Entertainment - Whats on at the cinema over the Christmas period?

Image Source - http://www.macarts.co.uk/Images/Hires/Cinema_Picture.JPG

As it has been for year and year going to the cinema is a massive trends. Who doesn’t love going to the cinema to see the biggest new film with all the hype and escape from reality for a few hours.

I recently made a post about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty that is coming out over the Christmas period, that it just one of many good film that are going to be on offer. So I thought id make a post about what else I am and you should be getting excited to see! I will be for sure going to see these films, get my Orange (EE) Wednesday’s and get myself down to the cinema! Can’t wait!

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Wolf of Wall Street

Entertainment - The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Source - http://www.waltermitty.com

Not so long ago I visited the cinema to watch the new Hunger Games, as always there were the adverts and trailers prior to the film, but this time there was something a little different. On came a short video from Ben Stiller introducing his new film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty! He gave a well-put together speech about the effort that had gone into the story, and how it was a personal favorite of his. He then introduced the trailer, which was unusually long; in fact it was just over 6 minutes long. Watch it below!

So having watched this trailer and hearing what Ben had to say, wow. This film just looks fantastic, I have to admit this type of film isn’t normally for me. However when Ben Stiller puts his mind to something, it normally turns to gold. This story looks like one that is filled with both ups and downs, with moments of comedy too.  I think in the instance the extended trailer works well, really gives you a feel for the story and exactly what it will be about, I think this will convince more people to go and watch.

I personally will be going to see this film and can not wait, it is released on Boxing Day, go and watch it!

Image Source - http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2013/07/the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty.jpg

Video Source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp_cxxqOaPM

Advertising - Barcelona have new sponsorship deal!

Source - http://news.sky.com/story/1181552/intel-to-print-logo-on-inside-of-barca-shirts

Barcelona FC has agreed a new football shirt sponsorship deal with Intel, but with a twist.  The logo of Intel will be printed on the inside of the football shirt, then hoping that when the player score they would preform the classic celebration of pulling their shirt over their head.

This will now mean that Barcelona FC will receive even more money from sponsorship deals, reportedly an extra £15m over four years. Barcelona FC are currently the second richest football team in the world taking £384 annually, but this new deal will take them further, and who know who will be sponsoring what next.

Personally I think this a great idea, players have been using this sort of advertising for years, normally they would have a t-shirt udder their football shirt will a personal message on, but this new type of message will earn them money.

Football is already one of the world’s richest sports and is now set to make even more money, I am sure many more brands and clubs will set up the same under shirt sponsorship deal. Fantastically clever way to advertise.

Image Source - http://www.insidespanishfootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/BarcaIntel.jpg

Technology - Greenest Supercomputer

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25367825

As it is these days the need to be green with energy is a big trend, and a must if we are to preserve the Earth. A computer has been unveiled at Cambridge University that claims to be the greenest supercomputer to date.

I think the biggest thing that can be taken for this is that need to go green, and how people are developing the technologies to make computers just as high spec as other but that are much cheaper and greener to run. Where will this take us in the future with electrical devices becoming greener by the day this must mean that are going to become cheaper to run, this will surely save people money and save the planet at the same time.

If this kind of thing does take affect then it will be easy to market for and a nightmare to market against, but we will have to see how the green energy technology development plays out, should be interesting.

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71727000/jpg/_71727361_71727281.jpg

Technology - Back on the moon!

Source - http://news.sky.com/story/1182379/chinas-moon-rover-jade-rabbit-lands-safely

Jade Rabbit has landed; an unmanned spacecraft has safely landed on the surface of the moon! It is first time in 37 years that this type of landing has taken place. China, who are heading the project, are taking a big step in becoming global players in the space race.

This is big news in terms of space, as this being the latest landing on the moon, scientists will be able to gather loads of new information on how it works, look for life and developments into space safety for people to one day make visits.

In around 12 years China are hopefully that they will be able to get astronauts onto the moon surface, which will again be a massive gain for China and the development of space knowledge.

People are very excited about what these developments will mean in terms of space, people do want to visit space or have holidays in space and these developments can only mean that the possibility of this is getting closer! I think that its very exciting, with people possibly landing on the moon again in the next 12 years I will be for sure watching, and just cant wait to see what developments that will bring.

Image Source - http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/12/14/276578/default/v1/cegrab-20131214-155448-159-1-942x530.jpg

Society - Do or die for Brazil, as they rush to finish!

Source - http://news.sky.com/story/1182412/worker-dies-in-fall-at-world-cup-stadium

So with the 2014 FIFA World Cup just over six months time, the push is on to get all of the stadiums built and ready for use. In saddening news today a worker on the Manaus Stadium has died, the worked fell nearly 35 meters after a cable has broke.

This is for sure going to raise questions about how safe the construction is within the constructions, are things being over looked and safety not up to standards?

The demands that countries that take on the World Cup or Olympics face are very high, the need to make their games much bigger and spectacular than the last one. Is it going to far with many countries spending billions and billions to create new stadiums, and pushing works over the edge.  Yes its great for the country that does host as they can world coverage, and if a good games is held, they receive great reviews, therefore looked upon as a great nation.

The countries do though need to make sure that everything that is built for the spectacles is done safely and if possible with no casualties. It need to be built to a standard that is safe, that is safe to be used by the thousands of fans that will be travelling there to watch the sporting events.  

Image Source - http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/12/13/276432/default/v2/rtx16cjm-1-522x293.jpg

Entertainment - Beyonce goes digital

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25362941

Beyoncé has released her latest album on iTunes, digitally. The album has been released only on iTunes and will not be in stores until approximately the 21 December.  This could be a smart move for Beyoncé, as fans will want to buy it as soon as possible so they will buy the digital, but they may want physical copy too so they will also buy that at a later date.

It seems that she may have also made this choice so that the album doesn’t get leaked prior to release, as happens so often these days. Normally copies will get stolen and released on the Internet before the album is actually released. Where as this time minimal tracks from the album have found their way onto the web before Beyoncé herself released it onto iTunes.

I think that personally this is a good idea, and that it if anything will boost the sales of her album, therefore creating more revenue. I am not a Beyoncé fan, but if I was I think this would grab my attention, and possibly make me look to buy it early, digitally online.

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71717000/jpg/_71717131_71717130.jpg

Entertainment - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Source - http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/hobbit-desolation-smaug-review/

So The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was released today, and as far as can been seen at the moment it is taking a lot of money at the box office. With many people not always liking the second film in trilogy’s it is a tough job that is being taken on by the filmmakers.

The film is nearly three hours long so it is not a quick trip to the cinema, but it has said to be an important part to the story, bringing in new character Legolas, who viewers will know for Lord of the Rings. The film has taken parts of the book it was based upon and takes them from tiny details into bigger events to fill out time it seems.

Some reviews have pointed out that the film drags and some of what is there is too lengthy and unneeded. Although this is not replicated in the film ratings, as on IMDB it is still rated at an 8.6/10.

I still haven’t seen the film myself, but after the things I have read I am still looking forward to watching. The first Hobbit film was great, with some nice effects and a great storyline, if the second has this it will be a success in my eyes.

Image Source - http://hdwallmov.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/th-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-wallpaper.png

Entertainment - The Ron Burgundy Effect

Image Source - http://www.missinfo.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/anchorman_ron_burgundy.jpg

Just over a month ago I posted about a new flavored Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream flavor called Scotchy Scotch Scotch, that was released in conjunction with the new Anchorman 2 film and the main character Ron Burgundy. But it seems this was not the end for Ron Burgundy.

Ron has been popping up everywhere, from news shows where he has co-hosted for an actual news channel, Dodge car advertisements and was the announcer at a Canadian Olympic trials event. It appears that anything he touches turns to gold, all media coverage he has been involved has resulted in that brand getting plenty of attention, whether that be increase in sales or viewing numbers. This strategy to build media coverage for the film itself has worked well, lets hope that will be as successful as everything else has been in.

The most recent appearance for Ron was to accept an award on Will Farrell’s (actor who plays Ron Burgundy) behalf at the British Comedy Awards, where he made jokes about Will Ferrell, about how he wasn’t funny.  I think they are making a great effort to promote the film, and in these circumstances it seems any publicity is good publicity.

Technology - Instagram Update

Source - http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=258701793

Instagram have just released their latest update for the app. This update comes with one in particular exciting new feature. Instagram have decided that they wanted to add a direct messaging service in the app, this service also users to send pictures directly between certain users with out others seeing.

The reason that this has come about is because Instagram want to stay competitive in social networking, in the last year an app called Snapchat was released that allowed users to send each other direct message with images that could be viewed for a set amount of time and this app became very popular. Now months later Instagram are trying to get on this trend of being able to send direct messages and attract some of their now distant users back.

It has also become apparent that over the last few days Twitter ha also decided that it is going to allow its users to send pictures via their direct messaging system.

I think it is visible her that there was and still is a trend for being able to send though private images to your friends for free via social media, and for Twitter and Instagram to now try and catch up with Snapchat is a wise move. Maybe the basic direct messaging systems will not match the quirkiness of the timed image on Snapchat, but it is a step in the right direct.

Image Source - http://fouriiii.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IG.jpg

Technology - User Created Street View

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25298920

Google has released a new tool that is going to allow user to upload their own Google street view posts. This will let users of android phone and DSLR camera take video footage of their surrounding for a specific location and then upload the to Google maps for everyone to use.

Google have wanted to develop its mapping system for some time now, and they feel this is the way forward. Google believe that by letting people upload their own images/video street view they will be able to cover more of the world, before eventually having the whole world recorded to hard drive.

Google are in main competition with Apple of Internet mapping, with Apple releasing their version on Internet maps in 2012. Google are also looking into real time traffic updates feature to stay ahead in the race for Internet mapping.

The biggest push for these maps is coming from the smartphone and tablet market as people want to use the maps on the go, to find their way about, and using street view makes it a lot easier to find your bearing etc.

I myself can see both Google and Apple becoming much stringer over the next few years, with the addition of user created street view and traffic updates, it could make the need for paid satellite navigations, such as Tom Tom, useless and not needed.

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71640000/jpg/_71640965_google2.jpg

Technology - Coach Crash Prevention

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25298346

Five firms in continental Europe have become testing partners for a new device that may be able to help prevent coach crashes on long distance journeys. The is of the new technology is that it will be able to detect if the driver goes into a micro sleep, in which the driver is in a half sleep for less than a second, but this is enough to swerve of the road and crash.

The same sort of monitoring system is used already In the mining system, to help improve the safety. The system has been adopted there so it must at least help. Some coach experts have said that it is currently unclear as to whether or not the system would actually improve the safety or not, but these test will help to prove or disprove any doubt.

The idea that when the driver falls into a micro sleep the system wake them up with a seat vibration, in edition to this it sends an alarm to the co-driver hut to tell them that they should no take over the driving. The system uses infer red lights to detect motion, so that can be use night and day without distracting the driver. It also reminds you when you may not be looking straightforward that your eyes need to be on the road. It seems the system has plenty of quirky settings and features, I believe that these could be beneficial and help the coach travel industry, as it will be much safer to travel long distance.

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71619000/jpg/_71619505_beukscreenshotdssversion3.9.jpg

Entertainment - X-Men Apocalypse

Source - http://news.yahoo.com/39-x-men-39-movie-coming-2016-033749034.html

Bryan Singer hint at a new X-Men late last week and today Fox have confirmed that the next installment to X-men will be the X-Men: Apocalypse opening Memorial Day weekend, on may 27th 2016.

X-men have a film already coming out in in 2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past, which already looks like it is going to be a big success in the movie franchise.

The fact that these films are getting announced way in advance of the next film coming out just shows the demand for the films and their content. It is exactly what people want at the moment, and it’s making a lot of money, so why not keep making more.

Apocalypse is known to be a major X-men villain from the comic book series back in the 1980’s. It will be interesting to see what actor they get to play this part, as the X-men films tend to boast a very a-list set of actors.

Personally I love the X-Men films and I cant wait to see X-Men: Days of Future Past and now X-Men: Apocalypse.

Image Source - http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/X-Men-x-men-58082_1024_768.jpg

Technology - Prescription Google Glass

Source - http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=258627894

A new updated version of the Google Glass eye where is just around the corner, but in a new leaked image it seem that there may be something excited involved.

It appears that in the image you as the user are able to swop out the actual glasses part for your own prescription glasses. This is not yet confirmed and may turn out to be untrue but it would be a great feature. If people with all eyesight levels were able to use this eyewear, Google would open up its target market massively. As currently with the use of standard lenses some people could not use the product due to safety reasons.

With the new model coming out son Google ha offered the Explorers have been given the opportunity to join a swap program, where if they bought their glasses before the 28 October they are able to swap them. Google have also said that in addition to the Explorers are able to invite an additional 3 friends to join the Explorer program. The Explorer program itself is a group of people that have been chosen to work with the Google Glass and help to develop it, while new people join the program to help further as the process develops.

I think it’s an exciting piece of technology that is making great developments, can wait to see it out in the public for real.  

Image Source - http://db2.stb.s-msn.com/i/5D/1E777BB7CAF2C95F2E05C158AC22.jpg

Technology - Hi-tech Cyciling

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25018543

More people than ever are deciding to use cycling as a way to travel around, and why not, it is much cheaper and it in congested cities it can be much faster. But is it safe? It would appear not, there has always been a lot of cycling collisions with cars and other vehicles, but now there are more cyclists there are more accidents.

Blaze have come up with a new design for a bike projector, that would project an illuminant image on the floor about 5 meters in front of the bike, this is so that drivers near the bike will be able to see the cyclists, the idea is that if the cyclists is in the drivers blind spot then they will be able to see the light that is being projected.  This may work, but I am skeptical to how effective it would be or if it would work in the daylight.

There has also been a design created for and invisible helmet, it is basically a helmet that is concealed in a neck brace and then on detection of a collision it springs out like an airbag. I don’t think as f yet they have fast enough detection speeds and are still working on it. Personally I don’t thin this works, I think if people really want to be safe then they should just wear a helmet.

If people do want to be as safe as possible then they should take every precaution they can lights, helmets, reflective gear and protective clothing. You can never be too safe. I do believe there is great possibility for these new technologies to be further developed and work very well!

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71554000/png/_71554249_cycle.png

Technology - Formula E

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25229092

Virgin has announced that it is going to enter a team into the first FIA Formula E Championship, which starts in 2014.  This is a big movement for Virgin and is a great way to show their brand qualities for sustainable energies and how they are being green.

The Formula E Championship is set to start next September and its going to be made up of 10 races. The qualifying sessions and the race will be held on the same day. The drivers will also have multiple cars because the car batteries only last around 25 minutes, so the cars will be changed once a race. The cars boast a very impressive 0-60mph in 3 seconds and a top speed of 140mph. Obviously in terms of battery life there is a lot of development to be made, but in terms of the performance they are able to achieve from the cars at this time is incredible.
It has been said that the development of this sport will in fact spur the development of electric cars in general, so we can hopefully expect to see much more advancements in the developments for road cars. This is needed, as currently the cars on offer are not amazing and need to be much better to appeal to a much wider audience. There will become a trend for newly created, practical and affordable electric cars in the near future.

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71541000/jpg/_71541951_virgin.jpg