How many of you remember the life changing epic film Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher? I don’t either. But reports say Hollywood is trying to make another biopic of the Apple co-founder.
Sony Pictures is the movie house that scrambles to captain this highly anticipated project. But drama already surrounds it. Director David Fincher is out due to money disputes and creative disputes. One is he wanted Christian Bale to play Jobs, but due to contract issues, that’s not happening. Now they’re talking to Danny Boyle about the directing job. Rumor has it Boyle is talking to Leonardo DiCaprio about the lead role. These two worked together in the 2000 movie hit The Beach. This movie is written by Aaron Sorkin. He wrote the mega hit The Social Network, even won an Academy and Golden Globe for best screenplay.
If they just have to give the Jobs biopic another try, this is a good way to start.? I hope the Fincher and DiCaprio do lead this upcoming movie. Remember how successful The Beach was? Whose to say the same magic can’t strike twice? I don’t know what went wrong with Kutcher’s Jobs movie, but I hope this one goes better. If Sony Pictures pull this new Steve Jobs movie off, will you watch it?
I said it once. It bears repeating. If you get any news on Facebook, especially about celebrity deaths, check other sources!
I was proven right. Yesterday as I scrolled down my Facebook page, I read about the alleged death of World? Wrestling Entertainment legend Undertaker, real name Mark Calaway. Right away, something didn’t seem right, and I figured it was another Facebook Hoax. I did a little more investigating, and I was right. Mr. Undertaker’s ‘death’ was a cruel hoax started on social media. These rumors claimed Undertaker died from a head injury suffered at Wrestlemania 30 on Sunday, April 13, 2014, during a match against Brock Lesnar. While he did suffer an injury during this brutal match, he was treated at a nearby hospital and released the next day. The Undertaker is alive and well, thank you very much.
This comes in the the wake of the real sudden death of Ultimate Warrior. He was a WWE Champion in the early 1990s. So was that their pull? When one pro wrestler really dies, now they want to follow that with some trick in hopes people will believe it? I must admit, when Warrior died, I checked mainstream sources to make sure it was true. At best, I want to think the people who published this Undertaker death hoax got really bad information. If that’s the case, learn a lesson. It’s always, always critical to check your sources and information. But I think something way more sinister is going on here. I think this was a deliberate attempt to fake someone’s death. If this was supposed to be a joke, I and millions of others didn’t get it. Did they think about this man’s family and friends when they spewed this hoax? I wonder if they will be legal ramifications because of this. There should at the very least be a very public apology from the hoaxers. I doubt it will happen. What should be done about this?
In Silicon Valley, there’s an unwritten code of ethics among tech billionaires. They’re supposed to be humble, careful, and at least pretend to care about the world. Someone forgot to tell Larry Ellison.
The founder and CEO of Oracle is the fifth richest man in the world, worth around 50 billion dollars. In September 2013,? he took part in America’s Cup, a race he sold to the city and he was the defending champion of. This race would cost a contestant $100 million to enter. At the same time, the Oracle Open World conference was happening. Thousands were expecting the CEO to be the main speaker. But an hour before he was to take the mic, the people were told, point blank, he’d rather be on his boat competing in the race. That’s where he was.
First of all, they could have scheduled this a little better. They should’ve known Mr. Ellison was going to pursue his $100 million hobby, and that’s exactly where he did. So I can’t fault Ellison for that one. Maybe they’ll do a better job with their scheduling. But there’s something refreshing about Larry Ellison. What you see is what you get. He appreciates his toys and enjoys the fruits of his labor. He doesn’t put on the goody goody face mask some techies do. When I read about how some billionaire or near billionaire donates X amount of dollars, the cynic in me wonders what’s the motive: are they really doing good or just trying to look good to pump up their own company profit. There’s an old saying: when you do good,?don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. I don’t think that will be a problem with Ellison. Plus, I’d always admired people who go against the grain. Isn’t that what Ellison is doing here?
As you know, today is the last day of Windows XP. I thought we could look back at some other technologies that have left us. Moment of silence, please.
10. Windows XP : It’s been around for 12 years. The following, Windows Vista, was a bust. It was so successful people didn’t want to let go. It’s over. Let it go.
9. Napster: This file sharing, and music sharing website was the target of jokes, lawsuits, and celebrity controversy. In December 2011, they were bought out by Rhapsody.
8. Floppy Disk: Can you believe between 1970-2000, this was the premier way to save and protect your files?
7. Pagers/Beepers: For those born after 1995 here’s how it worked: someone called your pager number. You called them back at your nearest land line phone, even a pay phone. That’s right: you wouldn’t know what a pay phone is either.
6. Commodore 64: For many in the 1980s, this was their first home computer. It ran a family only $595 (around $1,500 in 2014 dollars). An Apple that decade cost you $2,000, that’s in 1980s dollars.
5. Atari 2600: For many in the 1980s, this was your first home video game system. Forget Angry Birds and Halo; we were lucky to have Frogger and Pac Man.
4. Walkman: Headphones, cassettes, and the freedom to blast those racy lyrics your parents will never hear.
3. Personal Digital Assistance: In the ’90s, these electronic gadgets let you organize your so-called personal life. We have smartphones for that now.
2. Record Player/Turntables: This was the premier way of listening to music from the early 1900s-80s. Now, many DJs don’t even use them in the club. The Mac Book serves as their ‘wheels of steel’.
1. Record Stores/Video Stores: No more mega chain stores like Virgin, Tower, Blockbuster. Then again, who needs VCR’s, VHS’s? cassettes, or CDs?
I know I’ve talked about this many times, but I think it bears repeating. America’s viewing habits are changing. Cable TV is dying a slow death and online videos are taking over.
Now, Yahoo wants a piece on the online streaming pie. Rumors have it Yahoo wants to produce four comedy series, 10 episodes a piece, and with budgets in the millions per series. Before you send amateur videos made in your basement to Yahoo, they’re only interested in using experienced TV directors and producers. This is just one in many steps Yahoo is or has taken to boost ratings and revenue. They’ve hired former news anchor Katie Couric and actor/producer Alexandra Wentworth to host segments exclusive to Yahoo. Then there’s talk of acquisition of News Distribution Network Inc. for around $300 million.
Right now, Yahoo ranks fifth in online video properties, with nearly 45 million as of January 2014. But rival Google/You Tube is #1, with over 157 million videos in that time period. Their nearest competitor, Facebook, has over 84 million. So obviously, if Yahoo is trying to compete, they have a long way to go. But I think these are steps in the right direction. If I were CEO Marissa Meyer, I would host both professional and amateur videos. On one hand, you have well done and even Emmy worthy (House of Cards) programming that will attract viewers and advertisers alike. On the other hand, allowing amateur videos will give more people an equal playing field and to express themselves. And who knows how many stars will be born? Do you think Yahoo can successfully compete in the online video streaming market?
Silicon Valley celebrated the premier of the HBO sitcom Silicon Valley. It’s about a group of programmers struggling to make it big in the computer technology world. But one real life Silicon Valley player didn’t think this comedy is so funny.
According to founder and CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk, the show totally missed the mark on what Silicon Valley is really about. This Pay Pal co-founder criticized the fact none of the characters were software engineers. He elaborated how different Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are, but this show went over the top. Musk says this show didn’t even get close to the essence of that part of California. For example, he talked about the social scene in Silicon and compared it to Mike Judge’s portrayal, saying, “The parties in Silicon Valley are amazing because people don?t care about how they?re perceived socially, which I don?t think Mike [Judge] got.”
Let me just say, I’ve never been to Silicon Valley. The closest place I’ve been to was San Francisco, and this was the early 1990s, before Silicon Valley was really Silicon Valley. So I can’t tell you what the culture is like. But is something deeper going on here? Some people don’t like getting spoofed on. Some people just can’t laugh at something that hits so close to home. Some people at this viewing say the show did a great job capturing Silicon Valley. I’m anxious to see this sitcom myself to see who is right. To those of you who live, work or have any connection to this part of the world, did Mike Judge’s comedy truly capture Silicon V. culture? Or is Elon Musk right about this show?
