ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, reportedly plans on investing a large amount of money in VR. It’s working to expand the Pico team, the Chinese VR company ByteDance acquired last year.
Singapore’s National Library Board has introduced two shelf-reading robots at one of its public libraries that can scan labels on 100,000 books, or about 30 percent of its collection, per day. #robots
The patent system assumes that inventors are human. Inventions devised by machines require their own intellectual property law and an international treaty. #AI
Protest art collective Pussy Riot and Unicorn DAO staged a protest at the Texas State Capitol in support of reproductive rights and minted the moment as an NFT to be auctioned off.
Truth! “Over a decade ago magazine and newspaper publishers saw the emerging threat from digital technology and wrote grand strategy documents but few made it to the other side. Not because they were not smart but because they continued to incentivize the selling of pages and the old ways of doing the business. Power, promotions and pounds/dollars were paid to those who controlled today’s client relationships and today’s budgets.” By @rishad.
Apple’s new Safety Check feature will aid those in abusive relationships by letting you review and revoke access to certain people, including location, accounts, passwords, and more.
With iOS 16, Apple added a feature where you can hold down your finger on a subject in a photo — like a dog , copy and paste it into another app, like Messages. #WWDC22
Twitter is testing notifications for upcoming product releases. Shoppers will get in-app notifications 15 minutes before items go live and at the time of release.
Last fall, bestselling author and change agent Seth Godin mobilized 300 people from 41 countries to create a book, but also a podcast network, a LinkedIn course, a comprehensive resource collection, an educator guide, and a free children’s edition—for free. On July 12, Portfolio will publish The Carbon Almanac, seven months after acquisition. #teamPRH
The goal is for every student in Uvalde to get a book. While authors, illustrators, and publishers have come through with donations, anyone can donate books to the initiative. Those interested can fill out a form to receive more information about the initiative.
The #ReadLoveSupportBinc Challenge is a great way to honor booksellers and comic retailers and raise money to continue to provide assistance as they face the financial and emotional impact of the pandemic, inflation, lack of affordable housing, high cost of healthcare, and the strain on their mental health.
Radio Free Asia’s Burmese unit reports that Lwin Oo Sarpay, a high-visibility publishing house in Myanmar, has been closed by the junta “for importing and distributing a book on the 2017 Rohingya genocide.” “Two other publishing houses have been closed down in recent weeks—Shwe Lat and Yan Aung Sarpay and the Win To Aung printing press—that were also publishing books on sensitive themes, including LGBTQ+ content.” Via @Porter_Anderson
Since 2017, @BISG fielded an annual survey of the supply chain. With so much of the industry in flux, they launched a Supply Chain Monitor to collect info every 2 months. Survey is open now, with results collected until 6/17. Results’ll be published a week later.
This is scary: Several Christian publishers are focusing on books about biblical prophecy, the rapture, Armageddon, and other End Times events of the Bible as readers seek answers about current crises.
MT @Palacelib Today we are officially announcing the launch of The Palace Project. Supported by the Knight Foundation, our nonprofit library-centered platform provides all-in-one econtent management and lending. #libraries@dpla
Latina activists Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia are raising $80 million to launch a new Hispanic media company. It’s one of the largest capital raises for a Latina-owned and operated startup in the U.S.
Time’s events business is expected to bring in at least $10 million in revenue for the first time this year, and projected to grow around 20 to 30% in 2023.
So you want to start a podcast…There are 2 MILLION out there (per BuzzSprout), so how can yours stand out?!! Learn success secrets from the masters @Nikki_StrongArm, Host of Pop Cultured at The Skimm, @laurenpassell, Founder of Tink Media, and moderated by audio journalist and podcast showrunner @goldaarthur at @WMG_NYC‘s virtual event on 6/15 at noon ET. FREE for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up QUICK!
MT @Galleyway_ Roxane Gay Books is accepting submissions from unagented writers beginning June 15. They will consider novels, short fiction, memoirs, essay collections, and nonfiction. There are no fees for submitting a manuscript.
MT @tarawandam Publishing & lit in translation folks, the committee for @bookcritics‘ new Barrios Book in Translation has been formed & is accepting (digital) submissions. We look forward to reading what you submit!