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– Scott
YouTube is Back on 🟢 After Suffering a Global 🌎 Outage
Google’s popular video platform YouTube was successfully restored, following a global outage that affected thousands of users.
YouTube’s users faced several issues with the platform, like the homepage, the sidebar that allows you access to things like trending videos, and the subscription feed were missing. In addition, the ‘Library’ that keeps your Watch Later list and video history were also missing.
Some users were also facing issues with casting videos on a smart TV or watching streams from a game console. The issues plagued the platform for a few hours on April 12, according to several user reports on the service status site Downdetector.
YouTube acknowledged the issue saying, “Getting reports from around the globe that some of you are having trouble with certain features across YouTube services (e.g. logging in, switching accounts & using the navigation bar) – we’re aware & working on a fix.”
A few hours later YouTube resolved the issues; however, it did not clarify what caused the outage. Throughout the outage, YouTube’s search and video streaming from the homepage remained unaffected.
Snapchat to Roll out Dynamic Stories 🤳 Feature
Snapchat is rolling out a new feature called “Dynamic Stories” that will let publishers automatically create Stories on the app based on news stories they publish online.
In a post, Snapchat said, “Introducing the fastest way to publish premium content for the Snapchat community: Dynamic Stories.”
It added saying, “With Dynamic Stories – this new Discover format uses a partner’s RSS Feed to automatically create Stories from the content a Publisher is already creating on the web.”
Snapchat is currently testing the new Dynamic Stories feature in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and India.
Some early partners of the test feature include Bloomberg, Buzzfeed, CNN, Complex Networks, British Vogue, GQ UK, Foot Mercato, Gala, Times Now, and Vogue India, among others.
The automatically generated Stories will appear in the app’s Discover feed, after which the Stories will then update in real-time.
Snapchat says that the new feature will make it easier for users to keep up with breaking news from credible sources as it’s being reported.
Mozilla in Favor of Proof-of-Stake Cryptos
Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox internet browser, is trying to delight its environmentally-conscious community by accepting only Proof-of-Stake (PoS) crypto donations.
Mozilla had initially stopped all crypto donations in January; however, now the company has opened them back up after a review period to evaluate community sentiments and to conduct an analysis on crypto power utilization.
In a blog post, the company said, “Mozilla will no longer accept ‘proof-of-work’ cryptocurrencies, which are more energy intensive.”
It added, “Mozilla will accept ‘proof-of-stake’ cryptocurrencies, which are less energy-intensive. Mozilla will develop and share a list of cryptocurrencies we accept by the end of Q2 2022.”
The company additionally noted that the move was made based on its self-imposed January 2021 climate commitments, which are aimed at significantly reducing its greenhouse gas footprint year over year until it becomes carbon-neutral.
Overall, by discarding all non-PoS crypto donations, Mozilla is blocking both Bitcoin and Ether, at least until the Merge takes place and its blockchain adopts PoS.
Remote Tech Startup Grain Nabs a $16 Million in Series A Funding 💰
Fully remote startup Grain has raised $16 million in its Series A funding round led by Tiger Global Management. Other investors in the funding round included Zoom, the Slack Fund, Unusual Ventures, and Freestyle VC.
Founded in 2018 by Jake Adams and Mike Adams, Grain is a video calling platform designed for remote teams to collaborate through live video chats.
The startup’s platform transforms video meetings into your company’s most valuable asset by enabling teams to easily record meetings, share highlights, and build knowledge from all conversations.
With Grain, you can automate call notes and transcriptions, create stories, clip important moments, and access a complete library of company, customer, and market.
Several businesses are using Grain as a source of truth to grow revenue with better selling, capture the voice of the customer; capture valuable insights for product and research teams, and much more.
Grain plans to use the fresh funds to expand its team and to continue building and expanding its product offerings.
Around the Web 🌐
iPhone Maker Pegatron Suspends Production at Plants in Shanghai: Pegatron, a Taiwan-based company that is one of a few companies making the iPhone, has suspended production at two plants in Shanghai and the neighboring city of Kunshan. This move comes as the Chinese government has imposed a lockdown in Shanghai and strict coronavirus restrictions in the Kunshan area amid rising COVID-19 cases in these regions.
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-Scott