Author: JD
New Fall Out Boy Song ‘Uma Thurman’ Is Best Yet From New Album
The latest “American Beauty/American Psycho” track samples “The Munsters” and references “Pulp Fiction.” Fall Out Boy’s new album drops Jan. 20, but at the rate they’re going, we might hear all of it by the time it’s in stores. And we’re not complaining! Today (Jan. 12) they released a new track called “Uma Thurman,” the sixth track shared so far from the 11-song American Beauty/American Psycho. Check it out: Fall Out Boy is one of the few rock bands these days bold enough to use samples prominently. Here it pays off big time, as Pete Wentz and company dig into the theme song from the ’60s sitcom The Munsters for a slick guitar groove and some brassy low-end thump.
FACEBOOK CONSIDERED INVESTING IN SMARTPHONE POWERHOUSE XIAOMI: REPORT
Facebook almost invested in Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, according to a new report from Reuters—but a deal never came to fruition. The discussions are said to have taken place during Mark Zuckerberg’s trip to Beijing in October—when the Facebook CEO made headlines for his fluency in Mandarin. At a private dinner, according to Reuters‘s sources, Zuckerberg spoke with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun about the political and commercial possibilities of a Facebook investment in the company, which might have given the social network a new foothold in China, where it is currently blocked from online usage. Despite Zuckerberg’s proven track record of bold bets on companies ranging from WhatsApp to Instagram, his considered investment in Xiaomi was reportedly “not huge.” Ultimately, the investment discussions never formalized—apparently due to Xiaomi’s concern that its dealings with Facebook might not only negatively affect its standing in China, but also that it could hurt its relationship with Google, which supports Xiaomi’s hardware through its Android mobile operation system. Not that Xioami needed Facebook’s capital. The company recently announced a $1.1 billion round of funding from investors that include Hong Kong-based tech fund All Stars Investment, private equity firm DST Global, and Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital. [via Reuters]
What Young People Must Know About Entrepreneurship
Do young people view entrepreneurship as a viable career option? Not according to a recent analysis by The Wall Street Journal that showed that only 3.6 percent of households headed by adults younger than 30 owned stakes in private companies. This figure represents a 24-year-low in young entrepreneurs. While media reports glamorize successful entrepreneurs such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, the WSJ article calls young entrepreneurs an “endangered species.” Competition is tough. Capital is scarce. The environment rapidly changes. Education is expensive. So what should society be telling young people about entrepreneurship? In November I was involved in an entrepreneurship discussion at Pathways Academy of Technology and Design in Hartford, Conn., along with some other business owners. The discussion was practical and informative, but afterward I realized that it might have done little to inspire and may have inadvertently scared off the high schoolers by emphasizing initial struggles. What do young people actually need to hear? Related: The Joy of Raising a Teen Entrepreneur 1. Youth matters. It’s been said, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Many entrepreneurs say they wished they started on their path sooner. Young people don’t need to wait for an opportunity or idea to hit them. They need to start building their future now. The sooner you start working toward a goal, the sooner your knowledge, experience and money start compounding. Later on in life, commitments can intrude. 2. Money adds up. It’s easy to want to divorce notions about launching a business from capital requirements to inspire young people. But it’s better to tell them how much money matters to a business so that they don’t head into life blindfolded. Many entrepreneurs finance their businesses on their own dime. A credit card can literally mean the difference between success and failure. Money, credit and funding matter to every kind of business. 3. Tenacity is significant. Young people might view certain businesspeople as somehow inherently different, especially outliers like Apple co-founder Steve Jobs or Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. Everyone has ideas, creativity and skills. But not everyone applies them consistently toward goals. Geniuses go broke. Rich people lose their money. The reality is that people are successful not because of what’s bestowed them but rather what they do with the gifts they have. Young people need to look within, find their strengths and make the most of them. 4. Education carries weight. Would Mark Zuckerberg have launched Facebook if he had dropped out of community college instead of Harvard? It’s likely that instead of showering his business with massive amounts of capital, top venture capitalists wouldn’t have met with him. The name brand of Harvard matters. Yet education is just one part of a businessperson’s path. Certain goals require education. Others don’t at all. It’s important to develop a realistic understanding of when and why education plays a role. Related: Girl Scouts Get Trendy With Gluten-Free, Greek Yogurt Cookies 5. Trends are significant. Entrepreneurship is now being taught like a subject. High schoolers and college kids around the country are developing ideas for businesses. It’s not surprising that many of these ideas are for mobile apps. But unless you’re launching an app right this second, apps are the past. In the early days of app development, people developing, say, a fake beer-drinking simulation app probably made a million dollars. But now the competition for apps couldn’t be higher. Instead of focusing on today’s framework for success, young people should be taught to pounce on and spot trends and think about the next 10 years instead of the past 10. 6. Concrete problems count. A guy near me opened a business straight out of high school hauling away dirt. Everyone needing their property grounds leveled or cleared called him and he built up a big customer base. He then started selling the dirt. Now that’s a business model: He got paid twice — and for dirt. Twenty years later, he’s reaped a fortune. With a media full of Zucks and Musks, young people might think successful businesses build only social-network, apps and rockets. The reality is all over, successful entrepreneurs have figured out how to turn dirt into gold. These stories should be shared. Entrepreneurship, above all else, solves problems. Look for problems and you’ll find answers.
A First Look at the 2016 Ford GT ft. 600+ HP
At this year’s Detroit Auto Show, Ford presented an all-new version of their famed GT. The mid-engine coupe is set to go into production in 2016 and is powered by a new twin-turbocharged Ford EcoBoost V6 with more than 600hp. The launch year was chosen specifically to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford GTs placing first, second and third at the 1966 Le Mans, and is set to arrive with rear-wheel drive, a mid-mounted engine and an aerodynamic, two-door coupe body shell. Carbon fiber and aluminum are used throughout, helping keep the weight down and benefiting acceleration and handling. The design, meanwhile, pays homage to the original GT updated with modern design cues that give it a sharper and more aggressive look. The car sits atop 20-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 tires, which feature a unique compound and structure designed specifically for the Ford GT.
This is how you smuggle 94 iPhones over the Chinese border
THS IS CRAZY!! A man has been arrested at the Chinese border for attempting to enter China with 94 iPhones strapped to his body, according to a Sina news report. A citizen of Hong Kong, the man had strapped rings of iPhones around his thighs, torso, calves, and crotch, using a combination of plastic bags and masking tape. Pictures show both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The phones have been seized and are currently being held by customs officials. The latest batch of iPhones have been available in China for months, but smuggling is still common for stolen phones, which are often easier to fence in Asia. According to the report, so-called “mobile armor” is a fairly common tactic for phone smugglers. Police noticed this particular smuggler due to “weird walking posture, joint stiffness, and muscle tension,” an obvious result of covering your entire body in touchscreens.
Common and John Legend Win the Golden Globe for Best Original Song – Motion Picture
I wanna say ever since I met @common,Derrick and @cubansoze,I learned the definition of being married to the journey,These guys created a sound, and a style of music and stuck with it.no matter if the records success was big or small,all on the radio or not,I never saw their attitudes change,nor did they start switching up they shit to try and fit in,they went harder!! this win tonight is confirmation,it might not come as fast as you want it,but it will come.once you fall in love with what you do,stopping is not an option,Congratulations!!!
M.I.A. Not Happy She’s In Diplo’s New Video
On Jan. 7, Diplo shared a 20-minute documentary video titled F10RIDA. It’s a retrospective that focuses on the early stages of his career, especially assembling its namesake 2004 album. But M.I.A. — Diplo’s former collaborator and girlfriend — revealed via Twitter that she’s not happy about appearing in the clip. Indeed, there are a lot of butts in the video, and since the M.I.A. has been on bad terms with the producer for some time, this isn’t surprising. Still, we liked getting a little studio footage of “Galang” and “Paper Planes” among all the booty-shaking. Billboard Cover: Diplo on His Katy Perry Connection, Madonna Collaboration and 8-Figure Lifestyle The video also features an interview with Will Ashon of the label Big Dada, which released F10RIDA back in 2004. The album was re-released in Dec. 2014.
REVIEW: BIRDMAN (OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)
4/5 Birdman Forever. 119 Minutes. Starring: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan & Edward Norton. Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu. “F###### boring”! That was the verdict the last time Michael Keaton was on the big stage in New York City. The Mecca of Madison Square Garden to be exact at the dawn of a new century in 2001. The biggest opening night in another display of theatres history. When the greatest basketball player of all-time, Michael Jordan returned to the NBA as his new Washington Wizards faced the New York Knicks for a return like no other. But between first game of the season rust, post-40 year old legs and those damn Knicks that was Keaton’s on-air, classic unrealised, live T.V. reaction to a BBC reporter asking him how the game was. It was just that boring. Pure comedy gold just comes out of the most random situations and that’s exactly the point here. As Keaton and director González Iñárritu play up the fact that the ‘Beetlejuice’ star is most famous for almost saying ‘Batman’ three times. This Gotham night, off-Broadway, off-beat, dark knight black comedy sets the stage as something in a whole new Academy this Oscar season. This stage show is no ‘Producers’, or ‘Artist’. Its just a whole, different animal altogether. No rap fans, ‘Birdman’ has nothing to do Baby and Lil’ Wayne, or Bruce Wayne for that matter. More like a more avian, Sesame Street like superhero with a voice that speaks to us and scares us more than Christian Bale as Keaton tries to put the spandex in the skeleton closet. Perhaps playing on the fact that this Bruce Wayne himself made it clear months ago that he didn’t really care about his caped crusader alter-ego, until he responded to Christian Bale’s admitted jealously of Ben Affleck by classically replying, “I’m Batman”! Pure comedy gold again. Still even in this superhero age, this satirical look at that and Hollywood still has The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man’s girlfriend amongst its co-stars, whilst our ex-crusader moves objects like Magneto. The is bat-s### crazy! Random irony again is the makings of a great joke and this one has the last, lasting laughs. What else do you expect when this film begins with Keaton meditating mid-air in some underwear that would do Bridget Jones’ mother proud? Only to meander around Times Square mid-play in the same bills for a classic moment in Cinema. Superheros haven’t been this epically embarrassed in the neon, commercial heart of the city since Electro caught Peter Parker with his pants down. From the typewriter, typography beginnings, the whole thing marches to a drumbeat that would do Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Late Night’ proud, filmed in one courageously creative running shot that would even leave Matthew McConaughey’s classic ‘True Detective’ scene pausing to catch its breath. As a matter of fact this sure-shot and love Playbill to New York and the stage is a thing of beauty. Flowing purely in instrumental rhythm, to crescendo into new heights of bittersweet comedy and dramatic stages set to the tone of an aging actor coming to terms with his profession and self. Its a perfect portrait in all its paint cracks. Suffering from a super, typecast case of cape fear and directing and starring in a play based off the whimsical notion of a cocktail devotion, Keaton’s character is tongue-in-cheek superb. He’ll leave a lump in your throat and a laugh in your belly. Showing the madcap comedy that made him a great, two by two addition to ‘Multiplicity’. Only to then get every critics attention by roasting a New York reviewer by bareing his and her very being over some barroom back and forth that’s anything but banter. So much so that he makes this aspiring critic that really wishes he was an actor want to put the pen down…because after all its just words. But all of these are for him with formidable fondness. Even with Wolverine and Rocket heroes like Hugh Jackman and Bradley Cooper making the New York Times with their theatrics in ‘The River’ and ‘The Elephant Man’ respectively, this is Broadway’s biggest hit right now. One that’s about to be a tour de force all the way past the star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, all the way to the flashbulb love of the Kodak Theatre mid-February. ‘Nightcrawler’ Jake Gyllenhaal, the ‘Fury’ of Brad Pitt and James Brown’s Chadwick Boseman better watch out, because there’s a new ‘Best Actor’ in town with a whole new bag of tricks for this trade. The supporting all get their nods too. The ever manically great Edward Norton will leave you green with rage and envy at his range as he plays a prick to point perfection. Emma Stone also breaks and warms your heart with a tragically funny performance as a daughter in rehab itching for the closeness of a nearer father figure. Figure the other women in Keaton’s life from the ‘Oblivion’ of the outstanding Andrea Riseborough to the ‘Gone Baby Gone’, stage vet Amy Ryan then you have more classic complexities to this stunning script. That’s before we even hear the lines read by the always screenplay pitch perfect Naomi Watts, or the funny, black comedy, darker depths Zach Galifianakis will go to in order to wake up from ‘The Hangover’ of just another Alan keyed in typecast. This whole thing just works as perfect as the seamless lack of cut. Its a wrap. Forget the preview, the review is hear and it reads all about a hit. The headline? ‘Birdman’ soars over New York City and everything else’. “I am Birdman” declares Michael Keaton too as anyone waiting in ignorance for something more finally sees here that patience really is the virtue of this bird call. What more do you expect? @timdavidharvey