Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 81
September 13, 2017
How ‘Game of Thrones’ plans to avoid leaks of season 8’s ending
Game of Thrones” producers will shoot multiple versions of the ending of season eight to try to avoid leaks.
That’s according to HBO’s president of programming, who said last week:
“I know in ‘Game of Thrones,’ the ending, they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really know what happens,” HBO’s Casey Bloys said.
“You have to do that on a long show. Because when you’re shooting something, people know. So they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that there’s no real definitive answer until the end.”
So even “Game of Thrones” stars will have to watch the show’s final episode to see who survives the bloody blockbuster series.
Other hit shows — including AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and HBO’s “The Sopranos” — have kept their endings secret by shooting different endings.
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Going back to 1980, “Dallas” producers shot many endings for a season four climax episode, with almost every major character filmed firing the gun that would resolve the cliffhanger of “Who Shot J.R.?” That “Who Done It” broadcast remains among the most-watched TV episodes ever.
Bloys, in a talk at Bethlehem’s Moravian College, discussed the challenge of writing a great ending.
“Finales are tough,” he said. “If you think about, ‘Six Feet Under,’ well that was a pretty good finale. But if you think about ‘Seinfeld,’ if you think about ‘The Sopranos,’ if you think about ‘Breaking Bad.’ Everybody has an opinion about how a show should end.”
About that “Sopranos” ending: Bloys said he still doesn’t know for sure what happened to Tony Soprano.
“The thing that was interesting about ‘The Sopranos’ was it did make you think,” he said. “In a way everybody got their own version of it. I think he was probably shot, but I don’t think David [Chase] has really told anybody what really happened in his mind.
“But I think that’s his point. It can be whatever you think it should be as a fan.”
Production on the six “Game of Thrones” episodes in the final season will begin in October and could continue until as late as August 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That could mean the season might not start until 2019. HBO has not announced a date.
“Our production people are trying to figure out a timeline for the shoot and how much time the special effects take,” Bloys told The Hollywood Reporter.
Production is complicated by the fact the medieval fantasy drama is filmed on different continents. Past locations have included Malta, Morocco, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“Game of Thrones” is gaining audiences — the season seven finale on Aug. 27 was the show’s most-watched episode. Season seven averaged more than 30 million viewers through live and delayed viewing, Bloys said.
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Sony Xperia XZ1’s scanner comes with a 3D printing service
When Sony introduced the Xperia XZ1 at IFA, the Japanese tech giant said it was seeking partnerships with 3D printing services to go with its pre-loaded 3D scanning app. Now, Sony and Sculpteo have revealed that they’ve teamed up to give people the power to 3D print anything anytime they want to, using only the XZ1. You don’t need to fire up your computer during any part of the process at all.
When you fire up the 3D Creator application, you’ll find Sculpteo’s 3D printing services integrated into its interface. Want to immortalize a childhood toy that’s falling apart or to produce a three-dimensional print of your own face? Just scan it (or yourself) with 3D Creator and send the file straight from within the app to Sculpteo’s machines. You can even pay from within the application and then send the finished product anywhere in the world. The 3D-printing outfit will print your creation using multi-colored materials and in the size your specify.
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The tech titan highlighted XZ1’s 3D Creator app at IFA, and it’s easy to see why — the pre-loaded application has the ability to generate realistic 3D scans of objects and people in under a minute. Sony even demoed what it can do by using the app to scan my colleague’s, Cherlynn Low’s, head, and the result was surprisingly detailed and life-like. By making Sculpteo’s services a built-in feature, Sony has made the XZ1 more attractive to builders, makers, creatives and anyone else who wants an easy way to scan and print objects. The XZ1 will be available on September 19th, so you only have to wait a few more days, though you’ll have to be prepared to spend $700 to get one.
Source:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/13/sony-xperia-xz1s-scanner-sculpteo-3d-printing-built-in/
56.6 Million U.S. consumers to go without pay TV this year, as cord cutting accelerates
Bad news for traditional pay TV: cord cutting is accelerating at a pace faster than previously estimated. According to a new industry report from eMarketer, there will be 22.2 million cord cutters ages 18 and older this year – a figure that’s up 33.2 percent over 2016. The firm said it’s had to revise its forecast as the pace of cord cutting has increased. Previously, it believed there would only be 15.4 million cord cutters in the U.S.
In addition, the so-called “cord-nevers” – meaning those consumers who never choose to subscribe to traditional cable or satellite TV in the first place – is growing, too. While the pace of that growth is slower – a more modest 5.8 percent this year – the total number of cord-nevers is higher. eMarketer says there will be 34.4 million U.S. adult cord-nevers in 2017.
When you combine the cord cutters and cord-nevers, there will be 56.6 million U.S. non-pay TV viewers this year.
By 2021, eMarketer says the number of cord cutters will nearly equal the number of cord-nevers with 40.1 million for the former, and 41 million for the latter.
The firm attributes its revised forecast, in part, to the growing list of live streaming and over-the-top platforms that are now available.
In addition to existing players like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, in under a year’s time we’ve seen new entrants in the live TV streaming space like AT&T’s DirecTV Now, which arrived late last year; YouTube TV, which launched in April; and Hulu Live TV, which arrived in May. There’s also a growing number of sports streaming services, including fuboTV and Stadium. Meanwhile, major companies have announced similar plans to enter the live streaming space, including CBS Sports and ESPN.
And that’s just live streaming TV.
The on-demand market, which includes Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, and others, is growing, too. Even Disney is prepping its own Netflix competitor.
Source:
56.6 Million U.S. consumers to go without pay TV this year, as cord cutting accelerates
Differences Between a Short Story, Novelette, Novella, & a Novel
When I first started writing professionally, there were a lot of basic questions in my mind, one of which was, What are the major differences between a short story, novelette, novella, and a novel?
Novellas and novelettes might not be very common, but we often see short stories and novels. Knowing the differences, however, is still important. Although they are all works of fiction, each type has its own purpose. In this article, I will try to put light on some of the major differences between flash fiction, short story, novelette, novella, and a novel.
Beginners will find this very helpful in their writing journey. Apart from some of the basic differences in terms of word count, you will also learn a few technical points that differentiate these works of fiction.
Flash Fiction: 53 – 1,000 words
Short Stories: 3,500 – 7,500
Novellettes: 7,500 – 17,000
Novellas: 17,000 – 40,000
Novels: 40,000 + words
What Is Flash Fiction?
53 – 1,000 Words
Flash fiction (also known as short, short stories, micro fiction, or postcard fiction) are stories that take pride in their extreme brevity: some works of flash fiction have only 53 words, while others have 1,000. These works used to be referred to as “short short stories” until around the turn of the century (the year 2000), when the term “flash fiction” became the norm.
What Is a Short Story?
3,500 – 7,500 Words
The most important difference between a short story, novelette, novella, and a novel is the word count. An average short story usually has at least 3,500 words and no more than 7,500. Traditionally, short stories were meant to be read in a single sitting. They are usually published individually in magazines and then collected and published in anthologies.
A short story is one of the most common forms of writing. It is often used to describe a single event, a single episode, or a tale of one particular character. A short story does not usually involve major twists and conflicts, and involvement of various sub-plots and multiple characters is not common. A short story is basically fictional prose, written in a narrative style. However, the narrative style may either be first person or third, or whichever the author chooses.
What Is a Novelette?
7,500 – 17,000 Words
A novelette is also a narrative fictional prose. Back in the day, the term “novelette” referred to a story that was romantic or sentimental in character. To be honest, in modern times, the term is rarely used, and novelettes are rarely published singly.
A novelette is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella. The word count is usually between 7,500 words to 17,500 words.
What Is a Novella?
17,000 – 40,000 Words
Novellas were first introduced in the early Renaissance (1300s), but their genre did not become firmly established until the late 18th and early 19th century. A novella is longer than a novelette and is sometimes called a long short story or a short novel. Although in the past, novellas were commonly written and published, and some to great acclaim (A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and The Metamorphosis by Kafka, for example), these days it is considered to be an awkward length and it may be more difficult to get a novella published.
It can involve multiple sub-plots, twists, and characters. Its length constraints mean you’ll find fewer conflicts in a novella than you will in a novel, but there will also be more nuance and complication than you’ll find in a short story. Novellas are more often focused on one character’s personal and emotional development rather than with large-scale issues. In the past, the novella was often written with a satirical, moral, or educational purpose in mind. Therefore, it usually depicts the tale or story of a single character, but as I mentioned, it can involve multiple characters. Unlike novels, novellas are usually not divided into chapters, and like short stories, they are often meant to be read in one sitting.
What Is a Novel?
40,000+ Words
The novel is one of the more common works of fiction that we encounter. A novel often involves multiple major characters, sub-plots, conflicts, points of view, and twists. Due to its considerable length, a novel is meant to be read over a period of days. The plot moves forward through many characters, actions, thoughts, time periods, and situations. The reader often feels that the story deviates and is affected by the involvement of different sub-stories and sub-plots, by the passage of time, or by the involvement of new important characters– this is considered the real beauty of a novel.
The word count of a novel is really debatable. This is because different genres have different requirements. However, a novel is usually no shorter than 40,000 words. For modern publication, editors often consider a novel one which is spread over 80,000 – 120,000 words. Romance novels, however, can be shorter than that. On the other hand, a fantasy, horror, and science fiction usually see works of greater lengths. The word count for fantasy novels often touch the 240,000 mark. Some famous books, like the Lord of the Rings series, are famous for containing so many words. The Harry Potter series has 1,084,170 words; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixitself has 257,045 words.
Source:
https://letterpile.com/writing/Difference-Between-A-Short-Story-Novelette-Novella-And-A-Novel
J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars Episode IX
Lucasfilm announced today that J.J. Abrams will take over as the director for Star Wars: Episode IX after Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow left the project.
Following Trevorrow’s departure from the project on September 5th, THR reporter Borys Kit tweeted earlier this month that Abrams was on the short list to pick up Episode IX. The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson was also on the list, but he said that he wasn’t going to direct over the weekend.
Lucasfilm says that Abrams will co-write the film with Chris Terrio, the screenwriter for Argo, Justice League, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
His return to Star Wars will likely help bring some much-needed stability to Lucasfilm’s Star Wars operations after a string of high-profile departures from the franchise’s films. He’s also no stranger to sequels: he directed 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness after relaunching that franchise with 2009’s Star Trek. He’s also one of the executive producers for The Last Jedi, which would likely mean that it would be easier for him to join the project than a fresh director.
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Abrams’ return to the franchise is a bit of a surprise. While he was given the task of relaunching Star Wars with 2015’s The Force Awakens, the director told THR in January 2016 that he opted not to return for Episode VIII after realizing how much of a drain it would be to shoot the films back-to-back. “If The Force Awakens worked, it was the perfect place to say, ‘I got to make a Star Wars movie,’ and not be a greedy bastard,” he said.
Earlier this month, Lucasfilm announced that Trevorrow was leaving Star Wars: Episode IX, citing differing creative visions for the project. The Hollywood Reporter noted that issues with the script “continued to be a sore spot throughout Episode IX’s development,” prompting the studio to bring on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child screenwriter Jack Throne for a rewrite. THR also reports that the relationship between Trevorrow and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy “became unmanageable,” which contributed to the director’s decision to exit. The move is yet another high-profile departure from the Star Wars franchise, months after Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired from the upcoming Han Solo movie, and a year after Disney performed extensive reshoots on Rogue One.
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Rolls-Royce unveils plans for an autonomous patrol ship
Patrol ships are necessary to protect coastlines and fleets, but they’re far from ideal right now. You need big, bulky vessels, and the human crews are either faced with the tedium of an uneventful trip (if they’re lucky) or threats that a lone ship is ill-equipped to face. Rolls-Royce might have a better way: it just unveiled plans for an autonomous patrol ship that would eliminate many of these headaches, and would even be relatively eco-friendly.
The ship will use a combination of artificial intelligence and sensors to get around instead of a crew, with modular systems letting it change roles between missions (for example, a drone launching pad). This should not only let it operate for long stretches (up to 100 days) without subjecting humans to risk or sheer boredom, but allows for a smaller design that’s cheaper to run. You don’t need crew quarters or food supplies, after all. It wouldn’t have the ability to fight back if attacked, but it would use a “full electric” 1.5MW propulsion system that could help it stay undetected if it’s tracking a submarine.
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That electric power will have a few perks beyond stealth. The propulsion and the two generators (which put out a total of 4MW) are better for the environment, as you might expect. Rolls-Royce even plans to equip the boat with solar panels and 3,000kWh of energy storage to keep it loitering for as long as possible. Moreover, electric motors are more reliable — rather important for a ship with no mechanics aboard. It’s not the fastest ship with promised speeds somewhere “above 25 knots,” but it’s only really meant for sounding the initial alarm and quiet surveillance, not chasing after fast-moving cruisers.
The catch is that Rolls-Royce hasn’t named any customers. The unveiling is as much about attracting business as it is anything else. With that said, it’s easy to see navies and coast guards snapping this up. Instead of having to crew every single ship in their fleets, they can reduce the costs and dangers by having robotic ships on the vanguard. Crewed ships would only need to enter the fray if it turns out to be a serious enemy who’s undeterred by the mere presence of a scout.
Source:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/12/rolls-royce-autonomous-patrol-ship/
UK bans fully autonomous weapons after Elon Musk letter
The UK has sided with global robotics and AI experts in formally declaring that humans will always retain control over the country’s robotic weapons systems.
In August, Elon Musk led 116 experts in robotics and AI in calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. The letter, with signatories from 26 countries, was sent to the UN with an ominous warning:
“We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close.”
The announcement from the UK Ministry of Defense coincides with the Defense and Security Equipment International show, one of the biggest arms exhibitions in the world.
Mark Lancaster, the minister for the armed forces, said: “It’s absolutely right that our weapons are operated by real people capable of making incredibly important decisions, and we are guaranteeing that vital oversight.”
The reason you’re hearing so much about this issue recently is that autonomous weapons systems are now on the cusp of becoming a reality. Russian arms maker Kalashnikov recently announced it was developing autonomous combat drones that could acquire targets and make decisions by themselves.
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Yesterday I reported that Israeli autonomous drone maker Airobotics is entering the defense industry.
Some semi-autonomous weapons, which require some human oversight, are currently in use around the world. One example is South Korean gun turrets along the border with North Korea, which can lock onto human targets.
Missile defense systems are also largely autonomous.
The U.S. Department of Defense doctrine on so-called Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) is somewhat vague. DoD directive 3000.09 states that autonomous weapons systems “shall be designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force,” which is strikingly non-committal.
Last year, then-current Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told the Boston Globe, “We will not delegate lethal authority to a machine to make a decision.”
But Work went on to complicate that stance, adding, “The only time we will . . . delegate a machine authority is in things that go faster than human reaction time, like cyber or electronic warfare.”
Source:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/uk-bans-fully-autonomous-weapons-after-elon-musk-letter/
September 12, 2017
Here’s the new Apple Watch software
In Apple’s big product show today in Cupertino at the new Steve Jobs Theater, Apple COO Jeff Williams unveiled Watch OS 4, which is largely focused on health and fitness. The new OS features a redesigned workout app, high intensity interval training, enhanced swim tracking smart activity coaching, GymKit to pair with machines at the gym, a revamped heart rate monitor and new music experience.
With Watch OS 4, you’ll be able to see your heart rate right on your watch face. And when you launch the app, you’ll see your resting heart rate and recovery heart rate, which tells you how quickly your heart rate drops after a workout.
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When you’re not active, your Apple Watch will be able to notify you if your heart rate is elevated. The new OS can also detect arrhythmias.
With OS 4, person-to-person payments will be possible via ApplePay. which means you can send and request money right from the Messages app on your watch. The new software will be available to everyone on September 19.
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Here’s the new Apple Watch software
