Author: JD
Abandoned Star Wars Film Sets in the Tunisian Desert
OH SHIT !!! Visual artist and filmmaker Rä di Martino visited the Tunisian desert in order to capture the abandoned film set of the legendary Star Wars film series. The project began when the photographer learned it was common practice to leave film sets without tearing them down to let them crumble over time like ancient ruins. With a bit of luck and the help of a local police station, Martino was able to find what remains of Luke Skywalker’s childhood home and capture what you see above.
blackberry-bbm-app-ios-android-01
THIS MIGHT BE THE SMARTEST THING I SEEN ALL DAY BlackBerry today announced plans to make its ground-breaking mobile social network, BlackBerry Messenger, available to iOS and Android users this summer, with support planned for iOS 6, andAndroid 4.0 or higher. Upon release, BBM customers would be able to broaden their connections to include friends on other mobile platforms. BBM is loved by customers for its “D” and “R” statuses, which show up in chats to let people know with certainty that their message has been delivered and read. It provides customers with a high level of control and privacy over who they add to their contact list and how they engage with them, as invites are two-way opt-in. iOS and Android users would be able to add their contacts through PIN, email, SMS or QR code scan, regardless of platform. Android users would also be able to connect using a compatible NFC-capable device. If approved by Apple and Google, the BBM app will be available as a free download in the Apple App Store and Google Play store. Additional details about system requirements and availability will be announced closer to the launch.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” -Bill Cosby
Third Point’s Daniel Loeb Calling for Sony To Spin-off Entertainment Business
WHOA!!!!! Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who previously pushed for corporate changes at Yahoo, has called on Sony Corp. to spin off or sell a stake in its entertainment operations, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation. It said Loeb, whose fund Third Point has quietly acquired a 6.5% stake in Sony, also signaled that he would be open to taking a seat on the entertainment and consumer electronics board. The stake makes his company a big shareholder in the company. Sony’s entertainment business includes the Sony film studio, which has released the likes of “Skyfall,” and its music operations. Loeb suggested a spin-off of a 15%-20% stake of the entertainment business to Sony shareholders to sharpen the conglomerate’s focus, revive its electronics business and boost profits, the Times said. The paper didn’t provide further details. Loeb flew to Tokyo this past weekend for meetings with government officials and Sony executives, according to the Times. He hand-delivered a letter on Tuesday to CEO Kazuo Hirai that praised his team’s turnaround efforts, but asked for more changes. “While Third Point supports your agenda for change, we also believe that to succeed, Sony must focus,” Loeb wrote in the letter, the Times said. After the meeting with Sony representatives, the hedge fund billionaire told associates that he was impressed by Hirai and was supportive of Sony’s management, the Times said. His push for change is expected to face hurdles given that activist investors don’t have a track record of success in Japan. A spokesman for Sony told the Times he had no immediate comment on Loeb’s proposals. Last week, Sony reported its first annual profit in five years, helped by a weakening yen and some asset sales.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When you put fear behind the wheel, you’re bound to crash, but when you drive in faith the ride will be rough, but preceding into a journey of your lifetime.” -Anthony Liccione
WHATS EDDIE MURPHY’S FUNNIEST MOVIE ?
I WAS WATCHING “LIFE” AND I GOTA SAY, THAT MIGHT BE ONE OF THE FUNNIEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME,IT MADE ME START ASKING PEOPLE, WHAT YOU THINK WAS EDDIES FUNNIEST MOVIE,THIS WHAT I THINK,I THIS ORDER (MAMA DEE VOICE) HAAA
On-Demand Streams Now Count Toward RIAA Gold & Platinum
Emeli Sande (left), Cher Lloyd and Jason Derulo are among the first artists to receive RIAA’s Combined Digital Single Award Plaques. Credit: Jewel Box Platinun In an uncommon move to tinker with the formula used to certify Gold and Platinum awards, the Recording Industry Association of America on Thursday announced it has started to incorporate on-demand streams towards its calculations for certifying the prestigious awards. The change, only the fifth major alteration in the methodology since the inception of the program in 1958, is meant to recognize how important digital distribution has become and how technology has permanently altered the way people access music. The last time the RIAA altered its methodology was in 2006, when it added master ringtones. Two years before that, the organization began counting digital downloads. And prior to that, CDs and cassette tapes were added to the mix. Otherwise, the formula for Gold and Platinum certifications remained largely untouched — 500,000 unit sales for Gold, 1 million for Platinum and 10 million for Diamond. Among the on-demand streaming services the RIAA will accept are MOG, Muve Music, Rdio, Rhapsody, Slacker, Spotify, Xbox Music and others. In addition, video streams from MTV.com, VEVO, Yahoo! Music and YouTube will also count. Under the new formula, the RIAA will distribute awards to 56 new titles, including 30 Seconds To Mars’s “This Is War,” Emeli Sandé’s “Next To Me,” and Cher Lloyd’s “Oath,” Thursday night at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers’ annual Musiz Biz conference in Los Angeles. For the RIAA, deciding that on-demand streams should be recognized was the easy part. The hard part was in figuring out how many streams should be equivalent of a single sale. The group agonized for more than a year over that question, said RIAA Chairman and Chief Executive Cary Sherman. If it looked at, for any single song, how many on-demand streams would generate as much revenue for rightsholders as a download sale, the answer would be somewhere in the hundreds of thousands. The RIAA rejected that path because it would be “impossible” to arrive at a number, given that on-demand streaming contracts are confidential and can vary considerably, Sherman said. In addition, such contracts expire and change continually, rendering any formula based on current contracts obsolete in a short period of time. “We also felt that pure economics should not be the basis for acknowledging artistic achivement,” Sherman said. Instead, the group opted to rely on average consumption patterns — for every download of any particular song sold, how often is it also being streamed on demand? The answer: 100. Eleven new songs, including 30 Seconds To Mars’ “This Is War,” Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games,” earned first-time awards because streams tipped them over the marks.
2014 Refreshed Sprinter Van
SWAG!!!!! By Aaron Bragman More often than not, the only three-pointed star on a vehicle at any construction site is the real estate developer’s S-Class sitting by the curb, not a contractor’s truck romping through the dirt. But that slowly may be changing as Mercedes-Benz makes inroads in the commercial vehicle market with its latest and greatest Sprinter van. The versatile and increasingly popular Sprinter (which we recently highlighted in our video from the 2013 Work Truck Show) is a European-style van — meaning it’s tall, upright and exclusively diesel powered, a marked contrast from the traditional American-style full-size vans offered by Ford, GM and now Nissan that rely primarily on gasoline engines. Slow and steady growth for the South Carolina-assembled Sprinter has followed a push to create more than 200 dedicated Mercedes-Benz Sprinter dealers nationwide — separate showrooms sharing space with the brand’s luxury cars. Sixty percent of Sprinters are going to the construction trades market, according to Mercedes-Benz. With the U.S. market poised to see new European-style vans arriving from Ford (Transit) and Ram (ProMaster), Mercedes-Benz believes the time is right to forge ahead with plans to heavily promote the Sprinter. “We were the oddball for more than 10 years,” says Claus Tritt, Mercedes-Benz’ general manager for commercial vans. “Now with Ford and Ram introducing European-style products, we are the benchmark.” Mercedes-Benz recently held a media briefing at its emissions testing center in Ann Arbor, Mich., introducing the updated 2014 Sprinter and showing off a handful of the 80-plus outfitters that take part in the official Mercedes-Benz equipment program. Also on hand was a restored 1960 L319 Sprinter — a beautiful, classic model with around 40 horsepower and all the safety features of a shopping cart — to give some historical perspective on how far the Sprinter has come. The new Sprinter gets only mild styling updates for 2014, losing the high eyebrows and smiley-face look of the old model in favor of a more menacing, horizontal-themed appearance. LED running lights adorn the new headlights, which bear more than a passing resemblance to the units seen on the company’s luxury cars. The rest of the van’s styling, inside and out, is pretty much unchanged. Five versions will be available from Mercedes-Benz: a 12-passenger van, a basic cargo van, an 18-passenger minibus, a cab-chassis model and a four-passenger “crew” van — essentially a cargo van with an easily removable second row of seats. “This is our crew-cab pickup,” says Antje Williams, Sprinter marketing manager. Styling isn’t all that different, but the big news is under hood where Mercedes-Benz is supplementing the 3.0-liter V-6 turbo-diesel that carries over from the 2013 model with a new 2.1-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel as the standard engine. The smaller engine is rated at 161 hp and 265 pounds-feet of torque, considerably less than the 188 hp and 325 pounds-feet that the V-6 makes but still enough to easily motivate the truck, according to Mercedes-Benz, which says that the engine is popular overseas. The four-cylinder makes the most of that torque with the adoption of a new seven-speed automatic transmission; the V-6 continues to make do with a five-speed automatic. Mercedes-Benz claims that the new four-cylinder turbo-diesel results in an 18 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the already-efficient diesel V-6. Exact EPA numbers are not yet available.