Teslas are the future, whether you like it or not.

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I'm not usually much of a fan of obviously marketing-based viral videos.  Generally videos that TRY to be "viral" succeed in only being annoying.  I will however, make an exception for this.  

Showing off the acceleration of the newest iteration of the Tesla Model S, this video shows the reactions of people being rocketed from 0-60 in the Tesla's new "insane" acceleration mode.  This, I would assume is something akin to launch control on your average supercar.   It's a fun video to watch, and it makes me want to take a ride in a Tesla (as the Tesla marketers would want).  But, I have a slightly deeper takeaway from all of this.   It's now clear that the future of the automotive industry is going to eventually be electric;  gas prices be damned.

It's not very long ago that the words electric car were synonymous with thoughts of slow, stripped down, lame vehicles that made a Toyota Prius seem like an exciting drive.  Now, we are facing a world where if you want real performance you are going to WANT to go electric.  Simply because electric motors driven at the wheel will be able to provide way more power and torque than any gas engine ever will.  You won't want to get an electric car to save the earth, you will want to get an electric car because you will smoke anything else on the road off the line.   Once you get the gearheads interested,  it's only a matter of time.

FCC: Blocking wifi in hotels prohibited→

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Hey look!  Something that proves the FCC can do the right thing once in a while after all!

Today the Federal Communications Commission ruled against Marriott who had started blocking the wifi signals of personal hotspot devices in it's hotels so that customers would be forced to purchase access from the hotel itself.   This isn't the FCC's first step in this fight though, as they fined Marriott $600,000 in October for the same offense.   This is just their way of putting a little force behind their words.   From the FCC's ruling:

“The Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend in which hotels and other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots on the commercial establishment’s premises,” the FCC wrote. “As a result, the Bureau is protecting consumers by aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawful intentional interference.
”Such action is illegal and violations could lead to the assessment of substantial monetary penalties.” ”

Apple Posts 4th quarter earnings→

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Here's the shock of the year.   Apple made a few more metric tons of money.  From Apple PR:

“Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2015 first quarter ended December 27, 2014. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion and record quarterly net profit of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $57.6 billion and net profit of $13.1 billion, or $2.07 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
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Ghostbusters 3 cast revealed→

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The Hollywood Reporter today reported on Director Paul Feig's twitter post naming the official  cast of the upcoming "Ghostbusters" reboot.

“The all-new, all-female Ghostsbusters are here. Melissa McCarthy, who was already in talks for one of the leads, has signed on for the Paul Feig-directed reboot, and Sony is now negotiating with Kristen Wiig as well as Saturday Night Live players Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.””

Honestly I'm not sure how to feel about the casting.   On one hand, the people here that I'm familiar with are hilarious.  And from my discussions with others today, I have it on good authority the others are as well.    Also,  Bridesmaids was a super successful movie,  and quite funny in its own right, despite the fact that it was just basically the female Hangover.    

On the other hand,  Paul Feig's biggest hit Bridesmaids, is just that;  An all-female ripoff of an established property.   The casting to me seems less to do with the requirements of the story and more to draw headlines.   Unfortunately, whenever I see PR trumping story in the world of movies,  more often than not the product we get is lackluster at best.   Also, I wouldn't call Feig's second McCarthy collaboration "The Heat" much of a success.

I'm hoping for the best here, but I have a bad feeling about this one.

Cablevision to offer Wi-Fi based mobile phone service→

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that New York area cable provider Cablevision is preparing to launch a Wi-Fi based mobile carrier.   The project is reportedly titled "Freewheel" and will offer Cablevision customers unlimited wifi based voice, data, and text for $9.99/mo.  

Considering how abysmally terrible their Long Island public Wi-Fi is,  I can't possibly see how this wouldn't be anything but a horrendous idea.  Even on a good day I have a difficult time connecting to any of the available Optimum wifi hotspots throughout Iong Island at any kind of reasonable speed.  How they think they can build a wireless network on that infrastructure baffles me.   I'll pass.

Star Trek: Axanar - Fan-films have come a LONG way.→

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Star Trek Axanar is a fan-production being put together by quite a few former Star Trek Cast and Crew members.   The video above is a small sample "documentary" of the universe they are working in,  covering the time between the end of Enterprise, and the beginnings of hostilities with the Klingons.   If this is the quality of production that can be expected in the final product, fans of Star Trek may have something to be excited about again soon.   Especially considering the abomination that was JJ Abrams' second Star Trek film.