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iOS 12: HANDS-ON WITH THE NEW OPERATING SYSTEM

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PATENT WAR (PART II): HOW APPLE HAS HANDLED IT

FEDERAL JUDGE APPROVES AT&T-TIME WARNER MERGER

72 FAMILY FUN AND INSIGHT IN SPRIGHTLY ‘INCREDIBLES 2’

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DON’T TRUST THE TECH GIANTS? YOU LIKELY RELY ON THEM ANYWAY 26 SEATTLE REPEALS TAX ON COMPANIES AFTER AMAZON FIGHTS BACK 34 TESLA CUTS 9 PCT. OF WORK FORCE IN BID TO POST A PROFIT 64 COSMOSPHERE RECEIVES $650,000 GRANT FROM NASA 70 AFTER AT&T-TIME WARNER WIN, IS COMCAST-FOX A DONE DEAL? 80 YOUR INTERNET USE COULD CHANGE AS ‘NET NEUTRALITY’ ENDS 88 BOX OFFICE TOP 20: ‘OCEAN’S 8’ DETHRONES ‘SOLO’ 116 AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE WRITING, PRODUCTION OF ‘THE SIMPSONS’ 134 ZULILY LOOKS BEYOND CHILDREN’S CLOTHING 144 FIFA URGES REFEREES TO TAKE THEIR TIME FOR VIDEO REVIEW 150 MARINE CORPS WEIGHS WOOING OLDER MEMBERS FOR NEW CYBER FORCE 156 NASA ROVER FALLS SILENT AS GIGANTIC DUST STORM ENVELOPS MARS 164 BARRICK GOLD LAUNCHES AUTONOMOUS HAUL TRUCKS IN NEVADA 166 HAWAII VOLCANO GIVES EXPERTS CLUES TO BOOST SCIENCE 170 US HITS RUSSIAN FIRMS WITH SANCTIONS, CITING CYBERATTACKS 190 ILLINOIS OFFICIALS CONCERNED OVER FOXCONN PLANT IMPACT 194 LONDON MAYOR UPBEAT ABOUT TECH DESPITE INVESTMENT CONCERNS 198 GERMANY ORDERS DAIMLER TO RECALL 238,000 DIESEL VEHICLES 204

TOP 10 APPS 96 iTUNES REVIEW 100 TOP 10 SONGS 180 TOP 10 ALBUMS 182 TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 184 TOP 10 TV SHOWS 186 TOP 10 BOOKS 188


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Last week, we looked at how Apple’s continued push for innovation can nonetheless be stymied by the company’s heavy reliance on the likes of Samsung, Intel and Qualcomm. These are all examples of companies which produce components for Apple devices but, at one point or another, have landed a place in the Cupertino irm’s bad books. Recently, however, Apple has been relinquishing its dependence on such partners by taking more control over the parts that go into its devices.

HOW THE QUALCOMM QUARREL COULD BE EXTINGUISHED In many ways, Apple has long taken pride in providing seamlessly integrated products and services. It is, after all, still the only major player to hold a irm grip over both the hardware and software of its smartphones, with Google’s own Pixel devices yet to seriously impact iPhone sales. Therefore, it makes sense that Apple would want to start exerting a higher degree of control over its devices’ silicon, too. As we detailed last week, Apple has already made some major steps down this road. In making these steps, Apple has followed through with former CEO Steve Jobs’ philosophy that the company should own its products’ silicon rather than task various third-party chipmakers with “chipping in” - to use an inadvertent pun - by helping to make the components. Under Jobs’ stewardship, Apple acquired boutique chip maker P.A. Semi in 2008. A couple of years later, Apple took the veil of the iPad and, with it, Apple’s irst processor of inhouse design: the A4 chip. Image: Patrick T. Fallon

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Image: Ethan Miller

This was Apple’s irst “system-on-a-chip”, Bloomberg explains - and, each year since this chip was unveiled, Apple has announced a new family of processors intended to build upon the power packed into what came before. Today, someone buying a new iPhone is also picking up a highly tailored processor that enables sophisticated artiicial intelligence, steptracking, impressive game graphics and the securing of user data for the device’s Touch ID or Face ID unlocking system. As we recalled last week, Apple is currently in a widely-reported legal tussle with Qualcomm over licensing fees. However, one day, Apple’s own chip powerhouse could push Qualcomm of its perch. Qualcomm itself is no slouch, especially given that it is pouring money into next-generation 5G networks. However, in recent months, more and more engineers responsible for the company’s modems including iPhone modems - have been poached by none other than Apple itself.

APPLE PROCESSORS ARE SNAPPIER THAN SNAPDRAGON What’s in it for Apple? Mike Olson, a senior analyst at Piper Jafrey, has told Bloomberg that, through designing chips in-house, Apple can trim its component expenses while also releasing new features earlier than the competition. Indeed, just this month, projected benchmarks for ARM’s latest high-end mobile CPU suggested that Apple was two years ahead of its chip-designing competitors. GeekBench scores of the Cortex-A76 are near those of Apple’s A10 chip from 2016.

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This is despite the Cortex-A76 - the scores of which, we should add, are projected, not deinitive - still signiicantly bettering the Snapdragon 845 which currently powers many high-end Android devices, 9to5Mac explains. This puts into perspective just how unassailable a lead Apple has built up when it comes to processors - and helps to justify Bloomberg’s conviction that Apple’s prowess here “could one day threaten the dominance of Qualcomm Inc. and even, eventually, Intel.”

NOT INTEL INSIDE, BUT INTEL SIDELINED In May, Bloomberg reported that Apple was planning to drop Intel chips from Mac computers from 2020, using its own chips instead. If this plan comes to fruition, it would end a partnership dating back to 2005, when Apple’s then-CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that Mac computers were set to transition from IBM PowerPC processors to Intel chips. In that case, the changeover was completed the following year, The Verge notes - but Bloomberg anticipates a “multi-step transition” this time. As the traditional diferences between desktop and mobile performance become more smudged, Apple might accelerate this trend with help from Toshiba’s former memory business. The Japanese conglomerate has recently been battered by inancial blows arising from its ill-fated acquisition of US nuclear energy company Westinghouse. This month, to help counter multi-billiondollar losses arising from this, Toshiba inalized oloading its chip business to a Bain Capitalled consortium. Image: Chris Ratclife

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Image: Justin Sullivan

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“Apple has followed through with former CEO Steve Jobs’ philosophy that the company should own its products’ silicon”

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While the Boston-based investment irm leads this group, its members also include Apple. As 9to5Mac implies, Apple could beneit from the deal, reportedly worth roughly 2.3 trillion yen or $21 billion, as it could relieve Apple’s recent struggles with sourcing NAND chips. The chip-making unit, of which Toshiba will still own 40%, is among the planet’s major manufacturers of NAND chips. Last year, high-capacity iPad Pro models rose in price, reportedly due to NAND chips having done so. However, even had Toshiba never sold this business, Apple would surely have proceeded with abandoning including Intel chips in Macs. The reasoning behind this is explained well in an article by The Verge. Vlad Savov - one of the site’s resident writers and co-founders - notes that the saying “phoning it in” deinitely has “a whole diferent ring to it in 2018 than it did at the beginning of this decade”, given how many traditionally desktop-only responsibilities have jumped to mobile.

WHY AN iOS-POWERED CONSUMER LAPTOP COULD BE WAITING IN THE WINGS These days, for both sating our entertainment tastes and even meeting our work needs, we often turn to mobile devices rather than desktop ones. Savov explains that, with the low of investment and development money into mobile platforms remaining buoyant, “Intel’s desktop roots keep holding it back from being competitive in that expanding market.” Given all of these developments, could Apple’s long-gestating eforts to more tightly integrate its hardware and software oferings 18


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culminate in a “consumer laptop running iOS”? Long-time Apple observer and journalist Walt Mossberg certainly thinks so, having used those exact quoted words on Twitter in April. He suggested that such a device could be “the next great Apple machine”, adding that, if it features a trackpad that works much like the iOS-based technology 3D Touch, “I’ll buy it.”

MIGHT AS WELL FACE ID, ANDROID IS ADDICTED TO SUPPLIERS Olsen has cited one key beneit of Apple’s chipdesigning as the ability to get “an early jump on future features”, as the company has a tighter grip over research and development. Indeed, Apple’s dollars for both have often helped it win the battle to debut innovative smartphone features, Reuters has concurred. To help illustrate this point, the news outlet has cited leading component makers saying that 3D sensing capabilities won’t be possible for most Android phones until 2019. It’s exactly those capabilities that already feature in the iPhone X and make its Face ID system more secure than the facial recognition technology currently used in Samsung handsets. This is no small beneit, given that this kind of technology can be used to authorize payments on both Apple and Samsung devices. In a video comparison of how Face ID compares to the equivalent on Samsung’s Note 8, AppleInsider remarked that Face ID is clearly “far superior. It’s not even close.” 3D sensing technology is also “going to be very important for AR,” Gartner analyst Jon Erensen

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Face ID vs Iris Scanner & Face Recognition - iPhone X vs Note 8

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has remarked. He cited augmented reality as a ield “where you don’t want to get left behind”, but Apple is already a notable leader in this area with its augmented reality framework ARKit on iOS devices. According to a TechCrunch prediction, ARKit could be available on over 600 million iOS devices by the end of the year, helping Apple to cement the framework’s prominence over Google’s ARCore.

by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan

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DON’T TRUST THE TECH GIANTS? YOU LIKELY RELY ON THEM ANYWAY

If technology giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon face a common threat to their dominance, it probably lies in a single word: trust. In some respects, these companies are riding high. They have woven themselves into the fabric of our daily lives, making their services indispensable for daily tasks like keeping in touch with family and friends, watching TV and buying cat food. Revenues are up and proits are soaring. But they’ve also drawn the attention of regulators in Europe and the U.S. thanks to carelessness with consumer data and other problems. Facebook’s leaky data controls, for instance, let Cambridge Analytica mine the proiles of up to 87 million people in an attempt to swing elections. The social network has also had to beef up manual oversight to clamp down on the spread of fake news. Google’s YouTube has likewise been implicated in the spread of political conspiracy theories.

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Not long ago, Amazon’s always-listening Echo speaker inadvertently recorded a family’s conversation at home — and then sent the recording to someone else. Some of these issues are systemic; others may be little more than the growing pains of new technologies. What they all fuel, though, is a sense that technology may not always warrant the implicit faith we place in it. Companies have to realize “that trust isn’t digital,” says Gerd Leonhard, a futurist and author of “Technology vs. Humanity.”“Trust is not something that you download. Trust is a feeling. It’s a perception.” Trust looms large in modern life. We still get on airplanes even though they sometimes come apart in light . We go to hospitals even though medical errors sometimes kill patients. These services are too important to live without, despite the occasional disastrous error. But those industries are also heavily regulated because of the risks involved. Technology companies, by comparison, are largely unconstrained. Trust issues could be especially acute for technology companies, since their services are efectively omnipresent yet largely inscrutable. You can’t audit Google’s algorithm to see why it’s giving you certain search results the way you can watch your bank balance. You just have to trust that the company is upholding its promises. Yet so far, such concerns don’t loom large for most consumers. “That trust is eroded, but the uncomfortable thing is no one really cares,” says Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing 29


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professor. “As long as they trust that technology will improve their lives, they don’t appear to care about the other stuf.” A 2016 survey from the Pew Research Center, for instance, found that only 9 percent of users were “very conident” that social media companies could protect their data. More than half had little or no conidence. Yet a January survey from Pew found that 69 percent of U.S. adults use social media, unchanged from 2016. Shaky consumer conidence can still limit the time people spend on Facebook or curb their enthusiasm for new boundary-pushing services. Amazon, for instance, now wants its delivery people to leave packages inside your home or car. That’s not going to ly if you’re worried about Amazon exploiting its access to your private spaces. But tech giants have fewer worries about consumers defecting to their rivals, in part because they each do their best to lock users into their array of complementary apps and services. That doesn’t stop them from sniping at one another, of course. Apple, for instance, has emphasized its privacy protections to highlight its diferences with Facebook and Google. But it’s also reportedly seeking ways to expand its ad business, which would bring it into more direct competition with its two rivals. History does ofer a cautionary tale for tech companies that grow too complacent. Roughly a decade ago, Microsoft’s dominance in personal computers seemed impregnable, even after a bruising antitrust ight over its Windows monopoly. Then came the iPhone, which Microsoft ridiculed — at least until the mobile 31


computing wave it unleashed swamped the Windows PC. Could a similar shift today tap into underlying consumer discontent and topple today’s tech giants? Perhaps, although it’s not clear exactly how. One possibility could involve blockchain, the technology that underlies bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies. Some enthusiasts have begun to talk about blockchain-based social networks that could operate without central authorities such as Facebook, which in theory could also minimize privacy risks. But that could take years, if it comes to pass at all. In the meantime, developments in artiicial intelligence could make things even worse on the trust front. Some researchers are using AI systems to create realistic — but wholly fabricated — videos of famous people. In one, former President Barack Obama is made to “talk” about a shooting ; in another, President Donald Trump gestures in front of a fake photograph . Google recently unveiled a digital voice assistant called Duplex that can sound convincingly human while booking appointments over the phone. Google says that bot will identify itself as nonhuman when making such calls — but it’s not hard to imagine robocallers developing similar, but less scrupulous, technology. Others are pitting AI networks against each other to hone their abilities to deceive and detect deception — for the moment, primarily in digital images. Applied to other uses, however, this technology could fundamentally test our trust in one another and society’s institutions, says Matthew Griin, a U.K. consultant and futurist. 32


Image: Pier Marco Tacca

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SEATTLE REPEALS TAX ON COMPANIES AFTER AMAZON FIGHTS BACK

Seattle leaders repealed a tax on large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks after a backlash from businesses, a stark reversal from a month ago when the City Council unanimously approved the efort to combat a growing homelessness crisis. A divided crowd chanted, jeered and booed at the council meeting, drowning out the leaders as they cast their 7-2 vote. Many shouted, “Stop the repeal,” as others unfurled a large red banner that read, “Tax Amazon.” An opposing group held “No tax on jobs” signs. The vote showed Amazon’s ability to aggressively push back on government taxes, especially in its aluent hometown where it’s the largest employer with more than 45,000 workers and where some have criticized it for helping cultivate a widening income gap that is pricing lower-income workers out of housing. 35


The tax was proposed as a progressive revenue source aimed at tackling one of the nation’s highest homelessness numbers, a problem that hasn’t eased even as city spending on the issue grew. Businesses and residents demanded more accountability in how Seattle funds homelessness and housing and said the city should take a regional approach to the problem. Many worried that Amazon and others would leave the city as the companies sharply criticized the tax as misguided. The online retailer even temporarily halted construction planning on a new high-rise building near its Seattle headquarters in protest. Amazon called the vote “the right decision for the region’s economic prosperity.” The company is “deeply committed to being part of the solution to end homelessness in Seattle,” Drew Herdener, an Amazon vice president, said in a statement. City leaders underestimated the frustration and anger from residents, businesses and others over not just a tax increase but also a growing sense that homelessness appears to have gotten worse, not better, despite the city already spending millions to ight it. Seattle spent $68 million on homelessness last year and plans to spend even more this year, not counting the tax that would have raised roughly $48 million annually. But a one-night count in January found more than 12,000 homeless people in the Seattle and surrounding region, a 4 percent increase from the previous year. The region saw 169 homeless deaths last year. 36


Image: Elaine Thompson

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Many supporters called the repeal a betrayal and said the tax was a step toward building badly needed afordable housing. They said too many people are sufering on the streets and that the problem is deepening, despite city-funded programs inding homes for 3,400 people last year. Proponents jeered and booed council members, imploring them to keep the tax and ight a coalition of businesses trying to get a referendum overturning the tax on the November ballot. Council President Bruce Harrell repeatedly told the crowd that he would move the meeting elsewhere if people kept being disruptive. Several members, including three who sponsored the legislation but voted to repeal it, lamented the reversal and conceded they didn’t have the resources or time to ight the referendum. Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said it “was truly our best option” and that she repealed it with a heavy heart. “Gutless!” someone shouted as she explained her rationale. She and others said they didn’t want to spend the next several months in a political ight that would do nothing to address urgent homelessness problems. Denise Moriguchi, chief inancial oicer at Asian grocery store chain Uwajimaya, told the council that she doesn’t like seeing people living in tents but that the tax was not the answer. She said small businesses with thinner margins than Amazon would be hurt.

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Seattle’s so-called head tax would have charged companies about $275 per full-time worker each year for afordable housing and homeless services. It targeted nearly 600 businesses making at least $20 million in gross revenue and would have taken efect next year. Jef Shulman, an associate professor in the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, said the way the tax got pushed through is the antithesis of the collaborative spirit the city is known for. “It kind of set up larger businesses as the enemy, and in reality, the city is going to need them as allies and partners,” he said. Days after it passed, business-backed the No Tax On Jobs campaign began gathering signatures for the ballot and raised more than $280,000 in cash contributions in just weeks. “They’ve made clear they have the resources to bankroll many more months of nastiness,” pro-tax group Working Washington said in a statement. John Kelly, Starbucks vice president of public afairs, said the company welcomes the move and believes the best path forward is to follow reforms recommended two years ago by city’s homelessness expert. It marks the latest Amazon ight against government taxes. The company recently said it would block Australians from purchases on its international websites after the nation planned to impose a 10 percent consumption tax on online retailers for goods shipped to Australia. 40


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THE NEXT BIG LEAP At Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, all eyes were on iOS 12. The staple of every keynote speech, Apple’s next-generation operating system had everyone on the edge of their seats, and when Tim Cook and co announced some of the new features set for launch this year, developers and technology fans alike were overjoyed. iOS 12, set to launch this fall, has a distinct focus on performance and device management but also brings new features such as Group FaceTime calls, Siri Shortcuts, ARKit 2 and much more. Today, AppleMagazine gives you an exclusive look into the world’s most advanced operating system and rounds up some of the features you can expect when iOS 12 is released. We’ll also give you an introduction to some of the biggest enhancements arriving on watchOS, making Apple Watch even more powerful.

DOUBLING DOWN ON PERFORMANCE Following the device slowdown and battery scandal in December of last year, Apple was keen to put things right with iOS 12 and so made device compatibility and performance its irst key talking point. In an unprecedented move for Apple, the company conirmed in its opening speech at WWDC that iOS 12 was designed to run on all of the same devices as iOS 11, making it Apple’s biggest operating system update to date, and supporting more iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads than ever before. With iOS 12, performance is key, with the company working harder than ever to make iPhones and iPads, whether brand new or ive 44


Image: Justin Sullivan

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years old, run faster and be more responsive than ever. Apple said that an iPhone 6 Plus would, on average, run 40% faster on app launch and up to 70% faster when opening Camera and early reports from technology critics running the iOS 12 beta seem to be positive, with developers reporting “noticeably faster” loading times that make some older devices “usable again”. These under-the-hood improvements mean that iOS 12 may not seem as an expansive update as previous releases, but the majority of users are likely to see performance enhancements that make the everyday running of their devices smoother and more convenient. And as new Beta versions are seeded to developers, it’s likely these performance tweaks will be even more prominent as Apple gets closer to its worldwide September rollout. 47


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SIRI IMPROVEMENTS With Alexa and Google Assistant both making headway and dominating the smart speaker market, Apple had a lot of work to do to bring Siri up to scratch. With iOS 12, the assistant is now even more powerful and customizable, particularly because of the Shortcuts feature that was built on Worklow, which Apple acquired back in 2017. Users can now create custom shortcuts designed to suit their lifestyles and schedules, building ‘automations’ that trigger actions on iOS and third-party apps. If you want to turn on Apple Maps, text mom and play a radio station as soon as you leave work, for example, then you can create a custom Shortcut through iOS 12 and use Siri to trigger those commands instantaneously. Also new in Siri is suggestions, which show up on the Lock screen and when you pull down to search, and the ability for Siri to answer questions about celebrities, food, sports and more.

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MORE CONTROL OVER USAGE AND NOTIFICATIONS Alongside performance and security features announced at WWDC, one of Apple’s key features for iOS 12 was time management. Screen Time, a brand new tool designed to track activity on your iPad and iPhone, has been introduced to monitor mobile usage and help users spend more time in the real world. With the new functionality, iPhone owners will be able to see how much time they spend in each app, which apps send them the most notiications, and how long they spend on their devices. And thanks to App Limits, time limits can be set on individual apps to remind users to take a break. This feature is more powerful when combined with new Parental Controls, giving moms and dads more power over their children’s iOS devices. With new features designed to help users spend less time on their devices, Do Not Disturb at Bedtime is perhaps the most intuitive. This new tool will turn of notiications at nighttime so that users can only see the time and therefore be less likely to be disturbed by notiications. Other new Do Not Disturb features include the ability to turn of notiications for a set period of time. On the subject of notiications, Grouped Notiications are set to arrive on iOS 12, allowing users to view and manage all of their notiications, grouped by app. And with Instant Tuning, it will be easier than ever to turn of or slow down notiications from individual apps, with the update even bringing the option to have notiications from apps ‘Deliver Quietly’ within Notiication Center.

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Screen Time & App Limits in iOS 12 - Ultimate Guide

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Apple Group Notiications And More: iOS12 WWDC!

iOS 12: Grouped Notiications & Do Not Disturb Features!

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NEXT-LEVEL APP UPDATES It wouldn’t be a major Apple release if core apps weren’t given a makeover, and in iOS 12, the Cupertino irm did not disappoint. Following 2017’s Files app, redesigned Maps App and App Store, iOS 12 brings even more developments. Apple News has been given a new Browse feature, designed to give users access to more news, while the Stocks app adds even more functionality and comes to the iPad for the irst time. Voice Memos has also been given a revamp, syncing through iCloud and arriving on iPad and macOS, while iBooks has been given a new name - Apple Books - and copies the App Store design with greater context and browsing capability. On Carplay, the smart car operating system powered by iPhones, third-party navigation apps are now supported for the irst time, bringing Waze and Google Maps to vehicles around the world.

AUGMENTED REALITY GOES MAINSTREAM Apple has been pushing its augmented reality technology for a couple of years, but with iOS 12, AR is more prominent than ever before. ARKit 2.0, which arrives with iOS 12, adds functionality designed to make augmented reality more useful inside of apps, like the ability for developers to use face tracking and object rendering, and a brand new 3D object detection tool. But perhaps one of the most exciting new developments is Apple’s new “shared experiences” technology, which will allow two people to witness the same augmented Image: James Martin

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environment on their own devices. This feature is likely to empower developers to create immersive, multiplayer games that put emphasis on the users’ real-world environments. Apple also announced a USDZ ile format, developed in collaboration with Pixar, which means that AR assets can be used across key iOS apps, like Safari, Mail, Messages and more, allowing users to place 3D objects into the real world. Working with Adobe and other companies to support USDZ, this technology will no doubt take gaming and social interaction to the next level, as demonstrated at the WWDC Keynote by Lego’s Martin Sanders. Alongside the developments in ARKit 2.0, Apple announced that iOS 12 would come packaged with a new app called Measure, designed to take real-world measurements of objects.

HUNDREDS OF HIDDEN FEATURES With only 45 minutes of stage time to introduce the biggest developments in iOS, it would be impossible for Tim Cook and co to go through every new feature expected to drop in September. However, as always, the latest version of the operating system comes jampacked with smaller tweaks and functionality that makes Apple devices even more powerful. For example, users can now register multiple faces through FaceID, while a new App Switcher for the iPhone X will make app management convenient. Other new features include new colors in markup, giving you greater control when

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Surreal LEGO AR Demo iOS 12 WWDC 2018 Apple Keynote

iOS 12 ‘Measure’ App Accuracy Test Does it Really Work?

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100 NEW iOS 12 Hidden Features & Changes!

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editing PDFs, screenshots and photos, a new Screen Time widget that gives you minuteby-minute reports on your device usage, and automatic iOS updates, negating the need for you to manually update. Also added is a brand new set of gestures for iPad, new Irish and South African voices for Siri, more Podcast controls, and an anti-GrayKey feature which will lock USB accessories after periods of inactivity to prevent hacking. Of course, developers are currently experimenting with the irst iOS 12 beta. As the software gets closer to launch, we’re likely to see even more new features, such as a new set of emoji to coincide with Unicode 11.0 release, and the possibility of a new Dark Mode after documentation leaks suggest hidden code for a dark interface style.

NOVEL NEW FEATURES Apple has been trying to convert millennials and Generation Z users over from apps such as Snapchat and WhatsApp for a number of years now, what with more customization and fun features in its native Messages app, and across iOS 12, the company has taken novel to a whole new level. Fun new features, such as customizable Animoji called Memoji, can be personalized to look just like you. It’s a take on Snapchat’s popular Bitmoji designed for interactive communication. Also new is a bunch of Animoji, advanced tongue-detection, an Efects camera packed with ilters and special efects, and the ability to FaceTime up to 32 people at once.

Image: Justin Sullivan

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NEW DEVICES DESIGNED FOR iOS 12 Before Apple launches iOS 12 in September, the irm is expected to follow their traditional rollout of new iPads and iPhones. The company was rumored to unveil an updated iPhone SE at the conference, but this did not lead to fruition. However, one of the new devices has already been hinted at in iOS 12, with developer and friend of AppleMagazine Guilherme Rambo inding a Face ID setup UI for iPad hidden within the software’s code. The long-rumored bezel-less iPad Pro with FaceID support could be just around the corner. Also expected to launch this September is a trio of new iPhones; two OLED devices and one lower-cost LCD model designed to appeal to price-sensitive consumers. The two OLED models are likely to be based on the iPhone X, with one featuring a 5.8-inch display and the other donning a larger 6.5-inch display and Apple’s typical “Plus” branding. According to one rumor from Japanese blog Mac Otakara, the new iPhone models could feature horizontal FaceID support through iOS 12. While such functionality has not been found within the beta, that doesn’t mean it will not be added before the launch of the devices later in the year; in fact, FaceID code was only found in the iOS 11 Golden Master, days before the iPhone was publicly announced by Apple at a keynote speech.

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Hands-on with Group FaceTime Video Calls in iOS 12

No iPhone SE 2 - what now?


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watchOS ENHANCEMENTS iOS 12 announcements only served as an introduction to WWDC, with watchOS also given its moment in the spotlight. Perhaps the most talked-about feature heading to watchOS is a Walkie Talkie app, designed to give users a new way to communicate with press-totalk functionality. Following the success of 80s-themed shows such as Stranger Things, Red Oaks, and Glow, there’s no doubting that the Walkie Talkie will be a popular app. Apple Watch is primarily designed as a itness tool, and watchOS 5 brings with it a bunch of new features designed to make working out more enjoyable. A new Competition option will allow users to challenge friends to itnessrelated activities, earning points based on progress. Also new is two new Workout options, Yoga, and Hiking, as well as new support for Outdoor Runs designed to ofer pace alerts, rolling mile pace, and better tracking capabilities. And thanks to automatic workout detection on watchOS 5 users will no longer have to tell their Watch what they’ll be doing - Apple Watch will automatically calculate progress. Watch faces have also been given a lick of paint, with the popular Siri face adding support for sports, heart rate, shortcuts, maps and, for the irst time, third-party apps. Notiications have also been reworked, with Apple Watch ofering ‘actionable options’ for things like checking into a hotel room or booking a ride, while Grouped Notiications makes it easier to stay on track. Rounding of the new watchOS updates is WebKit integration, allowing content from Mail and Messages to appear on your wrist for the irst 60


Image: Josh Edelson

50 new watchOS 5 features / changes! [9to5Mac]

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time. Podcasts have also made their way to the Apple Watch, with a dedicated Podcast app that syncs with iPhones for listening on the go.

iOS 12 AND WATCHOS 5 ARE COMING SOON

systems. Public betas are set to arrive later this summer, which will give eager Apple fans the chance to try out some of the new features themselves, and it’s also likely Apple will continue to seed new updates to developers, which will no doubt include more new features.

While iOS 12 and watchOS 5 are still three months away from public release, developers are spending hundreds of hours playing with new functionality and designing apps and hardware to complement the new operating

At AppleMagazine, we’ll bring you all of the biggest updates and developments in iOS 12 and watchOS 5, as well as macOS Mojave and tvOS 12. Stay tuned for more news and rumors on everything Apple, every week.

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Image: Brendan McDermid

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TESLA CUTS 9 PCT. OF WORK FORCE IN BID TO POST A PROFIT

Electric car maker Tesla Inc. is laying of about 3,600 workers mainly from its salaried ranks as it slashes costs in an efort to deliver on CEO Elon Musk’s promise to turn a proit in the second half of the year. In an email to workers on Tuesday, Musk said the cuts amount to about 9 percent of the company’s workforce of 40,000. Tesla would not say how much money the layofs would save, but said no factory workers would be afected as the company continues to ramp up production of its lower-priced Model 3 compact car. 65


The move is part of an organizational restructuring that Musk announced earlier in the year. “Tesla has grown and evolved rapidly over the past several years, which has resulted in some duplication of roles and some job functions that, while they made sense in the past, are diicult to justify today,” Musk wrote in the email. He thanked departing employees for their hard work and said Tesla is providing “signiicant salary and stock vesting” to those being let go, based on their length of service. Tesla has not made an annual proit in its 15 years of doing business, and it has posted only two quarterly net proits. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month, Musk said he expected the Palo Alto, California, company to post a quarterly proit during the July-September period. For nearly all of its history, Tesla has put up losses while investing heavily in technology, manufacturing plants and an extensive carcharging network. It’s not the irst time Tesla has laid of workers. The company let go of 400 to 700 workers last fall after completing annual performance reviews, and it laid of a small number of workers back in 2008. Musk wrote in the email that the company will never achieve its mission to help move the world to cleaner energy “unless we eventually demonstrate that we can be sustaina bly proitable.” The company is making the move now so it never has to do it again, he wrote. Tesla still has a signiicant need for production workers as it 66


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tries to reach Model 3 manufacturing targets, he wrote in the email. The layofs come in engineering, sales and other front-oice functions, but the company says the remaining workforce is large enough to accomplish Musk’s lofty goals of rolling out a semi, pickup truck and a new SUV in the coming years. Tesla shares rose 2.5 percent to $340.34 in afternoon trading, after reaching as high as $354.97 around noon. Musk also announced that the company’s solar panel unit has decided to end its agreement to sell via Home Depot stores so it can focus on sales in Tesla’s company stores and online. A majority of Tesla employees working at Home Depot will get ofers to work in Tesla’s own stores. Consumer Edge Research Analyst James Albertine wrote in a note to investors that he views the moves “as a positive in helping Tesla track toward proitability later this year.” He wrote that reaching Musk’s Model 3 production goal of 5,000 vehicles per week by the end of June is still the primary driver of proitability. “A focus on ‘getting lean’ is a positive with respect to Tesla’s guidance for achieving consolidated proitability in 2018, in our view,” he wrote. The Model 3 starts at $35,000, but lower-priced conigurations are not available yet. It can easily top $50,000 with options.

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COSMOSPHERE RECEIVES $650,000 GRANT FROM NASA

The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson will receive about $650,000 from NASA to promote science, technology engineering and math education. NASA announced this week that the Cosmosphere was one of three applicants to receive funds after 43 groups submitted proposals. The Hutchinson News reports the Cosmosphere’s $650,594 will be used to refurbish 12 historic Apollo-era mission control consoles that will be used in traveling interactive exhibits for classes that will be ofered free to Kansas students. Cosmosphere executive vice president Tracey Tomme says she hopes to have irst console on the road before April 2019. NASA used the consoles at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, during missions from the 1960s through the early 1990s. The Cosmosphere obtained the consoles shortly after they were decommissioned. 70


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FEDERAL JUDGE APPROVES AT&T-TIME WARNER MERGER

A federal judge approved the $85 billion mega-merger of AT&T and Time Warner on Tuesday, a move that could usher in a wave of media consolidation while shaping how much consumers pay for streaming TV and movies. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon green-lit the merger without adding major conditions to the deal. The Trump Justice Department had sued to block the $85 billion merger, arguing that it would hurt competition in cable and satellite TV and jack up costs to consumers for streaming TV and movies. Now, the phone and pay-TV giant will be allowed to absorb the owner of CNN, HBO, the Warner Bros. movie studio, “Game of Thrones,” coveted sports programming and other “mustsee” shows. The Justice Department could decide to appeal the ruling, however. 73


“The impact from this decision will have wide reaching ramiications across the telecommunications, media, and tech industry for decades to come,” said GBH Insights analyst Dan Ives. “For AT&T and Time Warner, this is a major victory lap.” The mega-merger was a high-stakes bet by AT&T Inc. on combining a company that produces news and entertainment with one that funnels it to consumers. The merged company, executives said, would be better able to compete in an era in which people spend more time watching video on phones and tablets and less time on traditional live TV on a big screen. Leon said the government failed to prove that the merger would lead to higher prices and other ham to consumers. “The government here has taken its best shot to oppose this merger,” Leon said, speaking to a packed courtroom in an unusual session weeks after the trial ended. But, he added, “the government’s evidence is too thin a reed for this court to rely on.” Leon rejected the notion of temporarily suspending the merger for a possible appeal by the government. The “drop dead” deadline for completing the merger is June 21. If it’s not wrapped up by then, either company could walk away, and AT&T would have to pay a $500 million breakup fee. The ruling is a stinging defeat for the Justice Department. The proposed merger was so big and consequential that it forced federal antitrust lawyers to reconsider legal doctrine that permitted mergers of companies that don’t directly compete. First loated in October 2016, 74


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the deal also brought ire from then-candidate Donald Trump, who promised to kill it “because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.” Dallas-based AT&T is a wireless, broadband and satellite behemoth that also became the country’s biggest pay-TV provider with its purchase of DirecTV. It claims about 25 million of the 90 million or so U.S. households that are payTV customers. Leon’s ruling could shape the government’s future competition policy. The ruling could open the loodgates to deal making in the fastchanging entertainment and video-content worlds. Major cable, satellite and phone companies are bulking up with purchases of entertainment conglomerates to compete against rivals born on the internet, like Amazon and Google. Waiting in the wings are potential big-billions deals involving 21st Century Fox and Disney, Verizon and CBS, T-Mobile and Sprint. Comcast and Verizon are also jockeying for position in the new landscape. As president, Trump has called the merger “not good for the country” and said he believed it would push pay-TV prices higher. Looming in the background of the deal has been Trump’s long-running feud with Time Warner’s CNN, which he has often derided as “failing” and a purveyor of “fake news.” The six-week trial featured a parade of expert witnesses as attorneys for the opposing sides took Leon on a journey through the twisty dynamics of the media and entertainment landscape. The companies’ CEOs, AT&T’s Randall 77


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Stephenson and Jefrey Bewkes of Time Warner Inc., testiied in support of the deal. The government argued that AT&T would gain outsize market power, jacking up the prices it charges cable providers to carry networks in the Time Warner stable. Post-merger, AT&T rivals like Charter Communications and Cox, which currently pay Time Warner for its channels, would suddenly also become AT&T’s customers. The government’s star witness was Carl Shapiro, an economist at the University of California, who used an economic model to predict that consumer cable bills could rise by $500 million annually in aggregate by 2021. The companies’ main economist, Dennis Carlton from the University of Chicago, refuted Shapiro’s model as overly complicated and rejected his conclusions. The government failed to prove that the merger would dampen competition and innovation and raise prices for pay TV, said Daniel Petrocelli, the companies’ lead attorney in defending the merger. In fact, he suggested, consumers could end up paying less after a merger — maybe even $500 million less annually. AT&T has said it needs to buy Time Warner to compete with the likes of Amazon, Netlix and Google in the shape-shifting streaming-TV environment. The combination would push technology forward and give consumers more choices, AT&T has promised. “We are pleased that, after conducting a full and fair trial on the merits, the Court has categorically rejected the government’s lawsuit to block our merger with Time Warner,” said David McAtee, AT&T General Counsel. He said AT&T plans to close the deal on or before June 20. 79


Image: Stephanie Keith

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AFTER AT&T-TIME WARNER WIN, IS COMCAST-FOX A DONE DEAL?

Comcast will likely bid for Fox’s entertainment business, now that a federal judge has cleared AT&T’s $85 billion takeover of Time Warner. If Comcast succeeds in outbidding Disney for Fox, a major cable distributor would control even more channels on its lineup and those of its rivals. There are fears that it could lead to higher cable bills or hinder online alternatives. But U.S. District Judge Richard Leon cleared the AT&T deal despite similar concerns. The ruling signaled that federal regulators might have a hard time stopping companies from getting bigger by gobbling up rivals and the content they own. 81


Comcast isn’t likely the only mega-media bid in the works. There will probably be a rush to consolidate. Even if a company doesn’t need to get bigger right away, it might need to do so to prevent a competitor from doing so. Here’s a look at some of the combinations that will transform the media landscape and change how people consume entertainment.

FOX WITH DISNEY OR COMCAST Disney has made a $52.4 billion all-stock ofer for the bulk of Twenty-First Century Fox, including the studios behind the “Avatar” movies, “The Simpsons” and “Modern Family,” along with National Geographic. Marvel would get back the characters previously licensed to Fox, reuniting X-Men with the Avengers. But Comcast has said it is preparing an allcash ofer that is superior to Disney’s. It will likely to make an ofer soon, now that the judge has ruled in AT&T’s favor, without setting any conditions. David Turetsky, a professor at the State University of New York at Albany, warns that the AT&T ruling is based on “speciic facts and evidence” that may or may not apply in other cases. Still, many of the circumstances in that case are similar with a potential Comcast bid. For Disney, a successful Comcast bid could make Disney’s planned streaming service less attractive. Wall Street braced for a bidding war. Shares in Fox increased nearly 8 percent in morning trading Wednesday. Disney gained more than 2 percent, while Comcast lost more than 1 percent. Image: Richard Drew

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SPRINT AND T-MOBILE In April, the two telecom companies announced a $26.5 billion combination. The deal would combine the nation’s third- and fourthlargest wireless companies and bulk them up to a similar size to Verizon and AT&T, the industry giants. The worry is that with just three major carriers, there would be less incentive to keep innovating on prices and service. T-Mobile and Sprint might even raise prices now that they don’t have to try to poach customers of each other. A 2014 attempt to combine fell apart amid resistance from the Obama administration. But the industry is diferent just four years later. Wireless carriers aren’t just competing with each other, but also with Comcast and others as the wireless, broadband and video industries converge. AT&T is about to get larger with CNN, HBO and other channels from Time Warner. Beyond combining with each other, T-Mobile and Sprint might need its own content acquisition to compete.

CBS AND VIACOM CBS has resisted pressure from its controlling shareholder, National Amusements, to merge with Viacom, which also is controlled by National Amusements. The two companies used to be one but separated in 2005. A combination would reunite CBS’s television business with Viacom’s production studios, similar to the arrangements now in place at NBC owner Comcast and ABC owner Disney. (On the lip side, the Fox television network and 85


studios would separate under a deal with either Comcast or Disney.) With Viacom, the $6-a-month CBS All Access streaming service might have a larger library, as Viacom owns MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and other cable networks.

VERIZON Verizon, which bought AOL and Yahoo in recent years, could be on the prowl for other entertainment properties. Verizon wants to challenge Google and Facebook in the huge and lucrative ield of digital advertising — and having more content could help. There’s speculation that CBS could be a potential target. With its main wireless rival AT&T becoming even more of a content powerhouse, Verizon might feel the need to grow.

SMALLER MOVIE STUDIOS Rumors have long swirled that Lionsgate might be a potential takeover target by anyone from Amazon to Verizon or even a combined CBSViacom entity. Nothing has materialized yet for the owner of the “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” franchises. As a smaller studio, Lionsgate needs to get bigger to compete in the current landscape. Similarly, Viacom-owned Paramount studio has been on the chopping block before. After years of troubles, it has recently rebounded with the horror ilm “A Quiet Place” and comedy “Book Club.” That could make it a lucrative takeover target by a company seeking content creators.

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YOUR INTERNET USE COULD CHANGE AS ‘NET NEUTRALITY’ ENDS

Your ability to watch and use your favorite apps and services could start to change — though not right away — following the oicial demise Monday of Obama-era internet protections. Any changes are likely to happen slowly, as companies assess how much consumers will tolerate. The repeal of “net neutrality” took efect six months after the Federal Communications Commission voted to undo the rules, which had barred broadband and cellphone companies from favoring their own services and discriminating against rivals such as Netlix. Internet providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast had to treat all traic equally. They couldn’t slow down or block websites and apps of their choosing. Nor could they charge Netlix and other video services extra to reach viewers more 89


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smoothly. The rules also barred a broadband provider from, say, slowing down Amazon’s shopping site to extract business concessions. Now, all that is legal as long as companies post their policies online. The change comes as broadband and cellphone providers expand their eforts to deliver video and other content to consumers. With net neutrality rules gone, AT&T and Verizon can give priority to their own movies and TV shows, while hurting rivals such as Amazon, YouTube and startups yet to be born. The battle isn’t entirely over, though. Some states are moving to restore net neutrality, and lawsuits are pending. Also, the Senate voted to save net neutrality, though that efort isn’t likely to become law. For now, broadband providers insist they won’t do anything that would harm the “internet experience” for consumers. Most currently have service terms that specify they won’t give preferential treatment to certain websites and services, including their own. However, companies are likely to drop these self-imposed restrictions; they will just wait until people aren’t paying a lot of attention, said Marc Martin, a former FCC stafer who is now chairman of communications practice at the law irm Perkins Coie. Any changes now, while the spotlight is on net neutrality, could lead to a public relations backlash. Companies are likely to start testing the boundaries over the next six months to a year. Expect to see more ofers like AT&T’s exemption of its DirecTV Now streaming TV service from

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customers’ mobile data limits. Rival services like Sling TV and Netlix count video against data caps, essentially making them more expensive to watch. Although the FCC issued a report in January 2017 saying such arrangements, known as “zero rating,” are probably anti-consumer, the agency did not require companies to change their practices right away. After President Donald Trump appointed a new chairman to the FCC, the agency reversed its stance on zero rating and proceeded to kill net neutrality. Critics of net neutrality, including the Trump administration, say such rules impeded companies’ ability to adapt to a quickly evolving internet. But consumer advocates say that the repeal is just pandering to big business and that cable and phone giants will now be free to block access to services they don’t like. They can also set up “fast lanes” for preferred services — in turn, relegating everyone else to “slow lanes.” Tech companies such as Netlix, Spotify and Snap echoed similar concerns in regulatory ilings. Martin said broadband providers probably won’t mess with existing services like Netlix, as that could alienate consumers. But they could start charging extra for services not yet ofered. For instance, they might charge more to view high-resolution “4K” video, while ofering lower-quality video for free. The fees would be paid by the video services, such as Hulu, and could be passed along to consumers in higher subscription rates.

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More than 20 states sued the government to stop the repeal, as did the public-interest group Free Press and the think tank Open Technology Institute and Firefox browser maker Mozilla. Washington and Oregon now have their own net neutrality laws, and a bill is pending in California’s legislature. That’s another reason companies are likely to move slowly, at least at irst. “They don’t want to add fuel to the ire,” Martin said. 95


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by Ben Lewin Genre: Drama Released: 2018 Price: $14.99 Trailer 71 Ratings

Movies &

TVShows

100

Rotten Tomatoes

61

%


Please Stand By A young autistic woman (Dakota Fanning) runs away from her caregiver in an attempt to submit her manuscript to a “Star Trek” writing competition.

FIVE FACTS: 1. Alice Eve (Audrey) played Carol Marcus in Star Trek into Darkness (2013). 2. The production teams of both Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager allowed amateur writers to submit episode scripts for consideration, some of which were used in both series while they were on air. 3. The name tags of Wendy’s “Geeksquad” friends at the mall use the same front as the opening titles of Star Trek (1966). 4. The suits worn in Wendy’s fantasy sequences of Kirk and Spock walking through the desert are the same suits worn in the Star Trek (1968) episode “The Tholian Web.” 5. The mountain ranges in the background of Wendy’s dream sequences are the Vasquez Rocks located in Agua Dulce, California. This has been a popular ilming location for Star Trek ilms and series.

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Visit

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Every Day Every Day tells the story of 16-year-old Rhiannon who falls in love with a mysterious spirit named “A” that inhabits a diferent body every day. Feeling an unmatched connection, Rhiannon and “A” work each day to ind each other, not knowing what or who the next day will bring.

FIVE FACTS: 1. The ilm is based on the young adult novel ‘Every Day’ by David Levithan. 2. For the UK release, the ilm was cut by four seconds, removing images of suicide techniques to obtain a ‘12A’ certiication from the BBFC. 3. Author David Levithan has received three Lambda Literary Awards. 4. The entire ilm was shot in 25 days. 5. This is the very irst full-length motion picture to be produced and distributed by the revitalized ilm studio Orion Pictures.

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Trailer

by Michael Sucsy Genre: Drama Released: 2018 Price: $14.99

41 Ratings

Rotten Tomatoes

63

% 105


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“Went Somewhere”

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“Blue Lights”

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Lost & Found Jorja Smith Lost & Found is a reference to travels between Smith’s hometown of Walsall and London. By bringing refreshing vulnerability to hip-hop and R&B, she turns heartbreak into beauty on “Goodbyes” and “Tomorrow”, shows her grime IQ on “Blue Lights” and drops Lauryn Hill-like bars on “Lifeboats (Freestyle)”. Fans of Lorde or FKA Twigs should check out “Teenage Fantasy” and “The One”. Genre: R&B/Soul Released: Jun 8, 2018 12 Songs Price: $9.99

91 Ratings

FIVE FACTS: 1. Jorja appeared on two tracks of Drake’s 2917 playlist project ‘More Life’. 2. She was the opening act for Bruno Mars on his 24k Magic World Tour in 2017. 3. She won the BRITs Critics’ Choice award in 2018, beating fellow female musicians Mabel and Stelon Don. 4. Amy Winehouse is one of her biggest inspirations and she credits Winehouse’s debut album ‘Frank’ as the ‘soundtrack to her life’. 5. She has her own song called ‘I Am’ on Kendrick Lamar’s executively produced soundtrack for the Black Panther movie.

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“Let Me Down” ft. Stormzy

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Come Tomorrow Dave Matthews Band It may have been 25 years since his beginnings in Charlottesville, Virginia, but Dave Matthews still reigns as one of rock’s most compassionate songwriters. Come Tomorrow is his 10th album, illed with the fatherly wisdom and boyish optimism that makes his music so enduring. The album is lighter than his past releases, but tracks like “She” and “Can’t Stop” don’t shy away from showing the muscle of his top-notch band.

FIVE FACTS: 1. The band’s concerts are unique in that they allow fans to tape shows on audio records for personal use. This has led to the creation of an extremely interactive fan base and community. 2. In 1994, the Mayor of Charlottesville announced that September 27 would be known as Dave Matthews Band Day. 3. The band has its own charity, the BAMA Works Fund, which has donated over US $8.5 million to various causes. 4. A show titled ‘A Concert for Virginia Tech’ was performed on September 6, 2007 in memory of the 32 faculty members and students who lost their lives in a shooting spree on April 16 that year. 5. In 1998 the band opened Warehouse, giving fans early access to tickets, CDs and merchandise. They were pioneers in internet based ticket sales.

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Genre: Rock Released: Jun 8, 2018 14 Songs Price: $11.99

258 Ratings


“Again And Again”

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Come Tomorrow - Making The Album (Chapter 1)

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BOX OFFICE TOP 20: ‘OCEAN’S 8’ DETHRONES ‘SOLO’

The female-led reboot “Ocean’s 8” stole the boxoice crown from “Solo: A Star Wars Story” with $41.6 million in ticket sales at U.S. and Canada theaters over the weekend, according to inal igures Monday. The Warner Bros.-Village Roadshow production, which cost about $70 million to make, debuted slightly above expectations and set a high mark for the “Ocean’s” franchise, not accounting for inlation. Reviews were so-so for the gender-swap installment, starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway. The audience, which was 69 percent female, gave it a B-plus CinemaScore. The fast-falling “Solo” slid to second with $15.7 million in its third weekend. The horror thriller “Hereditary,” starring Toni Collette, debuted in fourth place with $13.6 million, setting a company record for A24, the indie distributor behind releases like “The Witch” and “Moonlight.” The feature-ilm directing debut of Ari Aster, “Hereditary” has been hailed as the year’s scariest movie since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, though audiences gave “Hereditary” a D-plus CinemaScore. 117


Less successful was “Hotel Artemis,” starring Jodie Foster. The Global Road release, also starring Sterling K. Brown, Dave Bautista and Charlie Day, lopped with $3.2 million. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:

1.

“Ocean’s 8,” Warner Bros., $41,607,378, 4,145 locations, $10,038 average, $41,607,378, 1 Week.

2.

“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Disney, $15,748,575, 4,335 locations, $3,633 average, $176,700,049, 3 Weeks.

3.

“Deadpool 2,” 20th Century Fox, $14,148,517, 3,823 locations, $3,701 average, $279,164,058, 4 Weeks.

4.

“Hereditary,” A24, $13,575,173, 2,964 locations, $4,580 average, $13,575,173, 1 Week.

5.

“Avengers: Ininity War,” Disney, $7,238,699, 2,882 locations, $2,512 average, $655,136,398, 7 Weeks. 118


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6.

“Adrift,” STX Entertainment, $5,272,040, 3,015 locations, $1,749 average, $21,962,065, 2 Weeks.

7.

“Book Club,” Paramount, $4,285,456, 2,802 locations, $1,529 average, $56,959,580, 4 Weeks.

8.

“Hotel Artemis,” Open Road, $3,232,790, 2,407 locations, $1,343 average, $3,232,790, 1 Week.

9.

“Upgrade,” OTL Releasing, $2,384,415, 1,458 locations, $1,635 average, $9,346,020, 2 Weeks.

10.

“Life Of The Party,” Warner Bros., $2,167,142, 1,842 locations, $1,177 average, $50,328,719, 5 Weeks.

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11.

“Breaking In,” Universal, $1,442,755, 1,162 locations, $1,242 average, $44,078,940, 5 Weeks.

12.

“Overboard,” Lionsgate, $1,161,861, 1,056 locations, $1,100 average, $47,589,440, 6 Weeks.

13.

“A Quiet Place,” Paramount, $1,053,285, 904 locations, $1,165 average, $185,513,628, 10 Weeks.

14.

“Action Point,” Paramount, $951,998, 2,032 locations, $469 average, $4,520,031, 2 Weeks.

15.

“Show Dogs,” Open Road, $771,332, 1,148 locations, $672 average, $16,398,276, 4 Weeks.

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16.

“RBG,” Magnolia Pictures, $744,787, 375 locations, $1,986 average, $9,178,359, 6 Weeks.

17.

“First Reformed,” A24, $551,612, 334 locations, $1,652 average, $1,757,019, 4 Weeks.

18.

“Veere Di Wedding,” Zee Studios International, $545,286, 126 locations, $4,328 average, $2,245,910, 2 Weeks.

19.

“Rampage,” Warner Bros., $487,735, 403 locations, $1,210 average, $95,922,127, 9 Weeks.

20.

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Focus Features, $475,419, 29 locations, $16,394 average, $475,419, 1 Week.

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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FAMILY FUN AND INSIGHT IN SPRIGHTLY ‘INCREDIBLES 2’

“The Incredibles” writer/director Brad Bird has said that his characters’ powers are all born of stereotypes. Dad is strong, mom is stretched in a million directions, teenage girls put up shields, little boys are full of boundless energy and babies are unpredictable. It’s why he decided that for the sequel, “Incredibles 2 ,” a buoyant and quick-witted romp, he’d pick up right where we left of, in that parking lot after Dash’s track meet where a new threat emerges from underground. No matter that in reality, 14 years had actually passed. Animation is not bound by time or aging actors. 127


For the rest of us, however, 14 years is still 14 years. And in the past 14 years, the business of Hollywood has become the business of superhero movies. It’s hard to remember a time when there weren’t a dozen a year. But when “The Incredibles” came out in 2004, they were still a bit of an anomaly at the multiplex — its cheeky, mockumentary realism, its jokes about capes, secret identities, “monologue-ing” and the dangers of toxic, obsessive fandom was the perfect introduction (and indoctrination) to superheroes for those who couldn’t care less. Pixar magic made superhero believers out of the skeptics. And by 2008, we all thought, sure, let’s see about this Tony Stark fellow and someone called Iron Man. In “Incredibles 2,” it seems like Bird himself is wrestling with a culture he helped facilitate — not totally dissimilar to what Steven Spielberg did earlier this year in “Ready Player One.” But instead of nostalgia on trial, it’s superheroes and screens. The villain here is called Screenslaver, who uses screens to hypnotize anyone watching. It’s both the most retro plan of all (keeping with Bird’s love of the 60s aesthetic) and still somehow utterly modern. Annoyed by how blindly and wholly consumerist everyone has become at the mercy of screens and simulated experiences in lieu of real ones, from movies to video games, Screenslaver has set out to end that, and squash Municiberg’s dependence on and obsession with superheroes. As with the irst, there are a million ideas at play here (not a law, by the way), including evolving family dynamics. Most of the original voice cast has returned, including Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr/Mr. 128


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Incredible, Holly Hunter as Helen Parr/Elastigirl, Bird as Edna Mode, Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr and Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best/Frozone (the only slight change in the main players is that Dash Parr is now voiced by Huck Milner). And once again, superheroes are still on shaky ground in Municiberg and are put on ice after the Parr family accidentally damages some public property while trying to take down a criminal. But a wealthy heir and superhero appreciator Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) and his tech savvy sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) have a plan to rehabilitate their image. Right now, the public only sees the destruction. The Deavors propose outitting superheroes with body cams to get exciting footage of their feats.

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“Incredibles 2” provides a bit of a corrective on a micro level to the irst ilm’s gender politics by sending mom of to work and making dad stay home (although wasn’t that a little antiquated 35 years ago?). The animation is also a heck of a lot better. “The Incredibles” looks downright primitive and even a tad ugly in retrospect. Although it gets of to a slow start, ultimately it’s also quite a bit of fun, from the absurd (Jack Jack’s burgeoning powers) to the grounded (Dad helping Dash with his math homework or trying to make up for getting in the way of Violet’s date and embarrassing her even further in the process). Like “Ready Player One,” however, “Incredibles 2,” kind of loses the thread by the end. A villain is a villain no matter how salient their point, and Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and their ofspring are our heroes and thus we must root for them even while thinking that Screenslaver might be on to something. It’s still fun to watch smart storytellers like Bird working within the system and using his platform to self-evaluate or comment on what’s going on, even if the conclusion is a little limsy. Bird could have easily just brought back his lovable characters, leaned on Jack Jack’s antics and cashed in the check. It makes the efort and care here seem even more incredible. “Incredibles 2,” a Walt Disney Pictures release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for “action sequences and some brief mild language.” Running time: 118 minutes. Three stars out of four. MPAA Deinition of PG: Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

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AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE WRITING, PRODUCTION OF ‘THE SIMPSONS’

“Springield Conidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons” (Dey Street Books), by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein. When television’s longest-running cartoon show irst hit the airwaves, most of its writers and producers gave it six weeks at best. The one optimist in the crew igured it might last 13 weeks. That was nearly three decades and some 640 episodes ago. As the irst prime-time cartoon show since “The Flintstones,”“The Simpsons” has managed to maintain solid ratings, ofer creatively ofbeat humor and entertain viewers in dozens of countries across the globe. Writer Mike Reiss was among those with little hope for the show’s prospects when he signed on in the late 1980s for want of better options to advance his comedy career. But concerns that the ledgling Fox Network might cancel the show vanished after it won efusive praise from critics and fans alike. 135


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Reiss, a four-time Emmy winner who has been with “The Simpsons” for most of his career, gives readers a laugh-out-loud account of how the show came to be, the way episodes are developed, the voices behind the characters and a raft of Simpson trivia that may surprise the show’s most loyal fans. Reiss, colleague Al Jean and a handful of other writers came to the show with a Harvard education and an immersion in comedy through their work on the “Harvard Lampoon.” While creator Matt Groening got the acclaim for the show’s success, Reiss credits the late Sam Simon for assembling the writers and setting the tone of “The Simpsons.” Reiss’ book takes readers inside the writers’ room, where about a half-dozen people spend the workday pitching jokes. It’s part of a prolonged process that begins with a 45-page script and goes through the recordings by cast members, animation, editing and musical scoring. Each episode requires nine months and eight full rewrites to complete. The author is often asked how a network as conservative as Fox came to embrace a show that can seem “liberal to the point of anarchy.” He explains that Fox, as a daring newcomer when the show debuted, gave the writers immense freedom. It also didn’t hurt that “The Simpsons” raked in big proits and that network founder Rupert Murdoch was a big fan. The book is a treasure trove of anecdotes and interesting details about the show, which has even become a subject of study at many colleges. Half the production budget, or about $2 million per show, goes to cast members. 137


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Image: Matt Groening

A full orchestra participates in each week’s production, even though it would be cheaper to simulate sound with a synthesizer. The most popular foreign market for “The Simpsons” is Latin America, where it is dubbed into Spanish by a Mexican cast. Over the years, the 725 guest stars have ranged from Stephen Hawking and three of the Beatles to Larry King, Joe Frazier and Elizabeth Taylor. The few who have turned down an invitation include Bruce Springsteen, Tom Cruise and every U.S. president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama. Reiss wades into the recent blowup over Apu, the Hindu convenience store clerk whose singsong accent made the show a target amid allegations of racial stereotyping. The author suggests that “maybe after three decades, time has run out for Apu.”

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Image: Matt Groening

Most of the show’s famous catchphrases are uttered by Bart — “cowabunga,”“eat my shorts,” “ay caramba” and “don’t have a cow” — but the most popular is Homer’s “D’oh,” which came about by chance. It was written in scripts as (ANNOYED GRUNT), but cast member Dan Castellaneta read it as “D’oh!” The rest is history. This entertaining book is certain to resonate with devoted “Simpsons” viewers and even those who only watch the show sporadically. Who, after all, wouldn’t want to know why the characters are yellow or which of the nation’s many Springields can claim the Simpson family as its own? “The Simpsons” is rooted in the principles of family and folly, says Reiss, who is often peppered with questions about the show’s enduring popularity and when its long run might inally end. His reply: “The day people all over the world start treating each other with love, respect and intelligence.”

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ZULILY LOOKS BEYOND CHILDREN’S CLOTHING

Zulily has gone from selling mostly children’s clothing to ofering items from pillows to designer purses to chicken coops. Now, the site geared to young moms has its eye on doggy treats, electronics and goods that need to be reordered frequently, like toilet paper and paper towels. The site, which is owned by the parent company of home shopping network QVC, has also been creating videos through Facebook Live, showing its followers how to use hair extensions, makeup or other products it sells. Not everything has changed at Zulily. While some lash-sale sites have stumbled, it is still deal-focused and adds new products every morning that typically disappear 72 hours later, making shoppers feel the need to buy an item before it’s gone. It had 6.1 million active customers at the end of March, up 24 percent from the year before. 145


The site’s chief merchant and interim president, Lori Twomey, talked with Media about other moves at Zulily, why it launched a credit card and how it’s using Facebook to connect with shoppers. The questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length.

Q: How is Zulily diferent than Amazon? A: I think about Amazon as a place to go when I need something. Zulily is more about getting up at 6 a.m., getting my cofee and going to Zulily to see what it’s selling. The shopper doesn’t know that she’s coming to Zulily to buy something, but she knows she wants to see what’s on the site.

Q: Is there something you wouldn’t sell on Zulily? A: We haven’t said no to a lot. We’re not going to sell live chickens, but we’ll sell chicken coops. We’re not in the business of selling cars, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we might not one day decide to do that.

Q: Do customers shop on their phones or computers?

A: Seventy percent of our business comes from mobile.

Q: What new categories are you looking to add? A: We’re just starting to look at the pet business and serve up the products that customers are looking for - collars, food, treats, leashes, toys, beds. I want to expand our electronics business and we are expanding our health and beauty business, such as fragrances, skincare and makeup.

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Q: Zulily launched a credit card last fall. Why? A: It helps us with loyalty. We can give customers things like free shipping promotions or we might give them an extra discount. We immediately got 100,000 credit card holders by the end of the year.

Q: Zulily has been posting a lot of Facebook Live videos. Why?

A: One thing that’s really important for us this year is to reach the shopper where she is. We’ve done 500 segments on Facebook Live, reaching more than 50 million customers. It’s all hosted by Zulily employees.

Q: There’s a Facebook Messenger chatbot, too. Why do that?

A: It’s customer service, you don’t have to call in and chat with a representative. It sends out order notiications. It kind of gives them that one-on-one interaction.

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FIFA URGES REFEREES TO TAKE THEIR TIME FOR VIDEO REVIEW

World Cup referees must ensure all the time used for video review is played at the end of each half — even if a stoppage takes 10 minutes. FIFA’s instructions to more than 100 match oicials in Russia were outlined Tuesday, two days ahead of the often-contentious technology making its World Cup debut. “All the minutes, all the seconds, lost by VAR (video assistant referees) will be added at the end,” Massimo Busacca, FIFA head of refereeing, said at a news conference. “We don’t want to lose any seconds lost by any interruption.” The process for reviewing one of the most complex incidents that can be reviewed — a running confrontation involving all players — will take as long as needed. “We will take all the possible time to see if there is a clear red card,” said Busacca, who was a 2010 World Cup referee. “When it is related to match 151


confrontation and not respecting the image (of football), we can even stay 10 minutes at the video to see exactly what happened.” The irst referee in the spotlight is Nestor Pitana of Argentina, who handles the Russia-Saudi Arabia match in Moscow on Thursday. FIFA picked Pitana for duty, with Massimiliano Irrati of Italy leading a four-man video review team. They will work at a FIFA control center in the Moscow suburbs, several miles from the Luzhniki Stadium. Referees can call for reviews of possible clear errors and serious incidents missed in gamechanging situations: goals scored, red cards, and penalty awards, plus mistaken identity. FIFA’s advice could lead to more decisions reviewed — and potentially overturned — having asked oicials to let play low and keep the option of a later review. “He is respecting the instructions that were given him on purpose by keeping the lag down,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees committee. “If he puts a lag up, everything is inished.” Video review still has doubters after a irst full season in top leagues such as Germany’s Bundesliga which opted to use the technology. Teams and fans have been angered by some slow and confusing decision-making process, repeating problems seen in Russia at FIFA’s Confederations Cup warmup tournament last year. “It is ready for the World Cup but don’t think it will be perfect,” said Busacca of a system that has been tested since 2016 and formally approved only in March. 152


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Image: Amber Searls

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Collina stressed that the outcome of decisions “is what really counts at the end of the day.” And the 2002 World Cup inal referee has opted for experience to set the tone in the irst of 64 games. Pitana refereed four games at the 2014 World Cup, and Irrati is from Collina’s native Italy which also used video review in Serie A. In a 90-minute news conference, Collina opened by making reference to corruption allegations against two match oicials FIFA selected for World Cup duty but had to drop in recent weeks. The cases of Saudi Arabian referee Fahad Al Mirdasi and Kenyan assistant Aden Range Marwa “surprised us a lot,” he said. “We will continue to be clear and strict when something similar will occur.”

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Image: Gregory Bull

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MARINE CORPS WEIGHS WOOING OLDER MEMBERS FOR NEW CYBER FORCE

The head of the Marine Corps says it’s time the U.S. military branch known for its ierce, young warriors becomes a little more mature. The Marine Corps is considering ofering bonuses and other perks to entice older, more experienced Marines to re-enlist as it builds up its cyber operations to defend the nation, especially against cyberattacks from Russia and China. About 62 percent of Marines are 25 years old or younger with many serving only four years. The move marks a historical change that could transform a force made up primarily of high school graduates lured by the bravado and physical challenges of joining a branch that prides itself on being the “tip of the spear,” the irst to go into battle and knock in doors. It’s part of the Marine Corps’ modernizing eforts after 16 years of largely low-tech, counterinsurgency ights. 157


“It’s going to be a Marine Corps that’s a little bit older, a little more experienced because as much as we love our young Marines ... we need a little bit older because it takes longer to learn these skills,” Gen. Robert Neller told defense leaders at a San Diego conference. “And so we’re an organization looking at the whole way we do business, and it’s going to change our culture.” Marine Corps oicials are quick to emphasize the core recruiting mission will remain the same for the branch that boasts having the toughest warriors in the U.S. military. But getting more Marines to re-enlist could inadvertently ease pressure on recruiters. Less than 30 percent of the U.S. population is qualiied physically, mentally and morally to serve, according to military leaders. A greater number of older Marines could also help lessen behavior problems like excessive drinking that can be more prevalent among junior Marines. “By older Marines, we’re not talking guys with walkers but rather second- and third-tour enlisted Marines,” said Gary Solis, a military expert at Georgetown University who served 26 years in the Marine Corps. “They may be only a few years older than the 18- and 19-year-old Marines, but those three or four years diference could make a hell of a diference as far as maturity when it comes to their outlook and unit cohesion.” The commandant said it also ensures the military gets a return on the money and time it spends training troops in cyber operations, something that could take three or more years. The 2018 defense budget earmarked money for 158


Image: Sgt. Rubin Tan

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the Marine Corps to add 1,000 Marines, many of whom will work in cyber and electronic warfare. Tampering with networks that control the operations of air defense, for example, could be as or more lethal than irepower in the future. Extremists have also been able to use mobile technology and social media to recruit members and raise money to become a real threat. The Marine Corps is opening jobs this October in its new cyberspace occupational ield. After the announcement of the ield, Neller tweeted: “‘Trigger ingers turn to Twitter ingers’? Not exactly, but this is the next step in professionalizing our cyber force, which will be critical to our success, now and in the future.” The Marine Corps loated the idea of allowing people with cyber skills to bypass boot camp, but Neller opposed that, saying a Marine should be a Marine. Any applicant over the age of 28 will still be evaluated to ensure they exhibit the physical stamina to undergo the rigors of recruit training. Though it will not be easy to compete against six-digit salaries in the private sector, the military plans to tout how its tech people are sent out in the ield, ofering the chance for high-adrenaline experiences beyond sitting in an oice at a computer. Marine recruits with high-demand technical skills who choose to enlist into cyber operations may be eligible for an enlistment bonus. The Marine Corps is also developing plans to recruit and retain cyberspace professionals in the Reserves, and in May unveiled new badges for enlisted troops and oicers who work as drone operators. 161


David Coan, a 35-year-old chief warrant oicer based at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, has applied to be a part of the new cyber force after serving 17 years in the Marine Corps. Many Marines retire after 21 years, but the combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan said now he’s found more reason to stay beyond that. “There are a lot of Marines at my level who foster the hope of trying to move into these operations in this new realm,” he said, adding it’s exciting to be at the forefront of a new force and receive cyber training. “This is going to change the Marine Corps and the way it ights.”

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NASA ROVER FALLS SILENT AS GIGANTIC DUST STORM ENVELOPS MARS

A NASA rover on Mars has fallen silent as a gigantic dust storm envelops the planet and blots out the sun. Flight controllers tried late Tuesday night to contact Opportunity, but the rover did not respond. The storm has been growing since the end of May and now covers one-quarter of the planet. Controllers expect it will be several more days before there’s enough sunlight to recharge Opportunity’s battery through its solar panels. NASA says the battery is likely so low that only a clock is still working, to wake the spacecraft for periodic power-level checks. NASA launched the twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit in 2003 to study Martian rocks and soil. Spirit hasn’t worked for several years. Opportunity, however, has kept exploring well past its expected mission lifetime. 165


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BARRICK GOLD LAUNCHES AUTONOMOUS HAUL TRUCKS IN NEVADA

Barrick Gold Corp., the largest gold mining company in the world, has started testing autonomous hauling trucks in a partnership with a neighboring mine in northeast Nevada and a Utah-based company that’s using new technology to retroit existing haul leets. Barrick announced last week that it began testing the autonomous trucks at its Arturo Joint Venture operation. The Elko Daily Free Press reported. “The goal is to use advances in automation technology to help Barrick prove and deliver improvements in safety, eiciency and production,” said Matt Majors, superintendent of mining operations and project manager for autonomous haulage. 167


Surface testing will begin with autonomous haulage at the Arturo mine, a joint venture operation between Barrick and Premier Gold Mines Ltd. Barrick and Premier have partnered with Autonomous Solutions Inc. to retroit an existing leet of ive haul trucks with autonomous kits. “As the mining industry continues to innovate and adopt new technology at increasing speed, autonomous is quickly becoming a critical component to running a safer and more sustainable operation,” said Bill MacNevin, CEO of Barrick Nevada. “The company’s long-term sustainability is dependent on the safety and security of our employees. That is why Barrick remains committed to innovation and teaching the next generation of skills in a rapidly changing technological environment.” Barrick recruited autonomous operators and staf for the project from its existing workforce. Testing will continue through the year and include evaluation of the potential for surface autonomous technology at other Barrick operations in Nevada.

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HAWAII VOLCANO GIVES EXPERTS CLUES TO BOOST SCIENCE

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano may be disrupting life in paradise with its bursts of ash and bright-orange lava, but it also has scientists wide-eyed, eager to advance what’s known about volcanoes. The good news is: Volcanoes reveal secrets when they’re rumbling, which means Kilauea is producing a bonanza of information. While scientists monitored Big Island lava lows in 1955 and 1960, equipment then was far less sophisticated. Given new technology, they can now gather and study an unprecedented volume of data. “Geophysical monitoring techniques that have come online in the last 20 years have now been deployed at Kilauea,” said George Bergantz, professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington. “We have this remarkable opportunity ... to see many more scales of behavior both preceding and during this current volcanic crisis.” Starting May 3, Kilauea has fountained lava and lung ash and rocks from its summit, destroying 171


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hundreds of homes, closing key highways and prompting health warnings. Kilauea is one of ive volcanos that form the Big Island, and is a “shield” volcano — built up over time as lava lows layer on top of layer. Technically speaking, it has been continuously erupting since 1983. But the recent combination of earthquakes shaking the ground, steam-driven explosions at the top, and lava creeping into a new area some 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the summit represents a departure from its behavior over the past 35 years, said Erik Klemetti, a volcanologist at Ohio’s Denison University. What’s happening now is a bit more like the Kilauea of nearly a century ago. In 1924, steam explosions at the summit lasted for more than two weeks. Scientists are looking into what caused the change and whether this shift in the volcano’s magma plumbing system will become the new normal. Radar allows researchers to measure the height of ash plumes shooting from the summit, even when they occur at night. Plume heights are an efect of how much heat energy is released and the explosion’s intensity. “It’s one of the key factors that dictates how far ash will be dispersed,” said Charles Mandeville, volcano hazards coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey. The other is where the winds are blowing. Such knowledge is useful in alerting the public. Scientists can also monitor where gas is emerging, as well as determine its composition and volume. They can even measure the subtle rise and fall of the ground over a 173


“The more stuf you put on the volcano to make measurements, the more you realize there’s stuf going on that you never knew.” MICHAEL POLAND - US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY VOLCANOLOGIST

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broad area and time — down to seconds — which suggests when and where magma is pooling underground. Discovering variations or correlations between past and present activity provides more clues on what’s happening. It also helps scientists understand past lava lows, anticipate what could occur next, and pinpoint signs or patterns before an eruption. “You’re sort of zeroing in on iner and iner levels of detail into how the volcano works,” said Michael Poland, a U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist. “The more stuf you put on the volcano to make measurements, the more you realize there’s stuf going on that you never knew.” Better technology has also meant U.S. Geological Survey scientists have been able to accurately forecast Kilauea’s behavior as it sputters over Puna, the island’s most afected district. “They’ve been spot on,” said Janine Krippner, a volcanologist at Concord University in West Virginia. “It’s incredible — they’re looking at things happening below the surface, using the monitoring equipment that they have, the knowledge they have of past eruptions, and have been able to get people to not be in a deadly area.” This is unfortunately not always possible, as nature can be unpredictable. On June 3, Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire sent a mixture of hot gas, rock and other material racing down its slopes and inundating the valley, killing nearly 100 people. Krippner compared the Guatemala eruption to opening a can of soda after shaking it

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Image: Jae C. Hong

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vigorously. Volcanic gas underneath created bubbles that expanded, increasing pressure that blew magma apart when it reached the surface, spewing cooled lava rocks ranging from the size of sand grains to boulders. Explosions can be bigger, or occur diferently, than expected, and that presents a learning opportunity for scientists, who work on computer models to map out areas that may be at higher risk in the future. “Looking at the footage afterward, we can start to tease out how these things actually work,” Krippner said, as it’s often too dangerous for experts to physically get close to an eruption. Volcanic eruptions happen fairly regularly — as many as 60 occur worldwide each year — but many are in isolated areas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. After Kilauea’s 1924 summit explosions, the volcano entered a decade of piddly rumblings, followed by 18 years of silence. Experts say Kilauea may be heading toward years — even decades — of little or no activity. For now, volcanologists feel a “tremendous amount of responsibility” to learn as much as possible from the volcano, Poland said. Its latest activity has destroyed about 400 homes — including about 280 over the last several days — and displaced thousands of residents. Lava from Kilauea has also downed power lines and knifed across highways. “It’s coming at a great cost in terms of impact on the lives and livelihoods of so many people — we owe it to the people of Puna to make sure that we learn the lessons the volcano is teaching us,” Poland said. 178


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LOSE IT KANE BROWN

WHATEVER IT TAKES IMAGINE DRAGONS

SIMPLE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

NO TEARS LEFT TO CRY ARIANA GRANDE

TEQUILA DAN + SHAY

MEANT TO BE (FEAT. FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE) BEBE REXHA

SUMMER FEVER LITTLE BIG TOWN

IN MY BLOOD SHAWN MENDES

THE MIDDLE ZEDD, MAREN MORRIS & GREY

HEAVEN KANE BROWN

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COME TOMORROW DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) VARIOUS ARTISTS

THE MOUNTAIN DIERKS BENTLEY

BIGGER SUGARLAND

RWBY, VOL. 5 (MUSIC FROM THE ROOSTER TEETH SERIES) JEFF WILLIAMS

SHAWN MENDES SHAWN MENDES

A DYING MACHINE TREMONTI

THIS ONE’S FOR YOU TOO (DELUXE EDITION) LUKE COMBS

EVOLVE IMAGINE DRAGONS

LOST & FOUND JORJA SMITH

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THIS IS AMERICA CHILDISH GAMBINO

STRAIGHT TO HELL (FEAT. JASON ALDEAN, LUKE BRYAN & CHARLES KELLEY) DARIUS RUCKER

SUMMER FEVER LITTLE BIG TOWN

HOOKED WHY DON’T WE

FAKE LOVE BTS

DINERO (FEAT. DJ KHALED & CARDI B) JENNIFER LOPEZ

BACK TO YOU SELENA GOMEZ

PERFECT SYMPHONY (WITH ANDREA BOCELLI) ED SHEERAN

NO TEARS LEFT TO CRY ARIANA GRANDE

I’LL NAME THE DOGS BLAKE SHELTON

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EVIL TWINS RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, SEASON 10 (UNCENSORED)

ANGELINA LEAVES HER MARK! JERSEY SHORE: FAMILY VACATION, SEASON 1

FIRST LIGHT MARVEL’S CLOAK & DAGGER, SEASON 1

FAMILY TIES SOUTHERN CHARM, SEASON 5

YOU BROKE THE PENAL CODE THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, SEASON 10

#LIZATOO YOUNGER, SEASON 5

SUICIDE SPRINTS MARVEL’S CLOAK & DAGGER, SEASON 1

HONG KONG ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN, SEASON 11

1402 THE BACHELORETTE, SEASON 14

WEST VIRGINIA ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN, SEASON 11

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KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL ANTHONY BOURDAIN

THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING JAMES PATTERSON & BILL CLINTON

THE PLANT PARADOX DR. STEVEN R. GUNDRY, M.D.

THE OUTSIDER STEPHEN KING

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LULULEMONS LAUREN WEISBERGER

SHELTER IN PLACE NORA ROBERTS

CLARA’S WAR CLARA KRAMER & STEPHEN GLANTZ

TURBULENCE STUART WOODS

THE OTHER WOMAN DANIEL SILVA

SOMETHING IN THE WATER CATHERINE STEADMAN

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US HITS RUSSIAN FIRMS WITH SANCTIONS, CITING CYBERATTACKS

The Trump administration slapped sanctions on several Russian companies and businessmen for engaging in cyberattacks and assisting Russia’s military and intelligence services with other malicious activities. The Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on ive Russian irms and three executives from one of them under legislation passed last year and an executive order aimed at punishing eforts to hack into U.S. computer systems. The sanctions freeze any assets that they may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them. Image: Manuel Ceneta

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“The United States is engaged in an ongoing efort to counter malicious actors working at the behest of the Russian Federation and its military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s ofensive cyber capabilities,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. He said the sanctions targeted entities that have “directly contributed to improving Russia’s cyber and underwater capabilities” that jeopardize “the safety and security of the United States and our allies.” The department said the sanctions were a response to a number of cyberattacks, including last year’s NotPetya attack, as well as intrusions into the U.S. energy grid and global network infrastructure. It also said that Russia had been tracking undersea cables that carry the bulk of the world’s telecommunications data. The companies afected are: Digital Security with oices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and its subsidiaries ERPScan and Embedi, which have oices in Russia, Europe and Israel; St. Petersburg- and Moscow-based Kvant Scientiic Research Institute; and Divetechnoservices of St. Petersburg. The three sanctioned men are Aleksandr Lvovich Tribun, Oleg Sergeyevich Chirikov, and Vladimir Yakovlevich Kaganskiy. They all work for Divetechnoservices. The Treasury Department said Digital Security had provided material and technological support to Russia’s Federal Security Services, or FSB. It said Divetechnoservices had procured a variety of underwater equipment and diving systems, including a submarine, for Russian government agencies.

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ILLINOIS OFFICIALS CONCERNED OVER FOXCONN PLANT IMPACT

County oicials in northeastern Illinois are concerned about the potential environmental impacts of the planned Foxconn manufacturing plant in neighboring Wisconsin. The Lake County Board unanimously passed a resolution calling for Wisconsin oicials to reconsider waiving environmental regulations as part of incentives for the Taiwanese company, the Lake County News-Sun reported. Suburban Chicago’s Lake County borders Wisconsin’s southern state line. The change in pollution standards “will compromise the environmental integrity and 195


resiliency of natural resources” in the county, said Chairman Aaron Lawlor. He said moves by federal and Wisconsin oicials to reduce air pollution standards in ive southeastern Wisconsin counties and the decision to allow special regulatory treatment and diversion of Lake Michigan water will have numerous ecological impacts, such as decreasing air quality and increasing looding. The board’s resolution follows the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission’s resolution last week. It asked for Wisconsin and federal agencies to ensure negative environmental impacts aren’t imposed on county residents that are downstream of the plant. The Illinois Senate also recently passed a resolution that asked Wisconsin lawmakers to consider the environmental and public health concerns that Illinois residents have about the development. “Lake County residents deserve better,” said Democratic Sen. Melinda Bush of Grayslake, who sponsored the resolution. “I hope Wisconsin leaders will put people before proits and reconsider the Foxconn deal.” The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource said last month that it’s considering potential environmental impacts while looking at permit requirements for the Foxconn project. Foxconn released a statement in March that said the company will fully comply with rules and regulations and is committed “to being a responsible corporate citizen.” Foxconn plans to build a $10 billion plant in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin that will manufacture advanced liquid crystal display panels. 196


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LONDON MAYOR UPBEAT ABOUT TECH DESPITE INVESTMENT CONCERNS

London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he’s optimistic the city will continue to draw investors after Brexit as a survey showed Britain’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment dimmed last year. The U.K. slipped to third place in a survey of 450 global investors by EY, the accounting and consulting partnership. Some 52 percent said Britain was an attractive place to invest, down 3 percentage points from the previous year. Germany topped the survey at 66 percent, followed by France at 56 percent. 199


While the survey found declining investment in London’s inancial services sector, traditionally the city’s economic powerhouse, Khan highlighted the recent success of the technology industry. Foreign direct investment funded 320 projects in Britain last year, an increase of 23 percent from 2016, EY said. Two-thirds of the projects were in London. “We are the tech capital of Europe, but there’s no need to be complacent,” Khan told Media at the launch of London Tech Week. “But I see Paris and Berlin as complementing and collaborating with us rather than literally as competitors we’ve got to be cutthroat with. I think it’s not a bad thing for us to have other tech hubs in Europe.” The survey was less rosy about Britain’s overall attractiveness amid concerns about the country’s departure from the European Union. The U.K.’s share of projects funded by foreign direct investment fell last year, although the country remained Europe’s biggest destination for such projects, the survey found.

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While the number of projects in Britain rose 6 percent to 1,205 last year, that lagged the overall European growth rate of 10 percent. In particular, France surged 31 percent to 1,019 projects, boosted by optimism about President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies. That left Britain with 18 percent of Europe’s projects, down from 21 percent in 2015, the year before the country voted to leave the EU. The survey also underscores Brexit’s impact on the inancial services industry, with banks and investment companies moving some operations to mainland Europe to ensure they have access to the EU’s market of 500 million people after Britain leaves the bloc. The number of foreign direct investment projects in U.K. inancial services fell 26 percent last year, even as the overall European market expanded 13 percent, the survey showed. The EU report said that the U.K.’s foreign direct investment performance “shows an economy in transition as a result of the move to Brexit and technological change.”

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Image: Marco Urban

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GERMANY ORDERS DAIMLER TO RECALL 238,000 DIESEL VEHICLES

Germany’s transport minister says the government is ordering automaker Daimler to immediately recall 238,000 vehicles equipped with software that turns of emissions controls under certain conditions. Minister Andreas Scheuer made the statement Monday after a meeting with Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche. Scheuer said that Daimler was willing to work “with cooperative transparency” with the government and “at maximum speed.” Scheuer said the recall was ordered after “intensive and hours-long negotiations” with Daimler. The afected vehicles include the Mercedes-Benz Vito delivery van and the Mercedes GLC 220d and C220d. 205


Europe-wide some 774,000 vehicles are afected, the ministry said. The ministry statement did not say whether those cars outside of Germany would be recalled. Diesels have been under heavy scrutiny since U.S. authorities caught Volkswagen using illegal engine control software that turned of diesel emission controls in everyday driving. Subsequent investigations showed that other automakers had exploited European regulatory loopholes that allowed emissions controls to be relaxed at certain temperatures to avoid engine damage. Daimler said in a statement only that it “conirmed the recall” and added that “open legal questions will be clariied in appeal proceedings.” The company had earlier said that it contested the legal basis for the inding that the Vito’s engine controls were disallowed. Daimler has already announced a voluntary recall of some 3 million diesels to install a software ix intended to reduce emissions. Diesels are additionally under more pressure as German cities with excessive pollution levels contemplate limited diesel bans to come into compliance, under pressure from environmental groups. The city of Hamburg introduced a ban on older diesels on two streets sufering from excessive pollution levels on May 31. The Stuttgart-based automaker has said the U.S. Department of Justice has inquired about the company’s emission certiication processes, and that German prosecutors in Stuttgart are investigating Daimler employees on suspicion of fraud and criminal advertising. The company says it is cooperating with authorities. 206


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