Sony
continues their tradition of “screwing up by the numbers.”
‘The
Interview’ Release to Deepen Rift Between Sony, Major Exhibitors
It looks like a bitter Christmas for owners of major theatrical
chains in the U.S., thanks to Sony Pictures Entertainment’s
decision Tuesday for a limited release of “The
Interview” in a few hundred independent
cinemas — with a VOD release coming soon.
Exhibitors
were already angry over last week’s move by
Sony to make them the scapegoat for the Dec. 17 cancellation. Several
executives told Variety that they only wanted the film’s
premiere to be delayed or modified.
…
After the
movie was pulled from theaters, the major
chains expected not to show “The Interview” due to the plans for
an imminent VOD release — violating the longstanding policy that
major studios wait several months after a movie opens before
distributing it on other platforms.
Now
that Sony has officially put
the movie back in theaters outside the major
chains and coupled those plans with what could be a day-and-date VOD
release, tensions have been aggravated further.
(Related)
Before you rush out to see this movie, read the entire review.
Film Review: ‘The Interview’
North Korea can rest easy:
America comes off looking at least as bad as the DPRK in “The
Interview,” an
alleged satire
that’s about as funny as a communist food shortage, and just as
protracted. For all its pre-release hullabaloo — including two big
thumbs down from Sony hackers the Guardians of Peace — this
half-baked burlesque about a couple of cable-news bottom-feeders
tasked with assassinating Korean dictator Kim Jong-un won’t bring
global diplomacy to its knees, but should feel like a kind of terror
attack to any audience with a limited tolerance for anal penetration
jokes. Extreme devotees of stars James
Franco and Seth
Rogen (who also co-directed with Evan
Goldberg) may give this Christmas offering a pass, but all others
be
advised: An evening of cinematic waterboarding awaits.
In
contrast to Bruce Schneier's article from yesterday.
The
Case for N. Korea’s Role in Sony Hack
There
are still many unanswered questions about the recent attack on Sony
Pictures Entertainment, such as how the attackers
broke in, how long they were inside Sony’s network, whether they
had inside help, and how the attackers managed to steal terabytes of
data without notice. To date, a sizable number of readers remain
unconvinced about the one conclusion that many security experts and
the U.S. government now agree upon: That North Korea was to blame.
This post examines some compelling evidence from past such attacks
that has helped inform that conclusion.
Perhaps
some interesting legal questions? How much control over leaked data
can a company exercise? (Is there a clear line, beyond which they
have no control?) Probably can't ask to have it removed without
claiming to own the copyright. Is it a good thing to claim
embarrassing emails? Can/should you disavow
(embarrassing/racist/petty/stupid/etc.) emails that claim to have
been sent from corporate officers?
Sony
Pictures is warning Twitter to crack down on people who share
documents and emails stolen in the massive hack on the Hollywood
studio or else risk legal action.
In
a letter on Monday, a lawyer for the beleaguered film studio demanded
that Twitter suspend the accounts
of people sharing documents stolen in the cyberattack.
“If
Twitter does not reply with this request... [Sony Pictures
Entertainment] will have no choice but to hold Twitter responsible
for any damage or loss arising from such use of dissemination by
Twitter,” lawyer David Boies wrote in the letter, which was
obtained by The
Motherboard and other outlets.
…
Twitter’s rules prohibit users from publishing private
information such as someone else’s Social Security number or
address as well as copyrighted information. It
is unclear if images from the hacked emails would qualify under that
policy or if Twitter has any legal responsibility to prevent the
dissemination of the stolen documents.
Monday's
letter is similar to an effort in recent days to prevent major
news outlets from reporting on the contents of the studio’s
hacked emails and other documents, which was also spearheaded by
Boies.
Something
for my Computer Security classes. Elegant data visualization.
Ooh,
pretty. Look what the folks at Information is Beautiful
did with data from DataBreaches.net and the Identity Theft Resource
Center:
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/worlds-biggest-data-breaches-hacks/
Interesting idea.
Internet
Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World
“Internet
Monitor is delighted to announce the publication of Internet
Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World, the
project’s second annual report. The report is a collection of
roughly three dozen short
contributions that highlight and discuss some of the most
compelling events and trends in the digitally networked environment
over the past year. The publication, intended for a general interest
audience, covers a broad range of issues and regions, including an
examination of Europe’s “right to be forgotten,” a review of
the current state of mobile security, an exploration of a new wave of
movements attempting to counter hate speech online, and a speculative
fiction story exploring what our increasingly data-driven world might
bring. The report focuses on the interplay between technological
platforms and policy; growing tensions between protecting personal
privacy and using big data for social good; the implications of
digital communications tools for public discourse and collective
action; and current debates around the future of Internet governance.
This year we are especially excited to share our “Year
in Review” interactive timeline, which highlights the year’s
most fascinating Internet-related news stories, from censorship to
Heartbleed to the Pirate Bay raid just last week. We’ve also
included a “By the Numbers” section that is slightly
tongue-in-cheek and offers a look at the year’s important digital
statistics such as the number of tweets per minute in 2014 (up
155,000 from last year) and the number of the top 100 accounts on
Twitter that belong to Bollywood stars. The full report, individual
chapters, and interactive timeline are available at the Internet
Monitor website.”
If
Russia tanks, are we looking at a world-wide recession? How does
Putin remain popular after leading Russia to the brink of bankruptcy?
Russia
Begins A $100 Billion Debt Bailout As Its Bonds Face 'Junk' Rating
Russia
has begun bailing out the debt of its private and state-run companies
and banks, which is denominated in dollars, according
to Reuters.
Banks
and companies owe a total of $600 billion in foreign debt, of which
$100 billion is due next year.
…
The bailout will not help Russia's bond
rating, which suffered a blow yesterday when the credit rating agency
Standard
& Poor’s said there was at least a 50% chance it would cut
Russia's status to lower than BBB or "junk" status.
I
like putting a countdown timer up in the classroom. It helps to
create that sense of doom during exams.
Three
Handy Timer Tools for Teachers
One
tool that can help to prevent the students and me from stretching the
"break times" is to use a countdown timer like the three
featured below.
You
can simply type into Google search "set timer" followed by
an amount of time and a countdown timer is displayed. An alarm beeps
when time is up. You can make the timer appear full screen without
advertisements by clicking a little box icon to the right of the
timer. You can see this feature in action in the video below.
Russel
Tarr's Classtools
Countdown Timer has two slick features. You can create and set
multiple timers on the same page. The second feature of note is the
option to add music to your timers. You can have your countdown
timers set to music. Mission Impossible, The Apprentice, and
Countdown are the standard music options. You can add other
music by using the YouTube search tool built into the timer . [I
use the theme from Jaws Bob]
Online
Egg Timer is a simple website offering three countdown timers on
one screen. You can set just one timer or run all three at the same
time with different settings. No registration is required in order
to use Online
Egg Timer. Just go to the site, set the countdown timer(s) using
the up and down arrows, then click "start timers."
Perhaps
I should get a smartphone? I have no idea what these Apps are...
The
Most Popular New Ed Tech Service of 2014 According to Readers
Last
week I posted a
survey asking you to select your favorite new app or website of
2014. After five days of collecting responses I've closed the
survey. Kahoot
is the most popular new ed tech service amongst the 216 of you that
voted.
Kahoot
is a slick service for creating and delivering quizzes to your
students' tablets, iPads, and laptops. On Kahoot you create a quiz
or survey that your students respond to through any device that has a
web browser (iPad, Android device, Chromebook). Your Kahoot
questions can include pictures and videos. As the teacher you can
control the pace of the Kahoot quiz or survey by imposing a time
limit for each question. As students answer questions they are
awarded points for correct answers and the timeliness of their
answers. A scoreboard is displayed on the teacher's screen.
Check
this chart to see how Kahoot compares to eight other student
response systems.
Definitely
worth the time to look through this list and select a few to try.
The
Best Windows Software
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