Category Archives: Mind Uploading

Hello everyone, another week, another film room! Just like last week, this one is pretty depressing... so apologies in advance!

I will be breaking down film on my Twitter account and then uploading the tweets with some more analysis in this piece. I obviously cannot post everything so I will focus on certain things each week that stand out to me. I might see something a few times on film but only upload one example as you dont need to see everything, so you will have to take my word if I say that I have seen something multiple times.

I am going to break down the offense followed by the defense each week and I will post the plays in order so you can see how the game played out. Sometimes I might focus on a specific area, I will see how each game plays out. I am simply choosing the most important plays and highlighting some players that stood out to me. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments and I look forward to discussing the game with you all. Lets get to the film!

So I am going to start this week by doing something you may not expect... I am going to defend Nick Sirianni. He deserves a lot of criticism for the offense this year but this was the first game I thought he called a game that suited his quarterback and aimed to establish the run. It was obvious extremely early on that this was a different offense and one that doesnt ask his quarterback to do a great deal. I am not sure it is a great sign for his belief in Jalen Hurts but this was the right decision in my opinion.

Once the Eagles managed to establish the run, they started building off this with some play action from under center which was great to see. Hurts also looked comfortable under center and this was his best throw of the night by a distance. Sirianni took advantage of a Raiders defense that is quite predictable with its coverages (a lot of single high/cover 3) and called some good plays to flood certain areas of the Raiders zone coverage.

Go back and watch the offense the last few weeks and you will not see another drive like the Eagles first drive this night. It was a completely different philosophical approach to the game and the Eagles clearly wanted to commit (finally!) to running the ball this game.

We even saw a designed QB run! I would like to see more of this moving forward. I think we know at this point that Hurts is a limited passer but we also know he is a very strong runner. Sirianni speaks all the time about adjusting his system to his players but this is something that we should be doing more frequently moving forward.

But I can hear you asking already - why did we change?! Why didnt we stick to this approach? Again, I am going to slightly defend Sirianni here and explain why we couldnt stick to this approach all game.

Firstly, lets touch on this tweet that was being commented on this week. Sirianni should not have said this publicly but I do think he had a point.

If you want to play the way the Eagles did early on then you cant fall behind.

Lets look at the Eagles drives this game. 1st drive was excellent and the Eagles scored a TD. 2nd drive started on their own 4 yard line, was not successful and resulted in a punt (and an injury to Miles Sanders). The 3rd drive was also not successful and they struggled without Miles Sanders to carry on running effectively. The 4th drive was one play because Kenneth Gainwell fumbled.

By the time the Eagles got the ball in the 2nd half, they were losing 24-7 and then they have to completely change their approach to the game. Sirianni had to move away from the running game and put the game on Jalen Hurts again because the defense could not get a stop. You can complain about a lot of things, but you cant complain about Sirianni changing his approach up after being down 24-7 and losing Miles Sanders.

Now.... when they did have to change the offense and start throwing the ball more, the offense looked terrible again. Hurts was bad. The offensive line didnt pass protect well. The receivers didnt get open. It was just a bad, bad watch again.

We have spoke a lot in the past about Hurts inability to stand in the pocket and deliver and it was on show again in this game. His natural instinct is to drift outside the pocket and Im not sure whether you can coach it out of him at this point.

As I said in the tweet, I am not for one hot takes and I always try to be honest with what I see. I did not think DeVonta Smith had a good game. Hurts threw some inaccurate balls at him but you would like your top receiver to make some tough catches. I was a bit disappointed with his ability to get open on the outside this game, as the example below shows. Before I get everyone triggered, I have been impressed by Smith throughout this season and I think he would have far better numbers in a better offense with a better quarterback. I just didnt think he had a good game.

Final one from me on the offense... if the Eagles are going to commit to establishing the run and running a lot more then I think Jordan Howard should be active. The Eagles really struggled when Sanders got hurt in this game. I like both Gainwell and Boston Scott a lot but they are neither of them are players you want to line up under center and run the ball frequently with. They are both chance of pace backs. Annoyingly, I thought Sanders was excellent at the start and looked poised for a big game (my fantasy teams could have done with this too...).

I have defended Sirianni but I have nothing for Jonathan Gannon. It was bad. I completely understand the 2-high approach and stopping big plays and I think it is an important part of the modern game. But you cant be so deep and passive that an offense can just pick up easy yards. This game was so hard to watch on defense. The problem with trying to stop big plays by putting everyone back is that a quarterback with time in the pocket can still make excellent plays. Derek Carr was awesome this game. This is a beauty of a throw. Also, I do not know if Fletcher Cox is actually covering the running back here or whether he just gets pushed back and decides to do it...

I hate this play. Look how far back everyone is! You cannot play defense this scared. There was barely any disguising of coverage this game. No press from the corners. Barely any man coverage (I dont know the stats but I honestly can remember no more than 1 or 2 plays of man coverage). The two safeties were so far back all of the time. As I said earlier, I hate criticizing coaches for their philosophy because I understand how important it is to prevent big plays but it is just too easy to play against the Eagles defense. As a quarterback, I would love to play against the Eagles defense. What would you be afraid of? What do the Eagles do to try and confuse you pre or post snap?

Another point I want to make... we live in an era of analytics and all coaches are trying to find an edge wherever they can. I understand that preventing big plays is a huge part of winning in the modern game. However, football is a physical game and you cant measure the impact of certain things such as momentum, aggression, physicality etc. If you are a defense that plays under a coach that plays so defensive and so passive, where do you get your energy from? When an offense is consistently picking up yardage running the ball and imposing their will on a game it can be really hard to compete mentally and physically. Im not defending the players here as too many of them are not playing well but it must be hard for them with this current scheme.

I really wouldnt mind sending a blitz, hitting the quarterback but giving up a few yards. On the stats sheet it may look negative, but you cant measure what it does to a quarterback. Maybe he gets rid of the ball early the next play. Maybe he perceives pressure when there isnt any. Being aggressive on defense is part of being a good defense and this defense (largely due to its scheme in my opinion) just looks bland, weak and passive.

If you line up with 6 in the box (including a linebacker who struggles against the run) against a team who like to run the ball on early downs with a good running back then you are going to give up a lot of yards. Nothing complicated here. Its just math. Nothing else to add.

I dont really want to pick on individuals too much (especially in this scheme) but I thought Davion Taylor really struggled this game and if you watched his college tape it isnt too surprising. This scheme is tough on the linebackers so I feel a bit for Taylor but he needs to be a lot better than this to have a role moving forward on the Eagles defense. He is late to read and react to the run and he also just isnt physical enough when players run at him. I want my linebackers to be able to take on a fullback and win more often than not. Taylor lost far too often this game.

I could show 30 plays this week that all show the same thing but Ill leave it here because Ive had a bit of a rant already about the defense. Its weak. Its passive. And it gets what it deserves.

Thats all for this week. As always, I appreciate you reading and always try to reply to any questions you have in the comments. Cheers all!

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Eagles All-22 Film Review: Observations from the loss to the Raiders - Bleeding Green Nation

Driven by the upheaval of industry in the wake of the pandemic, and the convergence of technology and industry, the IT stack will soon be among the most important competitive business differentiators.

Both how a company defines itself, and what it is capable of, is increasingly determined by its IT stack. A recent survey found 77% of executives surveyed agree that their technology architecture is becoming critical to the overall success of their organization; 89% believe that their organizations ability to generate business value will increasingly be based on the limitations and opportunities of their technology architecture.

Take the video games market as an example. Long-time rivals Sony and Microsoft now compete on the basis of different approaches to technology. Where Sony is investing in a high-quality experience through VR, SSD, and haptic feedback advances to create increasingly high fidelity gaming, Microsoft is looking to capture the market by focusing on OnDemand and multiplayer options based on a cloud, multi-device delivery. Its the same market, but different strategies suddenly necessitate a very different technology investment.

In the near future, business competition will, in effect, be a battle of the stacks. Sony and Microsoft are using different models to reimagine how they win customers. Their business strategies are inextricably tied to the discrete advantages of those technology choices.

Unshackling Potential

COVID-19 has demanded that businesses rethink supply chains, working models, customer engagement and more. Fortunately, at the exact moment that industry is being called on to transform, technology advances are proving the means.

Each layer of the stack is expanding into new dimensions, with seemingly infinite combinations and possibilities at every step. Businesses are therefore able to architect solutions that are highly customized for their specific ambitions and the specific needs of various audiences.

This target state cannot be reached by a short-term approach. As enterprises double down on investments as they emerge from the pandemic -- in cloud, data analytics, and emerging technologies -- they need to consider the impact these choices may have in the future.

The most dynamic and sustainable architectures will be the ones that let businesses tap into the full spectrum of technology capabilities and create competitive stacks that are deeply aligned with business goals, while maintaining a focus on reusability, repurposing, and the enterprises evolving future.

These architectures should be developed with three considerations in mind:

1. Building technical wealth.

First, businesses need to map a clear route from static legacy systems toward adaptive and reusable technology. In short, they need to start building technical wealth. Architecting for change means re-thinking how applications are developed, taking full advantage of cloud capabilities. Microservices are key as they enable application elements to be composed as independent units that can then be swapped in or out independently, scaled, or repurposed over time.

For example, the UK Department for Work & Pensions used its microservices architecture to rapidly build and scale new services during the early days of the pandemic, helping it meet the surging needs of UK citizens fast and effectively. In record time, employees were able to create automated systems for uploading medical records, requesting universal benefits checks and issuing free school meal vouchers. Fortifying your technical components in a similar way will empower businesses to be technologically ready for future aspirations and needs.

2. Experimenting with technology and strategy.

The diversity of technology capabilities emerging across the stack will drive unprecedented diversity in business tactics and solutions. Organizations should experiment with combinations of technology and business objectives to find the opportunities that will work best for them. They need to reimagine the future of their products, services, operations, and more through the lens of what technology is making possible, and they need to build the right technology stack to bring their preferred future to life.

NVIDIA is a good example. As COVID-19 flared around the globe, NVIDIA launched Clara Guardian, a smart hospital solution that enables hospitals to remotely monitor and detect changes to patient vital signs, enforce the wearing of personal protective equipment, direct employees and visitors away from high-risk areas, and much more. This would not have been possible without innovation and cohesion at every layer of the technology architecture.

3. Reinventing the digital-physical blur

The convergence between business and technology makes it likely that the first time a customer interacts with a near-human AI agent, puts on a pair of virtual reality goggles, or learns about blockchain, will be linked to a companys cutting-edge offering. For businesses that means a new responsibility to ensure these services are seamless for the customer and that there are no unintended negative consequences, like biased decisioning from poorly trained AI models, for example.

But there are opportunities, too, by leveraging digital-physical experiences to delight customers in new ways. Adidas, for example, has designed a wearable digital platform into one of its lines of soccer cleats and is partnering with FIFA on a unique customer engagement experience that blends real-world interactions with sporting in video games.

Thanks to technology, a business ambition need only be limited by imagination. As a result, there are more opportunities than ever, but also a greater competitive threat from similarly enabled companies. How will you stack up?

See the rest here:

Will You Win the 'Battle of the Stacks'? - InformationWeek

What is Sarah Shahis net worth, though? Weve revealed some juicy details about Sarah Shahis steamy love life with her co-star, Adam Demos.

On the set of Netflixs Sex/Life, where Sara Shahi and Adam Demos played a couple of exes in a love triangle, the two actors fell madly in love with each other. Both fell madly in love and found soulmates in each other.

Let us reveal Sarah Shahis smoldering relationship with her co-star Adam Demos.

Sarah Shahi has had a prominent role in famous TV shows like Alias, Dawsons Creek, Reba, and Supernatural. These are just a few of the television series in which she gained popularity.

Sarah seems to be somewhat active on social media platforms, such as Instagram and just never fails to wow her followers by uploading her most recent images. She has been quite low-key about her personal life.

According to Us Weekly, they recorded numerous scenes together during autumn of 2020 while Shahi was negotiating her 11-year relationship with husband, Steve Howey. In January 2021, Shai and Howey finally decided to break the vows and then formalized their divorce.

They have three children: William, Violet, and Knox. William is 11 years old, and Violet and Knox, twins, are 6 years old. Sarah Shahi and her ex-husband, Steve Howey, tied a knot in 2009.

They had their issues as a pair. Sarah remarked in a 2019 interview that being married for so long had been hell for her. She started facing problems just after she gave birth to her twins. She says she always had a troublesome relationship with her ex-husband.

The pair taped the series in Canada in the fall of 2020, portraying sultry ex-lovers trapped in a love triangle. Billie, Shahis character, is married to Cooper (Mike Vogel) on the programme, but she misses her wilder days when she hung out with Demos Brad.

When the risqu job came into her life, the L Word actress was going through a divorce and wasnt thinking about finding love again.

When the series became popular more than 67 million people watched Season One Adam and Sarah made the decision to keep their personal lives more private, posting only a few images together during the shows launch.

While we dont know exactly when the two met, Instagram appears to indicate it was well before the show premiered at the end of June, and yet few of us were aware of it until binge-watching the sensual series.

By the time, Adam Demos love has only increased for Sara Shahi. He seemed to be more pleased than ever to be back with his new girlfriend after returning from Australia. Adam was working on the project with Victoria Justice, which is a Netflix rom-com on the Gold Coast.

After Adam returned, the duo relaxed with a picnic for the evening while watching A Nightmare on Elm Street at the famed Cinespia Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Viewers of the show have been a little infatuated with the series since it had numerous really steamy moments, and they have become even more so when they discovered about Shahi and Demos ongoing real-life romance.

Adam Demos was born in the Australian city of Wollongong, on the coast of New South Wales. Despite a long-standing passion in acting, he worked in construction for years until, at the age of 23.

Adam chose to enroll in a Sydney acting class, according to an interview he gave to the Australian website Now to Love. Demos had subsequently auditioned and been cast in many Australian TV programs.

The most prominent roles were in Home and Away, Rescue Special Ops, including Winners & Losers, by his mid-twenties, with some fresh acting experience. He has not gained much fame through the projects he had done in the past.

Adam Demos, on the other hand, is the sexiest man to reveal his sensuous side in the Netflix drama Sex/Life, from which he rose to fame almost overnight. But how can this be actually attained?

In the first season of the drama, he had a naked shower scene, and after that, the public became enamored with him. There were a lot of views for that specific episode, which was the third of the season.

And, as the series Sex/Life plainly demonstrates, their connection is uncomplicated, and their enthusiasm is evident. The two Netflix series stars appear to have infused the same fire to their real-life romantic connection as they do in the scene.

The way sex is shown on the Netflix series has empowered Sarah Shahi to embrace her sexual being more. Sarah Shahi adores the way she appears and the sense of eroticism she possesses in her mind. Her desire to be sexy is really strong, as well.

Shahi had always wanted to feel liberated as she is in the Netflix series Sex/Life. Also, Sarah Shahi enjoys flaunting her physique, and she does have some curves. When she met Adam Demos, she discovered that her sensuality and passion had intensified.

In August 2020, the 36-year-old actor, Adam Demos and 41-year-old actress, Sarah Shahi met for the first time on the set of the Netflix drama, Sex/Life and they truly started feeling passion for each other since day one.

All of the snarky moments that the couple recorded for the Netflix series were just as hot as they are right now. According to the pair, every moment was genuine, sincere and packed with a lot of passion, both on and off camera.

Sarah Shahi and Adam Demos relationship is packed with passion, love, and madness. Both appear to be unable to live without the other. They became more well-known when the couple began dating in 2020.

As of 2021, both Sarah Shahis and Adam Demos estimated net worth is $5 million. Together they are creating an empire. The ultimate lovebirds are growing and becoming stronger as a couple.

Sarah Shahi is not going to let anything stand in her way of achieving success and fame. Same is the case with Adam Demo.

Read this article:

What Is Shahi Shahis Net Worth? Is She OneOf The Hottest Stars In Making? - Vizaca.com

Afterimages (2020) by Cole Bacani (uploaded at DUST Sep 3, 2021, 11:58 min)

In a world where your five most impactful memories print as Polaroids upon death, Sam learns about her estranged grandfather and reconciles her relationship with her mom.

Review: Upon death five photographs are orally printed; the five most memorable moments in the life of the departed. The old mans daughter and adult granddaughter sit, near tears, in the waiting room of an intensive care unit while the life support machine beeps in the background. The daughter wants to see the photos imprinted from a stick in granddads mouth while he is dying but the mother doesnt want her to. In any event (this isnt a spoiler; you knew it was coming, of course), the girl keeps the photographs that her mother had opted to discard. While her harried mom is planning the funeral, she looks at them as soon as they get home

This story dances on the boundaries between science fiction and psychological thought experiment. No account is offered as to how five sticks in the mouth of a dying person would result in his five most significant memories. But if it works psychologically, well, the technology is not carrying the story.

Its mainly a story about what happens when estrangement and loneliness become final, with the death of the one from whom one has been estranged. It should resonate with many people in a society where family breakups and breakdowns are very common. Writer Felipe Vargas keeps it from distracting sentimentality. Believable performances by Nicole McCullough (as Sam, the daughter) and Tara Wellington (as Ida, the mother).

Note: A number of other films debuted in recent years that were called Afterimages, Afterimage, or After image. This is a sci fi short that debuted in 2020.

We sort reviewed films below by length in minutes and seconds so you can choose them based both on interest and on how much time you have:

Five minutes or less

This planet is not in our co-ordinates. (3 min) A space courier crew gets a surprise when delivering a mysterious machine to a strange planet. One could almost see something like McPhersons Toys happening, as an office gag, but 500 years from now. (Animated)

The robot waits for the humans return (3:25 min). Robert is a household robot who has little to do but prowl the house while the humans are away. This very short film is a meditation on loneliness, with musical accompaniment and a robot as the central character.

A cruel experiment plays with three lives (3:32 min). Rational thought offers no contest, in this minimalist film, to the will to survive or at least get revenge in death. In 2-Bullet Solution, only one of three people can survive being trapped in a test gas chamber by shooting the other two.

Fenestra, the aliens land in a domestic drama. (3:49 min) As the alien ships loom worldwide, the cheating boyfriend thinks he can just come back At under four minutes, Fenestra gives all the elements of a good, lean story against an alien invasion setting.

Can video games save a lone survivor? (3:51 min) High Score features fine animations of apocalyptic scenes of post-civilization. The game that turns out to be an existential struggle usually benefits from a longer treatment but the animation is well imagined.

When the robot discovers nature. On a ruined planet, a dog robot get caught in a time warp. If a robot dog had a dog mind, wouldnt it prefer to be as much of a real dog as possible?

What if the future does not include smarter people? (4 min) Comic scenes would dot the aerial landscape, dispelling the usual earnestness of sci-fi films. A brief sci-fi diversion like Floaters reminds us that cluelessness is not a problem we can just solve or should even try to. (Animated)

What if an old man could see his mother again? (4:02 min) Bygone is a hard film to watch if you lost a loved one recently, but worthwhile. The old man is paying to use his own memories, retrieved via neuroscience imaging.

Machine world at its most nihilist 4:38 min This very short animated cyberpunk thriller portrays a world of autonomous vehicles where faces are very rare. In the Autonomous near-future world, pretty much everything we see, except the drug dealers, is a machine. (Animated)

Would you become an animal to save a species? (4:13 min) The animation is good and the question raised is interesting. Floreana looks at a world where we become the animals we are trying to save .. Would it work?

A choice between saving ones child and oneself Is life always so simple? Well, we shall see. (4:58 min) Zoe is a pleasant summer view with a happy ending. Well done technically and the actors are veterans. Some questions remain.

Ten minutes or less

Watch what you wish for. There IS a tomorrow! (5:01) Carl, a lonely guy, is determined to proceed through the warning and try the Luvsik procedure, to make him fall in love at first sight. The short film features strong performances by Momo Dione and Samantha Lester, and the surprise ending avoids clich.

A girl with kinetic powers faces a choice. (5:06 min) Should she help relatives with activities she knows to be wrong? Kinetic is well executed but it breaks a fundamental rule of science fiction: There must be a clear science basis for the story premise.

Its 2075! Our motto: Ignorance is Bliss (5:12 min) This animated short asks us to consider a future world in which information is reduced to a sort of haze. An aging neurobotanist struggles to preserve the knowledge of plants in a surreal landscape of clutter flying amid futurist buildings.

In No Guarantee, brain uploading proves costly. (5:22 min) In a ruined mid-21st century Britain, a couple gains tickets to a virtual world if their brains can be uploaded. But can they? In this very short film, the theme of escape by brain uploading is handled in a refreshingly mature way with characters who face serious choices.

When virtual friends are a real addiction (5:31) Animated short Best Friends begins with the thirtieth birthday party of a rather glum young man. As is the way with addicts, our hero cannot use his futurist fix for loneliness responsibly and ends up doing desperate things.

What happens if Earth passes through a black hole (5:36 min) This story isnt exactly about passage through a black hole: It is a meditation on nothingness that crashes headfirst into nihilismThe film prompts thought about why anyone should believe that there is no underlying order behind the universe. It seems obvious from the artwork that there is.

Rescuing lost people. (5:41 min) Animated, in French, with English subtitles, but dont let that deter you. The professional relationships in Protocole Sandwich sound pretty real and make it worth the watch. The animation is very good.

The disabled robot vet in A Robot Is a Robot gets a job grooming cats. (5:49 min) Definitely worth your five minutes, in part in order to see what cartoonists can do in sci-fi with animated stills. In a research paper, Max Planck scientists recently concluded that it is not possible to hobble the danger from intelligent AI. This film offers a good illustration.

Are we alone? asks a new sci-fi short. But then why? (5:48) In Laniakea, we are introduced to a civilizations museum? Or what is it? An intriguing Sci-fi Saturday. The underlying idea of Laniakea is a serious thesis in astrobiology: Extraterrestrial civilizations die out unless they adopt an unconventional solution.

When a simulated world begins to fall apart. (6:11) In Untitled Earth Sim 64, Marie has reason to expect trouble when the simulator who explains reality to her cannot get her name right If Marie has found God amid strange events, as her friend thinks, the God she has found is highly disorganized one.

When God gets distracted (6:36 min) A clever animated short offers a take on why there is so much violence and chaos in the worldIn Tales from the Multiverse, Earth is the beta version left unattended by a God who is too busy breaking up fights between his kids, including the devil.

If you met someone in a dream every night ? (7:08 min) In a sci-fi short, a paramedic must confront a question about the nature of reality. Would a constantly recurring dream that you and another person shared be the equivalent of reality?

When sci-fi gets earnest about colonization (7:12 min) Worth seeing but we never get to find out who the characters are fighting or why some treaty could not be arranged. The Ripple Effect looks at rebellion against the colonization of a new planet but the production values create more interest than the intellectual content.

Love among the ruins, for robots. Left behind is a beautifully rendered animated short of robots looking for some place to just exist in a deserted, ruined industrial landscape (7:14 min) At 275,000 views, this short film is deservedly popular. Animation eliminates many of the problems otherwise inherent in trying to make robots characters.

A fight for the winning ticket (7:35 min) In Here comes Frieda, in a 2040 superstorm, engulfing the planet, a young woman gets hold of a ticket out. But does the way out really exist? Or is she just hanging on and clinging to a fragile hope?

One day the door to the robots shop opens (7:44 min) In Roy, the robot, is suddenly confronted by another robot, determined to kill or die. Its a good short film but, while the special effects are well done, it makes no sense that the characters are supposed to be robots.

A space mission to infinity (7:55 min) After the space station module crash, the astronaut finds himself befriended by a friendly but mysterious neighbor. Who is he really? Flotando, which has won many awards, is a blend of sci-fi and near-death experience, reminiscent of the 1960s Twilight Zone series.

Layers of deceit plague a high-tech call center Sci-fi Saturday (7:57 min) In Lifeline, Jess, locked in, must try to save a competitors life when she can only contact artificial intelligence choices that are not programmed to provide the needed assistance. Jess is resourceful in attempting to save Keiths life, despite the constant AI roadblocks. But much more is going on than she really knows.

Human psychology in a world without water. (8:05 min) Oasis was filmed as a response to the Capetown Water Crisis of 2018. Good short film but one can take the empowered woman thing too far. That probably doesnt really work in a desperate struggle for survival.

Killing people for Likes on an alien planet: Sci-fi Saturday If only this crisp tale didnt sound so much like the social media we actually know (8:06 min) Happy Hunting follows a social media influencer who murders doomed people to break an online record and then faces a final, fatal choice.

We have met the aliens and they are comb jellies. (8:15 min) The alien life form, when it appears in Seedling, is very well imagined. Definitely watch it for the sense of isolation when our technology bubble evaporates and for the comb jelly space alien.

What if a loved one aged much faster than you? Sci-fi Saturday Its one of the implications of faster-than-light travel (8:19 min). Should youthful Cpt. Bernhard take her now very old husband to the new Earth, Gaia? Thats the emotional and ethical dilemma in ARK.

If its real, it must be endured. (8:47 min) Its Okay?, using futurist technology, takes a woman back through her time with someone she loves. This short sci-fi film plays around with time and neatly and deftly avoids the common shortcoming of becoming just plain confusing.

Kiko: A great short but key questions unanswered A lonely retail service robot longs for a world beyond her store. (9:21 min) An agreeable short but it never addresses the question of how Charlie acquired a robot that would want something different from its programming.

When The Workplace is anything but (9:32 min) The short film starts with a woman reassuring herself, unsettlingly, I AM the boss. This sci-fi short will appeal to many who have had a job at the corner of Rat and Race and sense thats a blessing compared to the alternative.

What if there were serious wars over clouds? (9:41 min) In a world that still has technology but is desperately short of water, such wars could happen. The short sci-fi film Oceanmaker features pirates who steal precious water from the clouds and a pilot who challenges them.

If roaches formed a miniature civilization (9:44 min) The roaches have built a rocket, intending to go to the moon, and their activity wakes up a dormant human. In Rocket Roaches, humans have retreated into virtual reality and it is left to the cockroaches to be the smart species that explores the universe.

Fifteen minutes or less

In a Future Market, Time To Live Is Bought, Sold (10:57 min) An employee wants to rebel against the greed and injustice but then she would run out of time The Bargain raises some issues as a thought experiment that appear in real life in the illegal organ trade

Terrified by a Scrap Monster (11:09 min) Well, if you have never been terrified by a Scrap Monster, as in Pinki. you are clearly missing out. Its fun watching a middle class South Korean business executive try to cope with the Scrap Monster. Perhaps an allegory of our big environment issues.

What if insects could put humans on trial? (11:11 min) In Science+, a shrunken inventor finds himself facing Ant Justice. In a comic turnabout, the ants, seen face to face, turn out to be roughly like people, of whom Matt discovers he has killed nearly 3500.

What if your AI started to talk like a human? (11:12 min) Should you just shut it down and leave the building? And not tell anyone? Intelligentia features strong performances and provides a good introduction to the Turing Test (how would we know if a machine had achieved consciousness?)

When the human race is down to its final offer (11:23 min) The aliens want Earths oceans (have they wrecked their own?) and now the fate of Earth turns on a single question: Is Henry really the worlds worst lawyer? The downbeat human lawyer and the alien corporate lawyer in Final Offer achieve artful comedy by the too-little used technique of comic dialogue, not gags.

Could stored memories bring back the dead? A nerd sees a way to bring back his friend Adam from Adams girlfriends memories (11:45 min) In Adam 2.0, the quest to bring back a dead friend from memory turns on a central question about the nature of human identity.

What would the ruins of Eden be like? Sci-fi Saturday (11:51 min)Scavenging for artifacts on a ruined planet, a space drifter comes across the ruins of a high-tech civilization. The derelict remains of an advanced civilization are sobering picture our own civilization looking like that.

Why you do NOT want to duplicate yourself. (12:07 min) The Unboxing Video offers philosophy as well as dark comedy around the question of what being oneself means. A lonely guy, filming himself unboxing his new android replicant, discovers how hard he is to live with when there are two of him. But can he return himself?

Speed of Time at DUST (12:19 min): A computer nerd writing a pizza delivery program discovers that his work is way more important than he, or anyone, thought. Imagine what happens when an accomplished ground warrior busts in from another time on a quiet family at the breakfast table

Landing back on Earth as the sole inhabitant unless we count the cat (12:24 min) In Origin, an astronaut from an interstellar colony explores the effects of deadly radiation on Earth.

How much can will power do against nature? (12:29) Despite his career-ending disability, Aaron as an alternative to accepting life as a bystander is trying to use his skills to take down a gunrunning gang. The climax will hearten persons who live with a disability though it leaves some fundamental questions unresolved. Maybe they cant be resolved.

The artists android has a surprise in store for him (12:33 min) He makes the fateful decision to allow her to depart from her programming during a crisis. In Muse, the gradually humanizing android Kay raises some interesting ethical and philosophical issues about being/becoming human.

Android asks, is immortality truly a benefit? (12:43 min) He argues that he can never appreciate life if he knows he can never die. More philosophy than sci-fi, Extent delves into the question of how much of the meaning we find in life derives from the inevitability of death.

Merv is the last man in a ruined radioactive world. (13:05) Hes been alone so long that the thought of another human being panics him. When Merv must confront another survivor, the story takes a classic turn but we might have expected that. Life goes on.

In a world run by robots, a bot becomes a joker (13:12 min) The dull, dystopian atmosphere of an Australia dominated by robots, portrayed in System Error, is well done and worth the watch. The story prompted this viewer to consider what thoughts a robot simply couldnt have without some kind of input from consciousness always the Hard Problem.

An asteroid lingers near Earth and devours time (13:23 min) Or, at any rate, it devours our perception of time, as one man discovers in Flyby. As the asteroid Chrono-7 hazes Earth, a man wakes up in the morning to find that he is living in his future, one he had never imagined.

In This Time Away, a robot helps an old fellow rediscover life (13:24 min) The robot is very well done and how he gets a name is charming. Lots of people abandon their elderly relatives, of course, so finding a helpful robot in the back yard is a pleasant fantasy.

The robot tries to learn about grief (13:37) In Rewind, an elderly woman buys a robot to help her when she finds herself all alone, due to tragedy. Investigating the womans unhappiness, the robot discovers more than it was, perhaps, intended to know.

What if next-stage evolution children appear? (13:44 min) Vikaari, a sci-fi short from Sri Lanka looks at the possibilities. The story is very well done as a parable of the social risks of continuous internal warfare.

Can an alternative universe save a lonely girl? (14:05 min) A girl finds fighting space aliens easier than fighting a brain haemorrhage and a sense of guilt. CARONTE ends as it must not happily but inevitably, and with at least some sense of redemption.

Can parents get back a dead child as an android? (14:10 min) In Article 19-42, they arent even united in their grief; they just think they must do something to get back a facsimile of what they remember. They have no philosophical or spiritual resources to fall back on in order to avoid this dead end.

What if a new start in life were two pills away? (14:23 min) Would you feel the same about suicide? In Cam Girl, a woman whose life is going nowhere, largely by her own choice, learns what it means to be genuinely desperate.

A future where dreams have been privatized (14:26 min) Unfortunately, the dream Carlos wants in I Dream is to see his missing family again and thats illegal More dystopia than science fiction but the post-5G surveillance environment amid mass poverty and oppression is well imagined.

When emergency services are run by AI (14:38 min) Its not just that AI doesnt care; it cant. And that shows. In Stuck, a young woman in a mine accident far from Earth navigates confusing advice from bots to free herself.

What if sweet sleep were a distant memory? (14:51 min) In a world going mad in Dont Forget To Remember and dying from insomnia, a young woman may have a cure. The big challenge in writing about insomnia is not to be a cure for it. From the harrowing opening scene on, this film certainly clears that bar.

Twenty minutes or less

Could you be reconstructed from your memories? Sci-fi Saturday If you were, would destroying the digitized you be murder? (15:46 min) The Final Moments of Karl Brant is an intriguing sci-fi murder mystery crossover that raises intriguing philosophical discussion points.

When you are the only human left Sci-fi Saturday. Are you the only human left alive or are you the only one who is not alive? (16:19 min) In Martha, the stark reality of two girls on the brink of eternity slowly seeps into the viewers imagination.

A one-girl war with the total surveillance state Sci-fi Saturday (17:24 min) The acting, ambience, and special effects in Bolero are top quality. Bolero tackles the pressing topic of total government surveillance, imagining it in the United States. But it is an everyday reality in China.

Alone at DUST. (18:49 min) Space engineer Kaya Torres, the only survivor of a black hole, contacts an interstellar penpal to keep her company until she dies. She manages a desperate escape but then experiences one of the astonishing implications of time travel.

When terraforming Mars means Mars-forming people. (19:14 min) In this award-winner, the underground humans must, according to the terraforming colonys rules, deny emotion, which pretty much guarantees a story. The New Mars colony embodies a contradiction: The alleged better world created by science and logic cant accommodate the nature of humans.

Can a Robot Find a Better Planet Than Earth? (19:31 min) The trouble is, the robot in Avarya is governed by Isaac Asimovs three laws of robotics. After 55 habitable planets, theby then very oldfellow is beginning to suspect something about the robots judgment

Twenty-five minutes or less

Limbo profiles a futurist approach to punishment (24:21). The convict must live in a vision, induced during a coma, as the victim (or bereft loved one), in an attempt to rehabilitate him by teaching empathy. For one innocent convict, its a nightmare of incomprehensible suffering, from which friends stage a rescue attempt.

Can we live in more than the present moment? (24:42 min) When a tech entrepreneur succeeds with time travel, he gets trapped in his own past errors. In Container, the time traveler is locked inside his lab and can only get out by repeated, dangerous efforts to go back in time to when the door is unlocked.

The Beacon (25:10 min) at DUST. Refreshingly realistic, especially the harrowing Arctic encounter where the grieving husband finds out what really happened. Not to be missed is Marks encounter with the bureaucrat from hell.

Forty minutes or less

The Big Nothing melds sci-fi and whodunit in a taut drama. (37:54) The combination of the sci-fi and detective genres takes some skill to pull off but this Australian crew succeeds. Arriving at a mining station near Saturn, Detective Lennox must interview three suspects in the captains murder. All have motives. Who is lying?

Original post:

If Your Life Could Be Told in Five Photos Sci-fi Saturday - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

BTS Jungkook fans are urging Big Hit Music labels to protect JK after a complaint has reportedly been filed against the Grammy-nominated singer alleging that he has been false advertising. Heres what we know so far.

For the unversed, the controversy regarding BTS Jungkooks participation in the alleged under the table advertisement started after he wore clothes from a brand called Six6uys. The company is registered under Jungkooks brother, Jeon Junghyuns name, who is the CEO.

But, Korean media reports suggested that BTS Jungkook was previously appointed as the director of the company. Later, after the controversy, Jungkook allegedly resigned from his position.

According to the latest report, a netizen filed a complaint against Jeon Jungkook at the Fair Trade Commission. The report alleges that Jungkook had a stake in the company Six6uys. Yet, he wore the clothes of the same brand without specifying that or explicitly mentioning that.

The Netizen further claims, as reported via Koreaboo, Six6uys launched the clothing brand, Graffiti On Mind early September this year, and Jungkook wore the brands shirt on the broadcast.

It added, A few days later, he wore the same shirt in a different color in a selfie uploaded to Twitter and Weverse. BTS is a top boy group that represents South Korea and has an astronomical status.

Even if Jungkook did not personally share a review of the product or ask fans to buy it after uploading the photo to social media, just by giving the brand exposure often, he could cause a raise in the profits beyond imagination.

The complaint concluded by saying, As such, this is an incident that could detriment a fair and free market, and this is something that the Fair Trade Commission also strictly prohibits. I request that the Fair Trade Commission look into the matter carefully.

South Korea strengthened laws against false advertising or back door advertising in 2020. The new law states that any social media influencer has to explicitly mention if their product endorsements are financially rewarded or intended for promotion.

Violators of the law will have to pay the penalty if convicted of false advertisement up to 2 percent of related sales and revenue or 500 million won ($422,000).

BTS ARMY has taken to Twitter to urge Big Hit Music to protect JK. Fans are accusing the anti-fans of using Jungkooks name for a smear campaign. The fanbases have urged the fandom to mass email Big Hit Music.

A fan said, Cutting these problems from the root is necessary and urgent, @bts_bighit, @BIGHIT_MUSIC, these issues should never rise to this point, because as proved time and time again, they will get out of hand. Please protect JK better.

The fanbase added, Many people are finding out what is happening today, but it has been going on for weeks, and it is serious. They are organized and have everything well planned, its the same people that have constantly been making up agendas to ruin him since 2019, and enough is enough.

A second fan slammed the music label, saying, What the hell are you doing? Dropping so many contents but useless in eradicating antis, akgaes, and disgusting payola media to protect your artist. You are fast in releasing merchs to sell, but when it comes to protecting your artist, you are blind and deaf.

So far, Big Hit Music has not released any official statement regarding the matter. Keep an eye on this space for any updates regarding Big Hits statement.

In other news, Why did singer J Balvin slam Latin Grammys on Twitter?

View post:

Here Is What You Don't Know About BTS Jungkook Fair Trade Report And BTS ARMY urges 'Protect JK' - Central Recorder

It has been brought to my attention that there are a series of wholesome TikToks about a man, his truck, and his kitten. Since Im trying to go to heaven when I die, I thought Id let you all know about Old Trucker in an attempt to spread some joy this morning.

Okay I know my ass is going to hell, but that doesnt mean I cant start the day with a kitten who curls up on a truckers dashboard, the trucker speaking in a way that reminds me of a grandpa who sits in a rocking chair to tell stories.

To my delight (and envy, because my cats would never), this story has led to others sharing their road adventures with their fur babies.

Like? This is apparently a thing? That people do?

Well, let me just go ahead and bookmark that for later.

From what I can gather, Old Trucker has been uploading TikToks of his trips for a while. He always wishes viewers a good morning, talks about where hes headed, and is just an all around pleasant person to listen to. Hes big on telling your loved ones that you love them and is always thankful for the people he has in his life TikTok family included.

Basically, it was already a wholesome TikTok channel.

A couple of months ago, he uploaded video of a cat who had kittens at his house. Unfortunately, the runt of the liter, Bobbie (with an ie), was the only kitten who survived.

To add more heartbreak to the story, Old Trucker uploaded video in August of him being in the hospital. Apparently, he had a heart attack, so he had to take some time to recover.

There is, however, a silver lining.

Once Old Trucker was out of the hospital he uploaded a video to give an update, saying that if he was able to drive again, he would be taking along a new friend.

Fortunately, he passed the stress test and was able to go back on the road.

With Bobbie!

Its clear that having Bobbie is helping with his health. Pets are great sources of stress relief, and I imagine being on the road with a new little friend makes for good company.

Bobbie was meant to be with Old Trucker, as Bobbies mom (Fiona the Cat) literally walked over to Old Trucker, dropped Bobbie off, and left (according to Old Trucker, at least). After taking Bobbie to the vet and giving him his own little bed via the glove compartment, a friendship thats sure to last for years was born.

What Bobbie has done for my heart and my frame of mind is far more than any prescription that any doctor could give me.

Old Trucker, I hope you know what this story is doing for all of our hearts, too.

(Image: Sunrise/Old Trucker on TikTok)

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Continued here:

I Hope the Old Trucker Who Starts the Morning Sharing TikToks of His Road Buddie, Bobbie the Kitten, Is Having a Good Day - The Mary Sue

When Boris Johnson had to choose a gift to present to the US President at the White House last week, he opted for a book by Britains first official, Government-supported astronaut.

Joe Biden received a signed copy of Tim Peakes Hello, Is This Planet Earth? with an inscription expressing hopes that it provides a reminder of what were fighting to save as our countries tackle climate change together.

As Peake launches his next book his first for children this week, he is relying on the stamp of approval of two people much more important than either the President or PM his young sons Thomas and Oliver.

They loved it, he says of the environmental message at the heart of the novel, Swarm Rising.

Peake bounced his sci-fi plotlines around with the boys on European camping holidays, and theyve also read every chapter as its been developed and given feedback.

In the action-adventure story, co-written with childrens author Steve Cole, schoolboy protagonist Danny Munday is kidnapped by agirl named Adi (short for Alien Digital Intelligence).

In fact, she is part of the Swarm, a super-advanced hive mind, which intends to protect the Earth from the environmental catastrophe caused by the human race.

It may sound far fetched, but Peakes real-life predictions are barely less fantastical.

He agrees with Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, that humanity will soon become amulti-planetary species.

Yes, I think its going to happen relatively quickly. As a self-sustaining civilisation on another planet? I think were probably 50 to 100 years away from that, he tells i from his home study in Hampshire, surrounded by space memorabilia including a model of the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket that took him into space.

In terms of landing your first humans on Mars, I think were 15 to 20 years away. But when I was writing Swarm Rising, what was interesting was thinking beyond that. Are we going to really travel beyond the solar system in a biological form, flesh and blood? Another solution of course is to upload, go digital and then travel at the speed of light as a signal, as a digital intelligence through the universe.

These are ideas he has been mulling over for years, including while listening to the BBC podcast The Infinite Monkey Cage when I was exercising on the space station.

He was absorbed by the prospect of uploading a human brain to a quantum computer.

Thats a potential for the future of humanity and a civilisation might have done that before us millions of years ago and already be out there.

Peake is also concerned about the hazards for todays space travellers. Space junk is a huge threat, he warns.

There are estimated to be 100m pieces of debris bigger than 1mm across floating around the Earth, and a collision could shatter a satellite or spacecraft.

The chief of the Air Staff for the RAF suggested this year that Britain may soon follow the United States in creating its own Space Force to engage in what then-President Donald Trump said in 2019 was the worlds new war-fighting domain.

Space exploration up until now has been very much an international peaceful collaboration, says Peake.

Independent nations are now starting to have strategic assets in space that are vulnerable and those assets need protecting from other states. Its an inevitable progression, unfortunately.

In 2015, when Peake was preparing to blast off for his 186-day expedition to the International Space Station, atabloid headline claimed he was the first ginger inspace. One thing he is happy to be is an interplanetary role model for a new kind of masculinity; a softly spoken foil to the stereotype of the macho spaceman of old.

When people think of astronauts, they might think back to the Apollo era, the Mercury Seven, all fast-jet test pilots, and Ithink that now its very different, were a very diverse group. its good to be able to portray the reality of what the agencies are looking for.

Within the next four years, he also hopes to make one final, giant leap as the first Brit to walk on theMoon.

When I mention that, in his fifties, his dream mission would also make him the oldest person to step foot on the dusty surface of the Earths only natural satellite, hechuckles.

Im not sure where you got that from. But yeah Im certainly hoping for a second mission to space, he says, adding that astronauts can put off retirement to 60 (though much will depend on the British governments financial commitment to the European Space Agency).

For a long-duration mission, we are looking at less than 60. If you are launching before that, then thats fine. Beyond 60, its probably not advisable to be involved in the longer duration missions, not to say that it cant happen but obviously space flight is physically and mentally demanding and it has a punishing effect on the body and the bodys ability to regenerate and recover reduces as we get older.

So, I press, does he want to become the oldest Moonwalker? Well, theres plenty of older astronauts out there, Peake says with another laugh. So Im sure some of them might get there before me.

But, yeah, at the grand old age of 49, Id like to still think Ive got at least one more mission left in me.

Swarm Rising by Tim Peake and Steve Cole is published by Hodder Childrens Books (12.99)on Thursday, 30 September

Continue reading here:

Tim Peake: Astronaut says humans will be a multi-planetary species as he launches his first childrens book - iNews

A 'time-traveller' who has been sharing videos from the future and somehow uploading them onto present-day TikTok claims he is trapped in the year 2027 and is completely alone

Image: TikTok.com/unicosobreviviente)

A 'time traveller from 2027' has shared new footage of his mind-bending ordeal and revealed that he is 'trapped and alone' after surviving a mass extinction event.

A man dubbed the TikTok Time Traveller has been uploading videos from the future onto present-day social media and has amassed a massive following.

Calling himself Javier, @unicosobreviviente, the man said that he lives in a deserted city in Spain as the last human alive, and he spends his time documenting the empty streets.

And now he's shared another video, in which he walks down a 'secret passageway' that resembles a nuclear bunker, and says that he'll have to get used to solitude as he'll be 'here alone forever'.

What do you think about Javier's situation? Let us know in the comments

Javier has been sharing videos since February 13, when he first showed a supposedly desolate Valencia in Spain.

He explained that he woke up in hospital with no idea what had happened, and filmed the deserted streets for his TikTok fans.

He initially said: "I just woke up in a hospital and I don't know what might have happened. Today is February 13, 2027, and I am alone in the city.

"Humanity has been extinct, there is no one in shopping centres."

While the shop in the clip is indeed empty, the lights are on, the shelves are stocked, and the internet clearly works as he was able to upload the video.

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Now, Javier has filmed himself walking down a flight of concrete stairs to a passage that resembles a nuclear bunker.

A caption reads: "Im tired already. I no longer know what to do or where to look

"I think I'll have to get used to being here alone forever."

After walking through reinforced concrete corridors which are lit with bulbs he reaches some stairs which appear to be blocked off by a glass panel.

The video has been viewed 489,000 times in just three days, and has received over 35,000 likes alongside a thousand commets.

One user said: "Well, at least there's TikTok in the future."

And another added: "Are you still stuck in time?"

While another simply said "Go to the Apple store, please. I need to see the iPhone 14."

Some users have been quick to mock Javier, asking how there is still power in a post-apocalyptic future, and he simply replied: "most likely there is a type of connection between 2021 and 2027".

Do you have a story to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Get in touch via yourmirror@mirror.co.uk

See the rest here:

Man 'trapped in the future' shares daunting glimpse of his day-to-day life - The Mirror

BRAZIL - 2020/08/28: In this photo illustration icons of Facebook and Instagram apps are displayed ... [+] on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

More than most companies and organizations, Facebook has for years been in the harsh glare of the public spotlight for their activities, policies and products.

The latest chapter for this apparently crisis-prone companyits decision yesterday to postpone rollout of a version of Instagram for childrenis playing out in headlines around the world. The spotlight will get even brighter and hotter this Thursday when a Facebook executive testifies about the app at a public hearing conducted by a U.S. Senate Commerce subcommittee.

What Facebook and Instagram are saying and doing about the controversyand how they are saying and doing itprovide business leaders with important lessons about responding to, managing and communicating about crisis situations.

Facebooks image, reputation and credibility are on the line once more. As the New York Times noted, the company, is so mistrusted in Congress that Apple has tolobby on Facebooks behalf. Far more people ina recent surveyhad anunfavorable view of Facebookthan they did of other U.S. technology giants. And Facebooks user numbers arent growing much in the United States, by far the most important advertising market.

Instagram Head Adam Mosseri said in a news release that, We firmly believe that its better for parents to have the option to give their children access to a version of Instagram that is designed for themwhere parents can supervise and control their experiencethan relying on an apps ability to verify the age of kids who are too young to have an ID.

While we stand by the need to develop this experience, weve decided to pause this project. This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today, he said.

Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College said, Facebookand Adam Mosseri did the right thing in pulling the project for now but perhaps not in terms of how they addressed the public.

This is an absolute powder keg with an epidemic of misinformation, effects of the pandemic and a variety of academic reports from NGOs and reporters on the harm to teens associated with Instagram use.In addition, it happens when reporters allege that Facebook knew of the report on harm to teen girls and largely dismissed it or ignored it altogether, he said.

Lightman also observed that, This represents a very large [consumer] segment for Facebook/Instagram (Gen Alpha). [It] might represent a new captive audience as the time spent on the app has been partially eroded by Snapchat, TikTok and Discord.However, in their defense Facebook/Instagram did not even have an opportunity to discuss how the platform might work for tweens 10-12.

So they got called out even before putting together product design and functionality and now have a moment to pause and build out the right platform addressing concerns from educators, parents, mental health practitioners, etc. he noted.

Lightman said, The takeaway is to listen to the market and assess all the different risk/benefit vectors prior to initiating a campaign.

By not addressing this, it leaves the public in doubt [the] substantive changes they might be able to make if they do launch the platform for tweens in the future.Being transparent and addressing concerns that might be out there as well as how they might work with advocacy groups, regulators and educators is critical for any organization looking at developing a digital platform for this age group, Lightman concluded.

Baruch Labunski, president of Rank Secure, said that, As a marketing expert, I understand that a company in crisis sometimes has to tackle difficult issues. Its easier to manage a crisis when that company can choose when to make an announcement and if that company is being forthcoming and acting in the interest of the public. Neither is true in the case of Instagram Kids.

[Instagram head] Adam Mosseri may tell you about the wonderful safety features Instagrams new product for kids aged 10-12 will have, Lubanski said. [But] thats less credible when hes only discussing the companys decision to pause their work on the appBuzzfeed broke the story about Instagrams internal announcement earlier this year and a deluge of criticism ensued, he said.

Labunski noted that, One of Mosseris justifications for the launch of Instagram Kids is that kids under 13 are already using Instagram, despite the platforms rules. He says that if kids are going to use it anyway, the platform should be safer and bring with it more parental controls.

Its my opinion thats simply insufficient and also not credible, he said. Facebook and Instagram already consume enormous amounts of the time and attention of adults. Starting kids earlier? Its impossible for me to see how thats in the public interest. We know that hate speech and body shaming flourish on social media platforms. Who in their right mind thinks we need to send invitations so 10-year-olds can participate?

Mike Bienstock is CEOof Semaphore, a management and licensing firm. He noted that, YouTube has been struggling with the kids issue for years. They developed a generation of kids channels and then destroyed them by withholding ads when things started going poorly PR-wise. In turn,many kids' channels slowed/stopped their uploading to YouTube.

Facebook is likely facing the same issuesthere is no good solution here. If you restrict ads, you lose the content-production machine. If you allow ads, you are selling to kids too much, so the easiest path is to forget about programming for kids. Leave that to PBS where content is planned and created with child development in mind. It's never going to be protectedthe way children need and still survive monetarily, he predicted.

Read more:

Facebook Will Be On The Hot SeatAgainAt Senate Hearing Thursday Because Of Instagram Kids App - Forbes

For a couple of weeks, I have been struggling to write this piece, as I have been rehearsing in my mind not to start trouble.

As a child of God, I am one to recite It is well with my soul until I turned on Eagle FM, Lord have mercy.

That radio station has the ability to turn my happiness in pure anger because of the commentary and views of their listeners who tend to throw in comments such as A rape case among children is a normal thing because children play, The issues of housing in Namibia cant be solved because even if you build them, no one will buy them, or Ondangwa is a small town; it cant be compared to Windhoek even the allocation from central government is not the same.

Those were just some of the commentary contributions that were made in September that broke the camels back and drove me to pour out my thoughts as a Namibian citizen, and say,Dear Namibian, can we all stop living in glass houses, sipping on a cup of tea, swiping up and down on our iPhone 13 and uploading filtered snapshots.

Because enough is enough with the negativity and the spirit of ignorance and oblivionism while the whole country is burning up with social issues that need our voices and actions but give it a side eye, shift blames and point fingers because we dont want to be the enemy of the state but be people pleasers, clapping our hands and watching our bank account go up; we are good as long as it is not hitting home.

The year 2021 has been brutal on everyone. We started the year with Air Namibia closing its door, adding to the long list of unemployment and families around the country being plugged back into the cycle of poverty.

With multiple lockdowns and the economy buckling under-pressure, some chose to go in the street, despite it all because hunger will kill them.

As fear, anxiety and death consumed us, I sat on the plane, destined for Ondangwa. I am not one to come home in August and September because it is always dusty and windy with no tree in sight; the whole town became a ghost town. But this year, I chose me to come back home and sit down for a deep retrospection and introspection on my core value as a human being.

As I began my drive home in my uncles Beetle car, I cannot realise how, for the past two decades of my existence, Ondangwa has become an eyesore, a sight you want to pass and never come back to or something from a horror movie or a dream you want to wake up from.

That will apply to the travellers but for some of us, Ondangwa is home. We did not choose the problem but we were born into it; now, its our problem, Chude Jideonwo.

The town has been belittled to nothing but a small town with a failed town planning structure and majority of land located near the B1 road being occupied by sheebens and bottle stores.

I cannot help but wonder what do the youth do?

As we drove further inland, my question was answered, as I saw some of my age mates hustling by selling cellphone accessories and uumuhaka at major malls, but I observe a majority of them at this alcohol drinking hub and my heart sank.

One will wonder, is this a community of innovators and committed citizens or that of drunkards? There is a saying: Kehe Omukwaniilongo omOndonga endela; if such a saying is true, I wonder the image and the narrative that currently exists in those who have been to the town?

With a population of approximately 36 846, according to the 2011 regional census, the town is dominated by the 15-59 age group, which holds 63% of the total population, with no social responsibilities being displayed by the giant retailers into the community, where trade takes place, majority of the development is reliant heavily on central government.

This brought a stagnant growth that went from bad to worse due to a shaky, unstable economical environment, natural disaster and other human doings.

Being located in flood plains, Ondangwa unkempt and almost neglected environment rooms, with elect buildings some kept intact and others almost falling apart take centre stage.

As we turned into a short gravel road on our way home, we were met by a new military base, which took away hundreds of homes to relocate them into the desert and my heart sank, as I wondered why would you put a military camp in the middle of a community; why did you not take it to Uulunga waKolondo because you will be saving a lot of money from transportation of military personnel.

As I gazed to my left hand side, I realised Ondangwa urban is now flooding; it is an expansion of the rural areas, where any form of agriculture is now soon to be of extinction.

Out loud with no filter, I asked the famous questions of Mee Sofia Shaningwa: This towns and development we are building, where are they going to end? Are we going to turn the whole of Namibia into towns? Are we not going to have agricultural land for crops cultivation and animals grazing?

It almost puzzles me as young person how we are invested on the internet and travelling to other countries and not even realising it is actually possible to bring development (education, health and transportation) without destroying the majority of its fundamental living standards.

When are we going to capitalise on farming commercially in the communal land, instead of investing it all in erven, because we all know a majority of our food here is imported from South Africa and other SADC countries?

Yet, we act surprised when we see 1kg of Macaroni costing N$98.00, competing with a cement bag.

As I sat down listening to Kati FM from the compound of my late father, I watched my nephew return from school and I wonder the world he will live in, the education he will be receiving and the skills he will harness when its all said and done.

Chills went down my spine because it does not looking bright currently. I did not write this piece for interrogatory purposes nor to look down on progress made or whine like an ungrateful born free who thinks she can do better than the rest.

I wrote to start a conversation, to awaken sleeping giants and for deep thinking tanks to put their caps on and be somewhere when the African Continental Free Trade is implemented.

It is for all of us to see the bigger picture in a legacy format and leave the future generation with something to stand on because we did not fail them as we have failed ourselves.

Ondangwa has lost more than it had gained in the past decades. Although we have not been publicly dragged on the front pages of newspapers, it doesnt mean it is all Colgate smiles. They say, fear those silent ones; they will shock you one day.

But until then, I refuse to bring my kids and grandchildren into such an environment without excising my democratic freedom of speech and voting.

I am not an activist; I am just a citizen of Namibia with major concerns.

Read more here:

Opinion - A letter from the office of citizenship - New Era