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Facebook Reveals Their Plan to Combat Terrorism

Jonathan Antonio
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Facebook Reveals Their Plan to Combat Terrorism

When a typical user uses Facebook, it may look like Facebook is not doing much. But, behind the scenes, programmers have developed technology to deliver targeted advertising, relevant content, and information to keep you engaged and returning to the application. With 1.9 billion users worldwide, some of that user-generated content contains violent images, profanity, and even extremist views. So Facebook is revealing how the company is planning to fight terrorism via the social networking application.

Facebook released a new outline that points out the new methods on how to combat this threat by using artificial intelligence and other software.

Monika Bickert, Facebook’s Director of Global Police Management and Brian Fishman, Counterterrorism Policy Manager, said in their latest blog post, “We agree with those who say that social media should not be a place where terrorists have a voice. We want to be very clear how seriously we take this — keeping our community safe on Facebook is critical to our mission.”

Facebook Startup
[2016-12-26] Facebook Headquarters, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California, USA. Facebook “like” sign at the entrance sign board and visitors taking photo against it are in this photo (achinthamb / Shutterstock, Inc.)

Facebook will use artificial intelligence to eliminate terrorism on the website. Artificial intelligence is currently being used in image-matching to identify whether an uploaded photo or image is the same as one used by terrorists. They are also creating technology that understands the text, which could recognize propaganda or other language used by terrorists.

Ultimately, Facebook is trying to identify and remove terrorist clusters by eliminating Pages or groups, or determining if an account is connected to other accounts that have already been deleted for terrorism. The company is also actively removing fake accounts and developing artificial intelligence to handle other issues on the platform.

That said, artificial intelligence cannot do everything. Facebook pointed out in an example, “A photo of an armed man waving an ISIS flag might be propaganda or recruiting material, but could be an image in a news story.”

Consequently, Facebook will continue to hire specialists to identify flagged content. The social network enterprise noted they are not alone and the company is sharing their information with Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube.

Bill O’Reilly is Already Working on a Comeback: ‘I Am Starting My Own Operation’

Jonathan Antonio
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Bill O’Reilly is Already Working on a Comeback: ‘I Am Starting My Own Operation’

After Bill O’Reilly’s sexual harassment scandal and firing from Fox News, the former TV host launched his own podcast. O’Reilly is now hinting this new approach to media has been successful, and he’s looking to make grow his media empire.

Following a Friday Mediate report that O’Reilly was hiring a crew of producers for a new project, the former cable-news reporter addressed the matter during one of his “The Spin Stops Here” tours.

Reports circulated that Fox News competitors such as One America News have been “eagerly courting” O’Reilly, but he ultimately was to control his message and deliver it in his own way. While he told his audience that “there could be a new network,” he also stressed that his website will start a 30-minute newscast.

“I am starting my own operation. We are going to do that,” adding that his website, billoreilly.com, will beta test a half-hour newscast “where we will go into a studio and here it will look like ‘The Factor.’ … It’s basically an experiment to see how many people are going to want this service. That’s coming and will be here before September in a robust form. But I suspect there will be another network maybe merging with us. There will be a network that rises up because the numbers for Fox are going down.”

O’Reilly also hinted at the “truth” coming out soon to discuss what really happened.

“In the weeks to come, there will be a bunch of news stories that will explain what happened and why it happened. It’s pretty grisly. It’s pretty nasty. It has to do with far-left progressive organizations that are bent on destroying anybody with whom they disagree, including the president.”

O’Reilly is most likely talking about the Media Matters campaign to pressure advertisers to drop his show. He also stated that he doesn’t blame Fox News for his firing.

Tupac Biopic ‘All Eyez On Me’ is a Surprise Box Office Hit

Jonathan Antonio
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Tupac Biopic ‘All Eyez On Me’ is a Surprise Box Office Hit

Father’s Day Weekend is here and this weekend’s box-office was packed with new movies, making it a very competitive holiday.  In fact, five new releases debuted this week.

#1: Cars 3

Cars 3 took the lead with $53.3 million, which is down from the $66 million opening of Cars 2 and the $60 million opening for Cars. It is also the fourth worst opening weekend ever for a Pixar movie, placing slightly above Ratatouille, The Good Dinosaur and the very first Pixar film, Toy Story.

The domestic box-office is not a bi deal with the Cars franchise, because not only does the Cars franchise do better internationally, but it makes most of its money in merchandising, have produced $10 billion in movie-related products.

#2: Wonder Woman

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman dropped only 32% in its third weekend, adding another $40 million to gross a total of $274 million, so far. As a result, the Wonder Woman movie is on track to surpass Man of Steel next weekend and beat out Will Smith’s Suicide Squad and Ben Affleck’s Batman v. Superman to become the biggest movie in DC’s extended universe. Moreover, the movie is doing extremely well overseas, where it is expected make over $300 million by the end of the weekend.

#3: All Eyez on Me

The Tupac biopic All Eyes on Me beat out Scarlett Johansson’s Rough Night with $27 million, which is higher than what many analysts expected the biopic to hit. No one expected the movie to do as well as it did, especially given the poor reviews and backlash by Jada Pinkett Smith and 50 Cent. In fact, many people thought the movie would flop at the box office. However, the movie exceeded expectations, which probably had a lot to do with Tupac’s history in hip-hop and large fan base. Moviegoers were interested in seeing the dramatic life and portrayal of Tupac Shakur. Besides, moviegoers ended up liking the movie as the biopic earned an A- CinemaScore.

The rest…

Tom Cruise’s The Mummy took a hit, generating only $13.7 million in its second weekend. While it is performing very well internationally, it’s probably not enough for Universal to develop a franchise.

The Mandy Moore shark film, 47 Meters Down, took fifth place. Originally scheduled for a video-on-demand release last August, Entertainment Studios purchased the movie from Dimension Films and decided to release it theatrically. The ends justified the means with this gamble as the film made $11 million this weekend on a $5 million budget.

Box office flops

The weekend’s biggest disappointment goes to Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon’s Rough Night, which many predicted would at least come in second place at the box office. The movie only made $8 million. Reviews were mixed but, fans ended up not liking the movie as the film received a C Cinemascore.

There was another major disappointment this weekend. Book of Henry was trashed by critics, which is concerning since the movie’s director, Colin Trevorrow, has been hired to direct Star Wars IX.

What’s next?

Next weekend will be interesting as there is only one major new release, Transformers: The Last Knight and it will be interesting if Michael Bay can continue to generate huge box office numbers or if moviegoers are sick of the franchise.

Surgeon Removes Wrong Testicle, Patient Awarded Nearly $900k

Brent Edward
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0
Surgeon Removes Wrong Testicle, Patient Awarded Nearly $900k

A Pennsylvania man became nearly $900,000 richer after a court ruled against a hospital and one of its doctors for removing the wrong testicle during a 2013 surgery.

Steven Hanes was awarded $870,000 in damages after a doctor removed the wrong testicle, PennLive reports. In fact, he was awarded $620,000 for “pain and suffering” and $250,000 for “reckless indifference.”

A jury reached a verdict against J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and Dr. Valley Spencer Long, the doctor who performed the surgery. This was the first time in over 25 years that a plaintiff was awarded money in a medical malpractice case, according to PennLive.

According to the lawsuit, Hanes claimed that he had been suffering chronic pain in his right testicle. As a result, he decided to visit Dr. Long. While other options were available to Hanes, Long had recommended that Hanes receive surgery. However, that’s when things didn’t go as planned, as Long had operated on the wrong testicle, removing the perfectly fine left testicle instead of the right one that Hanes was attempting to receive treatment. Moreover, Fox 6 News reports that based on medical records, the damaged testicle was about half the size of the healthy one at the time of the operation.

According to Hanes, the operation was a due to reckless behavior, as Dr. Long was unable to accurately identify the damaged testicle and ended up removing the wrong one.

“Steve had the right testicle pain for 15 years before he went to see Dr. Long. He wanted to relieve the pain,” said Hanes’ lawyer, Braden Lepisto.

Court documents also claim that Long’s post-operative report had detailed what occurred in the operating room in an off-the-cuff way, stating that the left testicle and cord “may actually have been removed instead of the right one.” As a result, Long’s post-operative report led Hanes attorney to believe that Long might not have any idea that Long had removed the wrong testicle. According to PennLive, Lepisto told the news out that his firm is now investigating a medical malpractice case, where a patient had died while allegedly being under Dr. Long’s care.

While Long is 77 years old and no longer practicing surgery, Steven Hanes can look forward to $870,000 from the medical malpractice case.

Hanes’ lawyer also said that his client had developed a “debilitating fear” of having another doctor look into his situation, due to the fact he had the wrong testicle removed. Moreover, if Hanes does need to have his damaged right testicle removed, he may need to spend the rest of his life receiving testosterone replacement therapy for the rest of his life.

Sony’s ‘Venom’ Will Be in the Same Universe as ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

Jonathan Antonio
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Sony’s ‘Venom’ Will Be in the Same Universe as ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

Sony will continue to produce Spider-Man franchise films was questionable following the announcement of Marvel’s production of Spider-Man Homecoming. While Spider-Man is now mixed into the Avengers universe, for at least the next few feature films, anything Sony was planning was reportedly separate from any of Marvel productions.

Then Sony announced to expand the Spider-Man universe by announcing Venom for 2018 with Tom Hardy in the starring role, followed by an upcoming Black Cat/ Silver Sable movie rumored to be in production.

Stan Lee Marvel
LOS ANGELES, CA. October 20, 2016: Stan Lee at the world premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange” at the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood. (Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com)

But, it looks as though Sony’s Venom storyline could be connected to Spider-Man: Homecoming despite earlier reports. In a recent interview with Kevin Feige and Sony’s Amy Pascal for Spider-Man Homecoming, the two studio executives discussed how the upcoming Venom movie would c to the next Spider-Man: Homecoming production.

Both movies will all take place in the world that we’re now creating for Peter Parker. I mean, they’ll be adjuncts to it, there may be different locations, but it will still all be in the same world, and they will be connected to each other.”

If this news is true, then it makes the upcoming Sony productions far more interesting than they would be just as stand-alone productions. However, it may open the door to complex storylines and plot holes. But, having them at least connected in the same world could open the possibilities of a similar deal between Fox, Marvel, and Sony in what could be a mega-crossover production.

So what does this mean? Is this just wishful thinking or a huge mistake? We will just have to wait and see.

Jay Z is Bailing Out Dads for Father’s Day and Taking On the “Exploitative” Bail Industry

Jonathan Antonio
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Jay Z is Bailing Out Dads for Father’s Day and Taking On the “Exploitative” Bail Industry

Jay Z’s production work on Time: The Kalief Browder Story illustrated the rapper/entrepreneur’s commitment to fixing social injustices in America. But, it appears as though the rap mogul is doing more than making documentaries. A day after he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Jay-Z decided to share his thoughts in Time Magazine regarding the bail industry and how it targets minorities in America.

Jay-Z began by recounting his personal history with the jail system. “If you’re from neighborhoods like the Brooklyn one I grew up in, if you’re unable to afford a private attorney, then you can be disappeared into our jail system simply because you can’t afford bail. Millions of people are separated from their families for months at a time — not because they are convicted of committing a crime, but because they are accused of committing a crime.”

Jay Z Beyonce
Jay Z and Beyonce Knowles attend the Costume Institute benefit gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. (JStone / Shutterstock.com)

After explaining the story of Kalief Browder, he focused his argument directly on the heart of the issue, the bail bonds system.

“When black and brown people are over-policed and arrested and accused of crimes at higher rates than others, and then forced to pay for their freedom before they ever see trial, big bail companies prosper,” he wrote. “Every year $9 billion dollars are wasted incarcerating people who’ve not been convicted of a crime, and insurance companies, who have taken over our bail system, go to the bank.”

Jay-Z is doing more than just writing op-ed pieces, he plans on doing something about it.

JAY Z Tidal
Debby Wong / Shutterstock, Inc.

“This Father’s Day, I’m supporting those same organizations to bail out fathers who can’t afford the due process our democracy promises. As a father with a growing family, it’s the least I can do, but philanthropy is not a long fix, we have to get rid of these inhumane practices altogether. We can’t fix our broken criminal justice system until we take on the exploitative bail industry.”

This news comes after Jay-Z released a TIDAL exclusive 17, a short film dedicated to fighting social injustice, and selling 33% of his music streaming company to Sprint for $45 million.

Woman Sues Casino That Offered Her Steak Dinner and $2.25 Instead of $43 Million

Reginald Edward
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Woman Sues Casino That Offered Her Steak Dinner and $2.25 Instead of $43 Million

A New York City woman who was offered a steak dinner after staff said her $43 million wins at a slot machine, which was the result of a computer glitch, is now suing the casino for the entire jackpot.

Katrina Bookman took a selfie at New York’s Resorts World Casina in front of the “Sphinx Slot Machine,” as the screen showed her a grand prize winning of $42,949,672.76. When she tried to collect her winnings, a casino employee told her that she had not won. Instead, the casino offered her a complimentary steak dinner and $2.25, the prize the casino operators claim her slot machine actually should have delivered.

Bookman’s attorney, Alan Ripka, told CNN that his client turned down the steak dinner and the two bucks and change. Rather, the Queens woman filed a lawsuit against the casino on Wednesday.

Resorts World Casino New York City Lawsuit
JAMAICA, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 10, 2016: Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, New York. JFK-airport-area casino featuring slots, table games, a buffet, food court and bars (Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com)

Ripka is looking for $43 million in damages from the resort. Also, the lawsuit is suing Genting New York LLC, the casino’s parent company, and International Game Technology, the maker of the slot machine for breach of contract, negligent representation, and alleged common-law negligence.

“You can’t claim a machine is broken because you want it to be broken. Does that mean it wasn’t inspected? Does it mean it wasn’t maintained?” Ripka told CNN. “And if so, does that mean that people that played there before (Bookman) had zero chance of winning?”

Ripka says he asked Resorts World Casino what caused the machine to glitch, but he has not received an answer yet, according to CNN. Moreover, Bookman alleges the entire experience has caused her “mental anguish,” according to the complaint.

China Took a Major Step Towards ‘Spooky’ Quantum Internet Communications

Megan Diane
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China Took a Major Step Towards ‘Spooky’ Quantum Internet Communications

A satellite from China was flying through space and shooting pairs of entangled photons to two separate locations on Earth to achieve a “spooky” effect known as quantum entanglement. In a study published in the journal Science, the particles ended up separated by 746 miles on the ground, but they remained mysteriously connected as they traveled down.

The quantum entanglement experiment is a significant discovery that could lead to breakthroughs in physics, and perhaps result in the creation of a new global communications network using quantum encryption that would be nearly impossible for anyone to break.

Researchers call quantum entanglement “spooky action at a distance.” For example, if you flipped two coins and every time they landed, one read heads and the other tails, no matter where the two coins landed on Earth. Essentially, you would know what the other coin said just by flipping your coin. As a result, this is a significant scientific discovery.

The experiment was led by Professor Jian-Wei Pan of Hefei University in China. A laser on a satellite orbiting 300 miles above Earth produced entangled photos and was transmitted to two different ground based station 750 miles away, without breaking the link between the photons, according to the report.

Quantum entanglement provides big implications for our understanding of quantum physics, and it could have seriously huge practical uses such as sending coded messages.

China is not the only country working on sending quantum messages. American and European research teams are considering sending quantum based equipment to the International Space Station to test whether changing gravitational fields can change entanglement.

Researchers would compare photos in the weaker gravitational environment of orbit with entangled partners sent to earth. 

Anton Zeilinger, a physicist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, told Science, “There are not many experiments which test links between gravity and quantum physics,” he said. “I’m personally convinced that the internet of the future will be based on these quantum principles.”

Yoga and Meditation Can Change Stress Related DNA, Study Finds – Here’s How It Works

Brent Edward
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1
Yoga and Meditation Can Change Stress Related DNA, Study Finds – Here’s How It Works

Meditation and yoga may be better for your health than just making you feel relaxed. A new study suggests these types of exercises can actually revise stress-related changes to your DNA that is linked to depression and poor health.

In a new paper published in Frontiers in Immunology, researchers analyzed studies from over a dozen of previously published studies, which studied the biological effects of meditation, yoga, breathing exercises and other mindfulness exercises.

As a result, researchers claim the studies showed that these type of exercises help support the expression of genes and genetic pathways that promote inflammation in the body.

Yoga
NEW YORK CITY, USA – JUNE 20, 2016: People gather for a yoga class in Times Square to celebrate the Summer Solstice. Manhattan, NYC. (Life In Pixels / Shutterstock.com)

Researchers in the study claim inflammation can temporarily boost the immune system, prevent infection and injury. However, a chronic inflammatory response can negatively affect the human body’s physical and mental health.

Long term stress caused by the environment and lifestyle can have real negative effects and certain traits can be passed on to future generations. Moreover, stressful events trigger the fight-or-flight response and lead to a chain reaction in stress-related changes in the body including activating genes that produce inflammation.

Yoga Meditation study
Wiang Chiang Rung, Thailand – December 23: Monks meditate in Wiang Chiang Rung in Thailand on December 23, 2016. ( Nukul Chanada / Shutterstock.com)

The lead author of the study, Ivana Buric, a Ph.D. student in Coventry University’s Brain, Belief and Behavior Lab in England, says her research “opens the doors to the development and testing of the multi-level theory of MBI (Mind-Body Interventions).

That said, the research claims that further research is needed. “These results need to be replicated in larger samples and with stronger research designs that control for non-specific effects of these practices and for as confounding lifestyle factors, such as sleep, diet, and exercise,” Buric added.

Universal’s ‘Scarface’ Remake to Film in Georgia

Jonathan Antonio
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Universal’s ‘Scarface’ Remake to Film in Georgia

Universal is getting ready for the reboot of the upcoming Scarface. Early this week, news broke that Universal executives are in talks with the director of Fury, End of Watch, and Suicide Squad David Ayers. Now, according to reports, we finally know where Scarface is going to film.

According to Project Casting, Scarface will shoot this summer in Georgia. Explore Georgia reports that Scarface is just the latest movie in the extensive list of new productions now shooting in across the Peach State.

About Scarface

Scarface centers around the rise and fall of a gangster. There have been two previous versions of Scarface, the latest most notably became a pop-culture phenomenon and solidified Al Pacino’s career in Hollywood. Directed by Brian De Palma the movie went on to gross $44 million at the box office.

Al Pacino Scarface
Al Pacino at the “Scarface” Blu-Ray DVD Worldwide Launch Party, Belasco Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. 08-23-11 (s_bukley / Shutterstock.com)

Initially, critics didn’t praise the movie over the amount of violence, drug use, and profanity in the feature film. In fact, many Cuban expatriates in Miami bashed the movie for portraying Cubans as drug traffickers.

However, years after the film’s release, the film received reappraisal from critics and was considered by some to be one of the best mob movies in history. Even Martin Scorsese praised the film, and the feature film has become a fixture in hip-hop culture.

Al Pacino Scarface Remake
Al Pacino at the “Scarface” Blu-Ray DVD Worldwide Launch Party, Belasco Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. 08-23-11 (s_bukley / Shutterstock.com)

Diego Luna will star in the movie and play a West Coast Hispanic gangster. The movie will be written by Jon Herman and produced by Dylan Clark via Dylan Clark Productions, alongside Martin Bregman, who produced the 1983 Scarface movie.

Previously, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua was attached to star in the movie. But, dropped out of the production due to scheduling conflicts.

Georgia’s Growing Film Industry

There are over 30 movies and TV shows now shooting in Georgia. Earlier this week news broke Shia LaBeouf’s new movie The Peanut Butter Falcon was going to shoot in Savannah, Georgia this summer. Also, T.I.’s new movie The Trap is ramping up production in Atlanta, Georgia. According to Explore Georgia, Dwayne Johnson’s new movie Rampage is also filming in Georgia this summer.

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