Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 135
June 12, 2017
Deadpool 2: Josh Brolin Reveals His Cable Haircut
Josh Brolin is one-step closer to transforming himself into the time-traveling mutant Cable in Deadpool 2, now sporting the character’s haircut. Twentieth Century Fox took people by surprise when they cast Brolin as Nathan Summers, aka Cable, two months ago. Not least of which is due to the fact that Brolin is pulling double-duty as the Mad Titan Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plenty of people have portrayed characters in multiple superhero franchises before, but never this prolific and at the same time.
He made a brief appearance as Thanos in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy three years ago and is scheduled to reprise his role for a full appearance in the highly-anticipated Avengers: Infinity War next year. Filming is currently underway for the Avengers film, but when he’s not shooting his scenes, he has been bulking up to prepare for his role as Cable. It’s always great to see actors take their craft seriously enough to physically prepare for their roles, but Brolin also needs to transform the way he looks beyond his physique.
Today, Brolin has shared a new photo on Instagram of himself and his son, Trevor Brolin. He’s seen sporting a haircut similar to that of Cable in the comics: shaved sides with the top long and slicked back. All he has to do now is color his hair white.
[image error]
Brolin had been one among many people linked to the highly-coveted role. At various points, the likes of Michael Shannon and Pierce Brosnan had reportedly been in the running. Another person closely associated with the project was Brad Pitt. In fact, concept art depicting Pitt as Cable had leaked online back in March, indicating that the actor had gone far along in the casting process. It seems that Brolin’s haircut (and possibly his expression) is comparable to Pitt’s in that leaked concept art.
It would be an understatement to say that people are excited about next year’s Deadpool sequel. Although last year’s movie wasn’t the first comic book movie to be rated R, it’s success did give 20th Century Fox enough confidence to allow James Mangold and Hugh Jackman to pursue and R rating for Logan. It’s possible that the film also convinced Millennium Films to reboot the Hellboy franchise with an R rating as well. Aside from becoming a genre-defining superhero film, Ryan Reynold’s performance as Deadpool is one of the most accurate superhero portrayals out there, and people can’t wait to see more of it (and Wade meet Nathan) come 2018.
Source:
http://screenrant.com/deadpool-2-josh-brolin-reveals-his-cable-haircut/
Avoid the SCAMptons: Online Booking Scams
Arriving at your dream summer vacation destination without a lodging reservation would be a real nightmare. Scammers make this nightmare a reality for vacation-goers who seek out travel sites to quickly, easily and cheaply book hotels and vacation rentals online.
These scammers create mock lodging websites by creating slick sites or by copying legitimate popular sites and claiming to be them.
Consumers who think they’re booking stays through these fake sites find out the hard way that their money has departed while they’re left behind. According to a 2015 estimate by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, consumers fall victim to 15 million fake booking scams every year, costing them $1.3 billion annually. A fraudulent site that tricks you into sending money or providing personal financial information is called a phishing scam.
Be wary of being redirected to fake sites. Redirecting the user to another website without the user realizing it can be easier than you think. One click on an ad or link can lead you to a mock website. These ads, pop-ups, and links to fraudulent websites often appear legitimate.
Look closely at the web address (URL). Fake websites often have a URL close, but not identical, to the legitimate website address.
For example, a widely circulated online report exposed a site impersonating a legitimate online lodging rental site called Airbnb. The fraudulent site used the URL “airbnb.itinerary-booking.com,” closely mirroring the legitimate airbnb.com. Pay close attention to the URL to help you verify that you are on a legitimate site. TIP: Use a search engine to get to a legitimate travel or lodging site address, or compare the search result to the address that appears in an ad.
Pay through the booking site, and avoid third party payment methods. It’s a red flag whenever someone you’re doing business with seeks payment through a wire transfer, prepaid money card, or a third-party site.
Using a credit card generally provides you better consumer protections, and be sure the website is secure (any website that accepts online payments should begin with “https://”;). Be wary if the host party contacts you via email or other method outside the website to request a payment that is not made through the site.
Be cautious of offers that may be too good to be true. Fake websites often offer unbelievably low booking prices. While these may be high-tech scams, the old, tried-and-true advice still applies: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Watch out for overly-glowing reviews. Fraudulent websites often make up reviews that are overwhelmingly positive to help convince consumers that a fake site is legitimate.
Call the company before you book a reservation; call to confirm after you book it. Fraudulent or shady operations will be hesitant to take your phone call or be harder to reach than legitimate, reputable businesses.
When you call, ask where the person on the other end of the phone line is located. Verbally confirm your reservation after you place it-including the address, the room amenities and a confirmation number-to help confirm that the booking was legitimate. If the company you thought you were doing business with cannot locate a confirmed reservation and you paid by credit card, contact your credit card issuer immediately to report the fraud.
Source:
8 Rules for Succeeding as an Entrepreneur
So what are my tips for entrepreneurs?
1. People are more important than strategy.
If you focus on finding people you want to be with and who you think are talented, chances are you’ll come up with great ideas together that will work. If you start with an idea and then try and find the talent, chances are you will be putting a square peg in a round hole. If you are familiar with Jim Collins’s books, it is what he describes as the “who” rather than the “what.”
2. Know what customers really want.
Business school teaches the importance of listening to customers. That’s great if you know what to listen for. Sometimes customers don’t know what they need but can describe what they really want or what they hate. For example, people don’t want to buy gasoline, but they do want to be able to drive to the beach. Henry Ford has often been quoted as saying, “If I’d asked my customers what they wanted they’d have said faster horses.” Whether he said it or not, the point is a good one. What business you are in is driven by your ability to know what people really want, not what they say they want.
3. Market size is everything.
When VCs look at any investment, they will try to forecast the potential market. If the market is big enough, even a half decent company could get to be a decent size. Dominating a really small market may take ten times the effort. Work out how big your opportunity is and what piece of that market you think you could own.
4. Be the customer.
How many times have you seen employees acting against the interest of their company, because the rules of the company made them act that way? Billions of dollars are lost every year because employees do what they’ve been told to do, not what they think they should do. If you are constantly putting yourself in the shoes of the customer and listening to your staff, you will eliminate the craziness.
5. Don’t chase bad revenue.
When starting out, you want customers, but be wary of taking just anyone’s money. Some customers can be bad for business, especially in the services sector. If you take on customers that pay well but make your employees’ life hell, they’ll rightly quit and then you won’t have a business.
6. Understand your culture.
Businesses are like families; they have values and a way of being. These are often a function of the leader or founder’s values. As you grow, you need to be sure to involve people who share those values. For example, if your company has a laid-back, fun culture where you empower people and don’t take yourselves too seriously, then don’t hire people who want a corner office and an assistant.
[image error]
7. Timing is everything.
One of the biggest reasons businesses succeed or fail is a function of timing. Being in the right place at the right time matters. All of which goes to my first point about not fearing failure; in life, you don’t always know until you try.
8. Think about growth.
We have all wondered what we’d do if we won the lottery. When starting a business, you need to think about what happens if it actually takes off. How will you scale? Who would you hire tomorrow? Would you open up in another city? Would you franchise the business? If you are trying to build the airplane while flying it, don’t be surprised if you crash.
Source:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/295305
Lyft is working with a third self-driving tech company
While Uber is busy trying to build its own self-driving technology, Lyft has opted to focus on what it is good at: Building a network for cars.
The younger ride-hail player, which recently closed a $600 million round valuing the company at $7.5 billion, has left the autonomous tech development to the autonomous tech companies — most recently Alphabet’s Waymo.
Today, the company announced it has struck a third autonomous tech deal with self-driving startup nuTonomy. NuTonomy, which was co-founded by Karl Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzolli, was spun out from MIT and develops autonomous vehicles. It already has pilots running in Boston as well as Singapore.
The deal: There’s no financial exchange, according to Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green. For now, the two companies are focusing on researching and later developing technology and software that will help with the passenger experience.
That means Lyft and nuTonomy will be working to answer the question: How will passengers interact with a “driver” that isn’t there? Green said the company expects to have a physical console in the car that will allow riders to connect to the Lyft app.
The deal will also give both Lyft and nuTonomy crucial data to later loop back into the software the companies are developing. Lyft, for instance, doesn’t have robust data on how its app should perform when hailing another human versus when it’s hailing a car.
The company is also working on ways to make the experience more instructive in order to help customers better understand how the car is working.
Eventually, nuTonomy will plug in a handful of its test vehicles into the Lyft platform to eventually chauffeur customers around Boston — which should be happening in the next few months.
Ultimately, the companies hope to ramp the nuTonomy vehicles on the Lyft platform up to “thousands” of vehicles.
Before Waymo and nuTonomy, Lyft partnered with General Motors — which also invested in the company — and its subsidiary Cruise. Unlike its deal with General Motors, Lyft’s partnership with nuTonomy and Waymo essentially puts the burden on the self-driving tech companies to come up with automaker partnerships.
NuTonomy, for its part, has a relationship with the PSA group which it announced in early May. For now, the company is only working with two Peugeot cars but expects to add more as time goes on. Waymo also has a deal with Fiat Chrysler which it’s just beginning to expand.
The deal with Lyft — and a sure path to commercialization — might help nuTonomy secure more partnerships with carmakers.
Yet unclear, however, is which company will own the vehicles in this ecosystem. Will automakers simply sell their autonomous vehicles to the networks, will the self-driving tech company buy a few thousand and retrofit them (probably not), or will Lyft take on that overhead?
Also unclear is how the revenue share agreement will be settled.
Neither Green nor Iagnemma had an answer. “The economics are still being worked out,” Green said.
“My job is to make sure nuTonomy will be part of the winning team,” Iagnemma said. “[That’s what] Lyft is for us when we look at North America.”
In Singapore, nuTonomy has a similar partnership with the Southeast Asian ride-hail player Grab. When it comes to the international self-driving landscape, it’s easy to see how several partnerships with local players will work out for companies like Lyft and Grab.
[image error]
Source:
https://www.recode.net/2017/6/6/15742742/lyft-nutonomy-self-driving-network-aotonomous-tech-company
Ashley Graham Shows off Curvy Denim Look
Supermodel Ashley Graham has been breaking stereotypes on what models are supposed to look like for years now. From being the first so-called “curvy model” to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition to not being shy about sharing pictures of her cellulite, she has inspired many women to embrace their bodies what matter what their shape or style.
On Saturday she shared a series of photos on her Instagram showing off how to wear denim-on-denim the right way.
[image error]
Jumping on the off-the-shoulder shirt trend, Graham wore light washed jeans with a revealing dark denim top. She completed the look with statement oversized hoops and beige heeled boots. She let her long locks flow and kept the makeup very light. She effortlessly achieved the perfect weekend look.
Graham also shared with her 4.4 million Instagram followers Story videos enjoying her weekend with friends, sipping on coffee and riding around in a golf cart.
Most recently, Graham graced the cover of Glamour magazine where she opened up about redefining what “sexy” means and empowering women to feel great with what the media calls “flaws.”
“Embrace what you have,” she said. “Say, ‘Belly, you might be poking out today, but I’m going to choose to love you and nurture you.’”
Graham is not shy about sharing her imperfections. And her fans love her for it. This swimsuit photo she posted last week received almost 280,000 likes and over 4,000 comments.
One commenter wrote, “Being an ambassador is one who promotes being healthy vs what the world would like to see. Good on you for not photoshopping this pic and reminding the world that models aren’t flawless, loved you on #antm. Keep it up bae and don’t change.”
Another commenter added, “All natural no implants what real women in the world look like nothing fake here, great role model, who needs Victoria Secret, bravo! bravo!”
[image error]
Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/style/ashley-graham-shows-off-curvy-denim-look-171025382.html
‘Facebook is only half in’: Creators doubt Facebook’s commitment to original programming
Publishers are happy to take Facebook’s funding for original video programming, but several existing and potential content partners expressed doubts that the company is committed to short-form shows for the long run.
Facebook is paying for both long- and short-form shows as part of its initiative. With long-form shows, which Facebook would entirely own, Facebook is willing to shell out as much as $250,000 per episode — equaling low-end cable TV budgets. These will be only a handful of shows, however, as most of Facebook’s deals so far concern short-form programming that runs anywhere between four and 10 minutes per episode. These are called “spotlight” shows by Facebook, which has signed up BuzzFeed, Attn, Mashable, Group Nine Media and others as partners.
For short-form shows, Facebook is willing to pay $10,000 to $40,000 per episode. Here, the media partner would retain the rights to the show, which they can distribute on their own site after seven days on Facebook or other platforms 14 days after premiering on Facebook.
Unlike Snap, which is also seeking exclusive shows, media partners describe a relationship where Facebook is more “hands off” with the short-form shows it’s buying. After a pitch process, Facebook selects which ideas it likes and orders full seasons outright, instead of piloting them. (Sources that are working with Facebook on the long-form shows describe a different situation where Facebook is more involved.)
“They’re trying to move as quickly as they can to launch this, so it’s more focused on getting big partners on board versus actually programming,” said one publisher that’s sold a short-form series to Facebook. “In that way, it feels like the first round of YouTube grants.”
It’s an approach that has rubbed some digital publishing partners the wrong way.
“Doesn’t this just scream that Facebook is only half in on this?” said one top Facebook video publisher. “If they came in with stricter guidelines — ‘We’re ponying up cash so [these shows] can only be on Facebook’ — we’d see them as tough negotiators, but at least we’d feel that they were serious about being a video destination versus trying to lure media partners in with yet another product.”
Much of the trepidation comes from publishers that have been paid by Facebook in the past to create content — specifically, for Facebook Live — and now fear a bit of déjà vu.
Source:
https://digiday.com/media/publishers-see-dollar-signs-facebook-shows-question/
Miss Haiti 2017 hosts a charity fashion show in Miami
Pelissier was in Miami in February soon after she competed in the Miss Universe pageant, where she was awarded First Runner Up behind France’s Iris Mittenaere. She visited the Little Haiti neighborhood to speak with locals about her journey and was also awarded the key to the City of Miami.
[image error]
The fashion show will feature designs by Rachel Roy and will be held noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Turnberry Isle Hotel in Aventura. Among the celebrity attendees will be Miami Dolphins Mike Pouncey. Pelissier will be joined by ABC News anchor and reporter Calvin Hughes.
General admission tickets start at $200 and include a champagne brunch, fashion show, gift bag and silent auction access featuring art, fashion and exclusive getaways. A runway front row seat is available for $300 and is all-inclusive, with attendance at the Celebrity VIP Reception. For additional information, visit www.catwalkforcharity.org.
A Haiti reboot? Country welcomes Google, Facebook, Silicon Valley to tech summit
Social entrepreneurs, influencers and startup innovators kicked off a two-day technology summit in Haiti on Tuesday, hoping to help transform the poverty-stricken nation into a hub of innovation.
The brainchild of Christine Souffrant Ntim, a Dubai-based Haitian-American entrepreneur, the Haiti Tech Summit is expected to bring in about 100 speakers representing Google, Facebook, Uber and Airbnb, and covering topics including launching a startup, the importance of smart cities and branding.
Addressing the 450-plus participants at the sold-out event Tuesday were former Haitian Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis, who spoke about the importance of technology in education, and Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who welcomed attendees to the Royal Decameron Indigo Beach Resort & Spa on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Ben Horowitz gave the opening talk, citing advice from Haitian Revolutionary leader Toussaint L’Ouverture: To change a country, you have to start by changing the culture.
“Culture is deep in our DNA,” Horowitz said. “Changing culture is how we change Haiti.”
[image error]
Ntim, who is the founder of a mobile network connecting global travelers to street vendors in developing countries, said the goal behind the summit is to “transform the narrative around Haiti’s brand as a nation.”
During the next 13 years, Ntim said, she wants to “catapult Haiti forward through innovation, tech and entrepreneurship.”
“We know Haiti can actually transform itself, be a new global case study for what happens when you actually get the right influences in the room to transform a nation,” she told the gathering.
That poses particular challenges in Haiti.
Despite Haitians’ embrace of the widely popular messaging app WhatsAPP, for example, a recent Hootsuite study of social media and digital trends around the world shows the country of 11 million people lagging behind many of its Caribbean counterparts. For example, Haiti’s internet penetration rate is only 15 percent compared to Cuba, which has a 32 percent internet penetration rate. Until recently, Cuba, which has a population size similar to Haiti, severely limited access to the internet for its population. In recent years, it has been adding public Wi-Fi hotspots around the island.
Over the years, efforts to introduce technology into Haiti’s pen-and-paper culture have failed. An effort to encourage mobile phone-based money transfers, which is popular in Kenya, failed to catch on. Haitian lawmakers have blocked efforts to adopt an electronic signature law despite robust lobbying by U.S. and other foreign officials seeking to boost Haiti’s ease-of-doing-business ranking.
But rather than see such skepticism and resistance as obstacles, Mildred Louis, a technology consultant who formerly worked for Haiti telecom giant Digicel and serves as communications director for the summit, sees opportunities.
“Sometimes what it takes is the disrupters in the market to force a movement,” Louis said. “In a market like Haiti, we need to force a movement. A lot of people didn’t think this summit was real, and today we have business leaders, members of the wealthy families asking, ‘how can we be involved?’
“There is a pool of potential here to build an incubation system, alliances, foster coding and a tech industry,” she said.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article154723829.html#storylink=cpy
June 11, 2017
Hugh Jackman Wants Dafne Keen To Take Over As Wolverine
20th Century Fox have a difficult decision ahead of them regarding what to do with their X-Men movie universe. While the franchise as a whole is in rude health right now, thanks to the many off-shoots and spinoffs in the works, the series has lost its biggest star in Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. The actor bowed out of the iconic role in this year’s Logan, meaning that the universe is currently without a version of the X-Men’s most famous character. The man himself, though, has an idea about who should take over from him: his young co-star, Dafne Keen.
In an interview with Collider, Jackman got to talking about where the Wolverine character could go next. He believes that the role should be opened up to “any color, any race, anything,” but thinks the eleven-year-old Keen would “frickin’ nail it.”
Here’s what he had to say:
“I think one thing we’ve learned: when X-Men started, it was pretty revolutionary. Like the comic book itself, I think there was an element of breaking conventions, of opening up in the concentration camp with a character, was not what people expected. I think X-Men has always been about asking questions, challenging norms and asking what’s going on. I’m not saying we’ve done that always, but I definitely think the spirit of Logan is in a way a reboot of that desire to keep taking risks and to ask more difficult questions, and to go deeper within the characters. In an irreverent way, it’s exactly what Deadpool did too.
I think it’s endemic to the character. I think for me, it would make sense to go younger with Logan. I think it would be very difficult – however, there’s a female 11-year-old who could absolutely frickin’ nail it, for my money. [Keen is] so good. I was 30 when I got the part, so I think it would be wide open to interpretation. I think it could be anything. You could go any color, any race, anything. If you look at all the drawings and all the different interpretations from different artists over the years, I think it’s completely open. I think audiences will buy it.”
Jackman is far from the only one who would like to see more of Keen in the role of Laura, Wolverine’s female clone/daughter. Fans have been calling for an X-23 spinoff ever since Logan came out – and we have to agree with them. Seeing Laura grow into her father’s mantle across several movies would be awesome to watch, and much better than another actor being asked to step into Jackman’s massive shoes. Fox, the ball’s in your court now…
Logan is now available to buy on Blu-Ray and DVD, and there’s still time to enter into our competition to win a copy.
Source:
http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/hugh-jackman-dafne-keen-wolverine/
