Author: JD
Google Is About To Make A Major Investment In Elon Musk’s SpaceX
Google is interested in investing in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The Information’s Jessica Lessin reports: “The purpose of a deal, which is still in the works, is to support the development of SpaceX satellites that could beam low-cost Internet around the globe to billions who don’t have it.” A source close to the alleged deal says Google “has agreed to value SpaceX north of $10 billion.” In 2010 the privately funded space company became the first private company to put a spacecraft in orbit then successfully return it to Earth. SpaceX has made a ton of progress in developing private spaceflight in less than a decade, and its longterm plans are mainly focused around developing reusable rockets and capsules that will ultimately drive down the cost of space travel. Now Musk tells Bloomberg Businessweek that his “Space Internet venture could one day stretch all the way to Mars.” “It will be important for Mars to have a global communications network as well,” he explains in the interview. “I think this needs to be done, and I don’t see anyone else doing it.” Recently SpaceX launched and landed a reusable rocket, but the rocket crash-landed on the target set up in the ocean. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-to-invest-in-spacex-2015-1#ixzz3PJQ5enXO
Meet the $1 Million Robot You Can Buy on Amazon
A robot that takes its cues from its operator’s facial expressions to shoot at enemies is now for sale on Amazon, suggesting that you can buy just about anything on the e-commerce giant’s website. While it’s unclear if the sinister shooting feature is for sale in this version of the Kuratas robot, a starter’s kit is being offered on Amazon Japan for a little more than $1 million. Standing nearly 13 feet tall and weighing five tons, Kuratas looks like something out of a Hollywood action movie. While it may have the feel of a tank, the gasoline fueled robot moves at a top speed of 6 miles per hour. What Elon Musk Says Could Be More Dangerous Than Nuclear Weapons
K-Pop Star Earnings Swell in Recent Years
The Korean wave is helping singers like Girls’ Generation and BIGBANG make big bank. Your favorite K-pop stars are making bank and largely have their international fans to thank for it. According to a recent report by South Korea’s National Tax Service, the average annual income for Korean singers rose to 46.74 million won (about $43,000) in 2013. That’s more than 72 percent rise since 2010 when the average earnings totaled around 23 million won (or $21,000). Girls’ Generation & BIGBANG Top, PSY Tumbles Down Forbes Korea’s Celebrity List The report says experts largely attribute the jumps to growing overseas activities that generate more international album sales and tours — 2014 saw the most K-pop concerts ever in America. It’s good news for Girls’ Generation and BIGBANG, the K-pop groups who placed at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on Forbes Korea’s 2014 Power Celebrity 40 list. But if those numbers still seem low for celebrity standards, that’s because they sort of are. The report notes that K-pop acts give a large chunk of their earnings to their managing agencies (some of whom house and feed the acts) while groups split earnings among band members. Meanwhile, Korean singers surpassed actors and TV personalities who earned an average of 37.18 million won in 2013 — a 12 percent increase from the 26.42 million won in 2010.
TLC Announce Kickstarter Campaign for Final Album
T-Boz and Chilli have given exclusive details about an upcoming TLC album they say will be the group’s last project. After the overwhelming response to the TLC biopic, the singers say they want to give fans what they have been asking for, and it will be all funded by Kickstarter. “Fans have even been sending ideas for what they want a new album cover to look like — they get so creative. They have so much love for us, and we thought, “We gotta do this, and we have to involve the fans.” They hope to get in the studio with TLC collaborator Dallas Austin, but say they do not think any unreleased Lefteye vocals will be included on the project. “Probably not, but I’m not going to say “no” because we’re open to it. But at the end of the day, everyone knows how much we love our sister. You go to our show, you feel her presence.” Read more below… Why did you decide to make this album using Kickstarter? It’s a combination of things. Our manager talked to us about Kickstarter long ago, and maybe he was just planting the seeds back then. Also, I got on Twitter later than most. I already had fans asking, “When are you coming back? We need more music!” Then once our biopic came out, the requests were just overwhelming. Fans have even been sending ideas for what they want a new album cover to look like — they get so creative. They have so much love for us, and we thought, “We gotta do this, and we have to involve the fans.” Before Kickstarter, were you talking to labels? Was it that you couldn’t agree on terms with them? That wasn’t it at all. We worked with L.A. Reid again when we did the movie — we did a song for the soundtrack (“Meant to Be”) and that was a good experience. We had a great time with him. But doing it this way, we have complete creative control. The only people we’ll be talking to and asking their opinion is the fans. That’s it. Doing stuff outside of the box is what TLC does. We came out of the box already out of the box. If we feel like we’re in the box, we’d go crazy. On FanMail, we had thousands of fans’ names inside the CD jacket, we dedicated the whole album to our fans, so this is not new to us — at least the fan involvement part. Kickstarter is perfect for us. It wasn’t something we heard about and just got to it. We did our research, met with the people at Kickstarter — they are brilliant, and they’re excited to work with us. We feel very good about this collaboration. So this is a TLC album, but Left Eye is obviously no longer with us. Will she be involved in any way, like unreleased recordings? You know, when we did the last album, 3D, during the time that she did pass away, the song “Girl Talk” was the only one that her rap was current — she did the rap specifically for that song. Before that, Lisa was working on her solo stuff and she wanted to go in a direction that was different from Left Eye with TLC. And we totally understood, respected and supported her, but a lot of that is different from the type of music that we do. At that time we were searching really hard to find stuff to go with songs we were working on to finish the [3D] album. So to answer your question, probably not, but I’m not going to say “no” because we’re open to it. But at the end of the day, everyone knows how much we love our sister. You go to our show, you feel her presence. via Billboard
Acer 15-inch Chromebook With 1080p Display, Core i3 Processor Announced
CES officially embarks on its trade show this week, which means announcements about the latest developments are going to start coming in. Acer is kicking off with a number of new products including the new IPS G-SYNC display as well as the all new Acer 15-inch Chromebook. Jerry Kao, president of Acer Notebook Business Group says “Acer has been a leader in the Chromebook market, from providing the latest in technology and trailblazing battery life to designing new form factors. We’re driving the category forward again with the world’s first 15.6-inch display Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 15.” The Chromebook 15 has a larger-sized 15.6-inch HD display and runs on Intel 5th Gen Core micro-architecture processor. It’ll be running either an Intel Core i3, or an Intel Celeron Processor depending on the configuration you choose. The sleek design of the Acer Chromebook 15 features a white fabric-like surface that gives the case a sophisticated look that is comfortable and ensures a secure grip. The device is also available with either a full HD display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution which ensures a wide viewing angle as well as vivid photos and videos or a 1366 x 768 panel which is a more budget-friendly model. Other configurable options include either 2GB or 4GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of solid state storage. As with all Chromebook’s, the Acer 15-inch Chromebook is made to be affordable: Prices start at $249.99, with a 16GB SSD drive and 2GB of RAM. Acer has included Bluetooth 4.0, the USB 3.0 port, USB 2.0 port and HDMI port. Acer advertises the Chromebook’s excellent audio and video capabilities saying, “it has two full-sized upward facing speakers for greater volume and clarity, which complement the display and provide exciting and realistic multimedia.” There’s also a front-facing HD web cam. Recommended for YouWebcast: Strategies, Tactics & Tools for Content Marketing in 2015 Additionally, Acer is updating its current Chromebook 13 to include touchscreens. The new finger-friendly Chromebook 13 will be available later this month, and is set to retail for $329.99. The Chromebook 13 runs on the NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor, and is a true powerhouse providing about 13 hours of battery life. Over all, the Acer 15-inch Chromebook is designed for customers who are looking for a simple to use environment which is ideal for sharing between multiple users. It also comes equipped with a Supervised User feature that helps children browse online in a safe, controlled manner.
Michael Jackson – You Can’t Win – The Wiz
JESUS!! THIS GUYS VOICE
Happy Anniversary!!!
1/18/00,15 years ago today,I released @official_je “JE HeartBreak”on @sosodef and this was the first project me an @bryan_m_cox ever worked on together,Happy Anniversary!!