SUMMARY
BREAK THEM UP? 5 WAYS CONGRESS IS TRYING TO REIN IN BIG TECH HONDA CHANGING COURSE, WILL BUILD ITS OWN ELECTRIC VEHICLES 25 TIPS & TRICKS: HACKS TO MAKE YOUR iPHONE WORK HARDER & SMOOTHER HOW IS TECHNOLOGY AIDING MIAMI RESCUERS’ SEARCH?
08 18 42 66
DEMYSTIFYING ADVANCED DRIVER AIDS IN NEW VEHICLES 24 MICROSOFT EXEC: TARGETING OF AMERICANS’ RECORDS ‘ROUTINE’ 34 PANDEMIC-ERA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS TECH FAIR KICKS OFF 58 BOEING’S NEXT AIRPLANE LIKELY TO BE DELAYED BY FAA CONCERNS 78 JUDGE DISMISSES GOV’T ANTITRUST LAWSUITS AGAINST FACEBOOK 84 STATES HESITANT TO ADOPT DIGITAL COVID VACCINE VERIFICATION 92 NO ET, NO ANSWERS: INTEL REPORT IS INCONCLUSIVE ABOUT UFOS 102 IN ‘F9,’ FINDING A NEW GEAR FOR RIDICULOUSNESS 128 LIAM NEESON’S BACK, FIGHTING ON THIN ICE (LITERALLY) 138 VIRGIN GALACTIC GETS FAA’S OK TO LAUNCH CUSTOMERS TO SPACE 152 COSMIC GULP: ASTRONOMERS SEE BLACK HOLE SWALLOW NEUTRON STAR 156 NASCAR TEAMS NAVIGATING CHAOTIC CHARTER MARKET AHEAD OF 2022 160 UK WATCHDOG PROBES AMAZON, GOOGLE FOR FAKE REVIEWS OF GOODS 170 JAPAN’S SOFTBANK SAYS PEPPER ROBOT REMAINS ‘ALIVE’ AND WELL 176 CHINA’S DIDI TOUTS TECH SPENDING AHEAD OF WALL ST DEBUT 180
MOVIES & TV SHOWS 110 MUSIC 118 TOP 10 SONGS 126 TOP 10 ALBUMS 144 TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 146 TOP 10 TV SHOWS 148 TOP 10 BOOKS 150
08
BREAK THEM UP? 5 WAYS CONGRESS IS TRYING TO REIN IN BIG TECH
Groundbreaking legislation is advancing in Congress that would curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and could force them to untie their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. Hostility toward Big Tech has grown in recent years with the belief that its size and swagger have stifled competition, limited consumer choice and raised prices. The bipartisan legislation targets the companies’ structure and points toward breaking them up, a dramatic step for Congress to take against a powerful industry whose products are woven into everyday life. Its backers say it would help ensure lower prices and more choices for consumers, and a fairer playing field for smaller businesses to compete. 09
10
In two days of heavy, often wonky, debate, the House Judiciary Committee approved the legislative package and sent it to the full U.S. House, where a vote will be the next step in what promises to be a strenuous slog through Congress. The measures seek to rein in the tech giants in five ways:
BREAKING THEM UP The legislation would bar the four companies from owning a dominant platform at the same time they own another line of business if having both creates a conflict of interest. That means they could be forced to sell off businesses in which their market dominance enables them to favor their own services or squash competitors. Because the tech giants often operate both as a platform and as a competitor on the platform, industry critics say, there’s a built-in conflict. This is “the big enchilada” of the legislative package, is how a friendly Republican lawmaker put it. A Democrat, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, whose California district sits in Silicon Valley, opposed the bill. “It would take a grenade and just roll it into the tech economy and blow it up,” she said. The measure doesn’t name the four companies. But they fit into a new legal category it creates called “covered platforms” that fall under the new restrictions: online platforms with 50 million or more monthly active users, annual sales or market value of over $600 billion, and a role as a “critical trading partner.”
11
12
Some critics of the industry have pointed to Facebook’s popular messaging services Instagram and WhatsApp as strong candidates to be divested.
CROSSING OVER Lawmakers propose enabling users on dominant platforms to communicate directly with those on rival services. It could make it easier for different companies to use products together, with the aim of helping startups and smaller companies. People would also be able to carry their personal data — photos, videos and all — from one service to another. “Americans deserve to have more ownership over their personal information, with the ability to seamlessly transfer their data between platforms of their choice,” says Rep. Burgess Owens, the Utah Republican who is a chief sponsor of the measure.
NO MORE FAVORITISM The legislation would prohibit the tech giants from favoring their own products and services over competitors on their platforms. An example: Some independent merchants who sell products on Amazon.com have complained to lawmakers about the e-commerce giant’s practices, such as contract provisions and policies said to prevent sellers from offering their products at lower prices or on better terms on any other online platform, including their own websites. Under the legislation, could Amazon be forced to spin off its private-label products that compete with vendors on the platform? 13
The Seattle company has said that sellers set their own prices for the products they offer on its platform. “Amazon takes pride in the fact that we offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively.”
HARD TO MERGE Lawmakers want to make it tougher for giant tech companies to snap up competitors in mergers, which they have completed by the hundreds in recent years, waved through by antitrust enforcers in both Republican and Democratic administrations. Acquisitions that would eliminate competitors or potential competitors, or expand or entrench the market power of online platforms could be expected to be blocked by regulators. The burden would shift from the government to the companies to show that a particular merger wouldn’t harm competition.
DIALED UP ENFORCEMENT Lastly, the legislation would give the Federal Trade Commission more money, and states more power, to enforce the antitrust laws against companies. It would increase FTC filing fees for any proposed tech mergers worth over $500 million and cut the fees for those below that level. Many state attorneys general have pursued antitrust cases against Big Tech companies, and many states joined with the U.S. Justice Department and the FTC in their landmark antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook, respectively, last year. 14
Image: John Bodnar
15
Simply Better Living
SUPERSTEAM+ BUILT-IN WALL OVEN ™
SSC2489DS
The Sharp® SuperSteam+ Built-In Wall Oven is the start of a cooking revolution. With Wi-Fi enabled IoT features, the innovations within this steam oven are a perfect match for modern cooking needs. While regular steam only reaches 212°F, the SuperSteam+ oven can create superheated steam up to 485°F. Steam this hot can roast meats and caramelize sugars so your food can be brown and crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. With the Sharp SuperSteam+ Oven, you can grill without smoke, roast without drying, and get the roasty-toasty, tasty results you desire.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
Get started right away with built-in recipes and download the Sharp SuperSteam+ Oven app* to enable the smart features and access custom recipes powered by SideChef.
The new Sharp SuperSteam+ Built-In Wall Oven features Steam Bake for superior breads, and Water Bath for cheesecakes, custards and puddings.
www.sharpusa.com | simplybetterliving.sharpusa.com *Mobile Application and Home Assistant Skill available upon commercial release. © 2020 Sharp Electronics Corporation. All rights reserved. Sharp, Supersteam™ Oven and all related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sharp Corporation and/or its affiliated entities. Product specifications and design are subject to change without notice. Internal capacity calculated by measuring maximum width, depth and height. Actual capacity for holding food is less.
18
HONDA CHANGING COURSE, WILL BUILD ITS OWN ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Although General Motors will build Honda’s first two fully electric vehicles for North America, the Japanese automaker plans to change course and manufacture its own later this decade. Company officials say they’re developing their own EV architecture, and after two GM-made EVs go on sale in 2024, Honda will start building its own. “It’s absolutely our intention to produce in our factories,” Honda of America Executive Vice President Dave Gardner said, adding that Honda has developed battery manufacturing expertise from building gas-electric hybrids. “We absolutely intend to utilize that resource.” Honda and GM have been partners on hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles. Earlier this year they announced that GM would build one Honda SUV and one Acura SUV using its Ultium-branded electric vehicle architecture and battery system. Image: Zhe Ji/
19
The company said the Honda SUV would be named the Prologue, and that both SUVs will have bodies, interiors and driving characteristics designed by Honda. But after those two, Honda plans its own manufacturing for most of a series of electric vehicles, although it hasn’t determined if it will use GM components. Gardner says sales projections for the Prologue are between 40,000 and 150,000 per year, but he didn’t say when those numbers would be reached. In April, the company said it plans to phase out all of its gasoline-powered vehicles in North America by 2040, making it the latest major automaker with a goal of becoming carbon neutral. Honda wants 40% of North American vehicle sales to be battery or fuel-cell powered by 2030, and 80% of all vehicles sold to run on batteries or hydrogen by 2035. Honda initially had planned to meet stricter government fuel economy and pollution standards by adding hybrids to improve internal combustion engines. But regulatory actions across the world to combat climate change, including proposals from U.S. President Joe Biden, have moved the company more toward electric vehicles, Gardner said. Battery-electric vehicles accounted for less than 2% of U.S. new-vehicle sales last year, but analysts are predicting huge growth as automakers roll out new models. The consulting firm LMC Automotive expects nearly 359,000 to be sold this year, passing 1 million in 2023 and hitting over 4 million in 2030. Still, that’s roughly one-quarter of annual new vehicle sales. 20
21
DEMYSTIFYING ADVANCED DRIVER AIDS IN NEW VEHICLES
There’s some hesitancy from the public regarding the future of self-driving cars; a survey by Autolist says that most shoppers are split about whether having self-driving capability on a vehicle makes it safer. Thankfully, real automated driving vehicles are still years away. But considering that nearly every new car on sale today comes standard or is available with some level of driver-assistance technology, it’s best to stay informed on what these features actually do and whether you would want to pay extra for them. 24
25
These driving-assist technology features are often referred to as advanced driver-assist systems, or ADAS. Some ADAS are more advanced than others, and capabilities vary from vehicle to vehicle. Let’s be clear: There are no fully automated or self-driving cars for sale today. For example, General Motors’ Super Cruise system and Ford’s upcoming BlueCruise system allow for limited hands-free driving, but most new vehicles do not. All ADAS today — even hands-free ones — require the driver to pay attention to the road and be ready to take over at any time. The actual function of ADAS is similar among automakers, but mixed messaging and confusing names don’t make it very clear how vehicles compare. We’re here to help break down what these terms actually mean and what some of these systems can do.
ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL Adaptive cruise control can adjust your speed to maintain a constant distance between your vehicle and the car in front. Some systems can bring a vehicle to a complete stop and then speed up again when traffic starts to move. Others can also react to traffic signs and set speed accordingly. Some manufacturer names you might come across include Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (Toyota), Smart Cruise Control (Hyundai) and Intelligent Cruise Control (Nissan).
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING Automatic emergency braking paired with forward collision warning can alert you if a front impact is imminent and can apply your vehicle’s brakes if you don’t respond in time. As with 26
27
28
adaptive cruise control, there are a variety of names that automakers use to refer to automatic emergency braking. They include Collision Mitigation Braking System (Honda), Forward Collision Mitigation (Mitsubishi) and Collision Prevention Assist Plus (Mercedes-Benz). Some more advanced systems include features such as evasive steering assist, which enhances the forward collision mitigation system and can help steer a vehicle to possibly avoid a collision.
LANE-KEEPING ASSIST Lane-keeping assist can help steer your vehicle back into its lane if it begins to drift over the lane marker. Drivers might feel a small tug on the wheel as well as see a warning that the vehicle isn’t staying in its lane. Various names include Active Steering Assist (Mercedes-Benz) and Intelligent Lane Intervention (Nissan). A lane-departure warning system only alerts you about drifting out of your lane and cannot make any corrective action.
SUPER CRUISE AND AUTOPILOT General Motors’ Super Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot are some of the most advanced driverassist systems available. Super Cruise was the first hands-free system to hit the market, though it currently only works on highways. Besides adjusting speeds with adaptive cruise control, Super Cruise can change lanes for you. You still have to be ready to take over at any time, and the car monitors the driver to make sure he or she is paying attention to the road. Autopilot works fairly similarly, though at the moment it doesn’t allow for hands-free 29
driving even with the so-called Full SelfDriving Capability. When using the Navigate on Autopilot feature, the Tesla will suggest lane changes and can automatically steer your vehicle toward the proper highway exit. Tesla is also phasing in a camera-based driver monitor since its current monitoring system can be easily bypassed.
OTHER DRIVER-ASSIST SYSTEMS Automated parking systems steer into a parking spot with little or no driver intervention. These systems work with parallel parking too. Many cars today have automatic high beams that use sensors to automatically turn the high beams on and off. Surround-view or 360-degree cameras can show a top-down view of a vehicle, which can be helpful when parking. Some new trucks have trailer assist systems that can help when hooking up a trailer or help reduce sway when towing.
WHAT ELSE SHOULD I KNOW? Many automakers bundle these systems into suites or packages under a single moniker. Names include Nissan ProPilot Assist, Toyota Safety Sense, Honda Sensing and Mazda i-Activsense. Advanced driver-assist systems are making their way into more and more new cars, though no car today is truly self-driving. Knowing how they work and the general terminology is important for any car shopper today.
30
31
34
MICROSOFT EXEC: TARGETING OF AMERICANS’ RECORDS ‘ROUTINE’
Federal law enforcement agencies secretly seek the data of Microsoft customers thousands of times a year, according to congressional testimony Wednesday by a senior executive at the technology company. Tom Burt, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for customer security and trust, told members of the House Judiciary Committee that federal law enforcement in recent years has been presenting the company with between 2,400 to 3,500 secrecy orders a year, or about seven to 10 a day. “Most shocking is just how routine secrecy orders have become when law enforcement targets an American’s email, text messages or other sensitive data stored in the cloud,”
35
36
said Burt, describing the widespread clandestine surveillance as a major shift from historical norms. The relationship between law enforcement and Big Tech has attracted fresh scrutiny in recent weeks with the revelation that Justice Department prosecutors obtained as part of leak investigations phone records belonging not only to journalists but also to members of Congress and their staffers. Microsoft, for instance, was among the companies that turned over records under a court order, and because of a gag order, had to then wait more than two years before disclosing it. Since then, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, called for an end to the overuse of secret gag orders, arguing in a Washington Post opinion piece that “prosecutors too often are exploiting technology to abuse our fundamental freedoms.” Attorney General Merrick Garland, meanwhile, has said the Justice Department will abandon its practice of seizing reporter records and will formalize that stance soon. Burt is among the witnesses at a Judiciary Committee hearing about potential legislative solutions to intrusive leak investigations. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in opening remarks Wednesday that the Trump administration took advantage of outdated policies on digital data searches to target journalists and others in leak investigations. The New York Democrat said that reforms are needed now to guard against future overreach by
37
Justice Department prosecutors — an idea also expressed by Republicans on the committee. “We cannot trust the department to police itself,” Nadler said. Burt said that while the revelation that federal prosecutors had sought data about journalists and political figures was shocking to many Americans, the scope of surveillance is much broader. He criticized prosecutors for reflexively seeking secrecy through boilerplate requests that “enable law enforcement to just simply assert a conclusion that a secrecy order is necessary.” Burt said that while Microsoft Corp. does cooperate with law enforcement on a broad range of criminal and national security investigations, it often challenges surveillance that it sees as unnecessary, resulting at times in advance notice to the account being targeted. As possible solutions, Burt said, the government should end indefinite secrecy orders and should also be required to notify the target of the data demand once the secrecy order has expired. Just this week, he said, prosecutors sought a blanket gag order affecting the government of a major U.S. city for a Microsoft data request targeting a single employee there. “Without reform, abuses will continue to occur and they will occur in the dark,” Burt said.
38
39
42
25
TIPS & TRICKS HACKS TO MAKE YOUR iPHONE WORK HARDER & SMOOTHER
43
44
1. SPEEDING UP YOUR IPHONE If you’ve had your iPhone for a number of years, the chances are that it’s started to slow down. That’s because components can wear out and your devices fill up with files, apps, and forgotten photographs that you no longer need. What’s more, software updates for iOS are designed to take advantage of the latest iPhones and their processors, but there are ways to speed up an older device. Turn off your device to clear its memory, delete unwanted apps and files, and turn off background app refresh to avoid wasting processing power. It’s wise to upgrade to the latest versions of iOS, but you should avoid beta testing on older devices.
2. TELL PEOPLE YOU’LL CALL THEM BACK One of the most well-known features on iOS is the ability to send an iMessage to your loved ones or colleagues when you can’t take their call. But did you know, you can set a custom message on your iPhone to avoid the usual “Sorry, I can’t talk right now”? Head to Settings, Phone, and Respond With Text, and replace one of the existing messages with your own.
3. MAKE YOUR OWN RINGTONE Remember in a time gone by when you’d pay $4.99 for an MP3 ringtone that lasted ten seconds? The good news is that technology has come on a long way since then, and Apple has made it possible for users to create their own ringtones. Head to GarageBand on your Mac, cut down a track to 30 seconds or less, save it as m4a, import it into Apple Music, and you’re done. If you use GarageBand on iOS, hit Share, Ringtone, and assign it to a contact. 45
4. MAKE YOUR BATTERY LAST LONGER Modern iPhones have impressive battery lives, but it’s still good to know how to extend them. Head to Settings > Battery, and you’ll find details about which apps used the most battery, with some tips and pointers on how to reduce battery drain and extend your juice.
5. HAVE SIRI READ OUT TEXT MESSAGES Did you know that Siri can read out your texts for you? Head to Settings > General > Accessibility and toggle the option ‘Speak Selection. Then, long-press messages and a Speak option will appear - it’s great for when you’re trying to recite a message on the go.
6. MAKE SIRI YOUR ACTUAL ASSISTANT Since iOS 12, users have been able to group together common tasks and trigger them via Siri. Download Shortcuts from the App Store, and create your own set of tasks. For instance, turn on Apple Music, text my husband that I’m on my way home, and unlock the front door.
7. GIVE SIRI A NEW VOICEBOX Siri has a bunch of accents to choose from, with new options added regularly. Head to Settings > Siri & Search > Siri Voice and from there, you can choose options like American, Australian, British, Irish, or South African and choose between a Male or a Female voice.
8. TURN A WEBSITE INTO A BOOK Ideal for studying, you can turn web pages into PDF documents that are added to your
46
47
Books app on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Tap Share, and then scroll to Copy to Books - then, the web page will automatically be downloaded and added to your iOS bookshelf.
9. FIND WORDS ON A PAGE Studying? Researching? Need to find a particular word or phrase on a web page or document? Tap the search bar and type in your desired phrase - there’ll be an On This Page dropdown and you’ll see the number of times your word or phrase is featured in the content.
10. IDENTIFY A SONG ON TV OR IN A BAR Since Apple acquired Shazam several years ago, users no longer need to download the standalone app to find out what song’s playing in the background. Simply ask Siri what song is playing and she’ll tell you - and give you the option to add it to your Apple Music library.
11. TURN OFF YOUR MUSIC WHEN YOU SLEEP Do you enjoy listening to music or a podcast as you drift off to sleep? You’re not alone. The good news is that you can ask your iPhone to stop playing music after a certain time - just set a Timer, choose how long you want your timer to last for, and before you complete, press ‘When Timer Ends’. You can then scroll down to the bottom and select ‘Stop Playing’.
12. NEVER FORGET YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE As part of iOS 15, users in the United States will be able to add their driver’s license into 48
the Wallet app and use the digital license for everything. The TSA says it’s on board and will be the first to participate in this program. Other additions include car keys and hotel passes
13. KNOW WHEN TO DISEMBARK FROM THE SUBWAY When iOS 15 drops this fall, users taking public transport, whether that be a bus, an Uber, or a subway, can pin their favorite lines and get notification on their Apple Watch and iPhone when it’s time to disembark when approaching the destination. Just head to Apple Maps.
14. AVOID GETTING FINED ON THE ROAD Apple has added new driving directions to iOS 15 that improve road details, and you’ll now find bike lane information, taxi lanes, and more. This will allow you to more safely travel with the aid of GPS and avoid any unwanted road fines for driving in the wrong lane or speed.
15. GET FREE STORAGE WHEN TRANSFERRING One of the biggest bugbears when transferring from one iPhone to another is moving over your data - you need to make a backup of your iPhone and wait for iCloud to do its business. It’s even more frustrating when you don’t pay for iCloud storage. A new feature has been added to iOS, called Temporary iCloud storage, that allows you to use iCloud to transfer to a new device even if you don’t have enough free space in iCloud. It’s an unlimited amount too. 49
50
16. REORDER YOUR HOME SCREENS Our home screens are super important to us and many organize their apps based on when they’re used, like for work, workouts, family, entertainment, and banking. The App Library feature now lets you easily reorder Home Screens, a simple feature that will save you time.
17. ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO HELP YOU GET YOUR APPLE ID BACK As part of iOS 15, Apple has introduced a new feature that’s designed to help you get back into your Apple ID account should you lose access. If you get locked out of your Apple ID due to forgetting the password or even being hacked, you can specify trusted contacts who can supply you a code to instantly get access back to your locked-out account. Super useful!
18. HELP LOVED ONES ACCESS YOUR PHONE WHEN YOU DIE Apple’s new Digital Legacy program is designed to allow family members or loved ones to access your data after you die. You can select a limited number of contacts, such as your children or partner, and enroll them into the program so that they can access your personal details - like your banking apps, insurance documents, and emails when you pass away.
19. SHARE YOUR HEALTH DATA For the first time in iOS history, Apple now allows users inside of the Health app to easily share data with others such as your Image: Mike Coppola
51
family or health practitioner. The idea is to show off health trends - like your heart rate or exercise activity - so loved ones can help you get the support you need. This data is encrypted and designed to only be shared with a select few.
20. GET RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN TRAVELING Apple has made big changes to Apple Maps in recent years, and a new one is super useful for those who love to travel. New editorial-curated guides are now available for a number of popular cities and places to visit when traveling so you don’t miss out on the hotspots.
21. STOP BRANDS FROM TRACKING YOUR EMAILS In iOS 15, Apple has introduced a new pixel tracking blocker, which will ensure that brands and individuals can’t see when and where you opened their correspondence. What’s more, it’ll obfuscate the IP address so that senders cannot track your email reading. This will be enabled by default but only offered to those who pay for iCloud storage under iCloud+.
22. LOOK AROUND IN CITIES Google Maps has long been considered superior to Apple Maps, but the Cupertino company has made some serious changes to compete. A new augmented reality offering is now available in select cities on iOS - you can turn it on in London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Diego, with more cities and locations set to be added later in 2021.
52
53
23. TELL FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES YOU’RE BUSY Remember how convenient MSN Messenger was before we became always connected? We could display a status like busy, and users would know we weren’t available to talk. Now, when your phone is in Do Not Disturb mode, your friends and contacts will see in iMessage you’re busy. They can still contact you, but it might reduce those unwanted messages.
24. CREATE A TRACKPAD ON YOUR IPHONE There’s nothing worse than typing out a huge message on your iPhone, only to spot an error at the start of it. Instead of deleting the message and starting again, hold down on your keyboard, and you can then move your cursor to wherever you want on on the screen, so you can delete or amend your message. This works on Safari, Notes, and other apps too.
25. STOP ROBOCALLS IN THEIR TRACKS If you’re tired of spam calls, head to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers, and that way, any number that’s not in your contact list, Siri suggestions, or recently called list will be directed to voicemail. You’ll still be able to see the call and call them back as it’ll be delivered as a notification, but it won’t disturb you when you’re working and want to get the job done. iOS is rich and ever-evolving with exciting new features and quality of life improvements released every few months. iOS 15 is just around the corner and further afield, we’ll see even more refinements that make the world’s most popular operating system even better. 54
55
Image: Bernat Armangue
PANDEMIC-ERA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS TECH FAIR KICKS OFF
A major wireless technology trade fair kicked off in Barcelona this week with scaled-back attendance and beefed-up health and safety measures, changes that reflect the new reality for industry conventions in the pandemic era. Mobile World Congress was canceled at the last minute last year because of COVID-19 concerns. Its 2021 revival makes it one of the few big trade shows so far to attempt a comeback even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to simmer in many parts of the world. The show, known as MWC, is typically a glitzy and well-attended affair, with tech and telecom companies setting up elaborate pavilions to 58
59
unveil the latest mobile devices, schmooze clients and lobby government officials. But this year, the world’s biggest mobile industry trade show is likely to be a shadow of its former self. “Obviously, there is a huge difference from previous years. This show is going to be much smaller, much safer from a health and safety perspective,” said Mats Granryd, director general of GSM Association, which organizes the show and represents more than 750 mobile network operators. “We’re taking a lot of precautions: Testing people regularly within 72 hours, no hands, everything is touchless.” Still, companies like Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, Sony and Qualcomm are staying away while South Korea’s Samsung, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, is only holding a virtual device launch. Chinese tech giant Huawei, a major sponsor, is one the few big names that will have a show stand. Granryd said he’s expecting 25,000 to 30,000 people from 143 countries to attend in person, a fraction of the more than 100,000 visitors from 200 countries in recent years. Other visitors will be attending virtually, as will a third of the show’s 350 speakers, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk. At Barcelona’s Fira Gran Via exhibition centre, visitors had their temperatures checked by staff at the entrance. Other safety features include COVID-19 testing, extra ventilation and oneway routes around the venue. Attendees use an official MWC app to flash the negative test result needed to get in.
60
Image: Bernat Armangue
61
“My first impression is that I am very happy to be back,” said Lionel Anciaux, CEO of Brussels-based smart sensor company IOT Factory. Anciaux said he usually attends every year, “and last year without Mobile World Congress we really felt that we missed something in terms of finding new partners and also getting to know the new trends in technology.” The GSMA delayed the show from its usual February slot to buy time in the hope the pandemic would be under control by now. Granryd said they plan to move it back to February for 2022. To help make the four-day show happen, Spanish authorities agreed to exempt exhibitors, attendees, sponsors and partners from travel restrictions that might otherwise prevent them from entering the country. Spain eased COVID-19 restrictions by scrapping a requirement to wear face masks outdoors, as long as people remain at least 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart. Masks remain mandatory indoors in public places and on public transport. Barcelona has hosted MWC since 2006 and last year’s cancellation dealt a major economic blow to the city, with lost revenue for hotels, restaurants and taxi companies. Authorities estimate the show typically generates 473 million euros ($516 million) and more than 14,000 part-time jobs for the local economy. Other big tech industry trade fairs disrupted by the pandemic are planning to return in force, including Berlin’s IFA in September, Lisbon’s WebSummit set for November and CES in Las Vegas in January. 62
Image: Bernat Armangue
63
HOW IS TECHNOLOGY AIDING MIAMI RESCUERS’ SEARCH?
Search teams have been using drones, sonar, highly sensitive microphones and a range of other new and established technologies to help search for people in the oceanside condominium building near Miami that collapsed into a smoldering pile of rubble. Will any of it help? About 150 people were still unaccounted amid fears that the death toll of at least four could go much higher. 66
67
68
WHAT TECHNOLOGIES HAVE PROVEN USEFUL IN SUCH COLLAPSES? The most common, time-tested technologies used to try to locate survivors in rubble are
Joana Gaia, a professor of management science and systems at the University of Buffalo, said it’s common for search teams to use radar and microwaves that bounce off objects and can
acoustic detection and sniffer dogs.
identify people and objects. She said it’s similar to the technology in cars that beeps when you’re
Aerial drones equipped with cameras and
close to hitting something backing up.
other sensors can be useful to get a close look at the collapse, especially in the earliest stages of a search to help rescuers know where it’s safe to enter. Data from smartphones
That can be more useful than cell phone
and telecommunications carriers can show if a missing person was in the area — and cellphone-detecting gadgets can pick up a phone’s signals, as long as it hasn’t been destroyed.
geolocation, especially when speed is of the essence. In a disaster situation, data is only useful if it can be interpreted quickly. “Responders are operating on a speed rather than accuracy standpoint,” she said. “They think, ‘If I think a body is there I don’t care how accurate the signal is, I’m just going to try to go save the person.’”
69
70
WHAT ARE MIAMI RESCUERS USING NOW? Search and rescue teams worked through the night hoping to detect any sounds coming from survivors. The crews, which include some 130 firefighters working in teams, are approaching the pile from above and below as they search for any signs of life in what had been a wing of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. They’ve said they are using sonar, cameras and sensitive microphones. Microphones, though, won’t pick up cries for help if a trapped, unseen victim is unconscious but alive, because there won’t be any. Neighboring communities have shared their drones, and at least one company is shipping a ground robot from California to help with the search as crews work to tunnel underneath the building. “Once you get into that subterranean realm, ground robotics become incredibly useful,” said David Proulx, a vice president of unmanned systems at Teledyne FLIR, a defense contractor that specializes in thermal sensing. “It can safely go where humans can’t.”
DO THEY STILL USE DOGS TO SNIFF OUT SURVIVORS? Search and rescue operations use two types of dogs on disaster scenes, both trained to detect human scent, said Mark Neveau, a former FEMA presidential appointee and disaster expert. First, there are dogs trained to pick up the scent of live bodies, but as the operation shifts to a recovery operation, cadaver-sniffing dogs take the field. 71
72
A drawback with dogs is that they tend to tire with time, and can get confused. Chemical tracing devices are being developed that also pick up on scents that humans can’t detect, but these haven’t replaced dogs yet. These are portable labs that can analyze chemical traces and gas. They use sensors to detect moisture, carbon dioxide, or any chemicals emitted through breathing, like acetone or ammonia, said the University of Buffalo’s Gaia. “It’s almost like a mechanical sniffing dog, that can be trained to smell things we can’t,” she said.
WHAT OTHER TECHNOLOGIES COULD PROVE USEFUL IN THE FUTURE? Drones and ground robots are already used in search operations, but the most sophisticated machines are still expensive, hard to come by and rarely as fast as the skilled human rescuers controlling them. That could change as they become smarter, more nimble and a standard part of search and rescue operations. “It will be part of the kit that first responders have,” said Proulx, of Teledyne FLIR. “The operation of those drones and robots will be progressively more autonomous. They will be much more independent and operate as teammates rather than tools.” One technology available to the responders is a microwave radar device developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the Department of Homeland Security that “sees” through concrete slabs, detecting the signatures of human respiration and heartbeats.
73
A prototype saved four lives after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and it was used two years later in Mexico City. Its developers say it provides an edge over acoustics, the usual method for detecting people in rubble, because disaster sites tend to be noisy. “Noise doesn’t affect us and we can see through smoke,” said Adrian Garulay, the CEO of SpecOps Group, a Sarasota, Florida company that sells the technology under license. Although it can penetrate up to eight inches of solid concrete it cannot see through metal, he said. It uses a low-powered microwave signal about onethousandth the strength of a cellphone signal and evolved from NASA’s efforts to develop lowcost, small spacecraft radios.
74
75
Image: Ted S. Warren
BOEING’S NEXT AIRPLANE LIKELY TO BE DELAYED BY FAA CONCERNS
Federal regulators have indicated they likely won’t certify Boeing’s next airliner until 2023 because of questions about changes the aircraft manufacturer is making in software and hardware on a new version of the two-aisle 777 jet. The Federal Aviation Administration’s concerns are just the latest setback for Boeing, which originally predicted that the plane would enter airline service in 2020. Boeing shares fell more than 3.5% after the announcement. An FAA official listed 11 concerns in a May 13 letter to Boeing that surfaced over the weekend. Among them: a Dec. 8 flight in which the plane’s nose turned up or down without pilots directing it to do so. Another Boeing plane, the 737 Max, suffered two fatal crashes after an automated system on the plane pushed the nose down, and pilots 78
79
were unable to regain control. Boeing had to overhaul the system. The FAA official, Ian Won, the acting manager for safety at the agency’s Boeing oversight office, said FAA is also concerned that late changes Boeing proposes to software and hardware on the 777X could introduce new, inadvertent problems. “Based on our assessment, the FAA considers that the aircraft is not yet ready” for a key step in the process, he told the company. Won said the FAA might have to increase the number of test flights. The letter to Boeing was first reported by the Seattle Times.
80
81
84
JUDGE DISMISSES GOV’T ANTITRUST LAWSUITS AGAINST FACEBOOK
A federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state attorneys general, dealing a significant blow to attempts by regulators to rein in tech giants. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the lawsuits were “legally insufficient” and didn’t provide enough evidence to prove that Facebook was a monopoly. The ruling dismisses the complaint but not the case, meaning the FTC could refile another complaint. “These allegations — which do not even provide an estimated actual figure or range for Facebook’s market share at any point over the past ten years — ultimately fall short of plausibly establishing that Facebook holds market power,” he said. Image: Paul Morris
85
The FTC said in a statement that it is “closely reviewing the opinion and assessing the best option forward.” The agency has 30 days in which to file a new complaint. Boasberg closed that avenue for the states, however, in dismissing outright their separate complaint. The U.S. government and 48 states and districts sued Facebook in December 2020, accusing the tech giant of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors and seeking remedies that could include a forced spinoff of the social network’s Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services. The FTC had alleged Facebook engaged in a “a systematic strategy” to eliminate its competition, including by purchasing smaller up-and-coming rivals like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. New York Attorney General Letitia James said when filing the suit that Facebook “used its monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users.” Facebook, in an e-mailed statement, said: “We are pleased that today’s decisions recognize the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook. We compete fairly every day to earn people’s time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services.” Richard Hamilton Jr., a former prosecutor and Justice Department antitrust attorney, said the judge, while finding the FTC’s arguments insufficient, gave the agency a sort of road map for how to bulk up its case in another round.
86
Image: Erin Scott
87
“Whether government or private entity, you still need to sufficiently plead the case,” Hamilton said. He noted that as Boasberg saw it, the FTC failed to demonstrate how it arrived at the claim that Facebook controls 60% of the market in social networking and how that market power is measured. Alex Harman, competition policy advocate for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, said: “Courts really have a hard time with that market definition for some reason. It’s Exhibit A for why we need the laws changed.” Rebecca Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University who specializes in antitrust, said the ruling “illustrates the problems regulators face right now bringing antitrust suits in markets without prices, like Facebook’s, but also Google’s, and in markets where huge, dominant firms offer suites of products that don’t neatly fit into the mold of well-defined markets like aluminum ingot or crude oil.” An ambitious package of legislation to overhaul the antitrust laws, which could point toward breaking up Facebook as well as Google, Amazon and Apple, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee last week and sent to the full U.S. House. “As the FTC and 48 state attorneys general have alleged, Facebook is a monopolist and it has abused its monopoly power to buy or bury its competitive threats,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who heads the Judiciary panel, and Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., the legislation’s lead sponsor, said this week. “In the weeks ahead, we will work to advance this legislation to restore choice, innovation and opportunity for American businesses and consumers.” 88
89
Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, the chief Republican sponsor of the legislation, said the ruling “shows that antitrust reform is urgently needed. Congress needs to provide additional tools and resources to our antitrust enforcers to go after Big Tech companies engaging in anticompetitive conduct.” Last October the Trump Justice Department, joined by about a dozen states, brought a landmark antitrust suit against Google, accusing the company of using its dominance in online search to stifle competition and innovation at the expense of consumers. As it stands, the case isn’t scheduled to go to trial in federal court for nearly three years.
90
91
STATES HESITANT TO ADOPT DIGITAL COVID VACCINE VERIFICATION
Customers wanting to wine, dine and unwind to live music at the City Winery’s flagship restaurant in New York must show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to get in. But that’s not required at most other dining establishments in the city. And it’s not necessary at other City Winery sites around the U.S. If City Winery tried doing such a thing at its places in Atlanta and Nashville, “we would have no business, because so many people are basically against it,” said CEO Michael Dorf. Across the U.S., many hard-hit businesses eager to return to normal have been reluctant to demand proof of vaccination from customers. And the public and the politicians in many places have made it clear they don’t care for the idea. In fact, far more states have banned proofof-vaccination policies than have created smartphone-based programs for people to digitally display their vaccination status.
92
93
94
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends masks when dining or gathering indoors for those who aren’t fully vaccinated. But few states require it, and most businesses rely on voluntary compliance — even in places with low vaccination rates where COVID-19 cases are climbing. Digital vaccine verification programs could make it easier to enforce safeguards and tamp down new outbreaks. “But that only works when you have mass adoption, and mass adoption requires trust and actual buy-in with what the state health department is doing, which is not necessarily present in all states,” said Alan Butler, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based nonprofit organization. Hawaii is the only state enforcing some version of a vaccine passport. It requires travelers to upload a photo or PDF of their Hawaii vaccination document or pass a pre-arrival COVID-19 test to avoid having to quarantine for 10 days. Earlier this month, California became just the third state — behind New York and Louisiana — to offer residents a way to voluntarily display digital proof of their COVID-19 shots. None of those states requires the use of their digital verification systems to access either public or private-sector places. By contrast, at least 18 states led by Republican governors or legislatures prohibit the creation of so-called vaccine passports or ban public entities from requiring proof of vaccination. Several of those — including Alabama, Florida, 95
Iowa, Montana, North Dakota and Texas — also bar most businesses from denying service to those who aren’t vaccinated. “Texas is open 100%, and we want to make sure that you have the freedom to go where you want without limits,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in signing a law against vaccine passports. The prohibition doesn’t apply to the demands employers make on their employees. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Texas threw out a lawsuit from 117 Houston hospital employees who challenged a workplace requirement that they get vaccinated. More than 150 were later fired or resigned for not getting their shots. In Louisiana, under a Republican-passed bill facing a potential veto from Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, public facilities would not be allowed to bar unvaccinated people until the COVID-19 vaccines have received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccines for now are being dispensed under emergency FDA authorization. In May, Louisiana launched a program allowing residents using the state’s digital driver’s license, LA Wallet, to add a record of their COVID-19 vaccination. But its reach is still limited. About 105,000 people have activated the COVID-19 verification function. That’s about 14% of those with a digital license and less than 4% of Louisiana’s 3.1 million people with valid driver’s licenses. Democratic state Rep. Ted James, who wrote the bill creating the digital driver’s license, said he has used the feature just once — to show an Uber driver in Nevada that he didn’t need
96
97
98
to wear a mask. But James said he has never been asked to show it in Louisiana and doubts he ever will. “Earlier in the year, I felt that at some point we would be limited in travel, going to certain places, unless we had the vaccine,” James said. Now, “I don’t foresee us ever having some type of requirement.” As a step in reopening, New York in March launched its Excelsior Pass, the first state system to provide digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test. As of early June, more than 2 million people had gotten the digital pass — about one-fifth of those who have been vaccinated. At the City Winery, most customers bypass the Excelsior Pass and instead show their paper CDC vaccination cards to gain entry, according to Dorf, who said patrons at the 1,000-person capacity venue “appreciate going into a bubble of safety, knowing that everyone around them is vaccinated.” Though larger ticketed events, like concerts at Madison Square Garden, require proof of vaccination, most businesses don’t ask. “Think of a bar,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. “You have four friends that go in — maybe two of them have it, the other two don’t. You’re going to turn the other two away when small businesses are struggling so much?” Though most states have shied away from creating digital vaccination verification systems, the technology may soon become widespread nonetheless.
99
Vaccine providers such as Walmart and major health care systems already have agreed to make digital COVID-19 vaccination records available to customers. Apple also plans to incorporate the vaccination verification function into a software update coming this fall. Within months, hundreds of millions of people across the U.S. will be able to access digital copies of their COVID-19 vaccination records, said Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at the nonprofit MITRE Corp., part of a coalition of health and technology organizations that developed such technology. People will receive QR codes that can be stored on smartphones or printed on paper to be scanned by anyone seeking vaccine verification. Those who scan the codes won’t retain any of the information — a protection intended to address privacy concerns. The California Chamber of Commerce said it welcomes the state’s new vaccine verification system as a way for employers to check on their employees. California regulations require most employees who aren’t fully vaccinated to wear masks when dealing with others indoors. Digital vaccine verification “allows an employer who really wants to make sure the workplace is vaccinated to require that without having the impossible problem of ‘John says he’s vaccinated but he lost his vaccine card. What do we do?’ This solves that issue,” said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.
100
101
102
NO ET, NO ANSWERS: INTEL REPORT IS INCONCLUSIVE ABOUT UFOS
A long-awaited U.S. government report on UFOs released makes at least one thing clear: The truth is still out there. Investigators did not find extraterrestrial links in reviewing 144 sightings of aircraft or other devices apparently flying at mysterious speeds or trajectories. But they drew few other conclusions and instead highlighted the need for better data collection about what’s increasingly seen by Democrats and Republicans as a national security concern. In all but one of the sightings investigated, there was too little information for investigators to even broadly characterize the nature of the incident. Image: Robyn Beck
103
There were 18 cases in which witnesses saw “unusual” patterns of movement or flight characteristics, the report said, adding that more analysis was needed to determine if those sightings represented “breakthrough” technology. Long the domain of science fiction and so-called ufologists, the subject of UFOs has in recent years drawn serious study from the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. The prospect of an adversary spying with unknown technology has alarmed lawmakers in both parties. Congress last year required the creation of the report delivered last weekend. While its lack of conclusions has already been made public, the report on what the government calls “unidentified aerial phenomena” still represents a milestone in the study of the issue. U.S. officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said there were “no clear indications” that the sightings could be linked to alien life. There is also no definitive linkage of sightings to potentially unknown technology of an adversary like Russia or China. “It’s clear that we need to improve our capacity to further analyze remaining UAP observations, even as we accept that there are some limits to our capacity to characterize and understand some of the observations that we have,” one official said. The report was published online and delivered to the House and Senate intelligence committees with a classified annex. Lawmakers were given a briefing last week on the investigation. One person who attended the classified briefing and spoke on condition of anonymity said that lawmakers were given little 104
Image: Jason Reed
105
information beyond what’s publicly available and that the only videos shown had already been made public. The report lists five potential categories, including the possibility of foreign adversaries flying unknown technology to events occurring naturally in the atmosphere. But only one instance was categorized as “airborne clutter” and believed to be a large, deflating balloon. The rest are uncategorized because of a lack of information. That includes three instances of potential sightings captured on videos that were declassified and released in recent years. The Department of Defense will over the next three months develop a new strategy for collecting and tracking information on potential sightings. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said the UAP report highlights the problem of flight hazards on or near military test and training ranges. She ordered the Pentagon’s top intelligence and security official to establish a more formal means of coordinating the collection, reporting and analysis of UAP information. This body also would make recommendations on securing military test and training ranges. “It is critical that the United States maintain operations security and safety at DoD ranges,” she wrote in a memo released Friday. “To this end, it is equally critical that all U.S. military aircrews or government personnel report whenever aircraft or other devices interfere with military training. This includes the observation and reporting of UAPs.” 106
Image: Brittany A. Chase
107
Part of the data collection effort is destigmatizing UAPs and pushing pilots to report what they see, even when what they see is implausible. “A big problem around UAPs has been the cultural stigma,” said Rep. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee, in an interview last week. “It has largely been relegated to science fiction.” Sen. Marco Rubio, who as the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee has long pushed for more disclosure about UAPs, called the report “an important first step in cataloging these incidents, but it is just a first step.” “The Defense Department and Intelligence Community have a lot of work to do before we can actually understand whether these aerial threats present a serious national security concern,” Rubio said in a statement. 108
109
Disney’s Cruella | Official Trailer
Movies 110
&TV Shows
Rotten Tomatoes
74
%
Cruella In 1970s London, the creative and clever Estella Miller (Emma Stone) is determined to make it as a fashion designer – and, after drawing the attention of fashion legend the Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), eventually establishes a new identity as the iconic Cruella de Vil.
FIVE FACTS: 1. Glenn Close, who portrayed the first liveaction Cruella de Vil in 1996 with the retelling of Disney classic 101 Dalmatians, is an executive producer of this new film. by Craig Gillespie Genre: Action & Adventure Released: 2021 Price: $29.99
2. Although Cruella de Vil is an English character, she has never been depicted by an English actress. 3. Almost all actresses to play Cruella, including Stone, have been American – the only exceptions being Victoria Smurfit, who is Irish, and Michelle Gomez, who is Scottish. 4. Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Demi Moore were all considered for the role of the Baroness before Thompson was cast. 5. Paul Walter Hauser’s performance as Horace was inspired by Bob Hoskins’ as Smee in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 film Hook.
111
The “Cruella” Cast Finds Out Which Disney Villain They Really Are
112
113
Spirit Untamed The young, free-spirited Fortuna “Lucky” Prescott (Isabela Merced) moves to Miradero and, there, befriends a similarly rebellious wild mustang named Spirit (Ralph DeSeve). After subsequently learning of an evil plan to capture Spirit, Lucky embarks on a rescue mission.
FIVE FACTS: 1. This is a follow-up to the 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. 2. Spirit Untamed is also based on the Netflixexclusive TV series Spirit Riding Free. 3. This is the first animated film for which Jake Gyllenhaal has voice-acted. 4. Spirit Untamed has garnered mixed reviews, with The Detroit News’ Adam Graham calling the movie “as generic as children’s entertainment gets”. 5. However, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper said that the film “works just fine as a stand-alone, good old-fashioned Western”.
114
by Elaine Bogan Genre: Action & Adventure Released: 2021 Price: $19.90
Rotten Tomatoes
44
% 115
Isabela Merced, Marsai Martin & Mckenna Grace Dish On ‘Spirit Untamed’
116
SPIRIT UNTAMED - Official Trailer (2021)
117
Music
118
Planet Her Doja Cat The outspoken rapper and singer Doja Cat shows an undoubtedly eclectic streak with her third studio album, which brings together pop, R&B and club sounds as well as a sprinkling of influences from big-name collaborators including Ariana Grande, Young Thug, JID and SZA. Genre: Pop Number of Songs: 14 Price: $10.99
FIVE FACTS: 1. Doja Cat was born Amala Zandile Dlamini in 1995. 2. Although Doja was raised by her mother in Los Angeles, her father did not take part in raising her. 3. “I don’t hold grudges against him or anything in any way, but obviously it’s a little weird,” she has said about her father nonetheless actively commenting on her Instagram page. 4. The first album Doja ever bought was Rihanna’s Music of the Sun. 5. Doja’s debut EP, Purrr!, was released in 2014.
Doja Cat - Kiss Me More (Official Video) ft. SZA
119
Doja Cat, The Weeknd - You Right (Official Video)
120
121
Bettie James Gold Edition (Apple Music Edition) Jimmie Allen Country star Jimmie Allen has expanded Bettie James – originally released as an EP in July 2020 – to a full-length album, adding duets with acts including LOCASH, LANCO and Keith Urban. Pitbull even contributes a rap to one of the new tracks, “Flavor”.
FIVE FACTS: 1. Allen announced the Gold Edition in June, promising “cool and different songs”. 2. He also pledged duets with artists he “can’t believe would work with him this early in his career.” 3. The Bettie James title refers to Allen’s late father James Allen and late grandmother Bettie Snead. 4. In a review for Entertainment Focus, Laura Cooney said the Gold Edition “has taken Jimmie Allen’s music to a new level and shown the range in his sound as well as his skill as a vocalist.” 5. The Apple Music Edition of the album throws in a short behind-the-scenes video.
122
Genre: Country Number of Songs: 16 Price: $9.99
Jimmie Allen, Noah Cyrus - “This Is Us” (Official Video)
123
124
Jimmie Allen, Brad Paisley - Freedom Was A Highway (Official Audio)
125
126
FANCY LIKE
Walker Hayes
BAD HABITS
ed sHeeran
SAME BOAT
Zac BroWn Band
LIL BIT
nelly & Florida GeorGia line
RIDE THE LIGHTNING (717 TAPES)
Warren Zeiders
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN
creedence clearWater revival
GOOD 4 U
olivia rodriGo
LEAVE BEFORE YOU LOVE ME
MarsHMello & Jonas BrotHers
LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN
Bruno Mars, anderson .Paak & silk sonic
THOT SHIT
MeGan tHee stallion
127
128
,1 µ) ¶ ),1',1* $ 1(: *($5 )25 5,',&8/2861(66
F9 - Official Trailer [HD]
129
F9 - Official Trailer 2
130
In 20 years and 10 movies the “Fast and Furious” series has relentlessly insisted that its saga is really, truly about family. With all due respect to Vin Diesel’s Toretto clan, I must disagree. The “Fast and Furious” movies are really about reaching new nitro-injected realms of absurdity. If you can stomach the macho melodrama, these movies are ridiculous big-screen ballets, with cars shooting out of skyscrapers and airplanes, that at their best are the right kind of stupid. More than family or cars, they’re about the movies’ whiz-bang capacity for ludicrous grandiosity — for stepping on the gas and leaving logic in the rearview. It wasn’t always like this. The “Fast and Furious” movies, which have moved so speedily that their original articles flew out the window somewhere along the way (the first entry was 2001′s “The Fast and the Furious”), began more humbly on the road-racing streets of Southern California. But, particularly by the time of Justin Lin’s “Fast Five,” the series grew ever more expansive, reaching around the globe and, finally, by “F9,” into space. As if always searching for another gear of outrageousness, the franchise has hunted new, implausible roads for gravity-defying mayhem and unexplainable traction. Cars here, cars there. Cars everywhere. So when I sat down for “F9,” which opens Friday in theaters, I was looking forward to some of that good, old stupid fun. “F9,” gets there eventually, courtesy of 131
132
a comic, cosmic foray by Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) in a rocket-fueled Pontiac Fiero. But for a healthy amount of the movie’s 145-minute running time, it feels more like a franchise running low on gas. There’s a bit of a hangover to “F9,” and not just because it sat on the shelf for the past year while waiting until the pandemic was more blockbuster-ready. “F9,” in which Lin returns as director after a seven-year break from the franchise, follows the most dramatic chapter in the “Fast and Furious” run, when real-life tragedy added an echo of pathos in the death of Paul Walker and off-screen squabbles led to a spinoff for Dwayne Johnson, with Jason Statham, in “Hobbs and Shaw.” But if it feels like the dust has settled, “F9” promptly sets about rekindling old beefs, introducing new ones and, within the first half-an-hour, detouring to Central America to let the autos of “Fast and Furious” swing through the jungle like Tarzan. But first we have a flashback that Lin and co-writer Daniel Casey return to throughout the film. It’s 1989 and Dominic Toretto (Diesel as an adult, an absorbing Vinnie Bennett when younger) and his younger brother (John Cena later, Finn Cole here) are teenagers working with their racing father at a speedway when he dies in a fiery crash. A possibility of foul play is there, and the fallout sends one brother to jail and their acrimony over their father’s fate drives them apart.
133
Years later, Jakob (Cena) turns out to have designs on taking over the world in order to show up his older, estranged brother. (Family dramas aren’t small potatoes in the world of “Fast and Furious.”) Part of those plans is Cipher (Charlize Theron), a villain from the last one returned here as a glass-box captive who’s nevertheless sure of her powers. It’s a limiting position for the potent Theron, whose presence in these movies mostly serves as a reminder that if you want gas-guzzling action, the magnificent “Mad Max: Fury Road” is still idling nearby. Both the rock-jawed Cena and a steely Theron don’t open the movie up to much fun, nor does the often-returned-to backstory that saps some of the movie’s velocity. What gives “F9” a boost? Well, Helen Mirren does, in a stop over in London. Best are Ludacris and Gibson, who, more than anyone else, lend “F9” a much-needed wink of self-awareness. It’s Taj who says one of the most defining lines for a franchise that never brakes for scientific reality: “As long as we obey the laws of physics, we’ll be fine.” They’re at that moment preparing to launch into orbit in a car/rocket ship that makes Doc’s time-traveling DeLorean look like a comparatively sensible vehicle. I don’t know why exactly they shoot into space — something about destroying a satellite — but I loved every minute of it. Much of “F9” is kind of a slog. There are some not very dynamic car chases, a lot of flashbacks, ho-hum villains and an oddly 134
F9 - Our Return to Theaters
135
prominent role for magnets. But when Taj and Roman reach zero gravity, the movie finally takes flight with goofy grandeur. Some, surely, will be less enthused about “Fast & Furious” turning full-on cartoon, but I’d take that over the solemn speeches about family any day. The “Fast and Furious” movies are best when they’re neither fast nor furious but kind of foolish. At some point, when some combination of four-wheelers was soaring through the air, I started to wonder how these movies will look to future generations — possibly generations that will have moved beyond the car, at least the gasoline variety, or that are living with more dire effects of climate change. Will “Fast and Furious” seem like a reflection of our dubious belief in the limitless capabilities of automobiles, of our propensity to live through our cars? Or an acknowledgement of just how preposterous that addiction is? Either way, the joy ride probably can’t last forever. Vin Diesel’s contract will one day run out. “F9,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for sequences of violence and action, and language. Running time: 145 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
136
137
138
LIAM NEESON’S BACK, FIGHTING ON THIN ICE (LITERALLY)
It’s intriguing to imagine Liam Neeson’s management team, contemplating his next film. Perhaps “Uber Express”? Maybe “Lyfted Up”? There’s just something symbiotic about Neeson and vehicles — not only cars, but planes (“Non-Stop”), suburban commuter trains (“The Commuter”), even snowplows (“Cold Pursuit”). And now in “The Ice Road,” this durable action hero improbably pushing 70 is at the wheel of a big ol’ truck — not your normal truck, but a 65,000-pound rig. And not on regular roads, of course. On ice roads, meaning frozen lakes or oceans, where the spring thaw brings treacherous conditions and one wrong move sends you straight into the freezing abyss. Luckily, Neeson has a way of lending his roughhewn dignity to even the most perfunctory of plots — because this one, it must be said, is perfunctory. All you need to understand are three elements: Good guys, bad guys — no subtlety here — and the fact that ice is very 139