Above: Apple Spring Loaded Event Poster Credit: Apple
“Loaded” is a loaded concept and let’s hope it rings true
After weeks of fits and starts, and even a bizarre siri advance confirmation leak, it’s finally official: Apple will be hosting a product reveal event on Tuesday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.
Naturally, as with all event scheduled this year so far this will be digital only and streamed live from various platforms including the Apple events page.
The event is expected to reveal new 2021 product updates and more, and the rumor mill has been busy so there’s a lot of potential for both news that’s been hinted at, as well as surprises.
Highest on the list of anticipated possible reveals are; iPad Pro models, a new low-cost iPad and a new iPad mini.
Less expected but also very much in the realm of possibility are refreshed iMacs, the endlessly rumored AirTags and more updated news on chip development as will as advance information ahead of WWDC2021 and the fall big show where typically new iPhones appear.
Apple will be streaming live on its website and with the Apple TV app starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, April 20.
Possible Pro Display XDR-like Screen Real estate up to 32”
Well known and previously credible Apple leak-meister l0vetodream added credence to the wildly rumored concept that a high-end newly designed iMac will feature a “really big” screen, larger than the current max for iMac of 27 inches (5k).
With the iMac Pro already out of production and only the “standard” 21.5 inch and 27 inch models remaining an update, definitely this year, is an obvious prediction.
However, since the iMac Pro itself never had an option for a larger higher resolution screen, and in the mean time the $5 to $6 thousand 32 inch 6k Pro Display XDR setting the standard for ultra large high quality screen design it is also not unlikely that some of the technology of that product could trickle down into a high end iMac without adding the cost of such a colossus.
Above: 6k Pro Display XDR Credit: Apple
Further, there’s a slightly less credible but interesting rumor out regarding a new iPhone design based on the “cheese grater” style of the new Mac Pro and Pro Display. Though a bit mind-blowing to imagine, a matching set of gear with cheese grater styling for my iPhone 13 Pro, and a new high end iMac is a bizarre pleasant (but perhaps a bit macho) daydream.
It’s not likely that this new machine would surface as soon as WWDC 2021 but, it is not entirely off the table either (nothing is out of the question with Apple’s secrecy history)
Since the iMac outward design has not had a total makeover since 2012 (!) the possibility (probability?) of a new, higher end, iMac with new styling (perhaps with bezels and edge styling like the iPad pro of late), faster, upgraded performance (M2?) and a bigger and better screen than the current 27 inch model would be just fine, thank you.
Above: ‘WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn’ Credit: HULU
The story of a fiasco of monumental proportions that deserves to be told
WeWork, from the fabled insanity of the SoftBank funding to the crash and burn of founder and then CEO Adam Neumann would, in any other epoch, perhaps, be the most spectacular and outrageous failure of our time.
That is until one takes a closer look. With a ‘valuation” ( a term that had little actual meaning in the case of WeWork) of $47 billion at its peak, just a month-and-a-half from near bankruptcy, is one way to try and put the absurdity into context.
In the end, after perhaps a feature film and a couple of more documentaries such as “WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn” it will be brought out how venture capital excesses and ideas like those of SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, who was primarily responsible for WeWork’s meteoric rise that will be seen as the real madness of the age.
According to an oft told anecdote, in 2017, Mr. Neumann needed only 12 minutes of walking Mr. Son around WeWork’s headquarters to convince the SoftBank mogul to shell out an investment of $4.4 billion.
Complex and even more insane ideas motivated the $billions in funding
It was, after all, Masayoshi Son who chose to invest billions based on this “elevator pitch” and who, according to many accounts, egged on the young founder to think bigger, faster and “crazier”. And that advice was taken seriously, by all means.
However, during an era where it is a truism in VC culture, particularly in Silicon Valley, that it’s “harder to get a $100,000 investment than it is to get 100 million, it was ultimately more about systemic excesses, which inexorably lead to the enabling of a megalomaniacal start-up personality like Neumann and give him enough funds to turn him into a madman of nearly historical proportions.
Directed by Jed Rothstein’s (The China Hustle) the new Hulu documentary (trailer below) is a good first draft of an account trying to depict Neumann’s extravagant rise and fall. However the sheer scope and depth of the hubris that underlie, not just the WeWork saga, but the corrupt age itself, that makes the treatment here somehow less successful than a deeper, more insightful look at what brought about this tragic farce could have been.
Making Neumann the center of the madness is an easy way out of asking, and answering, deeper questions
For all his “reincarnated hippie” talk of uniting the world around an idea – after charged his own company $5.9 million for his absurd trademark of the word “we” (which he was forced to pay back when the details leaked)- and how he would unite the world (and be the first world president and trillionaire ), the actual “idea” and the company was based on little more than infantile greed run amok.
Unfortunately, it’s the complex back room mathematics made his “dream” a reality and now this documentary look into it and the real estate “empire of cards” that sill exists after Neumann has long departed. I fear it will require a more revelatory and analytical treatment than this credible and watchable first look can provide. Still worth checking out for the thrill and nonsense of the waning days of pre-2020 excesses nearly beyond imagination. On Hulu now.
Above: Official trailer for ‘WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn’
John Wick with a milquetoast twist? No, much better than that…
Are you, like me, someone who just has to watch any movie with Liam Neeson after “Taken” where he plays an underestimated character doing mega damage to the bad guys? Was “John Wick” (and 2 and 3 etc) a worthwhile experience but you could imagine a bit of Bob Odenkirk à la mode mixed in? You’re in luck (seriously).
The official blurb from Universal goes like this: Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, The Post, Nebraska, Breaking Bad) stars as Hutch Mansell, an underestimated and overlooked dad and husband, taking life’s indignities on the chin and never pushing back. A nobody.
Add to this his “particular set of skills” and ominous past and you have an inspired next step in this now established feel-good as the blood-flows genre. (trailer below)
At a time when, metaphorically, perhaps all of us feel like we are bullied once too many times, and when the vagaries of trying to live in peace have us at wits end, watching this could be the antidote to all those pent-up feelings.
However, if going to see it live in a movie theater still seems too dangerous, you will soon be able to stream – if you are willing to pay for video-on-demand.
As of Friday, April 16th you will be able to purchase to stream at the usual VOD outlets (most likely, Apple, Amazon and others) and there’s even a blu-ray disk in the offing which has pre-order options already.
Directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry), and written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick), a great cast that includes Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, The Post, Nebraska) and co-stars legendary Emmy winner Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s father, musician-actor RZA as Hutch’s brother, whose own hidden talents aid Hutch in his quest for vengeance.
Here is the description provided on the official web site by Universal Pictures:
Sometimes the man you don’t notice is the most dangerous of all. Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, The Post, Nebraska) stars as Hutch Mansell, an underestimated and overlooked dad and husband, taking life’s indignities on the chin and never pushing back. A nobody.
When two thieves break into his suburban home one night, Hutch declines to defend himself or his family, hoping to prevent serious violence. His teenage son, Blake (Gage Munroe, The Shack), is disappointed in him and his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman), seems to pull only further away.
The aftermath of the incident strikes a match to Hutch’s long-simmering rage, triggering dormant instincts and propelling him on a brutal path that will surface dark secrets and lethal skills. In a barrage of fists, gunfire and squealing tires, Hutch must save his family from a dangerous adversary (famed Russian actor Aleksey Serebryakov, Amazon’s McMafia)—and ensure that he will never be underestimated as a nobody again.
Nobody is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry), from a script by Derek Kolstad, the narrative architect of the John Wick franchise, and co-stars legendary Emmy winner Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s father and multi-hyphenate musician-actor RZA as Hutch’s brother, whose own hidden talents aid Hutch in his quest for vengeance.
The film is produced by Kelly McCormick, p.g.a, and David Leitch, p.g.a., the filmmakers of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde, for their company 87North, by Braden Aftergood, p.g.a. (Hell or High Water, Wind River), for his Eighty Two Films, and by Bob Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero (Hulu’s PEN15) for Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment. The film is executive produced by Derek Kolstad, Marc S. Fischer, Annie Marter and Tobey Maguire.
Above: Emilia Clarke in “above Suspicion” Credit: HULU
After 2019’s ‘Last Christmas RomCom, finally some gritty drama and action from the G.O.T. star
Coming just hours ahead of the new trailer for “Black Widow“, we are gifted with two films coming soon with the most dynamic female actors in action and drama. Long synonymous with Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke is now branching out and, after the cute but less weighty “Last Christmas” outing in 2019, we now can feast on her upcoming role via the brand new trailer for her upcoming thriller, “Above Suspicion”.
With a release scheduled for next month, the film also stars Fargo‘s Jack Huston as a crime partner – and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, who rounds out the main desperado ensemble.
Phillip Noyce (Salt; Netflix series What/If) helmed the project and it was written by Chris Gerolmo. “Above Suspicion” is actually based on a true story and “one of the most notorious crimes in FBI history”.
According to the official synopsis: “This gritty crime-thriller stars Emilia Clarke as Susan Smith, a young woman desperate to escape a seedy life of crime and drugs in a Kentucky coal mining town. When a newly minted FBI agent named Mark Putnam recruits Susan as his informant for a high-profile case, she believes her bad luck may finally be changing. But as Susan and Putnam’s relationship deepens, so does the danger, setting them both on a collision course with deadly consequences.”
Above: Emilia Clarke in “above Suspicion”
Above Suspicion will open in US cinemas and on-demand on May 14. A UK release date is not yet confirmed.
Above: Scarlett Johansson as ‘Black Widow’ Photo Credit: Disney
Building to a climax? A tough road but Black Widow still has potential to be worth the wait…
A year since the first potential release window and various delays, and after a launch postponement from May to July, finally this new trailer is released, and is designed, it would appear, to keep the anticipation, suspense and interest in the future blockbuster in waiting.
Since this has to be the real and bonafide date we can confirm it here: “Black Widow” will hit theaters and Disney+ on July 9th, 2021.
“Black Widow is directed by Cate Shortland and was written by Eric Pearson from a story conceived by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson. Starring, as is well known, Scarlett Johansson, reprising Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, along with Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz.
Set sometime after the Captain America: Civil War epoch, which had Natasha on the run from the government and dealing with her personal spy history, and the many personal changes since she became an Avenger.
Natasha’s voiceover sets the stage as the trailer begins, while flashbacks to previous movies are cross-cut beneath — and the focus on her secrets and mysterious past are intoned:
“You don’t know everything about me, I’ve lived a lot of lives,” she says. “Before I was an Avenger. Before I got this family. I made mistakes choosing between what the world wants you to be, and who you are.”
Dialog from new “Black Widow” Trailer
Synopsis: “In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.”
Above: “Black Widow” Credit: Marvel Studios
Above Suspicion will open in US cinemas and on-demand on May 14. A UK release date is not yet confirmed.
In the Director – Star pairing this marks the fourth try
Has anyone noticed the seemingly sudden surge in new films announced and confirmed for release dates? Especially for theatrical runs? And doesn’t it feel like summer is kicking off artificially early? I guess that’s a sign of all of us wanting to kick-in the teeth of the lock-down era. Miami was just a beginning, perhaps.
Part of the reason, of course, for the sudden surge in film release activity, is the need to push forward and outward various productions that were previously on ice due to the pandemic. One example of this phenomena is “Wrath of Man,” from MGM and Miramax, which will get its theatrical launch from United Artists on May 7. As already mentioned this is the newest, fourth match-up between English filmmaker Ritchie and action staple Jason Statham.
The first date that was set for this film was an optimistic January 15th, which just so happened to coincide with the peak of what is now being called the “third wave”, and certainly no fortuitous release date, action god or no.
A second scheduling attempt was originally set for April 23rd until finally landing on the May 7th date. That date is traditionally one that can be a strong one for future summer blockbusters and was, luckily for “Wrath of Man” recently vacated by “Black Widow” which has been shifted by Disney to July 9th for both streaming on Disney+ and in theaters.
Whew! Stay tuned for more updates as the changes and new confirmed releases are happening, seemingly, by the hour. Oh, and enjoy the trailer.
As big a splash as last year? Predictions are affirmative
Apple revealed its schedule for this year’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). To take place in an all online format on June 7th through 11th there will be a large audience due to the unlimited size of the venue (virtual) and, as was the case last year, the software and app developers event will also be an opportunity for Apple to highlight plans for new hardware designs.
As is customary, of course, the keynote address will thoroughly update the progress on the upcoming OS versions; iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8 and tvOS 15. Rumored expectations of hardware such as the highly anticipated iPad Pro, possibly a new MacBook Pro, new iMacs and the new Apple TV that is overdue and oft talked about.
Any or all of these, as yet unconfirmed, predictions could be upended by a prior release date, the iPad Pro for one, is rumored to be likely to get an announcement before June.
Above: Photo / Apple
The bulk of the conference is devoted to the software and if the upgrades are anywhere near as substantive as they were in 2020 that will be a lot to dive into.
Platform wars are heating up and influencers may be prime beneficiaries…
Something strange is happening in social media: influencers are getting paid, sometimes directly by platforms.
To clarify; there have always been ways for creators with a large following to monetize their stats. Mainly, however, until recently that mostly involved sponsorships and affiliate merchandise, and the like.
On top of the efforts required to create winning content, getting paid for it was an additional job and creators got little assistance from the greatest beneficiaries of the work: the host platforms themselves.
Suddenly, it seems, the value of creators in bringing and keeping traffic for the platforms is so high, as a war rages between platforms for that traffic, that some have gone as far as initiating new programs to pay influential content makers directly.
Naturally, YouTube has had a monetization program that requires elevated status to qualify for and then takes a more than 30% cut of the proceeds, but on the whole payment for creative content production has been minimal for all but the most massive stars in the social media firmament. Now, that appears to be changing, and fast.
Snap, a once hot destination, is trying to boost its attractiveness by paying out $1 million per day for popular posts. TikTok, the fastest growing platform recently, has also set up a fund to pay out to creators and says it will increase the fund to $1 billion.
All of this is not going unnoticed by the platforms with the most traffic, Facebook and its owned entity Instagram, and, in an unprecedented move, payments are beginning to flow on those platforms also. Twitter, Clubhouse and others have various plans in the works as well.
There’s a massive shift toward coveting creators as a result of competition for traffic and members
What this all boils down to is two things. There’s a war going on (in reality battles left and right in many areas of internet dominance) and the spoils are traffic growth, and that growth is only possible for the platforms if creators migrate in and stick around.
As long as Facebook, Instagram and Google’s YouTube were untouchable monopolies they did not need to admit that they needed the allegiance of creators and influencers.
As the only game in town, each in a different monopolized neighborhood, there was literally no where for the creators to run to. No more. Mainly TikTok and now upstarts like Clubhouse are changing the landscape and that is scary to the legacy platforms.
Anecdotal evidence points to the ability for talent to garner views and followers, via the algorithm settings that either promote or hide content from prospective consumers, as the prime mover, at least initially, for the creators to favor TikTok.
Stories abound of creators that, within days or weeks, were able to get millions of views due to the “democratic” openness of the TikTok system for featuring content based on less restrictive algorithms than the entrenched platforms.
The once invincible behemoths at Facebook and Google let greed get the best of them. It has been literally years since organic reach, the ability to get views and traffic just on the quality of the content, was possible on facebook and the price to reach an audience, with paid posts, just kept going higher and higher.
Now, due to this tectonic shift in power, from the platforms to the influencers and users, there is, unbelievably, a situation emerging where Facebook must appease the talent and creativity of the content creators if they want to remain relevant.
Pending antitrust actions and privacy issues are just adding to the shifting status and uncertain future of social media
In a sense, there was always a kind of unwritten rule of social media: the owners and creators of the platforms retained all the money and power with none of the liability or labor requirements.
That relationship, which is like slaves who built the great pyramids, but without the allowance for food or shelter, was doomed from the start as it is based on a lie.
Ultimately the platform has very little to offer, technological and software designs are easily replicated theses days, and these platforms are not in the business of generating any of content, yet they expect that content to be created for free by users.
This ridiculous valueless and vampiric scam has been lionized and worshiped as the ultimate internet success formula for more than a decade.
Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg, have stood as the ultimate arbiters of how to become obscenely rich by enticing the world to work and create content for your platform for zero renumeration.
Once a company, coincidentally one that originated in China, came along and decided not to worship the Zuckerberg formula, but to undercut it by giving creators an ever-so-slightly less terrible deal, the spell was broken.
Next, it was only a matter of time before the war over the real value began: the content itself that users and particularly top creators on each platform provide.
Not to say that TikTok is heroic or intentionally upset the apple cart as a result of any foresight or altruism, this is just the inevitable outcome of a failed and corrupt system eventually becoming mature and collapsing (slowly) under its own stupidity.
For now, this slight reprieve from endless exploitation is an extremely hopeful sign. Let’s hope that creator payouts and the competition for content, real content that has value regardless of which platform hosts it, will continue to rise in stature.
Any creators or influencers out there who are listening, do what you do best which is create, and now add the option to sell your services to the highest bidder to your toolkit and keep your eyes and ears open for the next, even more accommodative platform to emerge from the muck. Then go there.
Long-time adviser and spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Jason Miller, stated on on Fox’s “MediaBuzz” that the former guy would be “returning to social media in probably about two or three months.”
In typical fashion spokesperson says it will be huge
Next he bragged that his return to social media would be via “his own platform” and that this new network would garner “tens of millions” of users and in his opinion would also “completely redefine the game.”
“It’s going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what President Trump does, but it will be his own platform.”
—Jason Miller, Trump Spokesperson
This news comes at a time when the furor of constant rage tweeting from the former guy has finally died down. It remains to be seen if this announcement is credible as there are pending legal and financial challenges that could potentially stand in the way of such an undertaking.
Having two plans to save the world, and being Elon Musk, the questions are fascinating and a bit bizarre
It was bound to happen, sooner or later. So many fantastic triumphs over evil – starting a company with a goal of accelerating sustainable energy and transportation. And then , not only succeeding at that but challenging the fossil fuel industrial complex, beating them, then basically forcing the major automakers across the globe to finally make the shift into all electric vehicles.
And SpaceX, though launching rockets is a messy thing, at least the Starlink Satellite Broadband internet project is something that will help humans all over the earth to decentralize, potentially a much needed option, if or when the coastlines begin to shrink and overpopulated coastal megalopolises are at the bottom of the ocean.
Forever win streak has an end in sight?
But Mars? There are some questions about that. For example, if the Earth rescue is so important, and if it succeeds (please!) then why would anyone want to live in a place like Mars?
Elon Musk replies cryptically to this lovely Mars Clip
As Shannon Stirone wrote in the Atlantic this week: Mars Is a Hellhole. And further: Colonizing the red planet is a ridiculous way to help humanity. Ok. There are issues. It’s a bit cold, an average surface temperature is a deadly 80 degrees below zero according to the article. Wow, and it has no magnetic field to help protect its surface from radiation from the sun or galactic cosmic rays; it has no breathable air.
Those are all enough for anyone to want to double down on the whole “let’s fix the earth” thing.
Unless…. Musk being the genius that he is, could it be that he is hedging his bets? Has he basically already decided that this whole Climate Change thing has already gone too far? And Earth is beyond saving?
Others have pointed out that by putting even a tiny fraction less effort into saving this planet in order to try and colonize another one, one that is 3.7 billion miles away, btw, could jeopardize the slim chance still there that climate change can be slowed, stopped, even reversed before it’s too late.
A list of goals and accomplishments that dovetail nicely into a world saved, or?
So what is the Mars thing really about then? I have to be honest it might be just fine. Give “Emperor Elan” the benefit of the doubt. Tesla’s are damn S3XY and they are also a perfect first step into transforming the world transportation and even energy generation and storage into something sustainable, and that’s downright perfect: utopia and having the time of your life all at once.
So, why not just throw in Mars and a nice little colony there, just for kicks? The whole mental-telepathy, Neurallink, thing, that’s gotta be useful too and, along with AI and Hyper-loop, let’s do it all, shall we?
Perhaps it does all fit together in some way that is invisible to the rest of us. Why, when Earth seems to need all our attention, particularly with political inaction and even obfuscation and attempted sabotage of the paths to a green future, why put so much into Mars right now?
Hopefully the answer is right around the corner, or at least less than 3.7 billion miles away.
Possible WW3 over Digital Ads with Zuck & Google Vs MSFT & Apple
Sometimes, in order to tackle a complicated subject it is necessary, first, to take a step back. For example, before tech and the internet became the dominant economic force it is today there were hundreds, even thousands of companies that had important roles to play in the economy.
Not they other companies are unimportant today, but the sheer scale of trillion dollar (and growing) tech companies such as Google, Facebook who combined represent a near monopoly in digital advertising, and Apple and Microsoft, each also with strangleholds in some markets, but on the outside in the war over digital ad income.
This disparity and imbalance is so massive as to be nearly unprecedented in history. And, now, as the first blind hero worship phase has ended, we are entering a phase where the nearly ubiquitous influence and dominance over lives and fortunes are finally being questioned.
Next up: The war erupting as a result of the extreme correlation between the entrenched and overwhelming dominance of Facebook and Google in digital ads, the income source of media producers, and the near demise of that industry.
The situation has finally become so critical and lopsided that governments are finally stepping in to enforce changes that could never happen while one side, the “dominant digital platforms” holds all the cards and power.
One new axiom that has emerged with the rise of big tech monsters is that only a monster can hope to prevail in a war with another monster. Enter Kong vs Godzilla.
In this emerging world war it is more complicated still; on one side are the parallel duo of Facebook and Google, with similarities in the way they dominate digital advertising, but also in that they share a “surveillance” based business model using private user data to control markets and traffic.
On the other side are Apple, which has staked a claim to user privacy as a means to clearly differentiate a positive product and service based model, Microsoft, that appears to simply want to play the underdog as a search engine alternative to google and a “smaller” player in the digital ad space.
And then, in a corner of distinction above all others, lies the power of world governments.
World governments are playing a pivotal role as a kind of referee – finally stepping in, as the dangers and damage caused already by the duo of Facebook and Google, have awakened the possible regulatory, anti-trust actions that only they can enforce.
First was the rumble down under, now, on to Europe and North America
Even as a kind of truce has erupted in Australia, with the government making specific alterations to the News Media Bargaining Code that, apparently, appeased Facebook enough to withdraw its universal ban on hosting Australian news product.
According to AP News: Google and Facebook, take a combined 81% of online advertising in Australia and initially condemned the code as unworkable.
That has rapidly changed, and the stand-off has come to at least a temporary end.
Also likely, is that the massive demand for an app offering direct access to some of the exact stories that Facebook banned sent a strong enough message that competition for viewers is only one click away.
Motivating the two sides to come to terms and for Facebook to back down from its draconian stance vis-à-vis the new law.
Even as the Aussie skirmish fades a new front in Europe is emerging
Microsoft announced on February 22nd that is was joining a coalition of European Publishers to promote an “Aussie style” code for digital platforms to remunerate news content producers.
In addition to Microsoft, groups involved include the European Publishers Council (EPC), News Media Europe (NME), European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), and European Magazine Media Association (EMMA).
Previously, Microsoft had already Earlier this month, Microsoft was lobbying in support of other countries following Australia’s lead in creating legislation mandating that news outlets to be paid for articles published on the platforms in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and other countries.
“We welcome Microsoft’s recognition of the value that our content brings to the core businesses of search engines and social networks because this is where Google and Facebook generate the vast majority of their revenues.
It is crucial that our regulators recognise this key point, and don’t get misled into thinking that side deals on the basis of a stand-alone product are the same thing, because they are not at all and undermine the neighbouring rights that we have been granted. All publishers should get an agreement – no one should be left out”.
-CHRISTIAN VAN THILLO, CHAIRMAN OF THE EUROPEAN PUBLISHERS COUNCIL
EPC, NME, ENPA, EMMA, and Microsoft call for arbitration to be implemented in European or national law that requires search engines and media platforms that aggregate news pay for content based on the Publisher‘s Right set out in Directive 2019/790.
Pandora’s Box is open and spilling all over the highway
Interestingly, Microsoft is, in a roundabout and equally self-severing way (according to critics) is now the second trillion dollar tech monster to take a direct stance against Facebook and Google and the monopoly strangle hold the enjoy over the financial life-blood of advertising that is essential for journalism and news production to survive, let alone flourish.
Critics will point out that Microsoft’s Bing search engine with a tiny market share compared to Google (in chart above the ridiculous 90% plus monopoly can be seen) has nothing to lose and everything to gain by supporting government efforts to even the playing field. And Apple? Facebook has already declared war and alleged all sorts of evil motivations for the privacy controls being built into its operating systems.
But that kind of talk is a bit late and weak now that the ultimate tech monster showdown has already begun. The first crack in a flawed and destructive business model, one shared to a great degree by both Facebook and Google has seen its first failure. Many more are yet to come.
And, last but not least, Microsoft and Apple are positioning themselves as the “good guys” and siding with governments and the News production organizations, partly, in order to be seen in a more positive light in case various anti-trust and regularity battles loom between either of them and the governments that are, currently, also investigating all of the giants.
By the way, seen any of Amazon’s recent “we are good guys, despite what you might have heard, seen or experienced” commercials? Small tip: if you have to spend millions on commercials trying to convince people you are not an evil greed-obsessed avaricious crap-ass company then you probably are exactly that.
The horses are out of the barn so grab your popcorn and get ready for this to get strange soon. After Europe Canada and then the US is coming into the ring.
Clearly there is something going on here and it seems blazingly obvious to everyone except those gathered to partake. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) of 2021 began in Orlando, Florida on Friday. And nearly straight away this thing grabbed the show by the horns (above).
Or at least the Twitter reaction and meme factory was impressed. For all the wrong reasons. The four years of the “former guy” were hard to live through for sane people. But it is becoming more and more apparent that those that reveled in those times were not just angry political weirdos but, possibly, certifiable.
First was the warning from the Chief of the Capitol Police that pro-former-guy and right wing militia members were plotting to set bombs, literally, off at the Capitol to coincide with Biden’s upcoming State of the Union Address.
“We know that members of the militia groups that were present on January 6th have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union.”
Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman
Now, as the always bizarre anyway CPAC conference convenes they decide to set up a Gold-calf worship statue and parade it around for the faithful.
That "golden calf" statue of Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida? pic.twitter.com/unwbEPUxwv
— Mr. Naturalism (The Antichrist Unicorn) (@MNaturalism) February 26, 2021
Another seems to think BigBoy Burgers had something to do with the statue’s origin:
OMFG whoever built this golden calf of Trump *must* have known about Bob's Big Boy. COME ON.
The only thing missing is the burger, probably because Trump already ate it with a large fry and washed it down with a Diet Coke. pic.twitter.com/UP6vR8ylVL
At least they had some modicum of civility, truth, and intelligence back then. Wish we had someone like Ike back at the helm instead of Trump aka "the golden calf"… pic.twitter.com/nUhrlLt80r
The movie makes waves in its portrait of the iconic jazz singer
Grammy nominated singer Andra Day appears in her first lead acting role in the new Hulu film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”. The film has already earned the actress two Golden Globe nominations, for best original song and for best actress in a motion picture drama.
The film’s cast also includes Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund, Natasha Lyonne, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
The film has been met with some criticism, in the mean time, as some that have already watched the film point out the movie fails to fully encapsulate the vibrance and stardom of Billie Holiday. Yet others offer praise in how the film explores the singer’s rough up-bringing and shines a light on the treatment of African Americans living in a Jim Crow America during the 1940’s.
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The movie follows the jazz singer, chronicling how the government went after her for her ballad, an anti-racist song titled “Strange Fruit” that spoke about the lynching of African American people and racism. For fear that its popularity would spark a civil rights movement, Holiday became the target by the Federal Department of Narcotics with much of the film focusing on her drug addiction as government tries to quiet and derail the star.
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” streams on Hulu starting February 26, 2021.
A site in Syria was struck by the US military. The site was used by militia groups backed by Iran. This follows reported rocket attacks against American forces in the area, CNN reports, citing source as a “US official.
This was the first known military action since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Though the site that was hit had no known direct involvement in the rocket attacks, but Shia militias operating in the area, and backed by Iran were believed to have used the facilities.
According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby the stakes were carried out “at President Biden’s direction” and were not just authorized in response to recent attacks on American and coalition forces, but to deal with “ongoing threats to those personnel.”
Kirby said that Biden conducted the strikes after consulting with US allies, including coalition partners.
On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said “We have stated before that we will hold Iran responsible for the actions of its proxies that attack Americans,” and that “many of these attacks have used Iranian made, Iranian supplied weapons.”
Statement from Pentagon press Secretary:
Pentagon statement on US air strikes against targets in eastern #Syria. The raid reportedly was carried out by US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. The statement was sent out at 1954 EST 25 Feb https://t.co/x4ueUseu3Npic.twitter.com/EbS2Yk9npJ
Apple TV+ and YouTube event: Acoustic performance, interview and “surprises” in store
The release for the upcoming Apple TV+ documentary which follows Billie Eilish’s journey into fame, spotlighting a “sliver” of her life during the three year period the doc was filmed, is nearly here. Aside from the upcoming film, fans will also get another musical treat before the debut. Apple teamed up with the artist to commemorate the release with a livestream and exclusive performance, which will be available for all to watch for free. (Free!)
During the live event, Eilish will perform some (new) music, and maybe even talk about her new album that her and brother/co-writer created during her time at home due to covid-19 restrictions.
The artist also recently launched a live version of the song, “ilomilo” which has the song lyric “the world’s a little blurry” from which the title of the doc is inspired. Check out video above.
In addition to the musical performance, there will also be an interview with director R.J. Cutler, hosted by Apple Music’s DJ Zane Lowe. The Apple press release also notes that the event will include “other special surprises” but you have to watch in order to find out what those may be.
Eilish will perform live and can be streamed for free Thursday, Feb. 25 starting at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET via the Apple TV app, Apple Music app or Billie’s YouTube Channel. Immediately following the event, her documentary will debut on the Apple TV+ streaming platform.
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The trailer gives fans a peak of what’s to come, centered around Eilish’s rise to fame, offering behind the scenes of the inner workings of her highly successful album: “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”.
There is also footage of Eilish off stage, doing normal teenage activities like getting her driver’s license, as well as scenes of her at home hanging out with her brother and collaborator, Finneas.
“Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry” tells the true coming-of-age story of the singer-songwriter and her rise to global superstardom. From award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, the documentary offers a deeply intimate look at this extraordinary teenager’s journey, at just 17 years old, navigating life on the road, on stage, and at home with her family, while writing, recording and releasing her debut album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?”
For those that do not currently have Apple TV, subscription starts at $4.99 per month with a 7 day free trial. Any buyer of Apple hardware is given a free subscription for up to a year as well.
What began as a “Better Than Nothing Beta” is morphing into to a better than expected sign-up drive
According to SpaceX, there are now more than 1,000 subscribers actively using the service. With its current beta version, the Starlink satellite kit for both domestic and international, users can expect data speeds ranging from 50Mb/s to 150 Mb/s and latency from 20 to 40 ms.
In a response on Twitter, Musk promised that speeds would double to up to 300 Mb/s later this year. He also mentioned that the latency should improve to 20 ms.
“When satellites are far from Earth, latency is high, resulting in poor performance for activities like video calls and online gaming. Starlink satellites are over 60 times closer to Earth than traditional satellites, resulting in lower latency and the ability to support services typically not possible with traditional satellite internet,” based on the Starlink’s website.
Speed will double to ~300Mb/s & latency will drop to ~20ms later this year
The speed is the key and faster (with lower latency) is what everyone needs
300 Mb/s will be a very welcome speed upgrade, particularly for those in low to medium population density areas that are the primary target. Musk noted that those in city and urban areas, cellular will often have more advantages than satellites since those systems will be improving also, with 5g roll outs, for example.
Musk’s goal is to have most of the Earth covered and at least partially subscribed by 2022.
Most of Earth by end of year, all by next year, then it’s about densifying coverage.
Important to note that cellular will always have the advantage in dense urban areas.
Satellites are best for low to medium population density areas.
Those living in rural areas of the UK and using the beta version of the Starlink satellite are already seeing higher-than-originally-promised internet speeds.
Many who had previously only had traditional (traditionally slow and bad that is) satellite internet were astounded by the extent of the improvement, and pleasantly surprised on measurements how fast the service already is, considering there are many continuous improvements yet to come.
According to an interview from one user who lives in Bredgar, Kent, his household’s service often lagged between .05 and 1 Mb/s making simple tasks like streaming Netflix or downloading video games impossible or nearly so. Using Starlink he now averages 175 Mbps to 215 Mbps which a stark difference than his prior service.
For the rest of this year and into the foreseeable future more Starlink satellites are expected to be launched into orbit nearly every week, and the eventual total could reach over 30,000, the number already approved by the FCC (max total 42,000!). It is unclear if that number will be necessary, or ever achieved, but the service will see steady improvements as the total density increases.
Also, Musk has indicated that, beginning in 2022, there will be a new satellite design upgrade featuring laser systems to allow for satellite to satellite interaction. Speeds after those improvements come online might eventually reach 2Gbps which is faster than the terrestrial fiber systems currently available to consumers.
If you want to order, or pre-order with a timeline based on the availability in your area, you can register on the Starlink website. Bear in mind that the program is currently limited to users in select regions in the Northern US, Canada and the UK. The price for the Beta service is $99 a month plus a $499 one-time fee for the equipment.
The future is a robot, yes they can climb, run and are singing and dancing up a storm
Meet Cleo, she’s a next-gen robot, that besides looking very human-like, with her realistic hair, skin, eyes, teeth and body movements, this robot can even do impersonations. Watch the Youtube video, below, from the company that created her, as she belts out a version of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.
Although she can in no way compare to the superstar artist, yet, the expressions and feelings are uncanny, while also a little creepy. It’s getting to be a shock to the system, watching how humans can engineer robots to do more and more life-like actions!
According to the company, Engineered Arts, Cleo is built off the Mesmer platform, its robot system for building lifelike humanoid machines that include sophisticated design components:
Firmware – Motor control for speed, position and torque
Software – For control of Animation, interaction, audio and lighting
Cleo was created, according to the company, with advanced technology for entertainment purposes. The future and scope of roles for robots appears to be limitless. AI and advances to robot technology can bring aids and have many useful purposes, particularly to help with challenges that have arisen and continue to arise as humanity tries to come to terms with its own uncertain future.
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Take Sophia the robot. Built by Hanson Robotics, the company has plans to mass produce these types of robots to collaborate with healthcare professionals and help during the covid-19 pandemic.
— Sophia the Robot | The Global Robot Ambassador (@RealSophiaRobot) January 25, 2021
Up next:
Dancing Robots from Boston Dynamics in sync with ‘Do You Love Me’
Cleo and Sophia aren’t the only Robots that can perform. The crew at Boston Dynamics, the company responsible for creating highly sophisticated robots that can tackle highly complex tasks, have a line of robotic “creatures” that have to be seen to be believed. Just a few challenges its robots are able to perform include: climbing rugged terrain, lifting heavy materials, and even helping doctors.
There is one more task that can be added to the list, they can learn dance choreography. The company shared a video of its three robots named Atlas (known for navigating), Handle (known for carrying heavy loads) and Spot (the dog robot) showing off impressive dance moves to the hit song from movie “Dirty Dancing”. Back in 2018, the company shared another dancing video of Spot grooving to ‘Uptown Funk’.
Odd facts that illustrate the world today where Elon Musk says BitCoin is “less dumb” than cash. He’s right. Cash also known a “fiat currency” is a piece of paper with a promise to pay on demand nothing in exchange when presented.
It does have a legal framework behind it, meaning you go to jail if you try to use your own version. There’s that.
The Tesla CEO said that investing in Bitcoin is a “less dumb form of liquidity than cash” after his company bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency.
“To be clear, I am not an investor, I am an engineer,” he said on Twitter. “I don’t even own any publicly traded stock besides Tesla.”
The idea that Tesla and other companies are having concerns over the stability of cash, and concerns over the effectively negative interest rates in the mean time is clear.
Bitcoin may not be a solution that will be permitted by the Government (think gold in 1934). But a reckoning is a-comin’ and it will get interesting.
There is no doubt that Elon Musk is a genius who is doing great things. Perhaps it is his genius for finance that is most underestimated, however, considering his funding success throughout the years.
Some stats:
Regulatory Credits, aka, Carbon Tax credits, as per CNN:
It’s a lucrative business for Tesla — bringing in $3.3 billion over the course of the last five years, nearly half of that in 2020 alone. The $1.6 billion in regulatory credits it received last year far outweighed Tesla’s net income of $721 million — meaning Tesla would have otherwise posted a net loss in 2020.
“Based on our calculations, we estimate that Tesla so far has made roughly $1 billion of profit [on Bitcoin holdings] over the last month…To put this in perspective, Tesla is on a trajectory to make more from its Bitcoin investments than profits from selling its EVs in all of 2020…” source: Wedbush’s analyst Dan Ives
SpaceX income in U.S. Gov contracts and subsidies:
LA times estimated that already by 2015 Various Musk led businesses took in over 4.9 billion in government income:
“Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support, according to data compiled by The Times. The figure underscores a common theme running through his emerging empire: a public-private financing model underpinning long-shot start-ups.” – LA Times
“The research note titled SpaceX: Raising Valuation Scenarios Following Key Developments, listed the company’s recent $1.9 billion funding round and the “continued momentum in winning government contracts” (mainly from NASA and the U.S Department of Defense) as key reasons for its revision of SpaceX’s value. The note doesn’t bother to mention important financial details like SpaceX’s current revenue or estimated revenue for 2020 or even 2021. Or whether SpaceX is profitable or not.”
According to @elonmusk "Bitcoin is almost as BS as fiat money." So Musk regards both #Bitcoin and fiat as BS. I agree, I just think Bitcoin, which is digital fiat, is even more BS than the paper fiat issued by central banks. #Gold is not BS. It's real money and better than both!
If four years of the Former Guy taught us anything, it’s that we have no time left for evil, soulless greed run amok
– Opinion & Analysis –
Recent attempts by politicians, beholden to the fossil fuel industry in Texas, to use the collapse of the energy infrastructure during the recent weather disaster as an opportunity to bash and trash wind and solar energy is an example of an unfortunate, banal and still common form of pure evil.
The deeper connections, easily seen lurking just beneath the surface, are rich and multilayered.
If this extreme weather disaster is one of many that are linked to climate change, a manifestation of dangers that climate scientists have been warning of for decades, the irony goes beyond just sick.
Wind and solar energy exist as an early and tentative positive step toward somehow stopping, or at least slowing down, the negative man-made climate change repercussions before it is too late.
The real reasons behind the Texas power grid collapse are related to traditional fossil fuel based energy sources and bad management of the energy infrastructure that can be traced back to an arrogant belief that Texas is better off without connections to the national system.
The local political response to this eminently preventable catastrophe was to bash and trash and blame the very technology that, ultimately, is part of a tentative start to actually begin to solve the bigger problem of man-made climate change.
…the time is gone to accept “two sides” to an argument that, by postponing any real solutions, will kill us all.
Just as the history of the internal combustion engine and the fossil fuel and auto industry’s attempts to prolong its near monopoly, using disinformation and other tactics for over 50 years was evil, the anti-sustainable energy politics in Texas today is just a continuation of that effort.
The time is gone to accept “two sides” to an argument that has one side trying, by attempting to postpone any real solutions, to kill us all, in the name of short term greed.
Under unique circumstances lending legitimacy to evil is too costly to condone
Looking at “both sides” of an issue is a practice based on a theory that “reasonable people” can disagree on diametrically opposed views. This idea is often suspended, however, by unreasonable people for their own reasons. That is sometimes called “war”.
Reasonable people, people, for example that understand climate science and want to prevent the total destruction of the earth and the extinction of all inhabitants, are often reluctant to suspend this idea of “good people on both sides” by their very nature as caring individuals.
“Now we need to understand that the “silence of one good man” can spell disaster for all good people. Each of us who remained passive as our impending disaster continued might have been the one “good man” who didn’t act, didn’t speak out, didn’t resist…
Now is a time when huge changes are going to be forced by an external and highly powerful and dangerous threats to our survival. The changes that are needed involve radically new ways of thinking and acting across many spheres of activity.
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New technologies, such as the aforementioned wind turbines and solar collectors, new forms of transportation, new ways of looking at other causes of, and remedies to, the excessive expulsion of carbon into the atmosphere will be absolutely required.
The truth is that for these new ways of thinking and acting to take over in human commerce the old ways must be cancelled. With extreme prejudice.
The past and those that want to go back to it are a lost cause, unfortunately
Many many “rich” people will be unhappy about this. And they will have politicians in their pocket that will gladly spread lies and disinformation to try and sustain the sick, evil gravy-train of polluting, carbon spewing systems as long as possible.
Sick and evil, not because those ways of surviving for humanity, burning fossil fuels and using them for a million different things that were a benefit in the short term, but because the short term is over.
The various arguments that somehow it is a good idea not to change and for the changes to slow down and not step on any toes as they gradually become “viable” have zero validity as of today (really as of 25 years ago but that’s water under the bridge).
Eventually the climate itself will kill them for their mistakes. Unfortunately it will also kill the rest of us if we allow them to continue to postpone positive change with lies and disinformation.
– D.L.
There must be an understanding among “reasonable” people, people who want to be part of an urgent crusade to save the world, literally, that points of view and the people who espouse them represent evil, plain and simple.
They will scream that reasonable people are “femi-nazis and “eco-terrorists” and say and do whatever it takes to protect what’s left of a deadly status quo. But they are wrong.
Eventually the climate itself will kill them for their mistakes. Unfortunately it will also kill the rest of us if we allow them to continue to postpone positive change with lies and disinformation.
“Every one of these people is the banality of evil personified. Every one of them became what Arendt called a “leaf blowing in the whirlwind of time.” Now every one of them bears responsibility for what could lie ahead.”
This change in thinking about how to respond to this kind of evil will be a more important factor in the survival of humanity than all the technological advances combined.
“World War III is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation.” – Marshall McLuhan (1970), Culture is Our Business, p. 66.
–Marshall McLuhan
“Info-wars” were predicted as the battlefield of WWIII by Marshall McLuhan in 1970 and now we are in it and there must be an understanding of what is at stake.
When disinformation is used as a perennial weapon against positive, necessary change it is necessary to do more than disagree. It is necessary to expose the lies and, more importantly, the obvious sick and criminal motives for the lies. Over and over as often as necessary.
Earlier in the year, Warner Bros. announced its plan to release ALL its 2021 movies in an unprecedented, unique hybrid, consumer-focused, yet very 2020 way. Releasing its films theatrically worldwide, while also adding exclusive access to the HBO Max streaming platform on the same day for a one month period (U.S. only).
For January, we got “The Little Things” , next up and currently available, “Judas and the Black Messiah” the Golden Globe nominated film for best original screenplay.
https://youtu.be/xhXFYEeiLSU
The historical dramatization follows FBI informant William O’Neal played by LaKeith Stanfield who infiltrates (and ultimately betrays, hence Judas) the Illinois Black Panther Party and tasked on following its charismatic leader Fred Hampton played by Daniel Kaluuya.
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Get ready for an entertaining showcase of hilarious yet predatory wickedness
Watch out for Marla Grayson in Netflix’s “I Care a Lot”, she’s truly bad, bad to the bone. The crooked legal guardian played by Rosamund Pike is all about the next opportunity.
Grayson and business partner Fran are hawks, able to easily identify rich powerless older clients. She traps them in her care by declaring them mentally incompetent and then drains all their savings.
Marla then meets her latest mark, Jennifer Peterson, played by Dianne Wiest who has a nice amount in her savings and no apparent living relatives.
This time around, she may have finally met her match, when up pops some unexpected baggage she was definitely not prepared for. Those that have watched the movie have called it “diabolical ruthlessness“, “unapologetically sour” and “a sleekly unnerving thriller“.
In addition to Pike and Wiest, the film stars Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, Alicia Witt, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Macon Blair. Available to stream starting February 19, 2021 on Netflix.
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