Daily Archives: October 3, 2021

More Than 20 Blue Origin Employees Say It’s a Horrible Place to Work – Futurism

Posted: October 3, 2021 at 2:48 am

While Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is directly impeding NASAs efforts to get the first astronauts back to the Moon since 1972, the space company is facing some serious inner turmoil.

An essay signed by 21 current and former employees paints a bleak picture of what its like to work at Blue Origin,a company that the signers say is rife with sexism and often pushes employees to their limits.

Many of us have spent our careers dreaming of helping to launch a crewed rocket into space and seeing it safely touch back down on Earth, the employees wrote in the essay. But when Jeff Bezos flew to space this July, we did not share his elation. Instead, many of us watched with an overwhelming sense of unease. Some of us couldnt bear to watch at all.

Alexandra Abrams, the former head of Blue Origin Employee Communications and the only former employee whose name appeared on the letter, was dismissed for cause in 2019 after repeated warnings for issues involving federal export control regulations, Blue Origins vice president of communications Linda Mills told CNBC.

Ive gotten far enough away from it that Im not afraid enough to let them silence me anymore, Abrams told CBS.

Its a turbulent time for Blue Origin, a company that is actively seeking to overturn NASAs decision to chose SpaceX for developing a Moon lander. Bezos sued the space agency over the decision last month, causing plans to return astronauts to the Moon to be put on hold.

The last couple of months, since Jeff Bezos went to space, have been shockingly terrible for his space companys public image,Ars Technica space reporter Eric Berger wrote today. They have fallen so far, so fast, its difficult to really wrap my head around it.

Its also not the first time weve heard about harsh working conditions inside Blue Origin. Last year, employees spoke out about being put under immense pressure to launch the companys New Shepard rocket during the COVID-19 pandemic, as The Verge reported at the time.

The new revelations paint a dire picture of the working conditions inside Blue Origin. In the essay, the employees argued that the companys culture and work environment reflects the worst of the world we live in now, and sorely needs to change.

The former employees also mentioned several instances of alleged sexual harassment including by senior level managers inside a company run by an overwhelmingly white and male workforce.

Blue Origin also failed to consider the environmental impact of its operations, the former employees wrote. We did not see sustainability, climate change, or climate justice influencing Blue Origins decision-making process or company culture, the essay reads.

The letter also claimed that teams are stretched beyond reasonable limits, leading to compromises in flight safety of the companys New Shepard spacecraft.

The company was also reportedly very stingy with its resources. Employees are often told to be careful with Jeffs money, to not ask for more, and to be grateful,' reads the letter.

It should not take loss of life to turn our eye toward what goes on behind closed doors at space companies, the essay reads. Lack of rules and regulation has helped the commercial space industry thrive, but the time has come now that the public is boarding flights to allow accountable oversight.

Worse yet, all employees were apparently asked in 2019 to sign new contracts with a non-disparagement clause binding them and their heirs from ever saying something that would hurt the goodwill of the company,' according to the former employees.

Blue Origin maintains that the company has no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind, Mills wrote in her statement to CNBC. We provide numerous avenues for employees, including a 24/7 anonymous hotline, and will promptly investigate any new claims of misconduct.

All told, the former employees lay out some pretty serious allegations. Blue Origins PR department has its work cut out for it especially given the companys already tarnished reputation.

READ MORE: Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is a toxic workplace, some current and ex-workers claim in essay [CNBC]

More on Blue Origin: In Newly-Released Documents, NASA Scoffed at Jeff Bezos Moon Lawsuit

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The New adidas Ozrah is Getting A Futuristic Carbon And Core Black Pairing – Sneaker News

Posted: at 2:48 am

Born in the 90s, the adidas Ozweego continues to be a beloved silhouette known for its futuristic, chunky style. The Three-Stripes Brand takes the Ozweego to the next level by introducing the adidas Ozrah, which will soon be seeing a sleek purple and black pairing.

A dusty lavender dubbed Carbon tints the neoprene-like upper, which is wrapped by a black TPU cage. The wavy lines of the TPU elements and its cage-like design bring about a bold 360-degree look. To continue the space-age aesthetic, the heel features translucent wire-inspired details while branding on the tongue opts for a bubbled delivery. Even the sole exhibits a unique appearance as a chunky unit that sees perforations at the heel. A Carbon-tinted outsole rounds out the futuristic style for yet another impressive arrangement by adidas.

Enjoy official images of the adidas Ozrah below, which will hit adidas.com and the listed retailers on October 3rd at a price of $130.

For more by the Three Stripes, check out Kawasakis Ninja-inspired adidas ZX 8000.

Where to Buy

Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.

Mens: $130Style Code: H04206

After MarketAvailable Now

North AmericaOct 3rd, 2021 (Sunday)

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David Cronenberg is ready for the terrifying future, as both director and actor, too – The Globe and Mail

Posted: at 2:47 am

David Cronenberg plays Spencer Galloway, a megawealthy, cruel patriarch of a dysfunctional family, in Slasher: Flesh and Blood.

Cole Burston/Handout

Over the years, David Cronenbergs oeuvre and his persona have fused into something, well, Cronenbergian.

In the films he writes and/or directs his earlier, squishier output (Scanners, The Fly); his 1990s mindbenders (Naked Lunch, eXistenZ); his more recent, human-nature-is-scary-enough work (Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method); and his most recent, the evolution thriller Crimes of the Future, which he shot this past summer hes a neo-existentialist.

I think the human body is what we are, Cronenberg, 78, said in a phone interview last week. When it dies, were dead. Theres no afterlife, no God. We have to come to terms with that. The subject matter of all art is the human condition, and for me thats a physical thing. So its inevitable that my filmmaking is going to involve the body in a very intimate and impactful way.

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In his real life, Cronenberg is gentle, courtly, intelligent. He projects an air of unflappable civility. His gaze is calm and unblinking. His voice is as mild and pleasant as butter scratching across white toast.

We shot Crimes of the Future in Athens during an intense heat wave, 45 degrees, wildfires burning on the horizon, Don McKellar, who plays a bureaucrat in the film, told me in a separate phone interview. Davids ability to maintain calm and keep his sense of humour was remarkable. His movies are so personal and idiosyncratic, you expect a kind of autocratic vision, but it doesnt feel like that on his set. Hes incredibly engaging, personable, nonhierarchical. He inspires trust and loyalty. Douglas Koch, the director of photography, remarked to me that David should set up a school on how to make movies. Not just technically, but how to make them enjoyable to work on.

Cronenberg's most recent thriller, Crimes of the Future, was shot this past summer in Athens.

Cole Burston/Handout

When Cronenberg acts, however, the characters he plays morph with the person he is to create a delicious uneasiness. No matter the role, were also watching him and we know how his mind works. We see the skull beneath the skin. Think of his silken assassin in To Die For, his ungodly reverend in Alias Grace, or his scientist in Disappearance at Clifton Hill, where his mere entrance, flapping out of the water in a frogman suit, elicits nervous titters from an audience.

No wonder the creators of the anthology series Slasher wanted Cronenberg to headline their fourth season, Flesh & Blood. The minute we announced his casting, fans began direct-messaging me to say how much he freaks them out, Slasher writer Ian Carpenter said in a joint Zoom interview with showrunner Aaron Martin. (Season four premieres Oct. 4 on Hollywood Suite.)

Cronenberg plays Spencer Galloway, a villain who could not be more on trend: a megawealthy, cruel patriarch of a dysfunctional family, a la Brian Cox in Succession and Donald Sutherland in Trust. In the Galloway family, however, dysfunction includes dismemberment. Spencer, who is dying, sets up an elaborate competition among his potential heirs; only the winner inherits all. Meanwhile, a killer stalks the isolated family compound as players are eliminated from the contest, theyre also eliminated from Earth, in grandiosely grotesque ways.

I got to do things Ive never had a chance to do, in acting or in life, Cronenberg said gleefully. I got to yell at people and say foul things to my children. I said to my own children, You see how I could have been? It was a lot of fun. It was cathartic. I loved it.

David brought intellectual ferocity to his character, but this lovely energy to the set, Carpenter said. We shot these long dinner table scenes; the actors sat there for much of the day. In between takes David told story after story. We had rich writing conversations, about how he comes to his work as a writer first. He celebrates the stuff that everyone else wants to turn away from, be it behaviour, or things in the body. He has no shyness, no reservations about exploring anything.

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Crimes of the Future sounds like vintage Cronenberg. He wrote the script in 2000, but it sat untouched until producer Robert Lantos convinced him it was timelier now than ever. Its set in a near future where nature and evolution have spun out of control. Some humans, including a performance artist played by Viggo Mortensen, are adapting by growing new organs or merging with technology becoming transhuman. Some are evolving past pain, able to operate on themselves. Others resist, including McKellars bureaucrat and his colleague, played by Kristen Stewart.

David is exploring the limits of what it means to be human, McKellar said. Does our identity transcend the body? Its an incredibly rich question, tied into our cyber lives, how were transferring our inner lives to technology, incorporating our online life into our personalities. Wheres the line? Does the authentic self mean anything anymore?

Creators of the anthology series Slasher got Cronenberg to headline their fourth season, Flesh & Blood.

Cole Burston/Handout

Not surprisingly, Cronenberg is a tech-embracer. In the 1940s and 50s, technology was often conceived of as something that came from outer space, menacing and inhuman, he said. But for me technology is 100 per cent human it reflects back to us what we are, its an extension of ourselves. Im listening to you through my hearing aids, which are streaming directly to my phone. Those are my ears now.

Like all Cronenberg projects, Crimes of the Future took years to finance. Its conservativism, he said. If youre doing anything outside the mainstream that seems to be risky not transgressively risky, but risky in terms of audience reaction its hard to get made.

He hoped that streaming services would be much more radical, but an experience with Netflix proved otherwise. He went to their Los Angeles office and pitched three of their top executives on a series called The Shrouds (which he still hopes to sell, so thats all hell say). They paid him to write two episodes, but didnt green light the series.

My experience with them was exactly my experience with studios, Cronenberg said. Theyre bright, literate, they know stuff. But underneath theyre afraid. They say, We love your work. Then you give them something, and they say, We want to work with you, but not on this.

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Whats remarkable is what David can get made, McKellar countered. Im sure hes explored the limits. Hes never pandered to commercial audiences, even with his most commercial stuff, like The Fly. Im sure its always been a struggle. But somehow hes maintained his career without compromise and thats amazing.

Ive learned so much from him about how a career in Canada as a filmmaker is possible, McKellar continued. How to maintain integrity, to adhere to and expand your vision. I can think of no one whos done that better.

As our time ran out, I asked Cronenberg one last question: if were our bodies and nothing more, how does he feel about being 78? Things are going on with my body, he replied. Im not as flexible, Ive got aches, strange neurological pains that happen for no reason. But it hasnt altered my understanding of life and death. I think I anticipated it relatively accurately, even from my youth.

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‘Leave no trace’ is the rule for outdoors conduct – SC Times

Posted: at 2:46 am

Scott Mackenthun| Special to the St. Cloud Times

Minnesotans have flocked to the outdoors during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Some were regular participants who have always spent time outdoors;some are lapsed participants who are rediscovering the tremendous benefits of outdoor recreation;and a third grouping are the new recruits folks who dont have backgrounds in the outdoors at all and are seeing Minnesotas great outdoors in many places for the first time.

The outdoors is a place where everyone should feel welcome. But it is also a place that deserves respect and requires its visitors to follow some basic rules. Based on the accounts of bad behavior and poor etiquette seen locally and nationally in 2020 and 2021, it seems that some folks need a reminder of a few things when they get outside and into nature. Just like in kindergarten, where you learned the golden rule of treating others as you want to be treated and have carried that idiomatic rule throughout your lifetime of interpersonal relationships, there is a simple rule that should govern your behavior outside.

Leave no trace covers just about everything in the code of human conduct while outdoors.

Stay on designated trails. Unless you are going to a wilderness area or a wildlife management area that promotes disbursed recreation, most places have trails, and managers implore you to keep you on said trails. When you get off trail, you disturb vegetated sites and have impacts to flora and fauna. Stay on the trails. Leave no trace.

Dont vandalize park property. Seems pretty obvious. No one needs to see graffiti or your initials in a wood bench, or stickers on signs. Dont cut down trees to construct forts or to make your own firewood. Leave no trace.

Keep fires in designated locations only. Its amazing how many leftover fires are found in places they dont belong. Unless you are in a back country area where its specifically allowed, most places want fires in fire rings only. With how hot and dry this past Minnesota summer was, its amazing we didnt have more manmade fires. Leave no trace.

When you go to some places with remarkable natural beauty, do your best to keep it that way. Get your picture or take in the view, then move aside for others to do the same. Dont hog the good viewing areas and dont start stacking rocks up to make your mark. Too many trails, trailheads, stream crossingsand beaches are getting filled with rock cairns. When you start stacking cairns, its a sign to me that youre inexperienced outdoors. Leave the rocks alone; youre messing with microhabitats that are important to birds, fish, insectsand small mammals.

See some wildlife nearby? Great. Admire it from a distance. It seems like foolishness is rewarded these days when people make the news for taking selfies by bison and grizzly bears and then wonder why they are being gored or charged. It isnt just the big, dangerous critters that deservesome space. Respect nature and give her some space. Leave no trace.

When youre loading up gear at a BWCA portage, grabbing gear at a trailheador unstrapping the boat at the public launch, get out of peoples way as you start. Its a courtesy to others to stay out of the way as you get things ready. Once you have everything ready, then embark and take to the trail or launch.

Finally is the issue of rubbish. How can people come to these beautiful natural areas, and leave so much waste behind? Its a very simple rule if you pack it in, pack it out! Any wrappers, containers, bottles, cans, dog waste, garbage ... take it with you! Dont expect someone to grab it for you or for the parks department to put out a trash can. Take it home with you and dispose of it properly. Leave no trace.

To those who have been leaving no trace and are good ambassadors to the outdoors, keep up the good work. But moving forward, outdoors folks need to start policing ourselves. Speak up when you see bad behavior. Natural Resources and Parks Enforcement is stretched far too thin to respond to the huge outdoor exodus that is happening in COVIDtimes. There is plenty of room for everyone outdoors, and all should feel welcome. We just need everyone to be respectful.

This is the opinion ofoutdoors columnistScottMackenthun. You can follow him on Instagram @scottmackenthunand on Twitter @ScottyMack31.

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Don’t Watch TV This Way, Experts Warn | Eat This Not That – Eat This, Not That

Posted: at 2:46 am

We're in the golden age of TV, they say. Never before has so much content been so good. And with thousands of streaming options, there has never been so much. Binge-watching TV during the pandemic may have kept most of us occupiedand saneduring periods of social isolation, but now it might be a good idea to change your viewing habits. That's because it's possible to watch TV the wrong way, and making any of these five mistakes can leave your body less than golden. Read on to find out moreand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You May Have Already Had COVID.

Being a couch potato doesn't just affect your weight. A 2019 study found that people who spent more than two hours a day sitting and watching TV had a 70 percent increased risk of developing colorectal cancer at a young age. "Being active can help improve your hormone levels and the way your immune system works," says the American Cancer Society. Experts recommend that for overall health, all adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise) each week.

RELATED: Over 40? Stop Doing These Things Immediately, Say Experts

A study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Health found that binge-watching TV was associated with a higher risk of dying of inflammatory conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer's and diabetes. Each added hour of viewing was associated with a 12% increased risk of death. Not only is binge-watching encouraging us to be more sedentary, it can cut into sleepwhich alone is a risk factor for several health problems.

RELATED: Proven Ways to Add Years to Your Life

Back in the day, grandmas everywhere warned kids against sitting too close to the TV screen"you'll go blind!" they warned. That didn't happen, but today experts say that getting too much exposure to blue light can age you faster. A 2019 study published in the journal Aging and Mechanisms of Disease found that blue light could damage cells in the brain and eyes. To avoid this, the researchers recommended getting as much natural light as possible, wearing blue-light glasses to block emissions, and limiting your screen time. And it might be a good idea not to multi-screenwatch TV while scrolling your phone or computerwithout those blue-blockers.

RELATED: This Decreases Your Risk of Dementia Considerably, Study Finds

On the sleep tip: Research by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that blue light emitted from electronic devices like your computer or LED TV can inhibit the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, which can result in poor quality sleep or insomnia. The National Sleep Foundation encourages setting an episode limit and not watching anything action-packed right before bed; the golden rule is to avoid glowing screens of all kinds 30 minutes before turning in.

RELATED: This Trick Can Make You Younger in 8 Weeks

"Distracted eating"having a meal or snack while glued to your phone or watching TVcan encourage you to overeat. "If you aren't mindful of what's going into your mouth, you don't process that information," says Harvard Medical School. "That means it doesn't get stored in your memory bank. And without a memory of having eaten, you are more likely to eat again sooner than you might have if you ate mindfully." And to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don't miss these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.

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Here are 3 rules to help grow your wealth | Money Talks – KCENTV.com

Posted: at 2:46 am

Adhere to these 3 wise principles when it comes to money and you will grow your wealth.

TEMPLE, Texas What if there were just a few rules that if you adhered to them financially, your life, when it comes to dollars and cents, would be just great?

That's why we're here with Money Talks! The rules to make you wealthy and make you financially healthy are here. There are basically three that you need to follow.

Rule number one, with how easy it is to obtain credit these days, don't spend more money than you make.

Financial Planner Rolandus Johnson stressed that one.

"Whooo, that's the biggest one. That's like the big golden rule right there. And again, you make your money, you work hard for it and you want to spend it," Johnson said. "I understand that and we're all at times prisoners of the moment. But you know we always talk about financial freedom and the guys and the girls that are doing it right, they never spend more than they make."

Once you spend less than you make, move onto rule number two. Johnson said that is to consider your retirement a bill that you are always paying.

"The best thing to do is to pay yourself first. Not only that but look at your goals and readjust your goals at least annually," he said. "That is something that I preach consistently to all of my clients. Pay yourself first, set a goal, review it, at least annually and if you would, adapt those goals as your situation changes."

That brings us to rule number three. After you pay yourself, do smart things with that money.

"Stick to a plan. If you're going to put a hundred dollars away, invest it somewhere," he said. "And another short little saying that we use in the financial world is that Time in the market is more beneficial than trying to time the market. So there's no great time to get into the market, always just get in, once you get in, stay in, and you're nine times out of 10 going to win."

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Tory party conference: PM will try to turn a troublesome backdrop to his advantage – Sky News

Posted: at 2:46 am

The golden rule of Boris Johnson's Conservatives is that an otherwise disparate party is at its most happy when it's talking about Brexit and its consequences.

At times of stress, it's the trump card the PM routinely reaches for. Given the stage of the country, expect it to feature heavily during the party conference.

As the prime minister heads to Manchester in what would conventionally be an extraordinarily troublesome backdrop - fuel shortages, supply line disruption, containers mounting up at ports, food shortages for months, lack of medicines in pharmacies culling pigs where they live rather than in slaughter houses due to a lack of labour meaning they become pet food not pork - he will seek to turn this to his advantage.

Mr Johnson wants to boil this down into an argument over migration he believes he can win - the Tories will continue to control numbers coming in from overseas in the hope competition drives up wages, Labour would let in more workers from abroad to fill the vacancies, undercutting domestic workers.

It is a bold gambit, not without its risks. No matter the argument doesn't fix the problems at hand or fill empty shelves. No matter that his government has had to increase visa numbers and relax conditions to entice migrant labour twice in a fortnight. No matter that Labour is not actually proposing a return to free movement or unlimited migration, though he is helped by their line being inconsistent. No matter that some economists would argue constraining labour supply when inflation is rising could lead to a stagnant economy.

The argument over the involvement of Brexit will be nuanced, and he won't say the shortages are a consequence of it. Instead he will make clear Brexit allowed the ending of free movement which stops overseas low-wage migration being part of the solution under his government.

Mr Johnson believes he has found a politically-winning dividing line up to a 2023 or 2024 election, so expect to hear variations of it from the conference podium and fringe events through the week. If he can show by the time of the next election wages have risen, he believes voters will thank him.

The prime minister's business secretary gave a foretaste of the argument in a pre-conference interview with Conservative Home.

Kwasi Kwarteng put the supply line crisis, flashing amber and red in different sectors in the briefings for minister, down to a "transition" as the UK "rejects a low-wage high immigration economic model".

He goes on: "You're quite right to say people are resisting that, particularly employers that were benefiting from an influx of labour that could keep wages low," in remarks that will leave many industry associations reeling.

And what if the shortages cause disruption? "All you can do, other than take various emergency measures, is tough it out," said Mr Kwarteng.

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Faced with a crisis, this prime minister loves nothing more than to try and "tough it out", so expect little backing down at conference, but if Christmas retail is disrupted in the way some predict, it could still be a choppy autumn for the Conservatives. But first he wants to use the extraordinary platform which Manchester affords.

The prime minister is entering Tory conference in as strong a position as any Conservative leader since David Cameron in October 2015. The Conservatives are eight percentage points of Labour in YouGov's latest poll. The party enjoys huge leads in everyone over 50, with three times as many over-65s voting Tory as Labour. Almost nobody who voted Tory in 2019 says they will vote Labour now (at 2% this figure is within the margin of error of zero) with four times as many voters deserting to Richard Tice's right-wing Reform party.

That does not mean that Mr Johnson is in an unassailable position. Slowly Sir Keir's ratings have been catching up with Mr Johnson's in the YouGov tracker. Some 52% said they disapprove of the government compared to 26% approving. It would not take much volatility for 'red wall' MPs, elected because Labour got the worst defeat since 1935 in the 2019 general election, to start to wobble. Politics can spiral.

This is not happening yet, and almost certainly will not happen in the confines of the Manchester Conference Centre. Tory MPs I've spoken are asking little more than that the prime minister empathises with cost of living pressures in his speech. Mr Johnson's reshuffle confirmed he rules his party now, beholden to no one, hearing little meaningful dissent and happy to promote potential future rivals who can all compete to succeed.

So expect Manchester to be an Instagram beauty pageant, of Rishi Sunak's diffident one-liners pitted against Liz Truss intoning to the ideologically faithful, all beautifully presented in picture form. Try and spot the work being put into the brands of people who consider themselves contenders to the Johnson throne while also waiting for Michael Gove to hit the dancefloor again.

With the lobbyists cooing compliments and the faithful cheering, the Tory party conference is a long way from the real world. Mr Johnson will want to enjoy it.

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Readers’ Choice 2021 winners announced – The Andalusia Star-News – Andalusia Star-News

Posted: at 2:46 am

The Andalusia Star-News is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 Readers Choice contest.

The contest began in June with a new digital format that greatly increased public involvement. The first phase of the contest provided readers to nominate their favorites in a variety of categories. The top nominees were then entered into a digital ballot where the public voted between the nominees to determine winners in each category. The voting phase began August 2 and concluded on August 21.

The new digital format led to 2,042 nominations and a total of 36,590 votes, which are huge increases from the previous print version of the contest.

All of us at the Star-News are excited about the level of participation in this years Readers Choice Awards. The digital format opened the door to greater involvement and input from the community. There was a learning curve for our staff as we worked through the process and we already have ideas to improve next years contest. We want to thank everyone who participated and congratulate this years winners, said Star-News Publisher Robert Blankenship

This years winners are:

Dining

All Around Restaurant

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Big Mikes Steakhouse

Bakery

Winner: Cakes by Butta

Runner-Up: Deans Cake House

BBQ

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Crows Nest

Biscuits

Winner: Hardees

Runner-Up: Harts Country Store

Breakfast

Winner: Huddle House

Runner-Up: Halls Country Store

Buffet

Winner: Tabby Ds

Runner-Up: Happy Kitchen

Burger

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Big Mikes Steakhouse

Carry Out/Take Out

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Firehouse Subs

Caterer

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Wing Queen Palace

Chicken Wings

Winner: Wing Queen Palace

Runner-Up: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Coffee

Winner: Bluebird Coffee Co.

Runner-Up: Java Time

Country Cooking

Winner: Tabby Ds

Runner-Up: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Dessert

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Tabby Ds

Ethnic Dining

Winner: Samurai Japanese Steakhouse

Runner-Up: Ophelias Italian Restaurant

Ice Cream

Winner: Dairy Queen Grill & Chill

Runner-Up: Sonic Drive-In

Iced Tea

Winner: Davids Catfish (tie)

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill (tie)

Runner-Up: Tabby Ds

Mexican Restaurant

Winner: Rancho Grande Grill

Runner-Up: Amor & Tacos

Pizza

Winner: Little Caesars

Runner-Up: Pizza Hut

Ribs

Winner: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Runner-Up: Crows Nest

Sandwich Shop

Winner: Steamboat

Runner-Up: Firehouse Subs

Seafood

Winner: Hilltop

Runner-Up: Davids Catfish House

Steaks

Winner: Big Mikes Steakhouse

Runner-Up: Golden Rule BBQ & Grill

Health & Wellness

Audiologist

Winner: Beltone Hearing Care

Runner-Up: Miracle Ear

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Student ticket pulling needs to go | Opinion | thebatt.com – Texas A&M The Battalion

Posted: at 2:46 am

I want you to imagine the following scenario:

You wake up, the sun is still rising and theres that eerie silence outside of a city thats still mostly asleep. Youre exhausted and full of regret for not going to bed earlier. Sluggishly, you dread what you know will be hours wasted of your day standing in obnoxiously long lines. Maybe it wont be that bad this time, you think to yourself.

You arrive at your destination to a sight of lines stretched for what seem to be miles. After choosing which line seems to be the shortest, you wait for hours to be met by snarky workers who make the oh-so-pleasant experience you just had even more enjoyable. Hastily, you get what you came for and get out as soon as possible.

Where did your imagination take you? Plausible answers would be getting something at the Department of Motor Vehicles, voting in a presidential election or getting the newest iPhone the day it comes out. Unfortunately for Aggies, all those answers are incorrect. The scene I set was getting a student ticket for a Texas A&M football game.

Ive experienced this too many times, and my hours of waiting in line have left me plenty of time to think about the whole process. The conclusion I have come to is that the ticket pulling process the 12th Man Foundation has created is outdated, unnecessary and needs to go.

To get a student ticket for a football game at Texas A&M, you need a couple of things: to be a registered student at A&M, a sports pass and common sense. Unfortunately, the last point is one a lot of my peers are missing.

Ticket pulling is divided into separate days based on classification. If youre a senior or graduate student, you get priority and are the first to pull on Mondays. Juniors pull on Tuesdays, sophomores on Wednesdays and freshmen on Thursdays. There is a way to pull on other days, though. This is what I like to refer to as the golden rule of ticket pulling and where common sense is thrown out the window. Its the one-to-one ratio rule.

If you are a senior, you can pull for anyone in a grade below you; however, you must have one senior sports pass per underclassman sports pass. So, if you had four senior passes and four junior passes, everyone would be good to go. If you had four senior passes and five junior passes, one of those juniors is out of luck and wont be getting a ticket for that game.

Time and time again, this has led to backed up lines and what little efficiency the whole process had being thrown out the window. There is a solution that avoids the confusion of this process and leads to no long lines, though.

We live in the age of the internet, and its time the 12th Man Foundation and A&M incorporate student tickets into this age. This university needs to move to online ticket pulling.

I know, Ive upset some of the Old Ags which is nothing new anyway but hear me out!

First and foremost, this is not an uncommon practice. Clemson University, for example, utilizes an online system much like many other universities. Some schools have even simpler methods, such as the University of Mississippi, who just use their student IDs on game day to walk right into the stadium. As long as they have paid for their student ticket, theyre good to go.

Some of you may be thinking that an online system would lead to a crash, considering the massive student population we have, and thats a legitimate concern. However, it should be kept in mind that the entire university went online for almost a full year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, thousands of students register for classes at the same time every single semester. Frankly, I find it hard to believe the university could not move the process online.

And yes, everything would need to stay the same regarding classification and pull days, seniors would still pull on Mondays and so on and so forth; it would just be done online. Youd get your spot, have the tickets downloaded on your phone and show up ready to cheer on the Aggies on gameday.

The only thing that would change is waiting in long lines stretching from the ticket box to the Memorial Student Center and dealing with snarky student workers. I dont know about yall, but that sounds like a win in my book.

Sam Somogye is a political science senior and columnist for The Battalion.

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No Time to Die is one of the most beautiful Bond films says director Cary Joji Fukunaga – TechRadar

Posted: at 2:46 am

For more than 50 years the James Bond franchise has dazzled cinemagoers with its suave spies, atomic action and glorious gadgetry. But theres perhaps more riding on No Time To Die, the latest entry in the series, than any Bond film before it.

Delayed several times because of the ongoing pandemic, fans are hoping Daniel Craigs last outing as 007 will see his serialised take on the character go out on a high particularly at a time when the future of the character is being debated.

For director Cary Joji Fukunaga, these pressures were secondary to that golden rule of film making shoot the best movie you possibly can.

I want for the diehard Bond fans to feel like they got everything they hoped for out of the film, and then to also have them completely surprised by the new things they learn about Bond through the experience, says Fukunaga, speaking with TechRadar.

A franchise with as much cultural cache as Bond always has lots of resources thrown at it, and Fukunaga and his team took advantage of every tool given to them. As such, its the first Bond film to hit cinemas with the Dolby double-whammy in tow No Time to Die can be seen in select cinemas with both Dolby Atmos spatial surround sound and the Dolby Vision HDR imaging technology.

"I've always had just a huge respect for sound."

Dolby Atmos sound was pretty fun to mix, says Fukanaga, whose previous credits include Beasts of No Nation and the outstanding HBO drama True Detective.

I love being on a mix stage my very first experience in the film world was on a mix stage. I got the opportunity, when I was in college, to sit in on a final sound mix with Anthony Minghella on The Talented Mr. Ripley, and with Walter Murch, the editor and sound designer who worked with [Francis] Coppola. So my appreciation of the sound mix goes back to my very first professional experience during the final sound mix on Talented Mr. Ripley. Just to watch the intricacies of sound and just the details, whether it's the foley or the dialogue or whatever is being mixed in, plus the atmosphere, plus the score, and seeing the effect of that I've always had just a huge respect for sound.

Fukanaga has always had an ear for innovation when it comes to sound design in his films an early film school project (to later become the directors first major picture) could have benefited hugely from the dynamic movement Dolby Atmoss object based audio movement would have afforded.

"Anything that heightens the immersive experience of the audience...that's what I'm aiming for.

I had a video teacher in high school that always said, an audience will forgive bad picture, but will never forgive bad sound, the director recalls.

So, you know, I've always felt that was an important aspect to anything I made. Even at film school there are projects that I made that were driven more by sound than by picture. My big second year project, which ended up leading to my first film Sin Nombre, which is about a group of immigrants that were trapped in a refrigerated trailer in the dark I wanted to do it completely in the dark, and just do a complete sound experience, with three dimensional sound for the audience. But my professors wouldn't allow me to do that, so I had to shoot some image of some kind, and it kind of shifted the structure of the story. But that was the aim.

With Bond in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, anything that heightens the immersive experience of the audience, that transports them in a way, when that low bass kicks and just kind of shakes their guts. That's what I'm aiming for.

And what an experience it is in Dolby Cinema. TechRadar were lucky enough to see the film at an Atmos / Vision presentation at the Odeon Luxe cinema in Leicester Square, London, the UK's new flagship home of Dolby Cinema. It makes an already lavish production even more jaw dropping from the muzzle flash of gunfire in a darkened secret lair to the blinding whites of a frozen, snowy lake, Dolby Vision's HDR output leads to a crisp and detailed image unlike any other you're likely to see in lesser cinemas. Likewise, Dolby Atmos's overhead surround sound roars in No Time to Die, whether Bond's racing through European streets in his iconic Aston Martin, or evading the sights of a menacing helicopter in the sky.

But no technology is a silver bullet to a successful on-screen result. Careful daily work and edits, paired with the enduring magic of shooting on analogue film, has been important to ensuring No Time to Die retains the visual magic fans of the spy have come to expect.

"This may be one of the more beautiful films I've ever worked on.

We had the same dailies color grader, as we did in the final color grade, explains Fukunaga.

I think it's really essential because you need that continuity, you need the looks that you're exploring in the camera test, and then once you're shooting, to reflect what's in the final image, especially in the edit. Just having in the edit dailies, beautiful dailies really that were very close to what ended up being the final picture, meant that when we were finally looking at the final picture, it was pretty interesting to see that the changes we did make we're pretty subtle.

You know, [director of photography] Linus Sandgren is not the kind of guy that uses a ton of power windows and stuff to shape a final image. Part of that is due to the fact that we shot on film I still believe originating on film is still the most beautiful way to create a final product image. So, the digital tools that we use after are just able to take all that beautiful grain, and the information that's inside that grain, and further that into this glossy beautiful thing.

Though many months have passed since No Time to Dies initial release date, the actual final film has been locked in for some time. There was no tweaking after COVID lockdown, so what we turned in at the beginning of March is what we're all going to be watching in cinemas this week, reveals the director.

But that painstaking work early in the production has paid dividends in Fukanagas eyes this may be the best looking, and best sounding, Bond film, ever.

I think that the mix is pretty incredible, praises Fukanaga.

Paul [Massey, re-recording mixer] and Oliver [Tarney, supervising sound editor] and everyone did an amazing job with that. And then on a picture level shooting on 35mm and then 5-perf 70mm and 15-perf have provided an amazing base medium to create a gorgeous final image I'm very happy with.

This may be, you know, one of the more beautiful films I've ever worked on, so you know I'm hoping that Bond fans will also feel that cinematically it's one of the most beautiful Bond films.

No Time to Die is in international cinemas now, and will land in US theaters on Friday, October 8. Itll be available in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos screenings at theatres with Dolby Cinema technology across the globe.

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