Posts tagged Internet
Reddit community Revolting
Jul 21st
The Reddit community has been in an uproar over the past since two weeks ago when the Director of Talent, Victoria Taylor was suddenly fired. Taylor hosted the sites, AMA or Ask Me Anything segments which included guests such as Barack Obama.10 Days after Taylor was fired, interim CEO, Ellen Pao resigned from the company. Many people agree that fellow co-workers who didn’t like the direction she was taking the company were forcing Pao out.
-Andrew Sander
“The Bling Ring” Shows Stealing from the Rich and Famous
Jun 29th
“Stealing from the Rich and Famous”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Bling Ring is based on actual events, was directed very nicely by Sofia Coppola, and serves as a many-layered warning to perpetrators, victims, fans, and viewers alike.
Heck, it should also serve as a warning to the police: Appearing in a movie about an actual case you were involved in can hurt not only your career, but also the prosecution of the case itself.
The story is about a group of teenagers who blatantly broke into the homes of Hollywood celebrities and stole whatever they wanted, clothing, jewelry, makeup, and any drugs they could find.
Or, as one of them says as they are about to ransack a home, “Let’s go shopping.”
We meet Marc on his first day at a new school that is for troubled teenagers, he is lonely, he has no friends, and he meets Rebecca when she shows him some kindness and attention.
Rebecca introduces Marc to checking parked cars to see if they are unlocked and taking anything they can from inside them.
One day Rebecca gives Marc a ride after school and asks him if he knows about any families who are out of town. He does, they go to that house, and Rebecca introduces Marc to finding a way inside and stealing items from the house.
When they see on the news that Paris Hilton is hosting a party in Las Vegas, it is easy enough to use the Internet to learn where Paris lives, easy enough to find the key to the front door underneath the welcome mat, and easy enough to be bedazzled by everything that Paris owns and puts on display, again taking whatever they want.
Incidentally, Paris allowed the filmmakers to use her house for filming all the scenes there, and we can also assume that all the clothing and jewelry are hers, too.
The victims have no shame, either.
And then everything gets out of hand. Friends of theirs at school want in on the action. Everyone is obsessed with taking “selfies” of themselves in their stolen swag and posting them on the Internet, but when some of the celebrities’ homes have security cameras, you can guess the rest even if you don’t know what actually happened.
The Bling Ring shows just one of the downsides to our obsession with the lives of the glitterati.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Disconnect” a Heavy-Handed Look at Serious Problems
Apr 27th
“Heavy-Handed Look at Serious Problems”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Disconnect has three separate, but connected stories about the serious problems that can be the result of today’s activities with the Internet, computers, and smart phones.
One of the stories ends in a tragedy.
The first story is about a lonely teenage boy who is tricked into thinking that he is communicating with a girl who is interested in him when in fact two other boys in his school are behind the deception.
The second story is about a television reporter who is researching a story about teenage runaways, but ends up interviewing a teenager who performs on an Internet porn site.
And the third story is about a couple who are having marital problems to begin with, and then they discover that they are the victims of identity theft, and all of their credit cards are maxed out.
Some of the characters are connected to only one story, some of the characters are connected to two stories, and at least one of the characters is connected to all three stories.
So, in essence, the three stories are disjointed, but interconnected.
And a key point in solving one of the mysteries in one of the stories is when a character texts, “We didn’t mean for this to happen.”
The only actors of note in the movie are Jason Bateman, wearing an uncharacteristic beard, and Hope Davis, who plays his wife.
Now, although an ad for the movie claims that one critic calls it “The Best Film of the Year,” you might think differently when you see how the serious subjects of the film are handled.
In other words, the filmmakers would have done well to have remembered “A little discretion goes a long way.”
Also, be aware that the movie contains nudity and violence, but neither one is exploited.
However, the movie does point out how extensive social media is being used in today’s society, how it can get out of hand, and how destructive some of those results can be to innocent, unsuspecting victims.
Although the movie does single out one person as being a villain in the circumstances making up one of the stories, most of the characters are victims of the situations, either because of intent or accident.
Disconnect is a heavy-handed look at serious problems that can lead to coincidental, interesting, and devastating results.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”