media

The Onion deletes offensive tweet about child Oscar nominee

The Onion has deleted a tweet that called 9-year-old Best Actress Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis an extremely offensive name.

In its original tweet, the parody publication -- which is known for its dark humor and for regularly skewering public figures and institutions -- wrote that, "Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a c---, right?"

Normally, The Onion is known by its many fans to be joking about almost everything it publishes -- even though its satire is often seen as legitimate commentary on a wide range of issues. But in … Read more

Turn your YouTube videos into movies viewable offline with 4Media YouTube Converter for Mac

Despite the wealth of content available on YouTube, it still can't be enjoyed offline. 4Media YouTube Video Converter for Mac converts YouTube videos into watchable files, but at a relatively high price for its features.

While the full program requires a payment of $30.99, the free trial version allows a user to test its features, but with a three-minute limit on converted videos. 4Media YouTube Video Converter for Mac downloaded and installed quickly despite a size of over 100MB. After a brief loading time, the program revealed an interface that was slightly cluttered but functional. Instructions existed for … Read more

Work with your video files with ease with 4Media Video Editor for Mac

When creating YouTube videos or compiling those taken during a vacation, the need for editing software arises. 4Media Video Editor for Mac functions capably, but with a high price tag.

With a full price of $49.99 for the complete version, the program's free trial only allows five uses before requiring the upgrade. The native installation finished quickly and without any problems. With large buttons containing easy-to-understand graphics, 4Media Video Editor for Mac's main functions were easy to distinguish, even for a novice Mac user. Working with actual video files was also simple, with a basic drag-and-drop setup. … Read more

Convert Flash video files to other formats with 4Media FLV to MP4 Converter for Mac

With FLV in use as a popular format for streaming videos, not having a player capable of working with these files is problematic for many Mac users. 4Media FLV to MP4 Converter for Mac allows users to convert these files into more common types, albeit with a fairly high price tag for its limited functionality.

We tested the free trial version of 4Media FLV to MP4 Converter; those who want to convert more than three minutes of video will need to pay $29.99. 4Media FLV to MP4 Converter for Mac downloads quickly and installs well. It also has good … Read more

Sony PS4 event skewered in animated parody

Taiwanese animator Next Media Animation is taking yesterday's Sony PlayStation 4 event to task.

Sony announced its next-generation video game console at a press event in New York, but the PS4 itself was a no-show.

Sony says the PS4 features a PC-like body architecture, x86 CPU, enhanced PS GPU, 8GB of unified memory, a local storage hard drive, and an updated DualShock 4 controller.

The animation group created a video mocking the PS4 at yesterday's press event. Sony treated members of the press to experience what using the next-generation console might feel like with live demonstrations, but did … Read more

Twitter aiming to slash phishing e-mails sent from 'Twitter.com'

If you get an e-mail saying it's from Twitter, the social-networking company wants to assure you that it's really from Twitter and that there's no need to worry that someone's out to steal your password.

At least, it's almost certain that the e-mail you just got from a Twitter.com address is not a phishing attack, the company said in a blog post today.

Twitter said it has adopted a new security protocol known as DMARC that was designed by a consortium in order to cut way down on phishing attempts.

DMARC solves a couple … Read more

YouTube viewership takes its place in Billboard charts

Billboard's charts, the gold standard for assessing the most popular music, now have a new metric.

YouTube streaming data is now being incorporated into those charts, Billboard announced yesterday. YouTube viewership will now join digital and physical singles sales, terrestrial radio airplay, and streaming as the metrics that determine Billboard's chart order.

Since there are often thousands of clips of a single music video, Billboard's YouTube data is limited to "all official videos," Vevo clips, and user-generated videos that are using "authorized audio." In other words, only legitimately used songs can be included … Read more

Making sense of the PS4 game lineup

NEW YORK--So the world didn't exactly get what it wanted out of Sony's PlayStation 4 debut tonight. There was no sight of the actual console itself and details about its specific release date and price were also nowhere to be seen.

Sony's team-up with Gaikai is sure to net some interesting ideas and implementations with cloud streaming, the sharing of game screens, remote play, and other concoctions, but the games themselves were what made the biggest impact.

Those pondering the PS4's gaming prowess were served an interesting dish. Ten or so major developers were represented in … Read more

LivesOn: Twitter ghost keeps tweeting when you're dead

Death is never popular, even in social media: the poor guy behind @death on Twitter has zero followers.

You might think your online fans will lose interest when you kick the bucket, but an upcoming app says it will let you keep tweeting from beyond the grave.

LivesOn will host Twitter accounts that continue to post updates when users shed this mortal coil. … Read more

Twitter launches its advertising API

Twitter today unveiled its advertising API, a step it hopes will make it easier for companies to create ad campaigns on Twitter, and that's aimed at showing users the most relevant promoted tweets.

Since Twitter's earliest days, one of the criticisms about the company's business model was that it wasn't built to generate significant revenue -- especially not enough to reward investors who have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Twitter. But in recent years, the microblogging service has been bolstering its advertising business, and Twitter is now considered a bona fide advertising platform for … Read more