The Public Access Weekly: Upgrade ya
So... since the entire Internet is apparently one big Fail meme today, let's just jump right in shall we? This week, we're rolling out some of the Public Access upgrades that we've been working on which is pretty exciting.
The first of these changes is the landing page that Public Access members see when signing in. Starting today, that landing page will display our rules and guidelines for Public Access members and posts. All Public Access members will be expected to abide by these rules. (What happens if you don't? That is also detailed on the page!) We want to be sure that we're being clear and transparent with members about what the rules are, so we're putting them right up front and center.
The next change regards publishing posts -- Starting Monday, there will be two types of membership to Public Access: A full membership, and what we're casually referring to as a 'trial' membership. There is one major difference between the two types of membership and that is that full members can publish articles to Public Access at any time, while trial members will need to submit their stories for approval by an editor.
All new members to Public Access will, be default, given a trial membership. Once a member has published three stories without requiring significant editorial corrections, they will be upgraded to a full membership. Also, and this is important, those who have full memberships and violate our rules can be changed to a trial membership at any time. We've updated all the resource pages to include information about creating your post as a trial member, but as always, you can email us if you have any questions!
Lastly, as I mentioned last week, we're updating the way your article template pages look so starting Tuesday the page where you actually write and create your posts will be streamlined, with larger fields and features and a new color scheme. However, all the commands and functions are still in pretty much the exact same places so you shouldn't experience any problems.
Looking for something to read? Check out:
One of the featured stories on the Public Access homepage this week comes to us courtesy of Victor Iryniuk, who has written his first post on the reasons why his 5th generation Kindle is still his very favorite gadget. This piece explores what this version of the Kindle did right (doing one thing, and doing it great), and the advancements in e-readers that have detracted from the devices core purpose.
Meanwhile, over in the science/space genre, Lindsey Patterson has written a great post on the why Boeing will beat Elon Musk in the race to Mars which includes background on the Mercury Program, the Gemini Program and how SpaceX and Boeing differ in their knowledge and experience.
Discussions about gender equality and tech often overlook the women who are doing spectacular work in the field, and Kamakshi Venugopal's story about female entrepreneurs in India who are pushing the start-up scene to new heights highlights the stories of five women who are the founders and CEOs of E-commerce, coupon and local service websites.
Looking for something to write about? Mull over:
Big news came out of the Nintendo camp this week with the announcement of the Switch console, which is powered by an Nvidia Tegra processor and purports to allow users to bring a tablet element to their gaming via detachable controllers. Is this a great innovation for Nintendo? Are you excited about it? And is there a place for portable gaming consoles in a world of smartphone gaming?
When Twitter laid off former AngelHack CEO Gregory Gopman this week, he responded with a Facebook post claiming the motivation was his 2013 rant against the homeless population of San Francisco. While Twitter has not confirmed or denied the reasons for Gopmans exit from the company, the news did bring up some interesting conversations in the comments. Should the things you post online haunt you forever? How does one come back from the negative attention that follows a viral social media post? And do you censor what you put online for fear of it harming your abilities to find work? How so?
We reviewed the Google designed Pixel and Pixel XL this week, and found it to be a great smartphone that looks a little dull. Have you gotten your hands on a Pixel or Pixel XL yet? If so, what do you think of the device? Does it live up to your expectations? What is your favorite -- and least favorite -- aspect of it? And do you think it can fill the hole left by Samsung's Galaxy Note 7?
