The 2023 edition of Coachella gets underway this weekend and, along with having the option to catch livestreams of every stage on YouTube, you can take part in the fun remotely in another way thanks to Fortnite. The festival has once again teamed up with Epic Games to celebrate Coachella.

Features this time around include emotes that have music from headliner Bad Bunny and fellow performer Burna Boy, as well as returning and new Coachella-related outfits that you'll see in the Item Shop starting at 8PM ET this evening. You'll also be able to listen to songs from artists who are performing this weekend on the in-game Icon Radio.

Epic Games/Alliance Studios

You'll be able to experience Coachella in other ways in Fortnite this year. Starting at 3PM ET today, you can dive into Coachella Island from the Epic’s Picks Discover row in the game mode browser or by entering the island code 5449-4207-12803.

The music-reactive island takes inspiration from Coachella's California desert setting, so you can expect to see mountains, polo fields and palm trees. In the Art Park section, you'll be able to check out replicas of art installations found at the real-life version of Coachella. On top of that, you can try some team-based minigames centered around dancing and parkour.

Players will have the chance to scoop up Coachella-inspired outfits and in-game items from a merch tent. There's a music element here as well of course, as you'll be able to hear tracks from Coachella performer Porter Robinson while you're on the island (or by clicking the play button below, because why not).

Soon, when you go to stream Succession or The Last of Us, you'll no longer be looking for an app called HBO Max. As has been rumored, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is changing the name of the streaming service to simply "Max." The company is folding content from Discovery+ into the platform to make it more of a one-stop shop, though Discovery+ will remain as a standalone service in the US.

The big switch will take place on May 23rd — almost exactly three years after HBO Max debuted. WBD previously said it would combine the streaming services sometime this spring. WBD CEO David Zaslav suggested during a press event that, in the coming months, Max will fold in sports and other live content. The company plans to add an average of more than 40 new titles and TV show seasons each month.

There will be three pricing tiers. An ad supported plan will cost $10 per month or $100 per year. It will allow users to stream HD video on two devices simultaneously.

The ad-free plan won't have an immediate price hike as it will remain $16 per month (or $150 per year) for the time being. WBD raised the price of that plan for the first time back in January. That also supports HD streaming on two devices simultaneously with up to 30 offline downloads.

There will also be an "ultimate ad-free" plan that costs $20 per month or $200 per year. That's the option you'll need to plump for it you want to stream shows and movies in 4K. It supports 4K UHD streams on up to four devices at once with up to 100 downloads for offline viewing.

WBD's presentation highlighted some of the content that's coming to Max, including a first look at The Penguin, an eight-episode miniseries that ties into The Batman. An It prequel called Welcome to Derry is on the way, as is a show based on The Conjuring and a Big Bang Theory follow-up series. 

Elsewhere, content that was in the works for Discovery+ will move over to Max, such as reality programming featuring Robert Downey Jr. and all-time great snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White. A docuseries featuring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes as they tour the US with a live version of their podcast, SmartLess, will drop on Max's launch day. Also coming to the platform on May 23rd is Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

There's some logical reasoning behind shortening the name to Max. It's now about more than HBO and nods toward a more expansive array of shows, movies and other content that's on offer. Executives were reportedly concerned that keeping HBO in the platform's name could weaken that brand if consumers associate it with all the content on the platform, such as the impending influx of reality shows from Discovery+.

However, the rebranding strips away the name value of HBO and the implied level of quality that has been associated with that brand for decades. Max is a bad, soulless name with zero identity of its own. 

Since WBD was formed as a result of a merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery last year, the company's leadership has overhauled its streaming strategy in a bid to cut costs and improve the bottom line. Executives swung the ax on an array of HBO Max exclusives, reportedly in favor of tax breaks. WBD also removed several shows and many episodes of popular series from HBO Max. The company has started licensing out some of its programming to other platforms to add some extra revenue streams.

Developing...

The Library of Congress has announced the latest batch of 25 recordings that are joining the National Recording Registry. There are many notable songs among the lineup, including “Like a Virgin,” "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Stairway To Heaven," and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Carl Sagan's reading of his book, Pale Blue Dot, is also being inducted. But there's one particular composition that's making its own slice of history, as Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. theme becomes the first piece of video game music to enter the registry.

The Mario overworld music, which is officially titled "Ground Theme," is "perhaps the most recognizable video game theme in history," according to the Library of Congress. It's hard to argue with that. Kondo (pictured above left) took inspiration from Japanese jazz fusion band T-Square and Latin music to create magic on the Nintendo Entertainment System's five-channel sound chip for the original 1985 game.

“The amount of data that we could use for music and sound effects was extremely small, so I really had to be very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity that we had at the time,” Kondo told the Library of Congress. “I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen. We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a ‘game over,’ fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short."

Kondo, who said it was an honor to have his work placed in the National Recording Registry, is still working for Nintendo. Most recently, you may have heard his work in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The Library of Congress houses millions of books, recordings, photos, newspapers, maps and manuscripts. For several years, it also attempted to archive every single tweet. So, you may find it comforting to know that the legendary Mario theme is now immortalized alongside a slapdash post about what you had for breakfast in 2011.

After a week-long tussle with Twitter and owner Elon Musk over labels that the company applied to its accounts, NPR said it will no longer use the platform at all. The organization criticized Twitter over a "state-affiliated media" label that was placed on its main account last week. Twitter later updated the text to read “government-funded media.”

However, NPR said the latest incarnation of the label is "inaccurate and misleading," as it's "a private, nonprofit company with editorial independence." The organization pointed out that federal funding accounts for less than one percent of its $300 million annual budget.

NPR CEO John Lansing said that, as a result of the label, the broadcaster is abandoning Twitter in order to protect its credibility. Until recently, Twitter typically reserved the "state-affiliated media" tag for government-run outlets like Russia's RT and Sputnik and China's Xinhua News Agency. 

"At this point I have lost my faith in the decision-making at Twitter," Lansing said. "I would need some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again." The NPR chief also said that "degradation in the culture of Twitter" also played a role in the organization's decision to pause its use of the platform.

Going forward, NPR will no longer "post fresh content" on any of its 52 official feeds. NPR is giving workers who handle its Twitter accounts a two-week grace period to rework their social media strategies. For one thing, they've directed NPR's Twitter followers toward the broadcaster's newsletters and accounts on other social media platforms. The company is leaving it up to staff to decide whether to keep using their personal Twitter accounts.

Twitter has also applied the "government-funded media" label to the BBC's Twitter account, a move that organization has also objected to. In a BBC interview on Wednesday, Musk said the company will tweak the BBC label so that it reads "publicly funded." That would be a more accurate description of how the BBC is funded. Still, Lansing claimed even if Twitter were to backtrack and remove the label from NPR's account, the organization won't start tweeting again right away.

Meanwhile, Musk has revealed how he decides which organizations should have the contentious labels. He's consulting Wikipedia's publicly-funded broadcasters category page. As it happens, several organizations listed on that page — including Canada's CBC, Japan's NHK and the UK's Channel 4 — do not have such labels on their Twitter accounts.

Microsoft is planning a change to the default function of the Print Screen button for Windows 11 users. Typically, pressing the button sends a snapshot of what's on your monitor to the clipboard. In the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, however, pressing the button launches the more versatile Snipping Tool instead.

The Snipping Tool enables users to capture a section of their screen, rather than the entire display (although that's still an option). You can capture everything in a single window or just a portion of what you see, thanks to the rectangular and freeform modes.

While the Snipping Tool has more utility than Print Screen's traditional function, power users may not benefit much from the switch. The Print Screen button is out of the way on most keyboards and, for many people, it may be easier to continue using the existing Snipping Tool shortcut (Win key + Shift + S). The Xbox Game Bar app can instantly save a screenshot without any extra steps, though you'll still need to move your hand over to the Print Screen button (the shortcut combo is Win key + Alt + Print Screen). 

As BetaNews notes, those who aren't happy with the change will be able to revert the Print Screen button's role to the same thing it's been doing for decades through their system's accessibility settings. Moreover, if you've already assigned a custom function to the key, Windows 11 won't automatically change that.

Microsoft is testing the change at the minute and, depending on user feedback, it may reverse course and keep the Print Screen's function as is in retail builds of Windows 11. Still, expanding what the key can do may make it more useful for many folks.

Artifact, the news aggregation app from the creators of Instagram, now has some social features following its latest update. Users can now create profiles and comment on any article in the app.

Taking a cue from Reddit, Artifact will let you upvote and downvote other users' comments, which will factor into commenters' reputation scores and help to moderate discussions. The app is also using artificial intelligence for moderation.

Artifact says the reputation score "represents the earned trust from the community and will help you weigh people’s opinions and help us filter out bad behavior." The goal, according to a blog post, is to foster a positive community in which everyone feels encouraged to take part. The app will let you know when your comments get upvotes or downvotes. You'll also be notified when your contacts comment on things they read.

Artifact

You'll need a profile, which is optional, to comment on articles. Profiles can include your photo and bio (adding both will apparently boost your reputation). You'll need to provide a verified phone number to create one. A phone number is also needed if you want to move to a different device and retain your Artifact history and preferences.

Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger unveiled Artifact back in January. It uses AI to curate news and present you with things it reckons you'll want to read. "We have a strong and growing community and sometimes the most important voices are never interviewed or quoted," Systrom wrote in an Artifact comment. "These discussions give everyone a chance to participate and have a voice."

In a bit of a coincidence, Artifact is gaining true social components on the same day that Substack is rolling out its Twitter-esque Notes feature. In a sense, the two relative upstarts are trying to take on established social media platforms at their own game.

YouTube has revealed the initial pricing for its first season of NFL Sunday Ticket packages. There are a range of pricing options that depend on when you make your purchase and if you have a YouTube TV plan.

A Sunday Ticket package will be cheaper if you're a YouTube TV subscriber. It will start at $249 for the base plan if you sign up during the presale, which ends on June 6th. This will cover out-of-market games for the season, though other games will still air on YouTube TV. Adding NFL RedZone takes the price up to $289 during the presale. If you miss out on the presale, you'll pay $349 for the base plan and $389 for a Sunday Ticket and RedZone bundle.

If you don't have YouTube TV (which now costs $73 per month), you'll need to add $100 to each of those prices. YouTube TV subscribers will also have the option to subscribe to only RedZone for $11 per month if they prefer. There's no option as yet to buy a package for an individual team or even a single game, but those options are said to be on the way.

All of these options are more expensive than what DirecTV charged for NFL Sunday Ticket for the 2022 season before it lost the rights to the package. DirecTV's base Sunday Ticket plan cost $294 last year. Sunday Ticket was no longer viable for DirecTV, which was said to be losing $500 million a year on the package. 

YouTube is believed to have beaten out Apple and other potential suitors for Sunday Ticket. According to reports, Google has a seven-year deal with the NFL and is paying $2 billion per annum for the right to sell the packages. Naturally, the company will be looking to make that money back through Sunday Ticket sales and YouTube TV subscriptions.

YouTube notes that fans will be able to watch Sunday Ticket games on the web, TVs, phones and tablets without the need for a satellite dish. It notes that Sunday Ticket subscribers will have access to features such as multiview streaming and the option to check out key plays. YouTube TV members will also have unlimited DVR storage, real-time stats, NFL Fantasy data and the ability to hide spoilers.

Apogee is back with a new version of its Jam adapter that you can use to hook a musical instrument up to your computer or tablet. The JamX is the latest iteration of the peripheral, which the company debuted in 2010. The biggest change this time around is the introduction of a built-in analog compressor.

It comes with three presets with varying levels of compression to help you shape your tone. Apogee says the compressor will add sustain and balance out your dynamics. Although you likely won't be able to remove the compression after recording, Jam devices aren't exactly geared toward professional use. They're more about helping you practice or lay down ideas quickly. The analog compression should aid with that while keeping the volume of your track relatively stable.

Apogee is also touting JamX's Blend mode. It says this will allow enthusiasts to record tracks with zero latency. If you prefer not to use the mode, you'll be able to switch Blend off easily enough. Moreover, the company claims that JamX boosts audio playback, thanks to sample rates of up to 96 kHz.

The JamX comes with Ableton Live Lite and it works with guitars, keyboards, synths and any acoustic instrument that has pickups. You can connect it to a Windows PC, Mac or iOS device. The interface is compatible with any audio recording app, Apogee says.

The JamX is available starting today at Apogee dealers. It costs $199, which is $20 more than the previous model, Jam+.

Sony-owned Media Molecule has revealed it will stop active development of Dreams later this year. After a final update in September, live support for the game creation platform will come to an end, though the studio will still deploy critical bug fixes when necessary.

The decision means that Dreams will not be updated to include multiplayer support, as had long been the plan. Nor will Media Molecule release versions of Dreams for PlayStation 5 or PlayStation VR2. Dreams arrived on PS4 in early 2020 and Media Molecule added PSVR support a few months later.

Dreams will remain on sale and it’ll still be possible to create experiences and check out ones made by other folks. As part of a server transition, though, Media Molecule will impose new storage limits on player creations. Users will have an online storage capacity of 5GB, but existing projects don’t count toward the limit.

Moreover, Media Molecule will stop running its own Dreams events that were designed to shine a spotlight on some of the most impressive and captivating community creations. The studio is also nixing some features, including native Twitch support (but you’ll likely still be able to stream what you’re doing in Dreams via console-level Twitch integration).

It’s a shame to see Media Molecule abandoning Dreams. The platform is home to a wide array of compelling experiences. Some creators have even landed jobs in game development as a result of their Dreams concoctions. Last year, Sony's movie division scooped up the rights to release a film that's partially being made in Dreams.

It seems that Dreams wasn’t quite as successful as Media Molecule and Sony had hoped in order to justify continued work on the platform. “Whilst we’ve always had the desire to build on the foundation of Dreams and expand the experience, when reviewing our plans we were not able to define a sustainable path,” the studio wrote in its announcement.

Media Molecule says it’s moving on to an “exciting new project” that isn’t connected to Dreams but noted that the decision to end development on the platform wasn’t an easy one. “Dreams has been a special project for Media Molecule, and helping this burgeoning community of game developers, tinkerers, creatives, collaborators and dreamers grow and express themselves remains one of the best things we’ve ever done,” it said.

Like Vecna's creepy, encroaching tendrils, the Stranger Things universe is continuing to expand. Netflix has announced an animated series based on one of its biggest hits. The company hasn't revealed many details about the latest spin-off just yet. Glitch Techs and Fanboy & Chum Chum creator Eric Robles and Flying Bark Productions are developing the animated series. Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers and producer Shawn Levy are also involved.

"We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling," the Duffer brothers told Variety in a statement. "We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with — the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues…"

The original show has been renewed for a fifth and final season, but that and the animated show are far from the only Stranger Things projects in the pipeline. A VR game is slated to arrive later this year, while a stage show prequel is set to debut on London's West End in late 2023. Netflix also announced a live-action spin-off show last year.

The Duffer brothers certainly have a lot of plates in the air. Along with Stranger Things, they're working on a live-action Death Note series (following a separate movie that hit Netflix several years ago), as well as an adaptation of The Talisman, a book by Stephen King and Peter Straub.