noticeable when choosing from the vast number of Squarespace templates out there. Each template is gorgeous and in keeping with the modern stylings of the internet. Even better, you don't have to worry about having coding experience to get the most from them. Each template plays nicely with mobile platforms so your site will look just as appealing on any device. Manipulating a template is a matter of using Squarespace's site builder. It uses a form of drag-and-drop with a grid layout that means you can place items around the page. It takes a little practice to master, but it's far better than coding yourself or using clunky and outdated-looking templates.

In particular, Squarespace lends itself to any creative field that involves visuals, like if you're looking to highlight your photography skills, showcase your cooking abilities, or exhibit products you wish to sell. That's also where Squarespace's ecommerce tools feature prominently. They're ideally suited for small and medium-sized businesses.

A Squarespace shopping and blogging template.

Simplicity is everything here, with Squarespace making it as easy to blog as it is to upload images without having to worry about installing plugins or getting your virtual hands dirty with the inner workings of your website. As a website builder, it's hard to beat Squarespace's functionality.

Aimed at complete novices, Squarespace can feel a lot like it's holding your hand every step of the way. That's ideal if you don't know what you're doing and you want the assistance it brings. However, if you're eager to get a bit more hands-on with your website, you may find it stifling. Squarespace isn't a regular web hosting service you can buy a domain through Squarespace (a domain is actually free for the first year when you pay annually), and it will host your site, but it's more about building a beautiful one which means it's all relatively enclosed. You're meant to sign up for Squarespace and then use it for everything, rather than gather together hosting elements and plug-ins from other services. For those looking to set up a business site with minimal hassle or to create a personal blog, this won't be an issue. But if you want to get into the more complicated side of website building, then GoDaddy has the advantage of teaching you about plugins and shared hosting, and all that comes from a traditional web hosting package.

Because of how almost comforting Squarespace is, it's also more expensive. That's not to say it's expensive exactly, but when GoDaddy offers a free plan as well as plans starting from $9 per month, it's difficult for Squarespace to compete with its $12 to $40 per month plans. Of course, Squarespace offers a lot more assistance alongside that, so, for those who simply want the most straightforward service, it's worth the added expense.

There are minor issues too with Squarespace primarily being focused on visual media. Its templates are gorgeous, but they rely on high-quality stock photography and similarly high-end imagery from you. If you're looking for something a bit more text-heavy, then this isn't necessarily the website builder for you.

GoDaddy is known mainly as a domain registrar, but is also a conventional web hosting option which is why it offers services such as shared hosting.

GoDaddy offers two key options for simple website setup you can use the GoDaddy website builder or you can use a WordPress install which comes with a wealth of WordPress themes to choose from. The company's website builder is an excellent place to start if you're in a rush. Like another website builder, Wix, it uses ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to create a website for you in seconds. You simply answer a few questions about your site plans and GoDaddy conjures up a pre-built site that can work well when just starting out. Fortunately, you can then personalize it to an extent. It's not as clearly laid out as Squarespace, but if you simply want to get your business or creative idea online fast, GoDaddy cuts out all the hassle.

GoDaddy is also fairly flexible. While its templates are less sophisticated than Squarespace's, its strengths lie in how you can cast aside any of the website building tools and focus on setting up home in a more hands-on way. That means you can easily upload your own web pages or use a WordPress build to enjoy all the extra WordPress plugins at your disposal. Those are options that aren't possible in the gated community of Squarespace, but whether that's an issue for you depends on how you want to approach your online presence. If you do stick with the GoDaddy website builder, tools like the ability to submit a sitemap easily for the sake of superior SEO gradually make this a more appealing option.

A GoDaddy ecommerce template.

GoDaddy also provides slightly superior support thanks to its addition of phone support. Sure, you may still prefer to use live chat, but sometimes, it's helpful to talk to a person right away. Phone support is slowly being phased out in many places, so it's welcoming to see if you still like the more traditional support model.

GoDaddy simply isn't as glamorous or as simple to use as Squarespace. Squarespace oozes style every step of the way while GoDaddy feels more like a conventional hosting provider with a website builder placed on top. Its website builder has the benefit of AI, which helps you create a site fast, but it's pretty basic and the Squarespace templates available are far better, even if they do take time to perfect. Such style is also practical as GoDaddy's mobile performance isn't as strong as Squarespace's, meaning your site looks infinitely better if you stick with Squarespace.

GoDaddy is a bit cheaper than Squarespace which makes it appealing, but generally, you get what you pay for here. To truly get the most from GoDaddy, which has plans ranging from free to $25 per month, you'll need to be willing to experiment. Veering away from its website builder is a smart move once you've got the basics figured out with a WordPress install being a good bet for general purposes. That takes time and we're not convinced even the most pleasing-looking WordPress install is quite as good to look at as many of Squarespace's templates.

GoDaddy is also a little weaker when it comes to blogging functionality, although installing WordPress helps. Again though, you'll need to set it up yourself rather than with Squarespace, you're only minutes away from better blogging features, superior social media integration, and better layouts.

Ultimately, GoDaddy's strength is in its web hosting rather than its website building, and it shows when you look at its features compared to Squarespace's.

Both Squarespace and GoDaddy have their place when it comes to providing you with appropriate website builder facilities. Both enable you to create websites relatively quickly and also offer helpful ecommerce and SEO tools. Both offer a form of drag-and-drop interface that means you don't need to know a tremendous amount about web design beforehand.

However, where things differ is in their approach. Squarespace offers modern and sophisticated-looking templates. They're arguably the best on the market and they're all part of your monthly fee. GoDaddy's options are a bit more functional and less attractive looking which makes them less of a good bet for visual media. On the other hand, GoDaddy offers ADI, which means you can create a website within moments, while Squarespace requires a little more effort to get the most out of it. Both offer mobile-friendly layouts, but we prefer Squarespace's style. Browsing websites on mobile is increasingly popular so it's an important factor to consider.

On the other hand, GoDaddy is the cheapest option here with a free plan available, but we're pretty confident that if you want a hands-off and non-technical approach, then Squarespace is worth the extra expense. If you want to avoid having your hand held at every turn though, GoDaddy means you can get involved with coding and uploading your own files more effectively than Squarespace, plus you can switch over to a WordPress blog any time you like. The latter is helpful if there's a plugin or WordPress theme that's been luring you in for a while but, again, you'll need to get a bit more hands-on to use it.

If you're looking for a simple yet effective and stylish experience, then Squarespace is a no-brainer of a decision. It looks fantastic and you can create stunning results in a short space of time. Its ecommerce features are a little pricey, but also great if you're looking to sell online. Just bear in mind that you'll need to put a bit of time into the design compared to GoDaddy's functional but somewhat soulless AI-based solution. (Speaking of ecommerce, we've compared Squarespace and Shopify as well.)

However, if you want more advanced options and the ability to control your own web hosting with all the benefits (and disadvantages) that it brings, GoDaddy is a good option. While it takes more effort, larger businesses, in particular, may benefit from a more traditional approach to website design. Again though, it's more effort than using GoDaddy's website builder as well as implementing a Squarespace template, so it's all about what's most important to you.

We won't blame you if you're lured in by the stunning looks of Squarespace rather than the hands-on approach of GoDaddy.

Continued here:

Squarespace vs. GoDaddy: Choose the best site builder in 2021 - Mashable

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images

Back in the fall, I received an unexpected text from a man I had just started seeing. Are u on wikifeet?

Assuming he was joking, I laughed and said no. Then he sent me a link to my wikiFeet page. I had never actually heard of the website basically an encyclopedia of celebrity foot photos for fetishists and foot enthusiasts until that moment.

To be clear, I am not a celebrity. I have decent Twitter following from having reported on politics for over a decade, from tweeting jokes about politics and appearing on cable news sometimes. But I was pretty shocked to be looking at my own wikiFeet profile, which included my full name, birthday, and photos of me and my exposed feet, dating back to a family vacation in 2013. The images seemed to have been lifted from my Instagram page, which I keep public because I share my work and media appearances there sometimes. My feet had a very sad 3.5 out of 5 stars rating, which categorized them as okay.

The discovery was surreal; I wasnt offended or unnerved, though I can understand why someone would be. I mostly thought it was funny, and posted a video of me wiggling my painted toes in a flattering filter to my story for my fans, as a joke. Within minutes, a screenshot of it showed up on wikiFeet.

At this point, my investigative journalist instincts kicked in. I figured I could triangulate the persons identity by refreshing wikiFeet over and over after posting a barefoot photo, and then checking my list of story viewers as soon as it showed up. This narrowed the list of suspects down significantly, but not quite enough to be conclusive. I decided to try a direct approach: I posted a story that said, If you are the person posting my foot content please DM me! No shade, I just have questions.

I assumed no one would come forward so much so that I forgot to even check my DMs from people I dont follow until months later. It wasnt until last week that I noticed, to my surprise, the man had reached out. His name is Robert Hamilton, a 58-year-old salesman from northern New Jersey. Okay, he wrote. What questions do you have? I admit I posted, if it bothers you I apologise and will not do it again.

Robert agreed to go on the record and was helpful and responsive as I tried to set up an interview. I was only reminded of the nature of our relationship at one point when he asked, right after saying he was available to chat Thursday, whether my feet are ticklish. (I dodged the question.)

I called him on Thursday afternoon, while he was in the middle of watching a Yankees game. Hes gregarious and has a thick Jersey accent. We spoke for nearly an hour, almost entirely about feet.

Robert! Is it just Robert, or do you go by something else? You sound young.Yeah, just Robert. And Im almost 60 years old, young lady.

Do you consider yourself a foot fetishist?Yes.

Since when?Age 6.

Thats very specific. What happened when you were 6?A couple things have happened, but well start there. I have five sisters well I had five, two of them passed away. But a lot of their friends would come around, and we had a pool in the backyard, and theyd be barefoot. You know, theyd be here while my sisters werent here, theyd just come over and use the pool, and I would give them foot massages.

What was the other thing?When I was about 9, these new people moved on my block, right? They were older girls. And they had their own pool across the street. We were playing this game, and they were like, Well, we have to tie you up, because we captured you, you know? Youre the bad guy. They tied me to a lawn chair, with my hands over my head and my feet tied down. And they started tickling my feet, and it just drove me crazy.

I think thats what made me realize theres nothing wrong with it. Its fun. I just didnt feel like it was weird or anything. So Im thinking to myself, Hey, what is the problem with this? This is who I am. Im not hurting anybody, Im not robbing banks. Just let it ride. Thats when I decided, Who gives a shit?

How do you interact with wikiFeet? How much time a day do you spend on it?Well, for example, if Im watching a movie with a beautiful actress that I like, Ill go on there and check out her feet. Or if Im reading a story about someone like you who I think is very pretty, Im gonna go check and see if shes on there. Because Im curious, and I love feet.

How many photos have you posted there?A couple hundred.

How did you first discover my feet? I cant remember how I first discovered you. But I looked on Instagram and saw you on there and you had a lot of barefoot pictures, and I just followed you, that was all. I also like your dog. I like Pedro, hes cool. Your feet are quite beautiful, by the way.

Thanks. What makes a foot attractive to you?I like the painted toes. I like an arch, the more pronounced the better. Im kinda weird with the toes, I like a rounded big toe. If its more square its okay, but the rounded is better. I definitely like the soles. But I like the arches, that gets you turned on.

Ive noticed that sometimes within ten minutes of me posting an Instagram story that shows my feet, the screenshot is up on wikiFeet. How does that happen? Do you spend all your time on Instagram waiting for new foot content to drop?I dont sit here looking for it. If I just happen to see it and I like it, Ill put it on there. But Im not sitting here all day staring or anything. That doesnt pay the bills.

So why not just look at feet on Instagram, or screenshot them for yourself? What do you get out of posting them to another website?You know, thats a great question. I dont really get anything out of it. I just like to share it. I mean, people like feet, like me, and you have beautiful feet, and I just put it on there. I just think Im helping other people out. I mean, I do save some for myself.

There isnt much of a community on wikiFeet. Its not like people can heart the photos or whatever. Sometimes someone will send you a little note like, Thats a good picture, thanks a lot. Good job. Thats really it; you dont really connect with anybody. I just like to share the picture with other people, Im generous that way.

Like that one of you on the stoop in what was it, a flying-nun getup? And you were barefoot

I was dressed as a handmaid for Halloween. You posted that one?Yeah. Sorry. That was very sexy.

Do you ever think about how it might be a bit invasive to take someones personal photos and put them on a fetish site without their knowledge or consent? That some people might be unsettled by that?Yes, I do think that. You know, except I cant call up Jennifer Aniston and ask. But it does cross my mind, because I have five sisters and six nieces, and I guess not everybody would be kosher with it. Believe me, it crosses my mind. I do have a conscience. I think people seem to have a good sense of humor about it. I mean, you obviously do. Some celebrities say its a badge of honor.

I noticed that wikiFeet has pretty strict rules about whose feet and what kinds of photos you can post. The person has to have an IMDb page to be fair game. Do you pay attention to those rules when you want to post someone like me, who isnt as well-known?Yeah. For example, a musician from England who performed barefoot, like Ill find a picture I think is sexy, and Ill put her name in IMDb. And she didnt have a page, so I couldnt post hers. But you did.

Who elses feet besides mine do you like to post?I put up Jennifer Aniston. Kelly Ripa, though I dont really like her, but anyway Kate Beckinsale, I put her up a lot. Musicians. Sheryl Crow.

What are the best feet youve ever seen?Marilyn Monroe, Kate Beckinsale, Laura Bassett. Im ass-kissin, baby! Grace Kelly. Rita Hayworth, oh my God, I love her.

Youve posted Ritas feet?Yeah, I did. But shes gone, so I dont think she gives a shit.

Do you rate womens feet on wikiFeet?Yes.

Do you ever rate them poorly?No, you know why and this is silly, like I know these people but I dont wanna hurt their feelings. If theyre ugly, I just dont go there again.

What are your main interests besides feet and the Yankees?Live music. The last concert I went to was Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul at the Beacon Theatre, November of 2019, just before I got this damn heart surgery that almost killed me.

You almost died?Yeah, I had a quadruple bypass, and it was a heck of a lot of fun. But you know what? When I was in Florida in the hospital Ive had a couple surgeries I had the nurse coming in at night showing me her feet. I actually took her out to dinner a couple times. I can just get girls out of their shoes, its a thing I can do.

Get the Cut newsletter delivered daily

Read more here:

An Interview With the Man Who Keeps Uploading My Feet to WikiFeet - The Cut

Pixies have given their seal of approval to a cover of Surfer Rosa classic Where Is My Mind recorded by musical prodigy Nandi Bushell.

Bushells epic drum battle with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was one of the more heartwarming stories to emerge during the past 12 months, and the gifted English schoolgirl has continued to entertain her 274,000 YouTube subscribers in recent months by uploading covers of classic songs by Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who and - most recently - Pixies to her channel. And her efforts have not gone unnoticed, as, earlier today, Pixies posted Great work @Nandi_Bushell! in response to Ms Bushells solo cover of Where Is My Mind.

Check out the full version of the song below:

Pixies recently rescheduled their upcoming Dublin show at the Iveagh Gardens to July 16, 2022. The bands scheduled support to Pearl Jam at Londons Hyde Park has also been moved, and will now take place on July 8, 2022.

See the original post here:

Pixies give seal of approval to Nandi Bushells cover of Where Is My Mind - Louder

A Facebook page is an extension of your businesss website. It amplifies your reach to a new audience beyond website visitors.

Compared to a website, its more effective for sharing news about your company, promoting new content, and building closer relationships with your clients/consumers.

A section on Facebook thats currently increasing in popularity is video content. The social platform encourages its users to upload video content directly to their website by improving their search algorithm for ranking native video results above other content formats (i.e., photos, status updates, etc.).

So how can you best exploit this Facebook algorithm change for your business?

One thing to keep in mind when uploading your video to Facebook is to keep it short.

Research by SocialBakers on this topic found that videos that were less than 21 seconds in length performed in the top quarter for completion rates. It makes a lot of sense, considering one-third of Facebook users use the mobile app for browsing their news feed.

Chances are, theyre not only browsing Facebook; maybe they also check Twitter, Instagram, or other social media. So they likely dont want to spend more than a minute watching a video that might not do them any good.

Thats why you need to cram as much value as possible into a short video. If you thought that wasnt possible, youre wrong. Tip Hero has a lot of short (1 minute tops) but helpful videos. And they get millions of views for each of them.

I know: Tip Hero is not an industrial corporation or a niche startup. They work in a relatively general niche, and their audience range is much more significant.

Lets say youre a niche startup with a particular market target. Itd be good to have an exciting piece of media for pitching your concept to investors and for publishing it so other investors can see what creative ideas you have.

In this case, you should create an explainer video for your business, like this one from Pinterest.

An explainer video is a short (<2 minutes, consisting of 200 words of narration or less), informative, and a commonly animated video thats generally used to describe what a product or a company does in a fun and descriptive visual.

Interesting, isnt it? An explainer video can explain an abstract concept much better with a visual presentation. These kinds of videos wouldnt be called explainers otherwise.

If you want to learn more about explainer videos and see more examples of them, heres a showcase by startups and companies from all over the world.

As a company, youve got to have a mission to aim for and a vision to guide you. Facebook is the perfect place to share your companys aim.

The reason? More and more people are turning to social media platforms to learn about brands. Half of the participants in a Lab42 survey said they find a brands Facebook page more helpful than its website.

Nike is an excellent example of a brand that uses video content to share its view with the world on Facebook. The videos they share with their audience arent about selling the productstheyre about showing the world what values they stand for.

Video content can be great for evoking emotions in an audience, so try to incorporate this into your video content on Facebook. It can be anything from making your audience laugh to making them feel angry or sad.

Research by Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science found that the most-shared video content on social media were pieces with the most substantial emotional impact, regardless of the emotions positivity or negativity.

Corporate videos are usually serious stuff, and people do not browse their Facebook for additions to their stress levels from their daily activities. Give your audience a break and inject elements of fun into the videos you upload to Facebook.

If you think this is cheesy, well, it is. But the point is to make your video less stressful and fun to watch because thats what gets people to watch it in its entirety.

General Electric did just that in their recent promo video for employment opportunities:

I dont recommend going with this fun type of video constantly, though, especially if youre a B2B company. B2B companies need to make the best first impression they can to show potential clients that they mean business.

Facebook is currently experimenting with new video formats. It is a good feature for businesses with Facebook pages because it provides new and exciting ways to share your videos and get involved with your audience.

Here are the kinds of videos you should try for your business:

Live video on Facebook offers a whole new level of audience interaction for your business. Its convenient for something that requires real-time interaction between you and your audiences, such as interviews and Q&A.

Facebook Live allows you to reach anyone who follows you, but with all the posts from everyone else, some of your audience might miss your live stream. However, there is an option to boost your live stream. Regular live streaming tends to increase subscribers to your pageand thus, you have a larger audience to reach.

Its more technical, and its not for everyone on Facebook. It requires more than just a smartphone with iOs or Android running to make a 360 video. But the results of a 360 video can be phenomenal.

Related to Facebooks new features, other changes alter the way businesses use video content on various social platforms.

The keys to getting the most from Facebook as a marketing funnel using video:

What do you have in mind for your next Facebook post? Leave a quick comment.

Author Bio

Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).

Twitter: @breadnbeyond

Email: [emailprotected]

LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro

See the article here:

4 Ways to Use Video Content on Facebook to Increase Audience and Conversion - - VENTS Magazine

Google is set to kill decommission their Material Gallery app on Android, pushing designers to the web app.

About APK Insight: In this APK Insight post, weve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), were able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. Well try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how theyll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

By Googles own description, the Material Gallery app is a collaborative tool for uploading design work, getting feedback, and tracking revisions, launched in 2018. Recently, Google changed Material Gallery from using its own infrastructure to using Google Photos, which means your uploaded creations now count against your Google accounts storage quota.

The next change that seems to be coming to Material Gallery is that Google may be shutting down at least the Android app, if not also the iOS app. The latest update version 1.4.36 rolling out now via the Google Play Store includes a few different variations on the notice explaining that Material Gallery for Android is shutting down, each with a blank where the shutdown date would go.

The Material Gallery Android app will be decommissioned on %1$s.

See our Help Center for more information.

The Material Gallery Android app will be decommissioned on %1$s.

Help Center for more information, or use Google Takeout to export your data.

In the third message, which will only be shown after the apps decommissioning deadline, its revealed that the web app for Material Gallery will continue to work as normal. This means only the mobile app will shutting down, not the service itself.

The Material Gallery Android app was decommissioned on %1$s.

See our Help Center for more information, or visit gallery.io to continue using Gallery.

The mentioned Help Center page has not yet been updated with information about the Material Gallery Android app shutting down, but with a bit of digging into the apps code weve found the date that the app will be decommissioned, July 8, 2021. However, until the above notices are live in the app and the proper support pages are in place, we cannot be fully certain that the Material Gallery mobile app is indeed shutting down or when that would happen.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Read this article:

Material Gallery Android app to be decommissioned in favor of web app - 9to5Google

Playlist Push cut its teeth on Spotify playlists, once the most important battleground for growing your music. But that was before TikTok exploded, and Playlist Push started diversifying accordingly to help artists grow their careers on the short-form video app. Now that TikTok looks like its here to stay in the U.S., Playlist Push joined forces with Digital Music News to distill the best pro tips for making your music blow up on this fast-growing platform. Enjoy.

Nailing the sound clip the 15-second to 60-second segment that plays when creators select a song is imperative. The majority of TikTok videos are 10-15 seconds in length (and feature 10-15 seconds of music), but distributors typically set songs sound clips as their first 15, 30, or 60 seconds by default.

This is the foremost impediment to promotional achievements on the service, as the sound clip should showcase the catchiest 15 seconds of the track at hand. The sound clips for Old Town Road, Supalonely, and Dreams, for instance, present the tracks most memorable (and TikTok-suited) elements.

You can customize your TikTok snippets through your distributor or by manually uploading a video.

For musicians, being personally active on TikTok is an important component of building meaningful relationships with users and music fans.

Regularly creating content will enable you to determine what works in videos and the types of content that users like most while bolstering your following. Plus, commenting on viral videos with your music is a quick and engaging way to attract additional followers yet.

Followers, in turn, can help you to launch campaigns and capitalize on trend-related opportunities.

Frequently enjoying other TikTok users videos, with an emphasis on learning from their technical characteristics, is also a worthwhile habit.

Then, you can effectively reverse engineer the videos and the strategies of todays leading TikTok voices.

Implementing straightforward video concepts is another key ingredient in the recipe for music-promotion success on TikTok. For obvious reasons, accessible trends reach a larger number of fans than niche concepts. Concepts that are fun and easy to replicate make it easier for your song to spread.

Sharing the best fan renditions of your top-performing TikTok videos across all of social media is a great way to amplify promotional effectiveness. Many of the resulting viewers will craft their own clips featuring your music helping to keep the trend and the fan interest going.

The holy grail is for the music to spill into streaming and into fan-base building, summed up Playlist Pushs George Goodrich when speaking to Digital Music News.

Understanding and adapting to the basics of TikToks algorithm is a must. In brief, the portion of users that watch a video from beginning to end and, better yet, multiple times is more significant than likes, comments, and shares.

Its the completion rate that TikTok analyzes when deciding whether to plug emerging clips on users For You pages. Consequently, inherently interesting content is positioned to succeed from the outset.

While marketing your music on TikTok, its important to bear in mind that there are north of 800 million users and many more videos than that on the three-year-old service.

Given this immense volume of users and content, riding trends to new career heights is in many ways a long game. Practice, including determining what works best for you and your followers, is therefore invaluable.

Lastly, running a TikTok promotional campaign via Playlist Push is an excellent way to help your music explode on the app. To date, Playlist Push has executed more than 1,000 campaigns, generating a cumulative total of well over two billion views for participating artists.

Kicking off your own far-reaching promotional effort takes just minutes and is as easy as sending Playlist Push a link to your TikTok sound (as well as your preferred hashtag) and selecting a launch date. Playlist Pushs network of more than 3,700 micro-influencers (boasting some 935 million followers) will then be enlisted to create concept-centered clips with the music.

Rather than paying for one or two overhyped creators, Playlist Push maximizes your value by engaging micro-influencers for each campaign, getting you more videos, more views, and more shots at going viral.

Playlist Push also enables creators to analyze the play counts associated with both paid TikTok videos and videos that are created organically, and this information can be used to reach fans outside of TikTok, including on streaming services.

Read more here:

Want to Make Your Music Blow Up on TikTok? Here Are 8 Proven Tips - Digital Music News