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In showing these many aspects of the man, Edison offers a complex image of the inventor of the phonograph (the first device to record and play back sound), the first sustainable light bulb, and the motion picture camera that would one day make this very film (and, consequently, this review) possible. Michelle Ferrari's portrait shows a man possessed of undeniable genius and imagination, as well as tunnel vision and tremendous venality.
The program traces Edison's early years as a precocious tinkerer and experimenter, deprived of proper schooling, but insatiable in his autodidactic curiosity. Early work as a telegraph operator gave him detailed practical knowledge of the machine that heralded a new age. Edison raised funds with various telegraphic patents to set up a purpose-built new lab of his own in New Jersey, and applied what he learned to the problem-solving processes whose technological results would make his name, not to mention his fortune.
Millions of Americans can tell you what happens next, at least in general terms. But American Experience reframes the familiar narrative of Edison’s incredible string of eureka moments with nuance, contradiction, and vital context. His gargantuan work ethic made his inventions possible, and the film mostly eschews hyperbole and platitudes to demonstrate Edison’s practical creative process as well as how he often refined previous inventions. Still, the long hours in the lab created strain in his family unit; when his first wife died before her 30th birthday, Edison felt sharp pangs of guilt at not being more present in the home.
Perhaps the most illuminating point made by Edison is that, despite our experiences with the light bulb and descendants of Edison's phonograph and movie camera, in the immediate aftermath of their invention, he never quite harnessed their potential. Edison and his corporate backers managed to make a pretty penny, but the phonograph and motion picture camera remained mere novelties for quite some time and developed into mass media machines under later stewards.
Even electric light, identified so closely with Thomas Edison that he may as well have swapped his head for a bulb, developed gradually into a reputation-sullying debacle for the master inventor, the notorious War of Currents. Edison’s single-minded preference for the costly and inefficient direct current (DC) system that he developed blinded him to the advantages of high-voltage alternative current (AC), backed by George Westinghouse on the basis of the patents of Nikola Tesla (aka "the Hipster Edison"). Edison’s massive smear campaign painted AC as too dangerous for mass distribution, and to prove his point, he electrocuted animals and even humans. Edison’s team is responsible for secretly developing the electric chair for the state of New York, which was charged with AC.
AC won out over DC in the end, and Edison lost a stake in his electrical company when it merged with another to form General Electric. Tesla goes curiously unmentioned in the film; a former Edison Company employee, he quit in disgust after a broken promise of compensation for services rendered. He eventually rose to rival the great man’s electrical distribution achievements, posthumously surpassing them. But then Tesla died poor and unknown, while Edison expired as a national hero.
That said, as Edison considers this man so defined by his successes, it also finds something quite revealing in his failures. A substantial section of the documentary focuses on Edison’s grand money-losing misadventure in iron-ore separation mining in Ogdensburg, New Jersey in the 1890s. Although the mine never did become profitable and was eventually abandoned after swallowing a large portion of Edison’s personal fortune, Edison contextualizes the inventor’s involvement in the project as a time of great happiness at practical engagement in technology after many years of public appearances and navigating the business realm.
One of the documentary’s interviewees mentions an account of Edison speaking of work with a tone of reverence assumed by the pious when speaking of God. This is the most consistent picture of Edison advanced by the film, as someone more invested in inventing than in controlling consequences. Ogdensburg’s failure reenergized Edison, the program suggests, providing the impetus for the Edison Company’s development of a nascent filmmaking industry. But it also throws the man into sharper relief, so he is not only the Wizard of Menlo Park, but also a driven, self-made man with the characteristic blinders of the future-focused.
Edison is made in what you might call the American Experience house style: expositional narration (by series mainstay Michael Murphy); slow pans over archival photos, maps, and technical schematics; and sober, well-spoken talking heads. The formula enables the life story of Edison to migrate towards a rich portrait of an American icon while also commenting on America itself. Innovator, celebrity, capitalist, seeker of the new, Edison was as practical as he was imaginative, as competitive as he was collaborative. And as much as he represented the America of his time, he also represents the America of our time.
Splash and thumbnail images courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
OnePlus 6 vs. Google Pixel 2 XL: What difference does $300 make?
By offering flagship-level specs at a price hundreds of dollars less than the competition, the OnePlus 6 has shown the world why it deserves to be known as the flagship killer. But what’s in a name, and how does the OnePlus 6 actually fare when it goes head-to-head with one of the top flagships of the moment? To find out, we put the OnePlus 6 against the best Google has to offer — the Google Pixel 2 XL.
The OnePlus 6 comes with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 processor, and the benchmarks from our OnePlus 6 review show that OnePlus is using that power well, with results that beat some of the flagships from this year. Being a 2017 flagship, the Pixel 2 XL doesn’t have the luxury of the Snapdragon 845’s power and instead relies on the older Snapdragon 835. In terms of benchmarking and power on paper, the OnePlus 6 has it beat. But in real-world terms, the Pixel 2 XL has the advantage of Google’s Android expertise — simply put, the Pixel 2 XL works so well with Android that it’s an exceptionally smooth mover, and though the OnePlus 6 is also silky smooth, it’s hard to separate them in real terms.
We need more time with the OnePlus 6 to be sure of its battery capabilities, but from our initial testing, the OnePlus 6 will last at least a day. That puts it on par with the Pixel 2 XL’s larger battery, but it remains to be seen whether the OnePlus 6 can stretch out for longer. In terms of charging speed, OnePlus’ Dash Charge is one of the fastest charging methods on the planet, with OnePlus promising a day’s worth of charge in 30 minutes. While the Pixel 2 XL is also a speedy charger, topping up 40 percent in just 40 minutes, we give it to the OnePlus 6 charger here.
It’s exceptionally hard to choose a winner here, and while the OnePlus 6 has the raw power and numbers to back it up, the Pixel 2 XL’s performance speaks for itself. This has to be a tie.
To call the Pixel 2 XL’s looks divisive would be an understatement — while we like the unique two-tone blend of metal and glass, there’s definitely a difference of opinion, even in our offices. By contrast, the OnePlus 6 is one of the most gorgeous phones we’ve seen to date, with a beautiful mirror finish on the glass body. They’re both in line with the latest bezel-less trends, but the inclusion of a notch on the OnePlus 6 is sure to cause some consternation, but that may be balanced by the lack of a headphone jack on Google’s phone.
You’re going to want a case for both of these phones — glass may look amazing, but it’s only so strong and one careless moment could ruin your phone’s looks. The Pixel 2 XL comes with an IP67-rating, giving it some water-resistance, while the OnePlus 6 lacks an IP rating, so be careful around the toilet.
This is another tough category to judge — the OnePlus 6 is probably the more attractive phone, but we don’t find the Pixel 2 XL’s unique looks bad at all. For those to whom durability is a bigger issue, the water-resistance on the Pixel 2 XL is the clincher here. For others, the lack of headphone jack on the Pixel 2 XL will mean the OnePlus 6 wins. This is another draw.
You’ll find OLED tech in both of these screens, and they’re both crisp, and capable of showing a huge depth of colors and inky blacks. In terms of color reproduction and quality, there’s not much to really separate the two. However, you’ll find a much higher resolution (and therefore, a sharper display) on the Pixel 2 XL’s 6-inch screen, with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 pixels going up against the OnePlus 6’s 2,280 x 1,080-pixel display. While you might be hard-pressed to tell the difference in normal usage, the Pixel 2 XL’s display is the superior here.
The OnePlus 6 comes with a dual-lens system in the rear of the phone, with the 16-megapixel and 20-megapixel lenses working together to provide an excellent camera experience. While we haven’t had a chance to really put it through its paces yet, the initial signs for the OnePlus 6’s camera are good. But it’s up against one of the greats here — the Pixel 2 XL has been on top of our list of the best camera phones for some time, and it’s going to take a monumental effort to shift it. What everyone else does with two lenses Google does proudly with one. It’s quite simply one of the best cameras in the business for shooting still images.
It’s more of a mismatch in video. The OnePlus 6 can shoot 4K video at a full 60 frames per second, as well as slow-motion video at 480 fps — the Pixel 2 XL can only shoot 4K at 30 fps and slow-motion at 120 fps. However, how much of a difference either one of those makes to your daily life is purely personal — for us, images are more important than video.
Without having fully completed our tests on the OnePlus 6, it’s impossible to deliver a real verdict here. The Pixel 2 XL is one of the finest camera phones around right now, but a good number of phones are nipping at its heels, or exceeding it in different areas. The OnePlus 6 could be one of them. This is a tie.
If you want the most up-to-date version of Android, then you’re in luck. Both of these phones have the latest build of Android — Android 8.1 Oreo. If you prefer the stock Android experience, then the Pixel 2 XL is about as stock as you can get, while the OnePlus 6’s OxygenOS Android skin is still a pleasure to use.
In terms of update speed, while OnePlus is generally quite quick with updates, Google literally makes Android — so the Pixel range is always going to get the latest Android builds first. That includes the upcoming Android P — although both these phones can access the Android P beta right now.
The OnePlus 6 is a flagship-level phone with a midrange price point — as such, there probably wasn’t much room to cram in extra features once the basics were polished. However, there are a couple of additional options that might catch your eye. There’s an optional gesture system, similar to the iPhone X and Nova Launcher software, as well as the slide-in Shelf, which shows recent apps, contacts, and other useful info.
The Pixel 2 XL is similar, being mostly a stock Android experience. There are a few additions though. Google Assistant is obviously closely tied into the phone, with the Pixel 2 range having the special “Now Playing” feature that identifies music around you without needing a command. Google has taken a page from HTC’s book with squeezable sides that trigger commands — here known as Active Edge. It’s useful, especially to activate Google Assistant without needing a voice command. Plus, there’s always Google’s Daydream VR.
There’s not much to pick from here, but we think the Pixel 2 XL edges its rival with just slightly more useful features.
Here’s the big difference. You can grab the Google Pixel 2 XL right now, and buying it from Google means you can get the phone on any major U.S. carrier. Buying one SIM-free will set you back $850. In contrast, the OnePlus 6 will only set you back $530, but it’ll only work on AT&T and T-Mobile. Still, that’s one heck of a price difference.
That was one heck of a battle, and it’s a close result. Despite having the older hardware, the Pixel 2 XL’s close relationship with Android really means it comes out ahead, even against newer hardware. It’s an amazing piece of tech, and really showcases how well Google can tune software to match hardware perfectly. For our money, it’s the consistently superior of the two.
With that said, there’s really not much in it, and with the OnePlus 6 being more than $300 cheaper than the Pixel 2 XL, OnePlus’ newest flagship wouldn’t be a bad choice at all — especially if you can’t bear to lose your headphone jack, or if your budget (understandably) doesn’t stretch to $800 for a phone.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs. Google Pixel 3 XL: Which big Android phone is best?
Climate change denial and environmental indifference is central to the premier's support of Petronas.
The deals raised widespread concerns about the lack of transparency in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) — concerns so intense that even he, despite his well-known love affair with the fossil fuel industry, was forced to shut the door to further SOEs as soon as the deal was inked.
The Petronas deal still requires federal environmental approval — something that the intimate relationship between Stephen Harper and the fossil fuel industry makes a foregone conclusion.
The only immediate step taken to slow down or stop this project so far has come from the Lax Kw’alaams Band, part of the Tsimshian First Nation, which has unanimously — and courageously — rejected the offer of a $1-billion bribe from Petronas in exchange for the use of Lelu Island, the chosen site for the gas liquification plant — which happens to be surrounded by eel grass beds — critical habitat for juvenile salmon. The band have refused to approve the site because the plant and associated pipeline could easily destroy the Skeena River salmon run.
Coupled with the Site C dam, situated strategically to collect water and generate electricity for the fracking community up north, this gas liquification and storage plant, the Premier claims, is her one-two punch to hammer out B.C.’s prosperity.
In reality, I believe Christy Clark’s fixation with fracking as the basis of B.C.’s economy, combined with Stephen Harper’s shared belief in fossil fuels as the basis for Canada’s prosperity, will seriously compromise the security of generations to come. That’s because their actions are ultimately based on climate change denial.
Christy Clark clearly won’t ever read Pope Frances’ latest well-researched and ground-breaking encyclical, linking industrial societies’ expansive and exploitative habits, built on fossil fuel use, to global climate change.
Clark is pretending she hasn’t heard about the recent successful class action lawsuit in Holland, in which three judges have ordered the Dutch government to stick to the science and cut back greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent in five years.
She is notably indifferent to the effects climate change is already having on the animals that share this planet with us.
She steers around concern about the “inconvenient truth” widely discussed in the fossil fuel industry around what’s known as the “carbon bubble”, in which profits for oil and gas will shrink as ecological concerns grow.
She can’t hear the loud political noise made by the global fossil fuel divestment movement, one of the fastest growing social actions on the planet today, now taken up by Britain’s Guardian newspaper as the “Keep it in the Ground” campaign.
The divestment campaign is particularly active among young Canadians.
She’s turning a blind eye to the fact that the Obama administration — despite rancorous and anti-intellectual opposition from the Tea Party and others — has managed to reduce carbon emissions to their lowest level in two decades. And that the president has affirmed this as a critical national goal.
Suspected Al Shabaab assailants have shot and killed at least three people in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Sunday. A soldier was among the three killed in the shooting which took place at Mahad Alle area in Mogadishu's Yaqshid district, the latest in series of assassinations in the seaside capital.
According to the witnesses, two of the slain people were civilians who lost their lives in the fire aimed at killing the soldier. The killers managed to escape the scene immediately. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killing of the three people, with reports that the gunmen seized the gun of the murdered serviceman.
Guido van Rossum, the creator of Python.
Online storage startup Dropbox has hired Guido van Rossum – creator of the massively popular Python programming language – prying him away from the language's biggest backer: Google.
Like Google, Dropbox uses Python heavily in building its online services.
Dropbox declined to comment on van Rossum's move – which was first reported by TechCrunch – and though it discussed the move in a blog post on Friday, the company has not said what role van Rossum will play at Dropbox – or how much time he'll devote to the continued development of Python.
On Google+, van Rossum wrote that Friday is his last day of work at Google and that he will start work at Dropbox in January. He said that he and Google are "parting as the best of friends," and he posted photos of his desk at Google covered in balloons.
He joined Google in 2005, where he spent half his time working on the development of Python, according to his homepage. He also worked on other projects, such as Google App Engine, an online service where anyone can build and host applications written in Python, Java, or Google's own Go programming language.
Van Rossum began developing Python in 1989 at the CWI research institute in The Netherlands. The language is named for the British comedy troupe Monty Python – not the snake. "For many years I resisted attempts to associate the language with snakes," he wrote on the Python History Blog. "I finally gave up when O’Reilly wanted to put a snake on the front of their first Python book 'Programming Python.'"
At the Python Software Foundation – which oversees development of the language – van Rossum's official title is "Benevolent Dictator For Life," which means he has final say on any proposed changes to the official version of the language. Although the title is used by many other open source project founders – such as the creator of the Ruby programming language, Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto, and Linux creator Linus Torvalds – van Rossum has written that the term originated in 1995 at the first meeting of the foundation's predecessor.
Google is the most famous Python backer, but it's now used by companies and developers across the globe. It is the fourth most popular language in industry analyst firm RedMonk's regular language rankings. Artist of the popular geek comic strip XKCD, penned a love letter to the language in the form of a comic strip. Earlier this year, the language was the clear favorite in a very unscientific poll of Hacker News readers, who are a good barometer of developer activity in Silicon Valley.
Dropbox has used Python since its launch, according to Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston's blog post announcing the company's hiring of van Rossum.
"Python became my favorite programming language because it had a balance of simplicity, flexibility, and elegance," Houston wrote. "These qualities of Python, and the community’s work to support every major platform, let us write the code just once before running it everywhere."
A WOMAN who lashed out at a Donald Trump supporter on a flight and requested he be moved soon realised she was in the firing line.
Scott Koteskey was travelling on a flight from Baltimore to Seattle and was seated next to a woman and her husband — but when he tried to take his seat things went downhill.
In a lengthy Facebook post Koteskey said as soon as he asked the couple to move so he could take his window seat the woman started harassing him about being a Trump supporter.
He complained to staff but the woman thought he was in the wrong and she could have him moved. To her surprise she was asked to leave the aircraft, either of her own accord or by police assistance if she refused.
“You pretend you have the moral high ground but you put that man’s finger on the nuclear button. That man doesn’t ‘believe’ in climate change.
Koteskey shared another video filmed from a passenger sitting in the row across from him showing the woman being removed from the flight. While the audio is of poor quality cheers can be heard as she is escorted off the plane.
New Delhi: Mahindra & Mahindra on Thursday said it has joined hands with the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organisation set up by noted Hollywood actor, Robert Redford to promote Indian talent in the arena of world cinema.
The multi-faceted agreement signed by the parties showcases the commitment to support independent cinema around the world, Mahindra & Mahindra said in a statement.
Commenting on the collaboration, M&M vice-chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra said: “Our intention is to nurture as well as hone the talents of an exciting new generation of Indian filmmakers. The guidance and knowhow of Sundance shall be extremely valuable to us in our initiatives."
The collaboration allows for the establishment of the Mumbai Mantra Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, which shall become an annual event in India, it said.
“For Sundance Institute, this initiative represents our commitment to cultural exchange and allows us to extend our support of international film makers to a next generation of film artists emerging from India," Sundance Institute president and founder Robert Redford said.
Under the agreement, the partners will also institute ‘Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award´ to be given annually at the Sundance Film Festival.
Four filmmakers from around the world will receive a grant, attendance at the film festival for targeted industry meetings, mentoring from institute staff and creative advisors, participation in a feature film programme lab, and year-round support, it said.
This initiative will extend over a three-year period, benefiting 12 awardees. Beginning in 2012, one out of the four directors will be an Indian, it said, adding the recipients of the award for 2011 will be announced on 25 January.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2018 / Tyler Day and Peter Day, co-founders of the digital marketing agency Optimize To Convert, are pleased to announce the launch of their newly-revised website, which they plan to use to help at least 100,000 entrepreneurs grow their businesses through internet marketing.
To check out the newly launched website and learn more about the innovative services that Optimize To Convert offers, please visit http://www.optimizetoconvert.com/.
As a company spokesperson noted, the Day brothers' backstory helps to make them and their company stand apart from other digital agencies across the U.S.
Tyler and Peter first partnered together when they were teenagers and they started their own landscaping business. Through traditional advertising efforts including flyers and cold calling, the Day brothers immediately learned the power of marketing as they very quickly acquired more clients than they could even handle.
"After years of grueling landscaping work the Day brothers decided to take their efforts digital," the spokesperson noted, adding that they began to have small scale success promoting other people's products and services online as affiliates.
The Day brothers quickly discovered that this type of work was much more rewarding for them—primarily because they were no longer trading their time for money. The more work they put in, the more successful they became. They learned about the power of residual income and creating a business that earned money 24/7, whether they were working that day or not.
While they enjoyed the type of work that they were doing with their digital marketing company, the spokesperson noted that they were not satisfied with the firm's results. After investing into personal development, courses and looking for mentors who could help them, all of that began to change.
Describing their success as a "Lawn Mowing to Web Riches" story, the spokesperson noted that Peter Day and Tyler Day are now considered top experts in the lead generation industry.
"Together they run one of the most promising digital marketing agencies and are growing faster than ever. They are a marketing duo you will want to keep your eye on," the spokesperson noted, adding that with the recent launch of their newly-revised website, the Day brothers hope to reach even more clients, specially looking to reach at least 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners and help them scale.
In addition to the new site and continually working at generating leads and sales for other companies, the Day brothers are now working on plans to teach other people how they can create their own web based businesses.
The Day brothers are putting a focus on sharing their business knowledge with a series of digital courses set to release by next year.
"Their aim is to train the next generation of digital entrepreneurs to go out and find success just like they did," the spokesperson noted.
Optimize To Convert is a digital marketing agency that specializes in generating leads and sales on a national scale for a wide variety of companies. On a typical day, brothers and company co-founders Tyler Day and Peter Day generate over 3,000 leads for their clients in verticals ranging from real estate to insurance. For more information, please visit http://www.optimizetoconvert.com/.
The BBC will launch a salary review of presenters and rank and file staff in an attempt to quell anger sparked over the corporation’s gender pay gap.
Lord Hall, the BBC’s director-general, will try to calm the storm that engulfed the broadcaster when it revealed two thirds of its top earners were men, according to senior figures.
The Telegraph has learned that he has called in consultants from the accountants PwC and lawyers from Eversheds to work on an “equal pay audit” of all BBC staff that will aim to uncover disparities.
Christmas 2017 is in the can, another heirloom ornament to be carefully boxed up and exiled to the attic.
Did you have a good one? We did the traditional Jew 2-Step: Chinese food and a movie.
On to the obligatory Year in Review. Which I always chafe at because it implies our years are memorable, and they’re really not. Before parading the lowlights of 2017, let’s consider, oh, 2007.
Just 10 years ago. George W. Bush was president. Can you remember a single event from that year? Just one. Not in your own life, not little Aiden being born. But something from the larger world. Let’s see … 2007, 2007 … ahhh, nope, can’t do it.
A big deal in Pakistan no doubt; here, not so much.
Of the 10, only two seem significant today: the debut of the iPhone, and the Virginia Tech shooting.
That’s the problem. You need time to know what developments will resonate over the years. Of course 2017 will be remembered as Donald Trump’s first year in office, as well as, maybe, for the carnival of revelations of heretofore hidden celebrity sexual harassment. Unless that fades, a passing mania.
As to which aspects of Trump’s presidency will be of lasting significance — which will cause the most damage — we’ll have to wait and see. If Kim Jong Un fires a nuclear missile at Honolulu, then Trump’s continual tweaking, or make that twitting, of the madman will be important. If not, maybe it’ll be passage of the Republican tax code overhaul, further gutting the middle class at the expense of the rich. Unless a Democratic Congress reverses that in 2019.
If I had to reach into the reeking mess of the Trump presidency, Year One, and gingerly remove one kernel for analysis, I would, wincing, scrape up the general erosion of truth in public discourse. That will certainly haunt us, because it isn’t a single wrong or blunder, but an engine to produce a continual stream of wrongs and blunders, now and in the future.
The New Year approaches. We should start on a positive note, and here it is: Donald Trump is not the first bad man to wield power in America, nor is this the first time lies have been held up as truth.
“However difficult it is to live amidst the constant hurt, the constant insult and the constant disrespect, I can still sing we shall overcome,” he said. “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.
Truth is sure on the scaffold in 2017. Whether the trap door is triggered and the execution completed will determine how the past year enters the history book; 2017 might be remembered as Year One of the Trump era, the year Trump built a beautiful albeit invisible wall across our southern border and began a dynasty handed down to his sons and grandsons.
I like to think it will be remembered as the nadir of American shame, the year we woke from our national slumber, rubbed the sleep from our eyes and recovered our true selves again. No, too late for 2017 to be that year. Maybe 2018, then.

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