Lara Jade Cheap Camera Challenge
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DigitalRev is pretty much the Top Gear of photography, and their segments are usually fantastic. This is no exception. Enjoy!
FCC Changes the definition of broadband
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It seems the FCC is on a bit of a roll lately! Today they have reclassified the definition of "Broadband" internet access to service that is 25mbps or faster downstream. A significant raise from the previous definition of broadband at 4mbps. This will force a lot of service providers to increase their minimum speeds in order to continue referring to themselves as broadband providers. From the FCC:
“We are never satisfied with the status quo. We want better. We continue to push the limit, and that is notable when it comes to technology,” FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said. “As consumers adopt and demand more from their platforms and devices, the need for broadband will increase, requiring robust networks to be in place in order to keep up. What is crystal clear to me is that the broadband speeds of yesteryear are woefully inadequate today and beyond.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants to increase the minimum broadband standards far past the new 25Mbps download threshold, up to 100Mbps. “We invented the internet. We can do audacious things if we set big goals, and I think our new threshold, frankly, should be 100Mbps. I think anything short of that shortchanges our children, our future, and our new digital economy, Commissioner Rosenworcel said.”
That is a seriously impressive take from an agency that has been charitably called "innovation-averse" in the past. My question now is how strict are they going to be with ISPs that ADVERTISE speeds of 25mbps and then refuse to / are unable to deliver speeds like that.
I'm still holding out for Google Fiber to show up where I live eventually.
F*ck Boyhood.→
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One more reason for me to love just about everything RedLetterMedia does.
Wall Street's Unrealistic Expectations for Apple
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Apple has done nearly the impossible. From nearly going out of business in 1997; they have helmed a historic turnaround and as of this last quarter have made THE MOST profit of ANY company in HISTORY. Let that sink in for a minute, please. Apple has made THE MOST QUARTERLY PROFIT OF ANY COMPANY IN HISTORY. One would think that Wall Street investors would be satisfied with literally the largest profits in history. And yet, the Wall Street Journal today has begun the drums of expectation, not-so-subtly saying that Apple better keep up that growth curve lest they start the gloom and doom diatribe again.
I'm not really sure how anyone can expect huge growth from a company that has has already made more quarterly profit than anyone else. Quoting from the article:
“A year ago, Apple Inc. announced disappointing iPhone sales that seemed to confirm long-simmering concerns that the company’s best days were behind it.
Now, after reporting the largest quarterly profit ever for a publicly traded company, the question about Apple is very different: How fast can it grow and for how long? More specifically, do the results Apple posted Tuesday reflect a short-term blip driven by the company’s first larger-display phones or are they the start of a new growth trajectory?”
I don't pretend to understand Wall Street, but this obsession with growth over anything is anything but healthy. I understand that investors want the stock they invested in to go up, but to what end? I am starting to think that if Apple literally took in every last bit of money in the world, the next day's headlines would be about how Apple's "best days are behind them".
I have to give Tim Cook and Apple a LOT of credit. Managing the expectations of these lunatics has to be like herding cats. The fact that they've been able to do it so well for so long is a miracle. Maybe some investors will realize that making such ridiculous profits will mean that in fact the company they invested in is not actually going out of business tomorrow...
Maybe not.
Fantastic Four Trailer
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So it appears we've moved from all trailers being a copy of Inception's trailer ( BRAAAAAMMMMM ), to trailers being a copy of Interstellar's. I'm okay with that. How do I feel about Fantastic Four? That's a bit tougher. For a first teaser it looks pretty good. My only fear is that it seems to take a very Nolan-esque route in it's storytelling; going much grittier, more serious, more dour. For a franchise like Fantastic Four, oh I'm sorry "Fant4stic", I'm not sure if that is going to fly. Josh Trank's Chronicle was a pretty cool found-footage take on the superhero genre, and the dude has some serious filmmaking chops, but nothing I've heard about this project makes me the least bit excited for it. At least in this one Thing is made out of rocks and doesn't look like a goofy clay mask like he did last time. Holding my judgement on this until the full trailer.
INSPIRATION OF THE DAY - JAN 28, 2015
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Every day I like to take the time to highlight an image from the 500px Popular page that I found interesting, impressive, or inspiring. Today's image is "Monocurve" by Ted Gore. This is by far one of the most interesting landscapes I've come across in some time. Great use of leading lines, and a great eye for interesting composition. Enjoy!
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.