Announcement dropped on 10th Anniversary of ‘ Pink Friday’
Nicki Minaj (Onika Tanya Maraj ) has struck a deal with HBO Max, which will consist of 6 half-hour episodes of the docu-series for the streaming platform.
The news came on the 10th Anniversary of her album “Pink Friday”.
The series is set to follow Minaj’s life, letting fans explore both her personal and professional life, highlighting her accomplishments in the rap genre. The series name remains untitled.
The rapper, posted on her social media account, alongside the short clip above, she wrote: ““I am beyond grateful & excited to share this news with you guys today. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have #HBOMAX on board to help me tell my story in this delicate & memorable way. A way that my fans will love forever. This doc is next level.
I can promise you that. ? Follow @hbomax @hbomaxpop & @bronstudios to get the updates you’ll need. Love you. #NickiMinajHBOMAX ITS GOIN DOWN!!!! BASEMENT!!!!!”
“Nicki Minaj is a multi-faceted artist, businesswoman, and innovator as well as force to be reckoned with. It’s a privilege to bring this project to HBO Max and provide our viewers with unprecedented access to her life,”
-Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max
The project will be directed by Michael John Warren, who has worked with Minaj in the past as well as other rappers, including Jay-Z’s “Fade to Black” movie back in 2004.
Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest updates directly to your inBox.
The Origin of Everything is Shrouded in Mystery – looking at Apple’s history yields many clues, however…
PART I of a 3 PART SERIES:
Given the sheer size, breadth and power of the various “Tech Giants” as they have become known, many, if not most would be skeptical if an assertion were put forth that all of them were a direct product or outgrowth of Apple.
Click to see “Steve Jobs” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Although there is almost constant complaining that Apple is not the innovator it once was, or that they sell overpriced and overrated products, with more marketing than substance, tracing back through the history of tech a very different story emerges. Further, all the way to the present a pattern holds true that traces all big tech back to Apple in a direct route from at least 1984 or earlier.
The whole story is long and somewhat hidden; and it diverges from the accepted notions of how the massive empires of tech came about. In the end it is almost impossible not to see the behemoths now known as Microsoft, Google, Facebook and others as little more than incidental occurrences, spawned the wake of Apple’s growth and innovation.
Apple is an entirely different company from what it seems from the point of view of the masses & the media. For example, just as now we have Biden vs. Trump we once had Jobs vs. Gates. You can decide which is which. Perhaps today it seems like a stretch, but up until around 1998 the two were considered opposites and as compatible as oil vs. water.
Above: vdieo Clip from the “One More Thing 2020 Event and Video Still Photo Collage / Lynxotic
There have always been a huge number of people who are offended by the high-price high-quality ethos that Steve Jobs created and that the company carries forward to this day.
Steve Jobs Steve Wozniak with the Apple 1 prototype
Much like Tesla owners are heckled by Toyota, Ford and Chevy pick-up truck owners, Apple has always had an army of detractors. And while for many years it was Windows / PC users now it is Android and Samsung. But if you set aside the Apple-derangement Syndrome, sister affliction to the fabled “Reality Distortion Field” there are some fascinating theories that could be put forth showing that Apple and Steve Jobs are the ultimate source of all tech since the Garden of Eden, or at least the 70s.
[Readers note: there are many accepted truths and fabled stories that will be addressed in this article. These are, at times considered “fact” and at other times questioned openly. If it bothers you when either of those choices are made to suit the narrative, you may, of course, opt-out at any time. All attempts have been made to remain true to historical fact, but no claims or guarantees are made of perfection.]
In The Beginning there was… XEROX?
In the beginning there was Xerox Parc. From that private think-tank of a copy-machine company emerged two incredible discoveries; the Graphical-User-Interface (GUI) and the Mouse (mouse). In the fable Steve Jobs is invited to visit in late 1979, to gather knowledge from the computer scientists and R&D gurus and later decides to “steal” everything he sees. Xerox, on the other hand, continues to believe that copy machines are the real future.
Click to see “iWoz” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
This fable / anecdote is often used to illustrate that Steve Jobs and Apple deserve no credit for the ultimate ubiquity of the software that emerged from the GUI concept and, the mouse that came about cause of the… mouse. It is also said, or at least implied, that Microsoft was fully justified in stealing anything and everything they could from Apple software innovations because “Steve did it first to Xerox”. These kinds of rationalizations are the reason why Apple is still, to this day, not recognized as the source for all tech in the universe.
The more accurate take on this origin story is that Steve Jobs was the first to recognize the ultimate importance of the GUI and mouse combo (after all Xerox never made any real commercially viable attempt to make and market the discoveries from its own R&D) and that the future of the tech world would be built on the bedrock of these early innovations.
“…In fact, turning expensive, hard-to-use, precision instruments into cheap, mass-producible, and reliable commercial products requires its own ingenuity and creativity. This marketplace intelligence is different from, but not inferior to, the intelligence of the laboratory; it just gets far less attention by journalists and historians. In the case of the relationship between the work at PARC and the development of the Macintosh, this blindness leads us to underestimate the originality of Apple’s own work, and the differences between the Alto and Macintosh. “
Further, at the time Bill Gates was madly in love with the wonders of MS-Dos and in particular the money he could bank in licensing it to IBM and all bidders… It was only years later in 1985 when he famously decided to steal the GUI_ Mouse based system software apple was using, in spite of his promises to refrain from stealing when he was shown the secrets during his fabled meeting with Steve Jobs to discuss word and excel, early versions of which were already on the Macintosh. Hence the echos of “Steve did it first to Xerox” became the rallying cry for all those that seemed to justify the direct theft of Macintosh OS to create the clunky-named system called “Windows”.
This story carried on throughout the 80s and 90s and, all the while, a 1988 lawsuit was pending resolution, which has at its center the accusation, by Apple, that Windows 1, released in November 1985, was directly copied, a.k.a. inspired by the Macintosh OS. In the end, in another famous fabled incident, the suit was settled out of court in 1997, by then obscenely rich Bill Gates, for $150 million, thus rescuing Apple from almost certain Bankruptcy.
Moral of the story? Windows, PC’s and everything Microsoft ever became, can be directly traced back to Apple. This is the most obvious of the various lines of creative attribution leading back to Apple and Steve Jobs.
The next saga: Google’s connection and the debt owed to Anti-trust and Apple, will be more subtle but all the more timely. Timely as in right now this minute. Stay tuned for Volume II of “How Apple Created the Entire Tech Universe and it Finally Makes Sense”
An intimate look inside the life and rise of the remarkable Ms. Thunberg
At the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit, a young girl made headlines as she condemned world leaders on destroying the climate and leaving the younger generation to deal with the environmental repercussions. Her heartfelt speech received much attention from fellow activists, celebrities and leaders. During the UN Climate Action Summit, she said “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic grow – How Dare You!”
The, then 16 year old, soon became the inspired voice for the youth, a next generation’s leader, as she has continued her mission in raising awareness of the global climate emergency. Last year, Time Magazine named her ‘Person of the Year’ and she has also been nominated two years in a row for a Nobel Peace Prize. Her name, if you already didn’t know, is Greta Thunberg.
The upcoming “I am Greta” documentary which will stream on the Hulu platform November 13 follows the teenage climate activist during her rise to prominence and how she sparked a global impact with her school strikes and protests. The doc gives viewers a deeper look and will include never-before-seen-footage, capturing meetings with government leaders, public appearances and global protests.
The film will also show the young lady behind the scenes and how she lives her daily life, including scenes of being with her family, her process of writing speeches, how she deals with the stress of nonstop travel and her Asperger’s syndrome. The doc also features footage of Greta having to deal with the public scrutiny, from climate-deniers to hangers-on and the toll taken from being the “face of climate change”.
The documentary culminates with Greta’s extraordinary two-week journey on a wind-powered sailboat. Her voyage across the Atlantic Ocean starts as she leaves the UK in order to reach the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City. Thunberg took to the sea as she no longer flies to any events due to the high carbon emissions caused by air travel.
Nathan Grossman, a Swedish director, told press when asked what he hopes viewers will take away from the film, “Greta and other young people demand a safe future and that leaders listen to the science – instead they are met with empty words from politicians, and ridicule or even death threats from individuals. This is the source of so much of her frustration and I hope viewers will leave with a lot of that frustration as well.”
The groundbreaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who has become the voice of a generation, including her historic address to the United Nations
In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day in order to protest the climate crisis. Her actions sparked a global movement, inspiring millions of students to go on strike for our planet, forcing governments to listen, and earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference brings you Greta in her own words, for the first time. Collecting her speeches that have made history across the globe, from the United Nations to Capitol Hill and mass street protests, her book is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.
The answer lies in the dirt, or as the movie’s tagline states, “The Solution Is Right Under Our Feet.”
At a time when so many existential, even extinction level issues [climate change] loom and threaten mankind, it is easy to feel helpless and even hopeless. And, yet, in the most unexpected way imaginable, a simple act such as opening up the Netflix app and choosing a documentary could be the first step towards a new way of thought and, indeed, action.
The new documentary “Kiss The Ground” does not minimize climate change, or downplay the fact that it is persistent and would bring terrible catastrophes looming on the global horizon, it does not fixate on the negatives. Instead, it offers a rare and amazing thing: solutions to solve the problems and rebalance Earth’s ecosystem. And it does so in a direct, simple and amazingly uplifting manner.
“Kiss The Ground” emphasizes regenerative soil usage and smart agriculture as the keys to saving the planet. Taking the audience to farms and ecosystems all across the world, the doc illustrates how humans have squandered the Earth’s natural bounty by over-tilling the land and drenching crops in pesticides.
Contrary to popular belief, these conventional farming tactics are not only damaging the environment, but they are also hurting the agricultural economy, leaving crops vulnerable and unsustainable in the event of a disaster. The film explains that these tactics are depleting fertile land, and if we don’t change our methods, the planet will only have sixty more years of harvests left.
Salvation is not beyond reach, though. As aforementioned, the bulk of the documentary is optimistic, and it offers a solution in an unlikely place. Namely, carbon.
[Carbon dioxide] is usually the enemy in [environmental documentaries], as we have far too much of it trapped in our atmosphere and the [fossil fuel industry] pumps it out at alarming rates to our planet’s detriment. Although an excess of carbon in the air could be the planet’s doom, “Kiss The Ground” suggests that increasing carbon in the ground could be a solution.
Through extreme close ups, microscopic images, and a few animations, the documentary shows how healthy soil is rife with living things. These things (worms, bacteria, microbes, etc.) all need carbon to live and play a vital part at the base of the food chain.
Unfortunately, the pesticides and over-tilling actively destroy these organisms, rendering the land naturally defenseless. The movie thus calls for a shift towards using soil with increased organic matter that sucks in and sustains carbon. According to one farmer in the film, every one percent increase in the dirt’s organic matter equals ten tons of carbon per acre. This means cleaner air, healthier ecosystems, and a more sustainable form of agriculture that could combat [global warming].
Many farmers have already endorsed this organic method on macro scales. “Kiss The Ground” even brings audiences to China’s [Loess Plateau], a once luscious place rendered a desert through centuries of depletion. With a rejuvenated focus on land management and organic prioritization in recent decades, however, the Plateau has effectively rebounded. Now the brown landscape is once again an Edenic green.
The change does not only have to happen on farms and distant, rural lands, though. The documentary also takes viewers to [San Francisco] and [Haiti] to show how urban hubs are playing their part, stressing the importance of composting and not letting anything go to waste. Seemingly everything—right down to human feces—can be reused and repurposed for a more sustainable world.
In the end, the people of this film – the farmers, scientists and concerned celebrities, come across almost as walking, talking, living, breathing testimonials for the solutions they are proposing.
In a world where the future will almost certainly hold either oblivion and human extinction, or, if we join together to create it, an almost Utopian rebirth they are the rare exception and point clearly toward a better way for us to live on this planet.
Seeing those who made and collaborated on this film and how they live and interact during their quest to save themselves and all of us, it becomes possible to believe in these solutions, and more importantly in human-kind’s ability to choose the right path for a future.
Tying together the sound, simple yet incredibly powerful ideas of recreating Soil health and Regenerative Agriculture, together with sustainable energy and transportation, the road to survival and hope has never looked so feasible. However, with sustainable energy being more widely known and understood as a priority, it is the ideas in “Kiss The Ground” that most need to be shared and disseminated most urgently. Watch it, then pass the word.
Environmental authors, activists, and documentarians Josh and Rebecca Tickell directed and produced “Kiss The Ground.” The duo also wrote the film with help from Johnny O’Hara. Meanwhile, actor [Woody Harrelson] narrates and celebrity appearances include [Tom Brady], Gisel Bündchen, Ian Somerhandler, Jason Mraz, and California Governor [Gavin Newsom]. There are also dozens of farmers, scientists, and notable environmental scholars featured in the picture.
Now more than Ever Democracy needs an Informed Populace to Survive
After the recent alleged murder of a police officer by a “Boogaloo Boy, the indictments in a conspiracy plot to kidnap and murder the Governor of Michigan (Gretchen Whitmer) and with Trump “inciting the Proud Boys” during the Presidential debate saying, “Stand back and Stand By” (rather than condemning them and telling them to stand down), many of us are very wary of the possible dangers to Democracy swirling around the 2020 election.
These threats, although likely impotent, are still very real. So now would be the perfect time to consult history, and those who are experts on history, in order to know more about the potential dangers of fascism and wannabe dictators to democracy and the democratic rule of law.
Book burning is impossible Today but the Truth is still being Attacked from all sides
Just as Trump cries and whines daily about “fake news” a term originally coined to describe his penchant for constantly lying, Hitler wanted to banish history from the minds of his German subjects by exhorting them to set libraries ablaze in bonfires meant to banish all but his mandated “truth”. Those bonfires are, to this day, a symbol of absolute evil, no less so than concentration camps and mass murder.
Fortunately there are recent classic as well as new, important titles coming out at this critical time. While many in the masses might be easily fooled into admiring those that primp and preen and bluster like Mussolini once did, or attack a designated “other” group like Hitler (the Jews) and Trump (Mexican immigrants and other asylum seekers as well as the imaginary threat of ‘antifa’) anyone who has studied history, and in particular these books, will know that the path to freedom, justice and real democracy lies and the exact opposite direction. Always.
The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I.
Arendt explores the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government in our time–Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia–which she adroitly recognizes were two sides of the same coin, rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left.
From this vantage point, she discusses the evolution of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the nontotalitarian world, the use of terror, and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination. Click here to see “Origins of Totalitarianism” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Click here to see “Rigged” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Russia’s interference in 2016 marked only the latest chapter of a hidden and revelatory history. In Rigged, David Shimer tells the sweeping story of covert electoral interference past and present. He exposes decades of secret operations–by the KGB, the CIA, and Vladimir Putin’s Russia–to shape electoral outcomes, melding deep historical research with groundbreaking interviews with more than 130 key players, from leading officials in both the Trump and Obama administrations, to CIA and NSA directors, to a former KGB general.
What Americans should make of Russia’s attack in 2016 is still hotly debated, even after the Mueller report and years of media coverage. Shimer shows that Putin’s operation was, in fact, a continuation of an ongoing struggle, using familiar weapons radically enhanced by new technology. Throughout history and in 2016, both Russian and American operations achieved their greatest success by influencing the way voters think, rather than tampering with actual vote tallies. Click here to see “Rigged” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy seemed final. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. This faith was misplaced. Authoritarianism returned to Russia, as Putin found fascist ideas that could be used to justify rule by the wealthy. In the 2010s, it has spread from east to west, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyberwar in Europe and the United States.
Russia found allies among nationalists, oligarchs, and radicals everywhere, and its drive to dissolve Western institutions, states, and values found resonance within the West itself. The rise of populism, the British vote against the EU, and the election of Donald Trump were all Russian goals, but their achievement reveals the vulnerability of Western societies. Click here to see “The Road to Unfreedom” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Click here to see “Fascism” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.”
The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era. In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright draws on her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption. Click here to see “Fascism” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
An explosive exposé of the right’s relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize public education, stop action on climate change, and alter the Constitution.
Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance.
But billionaires did not launch this movement; a white intellectual in the embattled Jim Crow South did. Democracy in Chains names its true architect–the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan–and dissects the operation he and his colleagues designed over six decades to alter every branch of government to disempower the majority. Click here to see “Democracy in Chains” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Donald Trump’s presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we’d be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang–in a revolution or military coup–but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one.
Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die–and how ours can be saved. Click here to see “How Democracies Die” and help independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest updates directly to your inBox.
Made in secrecy during the past 6 months with interviews from administration insiders
Just when it seemed like 2020 could not get any stranger, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter on October 2nd that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. In what some would see as a ‘karmic’ coincidence, within twenty-four hours of this breaking news, Neon media dropped a trailer for the new documentary “Totally Under Control,” which focuses on the President and his administration’s unsuccessful response to the coronavirus.
“Totally Under Control” is the second Trump-focused project from documentarian Alex Gibney. Earlier this year, the director released “Agents Of Chaos,” an HBO mini-series centered on Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Gibney is also responsible for the 2010 Oscar nominated doc, “Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer” and the 2007 Oscar winner, “Taxi To The Dark Side.” Most of his films take on timely topics through an investigative lens. “Totally Under Control” will be no different.
Unsurprisingly, Gibney latest movie condemns the Trump administration, as it chronicles how the President handled the coronavirus across the first half of 2020. Its synopsis states:
“On January 20th, 2020 the US and South Korea both discovered their first cases of COVID-19. However, nine months later, the novel Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 Americans and caused staggering economic damage, while in South Korea, there were no significant lockdowns and, in an urbanized population of 51 million, only 344 lives have been lost. Where did we go wrong?”
The film aims to answer this question and shed light on America’s complicated, corrupted, and fruitless reaction to the global pandemic. To do this, Gibney uses news footage from the past ten months— much of it showing Trump’s early, woefully dismissive thoughts on the coronavirus before it hit the United States.
He also interviews experts from doctors, to scientists, to government officials, all of whom agree that the current administration’s reaction to COVID was absolutely abhorrent from the start.
The trailer plays out like that of a disaster movie, beginning with former Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority leader, Rick Bright explaining, “The scientists knew what to do for the pandemic response. The plan was in front of us, but leadership would not do it.” Bright goes on to recall how he tired bringing this vital information to the public, but was consequentially fired from his federal position.
As the trailer unfolds, the music gets more and more intense. The interviewees retell the all-too-familiar 2020 story of how COVID got worse by the day and the United States government did nothing to combat it. Meanwhile, quasi-apocalyptic images of ubiquitous ambulances, omnipresent sirens, medial personnel in hazmat suits, restless political rallies, and so on flash across the screen.
All the while, Trump’s voice comes in and out with infamous phrases such as “It will disappear,” “It will be wonderful,” and most egregiously, “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
Art imitates life as covid disbeliever enters hospital after contracting virus that affects ‘almost nobody’
Today, these statements are more ironic than ever before, as Trump himself has been checked into the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland for COVID. The diagnosis occurred just two days after the first presidential debate, where Trump continued to downplay the coronavirus in favor of reopening the country.
“Totally Under Control” will be available On-Demand starting October 13th and will stream on Hulu starting October 20th. Although the film focuses on current (and ongoing) events, it is not the first piece of media to tackle the coronavirus, and it surely won’t be the last.
“The Social Dilemma” a documentary now available to watch on Netflix, exposes some hard truths and dangers of social networking. Former employees from juggernaut tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and many others are interviewed, many of whom co-invented and developed the very structures and business models that are creating major problems as broken-down and discussed in the docu-drama.
Not much of a spoiler alert, but social media companies not only sell our user data, but in conjunction use all that data to create an ultra-sophisticated psychological profile, ultimately to have the powerful ability to manipulate us. Your privacy, surveillance capitalism, positive intermittent reinforcement, artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms, dopamine hits, are just some of the terms used within the film and very much prevalent in social media.
There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software”
Edward Tufte
We’ve curated a list of books written by the former tech employees that appeared in the documentary, as well as provided some additional information from the publisher. Click to see more book information, we’ve provided links for purchase that if interested that helps out independent books stores.
We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives–where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance–are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules.
But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination–propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – A former Wall Street quant sounds the alarm on Big Data and the mathematical models that threaten to rip apart our social fabric–with a new afterword. “A manual for the twenty-first-century citizen . . . relevant and urgent.”–Financial Times. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST – NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review – Boston Globe – Wired – Fortune – Kirkus Reviews – The Guardian – Nature – On Point
Automating Humanity is an insider’s perspective on everything Big Tech doesn’t want the public to know–or think about–from the addictions installed on a global scale to the profits being driven by fake news and disinformation, to the way they’re manipulating the world for profit and using our data to train systems that will automate jobs at an explosive, unprecedented scale.
Toscano provides a critique of modern regulation, including parts of the new European Union’s General Data Proctection Regulation (GDPR) suggesting how we can create proactive, adaptable regulation that satisfies both the needs of consumer safety and commercial success in the international economy. The content touches on everything from technology, economics, and public policy to psychology, history, and ethics, and is written in a way that is accessible to everyone from the average reader to the technical expert. Click Here to See “Automating Humanity” and help Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the twenty-first century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the twentieth.
Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new “behavioral futures markets,” where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new “means of behavioral modification.”
The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a “Big Other” operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff’s comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to twenty-first century society: a controlled “hive” of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit–at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. Click Here to See “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” and help Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier
You might have trouble imagining life without your social media accounts, but virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier insists that we’re better off without them. In Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, Lanier, who participates in no social media, offers powerful and personal reasons for all of us to leave these dangerous online platforms.
Lanier’s reasons for freeing ourselves from social media’s poisonous grip include its tendency to bring out the worst in us, to make politics terrifying, to trick us with illusions of popularity and success, to twist our relationship with the truth, to disconnect us from other people even as we are more “connected” than ever, to rob us of our free will with relentless targeted ads. How can we remain autonomous in a world where we are under continual surveillance and are constantly being prodded by algorithms run by some of the richest corporations in history that have no way of making money other than being paid to manipulate our behavior? How could the benefits of social media possibly outweigh the catastrophic losses to our personal dignity, happiness, and freedom? Lanier remains a tech optimist, so while demonstrating the evil that rules social media business models today, he also envisions a humanistic setting for social networking that can direct us toward a richer and fuller way of living and connecting with our world. Click Here to See “Ten Argument for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts” and help Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
Click Here to See “The Righteous Mind“ and help Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Drawing on his twenty five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns. In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind.
In this “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review) social psychologist Jonathan Haidt challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike. Click Here to See “The Righteous Mind” and help Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Ridley Scott’s 1979 “Alien” was a game changing film. A classic in both the science fiction and horror genres, the movie offered grotesque imagery and an unprecedentedly eerie illustration of space. Set on a spaceship named Mother, and filled with uncanny fetal imagery and a one-of-a-kind set design that evokes senses of both past and future, “Alien” taps into emotions and feelings that are subliminal, perhaps even primal for the viewer.
From an industry perspective, “Alien” was also the beginning of a billion dollar franchise, starting a series that would include three sequels, two prequels, a line of comic books, and two spin-offs where the title extraterrestrials face off against the equally iconic monsters from the “Predator” movies.
Photo / Exhibit A Pictures
The series continues to this day, as a sequel to the 2017 “Alien: Covenant” has been tossed around in development for the past couple of years. With Hollywood in a current state of conglomeration and nostalgia for 1970s and 80s intellectual property—after all we are getting a new Rambo and Terminator movie this year—and with “Alien” being such an intriguing film, it is only natural that people are interested in the film right now. At forty years old, “Alien” is even returning to select theaters this October, showing that people are still seeking out new ways to analyze and enjoy it.
While there is still no new word on the “Covenant” sequel, a documentary about the making and legacy of Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” will hit theaters this Friday. The documentary is titled “Memory: The Origins of Alien” and it takes audiences behind the scenes of how Ridley Scott and his team developed, designed, and produced the revolutionary movie.
With exclusive footage inside interviews, “Memory” looks at how Scott pieced together inspiration from several different sources to come up with the movie’s unique story and vision. This inspiration did not just come from previous movies. As the documentary shows, “Alien” was a thematic amalgamation of ancient mythology, mid-century European art, early transmedia storytelling, and neo-Freudian psychology, all tied up in a harrowingly original screenplay from Dan O’Bannon.
Photo / Exhibit A Pictures
Historical Perspectives with Scholarly Deconstructions
To delve into all of this fully, “Memory” will be looking at “Alien” primarily from an academic lens, getting input from fans, critics, and scholars to analyze the film, the filmmaker, and all of their layered intricacies.
Alexandre O. Philippe is directing “Memory.” This is the same filmmaker who created “The People vs George Lucas” in 2010 as a scathing critique of the George Lucas and his Star Wars prequel trilogy. Clearly, Philippe does not lack cinephilic opinions, and he is not afraid to play hardball with his subjects.
Ridley Scott is not attached to “Memory” in any direct way. Thus, there are no rules dictating what Philippe might say about the director. Comfortingly, though, “Memory” does not look like it will be a critique of Scott or his legendary movie, but rather an intelligent and insightful deconstruction of one of the most important moments in science fiction cinema. “Alien” is truly a fantastic film that still conjures feelings of wonder and mystery to this day. “Memory” is thus a long overdue homage to the timeless picture and a necessary breakdown of everything it means.
The Latest Central Subject In The Celebrity, Activist, Bio-Pic Documentary Trend…
When it comes to cinema, documentary is not a distinct genre per-se. It is a mode in and of itself, a unique filmic language with its own rolodex of forms, tropes, and trends. Thus, it is hard to look at documentary as a whole and pick out the medium’s exact kinds of iconographic shifts. Most documentaries attempt to be didactic, and teach the audience something concrete through their narratives. Usually that something is culturally relevant.
A handful of recent documentaries have been looking to the past in order to say something about the present. “Apollo 11”, “Leaving Neverland”, and “Woodstock: Three Days That Changed A Generation” are just a few examples of docs that came out in the past year that have dug deep into the stories of previous generations.
On top of that, audiences have shown a fascination in celebrity stories with documentaries such as Won’t You Be My Neighbor about Fred Rogers and Amazing Grace about Aretha Franklin garnering success in 2018.
Lastly, documentaries about identity and social justice, particularly in light of the current political climate, have been ubiquitous. Netflix’s Knock Down The House and Magnolia Picture’s RBG have both been examples of films about strong females rising above all odds to inspire, empower, and evoke change.
With all of these popular trends at hand, it was only a matter of time before a documentary came out that combined them all. Perhaps the right subject or story just needed to come along.
Encapsulating her Unique and Meaningful Life and Career
Linda Ronstadt was a celebrity and musical sensation across the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. In addition to being a brilliant singer-songwriter, Ronstadt was an activist, using her music and influence during the Civil Rights era to stand up for the rights of many marginalized groups. In particular, she advocated for gay, feminist, Latinx, and immigrant rights and spoke out against oppressive policies in the second half of the twentieth century.
Additionally, Ronstadt was also an actress and record producer, influencing the entertainment industry in a highly patriarchal period of its history. Now, Linda Ronstadt adds to her impressive resume being the central subject of the new documentary, “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice”.
Photo / Greenwich Entertainment
Greenwich Entertainment and CNN Films are set to release “The Sound of My Voice” in select theaters beginning September 6th. Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman directed the film, the same duo that created “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” back in 1989. “Stories from the Quilt” chronicled the lives of people affected by the AIDS virus in the days before the 1987 gay-rights march on Washington. Clearly, the directors are not new to telling controversial stories and championing important subjects.
“The Sound of My Voice” promises to be just as enthralling and inspiring as Epstein and Friefman’s previous collaboration, but with a large dose of upbeat, Linda Ronstadt energy. The film will focus on Ronstadt’s bravery and initiative, how she stood up to adversary, overcame roadblocks, and helped other women achieve success and recognition in music.
These stories are told primarily through interviews with other musicians who knew and worked with Ronstadt during her prime. Footage of Ronstadt herself, in concert and making both personal and public appearances across her decades in the spotlight.
At the same time, it seems like the film will also be a celebration of Ronstadt’s amazing career. While Linda Ronstadt involved herself in many very heavy topics over the years, she remains a great artist at her core. The belief that she is a superb singer is unanimously held, and all politics aside, everyone can enjoy her music. At times the songs were sad, at times they were introspective, but at other times they were uplifting, soulful, and happy.
If the film does not lose sight of this, it will leave viewers appreciating Ronstadt in her entirety, as a musician, and as a singer; as a songwriter, as an actress, as a producer and as an activist; as sensation, and as an icon; as a woman.
A new 6k upgrade for the Pocket Cinema Camera line has been released by Blackmagic Design.
There’s been an explosion in the last year or so in the “prosumer” or semi-pro video production space. The Pocket Cinema 4K and now the upgraded 6k version appear to be aimed at this market.
Examples of a demo music video, a documentary film, an Indie faux film trailer as well as a mock fashion shoot (shown partially in video above) are available to view or download on the Blackmagic web site.
There is also an embedded video player which will play back at up to 4K and if you want to see the original 6k resolution you can load the clips or download.
Photo / Blackmagic
Honestly, with all due respect to the filmmakers hired to do these camera test videos, they almost certainly don’t do justice to what the camera is capable of. They do, however, show a very high quality and texture of what relatively average lighting conditions and subject matter will yield. In the hands of extreme talent the possibilities are intriguing indeed.
One odd feature of our current visual media environment is that camera tech, including the 4K 60fps that any high level iPhone can produce, far outstrips the “broadcast” opportunities, since even 4K phone footage will clog up any average download bandwidth in a heartbeat.
As mentioned above, this higher resolution source footage, as well as the depth of field possibilities and a higher caliber of lenses can all combine to produce magic under the right conditions. This quality will not be lost when seen in less than optimal conditions. And, of course down the road when 5g, Starlink, and all the rest, are the new normal, 4K to 6k to 8k will start to be something even end-viewers will be able to enjoy.
A one minute clip is nearly 7 Gigabytes (!) which gives some idea of how the 6k video is to handle in post production settings. However, even when seen at lower resolutions, online for instance in our video above, the 1080HD version does clearly benefit from the original source footage quality.
A Typical DSLR indoor shot with limited dynamic range (Photo / Blackmagic)An example of Pocket Cinema 6k with increased dynamic range in same setting (Photo / Blackmagic)
Some of the most practical advantages of the higher spec performance include a higher dynamic range (up to 13 stops according to Blackmagic) and cleaner low light performance, using the ultra sensitive sensor with it’s secondary high base ISO of 3200.
As makers of the highly popular DaVinci Resolve Studio 16 post production software, which is provided at no cost if you purchase the camera, the standard file formats and proprietary Blackmagic RAW will clearly assist grading and editing flexibility.
Remote camera control using the iPad app by Blackmagic or 3rd party compatible apps such as Bluetooth+ or tRigger is also available.
It will shoot at up to 50 fps at 6144 x 3456 Super 35. The Cinema 6k can also shoot still photos at 21.2 megapixels and, with anamorphic lenses it will allow true anamorphic 6:5 aspect at 60 fps with a 3624 x 3020 resolution. Or, if you like 120 fps in 1080HD.
The 6k S35 23.10mm x 12.99 and 6144 x 3456 resolution is the headline and the idea of a camera that adds a major increase in resolution, without jumping up to 8k, which would likely require a top of the line Mac Pro to even begin to manage in post, is a great idea and will perhaps spawn a new standard.
There are also many pro features included in the Pocket Cinema 6k package – input options such as: mini XLR, USB-C, full-sized HDMI, mic input, DC 12v and headphone output.
Weighing in at slightly under 2 lbs and using an EF mount the Cinema 6k is compatible with Canon EF lenses.
Available now and having a retail price of $2495 USD this is, for now, the prosumer dream machine.
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Features
Use for independent films, documentaries, blogs and more.
Designed from carbon fiber polycarbonate composite.
Multifunction grip allows single hand operation.
2 models with 6K at 6144 x 3456 and 4K at 4096 x 2160.
Compatible with MFT or EF lens mounts.
Wide 13 stops of dynamic range for film looks.
Up to 25600 ISO for incredible low light performance.
Records full resolution up to 60 fps or 120 fps windowed.
Standard open file formats compatible with popular software.
Built in SD, UHS-II and CFast card recorders.
Features incredible quality Blackmagic RAW recording.
Built in 5″ touchscreen allows accurate focus when shooting 6K.
Blackmagic OS as used in URSA Mini and URSA Broadcast cameras.
Includes Blackmagic Generation 4 Color Science.
Features full size HDMI for monitoring with status overlay.
Professional mini XLR input with 48 volt phantom power.
3D LUTs can be applied for both monitoring and recording.
USB-C port allows recording directly to external disk.
Built in timecode generator for sync muli-camera shoots.
Supports still frame capture up to 21.2 megapixel.
Localized for 11 popular languages.
Supports remote camera control via Bluetooth.
Powers via 12V DC input and can recharge via USB-C.
Includes full DaVinci Resolve Studio for post production.
Pocket Cinema Camera 6k
Effective Sensor Size 23.10mm x 12.99mm (Super 35)
Lens Mount Active EF Mount
Lens Control Iris, focus and zoom on supported lenses.
Dynamic Range 13 stops
Dual Native ISO 400 and 3200
Shooting Resolutions 6144 x 3456 (6K) up to 50 fps
6144 x 2560 (6K 2.4:1) up to 60 fps
5744 x 3024 (5.7K 17:9) up to 60 fps
4096 x 2160 (4K DCI) up to 60 fps
3840 x 2160 (Ultra HD) up to 60 fps
3728 x 3104 (3.7K 6:5 anamorphic) up to 60 fps
2868 x 1512 (2.8K 17:9) up to 120 fps
1920 x 1080 (HD) up to 120 fps
Frame Rates Maximum sensor frame rate dependent on resolution and codec selected. Project frame rates of 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and 60 fps supported.
Off-speed frame rates up to 60 fps in 6K 2.4:1, 120 fps in 2.8K 17:9 and 1080HD.
Focus Autofocus available using compatible lenses.
