Bard can… watch YouTube videos now?
Do you remember Bard, Google’s AI chatbot? The one that cost the company upwards of $100 million during its first week of life? It hasn’t done much since then, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT hogging most of the attention, not least because of the dramatic events earlier this week concerning the ex- and now current CEO of the company, Sam Altman. It’s Bard’s turn in the spotlight again, but not for any game-changing functionality. Bard can now watch YouTube videos but… better?
Google first added the ability to analyze YouTube videos to Bard back in September, though it was quickly swept under the rug in the wake of more useful functionality, such as helping people scour through their Gmail, Docs, and Drive. It was a half-baked attempt, as Bard didn’t actually understand what it was watching. That’s different now, according to the Bard changelog, with Google describing the bot’s new powers:
“We’re taking the first steps in Bard’s ability to understand YouTube videos. For example, if you’re looking for videos on how to make olive oil cake, you can now also ask how many eggs the recipe in the first video requires.”
We won’t pretend it’s a feature that we were clamouring for, but we can see the appeal amongst users who quickly need an answer to what the ending of Shutter Island really means without ever needing to watch the thing. Google says it made Bard’s YouTube smarts, well, smarter, in response to audiences who “want deeper engagement with YouTube videos,” and want a “richer conversation with Bard about [them].”
You’ll need Bard enabled on your account and the YouTube extension turned on before Bard can get to work. You can do that through Bard’s web portal right here.
Headlines are back on X. Kinda
After spending a month MIA, headlines are returning to X.com. Kinda. Earlier this morning, Elon Musk confirmed that X.com “will overlay title in the upper [portion] of the image of a URL card,” in an upcoming release. So… headlines. To hell with those aesthetics, huh?
Musk didn’t elaborate on when we could expect the update to go live, though with the billionaire’s think-it-do-it attitude, we could be seeing the change implemented as early as this very afternoon. Neither did he show off what the ‘new’ headlines will look like, though we’re guessing it won’t be a straight reversion to the old ways. That would mean admitting the idea wasn’t one of his smarter ones, and he can’t be having that.
“A Blast from the Ass”
It’s about time for a new South Park game, and THQ Nordic, in association with game developer Question, is delivering. Just don’t get your hopes up for a direct sequel to the brilliant twosome that is The Stick of Truth and The Fractured but Whole. The upcoming South Park: Snow Day is still a sequel by all accounts, but it’ll look (and play) a little differently from its predecessors.
But you’d already know all that if you were paying attention when THQ Nordic briefly teased the game in August 2022 through a teaser stuck right at the end of the publisher’s Digital Showcase. Snow Day got another tease at this year’s Showcase, giving us a look at the rather un-2D look it’s going for this time and the fact that it would be multiplayer.
The latest update involves some actual gameplay in a new trailer (depicted above) revealing a host of new information as South Park’s familiar faces and voices trudge through a snow day on a quest to save the world and by the looks of it, beat each other up. Specifically, we see the return of ‘New Kid’, with the trailer putting a focus on 4-player co-op gameplay, combat mechanics, and some of the abilities and powers that’ll be at play here. “A Blast from the Ass” sounds particularly South Park.
Unfortunately, the trailer left off one bit of important info: a solid release date. It’s still slated to release sometime in 2024, with a Steam page already going live for the game – but nothing in the way of an exact date.
Fortnite adds Eminem to the lineup
‘Eminem is officially coming to Fortnite‘ is a sentence the Real Slim Shady probably doesn’t understand, but it’s happening all the same. Through a post on X.com, Epic Games confirmed that one of the most recognizable rappers of all time would be coming to the battle royale game during the game’s next big finale – “The Big Bang” marking the end of Fortnite’s Chapter 4.
The Big Bang is officially kicking off on 2 December 2023 at 2 PM ET (that’s 9 PM for any watching South Africans). In the official announcement, Epic Games mentions that players will be able to “watch Eminem… as Eminem,” meaning that the artist will be doing some sort of live performance, similar to that of Travis Scott and Marshmello’s appearances from years before.
It also means there’ll be some skins to purchase before the event, which will enter the shop on 29 November at 7 PM ET (2 AM, 30 November for SA). There will be three skins to choose from, namely; ‘The Rap Boy’, ‘Slim Shady’ and ‘Marshall Never More’. Attending the event will also unlock a loading screen (pictured above) and the Marshall Magma Style that’ll tie into the ‘Marshall Never More’ skin.