GoKawiil
Tech News
YouTube announced in a blog post that it is updating the recommendation system for Shorts to reduce the visibility of reuploaded clips that add nothing new, such as segments lifted from other creators' livestreams or videos. Shorts that add commentary, editing, or another original angle can still be recommended, and creators clipping their own long-form videos are expected to be unaffected.
Palo Alto startup ScrollEd, presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200, has built an app that transforms text files like PDFs and textbooks into short-form vertical feeds resembling Instagram Reels or TikTok. Users scroll through AI-generated video, audio, text, and quizzes, swiping up for new topics and sideways to dig deeper into a subject. Co-founders Utsav Gupta and Rebecca Neff, both current students, bootstrapped the company after growing frustrated with unproductive doomscrolling.
A software engineer reflects on how years of routine coding work and constant smartphone distractions have dulled their thinking and reading habits compared to their more intellectually demanding early career and university years. They describe attempting to counter this decline by deliberately unplugging and cutting back on short-form content, games, and other low-effort entertainment during a recent vacation.